PM to join Is that a hunt or is that a chase? Pt. II

[Azmere]

Azmere watched the redhead relax a bit. He was not overly funny but was glad his joke was good enough to alleviate some of whatever was weighing her down. She made a bit of a spectacle getting onto her mare but given that the woman’s strider was as tall as Hephiestian, Azmere couldn’t really see a better way for the tiny woman to get onto the big horse. His curiosity kept his gaze on Amunet a moment longer and then he took to his mount as well. He was sitting farther back than normal because of the deer but that was ok. He used his legs to urge Hephiestian back around in the direction from whence they came and then spurred him forward.

Azmere did not ride hard for there was no need. He simply needed to collect his traps and the two pieces of game they held. He stopped Hephiestian atop the knoll that acted as a point of origin for the traps’ locations. Azmere dismounted and walked softly down the grassy slope to where the rabbit with the broken foot should be. He got there to find the animal nearly dead from pain and exhaustion. Azmere knelt on the grass allowing his body to sink down around the helpless creature while his hands slipped underneath it and cradled it up towards his torso. Azmere gripped firmly around the animal’s shoulders and chest and gave a single stroke of his finger down its nose. “Sorry for the pain, little one.” Azmere’s free hand covered the rabbit’s eyes and smoothed down its ears until the entire head was concealed within his palm. He then gave a quick twist of both hands going in opposite directions. A soft pop was the only noise and the animal went still. Azmere rose to his feet with the lifeless rabbit in one hand and the snare, still attached in the other. He walked to his strider and set the rabbit up next to the deer. The man’s leathery hands worked quickly, though not quite so efficiently to remove the snare and stash it into the yvas bag. The tiny cord made him fail three times before it decided to release the rabbit’s foot.

Azmere lashed the bunny against the deer then jogged down a different side of the hill to where the empty snare was resting. On his return to Hephiestian, Azmere examined it closely and could only surmise that the creature that got away was either too small or too smart for such a contraption. He tucked it into his pack with other one and then went off once more to collect his final trap. The squirrel was still dangling like he had been caught stealing horses. Azmere smirked and began to untie the loop. This took several chimes since it was so small; tiny, in fact. The Drykas man was not the best at intricate working such as this. However, he was not to be defeated by an inanimate object and eventually got the squirrel free and removed the rest of the snare from the branch. Having retrieved what he came for, Azmere turned and went back to his horse. The azure and amber orbs peered about to check on his new found companion and her pets. His gaze was soft while he put away the squirrel and another trap.

It's you and me against the world.

[Amunet]

Azmere’s activities were not being paid any head as the young woman went towards the waist high grasses that bunnies and birds like to hide in. At least that’s been her experience on her travels in the grass. Her stick banged around on the grass rather noisily. The Silkena hound walked along looking for something to catch her sight as her sharp pointed delicate nose would dart to this movement or that. An insect would jump or a blade of grass would flicker as that elegant head quickly snapped to the movements. The stick was jabbed into the larger clumps of grass and moved sharply back and forth in her attempt to flush game out of hiding.

She was about to move to a different are as either the shy defensive animals were well hidden or this area was devoid of game. It was probably the first summation as Amunet’s skill at this was just beginning. She huffed a soft sigh as she went for one more large mass clump of grasses. The dried grasses were bent over in odd lumps she noticed. It was rather clever how it blended into the rest of the patch there. She wondered what the clumps were. That would have to wait as she was after dinner. In went the stick as she stabbed into the thick part of the grasses and moved it back and forth. The greyish brown streak that followed she barely saw, but was not unnoticed by the dog.

Camile took off like a shot as the greyish brown streak was joined by a light gold streak. Amunet started running after her dog, pumping her arms up and down to gain momentum as she went into the general direction of the chase. She stopped to look around before seeing the zigzag pattern the silkena was chasing the bunny in. Amunet gave pursuit towards them. The bunny jigged one way, the wrong way and the silkena was on the bunny with alacrity. “Camile, good girl!” The girl exclaimed. The dog had already given the killing bite at the neck. The hound looked up with bunny in mount. “Camile, come!”

The dog trotted over towards her little redheaded mistress and dropped the bunny in the waiting hand. Amunet smiled. Other than the teeth marks on the neck the bunny was in decent shape. Amunet fussed over the dog giving her plenty of pets and fluffs of her fur. With all the noise, Amunet did not notice someone hiding in the grass watching her amateur antics. This person saw the other Drykas male with a nice deer and other game. Two Drykas and one a female as this may prove easy pickings. The female wasn’t bad looking either. The creeper moved silently flanking the young woman ever so carefully. The woman was oblivious but the dog was his worry.

He was a hunter of sorts. If it had profit, he would go out and kill it. Sometimes he lucked out in situations like this where he didn’t have to work so hard. Amunet turned at the tall grasses to head back to her mare as the man darted out to cover her mouth and put a knife at her throat from behind. The girl dropped the rabbit. The dog dutifully picked it back up. The red head instantly started struggling till the knife pressure at her neck increased. “you be nice girlie. I hate to see that pretty throat cut.”

Amunet’s eyes narrowed as this well reminded her of Pratal’s attentions. The man didn’t see the anger well up that replaced some of the fear. She managed to open her mouth and bite some part of his hand as hard as possible. She was out to draw blood. That was right before she would put her heel into his foot. The grip loosened enough for her to shoulder out of his hold. She tried to make a run for it as she screamed in Pavi for help. The long red hair was gorgeous and it proved to be a rather nice handle as the man grabbed the long fiery tresses and yanked her back. Amunet yelled for Camile to run. The dog looked a little confused and took off running with the rabbit towards her owner’s strider.

[Azmere]

Azmere spent a few moments organizing the items crammed into his yvas bags. He took the blanket and arrows out of the left one and moved them to the right. He adjusted the traps at the bottom of the left and moved his grooming kit around as well. He had plenty of room now for some more gear, though his rucksack could use a good restack, he would wait until in camp to do that. He looked up seeing the mare pacing a bit impatiently while tossing her head at Hephiestian. The stallion shook out his mane and whipped Azmere with his tail. Something had made them anxious. Azmere figured there was always the foul smell of dead animals to blame and left it at that. He went back to reshuffling his belongings when the Silkena hound came bounding through the grass with a rabbit in his muzzle. Azmere smiled a bit at the clean kill it had made.

The dog looked the lost, the horse was still anxious and Hephiestian bumped into his master while shuffling his hooves about. Azmere was a bit perturbed but saw the scene developing in front of him. The little redhead was nowhere to be seen and her animals were starting to go stir-crazy, so much so that his own mount was acting strange. Azmere set everything down and walked backwards until he came into a thick russet of tall grass and weeds. He sat down and made himself comfortable. He focused on his breathing and the swaying of the earth beneath him until he felt the warmth of the ground and the coolness of the breeze move through him.

In this moment, he slipped into the web and looked around. He saw everything as it was several chimes ago and then went about making a circle around his body in search of any threats. Finding none, he headed off in the direction where he had last seen Amunet of the River Flower. He traveled quickly but only just beyond his initial view and then back again. Something was wrong and Azmere was not about to leave him physical body unattended. Seeing his area clear, he split back over the knoll to search for the tiny woman. He went a bit farther this time chasing the faint strands along the animal trails he had been on earlier that morning. Nothing. Once more, he returned to his body and found the situation to be the same but still safe. He looked to the dog that still held the bunny in its jaws. Azmere ventured a bit father along a rabbit trail and found what he was looking for but it was not a he expected. She was a hostage. Azmere felt a heat rise in his soul in form of anger. The Drykas marked the area well and developed a strategy to deal with this fiend then slipped back to his form. He found his strider close to his body and the mare had begun to dance in circles while the dog sat near a bush with the rabbit between its front paws.

Azmere sat a moment to regain his balance and awareness then rose slowly to his feet. The anger had manifested in his chest, shoulders and cheeks in the form of slightly reddened skin and a noticeable increase in heat output. There was an event in Azmere’s past that made a special place of rage for all of those who seek to take advantage of others. He unslung his bow and held it in his left hand. He took Hephiestian by the mane and guided him up the knoll still out of sight of the bandit and Amunet. Once they came down the other side and got along the brush, however, they would be. Azmere stopped and patted Hephiestian lovingly on his neck. Azmere stared into his eyes and gave all the will he possessed to have the beast adhere to his wishes. He knew it was just wishful thinking but an innocent life hung in the balance. The Drykas stooped and snatched up some sour clover from the earth, waved it against the strider’s nose then tossed it down against the brush. Azmere went right sinking deeper into the grass as he went and walking with a very light tread.

By the time he reached the edge of the brush, he was at a forty degree angle from the girl and her captor. Azmere began a more lateral movement now while crouched. He moved with the swaying of the grass taking only one step at a time so he could remain silent and also to avoid making a ripple in the grass that would stand out against the gentle sway of the field. He heard Hephiestian pushing into the brush making the twigs flick and snap as the big stallion pursued the sour and sweet snack. Azmere peered from his position now at the bandit’s true left. He was only about ten yards away. The archer slowly and carefully removed an arrow without a sound from his quiver. He notched it and drew it about halfway just to maintain tension. Then as before, he moved with the wind within the grass’s tall cover until he was only about fifteen feet from his target. He dropped one knee and drew the bowstring back for a full pull. He sighted his target and had a clean shot. Azmere took a deep breath and as he exhaled, he straightened his fingers releasing the shot for where the man’s neck and jaw meet in front of his ear. Aim small. Miss small.

It's you and me against the world.

[Amunet]

She found her body slammed back against the strange man who had her hair pulled cruelly back keeping her back arched to keep her movements restricted and the position amused his perverted mind. The red head’s mind raced trying to find some angle to get to, some way to finagle her way out of this situation. The racing only made the panic rising within magnified. Her hand wrapped around behind to get a hold of his thick wrist to get his hold to not be so harsh. He pulled her back further against him and the taller grass behind him.

It was a chime or two of silence he listened for any sign of pursuit from the other Drykas. The silky pulsing throat caught his eye beneath his vision as he looked down. That trail of rapid pulse had his eyes crawling down further. Greed fed in more ways than just coin. The girl would fetch a handsome price for such skin and hair. His dagger trailed lightly down further to hook on the cloth that came between him her bare skin. She struggled his grip on her hair tightened and arched her uncomfortably back further with no mercy. His nose came close to her ear and sniffed a long inhale of the hollow of her throat.

The distraction cost him dearly. There was an odd sound, a barely perceptible thunk. The strangled words that tried edging out as his grip tightened more. One moment he was fondling her neck with his nose, the next moment he was slumped over and she fell forward with his weight on top of her. She half expected him to grab some portion of her but instead he was still. It took her some effort to push the weight off of her only to be staring at the wide eyes of the man. Her hand went out to the man as the compulsion drove her to try and heal him. Then the long gurgling exhale breathed his last. An arrow was through his throat. She found herself breathing heavily and pushing at the body with her feet. Her face was in her hands as she couldn’t stand for a few minutes. The girl couldn’t speak as her hands trembled as two fingers rubbed her forehead. It was also interesting that there was no compulsion to heal the man any longer now that he was dead. Seems the gift only worked on the living.

She didn’t want the man dead, just to let her go. Still she couldn’t quibble the necessity of such actions to kill the man. The girl reached over, once her hand was calmed from its shaking, to close the man’s eyes. “May the web find a place for you, may you return to fulfill your purpose as the Gods deem fit.” The soft silken voice provided that hopefully the soul will find rest and healing. If she couldn’t do anything for the body, at least she could send the soul off with a few words. It was the best she could do for him while the Grass and the grace of Semele claimed the remains.

The arrow came from someone. Her head came up as she recalled that arrow was trained on her at first as she looked around for the solitary man who was checking his traps. She stood up and turned this way and that to look for him. She hoped he didn’t get hurt doing this.

[Azmere]

Azmere closed his eyes shortly after his arrow made contact with the perpetrator. He rested the bow on the toe of his boot and held his hands together at the top. The Drykas lowered his forehead to the string and rested it there for a moment. He ushered a quiet prayer to the breeze asking forgiveness for striking the hooligan from this realm. Even though Azmere did not feel any guilt for his decision, he still valued life. After a few ticks, he rose and slung the bow over his head and shoulder then began a steady set of strides that would lead him to where Amunet and the man were last seen. He came up through the grass to find those large doe eyes peering at him. He slowed his pace to a normal walk and then stopped a few feet from the fresh corpse, his amber and azure gaze fixed on the girl. He did not speak for a second but scanned her to check for damage. She seemed no worse for wear albeit a tad shaken from the whole ordeal.

Azmere smiled at her then knelt next to the man beginning to look him over for anything that might identify who he was. As he did so, he offered a bit of conversation to try and help Amunet deal with everything that had transpired. “It seems you make friends everywhere you go, girl.” The man’s clothes were ordinary. He bore no colors, no visible windmarks or wraps. Azmere frowned. He looked up to Amunet with a serious but gentle light on his face. “You might not want to watch this. Why don’t you go round up the animals.” Azmere dropped his face back to the man he had slain. He needed to remove his clothes to try and find out if he belonged to a clan or pavilion. He also wanted his arrow back but didn’t want to yank it free while his new friend was still standing there.

Instead, Azmere went about carefully and respectfully removing the man’s shirt, cloak and gloves. There were many wind marks but none that openly correlated back to any insignia that Azmere had ever seen. There was a horse with flames along its back stretched over his left ribcage, two dogs tearing each other apart on his right upper arm and a rather crude looking woman posing with a spear just above his waistband. Azmere bit the inside of his lip; a nervous habit, while he searched through the pockets and bags that the man owned. He found a tiny coin purse with some silver and a few coppers. He also found a piece of parchment that had a bit of writing which Azmere could not make out. There was a sparse amount of dried meat and some preserving salts which matched the ones that Azmere had in his own kit. Aside from these things, there was an empty journal, a charcoal pen and a dull dagger with a five inch blade that was slightly curved nestled into a very plain handle. Azmere did take note that the man had a decent set of boots but the rest of his clothes were basically rags.

It's you and me against the world.

[Amunet]

The young lady was stalled there in that spot for a time. His eyes. Those haunting mesmerizing dual colored eyes that may startle some even scare some, seemed like a beacon at this moment. The comforting silence was perhaps the best thing at the moment and then the smile. She swears she didn’t breathe during that time as she took a breath upon his smile. The girl was whole and in one piece physically. The graceful waves of red turned towards the corpse and then the smile. It was a bit surreal but the reality of the situation sunk in as her hands trembled a little. It took her a chime or two to get herself in some symblance of order. It is readily apparent that death or the concept did not settle well with the young lady. The still body perhaps the symbol of all of those she couldn’t heal. Not that the drykas man who came to her aid knew that.

The stuttering intake of breath had her turning around to take another chime or two to get control of her emotions. The death was needful, part of her knew that. Another part of her screamed at her that he could have been saved. The weight of cost to that wore heavily on her thin shoulders. Amunet swallowed hard and closed her eyes. Her eyes opened when he made the comment trying to make light of it. She huffed a tense chuckle and attempted a tremulous smile if anything for his sake. “It seems to be a bad habit of mine. I will work on that. “ In her soft silken voice.

His gentleness helped the naïve young healer. She saw him starting to search the body as her curiosity kicked in and her eyes inevitably was drawn to the details. He was dirty as one would expect of one constantly on the move. He showed signs of not eating regularly but that was not abnormal either. Amunet didn’t dare step for close to the body despite her curiosity burning as two urges was fighting inside her. One was to find out why this man was the way he was and the urge to run. The lone hunter , Azmere gave her the out. She nodded as it was a practical request. It never dawned on her that he had to retrieve his arrow. She left him with his rifling of the body to go get their animals.

Amunet collected the rabbit that was a nice clean kill and put it in her yvas bag upon approaching her strider. The girl patted Camile on the head giving her reassurance as it reassured her own nerves. Leia was gathered up and placed on the yvas pad. Once she slid up on top of her mare, the Silkena fell into step as she went to the stallion to urge him towards the direction of his rider. It took a bit of coaxing for him to follow the cadre of females (human and animals) towards where his companion was at. The girl stopped about fifty feet from the location and sat on her horse to wait. The girl’s head moved this way and as paranoia took in hoping this was the only poacher or whatever he was around. It didn’t matter now the man was good and dead, ready to be reclaimed by Semele.

[Azmere]

Azmere waited until the small woman had broken her line of sight with the dead body. He reached up and laid his fingers along the throat so that the arrow’s tip rested between his index and middle finger. With the other hand, he gripped the arrow and squeezed tight. In cases like this it best to flex your muscles before trying to remove the projectile. Azmere built up tension in his arms and in a single, quick action he pulled the arrow clean through the man’s neck. Blood shot out after the fletchings and sprayed red flecks about the grass and a decent amount of droplets on Azmere’s arm. He replaced the arrow and sat over the body. He whispered a soft prayer for the unfortunate man to be received back to Semele’s womb.

A moment of silence passed and the hunter went about the task of removing everything useful. Azmere tucked the boots and preserving supplies into his pack, the dagger into his belt and kept the meat in his hand while slipping the writing tandem into a pocket inside his cloak. He moved along the grass towards the direction that she had wandered. He knew his mount was over in this direction as well. He was thinking how best to help this woman. He had pondered about offering to teach her how to shoot but that was quite an involved process. She obviously had hunting companions though they weren’t exactly trained. He kicked through the grass in his way finding some of the taller patches a bit harder to wade through without the help of his strider. The hunter’s mind strayed to the meat that needed skinned and prepared and he began to take a mental inventory when he had an epiphany. He could teach her how to skin critters!

He looked up to see her sitting on her horse and Hephiestian milling nearby. Azmere smiled politely and jogged the rest of the distance between them. “Open your hands.” He reached out to hand her the handful of dried meat and once she took it, he would hand her the journal and pen. He would make a simple set of signs stating that he can’t read or write once his hands were free. He tossed his pack around and dug through for his catch. A rabbit and a squirrel would do nicely, he noticed she had a rabbit as well and not the one her dog mangled. Hephiestian nuzzled Azmere’s face hard enough to make him take a step back. The Drykas gave the horse an odd but knowing look and then scratched under the big guy’s chin for a few ticks. He signed to Amunet that he would help her skin her rabbit. Azmere turned and lead the horse back towards the direction where his camp had been. He cast a glance over his shoulder and waved for Amunet to follow him. He allowed the cooler breeze to stir him into a good mood and try and forget the ugliness of the morning.

After a brief walk, the grass became shorter and much more conducive to productive activities like skinning. Azmere stopped his horse and went back into his bags to retrieve the small animals. He also grabbed his whetstone and then sat down with his legs crossed beneath him. He spread the animals before taking care to stretch each one out gently so as not to damage the fur. Next, he removed the dagger from his waist in his right hand, took the whetstone in his left and then spit on the block. With practiced ease, Azmere made soft sweeping strokes with the blade adjusting for the curl by slowly twisting his wrist. One stroke would make a full pass along a single edge of the knife. The return pass would do the same for the opposite side. The subtle grinding sound was scarcely audible above the rustling of the grass in the wind. He made effortless pushes and pulls that slowly brought a light sheen to the edge of the dull and dingy blade.

After a chime or two, he stopped to examine his work. He flicked his thumb across the edge (not along it) and was satisfied with the sharpened tool. He set the whetstone next to his leg and placed the dagger next to the rabbit. Azmere hopped up, took the whetstone and put it back where it belongs and removed a couple arrows from his quiver. Azmere’s hands quickly found their way to his preservation kit and lifted it from the yvas bag. He then set the bow and quiver on the yvas before returning to his seat. Seated in the same position as before, he set the arrow down with the dagger and the kit off to his side. His eyes lifted to find Amunet’s and he smiled again and patted the grass to his right indicating that she sit. Given the layout before him, he hoped she would bring her rabbit and daggers.

It's you and me against the world.

[Amunet]

Amunet looked out into the grass to see how the cool wind played along it to pass the time for Azmere to do whatever it is he was doing. She didn’t want to guess, fathom and it is not a curiosity she wished to entertain. Death was too common amongst them, but it didn’t mean it was a blasé affair. Azmere did her the favor of dealing with what remained. She was quite content to sit on top of her horse and wait. The wait was not long.

As he came forward to get to his Strider, he smiled at her which lent comfort that all was well. Those tense shoulders relaxed visibly. She patted the mare out of relief more than anything else to perhaps hide her disquiet or tension. Azmere then asked her to hold out her hand. Those sky blue eyes narrowed in the emotional expressive way she had about her. Her curiosity peeked at such a request she put her hand out as the unspoken trust that was given to the man. He did after all just rescue her. A bundle of dried meat was placed in her hand. It was a small quantity but enough to make two small batches of stew. That was no small gift in her eyes. The book and the ink stick was deposited in her hand. This too was no small gift. She opened the book but it was blank pages. A blank journal it was that was most useful for documenting or recording things which is of value to someone of medicine and herbs.

Amunet caught the careful quick sign that he could not read or write. It dawned on her how rare it was to read and write common, much less speak it amongst their kind. Those of the River Flower adopted as they had the occasional outsider guest to treat as well as record keeping, documenting herbals, inventory and any number of tasks that require it. “Thank you, Azmere. This will be placed to good use. “

The next request came somewhat of a surprise in the form of being invited back to his camp. Her brow furrowed as she wasn’t sure why? His motives came under scrutiny of this wayward lone Drykas woman that still had her virtue. She took a long breath in as her face changed to one of speculation as the quick mind quickly discarded such notions. The recent event of the man being so forward before his mistake cost him his life had created such paranoia. It was no small task to quell this paranoia as she looked out into the vastness of grass and wind as if to seek an answer to the simple matter. This came in the form of a hand motioning her forward. Part of her wanted to turn and head to her camp as the uncertainty rose again. The other part of her would edge forward in curiosity of what this man would offer. The curiosity won.

The action of such kindness to his horse and the care he took in how he moved gave her curiosity fuel as she kept pace behind him. For propriety sake she kept a discreet distance as to not appear forward. It was insanely silly of her to do this but she wasn’t known to think rationally at times either. Amunet felt he had to be cautious but of what she didn’t quite know. Why the man who helped her, rescued her? Maybe he wanted payment for the deed? That thought made her swallow hard. All she had really was two rabbits which didn’t amount to much. As she dismounted at his camp she bit her lower lip and was not certain as she kept by her horse.

He brought out his wet stone and smaller animals. He brought out other things as well. The one thing she thought she recognized what her brother would use on his hunts. It was a preservation kit. He didn’t look like he was getting ready to make moves on her. The girl blushed at her silly thoughts as he patted the seat next to him. She chuckled to herself as she got the poor mangled rabbit and the good rabbit from her bags. She set Leia down on the ground as she was managing a little better now and Camile laid down close by content to rest. The girl also had her own wet stone though she still was learning to sharpen things. She had two daggers. One that had her initials on it she didn’t pull as she used that one to cut herbs. The other one she did pull and put down as she took a seat with her kills

Amunet made a quick explanation as she pulled the other dagger. This one had her initials etched on it. “This was a gift when I was sixteen and started shadowing midwives. I cut herbs with it when I’m out foraging. It’s all I use it for. This one is used for utility. “ as she was pointing to the plain one. The girl put the wet stone down. She did not have a preservation kit and her salts were at her camp.

Nervously she fidgeted with her fingers, “Thank you. “ She said again but came up short as she wasn’t sure what else to say to someone who saved your life as well as your virtue. “Seems the Gods favor you that I would find myself so well acquainted. “ Her hands danced with grace with the grassland sign ‘gratitude, eternal, soulful’ Those sky blue eyes looked into his strange blue and gold which didn’t startle her anymore that echoed the emotional words she imparted to the man.

[Azmere]

Azmere watched her meander along. It seemed she was never in much of a rush. Either that or she feared him which was a reasonable assumption given his scarred appearance, superior size and she had witnesses him kill a man. He made no show of these thoughts on his face but simply continued to prepare the small game that he had collected today. He would spare Amunet the rigors of skinning and preserving such a large animal as the deer. On top of being unpleasant to some to see so much blood, it’s not like it was a quick process.

When Amunet finally made her way over towards him, she had some red in her cheeks. He found this odd and studied her for a moment with greater scrutiny. The thought of her surviving by herself seemed to be an almost impossible thing but that was really none of his concern. The girl was still here so she must be doing something right. He gave a polite nod as she sat down next to him and explained the difference in purpose for her blades. His contrasting eyes fell upon the one she used to gather herbs. It was a fine blade and one that would last forever if she took care of it. He signed as much to her and then reached for his rabbit. He stretched it out lengthwise in front of him making sure to overlap the ears. In a move he had learned from watching his grandfather, Azmere caressed his hand along the ears until he reached their end then squeezed his fist tight. The arrow was retrieved with his free hand and jammed through the ears and into Semele’s skin. It happened so fast, he turned his face to Amunet to see if she had been watching. He pulled at the rabbit’s body showing how the arrow serves as an anchor. “It makes the rest easier if the rabbit can’t run away.” Hephiestian shook his mane as if protesting the ridiculous line. Azmere smiled. He was not an overly funny man but sometime he made himself laugh…or made his horse laugh at him.

He picked up his dagger and was going to start skinning the creature when her words, meant as compliments, struck a chord inside his frame. He actually let out an exhale that was close to scoffing but it wasn’t meant as such. Azmere would never mock the gods but the idea that they favored him was certainly worth rolling his eyes. He shook his head in a small way. Not wanting to dwell on the issue for many reasons, he signed a hurried statement about the gods not talking to him and went back to his rabbit. He took hold of the creature around its ribcage and upper arms then made a small incision, only deep enough to get through the fur, around its neck. It was during this action that the hunter caught movement from the corner of his eye. The young lass had signed her gratitude and professed it would be eternal. He spun the dagger in his hand so the blade would not be an issue and closed his fingers over hers cutting off the sign for eternal. He met her with kind eyes and a deep expression. “Drykas help each other. It’s what we do.” He kept her gaze a moment then returned to his rabbit. Once the cut was made through the soft hide around the neck, he pointed to it so she could follow along. The hare was place on the ground, still held in place by the arrow piercing its ears. Azmere took one foot at a time and made a flick of his wrist with the dagger tracing a cut to the bone just above the ankle joint. He did this to every limb then set his dagger on the grass and waited for Amunet to follow suit.

It's you and me against the world.

[Amunet]

His hands were calloused and strong. It was in stark contrast to the kindness in his eyes. The depth in his eyes was another contrast that left the girl curious. She was beginning to think that Azmere had layers to him that were not easily uncovered. The healer didn’t pry and left it at that as the rose coloration dusted her cheeks again with the low baritone voice finding her ears. The young lady nodded as she looked to pay attention to the skinning of the animals.

Amunet didn’t have arrows. She didn’t even have a sharp firm stick. The girl mimicked his movements or tried to as getting the rabbit into proper position took a bit. The ability to make incisions was not hard. The girl has had to do small incisions to assist large babies to exit. She followed the trail of incisions as closely as she could. It wasn’t too bad. The focus on the task at hand soon had the blush disappearing as her eye for detail took over. Those sky blue eyes would lean over a tad to watch how his blade was angled. They observed how he was sliding it in between the muscle and sinew and with light cuts slide the skin free of the muscle ever so slowly and steadily. It was the angle.

The girl picked up the second dagger as she got a small edge with her little fingers. Her little fingers was quite adept at picking little things like the edge of the skin to start separating it from the muscle. Placing the blade angle like Azmere had it, she sliced in carefully. It was surprisingly easier than she thought. The hard part came around the legs. She would stop as she made a face. It didn’t take him long to point out the change in angle she needed with a gesture or a nod. That was all that was needed as he taught and she learned in the solace of the quiet.

Quiet. It was nice. It wasn’t often that someone else enjoyed this phenomenon. The dog was panting lightly. The cat went about the ever continuous cleaning cycle of her fur. The horses were moving in languish steps while grazing nearby. The winds would blow gently causing her hair to dance across her back as she would look up at its direction. Amunet smiled at this as these simple things were gifts. The red head refocused and went about separating the skin as she followed his instruction as closely as possible. A few bits of flesh managed to be on the resulting hide but it was off in one piece. There was a certain satisfaction to that as she held the moist hide in her hand.