The Deer Hunters (Celestia, Mac)

[Jeremiah Maccabee]

The Deer Hunters 30th of Fall 512 AV Northeast Bronze Woods Syna had not yet climbed high enough to peer over the Cobalt Mountain range standing formidable in the distance. If she had she would have seen the solitary hunter making his way cautiously through the tall grasses that separated the forest from the meadow. He was following the faint tracks of a deer. He wasn't very good at it. He kept losing the trail. Fortunately it had rained the night before, making the soil especially impressionable. Now that he had reached the meadow he no longer needed the tracks. A river snaked through it. The deer had come for water. It was only a matter of time before it ventured out into the meadow. Dawn and dusk: the best times for hunting.

[Celestia]

It was close to sun rise, dawn, when Celestia began stalking her prey. It was a lone deer, pretty easy target in her case. She couldn't take on herds of animals, for she was alone not in a pack. She was in her wolf form at this particular point in time. She was hungry and had decided to do some early morning hunting. Stumbling upon this deer was mere coincidence, but it was a good one at that. The deer, her weak little prey, walked out into a meadow and lapped up some water from a stream, which cut across the said meadow. Open field, good for a chase. With her agility, the deer had no chance to out run her. Though if it was strong, she might have some difficulty in catching it. Strength was not one of her best points, but if she used a good strategy she didn't need it to be one.

Celestia hid in the darkness provided by the trees. She was thankfully there wasn't much wind, for otherwise her scent would be revealed to the unaware deer. She watched the deer closely, waiting for the perfect time to strike.The deer was so blindly clueless as to what its fate would be, and to the predator just lying in wait a few feet away. She quietly stepped closer to her prey, not co mush as making a sound. The deer still drank from the stream, having been apparently very thirsty. She knew: Her chance was almost upon her. And she definitely would take that chance.

[Jeremiah Maccabee]

Mac nocked an arrow in his bow and pulled it back. The deer was at the outside limit of his range but he dared not try to get closer. He took aim and then elevated his aim a bit to account for the distance. He did not detect any wind so he wouldn't have to account for that as well. Left foot in front, pointing at his target. Right foot in back, pointing to the right perpendicular from the direction of his left foot. He bent slightly at the knees, relaxed his abdominal muscles, exhaled and released. The arrow swept across the span separating hunter from hunted, whistling over the deer's head in a near miss. The deer was already moving when the arrow embedded itself in a sapling about ten feet beyond. Bounding in great leaps the deer fled for the safety of the forest. “Damn!” Mac said.

[Celestia]

She leaned down, fangs barred and claws ready, and watched her prey. It was time, she knew. Just as she had leaped out from her hiding spot, an arrow whizzed past the deer, her meal. It barely missed the deer's head. The deer bolted out of the meadow, crossing the other side in under a minute. "Damn it." Celestia growled in wolf tongue; she was beyond pissed. I stalked that deer all day and this stupid hunter just comes and scares it away! They didn't even maim it! They may not leave this place unharmed.... She angrily thought, a snarl erupting from her throat. Without even looking at her 'opponent', Celestia made a mad dash towards the direction the arrow had come from. She was way past angry, and wanted to show the person they messed with the wrong wolf.

Her small body quickly covered the ground, her black fur giving her away as she ran. Then a certain scent caught in her nostrils and her body went still, completely stopping. She was about half way toward the man when she registered who it was. "Damn him..."

[Jeremiah Maccabee]

The wolf was fast. Powerful muscles propelled it across the meadow in a coal-black blur that covered half the distance in seconds. He tried to nock another arrow but dropped it on the ground. He picked it up with the sickening certainty that the wolf would be on top of him before he could use it. He looked up. Half way across the meadow the wolf had stopped, deadly fangs bared, terrible eyes drilling into his with deadly intent. He nocked the arrow, pulled the bowstring back, sited on the nightmarish fiend and released. The arrow whistled toward its target and struck the ground about three meters to the left and a couple meters short. “Damn!” Mac said. He reached for another arrow.

[Celestia]

She hissed as the arrow he shot landed a few meters away from her, deadly close. She looked up at Mac, the man who at this moment in time was not her friend. Celestia thought about shifting back into her human form, so she wouldn't be killed by his arrows-even if she might be able to dodge them-. The only problem being she was a mile or two from her clothes and her things, and she didn't know if it would get awkward or not between her and Mac. Oh well, awkwardness and better than death... She thought, growling once more at Mac in her true form.

It took just seconds for her to shift back into her human form, though it did make her a little tired. Her black fur changed into brittled black hair with little streaks of brown mixed into it. Her body was back to its petite, tiny self. She kept her piercing yellow eyes and elongated teeth. The only thing that was new was the fact that she was completely naked. "Don't shoot Mac!" She yelled at him, a glare evident in her eyes. She was still mad at him for scaring away her breakfast. Though she wasn't in much of a position to be yelling out orders or anything, what with being nude and everything. She hated that; and hated more that Mac was witnessing her being without clothing.

[Jeremiah Maccabee]

Mac lowered his bow and gaped at the naked young woman standing not ten meters away in the grassy meadow. She was angelic. Then he figured out who she was. “Celestia Sylvia,” he stated. “Damn.” He stared for a few dumbfounded moments. “As I recall, you prefer to not have men staring at you when you're naked. Most unKelvic if you ask me. Especially since you have a body most women would die for.” Nonetheless he averted his eyes, turning his head so that he was looking down the sloping meadow toward the beaver dam rather than at her. He took off his long wool coat and tossed it in her direction. “Put that on before I lose my sanity.” He allowed himself a small smile. A few moments later they were sitting together in the midst of long grasses and wildflowers. The scent was intoxicating. “I'm going to guess I chased away your next meal,” he said. “For whatever it's worth, it was my meal too.” She was as he remembered her. Full, wavy, black hair. Golden eyes. Diminutive stature. Slightly elongated teeth that showed whenever she smiled. And a temper. He could tell she was irritated with him. “Oh … and sorry about trying to shoot you.” A hawk cried out as it wheeled across the misty meadow hunting for its breakfast. “So … what are we going to do now?”

[Celestia]

The feeling of being gaped at was new to her, and it felt kinda nice. In a weird type of way. Celestia waited for Mac to recognize her, which seemed to take forever. She nodded once he finally said who she was. He seemed even more surprised, and definitely liked what she looked like without any clothes. Typical men. She thought, rolling her eyes. "I am most unKelvic in more ways than one, Mac." Celestia thankfully took his wool coat and slipped it on over her body. It felt cozy and was still warm from when he was wearing it.

"Thanks for letting me use your wool coat." She said as she sat next to him in the grass and wildflowers. It was peaceful and serene, a great place to talk. "Yeah, been hunting that thing all morning actually. Guess it was gonna get hunted either way." He hasn't changed at all. Bald, clean head. Tired looking face. Tall. And older than me. She thought, inwardly chuckling at the last part of her thought. "I'm less mad about that than I am about you running off my meal." She watched the hawk as it swopped down and caught a mouse. "Lucky bastard..." She muttered more to herself than to Mac.

"Well we have a few options. One, I can shift back into my true form and hunt as a wolf. Two, we can go and gather my things and I can hunt as a human with you. Or three, we could possibly go into the city and buy food. The last one is very distasteful for me, I'd rather hunt my food than buy it." Celestia stated, turning her head to face Mac as she waited for which option he was going to chose. Or to see if he would come up with another idea, maybe one not involving food at all. With Mac, you never really knew what he was gonna say.

[Jeremiah Maccabee]

Two bells later Mac was crouched by a tree scanning the glade in front of him. Deer tracks had brought him here. Two deer stood at a tiny stream on the other side. One was drinking. The other was watching. He turned to signal Celestia but she was gone. The wolf had been behind him just a moment before but had vanished without a sound. He turned back to the deer. She was out there somewhere stalking her prey. He waited to see what would happen.

[Celestia]

All was silent as she crouched down, stalking their new prey. She was watching both the deer, the one drinking the water and the other being the look out. She was planning on attacking the one drinking the water, and hoped maybe Mac would take out the look out deer. Celestia had silently and stealthily left Mac before he could even signal to her to leave. That's how she normally does it, not waiting on anyone else's command to do what she was born to do.

As one deer sipped water from the stream, the other watched for any predators. That deer would be the troublesome one. It was closer so it would be a quicker target, but it was on high alert. That was the only problem. Minutes passed and she still just watched her prey, eying their every move. Not before long, the deer's seemed to be getting ready to switch places. The look out deer turned it back on the forest and walked toward the stream. The other deer stayed by the stream, its head up but not looking around. That was her chance, and she took it.

From out of the darkness of the tree-hidden ground came a dark figure, Celestia. She darted around the clearing, moving fast across the grass. The deers heads both turned at the same time. They seemed to sense she was a predator and started running off. Their only problem? They waited too long at the wrong place. Celestia bit down hard on the rear of the deer that was originally drinking from the stream, the closest target. The deer kicked her in the shoulder, but that made her bit down harder. She also clawed at its hind legs, trying to take it down. The deer made a sort of yelping noise and fell to the ground. That was the easy part, now came the hard part. Getting a good enough bite to kill the deer. The second deer, having heard the first deers cry for help, darted back into the clearing and ran toward Celestia as she sank her sharp, elongated canines into the first deers fleshy neck. She didn't want to release her grip on the first deer, for it was close to suffocating and that meant it would be her kill. But if that other deer attacked her, she would have to. The second deer continuing its run toward her, coming closer each second.