Solo Now That's a Big Bird

[Adon]

5 Spring 516

Adon ducked out of the tent and whistled for Goldie. When she strolled up, he gave her a friendly slap on the neck and picked up the communal brush to get her cleaned off. "Need more meat for the pot today," he told her as he ran the brush in long strokes across her body, removing any dust and dirt that might chafe under an yvas. "Time we went out again, girl. Pick your feet up would you?" He ran a hand down each leg until she relented and lifted it. He inspected her feet slowly and carefully, bracing himself when she decided to lean on his shoulder halfway through. His built up boot helped when he was grounded, but he was never going to stand as solidly and easily as most Drykas.

He set the brush back for the others and fetched Goldie's yvas, his shoulders making their distinctive lurch and dip with each stride as he transferred from longer leg to shorter leg and back again. "Anything particular you'd like me to look for?" he asked as he passed the fire.

His daughter Leah looked up with a hopeful expression on her face. "Birds?" she suggested. "They'd make a nice change if you can find them, and it's early enough that breeding season hasn't started yet. I'm getting tired of venison, seems like we've been eating that last deer, fresh and dried, forever."

"I'll look for birds, then," he told her, fastening his crossbow to his belt. "Or at least, something other than another deer."

[Adon]

He took blanket and yvas over to Goldie and set the yvas down for a moment. He laid the blanket high on her withers and drew it down, following the line of her hair, smoothed the wrinkles out of it, then swung the yvas up over it. Once the yvas was secure, he pulled himself up into the relative freedom of Goldie's back, and nudged her out of his pavilion's encampment towards the edge of Endrykas. She walked down the paths between tents, adjusting easily to his slightly uneven weight, and he grinned as he saw the grassland open up ahead of him. "Let's find a quiet spot and see what's around," he told the mare, as her stride quickened beneath him. "And not too fast. Neither my bones nor yours are getting any younger..."

They found one of the Web's marker cairns, not too far out. Adon slid down to sit with his back against it, and spanned a bolt into his crossbow so that he could respond to danger the moment he dropped back into his body. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, as he began to meditate. In. And out. In, and out. Another breath in, and then he launched himself out with the outward breath and fumbled his way into the Web. If Alys was there, she'd have teased him about cheating on his hunting, he knew, but she wasn't, so he slowly began to work out which bright presences were what.

Goldie was easy, a half sun right beside him. A scattering of other animal presences lurked nearby in web terms. Deer... Amusement fluttered the web strands and nearly dropped him out again.

[Adon]

He calmed himself and worked a steadier circle around him. Endrykas was easy to spot, blindingly bright with massed presences. And over there, was a string of bison - far too big for him to hunt alone. Ah, there... there was a flock of bustards. He got a general sense of direction for the big birds, then thudded home into his body. He sat for a moment, readjusting to the way this body moved as opposed to his web body, then used the cairn to lever himself up again.

He swung up onto Goldie's back, and turned her in the direction of the bustards, keeping eyes, ears and nose alert for any sign of them. He heard them before he saw them - sharp calls and scrattling in the dirt. Heavy wingbeats echoed in the air, and he steadied his crossbow on his thigh. He could see further from horseback than he could on foot, not to mention move more easily, and a horse or strider was a familiar enough sight out here that sometimes the animal ignored it as just another herbivore. Sometimes.

If he'd had company, he'd have dropped off and let them herd the birds towards his ambush point, but he didn't, so he rode on slowly and eventually saw them ahead of him. He drew a second, backup, bolt and held it in his hand as he slowly raised the crossbow and fired.

[Adon]

Rather than go for a tricky eye or neck shot, he aimed for the barrel-chested body of the nearest bird - a male - as it stood frozen for just a moment too long. The bolt slammed home with a puff of brown feathers, not quite where he'd aimed it, but close enough to disable the bustard. It crumpled slowly, one broken wing flapping in the dirt and filling the air with dust. Adon hastily cranked the crossbow back and slapped the second bolt into place. By that time, the rest of the flock were fleeing, moving too fast for him to get a clear shot, and rather than waste ammunition trying, he went after the bird he was sure of.

With his encouragement - she didn't like the smell of blood - Goldie took him close enough to the wounded bird that he could just slide down and finish it off. He still got coated in dirt from its thrashing around, but at last it was done. He pulled out the bolt, cleaned it, and put it back with the others, then he took a short length of rope and wrapped at around the wings and body so that Goldie wouldn't risk tripping over it when she moved. The wingspan on the bustard was longer than he was tall. "Well," he told Goldie as he fastened it to her yvas and mounted again. "We got us a bird. Only one, but I think it'll serve a meal or two. Let's take it home."

Secret :

These are bustards.

[Jasmine Stormblood]

Let me know if something doesn't seem right!

 

Adon

XP

• Hunting: 3 XP
• Weapon- crossbow: 2 XP
• Socialization: 2 XP
• Webbing: 1 XP
• Riding- Horse: 2 XP
• Stealth: 1 XP
• Observation: 2 XP
• Animal Husbandry: 2 XP
• Logic: 1 XP

Lores

• Adon: one leg shorter than the other
• Bustards: often ignore striders
• Goldie: doesn't like the smell of blood
• Logic: don't waste ammunition on a moving target

Miscellaneous

• + 13 lbs Bustard meat