Caught in my Tracks (Kyra)

[Aello]

Timestamp: Spring 6, 513 AV "Have you figured out where it went?" Lily asked from her perch atop Aello's right shoulder. "No," replied the huntress as her fist tightened around the supple curve of her father's old bow, "how could anyone given the length of its head start?" "There's always your other... skills," Lily whispered into her ear as cotton folds whirled angrily about the girl's ankles. The frayed edges of her chestnut colored mane tickling her neck as her muddied irises darted back and forth over the bed of uneven terrain. She shook her head lightly. "It won't make following these wretched tracks any easier," Aello responded as she eyed another snapped twig. A few droppings the size of pebbles. Tight, dark brown. Left for a while, by what the girl could tell. Her eyes grazed over indented earth. Claws scraping into the ground below three knobbed pads. They were definitely hunting a hare, but how far ahead it had gotten was difficult to tell. If the fact that the Kelvic couldn't seem to pick up the scent, wherever she was, was any indication, they still had a ways to go before chancing upon it. What she had let escape Kyra's claws.

[Kyra]

Kyra wandered further into the forest, after having left Aello behind. She crouched low to the ground, her bow and quiver strapped across her back. Her boots gently pressed against the ground, and the simple, men's clothing that she wore hung dainty and loose on her tiny figure. Slowly she moved through the brush, light steps to muffle the sound of her movements as she proceeded. Her nose twitched as she sniffed the air, the hare wasn't anywhere near by, but there was something else, something bigger.

Just a few paces off into the distance stood a deer. It looked small from where she was crouched, possibly a fawn or female at least. Kyra slowly moved closer to the nearest tree and hid herself from view. She waited a few more ticks before she started to crawl again, inching her way closer to the animal for a better shot.

She frozen suddenly when she deer looked up and started to scan the area. Sadly she didn't have a clear shot as of yet and would need to get even a bit closer. Again she started to move, her bow still strapped upon her back as she made gentle steps towards her target.

Snap

Kyra jerked her head up quickly, catching the beady eyes of the deer as she had been spotted. The young kelvic had to think quickly, she had to calm the deer before it raced off before she had the chance to draw her bow. A thought occurred to her then, a memory from a few seasons ago and it gave her an idea. She breathed in deeply, calming herself and locking her gaze with that of the deer's. With her mind focused, she released the flow of djed from within her body and directed it into her eyes, mouth and even her hands.

Her mind was clear, her focus solid. She remembered the deer that she had hunted, the way it moved, the sounds that it made..Kyra parted her lips, as she attempted to make the sound that she had heard the deer make before. The kelvic took in another breath and then attempted the same sound again, hoping that it would calm the animal or at least confuse it long enough for her to get her bow and notch an arrow into it's string.

"Shusss..It's ok...I won't come any closer. I am not your enemy.."

[Aello]

"Well, where do you think Kyra went?" Lily inquired as she swung her legs uneasily, her tiny clay hands digging into Aello's shoulders. "Through the trees," the huntress whispered. Lily rolled her eyes. Out of the corner of her own, the Treaver noticed. "Well, she is supposed to be following the same trail we are." "But she wasn't even looking down before," Lily retorted. "All she has to do is sniff the air," Aello replied mildly as she stepped over a series of rooted weavings. "And sort what wafts into her nostrils out..." "Perhaps," said the pycon. "And what do you do?" "Whatever suits my fancy," Aello replied as a curious grin crossed her lips. The pycon glowered as the two continued on their way, listening to the sounds of the forest- birds chirping in the distance, the patter of Aello's boots on the hard packed soil, the scraping of nails against bark off in the distance. "How long until she comes back Aello?" Lily asked. "It's too quiet here. I don't like it." "Well, we are hunting," the girl replied. "Were." The huntress paused, her legs dragging together as she turned to face her companion. "What do you mean?" "Oh nothing..." A brow furrowed. But nothing was said. Perhaps, the pycon's words held some level of validity, and she was allowing the Kelvic to take over...

[Kyra]

Kyra continued to work with the float of djed and forcing it into her eyes and mouth. The process was still very knew to her and she wasn't used to holding it for long. "It's going to be ok, stay calm. We are alike, you and I." she added just before she attempted to make the bugling sound again. The young kelvic remained still, her eyes unblinking as they stared down the deer. Only her hands moved slowly, reaching up drawing the bow from back as well as taking an arrow from her quiver.

"You're not to worry...not at all...everything...is ok."

The kelvic slowly notched the arrow into her quiver and raised it to fire. Suddenly the deer took off, possibly frighten by the sight of the bow, or some other reason. But Kyra had him in her sights now and after releasing a breath, she fired upon the animal. It was a good shot, however the quick and nimble young deer slipped around a tree just in time to avoid her arrow.

"Why you sneaky bugger.."

Kyra hissed as she released her focus on the flow of djed and allowed it to return and settle within her. Standing up, she pulled another arrow from her quiver and started off again. The scent of the deer was still fresh, and she could even make out it's tracks on the ground as she ran. If she was fast enough, she might still catch it.

[Aello]

"We're following a trail Lily, it's just not fresh, so we need not hurry," Aello commented as she started up again, circling around a tree with the flow of each track. "Shouldn't that mean that we move faster Aello?" Lily asked. "To catch up with it before it gets away? Or something else gets it?" Aello said nothing as her eyes followed the soft rounded edges. Her breath leaving a warmth upon her lips, and a soft sigh within the air as her fist tightened around her father's old bow. "Not necessarily, nor should we hurry if we don't want to lose her." "Who?" "Kyra," the huntress replied. "Didn't we do that already?" Lily asked. Aello shook her head. "No, she's somewhere out there." "Exactly!" There was a pause. "Now why don't you go get yourself some dinner so I can finally eat something! We both know that scrawny hare isn't going to be enough for both of you. And if you hurry, you could have it all before she sniffs you out." Aello scowled. "It'll do," she whispered, as she stepped over another snapped branch, a thin white hair. Likely an elder gone grey with fright from the hunt. This or previous. She sighed, and looked up at the sky as she hurried through a thin line of barbed bushes which tugged at her clothes. Scraped her exposed skin. She wondered how long it would be until the sun went down.

[Kyra]

Kyra raced after the deer, but it was quickly getting away from her. The young kelvic was better in short burst of speed, long chases never worked well for her and she would tire quickly. She pursued the deer further, slowing her pace, but keeping it in sight. At some point it would have to stop.

Still, even her simple plan hadn't worked out as she had thought, and the deer raced off for longer than she had thought. Soon enough it was out of her sight completely, and Kyra was back to following it's scent to find it again. At this point she had stopped running and was merely walking while searching the air for the deer's smell.

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes nearby, something much smaller than the deer that she had been chasing. Kyra turned slightly, leaning down as she watched curiously. It took only a moment before a hare appeared through the green thicket. Her eyes widen a bit as she licked her lips. It wasn't as meaty as a deer, but it would do.

The young kelvic wondered then if it was the same hare that they had been chasing before. A quick sniff confirmed it, somehow even by accident, Kyra had found the hare again. Raising her bow, she pulled the arrow back firmly and with her aim on the hare, she fired.

It had appeared that the arrow struck the animal, but as it jumped up and raced off again, she saw that she had missed. Without another moments hesitation, Kyra pulled around arrow from her quiver, notched it to her bow. She raised it quickly, finding the blurry animal racing off into the bushes and fired again.

[Aello]

Aello lowered her gaze, returning it to the uneven bed of terrain that lay endlessly before her. Her hand curled restlessly against the supple curve of her father's old bow, and her lips clenched tightly shut. Her pupils, encased within muddied irises seemed to dart back and forth with her scarcely concealed agitation, following the line of hurried tracks. Fading, it seemed, alongside the sun. The Treaver breathed evenly, her chest rising and falling softly as she pushed past another series of shrubs, and into a clearing. Concealed behind a ring of trees, she noticed, stood Kyra with her bow. Her long blonde hair swaying softly in the breeze. "No luck?" Aello called as she glided a little closer. Her steps scarcely sounding her approach. "Has the rabbit managed to elude you too?"

[Kyra]

Kyra stood silently for a moment listening, waiting to hear the soft thud of the arrow as it pierced into the hide of the rabbit. When there was none, she assumed that she had missed and the rabbit had run off again. Still the scent was fresh, and she hoped to find it again..and soon.

She slipped off into the brush again, lighting stepping and hoping over above ground tree trunks as she tried to find the rabbit's trail. It seemed to have disappeared, but she did spot tiny prints on the ground, but it didn't led for a trail as the ground itself wasn't all dirt.

Kyra stopped again, her bow held at her side as she sniffed the air. It had to be near, and if she could catch the winds at the right moment, it would tell her exactly which way the animal went. But it was a different sent that wafted into her nose, a very human scent...it was the huntress. Kyra turned to face the direction and saw Aello coming towards her.

The young kelvic lifted her bow and slipped it back over her shoulder as she glanced to the human and pycon. "I think it is near..maybe there in the bushes?"

[Aello]

The huntress offered the Kelvic a soft smile; a gentle glimmer within the depths of her muddied irises. "That seems... doubtful," she commented, as vaporous tendrils rose from the earth. Each tinted a separate shade of green. Some light, some as dark as the leaves; pine needles. A mirror of their more corporal brethren. Some carried a faint scent, although for the most part, the only think that came was that of truth; trampled earth. Her fist tightened around her father's old bow, as her eyes scanned the earth and nostrils flared as they began to accept what the splits in the earth had born. What the use of her magic had allowed her to see. It didn't tickle her. Didn't bother her truly, as did the scent of sweat and dung. But this, the huntress had long learned to ignore, being that it distracted from her intents, her strange crafts. Thus, her eyes flitted, following the single red beat. A slight pulsation within the auras that had begun to coalese beside herself and her companions. It was the poor creature's heart. Aello could tell, almost hear it thundering against the forest's still life. "It'll be farther ahead," the Treaver whispered. "Come," she instructed, as she began to run in the direction Kyra had last seen it go.

[Kyra]

Kyra stared at the huntress curiously after her comment on the rabbit's whereabouts. The kelvic was still learning to hunt, and mostly went by instincts in the forest and used her nose to guide her and her eyes picked up on subtle notes that might lead to where food might be.

But the huntress seemed to go by another style, something she knew, a way she was trained? Kyra wasn't really sure, but she followed a lone. Aello was a forest witch she thought, and so the woman should know such things, but Kyra wished that she did as well as she wished Aello would confess to her true powers.

She raced on through the woods staying close to Aello this time rather than going off on her own as she had before. The scent of the animal was still in her nose, but perhaps she had been confused, and the scent wasn't as fresh as her mind led her to believe.

OOCSo yea..Aello is the advanced hunter here so she should be leading this