The hunting game (Fois)

[Rista]

90th of Summer 511 AV

A slow mist hovered over the westernmost coast of Kalea and wrapped the mountainous land in a cool, dewy embrace. The sun had not yet climbed over the horizon but a faint blushing of the sky, a tint of light where the cloudy gray vault met with jagged snow-clad peaks suggested that dawn was near. A faint breeze blew in from the northwest and began to scatter the clouds, causing the mist to swirl and shift; it might clear up later on, once the sun rose high enough to burn away the moisture. It was drawing close to autumn, and the immediate pounding heat of summer had begun to fold; already the trees could be seen with red or yellowing leaves. Most prematurely, the Watchstones had yet to change from yellow to red, but nature this high in the mountains followed it's own rules. Summers in Wind Reach were short and intense, and while there were signs hinting towards a warm and long fall, it wasn't unusual for the pass to be snowed over towards the middle of the season.

A flash of movement could be seen at the Sanikas Gate, the final destination for the slithering road that stretched from Thunder Bay to the volcanic city of the bird people, the red-headed masters of glass and birds that lived so isolated from the rest of the civilization. The gate was pushed open a little, just enough to let out a small-framed girl; walking on silent feet as not to disturb the Gatekeeper if he was asleep still, she tried to smother a yawn behind a gloved hand and tried to shake the sleep from her mind. On her back she had a lightly packed bag along with a quiver of arrows. In the right hand she held an unstrung shortbow, and from the belt dangled a hunting knife, picked out from a kit of trapping gear she had stored away in the bag.

Rista breathed in deeply and had to stifle a second yawn as she looked out over the mountains. She had stopped counting the number of times she had been standing there at dawn this summer, greeting the sun as she waited for people to arrive; this time was no different. At least she wasn't late. It would have been embarrassing and the girl felt that she really couldn't afford to make herself look more foolish than she had done the previous day. The memory made her cheeks burn, and she was quick to bring the thoughts to other things; or at least she tried to. The thoughts strayed a bit as they liked, and almost absent-minded she raised a hand to make sure the hair was in order.

The topic of the day was hunting, and because of that and the fact that her companion for the day was an Endal, the yasi had made a slight effort to make herself decent. The usual messy braids had been untied, washed and combed, before being plaited again and formed into an intricate bundle at the neck. No strands were loose, the red streaks had been lifted out as if to point out that she actually did have Inartan blood in her despite the darkness of her eyes and skin. Not only was she being practical and keeping the hair out of the way of her eyes; she was also nervous and had a feeling she was acting a bit silly, to make so much effort just because of that Endal... None the less, her bryda had been dried and cleaned, the wide legs tucked into the shafts of a pair of recently polished knee-high boots that were well suited for both climbing rocks and sneaking through forests with, the leather vinati that hugged her neck and chest had been cared for and felt unusually soft. The girl had tried to tell herself that it was just coincidence that she chose to care for her equipment the previous day, but she hadn't been able to fool herself completely.

She really did try to be calm and relaxed, but even the slightest of sounds made the short, copper-skinned girl turn around and look over her shoulder, hoping to see the blue-eyed man that had asked her to come along on the hunt. Well, 'asked' was probably stretching it a bit, it had been more like an order, mixed with a challenge to prove herself, but for some reason Rista only wanted to see the fact that they would be spending an entire day together. The tall Endal had caused strange reactions within her, and the fact that she didn't know his name felt like something trivial; he would show up, they would go hunting, and that was all that mattered.

The light on the horizon slowly became more prominent, and a golden tint was granted to the top of the mist. Managing to push her thoughts out of the way for a moment, the half-blood yasi turned her eyes to the east and enjoyed the show; a feeling of wonder and joy slowly seeped into her as the first rays of dawn touched her face. She smiled and leaned the head back, the hand around the bow clasping the wood a bit tighter. The warmth felt good, the light playing on her eyelids was refreshing, made her spirit and mood rise; she didn't know it, but the light also caught the highlights in her hair and played with them until the streaks flared a bright red. The bare patches of skin looked like molten gold; if she had been taller and more developed she could have been crafted from of some precious metal, but as it was her flaws in height and the youthful curves made her all too human, too real... It almost made her even more beautiful.

A sound from behind made the girl loose her focus again, and before she could keep herself still she had turned around, the face hopeful and eager as she hoped to see the shape of a young man step out from the Gate. Letting the rising sun warm her back instead, Rista nervously adjusted the leather gloves that covered her hands; she really hoped that this would be a nice trip. She had been excited about it the entire evening before, and now that it was time to go..

"Syna, please be with me and allow me to see clearly what he wants from me" she whispered to herself, the voice barely even leaving her lips as a pair of jet-black eyes searched the opening of the gate for even the slightest of glimpses of the Rider. Please, don't let her make a fool of herself again.

[Fois]

It was just before dawn when Fois rose from the bed even though his eyes were still trying to capture some last moments of sleep. His feet touched the ground and led him to the bathing chamber. The rider did not need any visual guidance since he was often an early hunter and by getting used to the laziness of his eyes, his mind had learned the way. The Endal slipped his cupped hands under a released stream of cold water and gently splattered his face with it forcing himself to wake up completely. Next he moved on to the storage chamber to gather his equipment. Everything was still ready from the previous hunt, but Fois decided to travel more lightly this time, removing the axe and taking some food with him instead. The quiver and the backpack soon found their way over his shoulders and as the Endal was reaching for his bow he felt Seleer’s mind awakening. ”Market day starts early this time?” the Wind Eagle asked, clearly sensing that this wasn’t the reason for his partner’s activity. ”Yes. But instead I’m going for a small hunt today,” there was no use in trying to hide something from the bird completely and the rider knew that very well. Hiding some parts of the story, on the other hand, was a viable intent. ”You? Hunting on your day off? What a lousy liar you are, Fois!” Seleer teased the Endal. ”Anyway, if you were planning to go on a hunt, why not give me a slight heads up? Perhaps… Perhaps I don’t feel like carrying you on my back on such a short notice?” ”No need,” Fois smiled on his way out of the aerie and shrugged. ”I’ll be on foot this time.” ”On foot? Aren’t you on the Lookout duty tomorrow?” ”Hunting. Which will take place tomorrow.” ”What’s going on, you sneaky bastard?” the Wind Eagle’s curiosity was now fully alert. ”I’m going with someone of a small hunting trip. Feel free to tag along from above,” the Inartan knew that the bird would refuse an invitation offered in such manner. At least Fois would have been greatly surprised if Seleer didn’t. ”See, the way you say ”someone”… It is obvious that this is the part you don’t want me to know,” the Wind Eagle said it as a challenge that threatened to find out everything. His tone then relaxed. ”Fine, then. Play your games. Maybe you’ll find some friends this way.” ”Can I ask to pick me up somewhere from Sanikas Road tomorrow evening then? I’d be fresh for the next day then.” ”We’ll see…” Fois climbed down the stairs satisfied with how the conversation turned out. With that out of the way, his mind then shifted its focus on thinking what was ahead of him that day, while the man was navigating through the warrens of Wind Reach. At first he was moving towards the same direction as some other early citizens, mostly stall keepers on their way to set up and prepare for the fair of the market day. Other brief companions were the ones determined to get the best catch at the market before anyone steals it from under their noses, either sacrificing their sleep for it or simply having just finished their duties. But marketplace was not the Endal’s destination and soon his path led him to where he began passing instead of walking along with the Inartans, to whom the bazaar was to be the highlight of the day, and to many - the highlight of the week. The rider questioned himself if it was the right thing to do, sacrificing a day of his true duty for a hunt that will most likely not yield much quarry. On one hand, there was his newly discovered duty that he was about to put to a test, on the other hand, he wasn’t even close to being the best hunter on Wind Reach and any hindrances that he put on a hunt would have detrimental results on his performance. And the lack of good game so close to Wind Reach was a significant drawback. After all, that’s why those who bonded with eagles and could cover great distances became hunters and not flower pickers. Was it fair to his people that he traded a day of a hunter into a day of a teacher? And what kind of teacher was he? What did he actually have to teach? Fois still had a long way to go to become a notable Endal, so why did he decide that he was the right person to spot a talent? Evening if his musing the previous day was not wrong, it didn’t mean that everything applied to him, did it? But the rider was too proud to turn back now. Even if nobody aside from that mongrel knew of this trip, he would not be able to gather enough determination to call it of. There was a chance that Fois was doing the right thing, so he held on to that thought chasing the rest away, at least for a while. With the confidence in himself returning back to his mind, the Endal walked through the Sanikas Gates, making a small respectful nod to the Gatekeeper. Very rarely did he pass this place and even rarer did he have a chance to show a proper regard to the Elder. But no time was there to spend for it this day either. Behind the gates Fois saw the girl already waiting for him. She wasn’t late, so that was already a promising sign from the start, though with her proper behaviour she had shown the previous day, he already expected her to have arrived before him. There was something different about how the mongrel looked this morning, that the rider could not exactly put his finger on, but in all honesty, he didn’t even try. What he noticed though was that with the first rays of sun touching her skin the Yasi looked even much more of an outsider that she did inside the volcano. ”Let’s go, Black-Eyes,” he called out to her not even making a brief stop. ”We have a long walk ahead of us, and I want us to make it in one day.” After those words his eyes did not return back to her alien looks and the Endal began the climb down. He would keep the pace fast, yet reasonable, so that the two would not get out of breath and once he would notice the Yasi getting winded, he would make a brief stop on a bigger step or a way station before marching on again.

[Rista]

It was a good thing that she turned around, or she would have missed his entrance completely. The girl barely had time to flash the Endal a smile before he was by her side and past her too, speaking to her as he passed. Surprised over his haste, she was left standing there and gaping, mouth open for several moments before she collected herself enough to move forward, taking a few running steps to reach up to his side and then still having to half-run to keep up with his long strides. Ah, that was right.. Half a day had passed and she had already forgotten how intense the man was. She shouldn't be surprised, but even so she couldn't help but stare up at him when he announced his goal for the day.

"One day!? No one passes the road in just one day, are you crazy?" The words spilled from her mouth before she had a chance to keep them back; Rista quickly clipped the lips together to try and keep herself quiet, but it was hard. For them to reach the Valley in that short time they'd have to keep a merciless pace, barely stopping at all and walking into the dead of night before finding a place to set up camp for the night. It was both dangerous and stupid to try and keep that pace up, especially when using the narrow stairs that normally shortened the long road to a mere two days. One day, that was just...

"Why are you in such a hurry? It was you who suggested this, is killing us at the Stairs a part of some well thought out plan?" Good intentions aside, Rista couldn't keep her mouth shut. There was a good amount of doubt expressed within the quick glance she gave the man, for a moment forgetting about his rank and instead simply considering his mental health. Even so she did keep up the pace; even a crazy Endal was still an Endal, and she'd rather kill herself by jumping from the Edge than stand up on an opportunity like this. She'd make sure she didn't slow them down all right, and if they didn't make it in one day, then she wouldn't be at fault for it...

It proved to be just as long and rough walk as she had suspected. The girl made her best to keep up with the fast pace, but she had a serious disadvantage against the long legs of the Rider; she had to take three steps for each of his, meaning it took at least twice the effort to keep up with the brutal pace. Rista had endurance, but she wasn't used to this kind of exhausting walk; by mid-day she had to take a break, to breathe and drink some water and get rid of the taste of blood in her mouth. The red-haired man didn't allow for any longer pauses though, soon chasing her up again to move on; it didn't take long before the mongrels delight over seeing him and going on the trip turned into a gritted dislike, especially when they began the precarious climb down the treacherous stairs. It was a good thing that few others were making their way up or down, or the stones they dragged loose during the climb would surely have killed someone.

To make matters worse, the wind had turned sometime during the day and dragged in a sticky mist from the ocean; it enveloped the mountain, hugging the rocks and making them slippery and dangerous to tread. More than once the girl longed for something long-sleeved to put on, or perhaps one of those capes the foreigners seemed to like so much. With her bare waist and arms exposed to the damp she soon began to feel cold, even despite the high pace and the strenuous terrain they moved through.

The day passed by, bell after bell being consumed by mindless walking. They spoke little and stopped even less, and slowly the girl began to tire, ending up further and further behind the Endal. For someone her age and size she had done well, but there were limits for everyone, and as the day began to darken Rista was close on reaching hers. She hadn't done much complaining, but now not even the occasional snappy comment could be heard; she just focused her eyes on the back of the tall man, stubbornly placing one foot in front of the other while remembering to breathe. Her bag felt heavy on the shoulders, the bow had been unstrung to protect the bowstring from the damp weather; her hair, that had been so neatly combed and braided in the morning had escaped the confinement and hung in messy dark curls around the face. It was as if even the hair rejected the water in the air, pulling up in tight locks as though wanting to escape the clammy damp. She was tired, exhausted even, and it was only the refusal to admit defeat that kept her going. She was dead set on proving to herself that she could keep up with the Rider, and she'd keep going until she collapsed or he decided that it was time to stop.

[Fois]

The girl was obviously unhappy with his plan, but then again it wasn’t his plan to make her happy. Not in the short-run at least. It appeared as if her manners from yesterday had been washed away, and it annoyed Fois a little, almost making him want to turn around and cancel the whole trip, but he didn’t. The rider decided to carry on and make the decision after the hunt was over. After all, it was the only way to be sure which one was right, him or Seleer. ”Two days are reasonable for going up,” he shot back to Rista. ”For going down, it’s just a waste of time. My brother and I used to make it when we were younger than you, so show that you have enough Inartan blood in you, half-breed.” To be fair, the pace of the trip with his brother had been dictated by the silent challenge of speed and endurance to each other. But despite that what he said was true, he wouldn’t have told it like that to a Yasi. However, today Fois brought her with him as a fellow hunter and not a kid. Perhaps the fact that she was a mixed blood made easier to act that way. The Endal was never a fan of complaining and decided not to put up with it on the trip. ”Breathe instead of talking and you’ll survive.” After a while he noticed that a girl found keeping up with his pace quite challenging, but he barely slowed down. The journey down was as much of a physical test as a mental one. There were many things that made a person a great contribution to the community and Fois didn’t know them all, but the things showing that the person wasn’t worth much were easier to see. As he was marching on, the Endal thought if that was what the process of bonding with an eagle was all about: looking for things which would tell that a candidate was not to be a proper Endal. And yet Seleer chose him… The rider wondered what he was to achieve by proving that his partner was not an expert judge of character. It was getting dark, but their destination wasn’t close yet. A short glance over his shoulder told Fois what he already knew. The girl was beyond tired and only the proper determination kept her legs carrying her body forward. They wouldn’t reach the Valley tonight, but he wasn’t disappointed. They could if he wanted to, but there was no need to push the limits like he used to when he was a kid. They had a busy day tomorrow anyway. The Endal stopped at the next way station, figuring that there was still about two bells worth of stairs until the valley, a distance that could be covered easily the next day. ”We rest here for the night,” he said to Rista after turning around. More than slightly winded, Fois dropped his bag on the ground taking a water skin out of it. He leaned against the rock and brushed away the sweat from his forehead before taking a sip and refreshing his dried lips and throat. After he caught back his breath properly, the rider went to take out some dried horse droppings from the stone cut and placing them into the campfire among bits of bipard barks. He took out his flint and steel and began striking the stone into the metal to create sparks. It took a while before some of them were caught by the tinder, but when they did Fois blew hard into them to start the fire. When the flames were radiating satisfying warmth towards them, he moved back to where he left his backpack, quiver and bow and sat down by them. He took out some dried meat that he had brought with him and began his dinner. ”You did well today, Black-Eyes,” the Endal told Rista without much emotions in his voice. ”Eat and get sleep before tomorrow.”

[Rista]

It was as if someone had cut the strings of a puppet when the Endal finally declared that it was time to stop. The girl sunk to the ground on the spot, not caring the slightest about the moist, cold rock under her as she dumped the bag from her shoulders and stretched out on her back. It felt as if the world was spinning around her, slowly revolving and swaying slightly; she closed her eyes and just breathed, reveling in the wonderful feeling of not carrying weight on her soles or shoulders. She probably should have helped get the fire going. She definitely should have gathered the dried manure used for fuel, or at least been upright and alert, prepared to help out if told to do so. But she did neither. In fact, she only began to stir again once the flickering of the fire drew her attention, dragging her mind out of the half-sleeping state she had slipped down into once she didn't have to move anymore. The movements were slow and sore as she pushed herself up and shifted closer to the campfire, drawn by the promise of light and warmth. After making sure that her bow was unharmed and cared for she dug out a bit of food from the bag, along with her water-skin. Even eating was tiring, and if she had been on her own, Rista probably would have skipped it entirely. But this time she had company. Admittedly a rather grouchy and unusual companion, who seemed to enjoy pushing her to her limit... Chewing slowly on a piece of hard cheese the dark-haired little mongrel pulled the knees up in front of her and studied the red-haired man, not even trying to hide her curious scrutinizing. People had made a habit of looking her over lately, and this time she would pay it back with the same coin... "What's your name?" she asked after a while and leaned her cheek down upon the tip of the knees. It felt strange that she didn't know it; while the Endals as a breed seemed to be rather sloppy with introductions, it still was an interesting thing to know. He'd probably react faster to the call of his name than if she were to shout 'Endal' after him, should anything happen. Besides, it'd be interesting to know who the rider of the stingy Seleer was. Perhaps the two weren't as different as she first had thought. There seemed to be a clear steak of sadism running through both of them; one determined to break her mind, and the other to ruin her health... So yes, she was a bit grouchy. It was understandable, seeing how tired she was. Sleeping was tempting, but common sense told her that it was important to eat first - it didn't matter that the bites grew in her mouth, tasteless and hard to swallow. Even the curiosity she felt was slow and sticky, like chilled honey being scraped out of a jar. "Is there a reason for all of this?" she mumbled, half to herself and half to the blue-eyed Rider. "Or is this whole thing with going for a hunt just a way to kill time?" It wasn't like she actually expected an answer. People had made a point of involving her in their plans lately too, often without telling her the purpose of it all. The Gatekeeper came to mind with his insistent demands of her learning Tawna, and Sairque who for some reason decided to give her a place in the spotlight on that trip at the beginning of summer.. Not to mention Kovac. What the Avora had in mind for her she still couldn't picture.. Perhaps nothing aside from teaching her how to use the bow properly. Perhaps they all had some grand plans for her.. The girl shuddered, and reached for the bag once more, digging out a blanket that she swept around the shoulders. The weather was damp, and with the sun setting it quickly grew cold.

[Fois]

Fois watched the flames of the campfire flicker until it developed into a dance, one of soothing seduction. Tongues of fire twisted and turned trying to reach higher and further before giving up and falling down in defeat only for another wave to attempt the same. Watching it helped his body relax but also woke some strange feeling of anticipation. It was as if they were waiting for someone to emerge from the darkness of the night and join the vulnerable sanctuary that the campfire had created. The rider reclined his head to look up to the stars but instead his attention was caught by the few spots of light from other way stations dotting the Sanikas Road. He remembered how sometimes returning from a hunt late at night the camps created an image of a fire river along the road. There were much fewer campfires now, but it still felt peculiar how the Endal was at one of them, when he thought about it. He wasn’t a very frequent traveller of the road. His eyes returned back to the flames and the burning reflections seemed to be trying to drive the blue out of them. When Rista asked him a question he looked at her as he couldn’t understand it or that he needed some time to come up with the answer. It was an unexpected thing to be asked, but it was probably the fact that the rider wasn’t anticipating a conversation at all that caused that reaction. ”Fois,” he answered simply, having no need to keep the name a secret, but with that he also turned his gaze back to the campfire as he had no intentions on carrying on the discussion, if one was about to start at all. But apparently the girl insisted on having a conversation, even though her mumbling might have been understood differently, so the rider returned his attention to her though the expression on his face seemed to hold little interest in it. ”I don’t go hunting to waste time, but to bring back food for our people so that we would survive,” his tone wasn’t one of an annoyed person, but it sounded as if he was explaining something simple to a child. In a way, that was the case. ”We eat to survive, but to eat we work. To work and be of use one needs a skill and a talent. Are you of use, mongrel? Seleer didn’t think so…” the question was rhetorical as the Endal didn’t give time for an answer. ”Go to sleep, Black-Eyes,” he said finishing the conversation as he shifted himself trying to get more comfortable. ”Tomorrow will require more than mindless walking.” Fois followed the twirling flames with his eyes for a while before giving in to fatigue. His head bobbed forward and his chin almost touched his chest as his breathing slowed down and continued in a calm pattern. He didn’t mind the chilly night weather as he figured it would help him not to fall into sleep too deeply, which certainly was a good thing outside, even so close to home. The night spared him any disturbing or thought provoking dreams and Fois woke up once he decided they had slept enough. The sky was still quite dark as there were barely any signs of dawn, but the sun was already getting lazy this season, coming up later and later. The rider had no intentions of waiting for it. He stood up stretching his arms and legs as well as his back in some poor form of basic exercises, before walking over to Rista and prodding her with his leg. ”Wake up, Black-Eyes. Grab a bite of something and we’re off to the hunt,” he issued his form of ‘good morning’. Fois returned to his own bag fishing out a few pieces of dried meat and an apple for his own breakfast. Time he had allotted for eating would finish not long after starting and the two would soon be on their way down to the valley.

[Rista]

She wrapped the blanket tightly around her shoulders and inched closer to the lovely warmth of the fire. The Rider's reply made the girl grimace faintly - she should have anticipated a reply like that, after spending the entire day at the heels of the man. Was he always this serious, or was it just because they had left the city? Rista watched him quietly, jaws working beneath the dark skin in order to bite back a cheeky reply. Of course she knew that hunting wasn't a game. Did that mean it couldn't be fun at the same time? Not the killing in itself, but moving through nature, following tracks and feeling the thrill of sneaking up on an animal, to see how close you could get without it noticing. It was dead serious and exciting at the same time, and at least for Rista it was just as much reward as the idea of getting some extra food on the plate. She didn't think that Fois would understand though. He seemed too high strung and dry to do anything for the fun of it. His repeated order for her to go to bed was met with chewing silence and a faint shrug; Rista wasn't impressed by the way he poked at her pride and reminded her of the bout with his Eagle the day before. It left a bad taste in her mouth that made it hard to swallow, and as she rolled into the blanket and stretched out on the ground by the fire she tried to forget the heavy feeling of uncertainty that clumped at her throat. Indeed, in what way was she of use? She was useless when it came to glassblowing, she was clumsy in most areas of art or crafting. Her only real talent laid in defending herself in brawls and handling the bow, and that didn't count for much. Perhaps Seleer was right... A faint sigh of unease passed from her as she closed her eyes and burrowed the nose deeper into the folds of the blanket. When sleep finally managed to consume her, it was restless and troubled, dreams and memories of dreams making her shift and mumble soundlessly into the night. The shove of the Endal's leg snapped her awake the following morning and made the girl roll out of the blanket and up onto her feet before she even realized that she wasn't dreaming anymore. Wobbling on sore feet she grumbled something incoherently and rubbed her eyes, glaring at the seemingly unaffected man as he began to dig up breakfast. Was he always this cheerful in the morning? Actually it wasn't even morning yet, the sun had quite a ways to go still before rising over the peaks of the mountains that surrounded them; Rista wouldn't have minded another bell of sleep. She was tired, her body ached from the fast-paced march the day before and the joints complained about the damp cold that had surrounded her during the night. Really. Was she fourteen or thirty four? She was beginning to sound like an old woman. "I have a name you know" she growled crankily at Fois and began to fold her blanket up, reluctantly abandoning all hope of getting to sleep in just a little bit longer. "It's Rista, not mongrel or Black-Eyes. Rista. You're very welcome to use it, Fois." She deliberately left out his caste even though she knew it might tick him off. Her awe over the Riders status and bond was quickly starting to wear off the more she realized how human he actually was, and it showed on her attitude. Normally the girl actually enjoyed being up early, but she didn't appreciate being woken by a shove of a foot into sore muscles, nor was she particularly fond of the stressed feeling the Endal was giving her. If he was in such a rush to get this over with, why had he even dragged her along in the first place? Safe to say, her mood wasn't the best as she shoved the blanket into the bag and helped make sure that the fire had gone out and no embers were left glowing in the pit. It was with nervously fluttering stomach that she dug out a few pieces of dried fruit and slung the bag over her shoulders. Checking up on the bow was quickly done, it had survived the damp weather well enough and would be fine with a bit of warmth from the sun. It was too early to really tell what the weather would be like, anything that wasn't rain would be good enough for Rista. She peered up towards the heavens as they headed out, dark eyes searching for signs of the sun in the slowly brightening sky. Clouds still lingered, and a chilly wind made her shudder, rubbing her bare arms with a palm to help the blood flow more easily. "What are we hunting for?" she asked and threw a glance at the red-haired man in front of her. "We're still so close to the Reach, can we actually find anything at all out here?" The area was so frequently traveled and traversed, and any hunters that operated on foot would start in the Valley before heading any further out. The entire region around Mt Skyinrta should be close to over-hunted by now; she had been down plenty enough times to know that.

[Fois]

Fois bit down on the apple and his curiously raised eyebrows gave away the slight surprise at the girl’s complaint. The Endal just shrugged. ”When the name is all you have then you’re always be quick to show it off, I guess,” his response was barely coherent as the words fought their way past the fruit out of his full mouth. The rider walked over to the stone steps that were leading down to the valley and looked at the road that they still had to cover as he finished his breakfast. Walking down this exhausting path was a great reminder of how valuable the Wind Eagles were to their community. There probably was no safer home than Mt. Skyinarta as far as Fois was concerned and at the same time it was asking to struggle for survival in exchange. If it weren’t for the magnificent birds his people would either have to leave home or die. It probably couldn’t be called a choice when both options meant the same. The Endal glanced back at the girl when she began speaking again. Her questions were starting to sound like nagging. Having now met the two very different attitudes of the same girl, Fois found it hard to determine which one was true. ”Whatever you’ll find,” his tone was a bit cold. ”Maybe a fox or a lop. Cougars and bears are beyond what I think you can cope with.” The hunter walked over to see that everything he had taken out was back in his bag and threw it over his shoulders. ”To find better game we rely on our Wind Eagles. If you really want to be useful to Wind Reach, you have to bond with one. To do that, you must be seen as worthy by one. You crave for better quarry? Have what it takes and show it.” After grabbing his longbow Fois walked to the stairs but before carrying on he turned back again. ”You know, when two days ago I asked you to clean Wind Eagles shyke, you were a nice and obedient girl. When I took you to a small hunt you are a screeching fledgling. You think the work determines your attitude?” He didn’t wait for her response and moved on down the steps. Since they had much less road to cover that day his pace wasn’t as cruel as the day before, but still quite fast as Fois didn’t want much of the daylight consumed by their trip down. By the time their feet reached the ground the sun was already high enough in the sky for them to see, sending its bright rays across the land revealing the trees and the green far away to their eyes. ”Alright, you lead now, Black-Eyes,” Fois told her nonchalantly while still looking straight ahead.

[Rista]

Her teeth bit down on the tongue to keep it still, hindering herself from coming with a snappy reply. Something about the attitude she was shown made her stomach churn uneasily, every short word Fois uttered felt like a slap in the face. Rista pressed the lips together tightly and breathed in slowly through her nose, her knuckles whitening around the handle of the bow. Lashing out wasn't a good idea. Taking out her nervousness and irritability on the Endal was most likely going to earn her a ticket back to Wind Reach without hunt and, if she was out of luck completely, without any kind of dignity in check. Whatever little she had left after the humiliating conversation with Seleer on the day before yesterday. The man was right though, she reluctantly had to admit that. At some point Rista had stuffed away the normal blank obedience that she tended to show the upper casts and returned the smallest gesture with cheeky confidence that didn't match her true state of mind at all. Maybe it was a defense mechanism to keep the Rider from finding out just how insecure she was feeling, so that he wouldn't simply turn away and give up on whatever reason he had for doing this. The mongrel was rather certain it wasn't because he had suddenly come to like her or to help her in any way. This arrogant man didn't seem likely to take interest in anyone but himself or perhaps his eagle, and whatever she had become involved with it was not likely to be for her sake. Even so... He was still a Rider. Her idolization of his caste wasn't going to wear off over night, even though realizing that he was as much human as she had lessened the gleam a little. This sudden attention from one of her childhood heroes made the girl jumpy and tense, something she had never handled well. The dark-haired girl fell in behind the red-haired man and walked in something that could be taken for subdued silence. With the black eyes locked on his back as they moved down the stairs she tried to sort out her thoughts and feelings that had been rattled quite thoroughly by the last days events, with varying degrees of success. At least one thing had become quite clear to her from Fois' answers, and that was how it wasn't their hunt, but rather hers. Was he testing her? Unlikely as it was the thought still lit a small flare of challenge in her gut, adding to the fluttering feelings that hadn't been staved much by the breakfast. Rista felt tense, her thoughts scattered and unfocused as sh trudged on behind the other, placing her feet in his discarded footsteps without paying much attention to their surroundings or the rising of the sun. By the time the Endal spoke to her again she had become so used to the silence that his voice startled her, she stumbled over her own foot and only barely managed to avoid bumping into his back. A deep breath hissed as it was sucked in past her lips. The dark-haired mongrel glanced up at the man, giving him a short look as she stretched out her legs and moved past him. Suspicion confirmed, this was a lot like the fieldtrip she had made with Sairque during summer. Was he going to hang back and just watch the entire time? This time she didn't ask about it though, just made sure to increase the space between them as much as she could and tried to ignore his presence entirely. Better to just pretend that she was out on her own, with no pressure and no eyes watching her every move. Rista stopped on the path and closed her eyes, simply breathing for a moment in an attempt at calming herself down. Once the tension of her shoulders had lessened she slowly lifted the lids from her eyes, hunched down and began to look around, eyes searching over the landscape to take in the terrain. This high up on the mountain there weren't a lot of trees. The steep slope with the steps carved into it had given way to rising and falling hills that steadily dropped down to the valley below, shrubs and bushes growing taller and denser the further down they came as bare rock gave in to thin layers of soil and roots. Summer still held a firm grasp on the lands and dyed the thick grasses in shades of green and brown, taller and more lush on sites where springs welled up from the depths of the earth and where creeks with melting water from the glaciers above trickled down towards the River. Late flowers mingled with fragrant herbs, not far away from her feet she could see clusters of low-growing plants that sported unripe berries. Later in fall she might be sent out with dek and other yasi to pick them, adding to the winter storages that would keep them alive over winter. Looking closer at the hills below brought faint lines to her attention, criss-crossing patterns of brown in the otherwise green hills. Rista pushed herself up on her feet and lifted a hand to shade her eyes, feet beginning to move downwards to get her closer. Those might be lop trails, paths created from running between their burrows. They were plentiful on the high hills and in the lower, more wooded regions, but it was unlikely for this particular one to be inhabited. Even so the girl moved downwards to have a look, carefully avoiding to disturb rocks or stomp with her feet, or to pay any heed to the Endal somewhere behind her. Several chimes later had more or less confirmed her suspicions, the burrows were empty and old, the trails growing over with grass and herbs. Not letting it get to her, Rista repeated her slow scouring of the terrain, slowly working her way downward between the lop dens she could see and the lush grassy areas between creeks and waterways where she looked over the ground for tracks, hoping to find the water places of foxes and small rodents. It was time consuming, but she wanted to be thorough and not let any possibility pass her by. At one point she thought she spotted movements by the root of a tall, dense shrub and immediately changed direction, carefully placed feet carrying her off to the side as quietly as she could manage. When she came closer the girl hunched down, making use of arms and hands to aid her balance as she approached, eyes searching the grass-covered ground for anything she could find. The thick strands had been trampled in some places, quite recently, and the shrub showed signs of having been eaten from on the lower branches. The copper-skinned girl stopped and grew still, taking note on where the wind came from; a small wind brushing over her left cheek persuaded her to move once more, changing the side of approach so that she wouldn't alarm any potential animals. Carefully she crept closer, the movements of her hands and feet soft and close to soundless and the breath slow between parted lips. Now and then she froze, watching the roots of the shrub intently for signs of movement, each time finding nothing. As she carefully crawled in beneath the low, sweeping branches of the shrub the girl could see very faint, barely visible signs of paws on the ground that resembled ones of lops. Something had been there before, and if she was lucky it might come back. Rista looked around for a moment and spotted what could be a hole digging in under the roots of the bush; a faint smile brushed over her lips and with careful movements she reached a hand back, fingers digging in under the lid of the bag and pulling out a small leather kit. From there she took out a thin leather string and tied a slipknot at one end, attached the other end to a sturdy branch and then hung the loop just outside the entrance to the hole, at the place where a rabbit head might pass by. She hid the string as best as she could and then backed out as carefully as she has entered, making sure to make no sudden noises as she got up on her feet and moved away. With a bit of luck the trap would suffice to capture a lop, she would take not of the place and come back to the bush later, to see if she had been right. For now she had to keep looking, to place out more traps and search for something worth using the bow on; that meant moving further down the hills, towards the wooded areas where squirrels and foxes were more plentiful. Eyes darted around to see where Fois had gone to, once catching sight of him she began to walk downhill with slightly faster pace than before. If he just planned on watching this was going to become one boring day for him...