A Natural Born Hunter... And Kulde [Closed]

[Viktor]

Location: Area surrounding Avanthal Date: 7th Day of Fall, 510 A.V. A slight wind blew from the north, twirling the light snow that was falling into delicate spirals in mid air, before finally settling on the ground. Viktor had come out here with a single goal in mind, food. His bear side had been craving "fresh" food more and more lately and he had to give in. So now he was away from the warmth and comfort of the city, looking, or rather smelling for food. Once he was out of sight of the city, he quickly undressed to avoid tearing his clothes and was overtaken by a flash of light. a split second later, where there once stood a man, a large white bear had replaced him. He raised his nose in the air, looking for the faintest trace of his desired meal. Almost half a mile away, a seal came up for breath at an almost hidden hole in the ice, nearly covered in fresh snow. The scent was carried over the breeze, and worked it's way south. Viktor's nose twitched, the odor of digesting fish, indetectable to a human's sense of smell, was like a red flag to the kelvic. He took off at a trotting pace towards the source of the smell. Once he was within a hundred feet of the hole, he slowed down to a crawl, trying to remain as low to the ground as possible, even going so far as to keep his paws over his nose to hide the tell tale black dot approaching. The seal was long gone, but there would be another, they all had to breathe eventually. he slowly and carefully cleared the snow away from the hole, giving himself a clear shot. He crouched near the end of the hole, one paw over his nose, the other prepared to strike at the appearence of the next, unfortunate, seal. Now the only thing left to do, was wait.

[Kulde]

Kulde sat down in the cold snow and put a hand into the set of animal prints he was following. It was a deer he was following. A deer was good game. Bringing a dear home to the hold would be a great thing indeed. Give them meat for some time and he could return for some warmth and familiarity before he went off to try and join the Ice Watch. Kulde looked around for more tracks and a little further up he noticed another set of tracks, he silently followed the tracks. Hoping that he would soon catch up to the deer. He loved the thrill of a good hunt and as he moved silently after the tracks, he smiled to himself. His head and eyes constantly moving from side to side, trying to see any kind of movement. Most animals in this region had white fur or skin, so they blended in with the snow.

Kulde suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. There, in the distance, white moving on white. A polar bear? He felt the wind come at him, he was downwind of the bear. A deer might be a great prize to bring back, but a polar bear? The skin alone would be worth a minor fortune. But that went by Kulde's radar, he didn't care much for mizas. Kulde had never taken down a polar bear, he had seen them before (with Ice Watch riding them), but he had never managed to hunt one down. He would have to get within fifty yards before he could be sure to hit the bear. Kulde stopped, wondering what the bear was doing by the hole, then realizing it was much like when he was waiting for a seal to come up and then impaled it with his spear.

'Clever bear' Kulde muttered under his breath as he silently moved closer. There was something odd about that bear, Kulde thought as he dropped his spear on the ground and took out his composite short bow. Took an arrow as well and then looked in the direction of the bear. It was on the ground and it shouldn't have been able to spot him yet. He put an arrow on the string of the bow and pulled the string back. He judged the distance, a little above 50 yards, but those few yards wouldn't matter much. This bow could shoot much farther, but his accuracy then, would be limited, at best.

'Forgive me Oriana.' Kulde said below his breath. For he knew of the goddess and her love for bears. But, meat was meat and Kulde needed to bring something home to his hold. - He let the arrow fly. He could see right away that he arrow would hit the opposite of the breathing hole the Polar bear was guarding. Kulde let out a short curse under his breath and withdrew another arrow, waiting for the bear to turn towards him so he could give it an arrow right between the eyes or hit the vital organs.

[Viktor]

It had been nearly a bell before Viktor saw the first signs of movement beneath the water. It was only a matter of seconds before the seal would surface and be dragged to an untimely end. That was when an arrow bounced off the far edge of the hole, ricocheting into the water and scaring the would-be meal off. The wind had shifted just before the arrow hit, likely the cause of the miss, but also bringing a strangely familiar scent along the wind. The hunter was from Avanthal, and likely not very bright given the fact that he had attack the massive bear. He wasn't far off, although viktor was willing to bet that he was pretty close to the edge of any semblence of reliable accuracy with that bow. However, he'd likely be close to reloaded already, so turning and charging him head on wasn't the best choice. Instead he jumped over the hole, an easy task even in his human form and sprinted about twenty yards before stopping and spinning around to face his assailant. He was less than intimidated by what he saw. Ordinarily he would change back into his human form and talk things through, but he was to far from his clothes and would likely freeze, even with the mark from Morwen on his arm. And even though he was far off, something in his mind told him that the hunter was marked as well. So he's a Vantha? If he couldn't talk things through, maybe he could scare him off, or at least stun him enough to get closer. He reared up on his hind legs, revealing nearly nine feet of sheer bear, then slamming back down and letting out a loud roar.

[Kulde]

The bear leaped over the breathing hole and sprinted away from Kulde. Further increasing the range he would have to shoot, diminishing his chances of making a lethal hit. It annoyed him, for he wouldn't allow himself to cause this majestic animal any unnecessary harm. A lesser hunter would probably unload arrow after arrow into the bear, just to injure it until it succumbed to its wounds, Kulde wasn't like that. The death should be quick and with as little pain as possible. He owed the animals that much in return for their meat and hides. Kulde watched as the bear went up on its hind legs. It was an impressive animal. Only a foot and a half from being twice the size of Kulde. If only he had been closer though, the bear had allowed its entire front area be open for an arrow, he could have hit one of its vital organs then, but the distance prevented him, it annoyed him.

Any notion of this being a Kelvic polar bear, left Kulde's mind then, a Kelvic would have turned human and made him aware of their 'humanity'. Maybe it was a female Kelvic and they didn't want to flaunt their woman'ess? No. That didn't make any sense.

He heard the roar and knew that if the bear charged him, this would become a battle of life and death for him. He felt a shiver of fear and anticipation run down along his spine. It was a good feeling. He let the arrow stay on the string, but without having pulled the string back, for he couldn't move those 20 yards, while keeping the arrow fly, he didn't have the strength necessary for that. He glanced down at his spear, he needed that in case the bear suddenly charged him. 7-8 feet of spear was better than having 6 inches of dagger to protect him. He reached down. Holding arrow and bow with one hand, and the spear with the other as he sprinted the 20 yards forward. Letting go of the spear before grabbing the back of the arrow again and pulling the string back. Before letting another arrow fly at the large polar bear.

[Viktor]

Defending himself was alot easier for Viktor now that he could see where the attacks were coming from. He was already begining to sidestep as the hunter charged, running with both his bow and a spear. That's an odd style, is he going to launch the spear or something? he shrugged the idea out of his head as he hunter traded the spear for another arrow and sent it straight at him. I'd really rather not hurt him, but right now he is between me and my clothes. He kept circling around, trying to get a clear shot to sprint away to his clothing and a chance to change forms and stop this nonsense, while also trying to keep enough distance between them to prevent a clear shot. Unfortunately for him, the area was littered with breathing holes, both open and covered by the partial snow, which while it could work to his advantage, could also be the end of him. He was starving sa well, and while he could normaly just change forms, reveal his nature, then change back before he got too cold, he doubted he'd have enough energy. Sure he could outrun the hunter, but it was still a long walk to the city and it was difficult to avoid leaving foot prints when you weighed nearly a ton. He briefly toyed with the idea of tackling the hunter, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and dragging him to his own clothes, although he wasn't likely going down without a fight. He saved that as a backup plan, for now focusing on getting past without stumbling over one of the holes.

[Kulde]

Kulde was surprised by the intelligence of the bear. It didn't use either the fight nor the flight option. It neither charged nor ran away from him. To make things even stranger, the bear seemed to sidestep his arrows. Like it had seen a hunter before. This just gave Kulde an even deeper respect for the majestic creature. Big, powerful, and apparently intelligent. Kulde put another arrow on the string and shot it at the bear. Just to test if the bear would sidestep it as well, for if it did, then he would have to change his tactics and then move in much closer to the bear. So it wouldn't have the time to dodge the arrows. But that meant that he too, would be within range for a sudden charge from the bear.

He really didn't like that, even with his 7-8 feet long spear at his side. That polar bear packed some power, and Kulde wanted to kill that power from a distance, even if he wanted to try and fight the bear's strength up close one day when he felt good and strong enough. Kulde took another arrow out of his quiver. Not liking how many he was using. This would be his fifth arrow he would unleash, he only had another 15 in his quiver. That bear had to get hit soon enough so Kulde could finish it off. He unleashed the arrow, a little in front of where the bear was heading. Hoping to use the Bear's circling movement against it and catch it surprised ... And with an arrow sitting in its side.

[Viktor]

The hunter was catching on, although Viktor hadn't been trying to conceal his movements very hard. The next shot wasn't aimed directly at him, tracking his movements, and then he got an idea. He kept going, allowing the arrow to graze his side. He immediately turned and roared, shielding the "injured" side. In reality it was only a small scratch, but he was trying to make it appear much worse. He turned back to the hunter, emitting a low growl before charging straight at him, giving himself a slight limp, almost taunting him to keep firing. His goal was to get the hunter to fire another arrow straight at him, not counting on the bear, seemingly blinded by rage, to dodge it, giving him a chance to take him down. Although if he switched to the spear, unless the hunter thrusted with it, things would get alot harder, and he would have to stop just out of reach before working his way past it. maybe he could goad the hunter into a thrust, giving him a chance to grab the shaft with his teeth and pull it from the hunter's hands. Either way, he was taking a huge risk, but if he could just pin the hunter down he could likely just drag him back to his clothes and change back, still dry thanks to the backpack he had put them in.

[Kulde]

Kulde hit the bear. But it didn't bring him much joy to wound the majestic animal. For he almost sad for the bear knowing that the injury wasn't lethal and the bear would live with the pain should it turn around flee. Kulde took a step back when the bear turned and roared at him. The bear charged at him and he still felt bad for he could see the poor creature was limping. But the dominant feeling, wasn't pity, it was fear. The bear was charging him! Kulde was quick to get a new arrow on the string, pull it back without giving much time to aim. Kulde, who was accustomed to hunting deer, or fanged deers. Neither of those animals suddenly turned and charged you. They ran away. This bear. This HUGE bear was coming directly at him. And in a moment of weakness he panicked. He let the arrow go with the bear some 25-35 yards away, and still closing the distance. With Kulde panicking, the arrow would fly over the bear. Missing it by a good margin.

Kulde let go of the bow and reached down for his spear as he stepped back to get some more room to raise the spear before the bear was over him. He had just enough time to get the spear up in a defensive position. The backside of the spear put against the snow and ice behind him. Both Kulde's hands holding on to the spear with all his might. Hoping the bear would ram itself against the spear and let him live. Kulde had never realized, that his spear had looked to puny as now. Still, he didn't close his eyes. For he knew the man who blinked, could easily get mauled by some animal. He would have to use every single ounce of experience he had to survive this encounter. He realized, he couldn't survive if he let the bear come at him, it would get too close. He would have to strike out with the spear. Kulde would (should the bear continue running at him) thrust the spear forward at the bear head or upper body should it go up on its hind legs to appear larger and more threatening.

[Viktor]

The paniced arrow flew high and Viktor kept charging. At least until he saw the spear. All his weight would only serve to turn him into a bear kabob. He could have tried to swipe it out of the way and plow the hunter over, or even knock the spear up and back towards him, but what would that solve? Part of him wanted to just kill the man and be down with it, maybe even nab a seal before the sun fell, but he couldn't let the animal part of him take control. As a member of the Icewatch it was his duty to protect the citizens, and even if that meant putting himself at risk, then he would do what he had to. He brought himself to a halt, inches away from the spear, and sat down, staring straight at the hunter. He had no way of knowing how he would react, and he was likely setting himself up to die, but he refused to take the life of someone he had sworn to protect.

[Kulde]

Kulde was amazed, the bear stopped before his spear. Like it knew what would happen to it. He suspected that such an animal would simply charge through any prey that stood still and just maul it to death, not stop right before it, especially when it was injured. Kulde took a step away, perplexed as what to do, he could stab the bear with the spear as it was now, but something stopped him, made him hold back. Kulde just looked at the bear for a couple of agonizing seconds. Kulde lowered the spear, but kept his eyes fixed on the bear. Should the bear suddenly lunge at him, he would fall back, and pull the spear up, hoping to use the spears own weight to impale it, but Kulde had a feeling that this bear wouldn't do something like that. "You can understand me, can't you?" Kulde said after careful consideration on what to do. For Kulde realized that a normal polar bear probably wouldn't be this intelligent. It could be a wild Kelvic that had problems turning into its human form, or something like that. Kulde sighed loudly, feeling even sorrier for the bear. Depending on the bear's answer, Kulde might have hunted a sentient being for meat, just the idea of that made him cringe on the inside.