Flashback A Typical Hunt?

[Kars]

Ah, Kars once again relished in the breeze air, whipping around him and his strider, as the charged into the Sea of Grass from Endrykas.

Another hunting party, thirteen men strong. This one would be sure to bring in a nice amount of game for the city.

Kars recalled back to his very first hunt. Now, that was a good memory. He took that deer down while horseback riding, and even snagged himself a rabbit. Mmm, did it taste good. There was nothing like the taste of your own kill.

His stomach growled at the remembrance. This time, he'd be sure to try a little harder when it came to hunting rabbits. Snagging another one of those was a "to-do" at the top of his list, today.

They planned on riding a few miles out, not too far but as well far enough to find some decent herds of deer or maybe a pond with some duck flocks. You could spook them into the air, and then rain arrows on them to hit a few at random.

[Kars]

Kars enjoyed the taste of duck, but either way it was the rabbit he was after. For good game, however, it was always the deer and other hooved animals. Should they come across some type of bison, that would be an even better hunt. Personally, he had never hunted them before, but he had heard the stories. Don't want to get to close, because those things can become aggressive, and you certainly don't have the power to go hand to hand with it.

For now, Kars was just enjoying the riding. He and his strider both relished the feeling of a full speed charge, and Kars danced along the Webs simultaneously. Today was yet another great day to be alive!

Every now and then, a hunter would dart off to the side of the group to chase after a rabbit or some type of bird. Kars felt like he would do that too, but was more focused on keeping up, so as to get a good choice when they came upon a herd of deer.

That moment would come soon, as the party turned in unison towards a location laden with deer. Kars felt his blood begin to surge as the thrill of the hunt began to take him over. His eyes were fixed dead ahead.

Aha! There they were! a fresh herd, grazing on tall bits of grass. The entire hunting pack charged forwards, intent on bringing food back for their families and loved ones, and to continue to support their living expenses.

This time, Kars decided on chasing down a larger deer. As the deer broke to free themselves, Kars picked a nice sized eight-pointer out and rushed in pursuit.

His strider pumped its legs into the ground beneath him. It was a power beast, with some seasoned riding miles on it. The deer kept a good distance ahead, veering and evading left and right. But Kars and his strider were even better, and they continued in their relentless pursuit.

Kars rose up a bit, balancing himself with the yvas, and pulled his shortbow from his back. Knocking an arrow, Kars pulled the string back to his cheek and took aim.

TWANG!

The arrow flew, but at that moment, the deer veered and the arrow lodged itself harmlessly into the ground!

Kars cursed his timing, but didn't give up. He pulled yet another arrow from his quiver and fires it once more at the deer. This time it hit it's mark, but the arrow lodged into the deer's back; a spot that would not bring the deer down immediately. Kars pulled yet a third arrow from his quiver, and this time he tried to flank up the deer. When he felt he had a good enough vantage point, he aim his bow at the deer's neck.

THUD!

The arrow hit the deer in its upper right shoulder. It tumbled a bit, but keep surging on, albeit at a slower pace.

I've got it this time, Kars thought. With another arrow loaded, he fire once more. It lodged into the deer's upper neck, and the deer tumbled down. Kars, knowing the deer was not yet dead, hopped off his strider quickly, rushed over to the dying deer, and plunged the knife into a vital spot behind its head. It died instantly.

Kars never felt bad for animal deaths, but he could not stand to see the suffering of ANY creature, game or otherwise.

Triumphantly, Kars set about skinning and gutting the deer. It didn't take too long to carve the deer open and remove the offal, which greatly lightened the load. With all of that left out in the open, Kars was now free to load the deer onto his strider and do the more detailed work of skinning back at Endrykas.

[Kars]

As Kars loaded his kill onto his strider, he experienced a strange sensation that creeped all over his body, starting from his feet. It was only there for an instant, and then it was gone. But shortly after, a high-pitched wail erupted across the plains, followed by many more. All the hunters paused and stared around in shock and confusion.

Suddenly, a hand sprang from the ground like a violent plant and grasped around Kars' ankle. What!? he thought. A... hand!?

"YUKMAN!" One of the hunters on a nearby hill shouted. The horses whinnied and the hunters began calling orders and whistling for their horses. More screeched broke out into the air, like a crazed, deranged melody.

Yet another hand grew from the ground, and a face erupted below him, releasing one of those hideous sounds.

Kars tore his shortsword from his belt and with a shout, plunged it into the face of the creature. It's scream was cut short.

Kars pulled the sword out and surveyed the land. What he saw made his mouth drop. Around him, the sight was like a horror. Malformed, humanoid creatures clawed their way from their earthy prisons; the scowls etched on their faces betrayed their blood-chilling lust for destruction. As they rose completely free of the grasslands hold, they began to hobble towards the Drykas hunting party.

They are walking so slow... Kars observed. These are the Yukmen I've heard about?

One hobbled closer to Kars and his strider. It was a naked human-like body resembling a Drykas with a bald head, only it was much shorter. At first it's appearance struck Kars as a dead man's body, but there weren't any mortal wounds, though the skin was dry and cracked. Clumps of dirt and rock jutted from it's body, as if incomplete in composition. One rather large, round, gray rock protruded from its lower abdomen, which weighed it's slow gait a bit.

Kars braced himself, standing before his strider. He pulled his arm with the shortsword back behind him, pointing forwards, and barred his left arm in front of him, as he was shown in training. When the monster was close enough, Kars lunged forwards and struck the creature in it's neck.

CLANG!

The blade connected with some hard substance lodged in its throat, and sparks flew freely. The monster wast not killed, bit it did tumble back a bit, a small trickle of blood flowed like a stream from the area that was cut. Kars pulled back and swung the sword, this time rending a ribbion through the monster's torso. As Kars yanked the sword free from the body with a sickening, wet sound, the yukman collapsed to it's knees and then fell flat on it's face, clearly dead. Small amounts of dirt and blood began welling on the grass. Kars turned the body over and, being as curious as he was, cut into the monster's neck. He pulled out the object that had been there; a dirt covered crystalline geode. Before thinking too much about it, he pocketed it and rose back to his feet.

Two more yukmen were closing in on him and his strider. His strider nervously twisted and clomped about.

Better get out of here soon,he thought.

With a shout, he charged at one and swung his sword at it's head. It carved through easily, and the yukman collapsed. The other one grabbed Kars from behind on is shoulder. Kars quickly spun around, and seeing it's other hand raised to strike, lopped off the arm with a quick swing. His second swing went for it's legs, where it collided with another hard substance, followed by many sparks. Kars cursed, but he kept it from attacking at least.

Kars jumped back to regain his stance, but he collided with a yukman that had crept up behind him. It wrapped it's arms around him and let out a harsh scream, which chilled Kars to the bone.

The one he had struck in the leg leaped forwards at him, but Kars could move his arm just enough to outstretch the sword, impaling the charging monster in the stomach, cutting short its terrible scream.

A spurt of dirty blood struck Kars on the side of his cheek, and the grip the yukman had on him lessened. Kars spun around, ready to strike, only to see another hunter with a hunting knife lodged through the yukman's eye.

"Let's go! There's too many!" The hunter shouted.

Kars nodded, and hopped atop his strider. With a shout, he kicked it into gear and rode off towards Endrykas along with the other hunters, dodging around yukmen as they went. They rode fast and hard, so as to reach the city in time to warn them and think of a plan.

Soon enough, the city came into view. What Kars had just experienced resounded deep within his being; it was a mixture of fear and excitement. These things he had just faced were truly dangerous, and they engaged in combat. Whatever the Watch decided, he hoped they would include him.

[Khida]

Grade Hold

The actions Kars undertakes in this thread are above his current skill levels. Because of this, I cannot give you any award.

• Kars is a novice rider and a novice archer. As I mentioned previously, he does not have the skill required to effectively pursue and bring down a deer from horseback.
• Furthermore, Kars is a novice with the shortsword, yet you show him accurately striking and rapidly dispatching several Yukmen. His every blow comes across as perfect, including the lopping off of an arm with a single stroke. This is not at all consistent with novice skill.
• Finally, two minor notes: 1) this thread needs a timestamp; and 2) you cannot kick a horse "into gear", it is not a machine. That's a modern idiom most people of Mizahar would neither use nor even comprehend.

Please PM me to discuss these problems and how to address them.