PM to join [Bronze Woods] Eat or be eaten...

[Lesh]

AV 513, Fall 22
Location: Bronze Woods
Time: Noon

Beams of sunlight pierced the clouds and bounced off the leaves and trees of the bronze wood, leaving a myriad of colours in it’s wake. The sound of cascading water could be heard from a waterfall nearby. The wood was alive with all manner of smells and tastes. It was roughly mid-day. Lesh was hungry.

Since her escape from Ravok the Dhani had devoured nothing but rats and small birds. Whilst this had kept her alive it had hardly been enough to sustain a fifteen foot serpent. Her forked tongue licked at the cool air. Once. Twice. Thrice. A pallet of tastes filled her senses. Birds, flowers, mildew, small beasts and ...human. A human. When was the last time she had feasted on a human? Memories of Ravok flickered through her reptilian mind. Normally she wouldn't have dared so close to the city itself but out here… Intent, Lesh followed her tongue through dried leaves, down hills and through shrubbery until she found her prey-to-be. Taking measures to be as silent as possibly she carefully allowed herself to drop from the low hanging tree branch on to the soft ground below.

From a nearby bush she began to coldly calculate her victim. ...Young. Male. Armed but not too heavily… This would be easy. She doubted she even needed her current form. Quietly as she could Lesh began the transformation from snake to human, just as she had done a hundred times before. Tail became legs whilst the rest of her coiled mass took on a humanoid shape. Her serpentine skull began to shift and mold in to facial features.

All in all it took roughly half a minute. When it was finally over she stepped out from the bush completely naked. Her long auburn hair bouncing. “Pleassse help!” She squealed in common. Lesh had spent years practicing how to look panicked in this form. To the naked eye she would seem no more than a young, pretty, half starved woman looking to be in a state of genuine fright.

[Roderick]

Placing one foot down quietly on the ground, Roderick shifted his weight forward gently, moving his other leg forward and pressing down calmly onto it. He took slow, deliberate breaths as he moved, aiming to be a silent as possible. Nearby a waterfall made its presence know, the noise of its movement dulled from a howling roar to a distant shout. The midday sun shed its rays across the forest, creating broken patterns of alternating light and darkness all around him. Birds chirruped from time to time, breaking the near perfect silence that pervaded the area; thankfully the hunter's prey wouldn't care about the smaller animals. With another measured step he drew closer to his target - a young doe. It would not give him much meat, but he had learned to make the best of things. This particular quarry had been avoiding him for most of the morning, leading him on a wild chase through the Wood. Now, with it finally in sight, he felt elated. Roderick avoided a patch of dry leaves and set his boot down onto dry, packed dirt. Stalking through the trees on a cool day always calmed him and cleared his mind. He could have tried hitting the doe from here, but liked to be up near his prey so he'd have a second chance if he failed the first time. With a deep breath he brought his arms up and took his stance, letting his shoulders and back take the strain of pulling the arrow back while he relaxed everything else. The fletchings brushed against his fingers as the arrow quietly slid back along the wood of his bow, finally coming to rest against his cheek. Staring down the length of the shaft, he sighted his prey down. That's when he heard the shriek. As one he and the doe jumped in surprise. The doe went hurtling off into the bushes and as quickly as he could Roderick loosed his arrow, feeling the string thrum as it snapped forward sharply before stopping abruptly. Whizzing off through the air, his eyes left the arrow and went to the doe, almost out of sight now. His hasty efforts and the animal's flight set the aim off slightly, so that his arrow struck it in the rear instead of the neck, as he'd hoped. All the same the damage done stopped the doe in its tracks, breaking the strength of its legs, which buckled and set it crashing to the ground. Writhing and flailing around in its futile efforts to escape, the hunter calmly walked over to it and slit its throat. As the blood poured forward and soaked the dirt, Roderick turned around and looked off in the direction the cry had come from. It'd been a woman's voice that he'd heard - and she clearly needed help. Considering she'd almost cost him his first catch for that day he half considered ignoring her call, but relented grudgingly; she couldn't have known. Wiping his knife off on the doe's hide, he slipped it away and collected his spent arrow, notching it to the string as he marched through the trees. After a chime or two of walking he slowed down; he'd fall prey to whatever was threatening the girl if he just charged in blindly. Every few tics he checked the ground for anything that might snap or crack before he set his weight down on either foot. Slowly but surely he edged his way through the trees, skirting anything that could draw unwanted attention while searching the treeline for some sign of what was going on; from here the only thing he could see was the slight wavering of nearby bushes and plants from the breeze that had been steadily building within the Wood. The girl seemed to be a fair distance away, so it'd take some time for him to reach her. Within another careful step over some leaves, Roderick made certain his weapon was ready; he had a feeling he'd be using it soon enough.

[Lesh]

He was gone. One moment her prey had been as still as stone the next he had shot off like an arrow. Small mammals, birds and deer she knew were like to split the moment they caught wind of a predator but humans? They had no such senses. ...perhaps this will become more entertaining than I had deemed…

Curious, Lesh followed suit. Her bare feet slapping the soft earth and dried leaves below as she almost gracefully gave chase through the thick wilderness. She halted finally at a pair of huge oak trees. Cold grey eyes peered out from among the cover. There lied the answer to her question. The young male was delivering the coup-de-grace to a helpless beast. Presumably one he had been hunting. ...how ironic… she thought. The hunter would become the hunted. He had just finished cleaning his knife when her meal-to-be finally stood and turned. Almost as if he had noticed her wail for the first time.

The male approached cautiously. Weapon in hand. Lesh slid further in to the cover of the trees. Watching. Waiting. Just as the human looked about ready to give up the search and return to his prize that’s when she would strike. Lesh burst from the great oak sentinels. Her feinted expression flawless. “Pleasse wolvesss, you mussst help!” She approached the man quickly but wearily. You never knew what a surprised, armed, human would do.

They made eye contact for the first time. Her moon grey eyes met his deep blue. Lesh made a grab for the young man’s right arm and pulled herself in closer. She was so close now that they could feel each others breath. Lesh forced her eyes to widen and dart around in their sockets granting her a veil of anxiety and fear. She repeated herself one last time. “Pleassse, you mussst help!”

[Roderick]

Roderick had stopped briefly to clear away some leaves that were scattered in front of him; creating a clear path for himself he stood up again and started to move. It was at that moment when another cry tore through the Wood - far closer this time, "Pleasse wolvesss, you mussst help!" something came running out from among the oaken pillars surrounding him; whirling about to face it he nearly planted an arrow in the thing's chest before he realized it was a girl - and a naked one at that. The sight of her parts bouncing up and down as she ran toward him proved an interesting sight. For whatever reason he found himself reluctant to lower his weapon; he had a nagging suspicion that something was wrong; the girl's cry had sounded odd to his ears. She came at him quickly, face contorted in fear. Their eyes met - hers a silvery slate - and he felt her grabbing at his arm, pulling herself closer, "Pleassse, you mussst help!" With her breath mixing together with his, the feeling of unease grew. Now she was this close he could tell something was very wrong with her voice; she drew her s' out for far too long. Her breathing was off as well; it seemed a little too forced - and her hand was dry and firm, rather than sweaty and shaking, as it ought to have been. Why was she naked? If wolves had ripped them off there would be claw marks - they'd be eating her. His mind was rushing now, taking everything in, ripping all the little details apart to find the answers. Roderick let instinct take over and shoved the girl back, so hard there was no way she'd manage to cling on. Perhaps she was telling the truth and there were wolves around - he simply didn't care. He readied his bow and let the point of his arrow hover over her chest, "You've five seconds to tell me what's going on. If you even think of telling me a load of shit, I'll stick this arrow in you and leave you for the crows." Maybe this is why I'm lacking in friends at the moment.

[Lesh]

She felt a great force push against her shoulders. Suddenly, Lesh found herself several feet from the hunter. An arrow notched and ready to kill. Something had gone awry. The Dhani observed her surroundings. Nowhere to hide. Returning to her original form would require too much time. This tactic had never failed before, why would it now? She felt a pang of fear stir somewhere deep in her gut. She dismissed it.

"You've five seconds to tell me what's going on. If you even think of telling me a load of shit, I'll stick this arrow in you and leave you for the crows."

Lesh felt a wave of relief wash over her. The fool is giving me a second chance. Five seconds was all she needed. She forced herself to relax and smile. “OK, I admit it. I wasss following you” The best lies were always sprinkled with a bit of truth. “I heard rumourss of famouss hunter around thessse partss. Being hunter mysself… well, I jusst had to come ssssee…” Lesh peered down. The dhani would need to think up an exscuse for her lack of clothing she knew.

“I wasss taking a bath over yonder when I ssspotted you. I got excccited and forgot all my clothess. Sssilly me!” Lesh made an attemp to cover her private parts. One arm across her chest, the other between her legs. Pretending as if she had only just noticed. She cocked her head innocently to the side. “Perhapss you can help a damssel in disstresss?"

[Roderick]

WIP

Stumbling away the girl looked about quickly, frantically. There was the slightest flicker of worry about her, quickly banished after he spoke. She relaxed her stance and gave him a winning smile, "OK, I admit it. I wasss following you." The hiss again, "I heard rumourss of famouss hunter around thessse partss. Being hunter mysself... well, I jusst had to come ssssee..." looking down at her naked form for a second she spoke again, "I wasss taking a bath over yonder when I ssspotted you. I got excccited and forgot all my clothess. Sssilly me!" the girl laid a hand over her exposed crotch, her other arm laid across her breasts. It seemed she'd only just noticed the absence of her clothes; she tilted her head to the side, "Perhapss you can help a damssel in disstresss?" For the most part his suspicions seemed unfounded; that the girl had been bathing nearby and went running off naked toward what she thought was a naked hunter... the story had some merit to it, though why she couldn't grab her cloak at least... there was also the fact she was perfectly dry; if she'd been bathing she'd have been wet. Then again she might have just stripped down when she'd seen him. But wasn't the waterfall a bit too far away? Sound could be deceiving, but... there was one thing which she hadn't explained. "Why lie to me?" he demanded, "Why come running at me squealing about wolves?" if she'd mistaken him for some famous man she might have done it to get his attention. Then again, once the ruse was done things would have gone south between them when it became clear she'd been lying. His arms were having trouble maintaining the tension needed to loose an arrow at her. Soon enough he'd have to relieve his back and shoulders by lowering his weapon - but he couldn't do that right now, not when he still didn't know if he could trust this girl. He gave an annoyed growl deep in his throat. "Best go fetch your clothes, mm?" he raised his eyebrow in the direction she'd indicated. Taking a chance he lowered his bow, then quickly moved his right hand up and fiddled with the clasp. Somehow he managed to undo it and, knowing she might try something now he didn't have his weapon strung, he threw the length of cloth right at her, so it would land over her head and draped down over her, "You can have that 'til you're dressed." He had his hands ready at the bow again, just waiting for her to try something. Too cautious, perhaps, but the caution could save a man's life.

[Perplexity]

Riddled with Rewards!

Roderick

Stealth	+1 XP
Socialization	+1 XP
Interrogation	+1 XP

Lores :

• Stealth: Measured Breathing
  
• Archery: Hitting A Doe On The Move
  
• Social Nuance: How NOT To Make Friends
  
• Interrogation: Suspicious Query
  

Notes :

Not much I can give. PM me with comments, questions or concerns.