|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 4:35 pm
 Snowsong sat dejectedly under a small stand of trees, staring up at the sky as it uncaringly dumped down buckets of rain. She had been tracking a small herd of deer for several days now, but right as she'd started getting close she hit a patch of rock. The herd had gone over it, muddling their scent. And maybe she would have been able to follow it, if the sky hadn't been growling thunder all day. She knew there was a storm about to it and didn't want to be in the open when it did. Now all traces of scent would be washed away. Wonderful.
Looked like she was going to have to try something else for dinner. Her stomach grumbled and she grimaced. It had been a couples days since her last meal, this hunt was supposed to have brought her a good haul. Well at least there were plenty of young, stupid animals from all the babies this Spring, she'd find something.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 4:41 pm
 Wintersky trotted along at a brisk pace, hoping to get to shelter before it began to rain. He'd been on the move, scouting and hoping to come across a meal, then the storm that kept threatening to break made its move. And fast! He thought he'd have more time. Ah well, no use freaking out about it. As long as he stayed out of the few open zones, the forest had enough shelter that he wasn't going to get a soaking.
The sky opened up on him right as he spotted a good stand of trees that looked like they could provide adequate shelter. He sped up as the water worked its way through the canopy of leaps, sprinkling his starry coats with glistening drops. By the time he go to the trees it had begun to work through his thick fur. He shouldered through the low branches and shook himself to get rid of the water. A sudden, "Hey!" made him nearly jump straight out of his skin!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 5:03 pm
It certainly took Snowsong aback when a stranger suddenly barged into her shelter without so much as a "How do you do", but when he started shaking and sending water flying all over the place she quickly found her tongue again.
"Hey," she protested, turning away to shield her face from the flying water. From the way the stranger froze it appeared she took him by as much surprise as he gave to her. Really, he hadn't bothered to look around when he came charging in here? What if it had been occupied by something a lot less friendly than another Fume? That was a touch reckless.
"Not that I object to sharing a bit of cover when it's pouring outside, but if you're going to bring the wet in with you there's hardly much point," she said in dry tones, looking back at the male now that water wasn't flying through the air, and raising her eyebrow a tad.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 5:07 pm
Wintersky flushed with embarassment. He hadn't realized the shelter was already occupied! Some tracker he was. Though in his defense he hadn't smelled anything that would hint at another Fume occupying this stretch of land, and he'd been in a hurry to get out of the rain. He put on a cheerfully apologetic grin. "Right, sorry about that. I didn't expect to see anyone around here. You can go for days before encountering even a scent, and I didn't scent any Fumes living around here. Apologies for getting you wet though. My name's Wintersky."
He sniffed the air between them. Mostly there was the scent of rain and old leaves, but he got a hint of some of the female's scent. Not one he encountered before. "You don't live around here, do you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 5:11 pm
Snowsong relaxed a bit as Wintersky talked. Whatever he seemed to lack in the first impression department, he made up for it. She smiled and shook her head. "No, I don't. I've been on the trail of a herd of deer and I started at the border of where I normally stay, so I'm at least a day and a half out." She looked out at the rain and sighed. "Though I could have saved myself the trouble."
She looked back at Wintersky and fixed the smile back on her face. No point advertising her loss to a complete stranger. It wasn't his problem, after all. "My name is Snowsong. Pleasure to meet you, Wintersky. So I'm guessing you don't live around this area either?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 5:16 pm
Wintersky shook his head. "Nope. I've been on the move. I tend not to stay in any one place really, I just follow wherever the food seems to be going." He cocked his head to the side and examined Snowsong a bit closer. The way those blue shoulders slumped told him his new-found acquaintance was having herself a bad day. "Following a herd of deer, huh?" He glanced out from their shelter in the same direction Snowsong had looked, and noticed the rock.
"Yikes, that's not going to be fun. Still, it's doable. Even if you can't follow the scent there'll be other markers." He gave Snowsong a sympathetic smile. "Don't let a little rain get you down."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 5:23 pm
Snowsong allowed herself a grimace. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I'm not that good. Tracking over rock while the scent is fresh, maybe, but I don't think anyone can track over rock after everything's been washed away by the rain."
Intrigued despite herself, Snowsong took a closer look at Wintersky. His pelt was exacted like the sky at night, black and deep blue mingled together with specks of bright white. His hair was snowy white and his eyes and interesting dark blue with black instead of whites. From the way he spoke and his body language, he appeared to be a cheerful type. Whenever he flashed her a smile she found a urge within her to smile back.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 5:30 pm
Wintersky looked thoughtfully at the rock. If his memory served correct it should be too large a stretch. There was the occasional mountain, but mostly the land was all hills and trees. He was willing to bet he could figure out where the herd had gone. "Make you a deal," he said, looking back at Snowsong and finding her sky blue eyes watching him. "I'm not so bad at tracking. I bet I could find that herd you were going after. Why don't we hunt together? Two noses are better than one, and I wouldn't say no to an extra set of eyes and claws."
Now he examined Snowsong as she had been looking at him. The colors of her coat ranged from the blue of the sky to the deep blues of water. By contrast her flaming hair was like the color of the forest in autumn. Her posture...there was a kind of readiness to it. It wasn't struck him as stiff, but he didn't think she was like that. Still, he was willing to bet that if she agreed to go along with him that he would have a solid force along.
He smiled and added, "Think of it as my way of apologizing for barging in and spraying you with water."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 5:38 pm
Snowsong was skeptical at first, but in the end Wintersky used a combination of charm and logic and convinced her. Together the pair waited for the rain to stop, then set off. They only had maybe an hour of daylight and Snowsong would have been fine waiting to get a start in the morning, but Wintersky assured her that the time would be well-spent and that they should make it to some cover before dark. She had been reluctant, but he seemed so sure that she decided to trust his instincts.
Watching Wintersky work was fascinating. She had no clue how he was finding the path. She couldn't smell a think of the herd, but he would put his nose to the ground, look up and check their surroundings, then take off for a couple yards before repeating the process. They began to work their way across the rock. Soon even Snowsong began picking up traces. Bits of scat, a tiny patch of moss that showed a clear hoof print. When they finally made it over the rock and to the forest, just as the sun sat on the horizon, she couldn't help but give Wintersky a look filled with profound respect.
"That was amazing! "Not so bad at tracking" nothing; I've never seen anything like that before."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 5:42 pm
Wintersky just grinned and shrugged. "When you live your life as a wanderer, you have to be good at finding things. I just picked up a talent for it, that's all. You didn't do so bad yourself. I'm sure you'd have found the trail eventually. You have a knack for figuring out how the deer probably moved." He wasn't just saying it either. He could tell that Snowsong had been a bit frustrated when they began tracking, but the further the moved the more animated she became. Often he'd look up to see her staring in a direction with her brow furrowed in fierce concentration, and more often than not the direction she was looking in was the one they moved towards.
He looked down at the ground. Rock gone and with rain to soften the ground, there was a lot of clear hoof prints in the earth. They would have an easy time following this trail. He turned to Snowsong. "Your call. The herd probably won't have moved too very far in the rain, I would think. Do we keep following them for settle for the night?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 5:57 pm
Snowsong eyed the ground consideringly, then looked into the forest. If the herd was close then they would be getting ready to settle down for the night. If she and Wintersky kept moving at a steady pace, they should reach the herd while it was asleep. As long as they moved stealthily they might be able to sneak up and make a kill with a minimum of a chase. That would be ideal. They'd be tired by the end of it, but at this point being tired didn't seem so bad to being hungry. They could always rest later, but if something happened again they might lose the herd for good this time.
"We keep going," Snowsong said, then looked at Wintersky. "If you're up for it, I think we should move through the night. You as good at tracking in the dark as you are over rock?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 6:00 pm
Wintersky chuckled. "Well if you can keep up, you'll get to see for yourself." With a playful grin he led the hunt.
He became serious after that. As fun as it was to tease Snowsong, there would be plenty of time for that after they finished this hunt. They moved through the forest at a steady pace, slowing to a walk every now and then to let their bodies rest and then resuming their lope. They didn't find the herd until the moon was high in the sky. He scented them long before Snowsong and signaled her. Both Fumes crept quietly upon the dozing deer. They crouched together under cover downwind, trying to pick a target; just because most were asleep didn't mean they all were, and an ill-timed moved could cause the whole herd to charge.
They struck together. It was quite an experience. Though they had never worked together before, they functioned like two halves of a whole. Just through looks and subtle gestures of the body Wintersky could tell what Snowsong was going to do and responded in kind. They went after a doe dozing at the edge of the herd, laying down on the ground with a bad leg sprawled out. She didn't even have time to start to struggle before they were both on her. The herd awakened and bolted, but since they had their prey it hardly mattered anymore. They ate side-by-side, one watching for trouble while the other took a few bites, then switching off. They stripped a good portion of the kill then moved the rest under a bush, covering it with leaves to hide it as best they could, then moved a little ways off and found a place to sleep for the night. They didn't quite curl up side by side, but they slept back to back.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 7:40 pm
They made a good team. It was a thought constantly on Snowsong's mind that night. How they ran together, how they hunted together. Even how they ate and slept together. One of them was always watching the other's back. Perhaps sometimes she thought Wintersky was behaving a little childishly, but he clearly knew what he was doing and was serious when the moment called for it. Certainly she wasn't serious all the time either, though to him it probably seemed like it. Still, the more she noticed his smiles the more of them she wanted to see.
The deer lasted them all the next day. They picked the carcass near clean and left the rest for scavengers. After a full meal like that they would need to hunt the next day if they didn't want to. Snowsong wondered if Wintersky would continue his wandering now that they had accomplished their task, and felt an odd pang in her chest at the thought. Why did it matter to her if he stayed or went?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 7:48 pm
Wintersky wasn't sure what to do. Already he'd stayed around longer than he'd promised, yet he kept finding little excuses to stick around. He wondered if he was imagining Snowsong's eyes lighting up a little with every excuse. Why would she want him to stay around? She'd been living on her own just fine long before he came around. It wasn't just her competence that told him that; after they woke they spent the day just talking. She really was a remarkable woman and she....wanted him to stay? He thought so, thought he saw hints in the way she moved and looked at him. But was he just inflating his own ego?
Because she never told him with words.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 7:57 pm
She was in too deep. She never thought she could feel this way about another person, thought maybe she was incapable of feeling strongly at all. But now she knew she was just waiting for the right guy to come along. She and Wintersky, there was just a rightness to them that defied any attempts of explanation. But did he feel it too? He had never said it, never told her with words. But why else would a wanderer stick around?
"You know, I've got a pretty cozy den. Nice view, you can see tons from the entrance. One patch of forest is about like the rest, but I think I have myself a pretty god patch." She hesitated, feeling Wintersky's eyes on her and overcome by a sudden wave of shyness. "Would you maybe, you know, like to...come back with me? You're welcome to stay as long as you like."
Wintersky's answering smile was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Snowsong sat dejectedly under a small stand of trees, staring up at the sky as it uncaringly dumped down buckets of rain. She had been tracking a small herd of deer for several days now, but right as she'd started getting close she hit a patch of rock. The herd had gone over it, muddling their scent. And maybe she would have been able to follow it, if the sky hadn't been growling thunder all day. She knew there was a storm about to it and didn't want to be in the open when it did. Now all traces of scent would be washed away. Wonderful.
