PM to join Hunting Zith Style

[Purge]

Time Stamp: 35th Winter 513

The light of Leth lent her silvery gaze upon the scape of the land. The rugged crags of the Kalea mountain might be treacherous for those who can not see perfectly well in the darkness but for those whose sight was nocturnal not to mention the ability to fly to avoid crevices did well. The snow was thick, making it even more treacherous and it hadn't been too long ago that the beings of Kalinor had found themselves trapped within the cave due to the thick white fluff.

The snow did not bother Purge, in fact she relished it. It made her job that much easier. Her wings rustled a little as she emerged from the woven gate, and she landed lightly, grimacing just a little as her bare feet sank into the snow. She refused to wear clothing the way some of the very few Zith in Kalinor did. Clothing were for weak slaves and beings that were not strong and healthy. Purge was both, in her mind anyway. Her four foot nine inch frame, and thin appearance often made her prey underestimate her, and she loved to use that to her advantage. Her black fur covering pale flesh made an interesting mesh of contradictions that she found appealing. Almost like patterns on the fabric that other people wore as clothing. Her wings were often unfurled proudly, unless she was hunting. Then they were folded around her body to reduce her height and reinforce the idea that she was weak.

Tonight she was hunting. Her wings curled around her body easily, making it look almost as if she were encased in a leathery cloak. Her red hair, the color of freshly spilled blood, fell over her shoulders when her wings were out but now haloed around the leather cloak. Eyes that were pitch black took in the scenery, looking at the freshly laid snow, searching for signs of tracks. She lifted her head and inhaled deeply, first toward the north, then east, then south and finally to the west. She was searching the air for faint hints of animal, her ears were attuned but she didn't hear the beating of hearts or the bleating of mouths. She hoped to find perhaps a nice ram, or a sheep at very least. Anything but rodent, she was tired of eating rodent.

[Sayani]

Night. The outside was dangerous, but at night, the dangers seemed to grow. Sayani didn't mind, at least not on the extend of her abilities. Symenestra could see well in the dim light, and that was all she needed to venture outside. Besides, the nightly hunts reminded her of her father, and the memories were always pleasant when she was alone.

With quiet steps, she approached a tree, leaning against it. There were few animals that stayed up at night, and in Winter, this number diminished even more. Most night hunts revolved around trying to find a trail in the dark, following it to a burrow and setting a trap in front of it to catch a rabbit. Rarely ever was a night hunt productive for her, and Sayani knew it wasn't worth it simply to catch a prey. But it was worthy as a challenge, and the Symenestra knew her abilities would be better developed if she accepted the challenges that were put in front of her.

It had been a whole bell of looking for a trail, without any results. It wasn't in her nature to give up, though, and so, she carefully stepped on the snow, hoping to find footprints that still hadn't been covered by the snow. Her eyes were on the ground, looking around attentively, trying not to miss a single spot. Her attention, however, was not only on the ground, but on the whole atmosphere around her. Her ears weren't very sensitive, but if a wild animal approached her, she hoped to hear it. In other seasons, specially Fall, this was an easy task, with leaves and branches making noises that told her to be careful. In Winter, the snow covered most of those noises, but that was only another challenge in her mind.

Finally, her eyes caught a small entrance. It hadn't been footprints, but the burrow could have a rabbit inside it, nevertheless. Sayani looked around, making sure there was no immediate threat, before resting her bow on the ground and reaching for tree branches.

Working quickly and as silently as she could, the Symenestra placed two branches near a tree, supporting each other. She then took the small snare from her pouch and carefully tied it in the tree, before supporting it in the opposite branch. Sayani could barely see the trail the rabbit had left, but she hoped the trap would be in the right place. Now, she had to wait.

Taking her bow again, she walked away from the burrow, still paying attention to any sounds. The night hadn't been wasted, but if she could catch some nocturnal animal before returning to Kalinor, it would make things just perfect.

[Purge]

Purge got a whiff of a smell, a smell that was becoming far too familiar for her. A long-limb was out and about, the Zith female rolled her shoulders beneath her wings and considered flying off a little ways. The Symenestra were odd people, and she couldn't quite make out what to do about them. They weren't good for food, they were so delicate that they wouldn't make decent slaves, they really were an enigma to the Zith. However, enigmas fed the curiosity so that was something.

Without a colony to help her understand what she should do, Purge who had just turned to adulthood in the last season was going on instinct. No love lost between the her and the widows but neither was their animosity. It was that which decided her action, and her wings unfurled and her legs pushed herself upward into the sky.

Her eyes did not need Leth at all, in fact the silvery light was almost an hindrance though no where near what the light of Syna would have been. Purge still remembered the stabbing pain and blindness that had cost her the lives of her family. She tracked the shifting currents of smells in the air, sometimes a smell of sheep would distract her but she continued to follow the delicate aroma of Symenestra. As she neared a tree it was no longer just the smell that drew her but also the mess in the snow that the ground-bound woman had made walking. Purge sighed lightly and tried to give the other a little leeway, it was not her fault she did not have wings to keep her tracks and scent from alerting prey.

Purge didn't land on the ground, instead she dropped until she could grasp a branch of the tree with her clawed hands, her wings curled downward to avoid tearing in the branches. Strong short legs raise to encircle the branch even as she pulled herself upwards to finally sit over the trap that the symenestra had set. She eyed the contraption, curiously, almost ignoring the other woman for a long moment. Today the long strands of fur at her elbows were braided with a small red ribbon entwined. One of the few aesthetic touches that she did once in a great while.

"That small is. " Purge said in common, her tones harmonious and melodious even though her words are broken. "Not catch good food. Big food out there.." Purge gestured toward the west with her claws. "Big meat. Horns.. wool." She couldn't remember the word for ram in common. Of course the symenestra might only need a small animal, Purge herself required far more meat then the delicate widows.

[Sayani]

A sudden sound of wings somewhere near the trees caught her attention, and Sayani quickly grabbed an arrow from her quiver, turning around and looking for the source of the sound. For a tick or two, she only saw red hair, until her eyes focused on the dark furred Zith she had already met, on the avalanche incident. The Symenestra eyed the other carefully, not sure if she could consider a threat or not. Her fingers twitched on the flights, but she didn't make any more movement to place the arrow on her bow.

The Zith talked in common, and not any words seemed aggressive. Sayani knew better than to trust a stranger, but keep holding an arrow would actually do more harm than good, as it could be interpreted as a threat. With a smooth movement, the Symenestra returned the arrow to her quiver, her eyes never leaving the form of the Zith in the tree branch.

"This is training, not food." to her ears, her common sounded weird. Although she knew most words, phrases were still somehow difficult for her to form. As a result, her words came out slow, and she needed time to think. "Are there sheep that direction?" the Zith's words had interested her. Sayani had never really gone after sheep, but if the other knew where to find them, it would be a waste not to go after them.

Sayani thought for a while, before finally lowering her bow completely to her side. She wasn't relaxed, but her whole body posture indicated that she was. The Symenestra didn't want to pick a fight, and she knew very little about this Zith's temper and to what she might consider a threat. It was better to appear calm and relaxed, but keep paying attention to the other.

"Name is Sayani." the Symenestra offered her first name, to let the Zith know completely she didn't mean harm. "Can you take me to the sheep?" she hoped it was more than a single animal. Sayani doubted the Zith would like to share a prey with her. If their roles had been reversed, the Symenestra wouldn't like it, either. But if there was more than one, there shouldn't be a problem.

[Purge]

It was very true that Zith tempers were often volatile and seeming to the outsiders to be without merit. If one were to be able to shave the fur from Purge's body they might find scars where claw marks had graced her torso, legs and arms that came from a simple spat with her siblings. Their tempers flair brilliantly but after a few moments of scuffling they generally backed off, unless of course it was food or slave causing anger. Then death generally followed quickly for one or the other.

However, Purge had learned in recent seasons that killing things that made her angry just left her curiosity aroused with no satisfaction. Purge leaped down from the branch she was sitting on, her wings flaring to slow her descent so that she landed softly with a crouch to absorb the impact. Her eyes dropped to the bow and arrow that the other held, then raised again to the face of the other.

"Yes. Sheep. Baaa baa." Purge agreed, making the sound that they made with her own musical voice that came from her unique vocal chords. She did not bother to curl her wings about her now, preferring to let the chilled air stir the fur along her nude body, raising goose pebbles beneath the silky black hair.


"You teach what that does. How works." Purge indicated the trap that the other had set up, her head tilting as she made the almost demand. However she continued so that it was not really a demand but more a trade. "Teach how works. I fly you to sheep. If you teach good, I kill sheep so you don't lose a pointy stick." This last was indicated by a hand waving toward arrow.

[Sayani]

So there was sheep. Sayani was satisfied to find that out, but still, it didn't mean that the Zith would actually lead her there. The sound the other made, to indicate what sheep were, almost made Sayani smile with amusement. This one Zith seemed very similar to her sister, somehow, when looking past the obvious differences of race and the much higher threat a Zith could pose. It would do her no good to keep that line of thought, so she shoved the comparison away.

When the Zith stood, Sayani noticed she was naked. The Symenestra raised an eyebrow to that, but wasn't really bothered by the fact. In truth, the thin fur that covered her whole body made the Zith seem more animal than human, and the nudity seemed something only natural.

Sayani listened to the Zith's request, and nodded. It was a fair trade, and it wasn't like the trap had a secret. It was just a simple trap, that the Zith could learn about anywhere if she wanted to, so Sayani saw no harm in teaching her about it. Circling around the Zith so she could reach the branches and the snare, she pointed to the rabbit burrow.

"This is a trap to catch..." the Symenestra trailed off, while trying to search for the right word in common. She knew that one, she was sure of it. It was almost a chime before she finally remembered, though, and could continue to speak. "Rabbit. This is a trap to catch a rabbit. When the rabbit goes out of its burrow, they go this way" Sayani moved her hand to indicate the trail the rabbit had left, until her finger was pointing to the snare. "The rabbit neck will be trapped in this string." she couldn't remember the exact word for 'snare', but she doubted the Zith would mind if she changed it for 'string'. The idea was the same, in the end. "When the rabbit tries to get free, the string closes around the neck, and suffocates. Tomorrow, I come and see if the rabbit was caught. If not, I wait one more day."

[Purge]

Despite her fur Purge did get cold, and a slight breeze that rippled the silky strands caused her to shiver lightly. It is times like these that she missed her colony. The familiar curling around each others bodies to sleep in a pile of warm furs and leathery wings almost was enough make the Zith's heart ache with wistfulness. However what was to be would be, so she ignored the chill that went through her and moved toward the trap.

She squatted, her head cocked sideways looking over the contraption as the Symenestra woman explained. Purge looked from the string that the other talked to back to the claws on the woman's hands. "You got claws to catch? Why not claws work?" She stood and moved toward the burrow, then bent again and put her ears to the hole, she smelled the rabbit but this was its home. She would smell it even if it weren't there. "What do if rabbit sees trap and go that way?"

traps can't hide, they can't think, they just sit. What keeps the animals from seeing them? It didn't make sense to Purge to use these things, but perhaps because these others seem to break easily they used them. "Okay. You teached good. I go take you to sheep, kill sheep. We share." Purge moved now with a slow gait, to stand in front of the taller Symenestra. "You call me Purge. Hang on, no bite." The young adult Zith moved to place her arms around the waist of the other, pulling the widow close, "Careful not hold wings." With a powerful push of her legs, and a grunt into the ear of the woman she carried, Purge labored to get up off the ground. Her wings flapped with a snap and finally caught the updraft. Once aloft it was much easier going, to maintain the two weights of her body and the other. Fortunately Symenestra bodies were light too so it would only lessen the distance Purge could fly slightly.

Her shoulders moved with every beat of her wings, her breasts moved as well for the muscles of her chest were helping as well. She leaned her head away from the woman and sniffed deeply, and grunted again. "You smell strong, hard to smell sheep. Hang on." She really didn't intend on telling the other woman that she smelled bad,just that the woman's scent was covering the scent of the sheep. So Purge had to turn her head fully away, which made flying just a little awkward, but once she found the scent trail again she adjusted her flight and returned to the easy flying.

[Sayani]

A breeze passed through, and Sayani trembled, despite the layers of cloth she was wearing. The Zith listened to her explanation, and seemed to be really paying close attention. Curiosity? Sayani thought so, since she doubted the other would have any need for a trap.

"Claws work fine." she answered the Zith's question, an amused smirk on her lips. "But for Symenestra to catch food with claws is harder than for Zith to do it." Sayani wasn't really sure how to explain it. Symenestra claws were good for catching prey, but when said prey could easily tear them apart, this wasn't the smartest way to hunt.

"If the trap is done right, the rabbit doesn't see it. The rabbit can't think. They are animals of habit, and they always walk the same path." Sayani answered the other question, finding the curiosity of the Zith interesting. Were all of them drove by this same curiosity, or was only her? And it was this curiosity that kept her from attacking? Sayani had always only been interested in the Symenestra, but now... Maybe studying other races would be very interesting as well.

The Zith finally gave her a name. Purge. It was a weird name for her, but probably it wasn't for a Zith. Sayani noticed the other was getting closer. Purge had assured she wouldn't attack her, but should she trust the other that easily?

Purge closed her arms around Sayani's waist, and the Symenestra tensed, but only grabbed the furred arms to secure herself when the Zith took flight, feeling the muscles beneath her skin move with every movement of her wings. Sayani couldn't say she wasn't feeling weary of Purge dropping her, on purpose or not, but the experience was a very interesting one, and Sayani didn't think she would have refused if given the chance.

Strong smell. Interesting again. Sayani would surely try to learn more about those Zith. Their sense of smell seemed to be a lot more accurate than her own, or any other Symenestra. Sayani grabbed the others arms a little stronger when she adjusted the flight, and released it a little afterwards. Hopefully, the sheep wasn't too far away.

[Purge]

Purge continued to fly due west, taking note of land marks on the way. The wind was colder up here, cold enough for Purge to grit her teeth, and it didn't occur to her that Sayani might be even more cold. Sayani had clothing so in Purge's mind that was as close to fur as non-zith can get. It took about ten chimes, the Zith noting the Symenestra's hold on her arms tightened and she grinned. What a treat this must be for someone who couldn't fly.

She spotted the herd ahead and she banked, showing off a little by drawing her wings up and back, allowing the leathers to billow and drawing the two women short. Her arms tighten around the delicate Symenestra to ensure that the jerk did not rock her free. She laughed with a little delight as she slowly lowered them to the ground. "You stay here. If sheep come, point stick will work. But I kill if not come no worry."

Once that was said she took to the sky once more, spirally up enjoying the freedom of flight. Sheep were stupid animals, and if there were no other predators this will be an easy kill. Much safer then the lion that the zith named Scorn had gotten a broken leg over trying to kill. Her black eyes took in a nice large ewe, seeming all by herself away from the herd by a little. The scent of blood was prevalent, and she looked to see if there was another fresh kill. No, then as she drew closer she noticed that the ewe was giving birth or rather had just given birth. Good weak would make it even easier.

Purge was young, and the thrill of the hunt and the scent of blood had drove her instincts into full hunter mode. She was narrowing in on the Ewe when she dropped from the sky. Her intentions were to drop on the back of the sheep and use her claws to kill then be off again, however this was a little waylaid. The scent of the Zith reached the sheep's noses too late to stop her attack, the herd bleating and starting to mill even as she dropped and landed on the back of the sheep. The animal bucked and brayed, and Purge used her claws on her feet to sink into sheep flesh so that she could lean forward to rip the throat out of the sheep with her claws. The sheep was dead, its body just had to catch up to that fact, and she held on as it bucked and bleated before it laid down.

She was untangling herself from its body when something struck her from behind. The ram that was the buck of this group had come to defend the young that was still bleating. Fortunately her wings were out of the way but the curved horn bruised her back, and the hoof that landed on her thigh as she fell missed breaking her bone by mere centimeters. As it was the sharp hoof tore flesh and caused her to scream out, but she was still in instinct mode and she twisted using her claws to rake and drag the male over and out. Its mission complete, the young was no where that Purge could see, it stumbled off bleeding. PUrge herself was bleeding and sore, but she pushed back off the ground, not such an easy kill. She wondered if any of the sheep had ran toward the long-limb and if she got a shot off with those pointy sticks.

She bent and lifted the sheep, wishing she had brought her harness, it was a big one. She lifted off awkwardly, since one leg was still bleeding, but she managed to get back to the woman. Landing heavily. "Can't carry both. Will eat here." She sat in the snow wearily. "I can eat raw, it don't matter." She didn't know if the symenestra could eat her food raw, she knew that they had to do something special to theirs.

[Sayani]

The sheep were finally visible, and Sayani was impressed by the huge number of them. They finally began to descend, and the Symenestra was grateful for it. It was cold, but the temperature wasn't what worried her. If she got dropped that high, there was no chance of survival.

But the Zith seemed to know what she was doing, because they landed safely. When Purge told her to stay, Sayani gave her a sharp nod, to show she had understood. The other took flight again, and Sayani reached for an arrow once again. If a sheep came her way, she would need to be prepared to shoot, otherwise she wouldn't be able to hit the target. Placing the arrow on the bow, she drew the string, and waited.

After a while, she couldn't see Purge anymore, but soon the sound of multiple sheep reached her ears, and she knew that the Zith had scared the herd. Pointing her arrow up, she waited as the sound got louder and louder, until she could see white spots moving away from where Sayani supposed Purge was. They weren't coming from her, but she might manage to shoot one of them anyway.

Drawing the string a bit more, she waited until the sheep ran past her, a mere two foot away, before releasing the string. The arrow flew, hitting the target, but only causing the sheep to stumble forward and change direction, leaving a trail of blood in the snow. Sayani cursed under her breath, quickly taking another arrow and placing it in her bow. She waited, seeing one slow sheep, and aimed at it, releasing the string once again. This time, the sheep fell, kicking and screaming loudly. Her heart skipped a beat, the very familiar feeling sending shivers through her body.

Sayani approached the sheep slowly, delighted to see its panic and frenetic kicking, trying to raise despite its injured leg. The scent of blood was noticeable even for her, and she drew a deep breath, enjoying it. But she had company, and it wasn't good to let the Zith waiting, so she took the hunting knife from her pouch and with a quick movement buried it in the sheep, causing it to finally stop moving.

It was a small one, and she managed to drag the sheep the way back to the point where Purge had left her. She had lost an arrow, but maybe she could follow the blood trail in the morning, to try to recover it and kill the injured sheep. But the Zith was already returning, her red hair easy to see even in the dark night. She was carrying a sheep too.

When she got close, Sayani's eyes turned to her leg. There was a deep cut, blood leaking out, and the Symenestra pressed her lips together.

"Your leg is hurt." she said, ignoring for the moment the Zith's comment. Sayani wanted a hot meal, but she had no problem in eating food raw, either. However, the process would take some hours, and so, she would rather cook something. And with Purge injured, they needed to heat water so they could clean the wound to keep it from infecting. Either way, they would need a fire.

"Need to clean this." she said, in a voice that left clear she wasn't open for discussions. Sayani had little emotional involvement, but either way, she was a doctor, and had the instincts of one. "Fire. We need fire. Can you gather some wood?"