Hunting by Night (Carney)

[Allison]

47th Day of Summer It was nearly dusk in the woods outside of Syliras and the forest was becoming dark and sluggish. Allison had left her horse at the camp tonight, so as not to scare the ever alert creatures of the forest. She had brought only her dagger, although she did not know how much use it would come to in hunting forest game. She was considering simply hunting how she always did, in her feline form, however she decided against it. A hunting trip in her human body wouldn't do her any harm, and if she changed her mind later she could just change then. A few moments later Allison reached the place she was supposed to meet Carney, by the creek where they first met. Either I'm early or he's late.. she thought to herself, looking around. She could hear someone approaching through the forest to her right, so she got her dagger ready just in case. She was upwind and could not identify who it was in the bushes. However the wind soon changed direction, bringing the harsh scent of an Akalak towards her. Allison relaxed her muscles and slipped her dagger into the belt that hugged her waist. It did not serve much purpose other than that, apart from being an aesthetic feature. It came in handy though, so Allison didn't get rid of it. "Glad you decided to show up," she teased with a small smirk.

[Carney]

Carney made his way back to where they had met, he had decided to leave his dog at home with orders of maim anyone who entered when he was not there. He knew that Allison did not care for dogs, that and well he was trained for guarding him not hunting with him. He traveled only wearing pants and the moonlight broke through the trees here and there. He traveled lightly with his knife, bolas and gauntlets.

He was running a little late and hoped that she would not be upset with him. As he neared he made his where abouts known because sneaking up on somebody is a good way to get a knife in the belly. Allison. he said in a gentle voice as to not let to many of the animals know that he was there. Then he saw her standing and waiting for him.

"I trust the rest of your day was good? And let us begin." He was ready in all the ways he could be, and hoped that they would have a good hunt. Being a gentleman he would let the lady pick the direction they would go. Carney switched to hunt mode and would allow Sorley a little more authority in the process. Both of the brothers took a shine to Allison, which it was rare for Sorley to care one way or the other. They moved along in a stalking manner, slow and quiet. The weapon that he had ready was his bolas, though he was getting an idea that would make good use of two hunters. But he would tell her about it after awhile, once they had been walking for awhile. His eyes worked well in the dark and he looked for any animals and signs of animals.

[Allison]

Allison grinned and turned towards the forest again. She crept through the bushes in near silence, she had left her shoes back at the camp to give her a lighter step. The two of them pushed forward through the bushes and dried leaves until the strong smell of deer surrounded them. Allison turned to Carney and put a finger to her mouth. She stood completely still, her eyes darting back and forth. She clutched the dagger tightly in her hands as she tried to locate the animal. Her head snapped round when a twig cracked. A small grin started to appear on Allison's face as the deer's location was compromised by it's heavy footing. She crept forwards slowly, ushering Carney to follow. She still couldn't see the deer, but she was now close enough to locate it by scent and sound alone. After a couple moments of silence there was a rather loud crash, one that was acknowledged by the birds who fled from their nests. Allison snook forward, unsure of what was happening. It was then that the deer came into view. It was a young doe, perhaps only just separated from its mother. It lay on the forest floor, the coppery scent of blood wafting off it. Allison looked back at Carney, unsure of how to proceed. "It's injured, I think. There's a lot of blood" she whispered, inching closer. She didn't want to spook it.

[Carney]

As they crept on moving ever so slowly Allison signed to be quiet, so he took extra care to move silently. He did not know what had caught her attention, he had not hear or smell what she had. So she could not only see better than most humans but had other senses that worked better. There was her senses and her movement was very graceful. He had the idea in his mind that maybe she was not human at all, but did not want to be rude and say anything about it. If she wanted to tell him he figured she would when she wanted, until then he would just enjoy the company and hunt.

As she stopped so did he, he scanned the area but could not see what she was looking for. He saw he turn her head sharply and knew she must have heard something, there was a smile on her face. As soon as she bagan to move again he did as well. Soon there was a loud noise, birds flew, this time he had heard it as well. After a short yet slow journey they had found what had made the noise, a young female deer, it was now laying on the ground. As they got closer Allison pointed out that it was injured, he saw this as well once they got close enough.

It was only a matter of time before the deer died of blood loss from what Carney could see, but what had injured it? They would be doing it a favor in killing it and putting it out of it's agony. He could hear Sorley complain about the lack of sport in the kill, he wanted to feel the thrill of the kill. Carney whispered to Allison, "It will die anyways it looks like, we should cut it's throat. Stop it's suffering. But I wonder what injured it."

[Allison]

Allison crouched beside the panicking animal. her entire self alert and every muscle tense. She took out her dagger and put it to the small creature's throat. In a quick movement she sliced through the delicate flesh that protected its windpipe and within the next couple seconds the animal went limp. Allison then set herself the job of investigating the body. In no time she had found the large flesh wound on it's hind leg. "It looks like something big... Maybe a wolf. I can't tell." she told Carney, her voice hushed. The large bite was definitely fresh, maybe only given in the last few hours. The strange thing though was that Allison couldn't identify the scent coming from it. She had never encountered whatever had injured the deer before. After a few moments Allison went with her dagger again and cut through the arteries on the deer's legs. "We'll have to let it bleed out as much as we can. The blood would attract whatever it was that gave it the leg wound," she explained to Carney. While they waited for the blood to stop running out of the deer, Allison quickly checked that they were safe. There didn't appear to be any predators near them, but she wanted to be sure. When the deer was bled out she grabbed it by the feet and slung it over her shoulder. "Let's go then," she whispered and headed deeper into the dark woods.

[Carney]

Carney watched as Allison commited the mercy killing, he was kicking himself a little on the inside. It was a kinder death than the slow death and chance of being eaten alive. He listened as she told her theory of how it may have been a wolf and he looked at the wound whispering, "Perhaps." He felt at the wound feeling the size and depth of the bite thinking to himself that he thought it to be something else and not a wolf.

He wanted to find out what had attacked the deer and knew that with the smell of death in the air it would indeed likely return to eat. Carney noticed Allison look around as if checking for preditors and he glanced around as well. When she said that they should be on their way he felt it would be a shame not to put the dead dear to better use. "Are you sure that you don't want to find out what did this. We could hide in the trees and wait for it to come back. If not though that is fine, let us go." he whispered. If she wanted to keep walking then he would be okay with it, either way he was fine with it. It was just that his curiosity was running wild.

[Allison]

Allison thought for a moment before answering. "I suppose you're right... I do want to find whatever it is, rather than be found by it." she replied, dropping the young doe down onto the ground. She walked back past Carney and towards a tall oak tree with a thick layer of ivy crawling up the trunk. Gripping onto the ivy Allison hauled herself to one of the lower branches and sat herself amongst the leaves. "It'll smell us once it gets here - be ready" she told Carney, holding her dagger carefully in one hand, the other clutching the branch. She helped Carney conceal himself once her joined her on the tree and there the two waited as the evening made it's way towards night. It was not too long before there was movement in the undergrowth. It stopped for a moment but begun again before long, then a large carnivore of some sort emerged from the bushes to investigate the deer carcass. It was a large creature with dark black fur. It had the build of a bear, but did not smell like one. It was definitely the creature who injured the deer though. As she watched the animal crunch the bones of the deer as it ate from the body, every cell in Allison's body screamed at her to run, but something kept her eyes on the large beast. Eventually Allison turned back to Carney, eyes wide, questioning what to do next. Then the beast turned to face the two of them and let out a low growl.

[Carney]

Carney was glad that Allison had seen things his way and only hoped that at the end of the night that he would be able to look back and say that it was the right path. He saw her pick a tree to climb and was about to help her up when she climbed it with much more grace then he could muster. Once he was up and in the tree she spoke again, this time a warning that the beast would smell them. He said, "Good point and I will be. My kind is known for many things, strength being one." He then put on his guantlets and placed his knife in his hand and let Allison help him conceal himself.

"When it comes time allow me to jump down on it first. Then you can get behind it seeing as you are more agile than I, that and I would rather I get injured than you." he said. Not much time had passed when there was noise and movement below them. Carney saw the large black bear-like figure move toward the dead deer and knew that it was not time for his brother to show his stuff.

His sight was good but he had never fought an animal as of the likes, his best guess was that it was a dire bear or something like it. Though it did not matter what it was, Sorley was now in charge of their body and he was not one to ever back down.

Just as Allison turned to him she would have been able to see a differnt look in the eyes if she noticed, he winked as if all would be okay and jumped knife first. He had aimed for the flesh of the neck but had not counted on the beast sniffing them out yet. Right as he jumped toward the animal it turned and growled at them. A split second later the two struck eachother and met in a clash of metal, fur, flesh, leather, and blood. He had not struck where he had wanted, but knew by the tense feeling of fur that gave way to the sliding of his blade through flesh and the squirts of blood on his forearms that he had hit somewhere.

It was true that he had hit the beast with his knife but in the process he had been hit by the back swing of the beast's swipe. As luck had it though he had been hit in the lower ribs and only had the wind knocked out of him. He hurried to his feet, shaking it off and saw that his knife was still burried in the left shoulder of the animal. He readied himself bearing his studded guantlets and knew that this was what he had been training himself all his life for, Sorley lived for moments like this. He knew though that he now had the animal's complete attention and that this was the perfect time for Allison to do something. The beast was only slightly hurt but the strike did seem to slow it's movement as to moved toward Sorley.

[Allison]

Allison felt the change between souls but didn't comment on it. Obviously there was bigger things to deal with. Allison stayed perched in the tree for a few moments, waiting to the best moment to strike. She watched the bear cry out in pain, and waited. Then as Sorley picked himself back up Allison leapt down to the ground quietly and with light steps she slipped out of the animals sight. The bears forward facing vision left large blind spots to the side and back. The large creature had it's mind set on attacking the Akalak, and so it let it's guard down. Allison used this to her advantage and slipped underneath the large creature, making as little noise as possible and being careful not to brush off the animal. She then got her dagger and drove it into the bear's stomach and sliding it downwards. The specially designed blade left a gaping wound that began bleeding heavily. Allison dashed out from underneath the bear only to be hit in the back by one of the creatures massive paws, leaving a nasty wound on her back. Allison let out a hiss and recoiled back, before getting back on her feet and regrouping with Sorley. "You're bloody mental," she told him as she watched the bear try to figure out what to do next.

[Carney]

Sorley saw as Allison lept down and moved in for an attack, she had perfect timing as she drove her dagger into the bears underbelly. If there was ever an opening to get his blade this was it, as the bear winced from Allison's attack he moved in and pulled his knfe from the bears shoulder. It was a good thing he did it when he did because a second later nd he would have lost an arm to the bears bite. He had not been able to see though that as she had stopped the bears charge on him she had gotten hurt in the process. Sorley had to be very careful now, he had heard the old saying about poking an angry bear. Though they had done a little more than poke the bear and this bear was now a bit more than angry. He may have the strength of an Akalak but he did not think it could match a bears and had no urge to test that school of thought.

The bear was now much more injured than before and thus much more dangerous. There was a major advantage for them in having the beast outnumbered, this meant as one had the attention the other could strike and vice versa. Sorley heard a hissing noise and knew that it could not have come from the bear, it was more of a feline-like hiss. It could have only come from Allison. Before he knew it she was letting him know her thoughts about his plan of strike or atleast the state of his mental health.

"I have heard that before, but it's better we focus on the task at hand." he said wth a smile. Sorley held his knife and waited for an opening, this was what he trained for, moments like this. He unlike his brother needed the rush, that is why their deal worked. Carney was who one would meet most of the time, Sorley was the one most would not want to meet. The bear was on the charge again though it seemed to be only charging at Sorley, ths was likely due to the fact that it had only seen him attack, or maybe because he was larger. As it drew near it reared up as if to use it's weight to tackle Sorley but the injuries it had been dealt were starting to effect it. As the bear was about to tackle him Sorley plunged his knife again and tried to dive out of the way. This time he pulled his knife with him and from what he saw he stabbed the bear in the same shoulder as before though from the front. Like before though he was unable to avoid be struck be the bears swipe, though this time it was not a backswing. As he worked his way to his feet he felt the warmth of blood on the outside if his left thigh.