Completed Bazaar Meeting (Beshira & Viper)

[Viper]

He rolled his eyes as she made her threat. "Hey don't flatter yourself darlin'. I'm just lookin' for a decent place to hunt. Besides, you're not my type. So don't get excited." He may not have been totally honest with that last part, but the rest was completely true. Besides, he wasn't really in the mood to be entertaining any ideas of companionship presently. He had had enough of that back in Endrykas to last him a while.

When she brushed aside his latest gesture of kindness, he simply huphed, amused at her headstrong ways. Her couple failed attempts to mount up nearly brought out a snicker from his lips, but he checked the action. Still trying to get her to calm down enough to at least be neutral towards him and not so hostile. Aeyan was not a stupid horse. Even he could sense the tention between the two. As the woman tried getting up in the saddle, he was a little less than obliging as he normally was. A slight shift in his stance added to her initial inability to get a proper footing.

Finally getting herself positioned, he quickly mounted up behind her. With a slight wince, he brought his arms around her and grabbed the reigns. "Very well. Bronze Woods it is." As they began to leave the stables and make for the outer gates of the great city, he finally dared to ask another question. "Out of idle curiosity. I never got your name. Mind if I ask what it is?"

[Beshira]

“The name's Beshira," she smirked, keeping her hands on her thighs to maintain balance. “You'd do well to forget it once we go our separate ways.”

Bordering the heart of the woods, Beshira already had her bow ready and nocked, attentively casting about for any potential prey. Though it was rare for her to the return to the woods after hunting, it had occurred during several instances whenever she had accidentally left something behind or decided that she wasn’t coming back with enough game in her pack. She kept a lookout among the partings between the trees and for movement along the bushes.

Squatting in front of a tree with her arms over her knees, she gave it a brief look and turned to Viper. “See this?” Beshira said, poking at the trunk with a brittle stick. “Something must’ve used this tree as a scratching post not too long ago.” Her words were evidenced by the sundered bits of worms and light patches of mud ingrained into the flaking shards and peels of bark. It had probably been digging for maggots and stopped by here to get rid of the grime and dirt under its claws. “I’m guessing it was a badger or a wolverine, nothing very large.”

She tossed the stick to the side and brushed her hands off. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about hunting yourself, would you?”

[Viper]

He gave a small nod. "Beshira. It's a pleasure to meet ya." He may have stretched the truth just a bit, but at this point, there was no call to be rude. Besides, he was just happy to actually get a smirk out of her. One of the first pleasant expressions from her yet. Though he was only slightly surprised when she didn't ask for his name in return. Oh well, he thought to himself. He'd still take it as a small victory and soon left the city toward her hunting grounds.

As they skirted the edge of the Bronze Woods, she dismounted and made her way to a tree to investigate some game sign. Like Beshira, his eyes scanned the area for any sign of movement, though he decided to stay mounted for the time being. He also didn't limit his search to the ground. As she explained her findings, his eyes drifted up into the branches of the frost covered trees. A small movement above Beshira caught his eye. As Viper focused in on it, he found the object of his attention to be some type bird which had been ruffling its feathers trying to stay warm in the crisp winter air. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he pulled of his bow, and drew an arrow from his quiver.

Viper turned his eyes toward Beshira while placing the arrow in it's proper position when she asked if he actually knew anything about hunting. He didn't answer however. Instead, he raised his bow toward the fowl and quickly loosed the arrow. It raced through the air and soon impacted it's surprised target in the chest. The bird quickly fell to the floor with a plop right next to her. A playful smirk instantly flashed across his face as he dismounted and walked toward the woman.

Now next to her, he shrugged his shoulders. "A little." He chuckled as he knelt down and picked up the bird. "So that makes 1 to 0...? I believe." He returned to his Strider and tied the bird to the saddle before once again turning his gaze toward Beshira. "Come, let's go find this badger...or wolverine of yours. Wouldn't want ya to leave empty handed now would we?" With that, he began to follow the tracks which she had found, all the while pulling out another arrow. It wasn't overly difficult to track their newest target since the frost on the ground was perfect for leaving tracks behind for them to follow.

As he walked he sort of wished he could take back the point comment. As much as he enjoyed friendly competition, he somehow imagined she wasn't in a very friendly...or competitive mood.

[Beshira]

"A bird would be too easy, not to mention one that had been nestling," Beshira said, thinking back to the swallows she'd seen soaring overhead and the earth-colored grouses hopping branches searching for meal. "If there are animals nearby, that's likely to mean that there's also food nearby; and of course, when there's food nearby, you run higher chances of encountering more interesting specimens." She rose to her feet and scanned for tracks and other signs of tampering, leading herself into a small copse of trees before coming to a complete halt.

Beshira pulled an arrow from her quiver and gave a hard stare forward, making sure to keep her distance. At least a dozen yards away was a full grown boar, tearing limbs off from a dead badger with dull, filth-ridden maws, its eyes rimmed a deep shade of scarlet and its thick coat matted with sweat. This was the same one she'd come across during her departure from the forest, but something had gone awfully wrong. It was sick, and to be honest, likely to be in a violent mood.

"If you've never hunted boar before," Beshira said, "I'd suggest you hide somewhere and watch from a safe distance." Everything had been weighed out of her favor in this situation. It looked ready to burst into a frenzy at the slightest sign of irritation as it devoured its meal; the thing about hunting boar was that there was always a fail-safe. If it proved to be too dangerous, you could always climb a up a sturdy tree. It might give the trunk a few heaves and loiter around for a minute, but it will give up and trot away. She had no intention of fleeing this time around.

"Few warnings," she said warily, turning to Viper with an uneased glance. "If it charges at you, whatever you do, do not try to fight it head on. That thing will break your sword and gut you like the pathetic human you are. Don't you dare try side-stepping it either. Chances are, it'll hook your leg with its tusks and trample over your skull after it knocks you down. Climb a tree - a strong one - and wait until it leaves. Understand?"

[Viper]

He smiled and shook his head. "Well I never said the bird was a difficult shot. Still it'll provide a decent meal should we not find anything more interesting." It didn't take them long before they came across what she was calling a "boar". Which, apparently, had mauled the badger they were after. When she gave her tips and warnings, a concerned expression crossed his face.

"Uh...my horse can't climb trees...Wait. What if we both shot the...boar...at the same time. And then I rode Aeyan here as a decoy while you keep shootin it till it drops? It doesn't quite look like an animal that will go down with a single arrow. And I'm fairly certain Aeyan can outrun that beast with it's stubby little legs. Though I admit, we don't have boars where I come from so I can't be certain."

He shrugged his shoulders again and awaited her response to his suggestion.

[Beshira]

"Don't interfere!" Beshira shouted, momentarily forgetting to keep her voice down. The boar lifted its head, a string of meat hanging loose from clenched teeth, its beady eyes swiveling in her direction. Realizing what she'd done, she slowly backed away and gestured for Viper to do the same. "Stay on your horse," she whispered. "It can't outrun your mount, but it will easily outrun a human being." She paused for a beat. "This is my prey. Stay out of this."

The wild boar began with a slow approach, grunting as its head shook a few times, shivering from fever as flecks of blood dribbled down its coarse fur. It was easy to tell that there wasn't much time left. Beshira matched its pace, cautiously taking steps backward and keeping her eyes fixed on it. She drew back an arrow, making sure she had some form of cover accessible to her nearby.

Opting to stand beside a robust-looking pine tree, she scanned the beast for a possible opening. Unless you had come equipped with powerful, armor piercing arrows, your best bet was to aim for the heart, which was often a difficult task considering much of its mass was kept low to the ground. She'd have to work on disabling the legs first, though that may prove an even more difficult task.

The boar squealed, baring its foam-spotted teeth and rushing toward her. She let loose an arrow but misjudged its initial charging speed, sinking it into the dirt a few inches behind it. Beshira grit her teeth until it came a considerable distance closer, stepping behind the tree and keeping her feet by the opposite side of its base as the boar sped past her and swiftly corrected itself, turning around to face her again.

That trick would never have worked out in the open, and it definitely won't work a second time. She readied an arrow and kept her movements steady. The idea was to kite the boar into uneven or impassable terrain for the first few attempts, but at length, even that would prove to be an ineffective method should the first couple efforts fail to bear into fruition.

The boar let out a low growl and dashed at her again - ready for it this time, she let her arrow fly, hitting it right in the shoulder. All that did was piss it off even more. She drew back her leg and kicked dirt into its face, and while it worked to hinder the charging animal's vision, she had let it get too close. She lost her balance as she tried to avoid it, hitting the ground with an audible thud as her arrows spilled from her quiver. Scrambling to her feet, she noticed the boar trying to shaking the grime from its eyes, roaring in frustration as it stamped with its feet and bucked about.

Beshira held her breath and snatched an arrow from among a bed of dead leaves and messily nocked it into her bow, shooting it in its side. The beast made a hideous screeching noise, snapping the arrow in half as its front legs met with the ground again. Eyes reddened from both primal rage and irritation from the dirt, it grunted and started advancing towards her again. Now on her feet, she reached for an arrow from her quiver and her fingers touched only air. A gasp escaped from her lips as she realized that she had let all of her arrows tumble out into the dirt when she had fallen. If she tried to bend down and pick them up, she would be dead for sure.

Not good.

[Viper]

He backed up half a step as her sudden outburst. Apparently she had some sort of vendetta with this creature. Perhaps "the one that got away" sort of animal that no hunter wanted any other to take for themselves. He could definitely understand her feelings...but. This did not seem like the type of animal to be messing with idely. Still, he mounted up and did as she requested, leading Aeyan away from her.

From a position of relative safety, watched the display as the two went toe to toe so to speak. His expression, began to grow worrisome as he saw the hunter seemingly turning into the prey. "Ah petch...she can yell at me later is she wants!" Drawing the string on his bow back, he took aim at the boar as it prepared to make another charge at the now prone Beshira. His legs suddenly tightened around the sides of his horse so he wouldn't move, and he held his breath for just a moment to steady his shot. A second later the faint whisteling sound of his arrow streaking through the air could be heard.

Unfortunately, Viper had misjudged the timing. The boar charged an instant sooner than he expected so instead of striking the creature in the head, the arrow impacted it's hind quarters. Not what he was looking for, but hopefully it would prove a useful enough distraction. He began to yell at the beast as he drew another arrow. Ok Beshira, he thought to himself. Now's your chance. Kill it before it can get to me.

The infuriated animal squeeled in anger as it cast an angry glare at Viper and turned towrd him and his horse preparing to charge them...

[Beshira]

Beshira wasn't sure whether or not she should be furious or flattered by his sudden act of heroism, drawing the feral beast's attention away from her. The boar snarled and turned its focus to Viper and his steed. Acting quickly, she knelt down and fit an arrow into her bow, hoping to hit it before it charged and led the two on a chase through the forest. No such luck. Blind in its sick frenzy, it rushed forward and Beshira found only the briefest window of opportunity to strike. The arrow whizzed through the air and spiked cleanly through its hind leg, reducing its charge to a clumsy three-legged stagger before it crashed forward into the dirt.

She sighed and dumped her arrows back into her quiver, steadily approaching the boar with her knife ready. The thing probably had no clue what was going on, kicking feebly with its legs as it squirmed and squealed. From behind, she used both hands to jam her hunting knife into the creature's massive neck, forcefully working her way around until the boar ceased to struggle. Hands soaked in blood, she took a few steps back to observe the scene. It was messy, but it worked out.

"You didn't have to help me," she said, removing her arrows from the carcass.

[Viper]

"Hmph!" Came a gruff reply as he dismounted his horse and approached her and the now dead animal. He looked right into her eyes intently as he tried to figure her out. Was she simply acting like this because she didn't want to appear weak by actually needing a bit of help? Or did she really just think she was that awesome and invincible? Either way, it was beginning to grow wearisome. "You're right. I didn't." He said flatly, as he turned away from her to retrieve his own arrow. Kneeling down, he wiped the blood off onto the boar and quickly returned the item to it's place in his quiver. "And you're welcome." He said in a decidely less pleasant tone than what he had been using up till this point.

Walking back to Aeyan, he turned on his heels till he was staring at her again. With a raise of his eyebrow, he shrugged his shoulders. "So...how exactly do ya plan on gettin' that, thing, back to Syliras?" He had crossed his arms and began to lean again his horse as the slightest of smirks began to tug at the corner of his mouth once more.

[Beshira]

"I'll figure something out," Beshira sighed, letting her shoulders drop, "but I'm not going to be dragging the entire thing back to Syliras, if that's what your thinking. Only the most important parts are coming with me, and if it takes takes more than a whole day, then that's that. Camping out for a night is nothing new for me." She let out a light breath and kicked one of her broken arrows to the side, resting her hand on the back of her neck and turning to Viper, a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. "Thanks for helping me out. I owe you one."