Hunting for a Party(anybody!)

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

64th of Fall, 510AV


Endrykas in fall, one of the best times for the hunt between the sweltering heat of summer and the cutting cold of winter. The animals moved now to secure themselves for the brunt of the next season, and so the hunters moved too. Jarhal was just one of these hunters, and not the best either, but the only way to grow was to survive in the wild. He had survived.

Jarhal Treeshadow, in all his earthy green and brown and still smeared with dirt, rode through the winding ways of the tents of Endrykas. This day he rode upon his mount and good friend Topher, while a sleek brown hunting dog with a scarred face trotted alongside. In truth, he wouldn't have been riding if there was room for a man and two animals to walk abreast in the haphazard lanes without trampling someone's tent. The erratic unplanned mess of pavilions was one of the charms of Endrykas, though. He wouldn't wish it any different.

Over his left shoulder hung a string of three or four dead squirrels tied together, and in one of his saddlebags were various nuts and berries gathered throughout the week. On his hip was a quiver of bodkin arrows, with his compact horse bow hanging from one of the handles of Topher's yvas saddle. He rode now through the gnarled branches of the tent city, heading through the center and out the other side to reach the Domain of the Druid. There, these squirrels would be properly skinned and preserved without an organ going to waste.

Just as a branch leading to the center of a tree, the lane finally began to widen enough to accommodate him afoot. He stopped to dismount fluidly and give his horse a pat, then continued on with both animals following at his heel. Chural, his hunting hound, looked about warily even here. Topher, the Strider, just looked bored.

[Revion]

The sun stalked the horizion as the day continued on, making the sky mimic the beauty of a wild grass fire. The surrounding environment was changing constantly everyday as they advanced forward within the season of harvest, fall. It was a special time of the year for members of the Emerald clan as it was time for the Great Hunt. Revion in particular had been looking forward to such an event every since the last due to his steady growth in 'mastering' the hunt. It wasn't just the concept of gathering food for the whole that made him enjoy it so much, but it was just the sport itself. The young Drykas treated it as a game as he did every other hunt he ever been on. It was his way of testing his abilites and getting the best out of himself with each outing. After all, if he didn't improve everytime how would he continue to survive? This life style isn't about sustainability, it's about adapting and overcoming.

A soft steady breeze blanketed the surface knocking Revion out of his concetrated thoughts. After being memorized by the trance of his thoughts he nearly forgot how much ground he actually covered, thankfully he didn't travel outside of the outskirts into the wild grasslands. That would have been a nightmare. Atleast he had his father's half-spear equpied on his back. At the thought of his father brought a sudden sorrow to invade his dark eyes. Flash backs of fire turned his skin slightly red as he could feel the heat all over again. "Stop it!" He shouted at himself unaware of how loud he actually was. Not caring either actually, since it actually helped keep the memory at bay.

His hands were sweaty and his face was read as he glanced upward getting tired of staring down at his brown sandals. Just a head of him was another member of the Emerald clan walking along side his strider and faithful compainion. Of course, being of the same clan, Revion knew him, he just never exactly spoken to the male before. Saying hi, would certainly keep his mind off things for the time being and any second free of his horrid memory from returning was a blessing. "Hey," Revion called out as he waved his right in a friendly gesture. This was for the best..

[Raylin Sunsetfeather]

Ever since she had gotten back from the hunt, Raylin had a constant feeling of boredum. No matter what she did it didn't seem to go away. She had tried making something out of glass, taking care of her younger cousins, practicing her archery, even browersing the merchant tents didn't seem to help. And she was a girl! Wasn't shopping supposed to be fun for her?

All day she had been wondering, deep in thought. She didn't know where she would stop but made sure that she didn't wander outside of the city. She didn't want to run into any glassbeaks. The thought of the birds made her shudder.

Raylin was suddenly brought out of her trance by a scream. "Stop it!". She looked infront of her to see she had wandered into the cluster of emerald tents, which were definatly a contrast compared to her purple tunic and orange pants and sash that decorated her waist. She then looked to see who had yelled to see two boys, both near her age. Finally she thought, people my age!. Sam and Dymphna had been around her age but they were both lovestruck for each other and hadn't talked all that much during the hunt.

She soon came up to the boys. Getting a better look at them she could see that one of them was about the same age as herself while the other seemed afew years younger. "Hi." she said as she came up behind them, a smile playing on her lips, "I hope im not interupting something."

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

The hunter's brows drew down as he studied Revion's face for a few moments, but could not draw a name. How long had it been since he'd been to Endrykas? Surely too long if he couldn't recognize his clansmen. There was still season left for familiarizing, but far too little before he'd be off again. Was this how stray dogs felt?

Taking the string of dead rodents from his shoulder, he gave a respectful incline of his head and a hint of a smile. "Hello cousin, how have you been?" By Jarhal's reckoning, everyone in the Emerald clan was a cousin to some degree or another. It made him feel less a stranger thinking that way.

No sooner had he given his greeting to one new face, than another appeared from behind. A pale freckled face, at that, which piqued his curiosity. As if sharing a mental link with his owner, the dog wandered over to sniff at her foot. Having never left Cyphrus, it was always a small wonder to find something not entirely Drykas... he had once followed an Akalak for the better part of a day, just for something to do. He moved to the side, with his Strider at his back, to not turn his back on either of them. Turning your back on someone you were talking to was mighty rude, after all.

"Interrupting?" He repeated to the woman with some amusement, "No, you're just in time for pleasantries and introductions. That's Chural," He indicated to the dog, "This is Topher," He hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the horse, "And I'm Jarhal of Treeshadow." He finished, poking himself in the chest.

[Revion]

The expression posed by his fellow Emerald clan Drykas allowed him to catch a hint, he was sizing him up. Atleast, that's what it seemed to Revion, but he wasn't threatened or frowning upon this action. If he was in the same postion as the other he would probably do the same thing. Seconds ticked away slowly as the other Drykas finally seemed to accept Revion as he gave him a slight respectful nod. "All's been fair, yourself?" A simple response to a simple question. Even though the two were yet on first name basies the interaction was going smoothly. In Revion's head he hoped the other had not known his name, for it would certainly spring forth an awakward moment if he knew his and he didn't know the other's.

As if saved by fate, another approached. A girl, no younger if not a year older, and to Revion's surprise she wasn't in the Emerald Clan. It was rare to a see a foreign face amongst them unless they are trading or doing some sort of business. However, this girl seemed to be doing neither. Then again Revion was in no postion to exactly know rather she was here on business or not. The inner voice within was rising in his chest as he was getting ready to answer her question by telling her no she wasn't interuptting, but before he could even make a sound the other Drykas spoke before him. This was another blessing as the other boy revealed himself, Jarhal Treeshadow.

"and, i'm Revion Nightrider" He paused after saying waiting for her to announce herself to the two. Maybe this pointless walk would turn out to be worth it.

[Raylin Sunsetfeather]

Raylin smiled once she found out that she wasn't interupting. She felt like there was questioning from both the boys though. Something they didn't want to ask. When the dog came and sniffed her feet, she bent down and scriched the dog inbetween its ears. "Hello Chural." she said as she finished scratching the dog and stood up.

"My name is Raylin Sunsetfeather from the Amethyst Pavilion." she said as she looked at the two boys with a smile. She hoped that her introduction would help clear up some of the questions the boys had.

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

Jarhal studied her purple clothes and sash, without any pretense of being discreet, for a short moment or two before shrugging and giving a bit of a smile. Drykas were Drykas, after all, no matter what their parents had been. She wore all the right garments for an Amethyst, that was sure. He'd worn nothing but green, olive, and brown so long, the thought of wearing purple and bright orange made him want to laugh.

Meanwhile, Revion seemed a fit Emerald as any. A bit young, but old enough to hunt. That's all that mattered, so he committed the name to memory firmly. It was always nice to have partners on the hunt, so long they were sensible about the ways of it.

"Nice to meet you both. I've been out in the wilds for a few days, as you might guess. I don't think I'll be winning all the glory of the Fall Hunt with this," He lifted the string of dead rodents with a good-humored smile, "But I make a squirrel stew to die for. You two are welcome to some, if you like."

[Revion]

Even though all Drykas clans lived rather close to each other in the traveling city, Revion never actually met any one from the Amethyst pavillions. "Please to meet you." He said with a warm calm smile that took over his facial expressions. He should of guessed what clan she was from by purple clothes and sash, but it just didn't click at first. However, now everything made sense.

After the introduction stage had been completed someone needed to think of something quick to keep the conversation rolling. Thankfully, Jarhal had just the thing. Revion watched as his fellow clan member hled up a string of dead rodents. To be honest, they didn't look all that delicous, but with a few right ingrediants he was sure they could be shown some justice. Maybe Jarhal could be just the chef to show them that needed jusitce as he offered the girl and Revion back to his place for some stew. "Any catch should be considered worthy," Revion reassured Jarhal. "As for the stew, I would be honored to come along." He said in a respectful tone.

After adressing Jarhal, Revion turned his attention to Raylin, "Maybe over stew you could teach me a thing or two about the Amethyst culture if i'ts not to much trouble." Still be as young as he is, Revion didn't learn to much about the other clans cultures. At this point he figured any insight would be valuable information on his race as a whole. After all, how can you live with others if you do not know anything about them?

[Raylin Sunsetfeather]

"I came back from hunting about 30 days ago, been bored ever since." Raylin said, "And stew sounds great, thank you for the invitation." She hadn't notice until stew was mention how hungry she was. She must have been out longer then she thought.

When Revion asked if she could tell him more about her pavilions culture, Raylin replied, "Sure, why not." She enjoyed talking about where she was from. Or at least half of where she was from. It was then that she noticed that the sun had just began to start falling. The sky was just starting to change colours. "We should get moving if were going to have that stew." she said.

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

A genuine smile came to his lips as Revion told him any catch was worthy. He nodded, "Well said, cousin. Right this way, not far now."

Before weaving his way into the tents, he went to his strider Topher and gave him a scratch on the jaw. With a nod, he went down a winding alley into the throng of green tents, while behind him Topher kept going on down the lane to the stables and pasture. Topher was not the fastest or strongest horse, but he was definitely one of the smartest. To Jarhal, that was more than enough.

"Like many others of the Emerald, I give back to the clan through hunting. I don't know how to do anything else worth a damn." He said as they walked to an unused pot down the way, "I'm always looking for others to accompany me, if you really are bored. Just an offer." He shrugged, setting down on a log.

Starting a fire under the medium-sized pot proved easy enough with some flint, and retrieving some water was only a matter of a few minute walk. Before long, he was roughly skinning a few of the rodents and making ready for the real cooking to begin. He kept mostly silent during this preparation, allowing the other two to sit and speak at ease.