I Can Help Too! (Aello)

[Alenias]

Alenias was ready to kick the dog again when Aello told her to wait until the very last moment. Freezing in place Alenias watched the dog, letting it get closer and closer to her, and then just as it was about to jump on her Alenias shifted into a bird and flew up and away, leaving the dog with only her cloak to chew on.

Fluttering up into the air Alenias heard the dog yelp as Aello's arrow struck home in its rear flank. Seeing the dog starting to limp away the Kelvic sang in excitement, and then dove down to help drive off the dog quicker. Whimpering the dog started to move away from Aello as Alenias dove and chirped angrily, "You go away now, and don't bother us again! We told you you should leave us alone!"

[Aello]

Click, another arrow had taken to the bowstring, but by the time Aello had started pulling it back as she raised her bow to aim, Alenias had already shifted and begun to chase the dog away. A smirk crossed the young spiritist's lips, what sort of wild dog is afraid of a petching bird? the girl wondered, as she brought her hand back towards the wooden frame of the bow, taking all of the tension out of the string before she pulled the nock off delicately, between her pale fingertips. Slowly, she raised her hand over her head, and returned the arrow to her quiver, where it could lay beside all the others. The young spiritist's grip tightened around her bow as she called through the trees. "Hey Alenias, whenever you are finished tormenting that mangy thing, and chasing it from this place, feel free to return!" Aello called. "After all, we do need to start a fire still, and begin cooking if we intend on finishing before night falls." A small laugh escaped the girl's pale lips as she strode forward, and plucked her catch off the ground. She held it by the foot, letting the body dangle by her right side as her fingers wound themselves around its matted fur, trying to get a halfway decent grip before Alenias returned, and they went on their way. Hopefully, to find a place to set up camp for the night. "And get you some more berries of course. We both know how much you love meat!" the girl added, with another laugh at the end. Hopefully the berry bushes aren't too far from here, or out of our way, she thought, as she glanced down at her belly, which was just beginning to rumble. Because it's going to take a long time to get everything set up, and the meat properly cooked... rumble rumble And apparently, you're hungry now. OOCPerhaps we could finish up with setting up a camp/fire and then cook the meat... wilderness survival is always handy methinks. And Aello... well she can make a mean fire with 3 xp.

[Alenias]

Alenias dove and chirped angrily after the dog for a while, intent on getting him far away from Aello and the dead rabbit, but stopped as she heard Aello calling for her. Swirling around in the air she quickly turned and made her back to where her cloak had fallen, transforming back to her human form and putting it back on quickly. Smiling happily at Aello she nodded, "I'll find some wood for us to use."

Shaking off some sticks and dirt that clung to her cloak Alenias moved off besides Aello to help find a place to set up camp. As they moved between the trees she began to gather up various bits of wood and branches to use for the fire. At the mention of berries Alenias tilted her head to the side and listened to the birds above, "I think there's a berry bush over that way," she turned and nodded to the west, and then paused and blinked as Aello's stomach growled, "Do you want some berries too Aello?" she asked as she picked up another piece of wood.

[Aello]

Aello smiled as she watched Alenias return and shift into her human form. "If you'd like you can gather some wood as we walk. But it may grow heavy after a while, long before we find a suitable place to set up camp for the night," Aello commented. "You may simply wish to pick up kindling- twigs, maybe a few leaves, but not the larger branches. We can always gather those later tonight. There is no real rush to get it done now." There was a slight pause as Aello continued onwards. "Hopefully it's not far," Aello finally commented absently. "And no, I don't but Yune may appreciate a couple. Perhaps you should bring back a few extra for her, if you can." With that, Aello stopped short for a minute. She turned her head slowly, from right to left. "If we are where I think we are, there is a clearing in a few meters, up ahead. We can make camp there for the night," Aello explained. "Why don't you come along, and drop off your things? Unless you'd prefer to fill your belly first, and then meet Yune and I in the clearing? Unless you want some company. Yune could go along with you if you'd like... she does seem to enjoy the opportunity to taste a bit of everything before she settles on something, you know." A small smile crossed the girl's lips as her eyes shimmered, and her grip tightened around her father's old bow. "It shouldn't take long to gather what you need... by the time you get back, perhaps we could have a fire going already. Something to help us stay warm during the night," Aello continued, as she resumed walking towards where she thought the clearing was. Knowing that if Alenias parted from her, she would return when she was ready, much as Yune would. She walked in silence for several minutes, and finally reached the clearing. It wasn't as large as some of the others, and was slightly more rectangular. Maybe twenty feet by another eight or nine. It was surrounded by a wall of trees, younger trees, with trunks about as wide as the young spiritist. Branches as fat as her arms, if not slightly fatter. The center wasn't too grassy either. Instead, it had tufts of green grass sticking up here and there, and patches of dirt everywhere else. Aello stepped past the line of trees and into the center of the clearing. She placed the rabbit corpse on a patch of grass, before she put her bag and her bow down on another patch of grass nearby. "Now for some firewood," she muttered, as she walked into the forest surrounding the clearing and gathered what she could find. Ignoring the fact that they weighed her arms down, and covered them with slender wood shavings. She returned to the center of the clearing with her loot, and set the wood down on a patch of dirt. "And now for the fire," she added under her breath as she began to sort the bits of wood, based off their size. When she managed to find a few that were similar in height, Aello began to organize them in the shape of a teepee. When she had finished, she left a small portion open, so that she could place kindling inside, atop the dirt. Or rather, perhaps she could show Alenias how to do that, and how to light a fire, since the girl had been gathering kindling anyway. When Aello had finished with her lopsided teepee of branches, she stood back and wiped her hands together, cleaning them off. And now we wait, she thought as she glanced up at the sky, trying to determine just how much daylight she had left to work with... she couldn't be sure. OOCI figured Aello has set foot in the woods so often that she'd begin to recognize at least small portions of it.

[Aello]

Aello turned to the rabbit corpse and sighed. "Might as well carve you up before I get too hungry," she commented, as she moved towards it, and then lowered her knees onto the ground. When she had situated herself in relative comfort, she dragged her dagger out of concealment, and forced it into the rabbit. She carved towards the bone about each of its legs. Split them apart with her bare hands when the dagger would dive no further. The job was messy. It covered her hands with red rabbit blood, but soon enough, each leg had been freed from the rabbit, and tossed uselessly past the line of trees. When she was done with that, the girl hastily chopped some of the rabbit fur away from the meat. Leaving her with one large bloody mess of white flesh. At that time, Aello put her dagger back, and speared a piece of meat upon a nearby stick. She then held it over the fire and waited for it to brown. Waited for Alenias to return from her venture in the forest to get herself some tasty berries. Several bells passed in near silence. The only sound that came to Aello's ears being the crackling of the fire. She turned the meat over, by rolling the stick she held in her hands. Dipping it a bit lower, so that the glowing orange flame could lick the tanning meat. After a time, Aello pulled the meat away from the fire, and picked a bit off the end with her free hand. She held the sizzling meat between her thumb and index finger, and lifted it delicately to her lips. She nibbled on the end, noting that one side had been horribly burned, the other end, a bit undercooked. Aello shrugged. You're doing better than usual, she thought, knowing she tended to burn her food completely. So, by default, undercooking a portion had to be a step up. After taking a few more bites, Aello looked up from her food, towards the sky. She could tell by the sun's position that nearly a full chime had passed since she had seen Alenias. Hopefully she's ok, Aello thought, as she hastily finished her food, and got up. She dry washed her hands, and then reached for her pack, and pulled out her waterskin. She took a swig, before dousing the fire with the rest of the water. Before watching a thick spiral of grey smoke waft into the air. When the smoke had begun to die out, Aello put the waterskin back, and retrieved the rest of her things. But she left the rest of the rabbit where it was, knowing that she wouldn't be eating the rest of it, and that no one in the city would bother with the poorly butchered mass. She sighed, "the animals can have it," she whispered, as she tightened her grip upon her bow, and then, moved away, in search of her companion.

[Cantrip]

Did you want something? Alenias: XP Award: Hunting +1; Unarmed Combat +1 Lores: Scouting for Prey; Dealing with Feral Dogs Aello: XP Award: Hunting +1; Shortbow +2; Wilderness Survival +1; Cooking +1 Lores: Dealing with Feral Dogs; Preparing a Camp Additional Notes: Poor, hungry dog. I couldn’t help feeling a bit disengaged when Alenias was beating the dog while Aello was firing arrows. It made the choreography strange, but whatever. You get XP!