Closed Arrows and Fish (Vanator)

[Miu Lonewolf]

✯Miu✯

"I will find peace within the future, This is what drives me forward."

- Winter Av513 26th Fishing spot, Temp 45F° Wind chill 23F° 11:32 am.
It was a warm day somewhat like the one a few days before, it was just starting to get it's warmest when she had stomped out what was left of her fire pulled her tarp down chewing on what was left of her fish, she was hoping to try and catch the large black and red finned fish from before today since it was just warm enough to keep Rowan from whining as she grazed on the grass she had uncovered the night before, snow fall would come soon though, she could feel it and even somewhat smell it in the air as clouds started to roll in, It's probably going to Snow around 5pm or so... I should get going. with that she was packing her long bow and arrows along with her fishing rod and fishing equipment, Her rabbit meat wrapped in dear skin wasn't edible anymore and could be used as bait today. She hoped to eat fish in till she could manage another deer or hare, she planned on using the rest of her arrows on horseback instead of shifting, it was dangerous to do so in such cold temperatures. She would go to the stained pelt tomorrow to sell her deer skin she had prepared rather well and buy another set of twenty long bow arrows for a gold mazia.

As she set down the path she started to check her traps she had set the other night with rope and deer skin tied to a sharped stick that was wrapped around a branch to set up a simple trap to hang her game by their feet or necks, She hasn't caught anything in the first three traps, the last catching her attention as it snapped taunt sharply with a squirmimg grey hare hanging by his back leg. As she stabbed her knife into the hare and ripped it open from the stomach down quickly before pulling it down to carry to her spot only to turn and find a stranger there, grey eyes wide with surprise.

[Vanator]

Vanator had sought solitude that day. Much of the snow that had fallen on the 10th still lingered in the Fringe Forest, seeming to lay a quiet blanket over the woods that lent to some serenity. Both snow and deep forests were fairly new to Vanator, which only enhanced the pleasure of a late morning trek. He had brought Sirocco, allowing the grassland horse to grow accustomed to the closer feel of the woods. Vanator had dismounted to walk, leaving the stallion to follow the Drykas on his own.

Vanator brought his bow, hunting woodland game also a fairly new past time. He had opted not to wear his chainmail shirt, its bulk and metallic noise distracting. Instead, he wore a simple leather chest plate from Sanctuary's armory. A matching pair of hand axes and a dagger were shoved through his belt. HIs prized battle ax remained slung from the yvas on Sirocco's back.

Vanator crept along, stepping carefully, not wishing to break the peaceful silence of the surroundings with the crunching of the snow under his boots, and his horse's hooves. Subtle movement and a rusling ahead indicated they may not be alone. laying an arrow to the bow string, Van inched closer, waving Sirocco off, who seemed content to dig in the snow for tender foliage buried beneath. The figure was not hard to discern between the columns of trees, her dark clothing standing out against the snow. She was young, perhaps as old as his daughter, or at least as his daughter appeared. She was waifish, a shock of white hair on her head. The girl was gutting a fresh rabbit hanging from a snare. Vanator removed the arrow from the bow. Certainly the child was no threat. So intent on her prize was the girl that Vanator drew quite near before startling gray eyes were turned in his direction.

He spoke in Common calmly, so as not to alarm the stranger. "Hello, I am Vanator. I have not see you in these woods before."

[Miu Lonewolf]

✯Miu✯

"I will find peace within the future, This is what drives me forward."

Miu watched him quietly with the gaze of a hunter, keen, knowing, watching...
She kept quiet for a moment before sitting on a near by log that wasn't frozen solid with ice and only had a bit of snow on it, it hadn't snowed all night and the sun was slowly melting the soon to be snow covered forest. Too bad it would freeze over soon, she enjoyed the warmth. She was pulling the rabbit apart, taking the unwanted organs and such out to be lain out for whatever animal came across them while she pulled the raw bloody meat from the limp creature keeping an eye on him while she worked away at it, skinning and preparing it quickly for sale. It needed lots of work on the fur but the meat was fresh and covered in warm blood that covered her knife and ungloved left hand that was scratched and burnt while being surprisingly clean, her nails were the only dirtied thing being long and sharp with dirt under them as if she had been digging.

She also spoke common, fluently and with little pause. "Hello... Have you come here for my catch? She was going to freeze anyway and her rabbit hole has been frozen for weeks, her young were dead last week... If you are one of those people who fuss over freeing my food then you must leave, this is my catch." She had seen people cut and free her game foolishly due to some sort of loving compassion to the animals, she felt differently, Catch the game meant for food, Sell the fur meant for wear and survive on the foolish creatures stupid enough to fall prey to her. She was rather cold but had her moments of joyful smiles...

She noticed the axe and knife along with the bow he had lowered seeing her, his eyes looking to her young form. Foolish man I could rip him to shreds if I were a nut job, He lets his guard down too easy... while the thought crossed her mind she was wrapped the meat in her precious deer skin for keep and put the bloody rabbit fur up on a high branch for later after it had dripped dry. She had stretched back to do this task, her build under dark clothing showing. She was skinny but fit... Her ribs countable but her arms and legs toned, she seemed to be in her best shape if one could call starving fit, she kept herself alive yes but didn't seem to gain any running after prey.

Rowan had seen her stretch and snorted digging in her Masters pack only to pull out an apple with her teeth carefully, she was a smart mare. Miu smiled seeing her clever mare's steal and combed through her sandy colored mane before watching her approach the other horse, the Mare being white and cream patched with a pink and black patched snout. Miu snorted, "Well then. That's odd." she was slightly amazed at Rowan's generosity when her ribs were visible as well, "....I hide from the race here." she had turned back to him finally speaking when he had mentioned not seeing her in the forest.

[Vanator]

Vanator met the smokey gray gaze of the girl. There was something there he had seen before. He had seen it in Mao, the Kelvic jaguar, and in Khano, the Kelvic wolf he had met in these very woods. It was the feral stare of a predator, wary and ready. As she sat on the log gutting the rabbit, the young woman showed no other sign of alarm, casually performing her task. A shock of platinum hair adorned her head, framing a somewhat gaunt but not unattractive face. She was slight of build, adn he could see the lean lines of her legs jutting out from her shorts. Her physique was not unlike a wolf's in winter, whenfood was scarce. Not skinny, but lean, not weak, just devoid of extra fat.

Van considered her question, slinging the bow over his shoulder. A hand rested on one of the hand axes at his waist. He was no fool, nor did he make the mistake of assuming the petite girl was harmless. Mao had taught him otherwise. "No, I am not here to free your catch, nor steal it. Caihya has set her order. Hunters earn their meals, and no one has the right to take them. I have just come out to hunt myself. Small game mostly."

His gaze followed the suspected Kelvic as she approached the mare that had appeared. "A Paintedmount. She is a fine animal." Vanator's keen Drykas eye examined the horse, she was a bit lean as well, but in good health, considering the season. Sirocco seemed to be introducing himself as well, drawing closer to the woman's mare. Then girl mentioned that she was hiding from 'the race'.

"What race is that, the one you are hiding from?" Khano had said something similar, that he kept to the woods, keeping his territory and avoiding the more civilized races in the area. It only lead Vanator closer to the conclusion that the white-haired girl was Kelvic.

[Miu Lonewolf]

✯Miu✯

"I will find peace within the future, This is what drives me forward."

Miu smirked a bit seeing the horses approach one another, seeing the apple offered out of the corner of her eye. "You hunt? You will hunt with me." She had started to ask a question but it ended in a statement.

She was set on hunting today and this was the reason she had picked such loose clothing for the warmth of the winters day, "Wanna see something?"

Her voice was low as she watched him, ignoring his questions as she started to sling her pack and equipment up onto a branch, the strap hooking on the naked branch, the leaves hidden between the melted snow and earth that crunched under her boots as she turned towards the tree, reaching up to grab a low branch before pulling herself up.

"Have you ever stared into the eyes of a killer?" She spoke slowly and placidly as she climbed, her voice carrying its heavy burden to his ears, she was testing him.

Her trust in others was thin as she hid behind her walls that had been built over the years, her mare left on the ground as clothes started to fall slowly from the tree as the young girl stripped and climbed, she was reckless.

First a shirt then her shorts that were tangled in her underclothing, knee high boots falling dangerously from above as her gloves and scarf got hooked on a branch.

She grinned as she felt the wind on her goose bump covered bare skin, leaning on the trunk as she closed her eyes letting her white hair graze her shoulders and touch against her eyelids. "Catch me and I'll share my company."

She liked a good run, a chase... Soon she leapt off the branch and in a flash of light and fur she was off, being a white streak that passed him as she laughed at him from within her mind, taking off at a good speed as her black padded paws hit the snow and her legs kicked up the cold chill of frost below her, Rowan kept put where the clothing was. Collecting it like a loyal mare as Miu gained ground, panting as she ran hard through the wood howling like a maniac, it was sudden and almost as quick as their encounter.

All her stress and anger at the world had been set loose as she tilted her head back, pointing her black nose up and howled eyes shut as her legs stretched and pounded over on the earth, her mind far ahead of her.

[Vanator]

Vanator watched curiously as the girl hung her gear and started to scale the tree. The nameless creature ignored his question, instead offering a cryptic one of her own. Van looked up after her as she began to disrobe, a grim smile hinted upon his lips. Had he ever stared into the eyes of a killer? More than he had ever cared to. "You have no idea." He simply replied.

The young woman's garments fluttered to the ground, her horse picking them up like a mother after a toddler. Soon, the girl was standing on a branch, leaning against the trunk, without a stitch of clothing. Plale skin, almost blue in the cold, was stretched across lean limbs corded with muscle, the ridges of her ribs rising to clear visibility with every breath she took. Very much like a wolf in the harsh winter she looked.

Van wondered in the instant that the challenged was laid out. Catch her, and her company was his. What sort of company she implied was unclear, but Vanator was intrigued. Suddenly, the girl lauched herself from the branch, and a familiar scintillation of light surrounded her as she descended. By the time she landed, she had turned to a white wolf, hitting the ground running. He was right, Kelvic.

Now, it was a forgone conclusion that a man bearing gear had little chance of catching a wolf darting through the woods. But Vanator was too curious to let this creature go, and he launched himself after her. He ran as fast as he could, trying to dodge low limbs and fallen logs and roots hidden in the snow as he pursued the Kelvic. He followed for a while, able to keep the wolf in view, but eventually lost sight of her.

"Shyke." He muttered, looking around. He soon found the fresh paw prints in the snow, and started to follow them. Eventually, she would weary and have to stop.

[Miu Lonewolf]

✯Miu✯

"I will find peace within the future, This is what drives me forward."

She had been circling, pounding her paws into the earth and snow as she led him on in the chilly evening. Closer and Closer to her camp as she made deep prints in the snow, she kept back tracking and making sudden turns in her oddly shaped circles.

His tracking must have been good to keep up so far as she started to slow and scratch tree's as she went. She wanted him to follow, slowing she made a sharp turn up a hill then jumped in large leaps down it in her game.

She was laughing on the inside, loving this sort of thing as she made her way around him and past him for the third time in her slowing run as she made her way around her camp in till the circle was closing and she was running right through it, Rowan had collected her things and waited patiently as she watched the happy crazed wolf bound past her.

[Vanator]

The layer of snow that covered much of the forest floor aided Vanator greatly in tracking the wolf girl. Her paw prints were somewhat marred since she was running, but Van learned the pattern of her footfalls, and was able to follow her circuit through the woods. The whelp was running circles around him, he had determined, and on occasion, he could hear her padding along nearby, and a few times, saw the Kelvic running off through the tree trunks. As the chimes passed, the practice of tracking had lost its luster, and the Drykas was losing patience. Sirroco too, grew restless, following Vanator on his wild goose chase through the woods.

Then Vanator found himself in a primitive encampment. The wolf tracks ran right through the middle of the camp. It was the wolf's came, for certain, for the girl's horse was standing idly next to it, a pile of clothes and gear at its hooves. "That cheeky little thing." Van muttered to his Strider. Well, he could be cheeky too. he scooped up the woman's clothes and wadded them up under his arm. Spotting a log, he brushed off the dusting of snow on it and sat down. "I don't know this one's story Sirocco, but I am going to find out." He again addressed the stallion, who was ignoring him now in favor of the mare standing nearby.

[Miu Lonewolf]

She stopped dead in her tracks and slid right through the camp seeing him with her clothes, questioning how she didn't smell him when she smack right into a tree ending up in the snow on her back in her bare human form suddenly with a flash of light. "Ouch." She sat up shooting a glare over at the sitting man through her white bangs that looked even whiter with snow in her hair, gray eyes thundering with anger before she just laughed standing up, coming over to the log she just plopped down and crossed her legs causally. "Figured me out, eh?"

[Vanator]

Vanator did not have to wait long until the white wolf appeared, charging into the camp. She must have been surprised to see him, for her head turned to stare at him as her paws dug into the snowy ground. Poor thing didn't see the tree, and the Drykas winced as the Kelvic slammed into the trunk and fell back onto the ground. He began to rise to check on her, when the cloud of light surrounded her again, leaving her a naked girl lying in the snow.

The grey eyes that turned to him, glaring out from behind stray white bangs, were smoldering. If she was angry, Van was glad she was not in her more dangerous wolf skin. A tense moment lingered between the woman in the snow and the man on the log, before she burst out in laughter. Van allowed the smile he had been concealing to shine. He watched her rise, approach, and sit casually down next to him. When she quipped her comment about Van figuring her out, the man laughed deeply.

He looked at her, a strange sight she was, naked as the day she was born, her skin turning blue in the cold, her shock of white hair mussed, her grey eyes glinting mischievously. He took the bundle of clothes and set them in her lap. "You will need these, you don't want anything freezing and falling off. So, does the cheeky wolf girl have a name?" Van replied, his smile still wide in amusement.