Solo Hunting Alone

[Kiran Pelyna]

TimeStamp: 4th of WInter 512

Kiran was shoving things into her body pack, not too kind to her items. Today one of the male Endals a few years her senior had pointed out the fact that with her being so young there was no way she'd be able to take down large prey without the help of her Eagle. Kiran had pointed out the fact that she'd been an Endal for four years and him only two, no matter the fact that she was younger she had more experience in this trade than he and it would be best if he shut his trap before her fist did it for him.

She had stormed off after that, she hadn't told Pelyna what the man had said because he would know what she'd be fixing to do. Something brash and stupid, her trademark really. And he'd stop her from doing it. Well Kiran didn't want to be stopped. She'd prove it to them, all of those people who had been saying she was too young to be an Endal since the day she'd bonded. That she was too small, too weak. She was getting sick of it. She'd prove herself if it killed her. There was only so much a girl could take!

She looked over all her things and pulled out what she'd shoved into the pack. She started to carefully pack this time. Her regular backpack went on the bottom. Her normal pair of Bryda, and her Vinati, went into the bottom of the pack. She was already wearing what she considered her 'winter' clothes. her furred Vinati and velvet Bryda, specifically picked out because they'd keep her warm without weighing her down too much. The velvet Bryda were some of the nicest she owned, she didn't usually indulge herself too much. Well not yet. Her weapons made up for her plain clothes. She set aside her Katinu, mittens and wool scarf for when she was ready to go. Her knee length boots were already on her feet and she set aside her snow shoes to go on the top of the pack, in case the snow was too deep to walk in her boots.


Her arm guard and glove went on immediately, she didn't know when she'd need her bow to be drawn so it would save time to just keep them on constantly. She packed half her regular arrows, half her game arrows and half her fishing arrows into her quiver. Making a total of fifty arrows in the quiver. It was full to near bursting. The rest she set aside. She put her soap, whestone, comb and brush on top of the spare clothes. Then went in her small iron pot. She then put in her strong rations and half a pound of venison jerky. A weeks worth of rations followed that along with her Travellers Stock. She wanted to make sure she had some variety to her meals while hunting. Her eating knife went on top of all the food, along with her flint and steel. Her bedroll and tent were tied to the top of the pack, the waterskin hung to the side. Her bow was unstrung, the string placed in a rucksack that hung around her middle, in it were three others she had gained from asking an Avora if she could buy some, they just handed her the bowstrings, leaving her slightly confused and upset. She didn't like being given things, she liked earning them.

She did still buy a lot of things, after some disagreements with shop owners who wanted to give her things she usually got to pay for them. She placed the bow on top of the pack, over the tent and bedroll, in easy access. She sheathed her dagger and it hung from her belt. Her glaive, which was taller than her by three inches or so, the blade itself was around a foot long. There was leather wrapped round three places on the glaive where her hands could grip it. She kept the out, it would be a good walking stick down the mountain.

She slipped on her Katinu, her mittens, and her scarf. She slipped the hood up and the scarf over as much of her face as possible. She strapped the pack onto her back and made her way out of the city. People didn't talk to her as she walked through the city, they didn't recognize her for one thing. And they assumed she was a hunter out to go hunt, which she was. On her off day too. It would only matter if sh actually brought in a kill, in her mind. But to make sure no one freaked out over her absence she stopped by Mother Ilish.

"Mother Ilish , I'm going out hunting. I'll be gone from two days to a week or so." Kiran informed her. Illish looked at her oddly, Kiran had come back not two days ago from a scouting mission. But Kiran looked healthy enough, and looked ready to go out. She didn't ask where her eagle was, she assumed that they'd be hunting together, or the Eagle would be going to Thunder Bay in search of larger prey. She nodded and Kiran was off to the gate.

Several Bells later and Kiran was in the Unforgiving, the calls of creatures following her around as she made her way to the closest Forward Camp to set up there. Her thoughts of snow proven wrong, the plants are dying and frosted but they haven't been blanketed with snow yet. But it is very cold outside and Kiran finds herself happy for her warm clothes.

Kiran keeps her eyes and ears open for predators, winter is a harsh time on everyone. And predators who are already territorial and mean will be even worse with their empty stomachs, and normally shy predators might become aggressive, all needing to survive. Her grip on her glaive tightens as a twig breaks, and a squirrel runs out. She chuckles quietly to herself as she makes her way down a deer trail that she has used a few times before to get to the Forward Camp. It's one she knows fairly well, having walked to it before when Pelyna had to hunt for large fish and seals at Thunder Bay.

Her eyes flickered up to tree branches and into undergrowth. She knew the wolves in this area didn't attack without provocation and the Endals had been careful to tell each other where their territories seemed to be. The hunting cast in this area were harder. Thankfully she wasn't heading straight through Rashkari territory either. Their had been few sightings of them in this area. But the Kourgara were seen occasionally around here, as were Zynx. Although she knew if she ran into a Kougara, if she didn't die, she'd know that was her only problem. At the moment she wasn't sure which one of the large cats would come at her, if they did. Maybe she'd get lucky and not have to deal with either. But if she killed the feline, if it was around here. She'd be safe. Other cats didn't run into each others territory except during mating season and when the babies were born. So she kept her eyes open, the Kougara would probably hide in trees. She wished she'd had some sort of Gnosis that would alert her to the presence of a big cat, or predator. Or even a leopard bred horse. Useful things they were if you were in the unforgiving.

So Kiran made her way further into the Unforgiving, hoping to get to the camp before nightfall. Predators rarely went into Forward camps, the smell of Wind Eagle and human was a bit too strong.

[Kiran Pelyna]

Kiran eventually reached the Forward Camp without trouble, well she'd been scared by a quarter deer. The clumsy thing had been a little bit too cute to kill, she had her rations after all and bringing a quarter deer back wouldn't exactly show off her skill as a hunter. Anyone could catch the clumsy creatures, their calls alerted you to where they were and they weren't in the least bit skittish. She could've grabbed the thing with her bare hands and killed it, but she wasn't cruel.


Coming into the small clearing that housed five huts she looked around carefully for any predators that might have taken up home in one of the huts. The huts were hard to spot, unless you knew what you were looking for. Kiran could easily spot the huts built from forest material. Gripping her glaive easily with a hand on the last grip and one on the middle she looked into each hut, and checked the tree tops, for any hungry cats waiting to pounce on a small girl. No animals seemed to be around and it didn't smell like a cat, once you'd smelt the feral musk of a large cat it wasn't something you easily forgot, and she relaxed. She looked into each hut and finally chose one that was small enough to feel cozy but big enough for her things.

Ustrapping her pack from her body she pushed it against the back and pulled off her bow and bedroll, she lay her bedroll on the hard ground and set the tent aside, she might have to go farther from here to find a kill in the winter, and set her glaive down. She needed to gather firewood while she could see, light faded fast in the winter. Fire also kept predators at bay. So she needed enough fuel to keep it going and keep them away from her. She could start her hunting in the morning. She picked her glaive back up and left the hut, walking around the camp and gathering arm fulls of sticks and logs that she deposited in her hut as she mad ea circle around the camp, widening it as she gathered.

A bell and a half later half of the room in the hut was filled with tree fall. Old logs and branches that had fallen from trees lay in a pile along with leaves, bark and dead moss for tinder. She set a good amount of tinder in the middle of the hut in an indent surrounded by rocks and darkened from previous fires. There was a hole at the apex of the hut for the smoke to escape through. She lay branches along it trying to remember how senior Endals had done this when she'd gone out hunting with them. She was never good at firestarting but she needed the fire, or else she'd freeze to death tonight. Already she was getting cold even under her clothes.

So she set up the branches and twigs how she thought she'd seen others do it before and put dry leaves over the top of it. She took out her flint and steel and struck it several times before the dry leaves caught. The leaves caught easily but they burned out too quickly to catch the wood alight. Kiran groaned, so that's not how it was done. She rearranged the wood until the tinder was in the middle and twigs were arranged around it. Twigs caught fire easier right? She was pretty sure they did, she'd seen them light up before branches before.

If only she was a fire reimancer, that would make this a lot easier on her. She struck the flint and steel together until the tender caught fire. She hastily fed the small flame a twig, which it caught onto easily. Kiran almost squealed as it ate up the twig, she added more until she had a cheery fire going that would take larger logs. Well she wouldn't be cold tonight, although she hoped the fire wouldn't go out, she wasn't sure she could restart a fire. And she also didn't know how to bank one. She just hoped the coals stayed alive while she slept or the fire kept on going.

Satisfied that the fire in its small pit would keep itself alive she pulled out a strip of deer jerky and some strong rations. She ate her sparse meal up and curled up on the bedroll, it was pitch dark outside and she could hear animals calling out at each other. She wondered how long she could stay out here without calling to Pelyna, or having him come after her.

It was odd being out here alone, it was ironically very lonely. And frightening. No one was around to watch the supplies, or keep watch while you slept. Kiran would just have to sleep in naps to keep from being snuck up on by some hungry creature.

[Kiran Pelyna]

Kiran slept fitfully that night. She woke several times because of animals making their calls close to the camp and the bitter cold of winter biting at anything not fully bundled up and facing the fire. So the fire had been constantly fed during the night, every time she woke she put more wood on the fire.

Kiran found herself wishing for company as she sat there looking into the fire, dawn was coming soon she could tell by the lightening of the sky. She wished for once that she had her own personal Dek, something many Avora and Endals had. A dek was useful for carrying extra gear and keeping an aerie clean. And if they had the right skills they made excellent hair dressers.

Kiran poked the fire and wondered how long she'd hold out here on her own. She just needed to take down a big deer, hillgoat, or Mountainbeast.

When she deemed it light enough to go out hunting Kiran slipped her rucksack around her waist and put a few pieces of jerky under the bowstrings. She hung her dagger from her belt and the waterskin as well. She looked at her glaive, it wouldn't be very practical to bring it along unless she ran into something big. She sighed and slipped on the weapon harness that she had to root around in her bag to find. She strapped the glaive to it so it crossed over her back. A simple tug at a tie and a pull at her glaive and she could have it in her hands.

It was only a tiny bit awkward to get it out. Satisfied that she wouldn't be without a large melee weapon she strung her long bow easily and slipped on the finger and arm guards. She set out, leaving the fire going but dulled, with a large rather damp log there to keep it fed. She pulled her hood on and slipped on her mittens, making sure the string attached to them were circling her wrists, she could easily slip them off and draw her bow and not have to worry about losing her mittens.

Her scarf was tied around her mouth, and neck. her nose was free so she could breathe. She left the camp and headed out towards a part of the forest that usually had some game. She was hoping to run into a Mountainbeast, it's why she'd chosen the camp. It was near their territory. She hoped that a heard of them was near here this winter.

[Kiran Pelyna]

Kiran kept her eyes scanning the ground and the tree's, worried about not finding traces of prey and similarly worried of becoming prey herself. She was not stupid, she had been in this forest before, but Pelyna was always near. Or aware of where she was. And even then she was usually with an Avora hunter or another Endal, her being so young and inexperienced she usually had someone watching over her to make sure she didn't get herself killed.

Not for the first time Kiran wondered at the sanity of this venture, she had been so angry she hadn't really thought of much else other than bringing back a large kill and shoving his face in it. But now, she wondered at this. She wasn't usually this stupid. Well no, she did some stupid things, brave thing others would say, stupid she would say. Things she wouldn't take back for the world though. She was an Inartan though. They had a way of being stupidly brave. She just hoped she got out of this 'adventure' alive, and mostly unharmed. Actually as long as she had most of her limbs at the end of this hunting trip she'd be good.

She looked closely at the ground, kneeling to get a better look at something. She was not a good tracker, she usually had someone with her who was more trained in the skill, but she knew a Mountainbeast print when she saw one. And it was fresh, well she thought it was.

She stood up with a big grin on her face and sped up her pace, still keeping an eye to the trees, while checking the ground as she followed the tracks. Eventually she came upon a meadow where several of them were grazing on the sparse food available. Kiran almost jumped with joy.

Kiran didn't notice the other predator hunting the Mountainbeasts several yards to her right, and it didn't notice her. Yet. But it would.

Kiran was so happy as she quickly and efficiently strung her bow, her muscles straining at the effort to string such a large, powerful bow. But she was used to it, she had strung this bow many a time. She knocked it with an arrow and drew wit back, her muscles protested at the use, it wasn't an easy bow to draw. She held the arrow as she sighted it down the shaft, keeping her forefinger over the arrow to hold it steady as she aimed. Her muscles burned as they were forced to hold the arrow back. Finally she sighted her prey and took her forefinger from the arrow , it rested on her hand that clutched tightly at the bow. The arrow moved slightly, as her body had a hard time holding still with the strain of the pull. Kiran took in a deep breath and on the exhale released the arrow. the feathers scraped across her skin opening up a shallow cut that didn't bleed, she was used to that at this point. The arrow flew through the air and landed in an animal. Only it was one over from the one she had wanted to hit and she had hit the animal in the flank. The creature let out an alarmed cry and it, with the rest of the herd, bolted.

Kiran cursed and growled. She unstrung her bow and continued to curse herself, she could follow the trail but it was going to be dark in an hour or so and she needed to be back at her camp.

A few yards over an angered feline hunter heard her cursing. It had lost it's intended prey, a Mountainbeast and it was hungry. It sniffed at the air, identifying the creature as a human. It had eaten human meat before, tender and easily removed fur. They were easy enough to kill without the tough hides or fast feet of other prey animals.

So the creature picked itself up from it position and began to stalk the unsuspecting Inartan girl, trailing her quietly, content to follow until it felt that the creature was complacent enough for him to pounce on.

[Kiran Pelyna]

Half a bell now she had been walking and she would she would soon enough be to her camp, she had not needed to slow down to search painstakingly for tracks. She had a quick pace, or well as quick as it could be when one had to stop to remove brambles from your clothes and to pick your way over tree fall. She followed several game trails that wound through the trees in no particular direction, heading into the dense undergrowth when they headed in the opposite direction as she.

As she had been doing this, traipsing through the woods making more noise than she was fully aware of, the growing feeling of being watched was growing. Had she been a better hunter, or even a better tracker, she would've known she was being watched long before now. As it was she felt herself getting antsy, her eyes constantly flickering to the forest around her and to the tree limbs above. She knew she couldn't fight in close quarters like this, she'd be an easy kill. And if she decided to call Pelyna he would never be able to get to her.

Kiran calmed her fear as best she could, knowing the smell would make the hunter more likely to attack. She kept her pace measured, not too fast and not too slow. But by the gods she wanted to run. She wanted to bolt out of there, away from danger. It was a natural reaction. But she couldn't, not yet.

She felt the flickering of fire stir in her chest. How dare this thing make her feel such fear? Who had given it the right to do this to her? A strong Endal warrior nothing had the right to frighten her so. Her grip on her dagger, the weapon that was clutched tightly in her right hand, constricted. her left hand was ready to grab her glaive from her back where it was slung, knowing she had a better chance of using that and living then trying to shoot anything full of arrows.

Her mittens had been long ago been pulled from her hands to leave them free, they dangled from her wrists, bumping against her hands occasionally as she made her way. Her Katinu was tight to her body, but yet loose enough to allow her movement if she needed it.

She just needed to get to the camp where there was enough clear space to fight. There she could have her Glaive out to fend it off and perhaps call for help. She doubted she could actually take any of the creatures that called this place home on her own.

She just hoped Pelyna would be able to hear her. Hopefully he was out searching for her, he would've undoubtedly been worried when she hadn't returned to the aerie that night. But right now she needed to get to that clearing.

And her luck held out, a few chimes later she emerged into the camp, where her fire was little more than embers. Immediately she removed her bow and quiver, they were hinder-some and useless. Her Katinu followed, it would only restrict her movements. Her mittens and weapons harness added to the pile. Her glaive was gripped in her right hand and her dagger was secure at her waist. She hurriedly added some smaller twigs to the fire in the hope that it would scare whatever was stalking her away.

But yet she still did not call Pelyna, she didn't want to admit her weakness yet. She wasn't willing to prove it to all of those worms up there that she couldn't survive without her eagle there to protect her. No, she'd do what she could before she called for help.


The big cat that had followed her felt the hunger in it's stomach gnawing at it, it's prey had emerged from the forest and was now in a strange clearing that smelled of bird. Deadly birds. But there were none around, only the human. It did something odd, it removed some of it's fur. Something the creature following Kiran didn't mind in the least, the less fur to get stuck in it's teeth the better. It crept closer before taking up into the tree, climbing silently and quietly.