Warmblooded

[goldenambition]

Who: Will, Clive and Joshua (Bird)
What: Hunting a biblically accurate deer to appease Winter
When: Some time before the god fight, just in case
Where: The Woods
Warnings: Animal death, gore, occultism

[Will would never consider himself a hunter- for all his adventures, he was always more a city boy than not. He COULD snare a coney or shoot down a bird for a meal. But full deer hunting was something he was not that experienced in.

But he had an ace, if what he was told on the journals was true. But that just made this all the more dangerous.

He was bundled head to toe in winter gear the sad-looking shopkeep had provided, his armor on under it and his bow unslung]

So 'pparently these deer are meat eaters, so I gotta package of roast steak here- [He pats a cloth bag on his hip. It has a bit too much give to be anything but wrapped raw meat. And if the brothers have a decent sense of smell they can likely smell it out right.] - so we can try to bait it out. This time'a year a fresh kill outta be tempting for all kinds of beasties.

You two still up for this?

Comments

[kingincognito]

[ The pat is at least taken good-naturedly! Probably partially because there's so much padding he hardly feels it. ]

Between the two of us, we might make a small Titan.

[ He follows it with a soft laugh, but that's all. They'll get nowhere if they're making a bunch of noise. Either they'll scare off their eventual quarry, or they'll attract unwanted attention. ]

[goldenambition]

[They trek for awhile, and Will's ear rotate this way and that... far in the distance he can hear the echos to the wraiths anguished howls. Far enough away for now... but it's only a matter of time if they don't find anything soon.

But eventually:]

Wait. I smell something.

[ He freezes, eyes focused on a bush like a pointing hound]

[aneikonic]

[ And Clive stops instantly, on command, his hand going up and back to his sword hilt but otherwise he freezes. He's squinting but he doesn't see anything. Or smell anything, other than the smell of winter.

So he tilts his head, questioning. ]

[kingincognito]

[ The moment that Clive stops, Joshua stops. His hand is on his rapier, but he remains silent, eyes narrowing. He can see where Will is looking, and like Clive, he gives a questioning look.

No sense in raising his voice to ask. ]

[goldenambition]

[He leaves the forged path, the snow slowing him instantly and ruining any attempts at stealth he normally would manage. But he stalks to the bush.... and suddenly gives it a shake. A warbled cry and two nesting snow white birds shoot up into the sky. If not for the patches of moss and four wings on each they'd look like partridges.]

Ah ha, we're on the right track! Look around for tracks or scat.

[aneikonic]

[ The birds don't startle him, but the fact they're covered in moss and have four wings each? That does.

Then he sighs as Will says to look for poop. ]

... Right.

[ Yes he's grumping, letting go of his sword to carefully begin to fan out, eyes down on the snow. ]

[kingincognito]

[ Joshua, however, does startle just the tiniest bit. It's partially the sudden flight of the birds when he's already on high alert, and partially the slight unnatural shape of them. Birds shouldn't have moss... Four wings, perhaps, he doesn't know these birds well enough to say, but moss indicates a sedentary lifestyle. ]

Well, I suppose that and tracks are our real clues...

[ A true side quest. Now they're looking for poop. He heads in a different direction, just to make sure they maximize coverage. ]

[goldenambition]

[Will chuckles at Clive's grump, once again kneeling, and doing a lazily little ape-like walk, hands to the packed snow and nose low. His tail is arched, vibrating slightly like an excited cat's]

Hmmmhmmm.... ngh, Winter's frosted tits there's so much snow! Might covered everythin- oh?

[He crouches even lower, sniffsniff, then jerks up with a sneeze and curse]

Ugh... yeah, we're in the right place.

[aneikonic]

[ Oh. The sneeze makes him stop and glance over his shoulder, then smirk to the curse and the confirmation they're in the right spot.

That's what you get for making them look for shit, Will. ]

Glad it was you.

[ He reaches into his furs and pulls out the netting, looking around for a tree to make a snare. ]

Snare or do you want to try our luck between the three of us and herding it?

[kingincognito]

[ Oh. Well. That's an unfortunate way of finding it, but at least they've found it! Joshua turns around, moving toward where Will is. ]

Personally, herding may be the better bet... Considering the cold, I'm not certain we want to stand out here waiting for one to pass by.

[ That, and the wraiths. With things as they are, waiting isn't a safe option. ]

[goldenambition]

Ha ha. Poor old Will, un-lamented! Without sympathy!

[His bemoaning sure sounds like a whining dog. he stands up fully, pondering]

Ya. I think Joshua has the right of it. Time ain' on our side- once night falls we won' last out here.

[aneikonic]

[ Like Torgal....

Nodding he tucks the netting back away. ]

Let's find our quarry, then. Was it fresh? [ The shit. ]

[goldenambition]

Tch, very. And a carnivore too, for sure.

[His nose wrinkles and he pulls a face]

Rank shite.

[aneikonic]

Then it won't be far. Joshua and I will prevent it from escape routes.

[ Find it, Torgal almost leaves his lips before he stops himself. ]

You have a higher chance of flushing it out.

[kingincognito]

[ A good plan. Joshua nods. ]

Keep that net of yours handy, brother. We may use it yet.

[goldenambition]

[He nods, untying the bag on his hip and tossing the squishy thing to Joshua]

If it really is a meat-eater the beastie might come out biting. 'Case you need to distract 'em.

[And on that he turns and bounds off into the woods. The snow slows him down, but he moves like someone that is, usually, quite nimble.

[aneikonic]

[ Once Will heads off, Clive looks around quickly and gestures for Joshua to position himself at one spot that looks wide enough to be an escape route, then moves himself to another. He unhooks the netting again and reads it in his left hand, his right coming up to the hilt of his sword once more.

And he waits, breathing fogging in the air around them, his eyes locked on the spot Will disappeared off too. ]

[kingincognito]

[ Mind shifting into combat mode, Joshua watches for Clive's direction and nods, settling himself in the indicated spot. The admittedly uncomfortably squishy bag of meat settles at his side, ready to use as a distraction, or bait, or whatever purpose it will best serve.

His free hand rests on his knee, and there he kneels, mimicking Clive in watching where Will disappeared from sight. The creature will be running rapidly, and they will need to be quick. ]

[goldenambition]

[The woods are... well not silent. Never silent. But quiet. For awhile. Creaking snow, wind, the far off moans of the wraiths.

Then there's loud CRACK sound, like a firecracker, in the distance. The cries of birds taking off and some of the snow falling off the frozen tree branches. No follow up noise for a few tense breaths before they would hear a howling-yeowling sound... and from the brush comes charging Will, pupils wide and tail a full double it's normal bushiness...

...as a giant six-legged deer with front facing eyes and a massive rack comes barreling after him. It's muzzle covered in slobber.]

[aneikonic]

[ His hand releases on the hilt of the sword and he readies the net instead, ready to spring. Except... that's Will in front, not their quarry being herded, which changes the plan. He gestures quickly to catch Joshua's attention to cut off it's return path. ]

Shit! Will!

[ It's a predator, right? Meat-eater. It should notice it's out numbered and choose to flee, that's what predators do. He knows this, he's slain enough. So they need to cut off it's return path and try to get it to flee where they want it.

He springs forward himself to cut the creature off from Will, whistling sharply to draw it's attention. ]

[kingincognito]

[ Well, shit.

Joshua looks to Clive, taking the direction and moving towards where the deer and Will had come from. He knows what his brother is thinking - cut off the return path, and herd it themselves.

He unsheathes his rapier, his other hand holding the sack of meat. He'll use it when it's time. If they can just convince the thing to not trample Will-- ]

[goldenambition]

[Will darts past Clive, either seeming to pick up on his plan or maybe just survival instinct. Either way the deer notices the dogman has led him into more of it's kind and rears up, mouth opening much too wide and flashing many sharp teeth, hooves flashing dangerously]

Right bigger then expected, ain' 'e?!

[aneikonic]

[ He will skip back a bit to avoid the strike of the hooves, making a face to the snow and clothing hampering him. ]

They always are. Joshua, a little bit of fire?

[ He raises his net at the same time. If they spook it into leaping forward, the netting will do it's job in entangling it. But. Hm. If he throws it too early, and it catches on those too high horns and not the hooves... Oh well. As Cid might say. Embrace the moment and use it to grow and change. ]

[kingincognito]

Right!

[ A little bit of fire. Not to harm it, but to scare it. It wouldn't do if he roasted their quarry before Will could do what he needs with it.

A spark lights in his palm, and a fireball forms within a second. Just a small one, nothing too big is needed when he's only trying to scare. With a grunt, he flings it towards the deer's rear legs, letting it impact with the ground instead of flesh. ]

[goldenambition]

[And Will, seeing what Joshua is doing, does the same- his 'fire ball' is, if anyone had time to really examine it, more light and smoke than real fire. But in this circumstance it's the same thing

The deer is not Thrilled about the fire. The hooves come down and find no crunch of human bone, and with an enraged snort start to prance away from the 'attacks'- though with how it's holding it's antlers down to bluff charge it is far from bolting just yet]