Bunnies, Bears, & the Bird People (Evora)

[Bartal]

6th Day of Summer, 512 AV Sunrise The Bronze Woods Bartal lowered his nose to the ground, rummaging through the dead leaves littering the area. Rabbits were holed up somewhere close by, he could smell it. He snorted and followed the scent a few yards to the left, then backtracked and inhaled the air deeply. Now he wandered off to the right, snuffling at the base of a small thicket. They knew he was here. Who wouldn't? He wasn't trying to be quiet, which was always a challenge anyway what with his massive weight. Leaves crackled and twigs snapped with each careless step he took. Bartal wasn't going to catch a rabbit with stealth today. He planned on using their fear against them. He could already taste the hot meat, and feel its comfortable weight in his stomach. They were hiding in the bushes. Their scent was strong here and he could hear the faintest of rustling. Bartal rose up on his hind legs, bared his teeth, and threw his body onto the rabbits' hiding place. The brush flattened like paper under his weight, and one rabbit squealed in surprise. Another shot away into the trees, and the last he saw of it was a flash of its white tail. The other was struggling under the plants that were pinning it to the ground. He snarled and plunged his nose into the leaves, rummaging for a piece of flesh to bite. To his surprise, the rabbit bit him first, right on the nose. He grunted and reared back, and the rabbit streaked away. A growl shook his body and he started after it, lips pulled back in a grimace. The hare jumped and sprinted and weaved between the trees and undergrowth, as he crashed along behind it. It would pull ahead then lag to conserve energy, allowing him the opportunity to catch up before sprinting ahead again. His tongue started lolling as the chase drug on, wearing predator and prey down. Bartal dug his claws into the soft earth, using the powerful muscle on his shoulders to surge forward on his last reserves of stamina. His mouth hung open and his breathing grew labored. The distance between himself and the rabbit seemed to be staying the same despite his efforts to catch up. He had no thoughts except of biting into the hare's body and breaking its spine. Taking a blind chance, Bartal leapt forward, mouth snapping powerfully at the rabbit's frail hindquarters. He caught hold its tail then quickly slid to a halt, pulling its struggling body into his paws. He pinned it to the ground, feelings bones break, and silenced it forever with a bite to the throat. A growl of satisfaction rumbled in his broad chest, traveling all the way to his toes. Several Chimes Later Bartal laid himself near a minuscule stream, his meal held firmly between his massive paws. He took a small bite to rip a hole in its fur, then plunged in ravenously. Bones crunched and meat tore away, and soon one side of the hare was picked clean. In his distraction, he didn't hear the intruder until they were practically on top of him. The hair on his neck slowly rose to stand on end as it always did when he felt like he was being watched, and one ear twitched as a leaf crunched behind him. He stopped in his feasting, pausing with his muzzle still buried inside the carcass. The other ear swept back to listen as another leaf crumbled under foreign weight. A growl rose from deep in his chest, starting low and inaudible but growing into a snarl so loud that it startled a jay from its nest overhead. He swung around and rose to his hind legs, guaranteed to tower over whatever was lurking behind him. Without even a glance at what he was facing, be it deer or bobcat, he loosed an ear splitting roar with red tingled spittle dripping from his gaping maw.

[Evora]

Evora walked through the forest, her bow armed and lying limply in her hands, a new and welcomed companion. She could feel the weapon in hands was new, the wood smooth and polished. It was nothing like her fathers which was rough and slack, but it still reminded her of home.

She took aim at a few small animals but didn't risk a shot on any. She was still a child with the weapon and didn't dare waste arrows. She crunched along the grass and leaves, ever aware of how loud she was being, when a rabbit came running across her path. Evora let an arrow fly.

The arrow embedded itself in the rabbit and the creature fell still. Knowing it was more luck than anything else and knowing it wasn't a good shot, Evora went to crouch down by the creature to see what meat could be salvaged. She had shot the rabbit right in the gut, ruining most of the meat. But Evora gathered it anyway. She never killed an animal without reason, and if she could not sell the meat she would at least honour the beast by eating it herself.

Standing up she assaulted by some noise. A growling. Evora raised her bow, keeping a calm and stoney face even as a great bear bore down upon her.

A sharp memory of cowering in a tree and silencing a great brown bear swam into her vision. Would she really have to take down this great beast? Or was this the gods way of revealing to her in what manner she would die? Was she going to die?

With a horiable guilt and sorrow within her, Evora let her arrow fly.

[Bartal]

Human. Not a bobcat or a deer, but a human woman. And she shot him. Her arrow caught him in the arm, cutting off his vocal assault. It went from a roar to a surprised garble in record time. Bartal stood there, staring down at the fletching of the shaft protruding from his body. His lower lip hung loosely, giving him a bit of a silly expression, like a curious cub would have. Except he wasn't curious, he was half paralyzed by the pain. The searing heat in his arm pulled him from his primal thoughts, and frantic human reasoning boiled over. Out! Out! Out! Pull it out! The swirling light that enveloped his massive body went as quickly as it came, leaving him in his naked human skin, hunched over in pain. His face was stretched taught, lips curled over his teeth in a grimace. Out! Bartal's mind yelled again, and finally his hand listened. The moment his fingers touched the shaft he screamed and rocked back to sit stunned in the leaves. His nostrils flared and he glared up at the woman who'd done this to him, hate pooling in his eyes. He stood very carefully then bared his teeth, snarling as he advanced on her. Walking was awkward. To keep from jostling his injured arm he had to limp oddly, keeping his shoulders stiff. She was short and even in his this form he loomed over her. "Take it out," he growled through gnashed teeth. It was against his nature to hurt this woman, but at the moment he loathed her, wishing very much for her to take her arrow and leave. The pain flared for a moment and he narrowed his eyes against it, grinding his teeth in protest. Thin lines of blood were snaking down his arm, and one trail had reached his fingers, dripping slowly off his thumb. It made a heavy plop, plop, plop sound on the leaves covering the ground.

[Evora]

Evora gasped as her arrow bore itself into the bears arm. A single tear escaped as the bear roared with pain and guilt and fear enclosed Evora's heart. She didn't want to kill this creature, but equally she had no desire to be kill. And she knew a bear wouldn't do her the same honour of eating her that she would.

Instead of being ripped apart though Evora was faced with a stranger event. She watched as the great beast melted away leaving instead a naked man shaking in agony, trying to pull her arrow from his arm.

Evora let her bow slip from her hands. When he stood he towered above her yet he seemed small to her now.
"Take it out" he growled. Evora studied him for a moment. He was obviously a Kelvic. A strange creature Evora couldn't fully understand. Was its true form an animal or a human? Or was it as comfortable as one as it was as the other? He was tall with a powerfull build and his greying hairs told her he was some years her senior. And there in his arm was her arrow.

Evora bent down and ripped a length of material off from the bottom of her pants. Bundeling the cloth in one hand and carefully placing the other around the arrow, Evora counted down from three in her head.

With a quick upward movement Evora freed the arrow and pressed her strip of cloth to the wound. Evora turned her head away and cowered from the man she knew could kill her with the strength of a bear if he wanted to.

[Bartal]

The woman ripped a piece of her pants off and grabbed the arrow with the other. Even though she was gentle, it was like a thousand bees stinging a single, small portion of his skin at once. His teeth ground together and the muscles of his neck stiffened like iron cables. Without any warning, she yanked it free. For a moment Bartal thought he might throw up, but instead he just stared at her, a faraway look in his eyes. He was too startled to make a sound except for an odd grunt, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Because it did. A lot. When she stuck the torn cloth to the wound though, that got a reaction. He snarled and flinched away, cradling his bleeding arm to his chest. Bartal shuffled back a few feet, his lips curled to show his teeth. Now he got a better chance to look at her, since he wasn't quite so distracted anymore by having an arrow stuck in his arm. She was very small, with wild red hair and flecks of color woven into the chaos. Beads? Her clothing was odd compared to what he was used to seeing, and she wore a feather around her neck. Her irises were a shade of blue he'd never seen in eyes before. He wanted to curl up for a while and lick his wound, but he wasn't sure if this woman was going to shoot him anymore. Should he run? Attack? Try to scare her away? His instincts and emotions were in a horrible conflict with each other, making his mind a chaotic mess. He looked down at the messy round puncture on his bicep, then back at the reason for the wound. At least she had pulled it out. "Thank you," he mumbled gruffly. A part of him didn't think she deserved thanks since she was the one who shot him in the first place, but a tiny fraction of Bartal's brain had convinced him to do so.

[Evora]

"Thank you," the creature grumbled. He had pulled away from her with a snarl and now cradled his injured arm to his chest, yet he thanked her for her 'kindness'.

Evora looked at the wound her arm had left. It was a large bloody hole. Evora's stomach twisted with guilt. She could think of many other responses other than 'thank you' for what she had done from a bear, not excluding mauling her to death.

Evora took her makeshift cloth and wet it with her waterskin, "Shall I clean the wound?" Evora held the cloth out in a hopeful gesture.

[Bartal]

She wet the scrap of cloth with water and gestured toward his arm, asking permission to clean it. The battle in his mind escalated, and he shuffled his feet uncomfortably. His face was contorted with deep thought. Bartal stood like this for a while, staring at the woman with noticeably easing anger. He feared infection and had no medical skills, so why should he turn her down? If she made any move to injure him further he would break her spine. That thought made him fidgety though. He didn't want to do anything like that, but he would. Grinding his teeth, he nodded curtly at her. He wanted to get this over with then take the rabbit and finish his meal. Bartal could smell the fear and other emotions dripping from the woman, which satisfied him. At least the fact that she'd shot him wasn't making her feel empowered. He stood where he was, planning on making her come to him. "Go ahead and be done with it," he rumbled. What an odd woman this was, first shooting him and then wanting to clean the wound afterward.

[Evora]

Evora took an uneasy step towards the man. It wasnt often she was left feeling so exposed or without words. She bridged the gap between them and looked up at him, "It will hurt," she warned and gently took the arm and poured water over it. She then carefully stared cleaning the hole with her cloth. In all honesty she possesed no medical knowledge what so ever, but like every child when she hurt herself she was told to clean it with fresh water. She was sure there were herbs that could prevent infection but she did not know them.

Evora ripped another strip of cloth from the other leg of her pants, and carefully wrapped it around his arm. Further she could do no more for him.
"I'm sorry," she said looking up at him as she knotted the bandage. Shame and guilt clung to her as her mind constantly reminded her of the bear from earlier in the week."Is there something more I can do for you?"

[Bartal]

It did hurt. His face contorted in pain and he fought the urge to yank his arm away. A growl rumbled in his throat but he kept still, glaring off into the trees. What a situation he was in. The water eventually felt a little good, and as the pain lessened his stiff muscles relaxed, if only marginally. Alas the pain flared again when she knotted another piece of cloth to his arm and he ended up pulling away right when it was secure. Bartal examined it closely, twisting his arm this way and that. The woman apologized and inquired if she could do anything more, and he made a face. What could she possibly do for him? He was a simple creature, with fairly simple needs. He had wanted to finish his breakfast and go back to fetch his few meager belongings then head into the city, but now he might just nap the day away. What a setback. When would this wound heal? Would it carry his weight on all fours? He sighed and ran a hand through his graying hair, making it stick up. If only Rosemary were still here, she would give him something to make the pain stop and the wound to heal faster. No, he thought sternly. Don't get nostalgic. Bartal turned his attention back to the woman, looking her up and down slowly. "Hrmn..." He almost suggested she take him to a physician, but a flare of irritation from his arm hardened his features. It should heal without help, and he could keep it clean on his own. Plus this woman would probably cause some other catastrophe or maybe even his death. Who knew what could possibly happen? "No, I believe you've done enough."

[Evora]

Done enough was right. She had shoot the man, ripped the arrow out probably doing more damage than anything else, and done a lousy job of cleaning the wound which would probably fester with infection anyway. And if it did? Evora knew he could take a fever and die. And then what? But he had said he desired no help.

About to turn away from the stranger she had left wounded she was reminded of the rabbit she still had in her sack. Destroyed it might be but there was still meat on the creature. She took the dead animal from the sack and handed it to the man. "There's meat enough to make a meal."
She wished she could do more. Clothe the man or give him some sort of shelter, then again she supposed such things weren't a problem for a bear.

She studied the face that burnt with hate for another moment before turning away. "If you are sure. Farewell."
She walked to where she had dropped her bow and slung it on to her shoulder. Stealing one last glance, Evora started away from the Kelvic.