Wontcha Be My Neighbor?[Jaeden/Hex]

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden gave one last slow exhale after seeing Hex's signal, his eyes bringing the beast into focus once again as he steadied his arm. The tension along his fingers was then released as the taught string of the bow of the bow was finally freed, sending the arrow on it's course. Jaeden's hand quickly shot down to his quiver after releasing, pulling another arrow free and notching it into the bow as quickly as he could manage. The arrow flew, skimming over the grass as the tips slightly grazed the feathers along the end of the arrow. It covered a distance of twenty-five yards before finally breaking the flesh along the beast's side, barely penetrating a quarter's length of the arrow. The beast gave a loud roar as it reared up on it's hind legs for a moment, getting set to run. Jaeden was already in the process of drawing his second arrow as he now began aiming for one of it's hind legs.

[Hex]

It was momentous. Hex broke into a run at full speed, chalking up the soles of her feet with dirt that crumbled away as she dug them into the ground. The beast's ears immediately picked up her flight, The beast, alarmed by the commotion behind it turned first just its ears, and then attempted to shift its feet to face her. In this moment the arrow flew and struck its skin on an angle, lodging the arrow a small amount into the hide. Upon feeling the sting of the arrow head breaking skin, the horned beast reared its front legs up, angling the back of his body towards to ground. In this moment Hex leaped forward and grasped handfuls of fur on its back, launching herself to lay flat against the middle of its back. When the bellowing creature realized the new threat, it thrashed its back; to which Hex responded by clamping its back muscles with her entire body: arms, thighs, knees. It shook her senseless and Hex cried out in surprise several times as it attempted to dislodge her. "Shoot its legs!!" Hex shouted as she clung to the enraged animal. A second shot sunk into the side of its knee, to which the animal buckled and staggered down on the wounded limb. Pulling herself inch by inch Hex hoisted herself up the mountainous furred hump that shaped the creature's form. When the beast went down, Hex fell momentarily and had to readjust herself to stay atop and before long she had managed to crawl into a hugging position around the beasts neck, holding on for dear life. Still alive, the beast regained its composure even after the second bow and with the remaining strength in it, it took off into the grass with Hex locked on top, who wailed a frightened "Jaeeee-aaee-a-e-dd-eee-nnnnn!!!" as she endured a second round of the beast pounding her around the grassland floor. She was waiting for an opportunity to stop clutching its body and kill it, but was momentarily paralyzed with fear. The moment to act came through when the beast paused from thrashing and shifted in place repeatedly. With a scared but determined energy Hex unclasped the holding on the knife sheath and pulled it from its protective skin. While pulling out the knife, Hex was caught off guard in her complacency - she shouldn't have relaxed for a moment. For the beast made its way up onto its feet and continued to throw itself around, blades of grass whipping and slicing at Hex's skin. Without hesitation Hex steadied herself holding the beast's back with her thighs and pulled herself up, raising the blade in the air clasped in both hands before launching it down against the back of the beasts neck. Although it didn't land exactly on target, the blade fell through the skin and then was held stuck half way in. Without warning the beast's body convulsed under her, throwing her onto the side nearest Jaeden where she dangled from the hilt of the dagger. She grunted in place to rip through the skin, yanking with her entire body weight. "Come put your long sword in this thing already" she wailed as the beast made its last effort to fight for survival.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden rose to his feet, loosing another arrow as it whistled through the air, hitting the hind quarter of the beast's leg. "Hex, this is no time for euphemisms, we've got to kill this thing before......... oh," Jaeden said before putting down his bow and rushing over to pick up his longsword. With the steady sound of metal sliding along metal, Jaeden pulled his sword free from it's sheath as he began to charge, his body doing small hops as he took large strides over the long grass. The blade glimmered a reflection of the sun's light as he came within striking distance, plunging his sword into the beast's front leg first. Jaeden then quickly ducked as the beast began to turn, it's massive muzzle and horns swinging over Jaeden's head as his blade was then swung across it's other foreleg before he finally spun his body one more time, driving the tip of his blade up under the beast's chin as another roar echoed out. Jaeden continued pushing the blade up, pressing the palm of his opposite hand along the hilt. "I got it, I got it!" Jaeden said with gritted teeth as he tried to force the tip his blade up into the beast's head. It's feet then stomped along the ground as the beast moved forward and Jaeden was suddenly flat on his back, and under the beast itself. His eyes widened as he kept trying to force the blade up through the massive head of the beast, it's bone, muscle and tissue proving difficult to push the blade through. "Ah shyke, it's got me, it's got me!" Jaeden suddenly yelled as he kept turning his body each time the beast's massive hooves fell along the ground, and blood began to drip down along Jaeden's chest from the wound. Jaeden continued to force the blade upward, slamming the butt of the hilt with the palm of his hand as he tried to break through the last layer of the beast's lower jaw so the tip of his sword could find the beast's brain. "I am sooooooooooooooooo unimpressive at this moment!" Jaeden yelled as his body twisted when the beast's hooves slammed down again, this time one of them crushing the tender meat along Jaeden's right butt cheek. "Petch! I think this thing just broke my ass!"

[Hex]

With a defiant shout, Hex pulled herself back up onto onto its shoulders as it aimed to trample Jaeden. Yanking out the knife, Hex sat with legs clutching the moving body and knife blade poised right over the top of the neck where the brain connects to the rest of the body. The alignment of the knife swayed as the beast fought Jaeden's blade with its thick facial muscles, locking the blade in an awkward position and preventing it from sailing up through its face. In one quick thrust, Hex pressed the blade in and threw her entire body weight onto the hilt, forcing with all of her might to penetrate the delicate skin beneath the armour. An eerie crunch broke the beast's movements and it swayed to and fro until it landed on top of Jaeden who hurriedly tried to wiggle out from under it. When the beast flung itself downwards, Hex toppled forward over the smaller horn, nearly landing face first on the large horn. Instead she landed bottom first, with the horn caught snug between her thighs and making her skirt ride up under her. Sitting between heavy breaths, Hex sat uncomfortably on the horn staring into the lifeless eyes of the fallen beast. With both hands on its face, she closed her eyes and whispered her thanks to the beast for yielding to them so that they could live. Respect for the circle of life was important to Hex and she imagined that a family of scavengers would be able to help themselves to the scraps after they had stripped its hide and meat. Sliding down the corpse's face, Hex stood with shaking knees at the pinned down Jaeden laying in the grass covered in hot sticky blood. "I guess what goes around comes around, huh Jaeden?" Hex smiled, offering her hand to him in assistance.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden slowly looked up at Hex as her sultry frame, letting out deep breaths of air as his hand kept firm grip on his sword, his body not realizing yet that the beast was dead. His brows slowly lift as a slow smile crossed his lips. "I'm afraid my rear will be rather bruised tonight, so spanking may be out of the question," Jaeden said before reaching out and grabbing her hand as he dragged himself out from his pinned state, slowly standing up with slight grunts, "at least for the right cheek anyhow." Jaeden reached over to his side, slowly unbuckling his leather armor, wanting to take it off before the blood dried and clung to his shirt and skin. Looking over the splatters of blood all over the chest of his armor, Jaeden slowly shook his head. "Messy, messy, messy," Jaeden said before he leaned forward, placing his hand along the beast's head for support. He examined the beast's in it's entirety. The thing would hold lots of meat for them clean. A large meal could be made from it tonight, while the rest could be dried out into jerky for later rations. The hide and it's horns would likely sell for the most as such items might be considered rare in the markets just due to how difficult the beast is to kill. A smile crossed his lips as a slow chuckle echoed from his lungs as he gave the carcass a couple of respectful pats along it's head. Coming back to a full stand, he then looked to Hex, he stood there still catching her own breath and coming down from the rush of the hunt. He noticed she was as bad off as him as dirt and grime picked up from the beast's hide and moving through the grass covered her. As well, sever small cuts lined her arms and legs, aquired by the blades of grass she had been dragged through while hanging on as the beast ran around. Another single exhale was taken as Jaeden found this somewhat alluring and finally said, "So, after we're done skinning and cleaning the big fella, what say you and I find a stream to bath in while the food cooks?"

[Hex]

The pair stood still for a moment, enjoying the calm after the storm. The animal had suffered at their novice hands and training to improve was the only way to kill without causing unnecessary pain. The kill would not be in vain. Looking out into the sky, Hex calculated the sun to be only four bells before midday. As long as they skinned and cleaned the corpse before then, they could be out of danger when the scavenger beasts had smelt the blood. the first priority was to skin the large bulk of its torso and then to do the neck and legs separately. She started by pulling out the arrows, her knife and Jaeden's sword from the beast's body to prepare it for skinning. Thick blood was scraped from the hunting blade on a stiff piece of grass to clean it. Hex used the cleaned knife to examine the bumpy skin at the base of the neck. Although covered in fur, the superior skin layers were resistant to the blade at first until they surrendered under a precise angle of the blade. Everything has a weakness thought Hex as she slowly trailed the knife down the neck as far as possible before hitting the ground. Hoisting herself up onto the mound of flesh, she followed the same line on the other side with the blade, practicing her accuracy of how deep the blade should be. With continued patience, Hex continued to draw a cut out around the shoulders of each leg; even the little tail got a circular cut set into the skin around it, releasing it from its bond to the creature. The next task would involve Jaeden and she rose up, brushing the sweat from her brow and flicking her head to throw a lock of head over her shoulder. "I need to cut the belly. If you brought some rope, we could pull it onto its side." she gestured to all four legs that were supporting the animal upright.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden let out a final exhale, catching his breath as he wiped his sword clean before sliding it back into it's sheath. "Give me a second to go grab my body sled for transporting the meat and the rope," Jaeden said as he stepped over to his pack, opening a long flap along the side as he pulled out a medium sized bundle from within. He then reached within his pack, pulling out a moderate length of rope from within. Bringing them back over and setting the bundle beside Hex and the beast, Jaeden soon began piecing the contents together before a full body sled was formed from the contents. "That'll take care of transport. It's sealed tight as well so we won't be leaving a trail of blood back to camp," Jaeden explained before standing up, removing his shirt as well. Jaeden tossed his shirt to the side, realizing that more messy work was about to come. Blood was easier washed away from skin than it was out of the fabric of his shirt. Jaeden picked up his arrows, slipping them back into his quiver before he began tying the ends of the rope around the legs of the beast. He then tossed the the rope over the top of the beast, letting the length of rope dangle over the beast itself. He then slowly stepped around to the other side of the beast and slipped under the rope as it wrapped around his back. He began to back up, taking up the slack and clearing the beast entirely to ensure it wouldn't roll over on top of him. "Alright, if you would be so kind as to lean that sexy body of yours into it's side, I'll pull from my end," Jaeden suggested as he wrapped his the rope around his arms a couple of times before gripping it tightly with his hands. Jaeden's feet then planted to the ground as Hex gave a count down. Teeth then grit and the muscles along his whole upper body went taught, revelaing just how low a body fat index he truly had as muscles under neath rippled, giving off the effect that his skin may as well have just been painted on over his body when the gods were creating him. A grunted yell was given out as the beast slowly began to topple over, the creature weighing well over seven hundred pounds at the least. With a final push off with his legs, more of the grass that surrounded them toppled over as the beast finally fell to it's side. Jaeden fell to his knees, sucking in deep breaths once again before a quick shift was taken and he muttered the words, "Ow, my ass really hurts."

[Hex]

A long slit was cut down the ribs between the front and back legs and upon pulling at the broken skin with her thumb, she discovered the visible division between skin, fat and muscle. She held the flap of skin between her fingers and scored at the fatty layer with the knife meanwhile pulling the hide taut away from the muscle. With heavy breaths, Hex worked from the right limb and to the left, practicing both long and short strokes to determine the best way to perform the task of removing the hide without damaging it too much. She found that although longer strokes had smoother cut lines, it was more likely that an untrained hand would slip and tear the skin; she stuck to small quick flicks of the wrist. Two bells passed when the skin was completely removed and far from perfect, the hide showed various spots of damage to the tissue; but for the most part it retained a reasonable value for her skill level. Hex and Jaeden gently folded the large skin and set it aside in the grass. "The meat is next, let's roll it onto its belly and cut away the at its back and thighs." With some adjustments of the rope they were able to tuck its legs under its torso and secure it into an upright position. She turned the knife in her hand to make the blade point downwards in her fist as she approached the naked beast, laying dissected in the rising sun's heat. Knives were pulled through thick muscle along either side of its spine, dislodging the stubborn fibres from bone. Each rib was cracked and broken at its base on the spine and with several deep slices into the tissue connecting torso to thighs, an enormous cut of meat on the bone was ready to be cut away from the surrounding connective tissue and placed on the transport sled. Both shoulders and thighs on the right side of its body were removed; the longsword became very useful as it could chop the legs right off with one falling swoop. Lifting the large pieces of meat was back breaking work and after the three sections were carried and then organized on the sled, Hex staggered before falling onto her rear in exhaustion; she needed a short break before they had to roll it over and peel the muscle off the other side. She looked up to Jaeden who stood impossibly tall above her, "These pieces will release blood as we travel, what if we attract predators to our camp?".

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden smirked as he laid a kiss along the tip of Hex's nose. "Sexy Hexxy, I can set up traps and snares around our camp to snag and warn us of any approaching prey," Jaeden responded as layers of leather were then wrapped tightly over the first layer of meat. "Those, coupled with a large enough fire should keep any wild animals away enough that we could even romp like crazed bunnies till dawn." Jaeden then drew his longsword again as he stood at the head of the beast. Measuring his sword along it's horns, he raised his sword up high above his head before it was brought down in a heavy cleave, slicing the first of the two off. Tossing the horn beside the body sled, Jaeden then took measure of the beast's second horn, doing the same, this one taking two swings as it was thicker at it's base. Jaeden then tossed the second horn beside he other before sheathing his sword once again. Moving his way over to he rope again, he began rolling it over to it's other side, finding it much easier to do this time around as some of it's initial weight had been relieved. He then slowly moved around the beast once again before kneeling himself beside Hex, pulling a knife of his own as he went to work on peeling back the skin while cutting away any pieces of flesh or fat that clung to the skin itself. "Alright, we have to keep an eye on how much weight will be on there. It's only suited to carry about three hundred and thirty pounds," Jaeden explained as he reached up, dragging the back of his hand along his brow as he accidental smeared a little blood across his skin. He looked up as both of his brows rose before reaching for a rag in his pocket and began wiping it clean. "I meant to do that."

[Hex]

Hex hadn't thought about fire, the predatory animals of the grasslands seemed so brutal and ravenous to her that she imagined them to have no fear in regards to it. After another bell had passed and with the help of Jaeden, the corpse was rolled onto its scavenged side so that the other legs and back meat could be processed accordingly. With both flanks neatly stacked on together, the bulk of the weight lay in these two pieces and it made Hex wonder if they would be able to transport all the legs. Taking the time to tear them all from the bone would be difficult and so she suggest aloud that they only take two to spare the sled any damage. A distant snarl and yelp caught the attention of the two who snapped their heads up in reaction and scanned the landscape for approaching scavengers. "They're almost upon us, we must leave now." Hex picked up the folded hide sheet and examined the sled. "Lets drape the hide over it to protect the meat", and with four hands the hide was gingerly flopped on top of the meat mound to shield it from the dusts of travel. Both caked in blood and sweat, they gathered their weapons and packs before testing the sturdiness of the sled in transit. The sled was secure for the moment although heavy and cumbersome. Hex offered to help carry one of the ropes that pulled the sled but Jaeden was clearly able to handle the weight himself. They would take breaks to drink water and relax their muscles but they needed to keep an even pace, especially since they couldn't run. Heading back to their camp, the three hour trip would be wrought with paranoid eyes and white knuckled hands on weapons. No pack of crazed scavengers was going to take their food away, not a chance.