Hunters on the Web [Ronan]

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on February 8th, 2012, 1:20 am

46th Winter, 511 A.V.

Two days previous, the blizzard had sent them to hiding in the caves that Sama'el was able to find between his skill with the Web and the Sight granted him by Syna, though neither alone would have been enough with the snow blotting out the sun much of the time and the Web being so thin this far out of Cyphrus. In fact, one of the first things Sama'el had done in that cave was pour his fiery res into the stone at the back of the cave to form an origin, sinking an anchor to the Web there, expanding its weave beyond their homeland.

But now was a good time to go out hunting and foraging. The blizzard was past, or this round of it, at least, and they could hunt by daylight, augmenting their provisions with meat and whatever else they might find. Horse wore extra saddle blankets and just then Sam was tying makeshift snow shoes over his hooves, pulling them as far up his legs as the Windrunner would let him. Keeping him dry and warm was essential to surviving, and while Sama'el could call Fire, he would have to kill himself to clear them a path through the forest, and all their game would flee their coming in any case.

"Ronan," he called. "Get an yvas on this beast of yours and let's go." It was bossiness of a good nature. He knew that once Ronan hit his stride and joined the Watch, he would quickly surpass Sam's own skill.

by **Ronan** on February 8th, 2012, 1:01 pm

They had been holed up for days, Ronan thought with a shiver. He was not used to weather this bitter - and the Talderan weather was certainly that. The blizzards had now relaxed thankfully, leaving cool winds and an icebound landscape in their wake.

Sama'el was the one who had suggested going hunting. Supplies were running thin, and they still had some way to go before they reached Avanthal. There would be rabbits, hares. In fact, Ronan would be happy with anything substantial.

"Yes, ser!" Ronan retorted with a smirk to Sam's orders. The others were in the cave. Sam's new wife being one of them. What an interesting start to married life, Ronan thought, questing across the whole of Mizahar.

The other day Sama'el had sunk an Origin in the cave, firmly anchoring it to the Web. When Ronan half concentrated he could see the lines, thin, glistening. There was Sam's presence in all of it. A youthful glow, brimming with even more energy now he was a married man. From the little he knew of Issima, she and Sama'el suited well. She seemed nice enough, though he knew little of women. The first had cheated on him, and the second - if he could call her a second - had been married to one of the most powerful Drykas. He shook his head, a vapid sigh escaping his lips.

"Now girl," he whispered, turning back to his strider Tairell, "we're going to brave the cold." He rubbed her face affectionately, and she whinnied in reply.

Much the same as Sama'el, Ronan began creating small snow shoes for his horse with torn material. The ground outside was frozen, and treacherous. It was best not to take foolish chances. Gambling was a morons game.

When he had pulled them gently over her hooves, he began fitting the yvas and saddle. It was tricky fixing it all in place, since Ronan hadn't done so for days, but Tairell stayed serenely calm throughout. When he was done, he scurried back into the entrance of the cave, fetching a small handful of the remaining feed. He looked at the emptying bag with dismay.

Unaware of the dwindling stocks, Tairell accepted the food quite willingly. She ate ravenously, as if it would be her last feed.

He shrugged her coat of sorts over her and gave her another rub. As he did so, he watched Sama'el and couldn't help but feel a little apprehension. He knew he shouldn't think on it but he was worried of losing all of this. Everything else had shattered. Would this too?

It was like water held in his palm. At some point it would trickle away, and then there would be nothing left.

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on February 12th, 2012, 2:12 am

"Good squire. You won't need a whipping later, I should think." Sam laughed, glad that they had found shelter, and gladder that he and Ronan would be able to get out and do some hunting and foraging. Sam had spent some time in Taldera already, and could impart what knowledge of the flora and fauna he had to Ronan -- another mark in his favor should the Watch consider him.

He checked Horse quickly for signs of illness, but his coat was healthy, as were his teeth and hooves under their shoes. He nickered at the Windrunner when he stomped nervously, not liking the shoes at all, and Horse settled down. When in doubt, he had grown to trust Sam. His saddle was still the non-Drykas variety, but it seemed like the wrong time to train him to an yvas. Eventually he would, or perhaps just let people try out a saddle with him if they needed to learn it.

"Be careful not to put too many holes in the hide," he reminded Ronan with a grin. "Otherwise your furry smallclothes might not keep the gusts out of your pants. I'll be outside.

"Good-bye, wife!" he called. "Denen, Leto! No wild parties while I'm out!"

Then he led Horse out into the snow. Before Ronan joined him, he concentrated and cast out a spray of smoldering res in a slow arc of fire to melt the snow outside their cave, not stopping until the hiss of steam subsided. He didn't want to melt the snow just so slippery ice would form, after all. Next he dropped a sack of horse manure beside the entrance. A good deal of it was composting in a corner of the cave because the process created heat, but there was only so much shit that could survive in there. Also, human manure was just gross, but it would go back to nature and perhaps made the cave entrance particularly verdant when spring came.

"Ronan, it's cold as balls out here! Hurry up!"

by **Ronan** on February 12th, 2012, 10:17 am

Ronan let out a sigh of resignation, followed by a short laugh. "Very funny, Sam. Very funny. And to think I spoke so highly of you with Kavala."

As the Watcher shouted goodbye to his wife, Ronan couldn't help but grin. The boy was cocky, always out for a laugh, but beneath that bravado was a real desire to rebuild from the ground up. He wanted to be there when Sama'el's Pavilion came to life. That would be a bright day, he was sure of it.

Even when Akilah had introduced him to the remnants of his Pavilion, he had felt a little hollow. The initial excitement had left an emptiness in its wake. They were not his parents. They were not his brother. They were distant aunts and uncles, that he would never know properly. The Windsong Pavilion still lay in ruin to his mind.

Staying back, holding the reins, Ronan watched Sama'el perform reimancy on the snow blocking the entrance to the cave. It was intriguing to watch, the snow hissing, and the ice steaming as the fiery res touched at it. That was how they had first met... Sam had saved Ronan from Glassbeaks with his reimancy. Ronan had always found it interesting. Perhaps he could learn such an art eventually.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Ronan retorted, guiding Tairell out into the bracing cold. "Crap," he cursed, eyes watering at the sudden drop in temperature, "that is cold."

He glanced around, endless white, and the thin lines of the Web, guided by the Origin in the cave.

"You said that we can track prey with the Web," Ronan said, concentrating, "care to show me how - and quickly, so we don't freeze any outer extremities off?"

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on February 12th, 2012, 8:47 pm

Sama'el grinned at Ronan when he finally emerged. With Eldon gone to Syliras, Ronan had become the closest thing he had to a brother; well, he was close friends with Denen, but it wasn't exactly brotherly. Most of the time the relationship seemed to revolve around Sama'el getting himself hurt and Denen fixing it up, the which would be much easier now Rak'keli had finally started paying the gentle Drykas some attention.

But he squinted at the Web, knowing Ronan was doing the same. There was a strong ley-line back the way they had come, as he had been dropping Origins all along their path, the first for Kavala in the Sanctuary, the next outside Karjin, and at most of their campsites along the way if he could find a suitable spot where it wasn't likely to be dug up. When he had sung up the sun that morning, keeping his promise to Syna in that fever dream, he had run back about five hundred miles before he felt himself stretching too far for the elasticity of his link to his body, and came back. There was a natural sort of webbing developing as the energies touched living things, following the gaggle of Drykas who were all woven into the larger Web, but a man daren't wander too far from that ley-line or risk not being able to find the Web again.

"Just have to step out of your body and look around as far as you're able. It's patchy here because we're the very edge of the Web now. You won't be able to go in all directions like you can back on Cyphrus. If you find tracks, go backward in time to see what passed and then follow it as far as you can. It's probably best you go alone. I'll keep a fire burning near you so your body won't freeze in your absence since you won't be moving around."

He paused, squinting in the bright light reflected off of the snow beyond where he had melted it.

"Better yet, sit down and we'll have the horses lie on either side of you to keep you warm. While you scout ahead, I'll lay the few traps and snares I have. Hungry things will come looking for the bits of grass I uncovered." He considered again. "If you can't find anything, not to worry. Don't overdo it. I can always fly with Syna for a bit, see if I can't find any nearby activity. If not, we'll just... you know... hunt like normal people." He grinned.

by **Ronan** on February 13th, 2012, 1:02 am

"Right..." Ronan said, nodding to Sam's instructions. He was still woefully inadequate with the Web - and he felt so overwhelmed much of the time. But he was learning, ever learning, and he could not hold disdain for that.

He sat down, guiding Tairell beside him, and Sam moved his own steed closer. He went into that odd frame of mind again, like he was balanced precariously over two ledges, toppling one way, then the other.

The world around him grew dimmer, like a faint mist coating everything. His astral body springed forward, breaching that initial resistance. He looked around, feeling the strands closest, the heart of the Drykas unfolding beneath his fingers.

And quickly after, he noted the tracks. Small, delicate, from some kind or rodent, or rabbit it looked like. He felt back through the void, and sensed the creature scurrying past.

There was something else. A pain. The rabbit limped, blood spurting from his back leg. Something had attacked it, and the rabbit had escaped with its life. He pressed forward, the bond stretching behind him.

The tracks led northward, and the injured rabbit could not have gone far. He returned to his body slowly, his skin tingling with the cold as he came away from the Web. He felt faint for a moment, and stayed seated as he rallied his thoughts.

"North... rabbit," he rasped.

He would never get used to this. The after effects of magic were rarely pleasant, and he hoped he could overcome them with skill one day.

OOCWhat Ronan sensed... I figured we could make this even more exciting

They hunt the rabbit. Talderan nasty hunts Ronan and Sama'el. You got me?

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on February 13th, 2012, 1:41 am

While Ronan settled in with his mare, Sam put a hand on Horse's shoulder, spoke some words that the stallion seemed to recognize, for he let himself down delicately next to Ronan, forming a circle of horseflesh around him to keep him warm while he stepped out of his body. Sam scratched his jaw and gave his neck a pat, then went about laying his snares. There was the one he laid out in the crotch of a tree for any birds that might not have flown south for the winter, and another that he set up along the edge of the snowmelt he'd caused, not disturbing the snow there and trying to keep his scent off things.

"You're doing it wrong," piped the clay man helpfully. Pip had been an artifact from a hunt seasons back, but he had been dormant (napping, he called it) ever since. It wasn't until two days ago when Sama'el had sunk an origin in the cave that the little Pycon had awoken. Luckily, he knew a thing or two about trapping and could offer advice.

Sam chuckled to himself and rubbed his temple where Syna's mark had appeared. She had touched him while he was in his fever dream, but the mark had not appeared until his wedding, as if the goddess were blessing the union along with Cheva.

"I'm not doing it wrong," he protested, but when the diminutive statue-man walked up to assess the snare, he nodded and confirmed: "You're doing it wrong."

"Oh? Then help me fix it, Big Boy." Between the two of them, they did. Sam was beginning to like the little fellow despite himself.

"You should just let me do it in the future, boss. I don't smell like human."

"No, you smell like fart."

"There might be a little sulphur in me," he admitted.

"Ha!" Sama'el finished off his work with the small animal snare, and Pip had no other corrections. That was when Ronan began to stir, and Sam went to crouch beside him. He knew that Ronan still didn't like the feel of coming back into his body. It wasn't nearly as uncomfortable for Sam anymore, and he felt like it got better the more he did it, so if he was ever a great Web Mage, it might not bother him at all.

Pip took a running leap and vaulted into a snowbank to watch the snares. He was an odd one.

"North? All right. Horse, up." And Horse obeyed. Sam grabbed Ronan by the wrist and helped him up, stood near him in case the web-walking made him woozy, and would help him into the yvas if he needed it. "I'll follow you."

OOCDo it, Mister DS!

by **Ronan** on February 13th, 2012, 11:49 am

"Uh... sure. Thank you," Ronan said, standing upright with Sama'el's support. The wooziness began to fade, still there in the back of his mind, but he could cope with it all the same.

He touched Tairell, and despite Sam hovering nearby to help if it was so needed, Ronan managed to hoist himself up into the yvas and get seated correctly. He blinked twice, heavily, then looked in the direction the rabbit had gone.

In fact, as they began riding, there were small bloodspots in the snow, giving the blanket of white a sickeningly crimson hue.

"It was attacked," Ronan said, Sam and Horse to his left side. "the rabbit was running away from what I could tell."

He grinned half to himself, Tairell adeptly weaving through the snow and ice. They went reasonably slowly. A slip on the ice would make a broken leg, and an invalid Strider. He wanted to avoid giving Tairell an injury at all costs.

"It's amazing what you can see on the Web... I just wish I didn't feel so bad when I return to my body."

They continued riding, Ronan watching the ground like a hawk. The blood splatters were few and far between, but alongside the Web, they presented a substantial trail to follow.

He looked over at Sama'el, and shook his head, trying not to laugh. "So," he said with a hint of joviality, "have you and Issima done the deed yet? Will there be baby Sama'el's on the way?"

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on February 14th, 2012, 5:12 am

With Ronan secure in his yvas, Sama'el leaped into Horse's saddle with acrobatic flair. Sometimes he liked to show off a bit, but mostly because he wanted his friends to believe in him, the better to be a leader of men. With a grin, he followed, their horses' muffled hooves making strange shooshing noises against the snow once they were beyond his area of melt. He was afraid to ride the sunlight now, the light being uncertain as they passed under trees; he didn't want to get caught out there the way a man might on the Web. He didn't know if it worked that way, but he didn't actually have anyone he could ask...

But he kept his ears open and his eyes peeled, noting the blood on the snow as soon as Ronan did. He had more experience hunting in the snow, but there was a reason why Sama'el had been so skinny when he arrived in Endrykas that first time: he hadn't been an amazing hunter. All the same, he nodded and held a finger up to his lips to caution quiet. Their horses would be heard, of course, and silence was impossible, but if they were as loud as a drunken Akalak, they wouldn't catch anything, Web or no Web.

"It gets better," he whispered, his hands doing as much of the talking in grassland sign as he said aloud. "Promise."

He was going to have to come out with his young kestrel to practice, of course, but he did not yet trust the bird to accompany them on a real hunt. Or, rather, he didn't trust his own skills at falconry, didn't want to lose this bird to the wild. One had to be a worthy partner for a raptor to stay. But he laughed silently at Ronan's jibe.

"You snore so loudly," he said quietly, hands animated, "that we don't even have to try to be quiet!"

by **Ronan** on February 14th, 2012, 10:07 am

So they were at it as Ronan slept. How uncomfortable. He grimaced at Sama'el, quietening his voice, "thanks for the image Sam." But in truth, he was happy for them. If Issima got with child, their Pavilion would already be half built. A lineage, a child to pass the name down... that kept the Drykas going. His thoughts turned sour, thinking on his parents.

He was glad of Sama'el's promise though. The nausea, the headaches, they would pass with practise. Practise seemed to fix everything, he thought with a shake of the head. Well, there would be plenty of time for it.

He pushed Tairell onwards, round a small cluster of trees. A dusting of snow sprinkled down from the branches, cold as it touched his skin. Despite all the cold and blizzards, the Reaches were beautiful. Being in a new place was so alien to him, but exciting. He couldn't wait to reach Avanthal.

He glanced around, the blood spots grew thinner. Either the rabbit's wound had stemmed and congealed, or the creature was nearby. It might even be dead already - so much for the hunting.

Ronan began to tap into the Web again, delicately, and he did not leave his body, he just looked at the strands of Webbing crisscrossing. He tried to feel vaguely if there had been a disturbance here.

Something large had passed through, he was sure of it. Much larger than a rabbit. He suddenly felt a pang of fear in his chest, but he tried not to let it show. He noted a larger set of steps in the snow, rounding yet another cluster of trees.

Have we become the hunted?

He put a finger to his lips, begging silence from Sama'el. Whatever had injured the rabbit, was still here. He could feel it.