Closed Where flies your arrow, dove? Where flies your heart?

[Lavira]

She felt the graze of claws against the soles of her shoes but thankfully it could not get a grip. The beasts savagery was not unknown to the mostly city-bound woman clinging to a branch some yards off the ground, her shoulders shaking with the adrenaline coursing through her. Her mind was reeling at how close to a rather unpleasant death that would have been; it would have been quicker than slowly dying to a combination of blood poisoning, dehydration, and starvation, of course, but still...unpleasant. Then there was a thud.

An arrow was sticking out of its neck, but the Vecerem was not deterred, its attention now turning towards the assailant, snarling and charing him after a few rolling steps. Her eyes widened in dismay and the dame chirped to Tulaj who had thusfar not been used. The summons brought the harrier into a half-dive above the animal when the second shot struck it in the chest, slowing it a little.

Come on boy, just distract it, give him time to get the kill. Don't get hit! The teen thought at it fiercely, shifting her feet up beneath her and balancing in that awesome way Inarta had. Their lacking fear of heights and the fact that they lived on a mountain meant they had a natural affinity for balance (most anyways), and it was that which she now used to perch on the tree branch, watching the albino grab a tuft of the badger-like beasts fur in his talons before rising again. The raptor screeched as it pulled then released the fur, flapping hard to get out of range when the animal twisted and lunged at him.

The position afforded a good angle to shoot the animal in the back of the head, something Kovac should be able to easily do. Vira sure as hell wasn't jumping down until it was well away from the tree. Tulaj would play the distraction, keeping the creature focused on him with well timed dives and grabs from feet whenever it turned away.

[Kovac]

The angle of the attacking creature, and the tangle of fallen branches and foliage it crashed through as it strove to get at the hunter, made it difficult for Kovac to get a decent shot. He had not heard Lavira's chirping commands to Tulaj over the din of the snarling vecerem, and was startled as the white streak of the harrier appeared over the predator, a fury of flapping wings, and screeching cries. Tulaj sharp talons tugged at the vecerem's hide, distracting it enough for it to twist in attempt to halt the irritating clawing. The raptor lifted above the vain reach of the beast, only to dive again when it began to turn back to Kovac. The vecerem turned again, growling at the pesky bird.

Kovac exploited the brave harrier's assault, rapidly releasing another arrow at the exposed base of its skull. The well-aimed missile drove into the monster's head, the vecerem emitting an ear-splitting whine as it began to flail wildly, lashing out madly at both the bird and anything else around it, aimlessly. Kovac dropped his bow, reaching back to grasp the hilt of his talon sword. Sliding it from the sheath, the Avora lunged at the writhing vecerem, trying to avoid the wildly swinging claws. Lifting the blade, Kovac drove it into the animal, through its body and into the soft loam of the forest floor. He released the weapon and jumped back, but not carefully enough to avoid the path of a burly paw thrashing it the death throes, the long claws slashing across Kovac's thigh.

With a sharp yelp, stumbling backwards and onto his rump, Kovac scrambled back far enough to avoid further contact with the dying vecerem, his hands clutching at the lacerations torn through both his bryda and his flesh.

x

[Lavira]

The whole thing had probably taken less than three chimes, Vira still perched safely in the tree though she knew she would need to climb down soon as her side pulsed in neural fire. Before long, though, the vecerem was dead, Tulaj flew to a branch nearby, and Kovac was sitting on the ground with some nasty scratches on his leg from the beast.

With a shaky breath, Vira laid across the branch she was on and dangled her legs before dropping hard to the ground below, whimpering a moment before finding her balance and hurrying towards her colleague and lover. She gave the dying creature a wide berth and then dropped down beside him, wincing at the sight of the injury. "Ouch, that looks nasty." Her fingers reached for a piece of the bryda around his hand and sucked a breath. "We need to rinse that out."

Throwing a look to the spasming creature as it finally began to cease its death throes, Tulaj glaring at it with beak open in a pant from his branch perch. "Let's get back to the stream, maybe there's...I dunno, something. I'm sorry, I'm a terrible survivalist, Kovac; We hunt small stuff near the city, not go trekking through the world beyond. Petch, I'd probably get lost if you weren't here." Abandoning his leg for the moment, Vira took an arrow from her quiver and cut a round strip several inches wide from the bottom of her bryda. Then, she carefully wrapped it around the scratches and cinched it tight.

After the wound was covered, Vira slipped an arm around his shoulders and tucked her hand beneath his arm on the other side, encouraging him to hang on with the opposite. "On three. One. two. Three!" She heaved to get him up; he was heavier and taller than she was so it was harder to get him balanced, but she managed in the end. Once up, Vira called Tulaj near and gave him a Search command once more, telling him the word Water in accompaniment before sending him off. He was to locate the nearest water source he could find.

The raptor quickly took to the air and disappeared above the trees, a white silouhette against a blue sky, before flying off in search. They didn't want to have to go all the way back to camp if they could avoid it.

Keeping her legs braced for a moment, Vira motioned him towards the log he had stepped/leapt over before and helped him to sit. "Wait here. I'll get the gear. Don't bleed out on me or anything; I'm not particularly interested in my investments keeling over, you know." She gave him a shaky smile, the adrenaline from the event still pumping through her system and making the girl anxious. Once getting his assurement that he was fine, the Chiet hurried back to the tree she'd dropped back out of and fetched her gear from its base, pausing long enough to check the string before heading back towards him and getting his gear too.

Once all was gathered, Vira fetched his knife from him and went to the finally dead critter. The gnarled teeth were still bared and its eyes, though dead of life, seemed to still hold captive all the rage of the world. If it were shaved, Vira mightn't have been surprised to find a mark of Ivak on it, if only for the foul temper the animal possessed.

Placing a foot at the back of the head, Vira grabbed the arrow near the skull and heaved, grunting when it stuck in the skull cavity. "Petch, come on..." she grumbled, resetting and pulling again. The arrow broke at the head and the falconer fell backwards onto her rump with an oof. "Ugh, can't catch a break this morning?" She paused, glowering at it for a moment, then laughed a little, the asenine little joke tickling the already on edge woman. Break. Broken arrow. Hah.

[Kovac]

There was blood, but a tentative peek through the torn bryda revealed that the gashes were not too deep, only the sharp tips of the vecerem's claws penetrating his flesh. Kovac had only the very basic understanding of first aid, but deemed that with a proper bandage and caution, the bleeding could be staunched. Still, as the adrenaline waned, the pain beneath was made manifest and he pressed down wincing to help control the bleed. Glancing up, he saw Tulaj flutter to a overhead limb, and Lavira jumping from her own perch. He saw the pain in her youthful face as she landed hard. The wound at her side was healing slowly, and the Avora secretly feared she would have some permanent pain from the grievous fall.

As his lover approached, Kovac painted a smile on his face to keep her from worrying. "Hey, it not that bad. Compared to the Zith and the Rakshasa this year, this one is nothing." Lavira manage to create a makeshift bandage with enough compression that the bleeding should ease. The Avora leaned as little on the petite Chiet as possible as he stood, paying for it painfully as he put too much weight on his injured leg. He winced. It hurt, but it was also obvious that no muscle was damaged, just the pull across the torn flesh elicited the sharp sting.

They managed to get Kovac to the log, which he leaned against. Lavira sent Tulaj off again, presumably to find water, before gathering their discarded equipment. The mongrel found a small smile play across his lips, in spite of his pain, as he watched the girl. As he leaned there, panting, searing pain shooting through his bloodied leg, miles away from any help or people, Kovac found something that had eluded him for so long. Contentment, and dare he say, happiness. Not that there hadn't been triumphs, moments of joy and satisfaction as a Yasi showed true talent with the bow, or a stolen moment with someone he cared for, like Euthisa or Aidara. But the sensation seemed to persist recently, so subtle that Kovac hadn't even seen it arrive.

Lavira returned with the gear, reaching around Kovac to draw the knife from his sheath. Then, the small woman neared the freshly killed bulk of the vecerem carcass. Kovac was glad that she did so, knowing Lavira was not going to let them leave without the prized hide of the beast. Kovac shifted a bit, thinking to rise and help her. But the pain pulsed, and the Avora realized the girl could, and should, skin the animal herself. But when she landed on her butt with a broken arrow shaft, Kovac's poorly stifled laugh blurted out.

"The thing is dead and still getting the best of you!" The mongrel chimed, a good-humored grin on his face. Though his leg throbbed. Kovac allowed himself to relax some. The scent of the animal would be sufficient to ward off even the largest predator, such was the reputation of the vecerem among its peers. "I bet we are the only ones to return with a vecerem fur, huh?"

x

[Lavira]

Vira swung her head towards Kovac and grinned back at him, even if he had laughed at her. "It was an exercise in futility. That thick skull hasta be good for something; I suppose knockin' lasses on their butts is about all it's good for." She got back onto her knees and approached the carcass, rolling the beast over with some effort.

Now here was the tricky part. She was really quite terrible at skinning still, most of her stuff having already been skinned or proving markedly easier to strip of its flesh. Throwing a fertive glance towards the other hunter, she pursed her lips in thought, wondering how to go about this without him laughing at her for that too. Returning eyes to the critter, she decided the best bet would be to hang it from a tree like he had done and slit its throat.

The only problem with this was she had no rope on her. That was all at the campsite! Well petch, what else could she use? Vira looked around. There were no vines that she could see, just ferns and grasses and she didn't have enough skill to craft a rope from either, let alone something strong enough to support the heavy mustelid. "Hm." She murmured, grabbing the animals back paw now and standing half way up. The teen proceeded to drag the kill to the nearest tree. The problem now was that the lowest branch was almost taller than she. How was she going to get it up there?

"Maybe if I..." she thought to herself, slipping her arms under the belly of the some twenty kilo beast and heaved until she got it up on her shoulder. Her gaze rose to the branch. It had a wedge in it small enough to trap the paw she would use but it was still out of reach for her to try and hang from here. The only option was to climb into the tree.

Settling the vecerem over both shoulders, the woman moved to the trunk and reached for the highest point she could, one foot finding a groove. holding the creature secure with her other hand, Vira heaved herself up with a mighty grunt, was about to reach for the next hold that would get her even with the branch when the weight of the carcass shifted and her grip slipped, sending her right back onto the ground. The wind was knocked from her lungs this time and she lay there stunned for a tick before rolling onto her left side and getting on her knees. "Petching piece of shyke why do you have to be so fat?" She grumbled, only slightly hoping HE hadn't seen what had happened.

Finally, getting back to her feet she looked towars Kovac and frowned. "Okay, help me out...what's the best way to go about this?"

[Kovac]

Kovac watched with veiled amusement as Lavira struggled with the vecerem carcass. He felt bad, in a way, letting her go on, knowing there was no way the slight girl was going to hang the dense body of the beast. But watching how her clever mind worked was intriguing, for Lavira displayed ingenuity and open-thinking often, something he himself wished he did more frequently. Besides, he liked watching her, a preoccupation he found himself doing a lot of lately.

She had tried to wedge the animal's foot in the crotch of the tree, again, an inventive concept. But the carcass proved to be just too heavy, and it tumbled against her, and both the vecerem and Lavira disappeared into the ferns. Kovac stifled a grin as she stood again, cursing at the dead creature. Finally, the proud woman looked to her companion for advice. Which he offered with a kind smile.

"You have the right idea, Vira. But If we are just taking the hide, we don't really need to fully drain it of blood. Just lean it upside down against the tree and slit its throat. Give it a few minutes for most of the blood to leave, then you can lay it out and skin it. I can help you." Kovac pushed off of the fallen tree with a grimace as the movement tugged at the claw wounds.

x

[Lavira]

Listening, she worked while he spoke, rotating the kill so that its backside was propped against the tree and its head was sprawled in the grasses below. The teen took the dagger then and lifted the head off the ground to expose its throat. Gripping the handle with her right hand, thumb near the base of the blade, she dragged the sharpened edge along the left side of the throat to the right, a gush of blood pouring from the new wound across the ground.

They'd been in the area around ten chimes now and another five as Vira waited for the blood to drain. She stood beside the carcass with one hand on her hip and the other bouncing the flat of the dagger against her thigh, impatient for the process to hurry on. As they waited, though, Tulaj returned...with a snake in his beak. The bird landed on the very branch Vira had originally been trying to reach and hissed at her, draping his kill over the branch and wiping his beak against the bark.

The Chiet looked up at him and scowled. "Really? You went hunting? Gods you are useless, Tulaj..." She grumbled then looked back at Kovac in apology. "Told you, he's crazy. Think you'll be okay till we find a stream?" She queried, turning back to the vecerem now. "I really don't want to ruin the hide, either. Those are so hard to come by." Her eye rose to him, a weaker smile given this time. She wanted to help, but the value of a vecerem hide was high and she was sure to be the laughing stock of the city if she came back with one that was butchered. "Walk me through it? Please?"

[Kovac]

Kovac leaned against the fallen tree, propping his injured leg up on the stump of a broken limb jutting from the log to elevate his thigh some and help ease the bleeding. The wounds throbbed, but the bandage was snug enough to manage the diminishing flow of blood. His eyes frequently scanned the forest terrain, alert to any threat as Lavira focused on bleeding out the vecerem. She was strong for such a petite woman, no doubt attributable to her hard work ethic. Still, the heavy carcass was cumbersome, and with her own healing injuries, the Avora knew it was not an easy task for his companion.

They remained fairly quiet as the beast bled out, as did the woods around them, until Tulaj returned with his snake. Kovac had to chuckle as the Chiet chastised the self-serving raptor, the smile flashed at Vira inferring no apology was necessary for the harrier's failed mission, nor for her misgivings about skinning the vecerem. Kovac was one who relished bringing back trophies from successful hunts, and the vecerem hide was certainly one he and Lavira could boast over. "I'm okay, the bleeding is slowing. Lets make sure we have a good prize to take home."

Pushing himself off of the log, Kovac stooped to grab his bow, using it as a form of crutch, though not putting full weight on it for fear of damaging it. He carefully picked his way through the underbrush over to Lavira. "It would be easier to skin if we could hang him, but I don't think we can manage that this time. You need it laid out flat, belly up." Kovac leaned against the tree, gesturing his intent with his hand. "Go ahead and zip it open and gut it like a usual kill, up to the head. Then, cut around the back legs from one foot and up the back of the leg then to the base of the tail, then cut down the other leg to the foot. The you can work the hide from around the legs. You can cut around the tail too if you want to keep it with the skin. Then peel it up towards the head. Then you can do the front legs. The only thing is we will have to roll him some to work it off."

x

[Lavira]

Vira repeated his instructions both aloud and in her head, frowning at the beast with wrinkled brow. Hoping she understood him, the teen grabbed the Vecerem's haunch and pulled him off the tree's base, dragging him with some effort a bit away and rolling him onto its back. She used her own feet and hands to spread the limbs enough to use the light through the trees above for cutting and, once ready, grabbed the hunting knife once more.

"Okay...cut around the feet." She repeated, slicing a circle a millimeter deep around the back paws and then the front paws. Returning to the back legs, she pressed the blade into the point where the foot joined with the leg and dragged it up to the animals rump, the skin splitting smoothly in the process. Most of the blood was gone now, but some dribbled from the cuts she made, making the flesh a little slick. Vira considered the tail, now, but decided against it and simply cut around it, dragging the tip through the tissue and up the belly to the throat; unfamiliar with the process, she did not want to go beyond that, and so, stopped there.

With that finished, the teen grabbed the skin around the left rear leg with her left hand and slid her right hand between skin and meat, loosening the fibers to make it easier to pull just like she'd seen him do with the marmot. She just had to go slow and steady and it would slip free. And slowness paid off as the dermal and fur lifted slowly and she was able to pull the rest of the hide down to the hip. The same was repeated for the left rear and both front legs until her hands were slick with blood.

Now came the hard part. Vira took care to open the hide around its belly until it was half-way off on both sides. The Chiet would leave the hide laying out on either side now and grabbed the right front and back paws in both hands, the fur on them and tough pads of their undersides making it easier to grip. She braced her feet against the ground and heaved, rolling the animal onto it's belly and then pulling it a little before untucking the legs again to allow for the shoulders to get the skin off there too.

Vira grabbed the skin at the tail-base and pulled again, spending several more chimes to get the hid up to the head. It was folded over the head now, the whole process having taken a good half bell and the Chiet's efforts showed in the sweat on her brow, grit of her teeth, and bare body of the dead Vecerem. Panting, she came to the front and rested her right knee on the ground, grabbing the skin once more just where it was currently left uncut. "Think we should take the glands?" She asked, referring to the scent-glands. "Might be good training for the Yasi who wanna become hunters. Recognize major threats and all."

While she waited for his reply, Vira pressed her right hand on the animals neck and pulled the hunk of hide she had hold of until it was half-way over his head. Her hands slipped then and she fell back on her rump for the third time that morning. She drew a deep breath and shifted back onto her knees, grabbing the hide in both hands now and pulling carefully once again. "Petch it's thick..." she grunted, hearing the quiet rrrriiip of it disconnected from the cartilage and jaws, at last pulling completely free and leaving an inside-out fur hide in her lap.

[Kovac]

As Lavira labored to strip the vecerem of its hide, Kovac slid down the tree to his rump. Standing was beginning to increase the throbbing pain in his leg. He stretched out the torn limb and checked the snugness of the bandage. Kovac encouraged the falconer with affirmations as she worked the heavy hide from the carcass, "You're doing good" and "keep at it" spoken with a smile. The Avora knew it was laborious, especially with the thing laying on the ground. But Lavira was persevering, a trait she exhibited often once she tackled the paralyzing fears caused by her tragic fall. And Kovac watch her proudly as she skinned their prize.

Kovac did not laugh as loudly when Vira landed again on her bottom, she was working hard and he suspected laughter again at her expense would not be edifying to the girl. But when she commented on the thickness of the hide, Kovac could not restrain a bawdy retort. "Hey, isnt that what you said last night?" His smile widened into an ornery grin.

Finally, the last stretch of hide pulled free from the carcass, and the Chiet held the pelt triumphantly in her small lap. "Well done Vira! We have a trophy to take back with us. Now they will know we actually did hunt while we were out here!" He winked and waved her over to him. "If you bring me the knife and pelt, I will scrape it quickly, to get most of the gunk off. Oh, and I myself don't want to take the glands, I don't want something poking a hole in those things and the stuff leaking out." If Lavira agreed, Kovac would scrape the hide roughly to get any scraps of flesh from it.

Once done, he wiped his hands on his bryda, away from the bandage to avoid anything that might cause infection. That was the biggest danger now that the bleeding had been slowed. They would have to find water to wash the wounds soon.