PM to join What is Hunting Whom? (Ravenna Raye)

[Harkon]

Timestamp: Fall 55, 514 AV Location: Swamps south of Lorak Plantation Time of Day: 15th Bell, Afternoon Harkon was quite furious with one of the other mercenaries that had been guarding the Morealis Slaves. He'd apparently let his guard down, and the slave had clubbed him in the head with a large rock, knocking him unconscious. The Slave then escaped. Harkon was working the southern end of the plantation, and the escape occurred at the northern end. No one had seen where the slave had gone, but the Lynints had assured them no slave had cut through their swamps. Harkon was forced to assume he'd fled along the Kabrin Road. All mercenaries that worked for the Morealis and could be spared were sent out to try and find the slave before night fall. None of them would be caught out after that, far too dangerous. Harkon had followed the road westward, stopping in the Lorak plantation, asking their own guards. They hadn't seen anything, so Harkon went due south to search the swamps. Slaves rarely made it far without the help of the Rujaro. And since there was no one dead, and no other signs of vandalism were evident, he doubted their involvement. Crossing the border of their plantation into the wildlands, he drew his axe. He knew this land was dangerous, and had to be on full alert. Harkon moved slow, constantly minding his footing, making sure he didn't step into quicksand or deep mud. He looked to the skies, seeing clouds starting to gather. He would have to remember to keep an eye on that, he did not want to be caught in the swamps during a storm. Harkon tried to see if the mud showed any obvious footprints, but it all just looked like mess to him. He kept his bearings with Syna to continue south, eyes always looking ahead or down, keeping a steady grip on his axe. Then a man's scream bellowed out from the distance ahead. It didn't sound like a pained scream, but rather a panic induced one. Harkon continued his pace in that direction, not abandoning his caution. He broke through the branches of a willow, only to see a small clearing with the slave seemingly treed in mangrove by some sort of wild cat. It hissed, swatting at the air, as Harkon's foot crunched a branch. Shyke. The cat's head swiveled immediately in his direction. This was not good.

[Ravenna Raye]

The day had started off reasonably well for Ravenna. She'd slept in without wasting much of the day, and when she awoke, dressed and headed into the swamplands with her hunting kit and bow and arrows. Ravenna didn't have a dire need for hunting today, but lately she'd been spending as much time in the swamplands as possible with the recent controversies going around Kenash. She wasn't really interested in the gossip or anything like that, so she avoided it by hunting. She was never after anything big and serious, she was close to that point, but she didn't yet feel confident enough to take on large game or wildlife, so she stuck to things like foxes, rabbits, and things of the like. Animals that were small enough for her confidence, in enough abundance that she wasn't upsetting the balance by picking off a few, and were worth at least something for either their fur or their meat. She didn't profit greatly, but she got by just fine, and that was enough for her.

It was late morning, borderline afternoon by the time Ravenna entered her usual hunting area, and outside of normal nature sounds, it was quiet. Keeping a keen eye on her surroundings, Ravenna noted the clouds beginning to form overhead, and therefore made a mental note to not stay out there too long. The swamp was difficult enough to manage oneself in when the weather was pleasant. Ravenna could only imagine how awful it could really be in bad weather. She wasn't up for that kind of struggle today. She proceeded slowly forward, watching her step, mindful of down sticks and branches, large amounts of leaves, thick mud, and kept an eye out for quicksand too. That would just ruin her whole day. Hazel eyes scanned the ground beneath her in detail, looking for any recognizable animal signs she could find, but she'd also be the first one to admit her tracking skills were limited. She could see a footprint here and there, but couldn't figure out where they went, or how many there were, or anything else. She usually found her bow's victims by chance and a little luck here and there.

She steadily crept along through the swamp, pack hanging from her side, bow in hand with an arrow already strung, hair tied loosely at the back of her head. Rustling off to her left caught her attention, a fox scurrying through the lower bushes and plants, retreating to who knows where. Ravenna watched him with her eyes as long as she could, and then followed as quickly and quietly as she could manage, and it finally stopped to dig at a hole in the ground, searching for food. Ravenna squatted behind a tree some yards away, using its trunk to hide her form, and to brace against for extra steadiness. She raised her bow straight in front of her, careful fingers slowly pulling back the string, eyes focused down the arrow as she sighted her target. She kept her breathing slow and steady, and just before releasing her arrow, held her breath so as not to let it stagger her. Her arrow reached the fox a second later, though not where Ravenna had been aiming. She'd been aiming for where the lower underside of his neck reached his chest, and instead shot him in the backside of his front shoulder. It did the job, it was quick and painless so he didn't suffer, and Ravenna went to retrieve her kill. She examined the entry wound of her arrow, trying to detect the angle at which the arrowhead entered his body. Pulling it out the wrong direction would tear more of his flesh than necessary. Managing to remove the arrow carefully, it went back into her quiver, and using her hunting knife to cut a small section of rope off her roll, Ravenna secured the fox to her pack and moved on.

Moments later, a scream echoed through the woods, seemingly off towards the right from where Ravenna killed her fox. It was a human scream, but it didn't sound much like a scream of torment. Another arrow notched into her bow, not fully strung but held carefully in front of her, Ravenna moved to investigate. The trees thickened ahead surrounding a clearing, and she knelt behind a thick section of shrubbery to conceal her body as she looked in on what was going on. A man, who appeared to be a slave, was scrambling into a tree, a wild cat close behind. It couldn't be known what this man did to enrage the feline, but it was evident it wasn't happy with him. It hissed and clawed towards him, and Ravenna was sure it could make it at least part way up the tree, if not more, if it truly desired to do so. Movement in another direction caught Ravenna's eye, and a man with an axe stood across the clearing from her. The cat was too occupied with the slave to realize this other man was there, until he snapped a branch beneath his feet. Oh no... Not good. She thought to herself.

The cat turned it's attention to the man, the one on the ground and plenty within reach. It wouldn't need to get up a tree to attack this man. And it knew it. With all the grace of a practiced hunter, the feline turned and approached the man, body tense and every movement calculated, ready to run or pounce when the time came. The choice to kill the cat or help it when it came to the slave may have been a difficult situation for Ravenna to process, but this one was not. She needed to do all she could to help this man. She thought of the bow in her hands, arrow ready to fly as soon as she was ready to release it, and she also thought of the fox attached to her pack. A hungry wild cat will eat any food presented to it, already killed or not, but animals like that thrive in the thrill of the hunt. Ravenna felt that unfortunately, giving up her fox to the feline wouldn't solve their problems. She raised the bow, sighted down the arrow, and did all she could to steady herself for the shot. Under ideal circumstances with the fox, her aim had been off. For that situation, it hadn't mattered. But this circumstance was anything other than ideal, and if her aim was off here, it would matter. She could accidentally hit the man instead, hit the cat in the wrong spot and it wouldn't stop him, or turn its attention to her, and none of those circumstances would be enjoyable. Right now she had an advantage in that the cat didn't know of her presence. She couldn't screw this up.

Her heart raced, her cheeks flushed with the adrenaline, and it took everything in her to keep herself steady. She aimed for the top of the neck, just beneath the edge of the skull, and prayed to Caiyha for assistance in making sure this went as planned. She stopped her breathing, steadied herself, and released the arrow. Her heart immediately resumed its racing pace, and her entire body tensed in response. A thud was heard as her arrow made contact, but again, she was off from where she had been aiming, though this time she wasn't off by as much. The arrow struck the cat in the neck, but in the meaty side of it, and while it injured him, it didn't stop or kill him. Snarls and bared teeth in her direction proved that now he knew she was there. And that thought made her blood run cold.

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[Harkon]

Harkon's grip on his axe shifted from tight, to a relaxed, yet firm, hold, as the cat snarled at him. He really needed to mind his footing at all times in the swamps. He considered the situation, knowing that his axe served very little in the terms of defense. That meant offense would be the way to go. He slowly raised his axe, keeping his eyes on the cat, in order to gauge when it might attack. Harkon was about to start his charge forward when the twang of a bow rang out. Instinctively, Harkon crouched, his mind instinctively thought he was under attack by a Rujaro helping the slave out. Starting to cast his eyes in the direction of the sound, he saw an arrow had stuck the wild cat in the neck, and just angered it further. But it had also served as a distraction. He leapt forward, charging toward the cat, but was decidedly too slow. The cat skirted away from him, hissing and swiping, just missing his thigh. Harkon lowered his stance, keeping his axe out to the side, so that he could swing it up or down with equivalent ease. He began sidestepping, slowly circling around it, the cat never taking its eyes off him. Perhaps it realized the danger it was in, wounded and outnumbered. There was a rustling above Harkon, who in that moment, realized he'd put his back to the tree that the slave was stuck in. He felt a large weight crash upon his back and shoulders, knocking him down to all fours. The cat, using that as a distraction, darted off into the swamp, the thought of an easy meal no longer at the forefront of its mind. Harkon threw an elbow, trying to strike the slave. But the man hit the ground running, charging toward the mysterious archer that Harkon could only now see. Harkon managed to get one leg beneath him, and took a single upward swing with his axe, using the momentum of standing to follow through. The blade managed to slice through a section of the man's rump, eliciting a surprised squeal of pain. But the attack didn't seem to slow him down. "Stop him!"

[Ravenna Raye]

As the cat paid attention towards Ravenna, the man with the axe used the distraction and attempted to attack the feline. He lurched towards it, axe swinging, but the cat escaped him and the two were now in a face off. Their eyes locked onto one another as the man started to slowly try and circle around the predator. Unsure of what to do, perhaps even in shock since it was all happening so quickly, Ravenna remained in place, watching the scene before her, trying to figure out what to do. However, with another turn of events, the man with the axe was suddenly struck from behind by the slave both Ravenna and this man had forgotten about in the wake of the angry feline. He'd leapt onto the man's back, knocking him down and scaring the cat away, and had hit the ground with his feet already running, in her direction.

The man swung his axe at the slave as he stood back up, and he managed to cut skin, but it wasn't enough to deter or even slow down the slave. He called out to her to stop this man, and Ravenna weighed her options. She was still kneeling behind the thick shrubbery at the edge of the clearing, and just as the cat hadn't known she was there, this slave couldn't know either, for surely if he did, he'd be running in a different direction. However, there was no time for use of her bow and arrow. Instinctively reaching for her hunting knife, she grasped the handle firmly, blade pointed away from her, but at the ready. When the slave neared her hiding spot, folded legs launched her into the air and into his path, body tensing, bracing for impact. Her body collided with his from the side, his shoulder easily jabbing her in the chest, and she succeeded in using her weight to send the slave tumbling to the ground still inside the clearing.

She stumbled to keep her footing, but remained upright, and with a hunter's instinct kicking into full swing, Ravenna flung herself on top of the slave. He was more on his stomach than anything, giving Ravenna full advantage of staying out of the way of any kicking feet. Her free arm wrapped around the top of his head, forearm and elbow stretched across the forehead, lifting his head off the ground. The hand with the knife instantly went to his neck, blade touching the skin. The cold feel of metal against his throat deterred any attempts to fight her off or injure her, and his struggles were kept to a minimum. Confident he would remain in place with the thought of a slit throat, Ravenna looked to the man who'd been after him in the first place. Referencing the slave with a tilt of her head, she called out to him. "I take it he's yours?" She let out a sigh as the adrenaline began fading. "You alright?"

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[Harkon]

Harkon watched as the mysterious woman quite ungracefully tackled the slave and made him submit with a knife to the throat. Harkon belted his weapon and rolled his sleeves up his muscular arms, walking over to the woman and her captive. "He's not mine, but I am retrieving him." He ignored her question as to if he was alright, which for the most part he was. He'd have a bruise or two on his back where the man jumped him, but he would in fact be fine. Besides, he liked his first impression to appear more stoic. Especially a woman with a rump like hers. As his eyes studied her form, keeping the slave subdued, he walked around them, so that he was in front of them. He set his axe down against a tree, and pondered the situation. He considered kicking the man, but he had stopped fighting at this point. But since Harkon hadn't brought his leash and collar, he'd have to improvise. He knelt down, "I'm going to tie his arms." He placed his large hand atop hers that held the knife, and gently moved it from the slave's neck. Harkon then straddled the man's head, now sitting on it, as he began undoing his belt. Pulling it free from the loops, he set it between him and the woman, then snaked his hands beneath the man's arms. Jerking upward, he wrenched them back, hearing the man moan in pain. He gripped both of the man's wrists with one hand, using the other to wrap the belt around them. Wrapping and wrapping, until he finished it in the buckle, the man's hands now secured. Harkon stood up, his pants a little lower on his hips now, but had no trouble staying up without his axe weighing them down. "Thanks for the helping hand. Are you good? That tackle was certainly brutal looking." He bent down and grabbed his axe once more, when there was a massive boom overhead. Shyke. He looked up as a large glob of water smacked him in the forehead. Which was quickly followed up by nearly a thousand more. It was a cloudburst. Harkon hated those more than any other type of storm, and was drenched nearly immediately. Shouting over the noise, "We need to find shelter! It's too dangerous to travel back in this."

[Ravenna Raye]

The man strode over to them, his large muscles not escaping Ravenna's attention, though she neither mentioned them or dwelled on them for long. With a few blinks she brought her focus back to the slave at her mercy. He came in front of them, explaining that the slave wasn't his, but that he was retrieving him. A moment later, he said he was going to tie his hands, gently pushing hers with the knife out of the way, and proceeding to use his belt as a makeshift tie. It did the job credibly, and Ravenna stood up out of the way as he tied him. His attention on the slave he was tying, hazel eyes scanned his features, noting again the large muscles, but now along with deep eyes and curly dark hair. He was certainly handsome to behold, though Ravenna would admit to no one but herself that it was a bit distracting.

Standing up himself, he thanked her for her help and asked if she was alright, noting the physical assault she asserted on herself by tackling the slave the way she did. An embarrassed smile lit her face, cheeks flushing as she turned her face downwards a bit. "I'm alright. I'll be sore, but you said to stop him... So I did, haha." She shifted her pack back into its proper place, fox surprisingly still hanging from the side, her attention snapping to the skies overhead as a thunder clap rang through the air. A downpour instantly followed, making travel back to the city near impossible, and killing any prospects of the day getting any better. The man's voice was barely audible over the noise of the rainfall, but his thoughts seemed to be aligned with hers. They wouldn't be traveling back to the city until the weather cleared, so they needed shelter. "I'm on it!" She shouted. Thanking the Gods she brought her entire hunting pack with her and not just items from it, Ravenna instantly set to work at the nearest tree.

She pulled the large tarp out from the pack and unfolded it. Using her hunting knife, she cut holes into the corners, and then sliced what was left of her rope into four sections. Starting with one corner, she fed a section of the rope through the open hole, and then tied it securely around the tree. From there she moved to the next corner and the next tree, and repeated the process. Once finished, a small canopy of sorts had been made. It wasn't the greatest thing ever constructed, but for a last minute fix in the middle of the storm, Ravenna was quite proud of it. And while it was taking a beating from the rain, at least for now, it was holding up alright. It wouldn't totally save them from the rain, but it was much better than standing out in it, especially in that clearing. Immediately ducking underneath and sitting down, Ravenna waived the man over to join her, becoming acutely aware that she hadn't yet introduced herself or gotten his name.

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