Hunter Becomes the Hunted [Open]

[Mirei]

Spring 36, 512 AV It wasn’t often that she awoke this early in the day, but she did have a good reason for it. Or, well, her stomach did. Its displeased rumbling told her it was feeding time and it wouldn’t take no for an answer. So having no other choice she got up from the patch of moss she had been laying on. The lush shrubbery was cool against her fur and soft, making it a very comfortable make-shift bed within the cave she was using as a temporary refuge. Since she was already in her panther state there was no need for her to undress and hide all of her belongings, which were already hidden amongst a pile of rocks against the cave wall. Though she didn’t need anything of her few possessions she still did a quick check on them to make sure nothing had gone missing during her slumber. Satisfied that everything was present and in order Mirei then headed on her way out into the wilds. It was here in the wilderness of Sylira that she felt at home, even if it was a rather dangerous place. She was a Kelric, after all. Then again, that didn’t really mean much if you really thought about it. The sun was bright, its golden rays dappling the wilderness and providing light where it could while the sky held a peaceful calm, huge, fluffy white clouds floating across it at a leisurely pace. With the weather this great there was no way that her day could be bad, and with no storm in sight she may even get an early start to make more progress on her journey. Mirei allowed herself a few more minutes of those simplistic thoughts, relishing in the calmness of the day before finally setting off for the task at hand. She had stopped here the day before yesterday to get some long needed rest as well as for a chance to do some hunting. And it was last night that she found fresh signs of prey around this area and now she was following those very same tracks once again. Though the rabbit tracks would lead to easier prey, Mirei was targeting a deer. It had been a few days since the last time she ate and a deer always provided energy to last another few days. Now all she had to do was find one and take it down.

[Jaden White]

Jaden was out hunting, it was his normal routine. He wasn't having much luck today, which was okay, considering his last few days had been major hits. Still, Jaden needed to have at least something for his ride home. It was such a nice day out too, strange that no rabbits or squirrels were out and about looking for their own food. It seemed even the birds were having an off day. As Jaden passed a cave, he picked up on some tracks. It seemed to be a pretty large animal, based on the size and length of the prints. Not a deer obviously, the tracks were completely different, maybe a wolf? It didn't really matter to Jaden, he hadn't bagged anything other then a deer, rabbits, or squirrels for a long time. Following the tracks was somewhat difficult, he lost them a few times in areas with lots of leaves and sticks on the ground, and all the time he spent trying to find them again made him nervous. Jaden may be a hunter, but it didn't mean that he wasn't just as scared of the Syliran Wildlands as any other individual. They were a dangerous place, where the air always seemed to be just a little bit to cold. The tracks seemed to be getting fresher as Jaden moved, which excited him, and also played even more on his nerves. After another few minutes, he might find an animal that would give him the fight of his life, or he would find an animal that would feed him for a week. Finally, Jaden found what he was searching for. It was a black panther. Not exactly what Jaden was expecting. He slowly began to back away, sticking his hand in the air to make sure that his scent wasn't already traveling towards the panther. Unfortunately, it was. Thats no good, I have to make the first move then. Or else it will just follow me.. Jaden sighed, pulled an arrow from his quiver, strung his bow and aimed. He took a deep breath, feeling the string against his lips, his heart beat in his chest. He aimed straight for the heart. The panther was at an angle where the arrow would pierce the heart, and hopefully follow through to it's head. If not, then it would at least hit and hinder it enough for Jaden to get away. Ready, Aim, Fire.

[Mirei]

The small herd she had been tracking wasn't far off now. Their scents stronger and sounds louder, but it was her sight that she was primarily relying on. She had to wait until she could see them clearly before making any kind of attack, but at the same time she couldn't let herself be noticed. If she was then the deer would run and then she'd have to start all over again with finding prey signs and tracking that prey down. Hunting was frustrating at times but it was always rewarding. Another seven to eight feet of silent stalking brought Mirei closer to her prey and she was now able to see them. From what she could tell, there appeared to be two bucks battling it out to win the prize of three does. Well, that was more than enough of a distraction for her to be able to get really close. With the attention of the deer all on the two bucks, not one of them would realize what happened until it was too late. One of those bucks was definitely going to go down today. Little did Mirei know was that the deer weren't the only animals being hunted. With her attention so completely focused on the deer, she had no idea of the danger that she herself was in. But luck seemed to be on her side as with the slight shift in the breeze came the strong scent of a Human. Immediately she halted her current activity and threw alerted senses wide, searching for the source of the smell. Mirei had thought herself the only person in this part of the wilds but apparently she had been mistaken. Had she known others were around she would've been more careful about taking on a hunt. She was lucky to have realized the danger but not so lucky in the fact that she had realized it too late. Standing motionless amongst some bushes she searched frantically for the Human, not wanting to be caught by surprise again or even targeted as game. Unfortunately, she didn't have much luck there either. Her only saving grace was the sight of a bow being aimed at her with an arrow ready to fly. There was hardly any time for her to escape without injury a second later, but a second made all the difference. In truth, Mirei had been in midst of turning to run off and try to escape the arrow and its owner but it still found a home deep in her right hip. A harsh yowl rose up and out of her throat as her right leg failed under her weight, causing her to topple over onto her side on the ground. There she lay motionless for several minutes, riding the first waves of pain until they subsided enough for her to be able to prop herself up. She was still laying with her hindquarters sideways, the right side facing up to keep the pressure off her injury. It was painful to say the least and staring at the offending arrow didn't seem to help much either. So instead, Mirei reached her head over and started tending to the wound, licking off her own blood as it seeped out in thin rivulets and stained her black fur. With such an injury she didn't know what she was going to do now. Shifting to human was an option but one she wasn't fond of. No doubt the pain would be excruciating if she shifted with the arrow still piercing her flesh. And waiting for someone to pass by wasn't a good idea either, especially if that someone happened to be the very person who shot her. Mirei growled and snarled in frustration and pain. She hated thinking too hard just as much as she hated this pain. Both were banes to her existence and they always put her in a bad mood. Doubly so when two were put together. Unfortunately, that seemed to be all the time since pain tended to get one's thought process going on how to get rid of that pain. Ahh! She couldn't take it! She was already thinking too much and this pain was getting worse! Finally, Mirei just bit the arrow in a fit of rage even as it was still stuck inside her flash, teeth clamping down on the wooden shaft. It was then that she started to pull as best she could without causing more damage to herself, but the resulting pulling on her flesh was beyond painful. She was going to attempt one last pull but before she could the pressure of her jaws on the arrow's shaft finally caused it to snap. Once that happened she gave up on trying to remove the arrow before shifting since the arrow didn't want to cooperate. With that thought in mind, Mirei forced herself to her paws and started making a slow retreat, her right hindleg held up completely off the ground and tucked against her body as she went.

[Jaden White]

Jaden heard the yelp of the panther, instead of hearing the arrow hit. He was actually quite suprised with himself. The panther surely was either very young or very old. He battled with himself whether it would be worth it to further pursue the wounded panther. Surely he would gain a great amount of money for its pelt and meat, however even a wounded panther is a dangerous one. After a minute of heated debate with himself, Jaden decided to follow the panthers trail. It wasn't hard. There was an easily spottable trail of blood. He raced to the spot where it was hit, arrow at the ready, in case there were more. Jaden spotted the initial impact point, where there was a blood spurt on the ground. He then followed where he saw the panther run off, watching for spots of blood on the grass. It didn't take him long to find where the panther had surely tried to remove the arrow. This suprised Jaden, a normal panther wouldn't be smart enough to try to remove the arrow. That takes a tangible intelligent thought. Then again, it couldn't be a Kelvic, surely it would have turned back into a human, to stop him from attacking. He picked the broken wood up off the ground, sticky with blood. Though he didn't find the tip, meaning it was still imbedded somewhere within the hindquarters of the animal he was after. Going back on the trail, he noticed that the beast must have been moving at a much slower pace, since the blood drops seemed more consistant. Would it eventually faint? Maybe Jaden could wait until then. Then again, maybe it wouldn't and he would lose all this time. Jaden needed this game, he had wasted to much of his day already chasing it, and he would not go home without it. After another ten minute tracking session, Jaden saw the panther, limping, his right leg completely off the ground. He had to smile at his handiwork, aimed to shoot again. Unfortunately, the panther was still face away. He needed a shot at its head. He lowered his bow, and found a twig near by. Jaden stepped on it, hearing the CRACK. He pulled up his bow, ready to shoot again. For some reason though, Jaden hesitated. He had the panther all lined up, he could surely shoot and kill it right now, but he didn't. He narrowed his eyes, looking the panther up and down. He didn't realize how much damage he had actually done with that first arrow. It wouldn't be able to come at him fast enough to cause any damage. Jaden wouldn't end his life. Not yet. Deciding against the aggresive path, Jaden climbed up the nearest tree, to put himself out of the danger zone, and awaited the panther to either die or run away. Either way he would follow it until it's demise, skin it, and sell the very fur he was looking at right now.

[Mirei]

With her slow, limping pace Mirei hadn’t gotten very far but she was still making her way back to the cave. The cave meant safety and refuge, a place where she could rest and relax. If she could just get there before the hunter found her she’d be out of harm’s way. Well, hopefully, at least. Unfortunately, fate decided to be against her as the snap of a twig sounded loudly behind her. It definitely had the desired effect as Mirei stopped and whirled around to face the danger, ears pinned against her skull and claws unsheathed. However, there was no one there to be found, putting her even more on edge. Now where was he? Mirei was sure the hunter had snapped the twig on purpose to get her attention so what was he up to now? Hissing in frustration and anger, Mirei finally just sat on haunches and settled as comfortable as possible so she could shift. In truth, Mirei had been trying to avoid shifting so soon since she was already rather low on energy to spare, hence the reason why she hadn’t shifted when she first detected the hunter. Now, though, she had no other choice. It was either use what energy she had or die. So with a deep breath she let the shift overtake her. The sensation was painful to say the least as her entire skeletal and muscular structure reformed from feline to human, the process lasting several minutes. When the shift was done, Mirei was crouching on the ground in her human form, a sheen of sweat covering her pale skin. Normally, the shift wasn’t so bad but with an injury more energy had been expended, leaving her weaker than she wanted to be. Groaning with a fresh wave of pain, Mirei collapsed over onto her side and just lay there. At first, it’d appear as if she had fallen unconscious but a moment later she opened her eyes and glared up into the canopy. “I know you’re still there,” she growled into the open, but clearly talking to the hunter. “I can sense you, so stop hiding.” That was all she really said before sitting up and turning her attention to her wound. It was hard to see it with her own eyes but she managed well enough with her fingers to find it. Then, without using a knife or any other kind of sharp tool, she started digging around in her own wound to find the arrowhead and pull it out.