PM to join [Bronze Woods] Hunters of a Different Feather

[Noah Amuel]

Noah Amuel Winter 61st, 513 Noah flew through the sky with a rumbling stomach. This had been the first time he left Syliras' city walls since his arrival nine days ago and he was happy to spend it in the biting winter winds. He was silent at his vantage point high in the sky. The Bronze Woods below had many clearings where prey of all types gathered for his pickings but today he was looking for something large. He was looking for something that made a statement to not only himself but to whoever witness; a statement saying that he was here and this was now his home. He circled a clearing twice and his eyes, blue as the sea, surveyed the clearing below. It was white with snow, bright from the sun that every so slightly managed to peak from behind the usually heavy overcast skies. No prey in sight yet Noah whispered in his thoughts as he circled.

[Telrin]

The snow was thick today, though not as thick as it had been the day before. Syna’s rays had managed to reduce the thick blanket of white, and what remained had refrozen overnight and was firm enough to walk upon. Telrin found himself in the western portion of his range today, toiling through the underbrush with his bow in a loose grip. He had happened upon the trail earlier that morning; it wasn’t that of a specific animal, but many––which led Telrin to assume that there was a water source nearby, and that this was the way to it. He emerged from the underbrush into a clearing that was sliced neatly in half by a stream, and the sound of running water confirmed that it was not completely frozen over. Telrin glanced around, looking for good vantage points from which he could wait. There. A tree had died long ago, but its neighbor had kept it from falling completely. The trunk was leaning diagonally against another, making an almost perfect ramp into its branches. Telrin slung his bow across his back and made his way towards it. Telrin was a shoddy climber, to be sure, but this wasn’t a very difficult thing to climb. Still, it did provide some difficulty; he ended up having to wrap his legs around it and slowly scoot upwards, until the branches of the living tree were in reach for him to grasp and haul himself into. From there, he took his bow in hand again and shifted around, trying to find a comfortable spot from which to shoot. The hours crawled by, and the boy remained in his tree, watching. If there was anything hunting had taught him, it was patience; the tracks had proven that animals came here, and so if he waited long enough another one had to come along sometime. Which couldn’t be–– ––there. Rustling in the bushes. Telrin shifted in his seat and drew an arrow from his quiver. Something was coming… yes, the bushes were parting. It was a red deer that eventually poked its head through the foliage, testing the air for danger. If it smelled Telrin, it obviously assumed that he was long gone and stepped into the open. Telrin readied his bow. It was a buck, though its antlers were hardly big enough to be called such. It was very young and a bit on the small side, but Telrin wasn’t picky. The creature made its way towards the stream, still checking the area for movement. Telrin was slow in drawing his bow, almost painfully slow. He couldn’t afford to startle it, not after so long waiting. It was close to Telrin, not possibly more than four or five yards away. He could shoot it if he concentrated… Tilrin drew the arrow to his cheek and sighted the length of the shaft. He took his time aligning it to the buck as it bent its head to drink, doing his best to aim right behind the shoulder where he’d have the best chance of destroying vital organs and slaying it with a single shot. He didn’t want to lose this. He took a breath, then let the arrow fly.

[Noah Amuel]

Noah Amuel Noah rustled his feathers and craned his neck from his plumage. The Kelvic had settled for a nap after snatching up an hare for his earlier hunting trip. Nothing big had came his way yet so the hare had to do until better prey showed itself in the traveling daylight. He had moved clearings, instead choosing to search further west to another, larger clearing. This clearing was thought to bring more prey with the promise of cold water from the running stream that cut the clearing in two neatly, as nature had intended. Noah expanded his wings on the branch he occupied to stretch them. His wingspan was longer than he was tall and had the power to take him to heights unknown to man. It was an ability that he had grown proud off -- much to his father's pleasure. Noah could soar as high as he wanted and his body allowed for graceful and quick aerial acrobatics; acrobatics that made his heart race and stomach drop when he free fell. He could do wide turns, pumping his wings strong and hard and agile changes of direction with the flick of his wing. Noah did none of that now. He groomed himself and focused his eyes on the clearing ahead. He heard the water of the stream slapping against its frozen shoulders and the wind was blowing calmly against him, his scent was hidden just as he liked it when he hunted. It wasn't as if his scent matter during the hunt, most of his kills were done from above, where his prey was least expecting it. He took a breath, patient in the daylight. The stream promised prey and prey came as anticipated. This prey in particular was a juvenile buck that poked its head from the densely packed Woods. Noah took sight quickly and focused. He warmed his wings, shuddering them forcibly and pumping them quiet and hard. The buck was small, not an adult yet but still an easy catch for a bird as big as him. Quick as gold disappearing on the horizon he thought to himself in his mother's voice. The buck approached the water, haphazardly stepping on the hardened snow until it reached the stream. It ducked down and lapped up the flowing waters. Once and then twice. Noah pushed off his perch and soared low, wings pumping all the way and he landed on his prey as it fell, kicking up a spattering of snow. Noah blinked curiously as the snow settled. His prey put up no fight and as the snow settled he noticed an arrow sticking from the deer's shoulder blades. An arrow? he asked no one. Instantly the Kelvic surveyed the woods around the clearing. A hunter. Where? he asked again, seeing no clear figure in the clustered tree trunks.

[Telrin]

The arrow flew true, sliding between the buck’s ribs with the sound of ripping flesh and nicked bone. The deer let out a scream and leaped forward––but a single leap was as far as it went. Its leg stalled against the arrow and it tumbled onto the ground, never to rise again. And then a bird landed on it. Telrin blinked, apparently as surprised as the bird was to find its prey already dead. The eagle’s strike found unmoving flesh, and it surveyed the deer for a moment before catching sight of Telrin’s arrow. Immediately the sharp golden eyes turned to its surroundings with uncanny intelligence. Telrin, however, wasn’t much in the mood for hiding. That was his deer, and if the eagle was allowed to get at it then the hide would be ruined! Telring didn’t waste any time getting down from the tree, even opting to simply drop to the ground instead of climbing. The impact jarred his legs, and he had to rest a moment before he could run towards the bird, waving his arms and shouting. “That’s mine! Shoo! Go away!”

[Noah Amuel]

Noah Amuel Noah's surveying on the dense woods revealed a man coming from them. This man waved with warning at the Kelvic. "That's mine! Shoo! Go away!" he shouted to Noah. So that's the hunter he stated in his thoughts. The hunter waved for Noah to fly away and to leave the kill to the human but that just wasn't about to happen. Noah was famished now so he opened up his wings fully in their glory showing off his dark brown coat of feathers in an instinctual display to make himself seem bigger than he originally was. However, this wasn't enough to detour a human, he thought. Noah screeched out, high and shrill in his eagle speak, "It's mine!" He flapped his wings now and hopped along the snow covered ground around the the felled deer, crying out in fair warning as the human crept closer.

[Telrin]

The eagle baulked, wings flaring and coming to mantle the fallen deer. It was this that brought Telrin to realize how big the bird truly was; he’d only ever seen eagles from a distance, and he’d seen a hawk up close once, but it was nothing compared to the sheer size of this bird. Telrin slowed in hesitation, but did not stop; he had waited a long time for that deer, and he wasn’t about to let a bird––any bird––take it from him so easily. The eagle screeched and forsook its perch on the carcass, beating the air with its wings and hopping protectively around the deer. Telrin did stop then; the bird was large, easily half as tall as he was. And with its wings wide in aggression, it was beyond intimidating. “Get out of here!” Telrin shouted, voice rising in pitch. “Shoo!” Even as he shouted his hands were moving, drawing another arrow and fitting it to his bow. The eagle was mere feet away, and it was a large target, but his hands still shook as he half-drew the weapon and leveled it at the creature. “Go away!” he continued to shout. “Now!”

[Noah Amuel]

Noah Amuel Noah shouted with renewed urgency as the human fetched his bow, bringing an arrow to the wood. The Kelvic was unsure of what to do now, usually his threatening presence and size bullied him whatever he wanted and he didn't have the heart in him to harm a human. Still Noah could sense the fear in the man, although he knocked his bow his movements were still hesitant and doubtful. He's scared he thought, suddenly feeling guilty. The eagle settled his wings and took on a more submissive body language. He backed from the fallen buck towards the river and stood near the waters where they lapped at his talons cooly. His voice was quiet and his wings were tucked. Yet he watched for the man's next moves with his eyes, cold, perceiving, and blue as the clear sky.

[Telrin]

At the sight of the bow, the eagle did a very strange thing: it became quiet, backed away from the deer and folded its wings neatly. Telrin couldn’t help but stare, utterly mystified as the eagle simply watched him, making none of the threatening gestures it had earlier. The hunter lowered his bow, uncertain of how to handle this. He had never seen a raptor act like this before, though he’d had a kill snatched here and there. Even shot one once. But he’d never had one screech at him, then calm down and simply look at him. It was almost surreal in how strange it was. Telrin, at a loss for what else to do, kept the arrow to his bow––pointed at the ground, thought ready to draw if something happened––and took a single step forward.

[Noah Amuel]

Noah Amuel Noah watched as the man lowered his bow and arrow towards the ground. In those moments the tension between both hunters subsided and they stood, watching one another for movement. The man made the first move, a single step. Figuratively testing the ice for it's strength in this once tense situation. Noah did the same, taking two small steps from the bank of stream towards the deer and man once more. He kept his eyes on the man's eyes, shifting them only once to look at the bow. He was ready to take off at a moments notice, he only hoped that he was fast enough to outpace this hunter's when it came to shooting the bow. He dare not move until the human moved again.

[Telrin]

Telrin tensed as the eagle took a step, then another. Then it fell still, making no more movements save a quick glance at the bow. It obviously recognized the weapon for what it was, and the threat it posed had encouraged the eagle to seek out some sort of compromise. Either way, they were now both exactly the same distance for the deer. Telrin kept the bow down, but his shoulders remained coiled. This was strange, very strange. Too strange for him to really process right now. This bird was much more intelligent than any Telrin had ever come across, and this made him even more cautious as he took another step towards the deer between them. The word, however, escaped him without thought before he had the chance to rein it in. “Um… hello?”