Solo Sorrow

[Viridae Kabre]

Timestamp: Day 2, fall, 513 AV
Location: Kalea Wilds
Purpose: Gathering feathers for the upcoming ball
The sun was just beginning to sink below the skyline as Viridae hiked across a narrow valley, spotted with trees, burning with the yellow and reds of early fall. The normally earthy floor of the sparse forest was coated with brown pine needles and dead leaves, making every step the hunter took sound like a cascade of crumpling parchment. Normally, this would irritate Viridae, but he was not hunting today, only checking the raptor snares he had set in the early dawn.

The valley was especially serene today, as the faint autumn wind blew across the mountain tops, sounding a subtle whistle, and carrying the smell of the season along with it. The air was warm and slightly humid, the last bit of moisture leaving the landscape before the beginning of the dry season. The only birds to be heard where small Whip-poor-wills and harris sparrows, tweeting endlessly to the tired sun. This season had always been his favorite, a time of preparation, bountiful game, and unequivocal beauty. When Seivis was just a child, they would walk together through the wilds. She would collect leaves and feather to add to her scrapbooks, and he would check his traps and snares, chatting with her until night fall. Feathers.

He had almost forgotten his reason for the journey. Talk of a Masquerade was circulating all of Kalinor like wild fire, and he promised Seivis he would be attending. his heart yearned for companionship since his experience with the wolf, and as of late, he felt his will to do anything slipping through his fingers. Yes, this would be an opportunity to meet others within his home city, to have people to talk to, smiles to exchange, and to escape his loneliness.

[Viridae Kabre]

He stopped as he reached the first snare, which now lay tangled on the ground, wrapped tightly around a sky blue and brown bird that was panting heavily, apperently too tired, or too imobilized, to continue its struggle for freedom. The snare had worked perfectly. When it was set, it consisted of no more than a rat, nailed through its leg to a flat laying net of fishing line. That was the bait. When the Sparrow hawk had swooped down to catch the creature, its tallons had gotten caught in the net, and the more it struggled, the more bound it became. Now it lay still, delicate shoulders rising and falling, chest throbbing quickly to the beat of its heart.

Without a second thought he picked it up delicately with both hands and stared at it a long moment. It was still wrapped in thin silk netting, and did not resist when he lifted it from the ground. He wrapped both hands tightly around its body and in a fast fluid motion, arched its back suddenly, snapping its spine. The bird didn't so much as twitch. He stuffed the bird and the snare into his pack and continued to walk, checking his snares olong the way. Most where empty, but he managed to catch three sparrow hawk, and a common raven, which he had released without a seccond thought. Bad luck to kill a raven.

[Viridae Kabre]

Before long, night began to settle over the valley, and the silver moon of fall climbed its way into the sky. He considered for a moment visiting the lake, but decided against it, trudging back towards his little secret entrance into Kalinor, careful to be quiet, avoiding large nightime predetors that lurked the unforgiving.

After a time, he came to a brooke, slow flowing, and narrow, surrounded by a sparce excuse for woods, mainly consisting of large pines. There he took a rest atop a large rock, dipping his toes into the stream and humming a song from his childhood. The stillness of night caused an eerie feeling to settle over him like a thin coat of dust. It was sad, remorsefull, and until that moment, he had only known it to be lonliness, but now, for the first time, he felt it to be a combination of depression, pain and longing. And again, for the first time he could remember, fear.

As a child, Viridae did not fear anything. Every experience seemed to strike him as an oppertunity, a chance to learn, to live, and to grow. Even when faced with death, he did not have the time to fear, only react. But this was diffrent. It wasn't life threatening, did not cause for worry, or even call for reaction. This was a sort of fear of excaptance. Exceptance of the fact that he may very well die alone.

The rest of the walk was very uneventfull, and as he slid down a black cord back into the depths of his home, he was deeply bothered by an overwhelming sense of emptyness. He could no longer find a meaning to the world, and feared only for his will to continue to search.

[Ensnare]

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Viridae Kabre

Skill	XP Gained
Observation	2
Trapping	1
Stealth	1

Lore Gained

Using a Rat as Bait

Supersticion: Killing a Raven is Badluck

Fear: Being Alone Forever

Items/Consequences: +3 Sparrow Hawks (Dead)

If you feel I have graded you unfairly, or if you have any questions, please send me a PM and we'll work the problem out.

Notes :

Hmm, I wasn't able to award very much, maybe next time you could include the setting of the traps and snares? I know that might seem repetitive, but I think it would add more to the scenery of where you're putting the snares.