3rd Day of Spring, 516 AV
Eighth bell of Morning
Dawnwhisper pavilion
Eighth bell of Morning
Dawnwhisper pavilion
The morning had dawned, and after a night of poor sleep, Naiya had decided that there was little point in skipping her morning hunt afterall. She was awake anyway, she may as well use the morning.
The morning still held the chill of the season past, and so she dressed in her breeches and tossed the wolf pelt vest over her breasts. It was warm enough that way, for the Drykas woman to ride without getting too hot as the day warmed.
She pulled her yvas and grooming kit from the travois, bring both to settle beside her strider. Greetings she signed to him as she alerted to her approach. He nickered softly, awake.
She ran a currycomb across Wildfire's back, loosening dirt and hair before shifting to run along the line of his neck and shoulders where the yvas would sit. She brushed the loosened dirt away with her brush, sending dust flying into the dark morning sky. She ran her fingers across his body, seeking bumps, ticks, or wounds, finding none she ran hands over his legs, feeling for warmth or swelling. Again she found none, so she asked him to lift his hoof with a light squeeze of his lower leg, and she used a hoof pick to remove dirt and grass from his feet.
She dropped the gear back in the bucket, taking it all back to the travois where she retrieved her yvas pad. This she tucked beneath her arm, making her wa back over to Wildfire who had begun to graze. Tacking up was a familiar process for him, and Naiya was able to let him eat while she worked, slipping the pad into place. He only had to lift his head a moment for her to place the yvas on, and then she was gone again to fetch her bag and the yvas bags.
She returned with bow, quiver, spear, and all of her travel gear. There was no sense in leaving it behind even if she expected to be back quickly. She organized things into place on the yvas, then swung up into her seat.
She sought the shape of hooves in the dirt, finding where they had moved the night before, and guided Wildfire back onto the path. A gentle squeeze of her legs and a tilt in her position urged Wildfire into a walk, and once they were clear of the city she lifted her body from his back with the strength of her legs and asked him to canter.
Wildfire was happy to oblige, the room she created between their bodies letting him move smoothly from walk to canter without running into Naiya's hips. She let him find his pace before finding her seat once again, letting the circular motion of his body shape the movement of her hips, back and up, under and forward.
Her traps were marked, and the path she had taken was a familiar one, all too soon they were nearing the hunting grounds and Naiya had to ask Wildfire to slow. They walked quietly, the sound of his hooves no more warning to the animals than any other creature moving about as the morning began.
She was excited to find that her first trap had snared a rabbit, still thin from the winter, but large enough to make a nice meal. She swung down from her seat, her feet light on the ground, but when she landed she had a moment of lost balance, only Wildfire's proximity kept her on her feet.
She frowned, perhaps she should visit that healer again, or ask her back for another meal. Still, once her balance returned she bent to remove the rabbit, finding that it awoke and fought once she grabbed him. She used the rope to her advantage, slipping it over the rabbit's head and standing on the end so that she could pull the body upwards while holding the head in place.
A quiet pop was all the sound the neck made as it broke, and the rabbit didn't scream, something she was glad for. She hated the sound of a rabbit screaming it's death, and with the flesh intact, she could take it to be processed at the spit fire, then she could give the pelt to the healer in return for her services.
She reset the trap, allowing the loop to fall in about the same place, the counter weight was still in place, and it had done well over night, so Naiya would leave it as was. She remembered Shahar saying that the trap couldn't smell like humans, so she took the rabbit and rubbed it all over the rope, hoping to mask the places where she had touched it.
Pleased, she mounted back up, urging Wildfire back into a walk with a gentle push. They checked the other traps, of the four, only one other had anything in it, a small ground squirrel that had strangled itself in its attempt to escape.
She pulled him loose, draping him from the same spot on the yvas where she had put the rabbit. Making sure both were secured she urged Wildfire into a walk again, circling back to the second trap, having seen droppings from a deer nearby.
She searched the ground, seeking the cloven tracks of the leggy creatures, when she found them, she followed the shapes until she could see the path the had cut through the grass. It was difficult for her still, to see the difference between regular grass and a game trail, but with the other clues to help her, she managed.
The morning still held the chill of the season past, and so she dressed in her breeches and tossed the wolf pelt vest over her breasts. It was warm enough that way, for the Drykas woman to ride without getting too hot as the day warmed.
She pulled her yvas and grooming kit from the travois, bring both to settle beside her strider. Greetings she signed to him as she alerted to her approach. He nickered softly, awake.
She ran a currycomb across Wildfire's back, loosening dirt and hair before shifting to run along the line of his neck and shoulders where the yvas would sit. She brushed the loosened dirt away with her brush, sending dust flying into the dark morning sky. She ran her fingers across his body, seeking bumps, ticks, or wounds, finding none she ran hands over his legs, feeling for warmth or swelling. Again she found none, so she asked him to lift his hoof with a light squeeze of his lower leg, and she used a hoof pick to remove dirt and grass from his feet.
She dropped the gear back in the bucket, taking it all back to the travois where she retrieved her yvas pad. This she tucked beneath her arm, making her wa back over to Wildfire who had begun to graze. Tacking up was a familiar process for him, and Naiya was able to let him eat while she worked, slipping the pad into place. He only had to lift his head a moment for her to place the yvas on, and then she was gone again to fetch her bag and the yvas bags.
She returned with bow, quiver, spear, and all of her travel gear. There was no sense in leaving it behind even if she expected to be back quickly. She organized things into place on the yvas, then swung up into her seat.
She sought the shape of hooves in the dirt, finding where they had moved the night before, and guided Wildfire back onto the path. A gentle squeeze of her legs and a tilt in her position urged Wildfire into a walk, and once they were clear of the city she lifted her body from his back with the strength of her legs and asked him to canter.
Wildfire was happy to oblige, the room she created between their bodies letting him move smoothly from walk to canter without running into Naiya's hips. She let him find his pace before finding her seat once again, letting the circular motion of his body shape the movement of her hips, back and up, under and forward.
Her traps were marked, and the path she had taken was a familiar one, all too soon they were nearing the hunting grounds and Naiya had to ask Wildfire to slow. They walked quietly, the sound of his hooves no more warning to the animals than any other creature moving about as the morning began.
She was excited to find that her first trap had snared a rabbit, still thin from the winter, but large enough to make a nice meal. She swung down from her seat, her feet light on the ground, but when she landed she had a moment of lost balance, only Wildfire's proximity kept her on her feet.
She frowned, perhaps she should visit that healer again, or ask her back for another meal. Still, once her balance returned she bent to remove the rabbit, finding that it awoke and fought once she grabbed him. She used the rope to her advantage, slipping it over the rabbit's head and standing on the end so that she could pull the body upwards while holding the head in place.
A quiet pop was all the sound the neck made as it broke, and the rabbit didn't scream, something she was glad for. She hated the sound of a rabbit screaming it's death, and with the flesh intact, she could take it to be processed at the spit fire, then she could give the pelt to the healer in return for her services.
She reset the trap, allowing the loop to fall in about the same place, the counter weight was still in place, and it had done well over night, so Naiya would leave it as was. She remembered Shahar saying that the trap couldn't smell like humans, so she took the rabbit and rubbed it all over the rope, hoping to mask the places where she had touched it.
Pleased, she mounted back up, urging Wildfire back into a walk with a gentle push. They checked the other traps, of the four, only one other had anything in it, a small ground squirrel that had strangled itself in its attempt to escape.
She pulled him loose, draping him from the same spot on the yvas where she had put the rabbit. Making sure both were secured she urged Wildfire into a walk again, circling back to the second trap, having seen droppings from a deer nearby.
She searched the ground, seeking the cloven tracks of the leggy creatures, when she found them, she followed the shapes until she could see the path the had cut through the grass. It was difficult for her still, to see the difference between regular grass and a game trail, but with the other clues to help her, she managed.
