It's The Little Things in Life[Private]

[Vanator]

OOC: I apologize, I did not see Samael's post before I posted my reply. Been scattered lately. I will edit to acknowledge Sam's post.

[Kayiri]

What was this madness? They were electing someone who had no right to lead, someone who had done nothing to prove his honor and valor! Vanator was clearly the best choice! He was the wisest of them all, having lived on these very planes for more than thirty years. What were they thinking, choosing someone who had been in this world for even less time than he had!? The man clenched the wood of his bow tightly, his tanned, scarred face turning red as he averted his gaze from the rest of the group.

Deep breaths. Calm down. The Drykas's eyes closed only for a few seconds, as that was all the time they could afford to be closed for on the Sea of Grass. Vanator had even voted for Sam as a leader. Did he lack confidence? His lack of confidence to offer himself up as a leader would get them all killed. Because of the eldest man's resignation, the other two had flocked to follow him, voting for Sama'el soon afterwards. Finally, his sharp voice rang out through the group.

"I vote for Vanator. He is the eldest and wisest of us all, and as such, will be able to make better decisions than any other one of us. He has walked this Sea for over thirty summers. If anyone if fit to make decisions that involve life or death, it is him. I would trust my life to him gladly." Kayiri's bias was apparent in his voice. He had already fought for his life with the older man, and he was more than willing to place his life in his capable hands.

[Raylin Sunsetfeather]

Raylin jumped off her strider and onto the ground. She picked up a stick fthat was laying on sea's floor and then walk over to a patch of dirt. "So, our two contestants Are Sama'el and Vanator." she said as she wrote thier names in the dirt, " Sama'el has 3 votes and Vanator 1. For them to get a tie I would have had to vote for Vanator and so would Sama'el, though im going to guess that he might vote for someone else." she then drew lines undernieth the names.

"So Sam," she said as she turn back to the group, "Who are you voting for?"

[Vanator]

Vanator's brow furrowed as both Eldon and Dymphna mentioned a vote for leader. He began to discern the nature of the conversation he had interrupted as he returned from the Web. Raylin interjected her question about the glassbeak attack, and Vanator turned his head to look at the girl with the curious gold-rimmed irises. "The glassbeaks killed only one boar, I don't know if there were more." When Kayiri spoke up, the older Drykas cracked a grin. Kay was always big in everything he did. He stepped towards the tall warrior, raising his hand as if to calm the brash man. "Kay, thanks, but its alright. I didn't realize we were choosing a leader. I simply meant that tracking would serve us better in finding quarry, and Sam'ael is the one who seems most skilled among us." His gaze swept across the faces of his companions. He chuckled as he looked back up at Kayiri. "And because I have weathered more winters does not necessarily mean I am wiser!" He strode back to Backlash, the Strider grazing unconcerned with the human's business. "I will abide by the group's decision, if it has been decided we need a leader. But I don't believe anyone we may choose as a leader will be more than one to offer guidance, we should all be free to offer counsel and discuss matters freely amongst us." It was true, most organized hunts, like the upcoming great Fall hunt, had specific leaders. But this small impromptu group was a good opportunity for those who needed to exercise skills and overcome obstacles to do so. Vanator, nor the others, would blindly follow someone into danger. He sensed Sam'ael's desire to take on more responsibility, as well as Dymphna and Raylin's hesitations. He would like to see all of the young Drykas grow during this hunting experience. Vanator opened a pack hanging from his yvas, pulling out a strip of dried meat. He began to gnaw on the jerky as he turned his attention back to the others.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sam certainly wouldn't vote for himself, but it seemed he didn't have to. His bid for power wasn't really for power's sake, but merely an impetus to get them moving and on a successful hunt. But he didn't want to have to entrust his life in people who didn't want him in a position of authority. "Hey, it seems I'm the most experienced tracker we have. So I can track the prey for us, and if we need a change of leadership when we get to something I'm not experienced with, we can change... I'm not going to make any demands of people that I won't make of myself. But we have to be all in this together, hey, Kayiri? Hey, Raylin?" He flashed an apologetic smile to Vanator. Conflict had been the opposite of his intentions, and he would always listen to those in his group with respect, but Kayiri didn't know that. He silently vowed to be patient and not foster any hard feelings. After all, his loyalty to Vanator was admirable. And Raylin only wanted to be careful.

[Baku]

As more and more discussion took place, some of the group may have come to realize that they were still gathered around a fresh water source. A place where many animals gathered, and many predators stalked such grounds. In the distance, many of heard a call. Vanator especially would recognize this a communication. It was the type of squawking that Glassbeaks often made when one from a large pack spotted potential prey. As silence passed after the initial call, there was a reply call from a second Glassbeak, and then a third, forth and fifth until close to 7 other Glassbeaks were calling out to the first in reply, the chatter between the Glassbeak hunting pack seemed to happen for close to full chime before it ceased completely and the Glassbeaks fell silent. Vanator and some of the others from past experiences would quickly realize that the predatory birds were now in stalking mode.

[Kayiri]

The moment the first call went out, Kayiri went rigid in his yvas. Something was near them. In the Sea, that was never a good thing. Ever. Fingers tightened around the shaft of the arrow that was settled on the string of his bow. Oh, Gods. More calls rang out around them. His head darted in the direction each individual call came from. One, two, three, four... Whatever was near them, it had friends. Lots and lots of friends. Serenity, spooked by the cries and by Kayiri's own unease, began to shuffle her hooves uneasily.

"We have overstayed our welcome. I do not want to find out what that is. We should leave. Now," Kayiri barked hurriedly, a tone of worry in his normally confident voice. Eight of whatever made that sound versus six of them was not a very good set of odds. Kayiri's head continued to swivel rapidly, checking every little bit of the open expanse around him. Oh Gods. Whatever made those sounds had to be closing in on them. Whatever made those sounds had to be coming closer to tearing their throats from their necks with every second they remained there. A soft growl left Aindreas's snout as he rose up onto all fours, followed by loud, aggressive barking. The hairs on Kayiri's neck and arms stood tall. Not good, not good, not good.

He could not fight an enemy he could not yet see. He had learned that lesson the hard way almost a year ago, when Zith had drawn him into an ambush and scarred him in the night. No, Kayiri had to see an enemy to defend himself from it, and he was not seeing this one. That was what really frightened him.

"We must leave now," he then demanded again, a tone even more urgent than before in his voice. "The longer we stay, the closer our foe gets. There are eight of them and six of us. We must flee now, so that we can escape with our lives," his tone became more and more urgent as he continued to talk. The fact that the normally fearless warrior was becoming so sick with worry would no doubt bother Vanator, whom knew him the best out of anyone in the group.

[Dymphna]

She couldn't take it anymore... "May I point out that as we stand here and debate this our prey is getting further away from us?" she asked in a tone was typically reserved for overly wild children. The type of tone that said a person was clearly frustrated, but trying to remain calm. "Vanator's not able to locate through webbing. Sam has experience in physical tracking, which means that, at least for now, he should take the lead. On top of that, we're standing next to a watering hole, which means we're as easily prey as -" The young woman wasn't cut off by her compatriots, but instead the call of a glassbeak. And then another. And another... Each move from bird-to-bird caused her eyes to bounce as she followed some vague understanding of where they were. She had quit counting as soon as she started to get the sinking suspicion that they were, in fact, outnumbered. Silently she was chiding herself for not trusting her own instincts anymore, which had told her to speak up. Now she had a feeling she was going to pay for it. Had she been alone, she may have known what to do now, but with a group inexperienced with its own dynamics... Well, surely there was someone in the group that would be able to think clearly and not act rashly. She glanced at Sam, having put her faith and trust into him, and though it was tense, she still managed to smile. Kayiri's panic caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up, but she understood the panic in others. It forced her own nerves to sink down into the ground around her for strength and stability. She signed over to Sam that some should be ready with arrows and others with blades for those that broke through, unable to keep quiet for once. Either that was something she had learned on her own or through listening to her family members. Running, she thought, would just add chaos to the mix, though at the same time being backed against water wasn't necessarily a good thing either as far as she could figure. She then quickly looked down to her hand, examining it for cuts she'd not noticed before. She shifted until her hand was covered with the cloth of her dress before she reached into her pocket pulling out the mold she'd collected. Then she began, almost too calmly, rubbing it over the blade of her sickle. It wasn't a fair fight, but at that exact moment she was more concerned with coming out of it alive.

[Raylin Sunsetfeather]

With everyone done voting she drop the stick, erased the markings she'd made on the ground with her foot, and started to walk back to her strider. She was about to get on Sabela when Dymphna said her mind. She was right after all, they were in a bad spot to stand and talk about who the leader was going to be.

Then came the odd sounds. This time she knew it wasn't the other Drykas' dog. It sounded like a bird of some sort. Though what kind, Raylin didn't know. It came again, and again and again. There seemed to be 7 or 8 of them. When the calling dissipated and Kayiri started to become worried, she knew something was very wrong. She quickly got onto her horse and got out her bow. She drew an arrow and put it against her bow, then, in a quite voice, she asked, "What was that?"

[Vanator]

The first eerie yet familiar cry drifted over the grass, causing Vanator to stop dead silent. The series of similar responses that echoed the first turned his blood cold. Glassbeak. The Denusk cursed under his breath, cursed himself. His face turned grave, betraying the anger he felt at himself for not seeing it sooner. As Vanator listened to Kayiri's almost frantic words, his eyes never ceased searching for signs of the predators. "The Glassbeak are far wiser hunters than we." He slowly walked towards Backlash, his eyes shifting continuously across the plains around them, his tone calm, but underlaid with intense sincerity. "While we bicker and debate how to head out and track our quarry, the glassbeak knew that, at a watering hole, you don't have to track prey....prey comes to you. " He counted himself a fool, for such a glaring oversight may very well cost them all their lives. The others had already began to take action, mounting up and readying weapons. He caught Dymphna's signing to Sam'ael, but didn't catch enough to decipher. Had he seen what Dymphna had told Sam, he would have been surprised at her saavy, for it was the strategy he would have chosen. Van climbed up into his yvas. "I think we should all mount up." Every Drykas knew that, if it came to it, the only creature that had a chance to outrun a glassbeak was a Cyphrus Strider. He slid the battle ax from its loop on the yvas, not trusting his archery to make the one shot he may have count. "I will say that they hunt as a pack, and that they are used to hunting herds. Stragglers become target for a group attack. We need to go, now." He hoped his insinuation that they stay together was understood. It was a poor time for the group to have to face such peril. They were not yet united. Then again, nothing brings together a team like the urgent need for self-preservation.