Day 45, Summer of 513 A.V.
Forest green eyes gazed steadily ahead, running unblinkingly over the massive expense of land that made up only a small portion of Cyphrus’ Sea of Grass. Today was a good day for hunting, Neci affirmed with glee, a sparkle flickering to life in her eyes as she nudged her mount forward. Stella stomped a hoofed leg once in slight protest, snorting loudly through her nostrils as if rebelling against her rider’s command. Neci, undeterred by her horse’s attitude, nudge her side with her heel once again, albeit a tad bit harder than before, forcing the mare to begrudgingly move forward.
While it was considered dangerous to venture out past Endrykas’ secure boundaries alone, the hot glare of the sun and the whisper of the breeze called to her with such force she had been on the move before even realizing it. The air smelled of salt, carried on the wind from its journey inland off the coast, and dusty dirt kicked up by the lazy gait she had set Stella into. It was a scent the young woman easily associated with the summer months, when her migrating city turned north to the coast and aimed for the border of Sylira.
The weight of the bow and arrows strapped to her back was a comforting feeling as she made her way further out in hopes of finding some game, determined to at least bring back a rabbit or a hare of some sort for dinner. Buzzards would be a nice catch as well, but with hardly any training in archery, she found the flying creatures to be rather difficult to shoot down. While rabbits and hares were easier to hunt in the sense they couldn’t take wing and fly off, the tiny critters were ridiculously fast and agile - more times than not she had set out to hunt them and then returned home empty handed.
The mount/rider duo continued down the long, winding path caravans frequented as they made haste across the grass land. While it was true that Neci was of the Drykas race, she had absolutely zero experience in the art of webbing – a magic that was imperative to know should one desire to set out alone into the seemingly never ending Sea of Grass. If simply traveling alone was dangerous, then traveling alone with no way to navigate was utter suicide. Until she was better equip to venture off into the uncontained wilderness on her own, Neci was perfectly content with following the worn caravan trails.
“What’s that?”
Neci’s eyes narrowed in concentration as she tried to make out the silhouette that had appeared on the trail ahead of her. A hand came up to shield her eyes from the harsh glare of the sun as she tried to make out the approaching figure, pulling back on the handle of Stella’s Yvas in order to halt in oblivious animal. Squinting, she was able to make out the form of a horse; and once it had moved closer, a rider mounted on its back. Stella snorted once she took noticed of the approaching party, shifting her weight from her right to left side – a cautious habit Neci learned to recognize when Stella was in the presence of strangers.
“Is that a girl? … It is! What’s she doing out here? And alone to boot!”
While Neci wasn’t one to talk, the knowledge that she was a hunter-to-be made her feel as if she weren’t just a normal girl out alone in the grass lands. She was able to defend herself in cases of emergency, able to find and gather resources should the need for them arise, and she even had her chosen strider, Stella, with her. She was perfectly equipped to handle any situation that came upon her – at least in theory she was.
In reality, all she had was a bow and a case full of arrows to defend herself with, and even then she wasn’t skilled enough to really shoot anything that was mobile. If she wanted to be creative, she could use the eating knife she kept in her bag as a weapon of sorts, but seeing how it was dull she doubted it’d have very much use in a real fight. She didn’t have enough knowledge about herbs and plant life to tell the difference between something that was okay to eat and something that would kill you off in only a matter of seconds. While she had basic knowledge of how to survive in the wild, it’d take more energy than it ought to to go around gathering provisions.
“Oy! You there!” She nudged Stella into a fast gait, quickly closing the distance between herself and the other woman who was now in clear view. “What do you think you’re doing out here alone? Don’t you know it’s dangerous for girls to be out here alone?”
Up close, Neci realized that the female was relatively pretty. It was unusual to see a woman with hair as short as hers, and she wondered what had happened to the obviously well-kept hair for it to become as it was. Her skin was tanned and her eyes were as lightly shaded green as Neci’s were dark, the light shade of brown her curly hair sported only helping to accent them. Even mounted, it was obvious to see that the other girl was much taller than Neci’s five foot two inch stature, and with her muscular build she could tell the female was used to physical labor.
While it was considered dangerous to venture out past Endrykas’ secure boundaries alone, the hot glare of the sun and the whisper of the breeze called to her with such force she had been on the move before even realizing it. The air smelled of salt, carried on the wind from its journey inland off the coast, and dusty dirt kicked up by the lazy gait she had set Stella into. It was a scent the young woman easily associated with the summer months, when her migrating city turned north to the coast and aimed for the border of Sylira.
The weight of the bow and arrows strapped to her back was a comforting feeling as she made her way further out in hopes of finding some game, determined to at least bring back a rabbit or a hare of some sort for dinner. Buzzards would be a nice catch as well, but with hardly any training in archery, she found the flying creatures to be rather difficult to shoot down. While rabbits and hares were easier to hunt in the sense they couldn’t take wing and fly off, the tiny critters were ridiculously fast and agile - more times than not she had set out to hunt them and then returned home empty handed.
The mount/rider duo continued down the long, winding path caravans frequented as they made haste across the grass land. While it was true that Neci was of the Drykas race, she had absolutely zero experience in the art of webbing – a magic that was imperative to know should one desire to set out alone into the seemingly never ending Sea of Grass. If simply traveling alone was dangerous, then traveling alone with no way to navigate was utter suicide. Until she was better equip to venture off into the uncontained wilderness on her own, Neci was perfectly content with following the worn caravan trails.
“What’s that?”
Neci’s eyes narrowed in concentration as she tried to make out the silhouette that had appeared on the trail ahead of her. A hand came up to shield her eyes from the harsh glare of the sun as she tried to make out the approaching figure, pulling back on the handle of Stella’s Yvas in order to halt in oblivious animal. Squinting, she was able to make out the form of a horse; and once it had moved closer, a rider mounted on its back. Stella snorted once she took noticed of the approaching party, shifting her weight from her right to left side – a cautious habit Neci learned to recognize when Stella was in the presence of strangers.
“Is that a girl? … It is! What’s she doing out here? And alone to boot!”
While Neci wasn’t one to talk, the knowledge that she was a hunter-to-be made her feel as if she weren’t just a normal girl out alone in the grass lands. She was able to defend herself in cases of emergency, able to find and gather resources should the need for them arise, and she even had her chosen strider, Stella, with her. She was perfectly equipped to handle any situation that came upon her – at least in theory she was.
In reality, all she had was a bow and a case full of arrows to defend herself with, and even then she wasn’t skilled enough to really shoot anything that was mobile. If she wanted to be creative, she could use the eating knife she kept in her bag as a weapon of sorts, but seeing how it was dull she doubted it’d have very much use in a real fight. She didn’t have enough knowledge about herbs and plant life to tell the difference between something that was okay to eat and something that would kill you off in only a matter of seconds. While she had basic knowledge of how to survive in the wild, it’d take more energy than it ought to to go around gathering provisions.
“Oy! You there!” She nudged Stella into a fast gait, quickly closing the distance between herself and the other woman who was now in clear view. “What do you think you’re doing out here alone? Don’t you know it’s dangerous for girls to be out here alone?”
Up close, Neci realized that the female was relatively pretty. It was unusual to see a woman with hair as short as hers, and she wondered what had happened to the obviously well-kept hair for it to become as it was. Her skin was tanned and her eyes were as lightly shaded green as Neci’s were dark, the light shade of brown her curly hair sported only helping to accent them. Even mounted, it was obvious to see that the other girl was much taller than Neci’s five foot two inch stature, and with her muscular build she could tell the female was used to physical labor.
OOCI hope this is okay - if there is anything wrong tell me and I'll go back and fix it. Also, sorry it seemed as if the ending cut off. I had a brain dead moment and didn't know what else to write.
