Flashback For the love of.... why can't I be on my own? (Fox Starseer)

[Aleksi]

Aleksi looked so proud. She was occupied with the pray for a while so she did not pay attention to what is going on around much. She then realized that Luc would not eat before she allowed him to so she just added quietly Go on Luc, finish your meal, and be nice to the bird Her eyes moved to the young hunter behind her. She could see him smile. Not really sure why, but she didn't mind it. Probably because nothing could ruin her day anymore. She had three Elk dead and the only thing she had to do was skin them, cut them into pieces and take them home.... as usual though, that sounded much easier than it actually was. Her fingers gripped onto the dagger as she added, looking at the man We should skin them, cut into pieces and make some form of a plate from bush branches and leaves, one at a time, probably then as if nothing was said, she turned around and began skinning the Elk before her, with not much success sadly.

[Fox Starseer]

Fox nodded and noticed she wasn't doing to well. He grbbed a small pouch from his yvas and walked over to Aleksi. "Let me see that dagger?" he asked. He pulled a whetstone and some oil out of the pouch. He could see she wasn't that good at skinning, but then neither was he. He hoped that a sharper dagger might help.

[Aleksi]

She looked at him as he approached, barely keeping herself away from literally growling at him. Her fingers then pulled the dagger up, looking at it and frowning. She knew that she was just very bad at skinning, but he was right, a sharp dagger might be a bit of help there. Looking at Luc and making sure he was paying attention to what was going on, she handed the dagger to the man across from her, adding I'm hoping you know what you are doing with that, because I don't have a spare one

[Fox Starseer]

Fox took the dagger, put a bit of oil on the whetstone and preceded to sharpen the blade, moving it in a figure 8 motion on one side then turning the weapon over to do the other side. He ran his finger along the newly sharpened blade and nodded a bit. "Not as sharp as I would like it, but it's as good as I can do with what I have at hand" he said, spinning the dagger so the handle was facing Aleksi. Considering how she had been acting around him, having the blade pointing at him where she could theoretically stab him, or at least badly cut his hand, may not have been the best plan, but out here you had to make quick judgments, and his was she was least likely to try anything. Not saying she wouldn't, but there was more chance of a glassbeak attack then her trying to hurt him for helping.

[Aleksi]

She titled her head as she watched the man sharpen the dagger. Aleksi saw it happen before but she has never done any of it herself, especially not out in the field. The man seemed so wary around her that she almost felt bad for being the way so she nodded and forced a smile as she reached his way and took the dagger. He seemed to know what he was doing and the dagger was somewhat more shiny than usual. Her voice was more calm now as she continued skinning the elk. Her mind was somewhat empty, other than the thoughts related to hunting So, why were you so distracted out there? What happened to you?

[Fox Starseer]

Fox sighed, the memory wasn't a good one, but he thought it might help them to understand each other better. "This spot holds some....signifigance for me. When I was 16 my twin and half of her hunting party was taken in a slaver raid, me and our father where making sure the nearby glassbeaks didn't cause us any trouble; they are thick in this area; by the time we got back to the part after hearing the call for help we saw some being taken away in a carriage with a cage on the back, and a few more being thrown into another cage....my twin was in the one that was already leaving, that was the last time I saw her. I have vowed to find her and either free her or...help her to die with dignety if need be...or bring her body back to be burned with her family watching" he said.

He looked up to the sky then back to Aleksi, his face didn't betray his emotions, but on the inside he was sad. "It's my fault she's gone, if I had chosen to be one of the warriors escorting the hunters closely rather then one of the outriders making sure the glassbeaks wouldn't cause trouble then maybe she would still be around" he added. Or I could have died protecting her he thought.

[Aleksi]

Aleksi's eyes didn't move from the Elk she was skinning, but she clearly was listening to him as he spoke. Nodding and pulling the skin from the left, finished side of the elk off, she pushed it over, with a grunt, knowing that because of the grass underneath, it wouldn't get too dirty and with a proper wash and enough temperature, it would be perfect. His story was somewhat similar to hers. Her father was crippled and her mother had died in a battle between Drykas and invaders. Taking a deep breath, she started speaking, softly, with evident sorrow in her voice My mother died in a battle like that... and my father lost both of his legs.... I can understand your pain... but there is no need to feel sorry for yourself.. you will not accomplish anything with it, believe me, I know, and with that, she finished, as her dagger sunk back in between the meat and skin of the Elk, making small, yet powerful cuts to separate the two.

[Fox Starseer]

"I'm sorry to hear that...but at least we understand each other a bit better I think" he said. He would have put an arm on her shoulder, but he still didn't know if she would hurt him. "I should get back to skinning my elk" he said, walking back to the kill he made earlier. He started to skin it with his skinning knife he had bought found a few days back, it broke in the hide of the elk as he made the second cut. He searched around for something else and found a discarded arrow head, he sharpened it a bit and proceded to use that. It was slow going, but he knew he could do it. And using his sword would possibly make the cut to uneven and jagged.

After he skinned the elk and started to gather grass and sticks to make the lattices they would use to carry the meat, hides and bones of thier kill back to Endrykus.

[Aleksi]

She just finished her Elk and tossed the skin to the side. It was so much work and it took so long for someone as inexperienced at it as she was. Her hand moving up and wiping the sweat off of her forehead, well.. trying to, anyway, but just ending up with a big, bloody strap there. It looked almost planned though, and she didn't care... it showed more who she was. Her eyes caught him collecting things for the lattices, so she stood up, to help him. Letting Luc play about her feet, she left the dagger on the Elk and started carrying it his way. They needed something to pull it all together, so she tried finding bigger and somewhat more difficult to break, strands of grass, frowning at not remembering to bring a rope from home. Her fingers felt the whip attached to her hip nearly slip down, so she stood up and readjusted it, with a grin.

[Fox Starseer]

Fox smiled and said nothing as he saw her readjusting the whip and finished laying thye sticks in a large rectangle shape and started to work on the middle of the lattice with the grass he chose to use. "So how much do you think some of these will fetch back in Endrykus? I mean after our share is deducted of course" he asked. He wondered why the area seemed unnaturally quiet. Must be just because the elk herd ran that the other animals are laying low he thought. After all, how likely would it be that there was something dangerous, like bandits, nearby.