Solo Hunter

[Dravite]

4 Winter, 515 AV
8th Bell, Morning
Blackwater Pavilion
Endrykas

Hunter was a young, adult hawk that Dravite had purchased from a local business in Endrykas during the fall. He hadn't had much time to work with the bird yet, but was still doing small things to help the hawk become more familiar with him. One of his friends from The Watch had explained that keeping the bird in a dimly lit place would help subdue him and make sure he stayed calm. For this reason Dravite had set up a room in the main pavilion tent with a bird stand where Hunter was tethered while the two of them worked on getting to know each other.

Every morning Dravite would get up early to check the snares and this morning was no different. He checked on the birds before leaving camp and chose to take Cree out. The stallion yawned as the horse lord climbed up onto the animal's back, giving his side a light nudge to get them on the road. Cree shook his head and snorted, wandering away from camp at a steady pace. Dravite made a clicking sound with his tongue that commanded the Strider to speed up and soon they were making their way across the plain at speed.

Most of the snares were empty, though as discouraging as it was to find them that way, Dravite took his time to set them all again one by one, carefully arranging the tall grass or loose tree branches in a way that would funnel and rabbits towards his traps. He tested one of the snares to make sure it was working before resetting it to get on his way again. When he checked the final trap, he was thankful to come across a small rabbit and returned to camp with his prize.

The watchman filled a bucket of water for his horse and set to work, skinning the rabbit with his hunting knife in order to save the pelt. He pulled the thin hide away from the lean flesh beneath and only cut where the skin did not come away easily, otherwise using his fingers to do the work and keep the pelt as nice as possible. When he had freed the hide from the rabbit he rubbed a fistful of salt into the wet skin and stretched it out to dry before dicing some of the meat in small cubes.

Dravite returned to the tent and entered the back room where the birds were kept, calling to Hunter with a short, shape whistle, a sound made twice every time he fed the hawk so that Hunter would learn to associate the whistle with food. The horse lord cleaned his left hand and dabbed it dry before pulling on the falconry glove he had purchased along with the hawk. He held up a piece of meat with the glove and whistled, summoning Hunter to glide over to perch on his arm and take the offered morsel of fresh rabbit meat. When the bird complied, he was rewarded with the meat before being set down, returned to his stand.

[Dravite]

The hawk watched intently as Dravite wrestled another piece of meat from pouch he had filled and pinched a piece between finger and thumb, summoning Hunter with the same whistle he had used with the bird every morning at feed time for the majority of the fall season. Slowly, the training was advancing and now that Hunter knew he could leave his perch, the bird tested his newfound freedom and took flight.

What Hunter didn't understand was that he had been tethered to the perch by the small leather cuffs around his feet that were connected to a thin, lightweight length of rope that didn't let the hawk go any further than a few metres. After a small struggle, Hunter returned to his perch and Dravite whistled to him again. The hawk glided over to land on the watchman's arm and took the piece of rabbit meet that awaited him. Dravite walked the bird back to his perch and encouraged him to return to the stand in order to try again, pleased with the progress they were making.

After a couple more attempts, Dravite decided to take the little set up outside and added another length of rope to the first part in order to expand the distance of the hawk’s flight path in order to give him more exercise. He put about ten metres between himself and the hawk then and summoned the animal once more with the familiar whistling sound. Hunter's keen eyes found Dravite, the man stood with his left arm extended, awaiting the bird. The animal covered the ground quickly and snatched up the piece of meat hidden in the watchman's gloved hand.

[Dravite]

Things were going well, or so Dravite thought until Hunter decided to try and get away again. The hawk wasn't like a dog; he couldn't call the animal's name and expect it to understand that it was being reprimanded for bad behaviour. Dravite instead attached a strip of meat to the jess and swung the strap of leather full circle slowly, trying to win the bird's attention. The hawk pinned its target and dived to catch the end of the jess, clutching it tightly in his talons. Dravite whistled as Hunter claimed his prize before returning the bird to the stand.

Löwe stumbled out from his mother's tent then and ran up to Dravite, spooking Hunter as he went by. "Slow up there, son," the watchman smiled, "you don't want him to go for you, do you?"
Löwe smiled and shook his head, "no," he looked back at the hawk, "are you feeding him?"
"Not much more," Dravite told him, "it's not good to overfeed them."
"Can I watch?"
Dravite nodded, "but you have to stand back, I don't want him getting confused and clawing at your arm."
"All right," Löwe agreed and stood back behind his father.

Dravite took a piece of meat out of the pouch and held it up in his gloved hand before whistling to Hunter. The bird eyed him suspiciously, ducking his head low as if he didn't trust the boy standing beyond where the horse lord was now. The watchman whistled again, short and sharp which saw Hunter swoop from his perch to the man's arm where he greedily snatched up the piece of rabbit meat. Dravite looked back at his son and saw the boy beam excitedly, "will he fly back to the perch on his own?"
"I'm not sure," Dravite admitted, "let's find out."

[Dravite]

Instead of returning Hunter to his perch, Dravite raised his arm and gestured for the hawk to fly back of his own accord. The bird flapped his wings to keep his balance and turned his head to see where the offending arm had pointed him, but remained exactly where he was. "It takes a lot of work to train a bird," Dravite told his son.
The boy smiled up at him, "it would be easier if he spoke Pavi," Löwe offered.
Dravite laughed and Hunter screeched at him, "yes it would," he smiled, "I wonder what he would tell us if he could speak Pavi?"
"He would probably tell us he doesn't like being tied up," Löwe replied.
"If I untied him he would fly away and all my hard work would be for nothing," the watchman explained.
"You have to untie him one day."
"One day," Dravite agreed, "but not today."
"How will you know?"
"That's a good question," the man smiled, "my gut will tell me."
"Like mine tells me when I'm hungry?"
"A bit like that," Dravite smirked and set Hunter down on his stand.

He stepped away from the bird for a moment to gather more line then tied the two bits of rope together, lengthening Hunters leash. This time he went all the way across camp before he called the bird with the short, high pitched whistle, and when Hunter flew across camp to land on his arm and take his treat, the horse lord grinned, "I think he's starting to get the idea of this."
Löwe smiled, "maybe he likes you?"
"I doubt that, but he sure likes the rabbit."
The boy looked thoughtful, "what if you caught a live rabbit and tied it up for Hunter to catch?"
Dravite looked at his son long and hard, "you know, I think you just gave me an idea for the next stage of his training."
Löwe looked a little perplexed but pleased all the same that he had been able to help.

[Dravite]

Left to his own devices, Dravite spent the rest of the morning working with the hawk. He had run out of treats to give the animal and didn't want to use the whistle without having something to offer up as a means of positive reinforcement. Instead he remained silent and tried to work with hand gestures, one to get the bird’s attention and the other to summon the animal forth. Getting Hunter's attention wasn't too difficult as the bird seemed to notice movement instinctively, but summoning him was proving problematic.

Instead, Dravite raised his left arm just as he would when whistling to the bird and Hunter flew over to perch himself on the man's arm, ducking his head in search of a treat that was normally found in the watchman's hand. When he found none, the bird flew back to his perch and started preening his feathers. "Enough for one day," Dravite told the hawk and carried him inside along with the stand after shortening his leash.

When he set the animal down he picked up a pair of wooden tweezers and plucked a piece of leftover rabbit from the pouch on his belt to offer to Khan, holding the cube of meat up above the hungry chicks head. The eagle opened his mouth and tentatively, Dravite lowered the food past the animal's sharp beak for him to gulp down hurriedly. Khan wasn't satisfied with just one piece and opened his mouth again to make a shrill sound that was hard to listen to for too long. The watchman fed Khan his breakfast and then moved on to grooming the horses.

He checked their hooves one by one and brushed the dirt from their legs; keeping his animal's feet healthy was very important to the man, but more than that, he wanted to keep an eye on the mare's to assure himself that he wasn't breeding weak stock. Cree had always had very hardy hooves which was a trait he hoped would be passed on in his breeding programme, though he couldn't be sure that his other stallion was the same as he still found it difficult to get close enough to the wild animal. It was then Dravite decided to pay Wendigo a visit.

[Pearl]

DRAVITE

Experience

• Birdkeeping 5
• Riding: Horse 1
• Horsemanship 1
• Trapping 1
• Tanning 1
• Falconry 5
• Animal Husbandry 3
• Childcare 1
• Logic 1
• Grooming 1

Lore

• Birdkeeping: Dimness helps subdue a bird
• Hunter: Wary of children
• Lowe: Eager to help
• Logic: Listen to your instincts
• Hunter: Always watching

Loot

• 1 x Rabbit Pelt - Excellent Condition

Comments:
Thank you for allowing me to grade your thread. I keep picturing the Blackwater Pavilion as miniature zoo with all the animals they have collected. I very much enjoyed the interaction with Dravite and Lowe. You're writing is is always a pleasure to read.

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