PM to join Every Girl Needs Some Meat (Gideon)

[Kechaiya]

Timestamp: Fall 37th, 514 AV
Location: Woods outside of Sunberth
Time of Day: 7th Bell, Sunrise

Kechaiya yawned groggily as she slumped out of bed, groaning in the process. It wasn't even halfway through the season, and this one had turned out to be an utter nightmare. Her body hurt from the many bruises, aches, and pains she'd accrued so far and her stomach was already complaining loudly. Thankfully, she had made a deal with on of her neighbors, a woman named Nellie that worked as a fisherwoman. In exchange for a variety of herbs and services from Kechaiya, Nellie provided her with some of her fish and clams every few days. It was one of the reasons Kechaiya was up at the ass crack of Syna's rise, a couple of chimes earlier than normal. She was running low on batonal, and several others, an herb that was included in her deal with Nellie. Quickly getting dressed, Kech threw on her cloak and pulled on her pack, and made her way out the door. She kept to the shadows, checked every corner before she turned it, and made her way to the western edge of the city.

Sneaking out between the buildings, she quickly made her way across the grass and into the tree line of the woods. Batonal was the most important herb in her search. It was fairly common in the area, and easy to find because of its distinctive smell, a spicy and earth scent. Kechaiya knew it well, so rather than actively searching for it, she moved through the brush, looking for any other useful plants that she knew. Most of the flowers and berries were gone by this time of year, just leaving leafy and root based herbs. She found herself unconsciously following a game trail, winding around trees, and up and down small rises in the earth.

It eventually brought her to a small clearing that was a bit lower than the rest of the surrounding land. In the center of it was a rather hefty amount of a very recognizable, very common plant. Vyfox. The many lance like leaves and small white flowers atop it were a dead giveaway. This was quite the bounty though, as she counted about fifteen plants or so. Moving closer she could see many of the flowers were wilted and browning, and thus effectively useless. But the leaves were still in good shape, and worked well in poultices for cleaning wounds. They were perennials though, so she couldn't harvest the plant in its entirety. Pulling out her snips and a sack, she cut about half the leaves from each plant and dumped them in. This way the plants would be able to sustain themselves and grow back in the spring. She made a mental note to remember this location so she could harvest them in the future. Satisfied with the haul for now, she tucked the sack into the top of her pack, and looked toward the sky to try and get her bearings before moving on.

[Gideon]

He had awoken to the cold morning before the night sky had begun to yield to the dawn’s paling light, Leth clutching to the last wrinkle of land on the horizon in hopes of seeing his beloved shower the lands in her mellifluous amber glow. Sitting there in the quietudes of the forest beneath the canopy of his tent, Gideon had chosen to spend the night midst a copse of evergreens in hopes of getting an early start on the hunt that day.

Food was quickly becoming a dwindling commodity in the city of Sunberth, and fetching a fair price at market for that which did not fall into the hands of the city’s petty thugs. It felt somewhat unethical to capitalize on the needs of others, especially ones so innocent, but Gideon survived in a more practical reality. He too, needed to be properly taken care of and fed, after all. Living in abject poverty the last few seasons had not been sitting well with him, and in that moment, his stomach concurred.

It was too early to set out on foot. The chance of blundering past a game trail or roving headlong into a predator’s stalking grounds was always a steep risk at such forsaken bells as these. But preparing for the day, and ensuring one was in peak physical condition, deplorable as his may have been, would give him a start on those who were as like minded as he. He wasn’t fooled to the idea of being the only one with food on their minds, of that he was certain.

Gingerly crawling out from his tent, the embers from the fire the night before were quickly dusted of their ash and given new life through steady breath. Benefitting from the plethora of amber needles covering the earth around him, reigniting the flame became a simple task. A stack of dried wood had been set aside from the night before for just this occasion as well, and in but a matter of chimes, the soothing crackle of timber and scent of woodsmoke permeated the campsite.

Collapsing his tent and rounding his gear, Gideon evaluated each arrow for flaws in design, placing two to the side when he noticed their fletching would likely skew their trajectory if loosed upon prey from a distance. Chances were favorable that he wouldn’t have need of them, but they would suffice if a point blank shot was required. Rounding up the bundle, he slid the lot into his quiver and latched the strap round his chest. Grabbing the bow, he gave the string a test in tensile strength and was quickly satisfied.

When all became gathered, and the light in the sky waned from kohl black to a deep and inviting sea blue, Gideon smothered the remains of his fire with scuffed soil from his boot, and ventured off into the forest in search of a prize. There was a thread of uncertainty weaving through him at that time, his gaze keen on watching the surrounding area for signs of life. So much of this land was perilously foreign to him, and urged him to show reverence over spontaneity.

In all his preparation, he had scouted the terrain the day before for plausible hunting locales, and had picked a small clearing a few miles from his encampment where he thought posting up in a tree might benefit him. Usually his first course of action had been to find signs of life in the elements of the forest and track them to their end. Yet, after having botched several attempts at sneaking up on prey, it seemed more sapient to simply wait for them to come to him.

Picking this particular location had required some thoughtful application before settling on its advantageousness to the surrounding wildlands. He had found a small stream cutting down a groved hillside not far to the east, and the slight rise in elevation surrounding it made it seem likely an animal would choose the path of least resistance when guiding itself through the forest. This of course, was all based on theory, supported by a short experience of tracking animals in a territory vastly different to the one he was touring now.

Reaching the destination almost a full bell later, Gideon had picked a fallen tree that gently ascended into the sturdy branches of a bur oak for his point of ambush. Climbing carefully along the spine of dying timber, he stooped carefully to his knees when he reached three quarters distance to the top and shimmied the remainder, laboriously knitting his way through protruding limbs and small snags. At the top, he was pleased to find a good vantage of the ground below, a rather simple shot awaiting him if a creature just so happened to pass through.

But for now, he simply waited.

And waited...

And waited some more.

A stiffening in his joints eventually became impossible to dismiss by sheer force of will alone, teeth grimacing as he carefully adjusted his crouching stance to accommodate an unraveling of sore limbs. It was just as he was beginning to bend his left leg out however, that a trace of movement captured his attention in the flora beneath. Staggering his breath in muffled excitement, Gideon returned the leg to its rightful bearing and braced his back against the ascending trunk of the oak.

Differentiating a small scrap of gray fur from the wilting brown petals of flowered plants that patched the green earth, Gideon raised his bow's sighting until the small ground dweller became fixed at its center. With great care and measured reticence, an arrow was drawn and knocked, the string beginning to pull back when he heard what felt like a thunderous movement come crashing through the forest off to his left.

Never daring to move, his eyes skimmed to their periphery instead, the arrowhead wavering over its kill like a thief in the night. Pursing his lips in silent frustration, the vision of a young woman came into sharp focus, her path aligned with the clearing he had been hoping all morning to land a kill in. So much for that… But out here, no one was likely to hear her scream. If only his soul was so dark as to act on such murderous impulses. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

Into the clearing she brazenly stepped, her attentions transfixed on the patch of flowers the small prey was using to hide beneath. Retraining his concentration back upon his fur-lined quarry, Gideon was surprised to find the creature had not moved far from its original hiding spot, now no more than a meter outside of where the girl was twining down to examine the ground. Had his stomach been more settled, his curiosity in her actions might have been piqued. But right now all that mattered to him was the taste of fire roasted meat, and possibly the sound of coin lining his pockets.

Something odd struck him as the moments ticked by, however. For being such a small creature as it was, its dauntlessness to the others presence was somewhat mystifying. Normally prey’s natural condition was to run when--oh shyke.

As the stranger stood up from her harvest, the creature spiraled towards her through the undergrowth, a soft swishing of sound that disturbed the plants around it and snapped several twigs along its path. Before he even realized he had been tracking it through his sighting, Gideon let loose the arrow at the precise moment the wolverine lunged from the brush to assail its victim, growls turning into a guttural roar of outrage.

It was quickly replaced by a blood curdling cry that shattered the silence of the forest for miles around, red vicor painting the ground beneath it as the arrow drove through a sliver of its hind leg and pinned it to the ground. Noticing immediately that the hold would not last long, another arrow was knocked, drawn, and loosed, his initial aim for its skull displaced by a few inches as the arrow struck the ground beside it, missing the beast entirely.

He hoped she knew how to defend herself, because now was a good time to do so, the arrow that had struck before snapping into splinters as the beast dislodged itself from its anchoring.

[Kechaiya]

Kech heard the sound of something moving toward her through the underbrush. Panicking, she turned toward it, hand going for her dagger. But she fumbled with it, catching it on her clothing, and watching in horror as it fell to the ground in front of her. Dark eyes focusing forward, she didn't hear the shot of the arrow, or even see it fly through the clearing. Then she heard the unholy noise that emanated from it, bringing back memories from her childhood days in Eyktol. One of the scariest times were when the Baral would come close to their home. The sands would shake and shift, and there were these loud, triumphant roars after they had successfully caught a prey. It happened often, and she could still hear them after all of these years.

The creature had stopped, letting Kechaiya get a really good luck at it. She'd not seen one of these before, and it looked like a tiny, really angry bear. Seeing the arrow in its leg, she realized someone nearby was helping. But rather than wasting time trying to find her guardian angel, she scrambled forward, reaching down to grab her lost dagger. She just about had it, when an arrow lodged itself near her hand, and she retracted it protectively.

Her only hope at some form of defense lost, she slipped her pack from her shoulder, just as the beast freed itself. She swung it as hard as she could, hoping the hard wood of the kits in her pack would be enough to deter it. It struck the creature bodily, but really didn't do much damage. It slowed it for a moment, the creature, for the briefest of moments seemingly considering not pursuing its prey. But it snarled, and lunged up at her, going for the neck. She managed to get her pack up in time, the creature colliding with it and knocking Kechaiya to her back. The little thing was a lot heavier than it looked, and it was now clawing and scrambling to get over her pack, close its jaws around her neck, and break it.

[Gideon]

“Ayyaaaahhh,” he groaned, teeth knitting together in anguish as he tossed the bow over his shoulder, steadying himself against the trunk of the tree with an outstretched hand.

The voracious little beast seemed to have the upper hand on its hapless victim, a small arsenal of claws and teeth chastening the bag with pointed ends. It was hard not to feel a pang of guilt wash through him, especially after a poorly aimed shot had almost nicked the most innocent among them in the fevered pitch of things. Desperation called him to action, but getting to her was no simple task.

Looking straight down, the near twenty foot plummet to the glade’s edge was hardly worth considering. The only benefit it offered was a momentary distraction to the small hellion from a broken leg he was likely to incur upon landing. Taking aim with another arrow also seemed out of the question. Given an even closer proximity between woman and beast, and the exiguous outcome of his previous two shots, he did not favor his chances for striking the small fur-clad terror cleanly.

It left but one option, and one option alone.

Turning around, his boots chewed away at the gray bark of the oak in his haste, daring to stand as his feet found the deadened wood leading down to the ground by which he had originally ascended. Holding his breath, he drew both arms out to each side and began a rather tumultuous slide along its knobbed spine. It was manageable at first, boots carefully navigating the outcroppings of tinder with a fair amount of ease. But as he got closer towards the bottom, so did his momentum increase.

Eyes grew wide nearly ten feet from the ground, the toe of his boot catching the edge of a knot that caught him from moving deftly forward. Rather, his other foot stuttered, torso lurching forward as he managed to alter its course just enough to the left where colliding with the timbered stalk itself became no more than a glancing blow. Pain shot through his left side as he landed, the wind partially knocked from his lungs as the crossguard to his sword left a bristling imprint in the side of his abdomen.

Seething in pain, he stumbled quickly to his feet, shoulder finding the sturdy trunk of another tree as he balanced himself out. Shoving away from it violently, he rounded into the opening of the clearing itself. The sun greeted his scalp with a breath of encouraging warmth, feet falling gracelessly towards them. His right hand reached for the kukri behind him while his left stretched out for the tuft of squirming fur behind the creature’s neck, his brilliant eyes impassioned by asperity.

Grabbing the mettlesome beast with no reservation whatsoever, the final blow came in a clean slice just beneath its gaping maw, the curved edge of the blade cleaving flesh soundly and without exigency. Initial blood splatter dotted the girl’s ravaged bag, though he tossed the body to the side before the rich claret could douse her in its iron rich scent. Heaving great breaths of exasperation, Gideon bent over and placed both hands against his knees, refusing at that moment to see what injury his actions had wrought to the poor girl.

“Please… Please no be hurt,” he drawled in common, though the accent of his people was plain in its timbre.

[Kechaiya]

The creature had seemingly got one of its legs tangled in the straps of her pack, snarling like a baral just before it secured its prey. Its other front leg was swiping viciously at her, jaws snapping, and Kechaiya knew this was how she was going to die. The petching thing was heavy, and her weak arms could only hold the pack and it for a few ticks longer, already shaking in exhaustion. Turning her head to the side, and closing her eyes, prepared for the worst, muttering in Tawna, "I'm sorry father, mother.", her face flinching in fear and anticipation of the incoming pain.

But it never came, and she felt everything get lighter. Perhaps the critter had killed her quickly and painlessly, and this was what it felt like to wait for Dira. Felt like nothing. Except... it didn't feel like nothing. There was a petching stick digging into her back from where she'd fallen. Opening her eyes, she cast her eyes upward, expecting to see the Goddess of death. Instead she saw a tanned face uttering words she didn't quite catch, ringed by Syna's light. She put a hand up to shield her eyes, and got a good look at him now. Something seemed familiar about him, but she couldn't quite place it. But one thing was certain, he was not Dira, and that meant she wasn't dead.

And this led to a fitful of giggling as the stress of dying left her, which quickly crescendoed into the giggle-snort that most people found strange and often stared at her over. Still in Tawna, she began thanking Caiyha, Dira, Syna, Eywaat, and any other god's name she'd heard around the campfires of the Tatsuwaat. She set her pack to the side, only now seeing the corpse of the creature laying dead in the grass. Her dark eyes traveled to the outside of the pack that was absolutely shredded and dotted with blood. Sighing, she knew she'd have to get a new one soon, or practice her stitching on it at the very least.

Then her brain came to a screeching halt, remembering the words she had heard in her delirium. The man had sounded like her. Casting her eyes upward at him, her face now full of surprise, in her broken Common, "No hurt. Thank." Standing up, she dusted her self off, now feeling the bruising that would likely appear over the next few days from her fall. He was taller than her by nearly a full head, though most people were. Her mind wondered why he spoke like her, wondering if he too was from the deserts. "You, Eyktol?"