Vaalea laid atop a large stone, her back arched along the stone's curve and her hair running wildly like several blonde streams down along the stone's side. She peered at the forest her head tilted a little backward, making her field of sight appear upsidedown. How strange the forest looked that way, trees growing downward. Her eyes shifted toward the sky and she started to listen to the conversations between the birds. A tought of him came to her mind. She took her fingers to touch gently her throat and the spot where he had bit her. She smiled widely for a long while before suddenly covering her face with her hands. "No", she said to her thoughts, but kept smiling. She shook her head with a chuckle, before rolling down from the stone and landing into a crouch. She had better things to do than to think about men.
She had to hunt.
He had told her he had found Seita, a holy place where the veil between their world and the spirit's world was thin. At such place one could plead to the Spirits with a sacrifice. She had hunted a few hares here and there, mostly in the vast forests of Far Chetwood, but now she had to capture something bigger, she needed an offering for the Spirits. For a long time she had followed a certain magnificent deer which would provide a pefrect kill for an offering.
She stood upright and unsheathed her knife, inspecting the blade. It needed a bit of sharpening which she did. After finishing the preparation of her blade she untied the shield from her backpack. The deer was smart. She'd need to be smarter. She gathered some moss and soil with swobs of grass, tying them into the shield, making it appear as if it would be part of the ground. She smiled amusedly at her creation, what would the Hound think if he'd see what she had made of his shield.
She was ready. She knew that the deer drank at particular pond and it almost always traveled there by a certain stone. So she climbed atop the large moss covered rock and hid under her camouflaged cover. A long time she waited until a crack was heard and another, dry branches breaking beneath the beast's steps. She readied herself and when she was certain that the deer was right below her, she leaped toward it quickly, tossing the shield to her side. After landing on the deer's back she pressed her thighs tightly against it's sides while her one hand grabed it's antlers and another went to slid it's throat open. But the deer started to buck aggressively and mid-cut she flew off it's back unable to finish the kill. She landed on a root, hitting her head into it as well. A whimper of pain escaped through her lips and she blinked several times, before stumbling on her feet. The deer had bolted away and she sprinted after it, leaping nimbly from one moss covered stone on another, ducking under the branches and dodging the trees, moving with astonishing speed. The deer ran more wildly, straight forth breaking branches on it's way.
Eventually the bloodloss started to slow it down and Vaalea managed to run against it's side, throwing one arm over it while her another hand went to finish the cut she had previously started. The deer fell on to it's side, blinking still while the bright red poured out of it's throat. She kneeled beside it, pressing her cheek against it's soft side. She stroke it gently while listening to it's heart's last beats. Tears welled in her eyes, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it easier for you. You fought bravely. I'm sure Siimes will be proud of you....I'm sorry." The deer's heart stopped. She closed her eyes and sighed, before straightening her back and dipping her fingers into it's blood. She drew a red circle into it's flank, "Travel safely and return where you belong, back into His care."
She had to hunt.
He had told her he had found Seita, a holy place where the veil between their world and the spirit's world was thin. At such place one could plead to the Spirits with a sacrifice. She had hunted a few hares here and there, mostly in the vast forests of Far Chetwood, but now she had to capture something bigger, she needed an offering for the Spirits. For a long time she had followed a certain magnificent deer which would provide a pefrect kill for an offering.
She stood upright and unsheathed her knife, inspecting the blade. It needed a bit of sharpening which she did. After finishing the preparation of her blade she untied the shield from her backpack. The deer was smart. She'd need to be smarter. She gathered some moss and soil with swobs of grass, tying them into the shield, making it appear as if it would be part of the ground. She smiled amusedly at her creation, what would the Hound think if he'd see what she had made of his shield.
She was ready. She knew that the deer drank at particular pond and it almost always traveled there by a certain stone. So she climbed atop the large moss covered rock and hid under her camouflaged cover. A long time she waited until a crack was heard and another, dry branches breaking beneath the beast's steps. She readied herself and when she was certain that the deer was right below her, she leaped toward it quickly, tossing the shield to her side. After landing on the deer's back she pressed her thighs tightly against it's sides while her one hand grabed it's antlers and another went to slid it's throat open. But the deer started to buck aggressively and mid-cut she flew off it's back unable to finish the kill. She landed on a root, hitting her head into it as well. A whimper of pain escaped through her lips and she blinked several times, before stumbling on her feet. The deer had bolted away and she sprinted after it, leaping nimbly from one moss covered stone on another, ducking under the branches and dodging the trees, moving with astonishing speed. The deer ran more wildly, straight forth breaking branches on it's way.
Eventually the bloodloss started to slow it down and Vaalea managed to run against it's side, throwing one arm over it while her another hand went to finish the cut she had previously started. The deer fell on to it's side, blinking still while the bright red poured out of it's throat. She kneeled beside it, pressing her cheek against it's soft side. She stroke it gently while listening to it's heart's last beats. Tears welled in her eyes, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it easier for you. You fought bravely. I'm sure Siimes will be proud of you....I'm sorry." The deer's heart stopped. She closed her eyes and sighed, before straightening her back and dipping her fingers into it's blood. She drew a red circle into it's flank, "Travel safely and return where you belong, back into His care."
