PM to join [Bronze Wood] Over a Deer (Sei Tendo)

[Wade]

13th Summer, 513 at the 14th Bell

Wade froze against the tree, afraid to even bat an eye. His heart fluttered. His nose burned with an itch that threatened to cause him to betray his perfect position in the shadows, downwind. The wind let out a hearty gust and ruffled the tree above him. An eye was cast his direction. Wade held his breath for a long moment before it flicked away.

The deer turned and majestically strode away. Wade waited a long time after it had crossed between to threes and disappeared before moving himself, knowing that his prey would be ready to spring away at the first sign of a predator.

He let out a huge breath and picked his shortbow off the ground. He paused a moment as he considered his course and tried to decide the best way to chase after this deer and close the distance without alerting it of his presence. He drew an arrow from his quiver and clenched it in his teeth. He crouched down and followed in the general direction of the deer. He moved as quietly as possible and made progress with agonizing slowness.

The deer's passing would have been obvious to a more experienced hunter. They would have stumbled upon this trail and been able to immediately identify their prey and chased after. For Wade, though, he had to keep his eyes down and his brain focused. Luckily, it was apparently a well used trail as the grass had been pounded to dirt in some places. Every time he came somewhere that the grass looked completely undisturbed, he turned back and had to find the trail again.

Wade stopped once again as he thought he heard something ahead. He licked his lips and feared that his lack of grace would send his prey trotting away. Sweat rolled down his face as he considered a day wasted.

Still, he got off of the trail and sought the protection of some heavy under undergrowth to the left of it. It sloped up a hill, so he fell on his stomach and crawled through it. He moved with exceptional slowness but still felt like a drunkard blundering about in a tavern. Luckily, the breeze was heavy and the forest decided to help Wade by making as much noise as possible. The leaves of the trees were screaming and the bushes were yelling as loudly as possible to cover for the poor lad.

Wade stuck his head out of the undergrowth and looked down the hill. At the bottom, close enough that even a novice archer such as himself had a good shot, were two deer. They were drinking casually, blissfully unaware that only one of them was going to leave with their life.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei Tendo

Sei lurked in the thick grass, only yards away from his deer. Sei inched closer, his fur damp with sweat, and his eye glued to the deer. Sei gritted his teeth, not sure wether it was time to end the chase. Then again, he'd been chasing the deer awhile, misleading it on wild runs to wear it down.


The deer was getting slower, so Sei picked up the pace. Silently moving through the grass. Sei sniffed up the air, crouching and keeping his head low. Something wasn't right. Sei had now stopped advancing toward the deer.


Sei sniffed again, unsure of why this was happening. The deer he was following was either smart or lucky. Sei could smell two Deer. Shit. They might be together. Things just got complicated.. Sei thought. Two deer meant trouble. If Sei went for one, the other would deflect him, and then they'd get away. Sei raised his head, just barely enough to see both deer together.


Sei lowered his head again, unsure of his next move. Okay. Two deer, one white tiger. I could try to split them up, but then I'd have to find them again... This is problematic.. Sei thought looking at the deer. But that was the least of his worries.

[Wade]

Wade ran is tongue across his dry lips once more. The hand holding his bow was steady as he slowly, silently, pulled the arrow out of his mouth and set it to the string. He inhaled and exhaled as he tried to cool the blood pounding through his whole body and thundering in his ears. He could feel the tension of the moment and wondered how the deer were able to move so lightly about with its oppressive weight in the air.

Wade let out a long breath and sighted down his arrow. He pulled it back to is limit. He targeted the deer he had originally been after, aiming for just behind its front leg. He envisioned the arrowhead burying itself right there and dropping the deer right where it stood. A thought crossed his mind; an image of the deer bounding away and his arrow burying itself in the bed of the stream.

Wade shook his head, forcing that thought away. He gritted his teeth and added the strength of his hungry stomach to that of his arm. His focus was totally on this one shot. He paused for the smallest of moments.

Then he let his arrow fly.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei couldn't tell the difference between the deer, so imagine his rage when an arrow killed 'his' deer. As soon as the arrow made contact, the second deer was gone, meaning that the remaining deer belonged to him. Of course, whoever would know better than to take it from him, right? Of course they would. It was decided. The deer was his, since whoever shot the arrow had chased away his prey.


Sei decided to take it. Sei strolled up to the deer and grabbed it by the neck. It was a nice size, and would probably sell for a nice price. Sei dragged the deer along beside him, not sure if he had done the right thing. Dismissing the thought, Sei picked up the pace until he neared the bush in which he had hidden his bag. Letting go of the deer, Sei transformed into a human and put on his clothes. Slipping on his backpack, Sei removed the arrow from the deer and slung it over his shoulder, tossing the arrow to the side. That's the end of that. Sei thought, until he was staring the hunter who had shot the arrow in the face.

"Damn.."

[Wade]

"Shyke," Wade muttered when he saw a white tiger walk up suddenly. The victory that had been coursing through his veins soured into fear. Adrenaline stiffened his spine as he imagined the beast leaping up to his hiding place and tearing him to shreds with its vicious claws. Wade dropped his bow and grabbed his axe as he considered what exactly he could do when a muscular creature such as a tiger leapt at him.

To his astonishment, the white tiger picked up the deer he had shot by its neck and dragged it away from the stream. It did not even look up at him, but instead padded off with Wade's catch hanging from its jaw.

"What the..." Wade chewed the inside of his mouth as he considered what had just happened. He had just been robbed... by an animal! Wade gritted his teeth, deciding that if he did not at least follow the tiger and see if he could possibly recover his deer then he would have to go home empty handed. And thoroughly confused.

He crept slowly through the undergrowth after the tiger, following the path of crushed plants and grass left in the wake of the dead deer. Wade's fingers were white as his tight grip questioned his sanity. The tiger could turn about at any point and rip him to pieces. In fact, the tiger might have taken the deer to draw him out just so that he could have himself a delicious meal of human as well!

Wade shook the thought away.

He passed by a tree and stopped in shock. A naked man was standing before him, over his deer. Wade could see his arrow lying slightly to the side. Wade straightened up as he tried to figure out the scene before him. He cocked his head as he realized that the man before him must have also been the white tiger; they were a Kelvic.

Wade gestured toward the deer with his battleaxe. His fear had left him now that it was not a wild white tiger before him. He was pretty sure he could take a naked man with the tough iron of his battleaxe. "That's my deer," he stated threateningly. He fixed his eyes on the man to intimidate him out of thoughts of turning back into the vicious beast.

[Sei Tendo]

"That's my deer." The man said fiercely, holding a battleaxe threateningly in his hand. "Damn..." Sei repeated. Sei calmly put his clothing, and slipped on his knuckledusters after he realized what the man had said. 'That's my deer.' Sei thought, enraged by the accusation. Sei repeated over and over in his mind. Standing straight up, Sei eyes shone with rage. "Your deer?!" Sei snarled, bearing his elongated teeth. Sei stepped forward and spoke with a tone of bloodlust. "I came hunting, followed MY deer, and lost my prey because of YOUR arrow!! So I took what was rightfully MINE!!" Sei was mad. But this was a whole new level of anger.


Sei got louder. "That deer belongs to ME. I--" Sei broke off, realizing his tone of voice and calming down. "Look. You scared away my Damn deer. So in exchange I took yours. I'd been tracking that deer for two bells already." Sei explained calmly. It was hard to be nice to people he thought was rude, but since Sei was a prankster he had an Idea.


Sei sighed heavily and walked to the deer. Slinging it onto his shoulder Sei walked to the hunter. and extending the deer to the hunter. "Forget it. Here. Take it before I change my mind." Sei said.

[Wade]

Despite himself, Wade faltered and fell back one step when Kelvic roared at him. Sei had clothed and armed himself and seemed ready to come to blows over this deer. Wade licked his suddenly dry lips and brought his battleaxe up and ready to fight. The man had a pair of knuckledusters on and, given his other half, he could probably fight with some ferocity. Still, what was foremost in Wade's mind as he looked at the sharp edge of his axe was the question of whether he was ready to kill over this deer. He had not taken a man's life, or even a Kelvic's life.

Wade was definitely ready to argue over who's it was, though, when the Kelvic seemed ready to fight for it verbally. However, the Kelvic suddenly seemed to have a change of heart. When the man seemed to suddenly give up the deer and offer it to Wade he was initially on edge, suspecting some trick from the cunning tiger.

Wade nodded. He lowered his axe and reached for the deer. He nodded again and cocked his head to one side, studying the man before him and re-evaluating him after his sudden change of heart. Wade put his left hand on the deer to accept it, the right hand holding his axe down at his side. "Thank you," Wade said.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei watched as the hunter lowered his guard. The hunter lowered his axe and reached for the deer. Sei pushed the deer closer to him, almost in his hand and suddenly kicked the hunters axe to the ground. Sei slung the deer over his shoulder and.. Wait. He RAN away?! Sei had grabbed his backpack in the other hand while running, making sure not to drop the deer. "As if I would ever give away MY deer!" Sei called back. Of course if Sei transformed, he could easily outrun the hunter even with the deer. The only problem was that if he stopped to transform, he would most likely be caught.


Sei swiftly rounded a right corner through the trees. Sei held the deer tightly where it had been hit by the hunters arrow, not leaving an once of a blood trail. Sei tried to avoid the twigs and leaves on the ground, but seeing how he couldn't watch just the ground, it was fairly difficult. On top of that, Sei still had rythem rattles in his backpack.

Rttl!Ryk!

They shook in his pack, the sound was starting to annoy him, but the faster he ran the better.

[Wade]

Wade reached for the deer, but suddenly the Kelvic lashed out with his foot and kicked his axe from his hand! Wade's eyes widened in fear as he dove for his axe. He came back up slashing at the air as he hoped to fend off the dangerous tiger-man's first assault. He lost his balance and nearly
fell as he connected with nothing.

Surprised, Wade looked about for his attacker but saw him running away with the deer slung over his shoulder! "Shyke," Wade cursed. He ran after the man even as the Kelvic's taunts reached his ears. His grip tightened on his battleaxe as his qualms over killing a person were being buried under insult and hurt pride.

He briefly considered bringing his bow to bear but dismissed the thought for fear that his shaky aim would be even worse on the run. If he missed a shot the crafty bastard would probably find a way to be long gone. So, he would just have to rely on himself to catch up and bring his heavy battleaxe to bear. He wasn't too afraid of the Kelvic in close quarters after he had shown that he was more willing to run than to fight.

Wade struggled to see good path to follow as he did not have the sharp eyes of a veteran hunter. Luckily enough, the man was making quite a bit of noise as he ran. Wade grinned and came on. He was quite ready to feel the rush of revenge when he caught up to and dealt with this Kelvic bandit. Even sweeter would be the sound of the mizas hitting the table when he turned this deer into a profit.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei kept the pace, making sure to keep distance between he and Wade. Sei was fiddling with the rattles while running. A smart hunter could track targets by sound, so Sei needed to stop the sound before he was caught. Sei placed the rattles back in his pack, keeping the deer on his shoulder. Sei had been running for awhile, when he had a plan. Sei looked back. The hunter was still there. Sei stopped and turned back.


Sei placed both hands on the ground, standing in the position of a cat. Sei flicked his eyes and tuned his ears. He was going to transform. Sei grabbed the deers neck with his mouth and positioned himself for tranformation. Sei mouth went to a slight grin. Hopefully this works. If not, I lose the game and die." Sei thought, lowering his shoulders. Suddenly Sei heard heavy footsteps, and the clang of metal or iron. "Come any closer and I'll rip your head off!" Sei snarled, bracing himself for the worst.