[Flashback] To Hunt

[Nisana Curare]

Season of Fall, Day 78, 499 AV

Within the comfort of her Web Nisana breathed deeply as she focused on winding the soft fabric of her wrap along her body. Normally this was not something that she would dedicate much focus to, but tonight was a special night and she would not take the chance of any mistake or flaw ruining things. Even though she had already gone over everything twice she was going over it a third time as she prepared to leave for her hunt tonight.

Finally the dark crimson fabric was wrapped about her, tightly but not too much so as to restrict her movements, and so she proceeded to her armor. Carefully she checked each piece to make sure it was undamaged and that there was no dangerous wear to it. Of course she found no such problems and so she continued through her careful preparation.

This wasn't her first hunt, her Mother had taken her out many times before, but tonight was to be her first hunt alone. Not only would this show her prowess as a hunter, but it was a step towards one of the greatest honors that she could achieve. To go out into the world on a harvest and provide surrogates for those she loved and was close with. To follow in the footsteps of Valvessa Curare, her Mother, was her dream and goal in life.

The thought of her Mother's renown brought with it a slight twinge of unpleasantness. Valvessa's glory had faded slightly from what it had been, and the main cause seemed to be those terrible rumors of her Mother. Few spoke to Nisana openly of this, but she had heard the whispers flutter about Kalinor that Valvessa had given birth to a half blood. Even just remembering those hushed words caused Nisana to clench her teeth tightly to keep from expressing her anger in a more violent manner.

Closing her eyes she took several slow, deep breaths through her nose to calm herself. Now was not the time to dwell on such things. Returning her thoughts to the upcoming hunt she gathered her equipment, a simple short bow and a quiver of arrows, and then with one final quick check she proceeded on her way. There was no one to see her off as she left her Web, her Mother insisted that this be treated like a normal hunt until Nisana returned. So, alone, Nisana climbed up to the elegant rope bridges of Kalinor and began to journey to the edge of the city.

[Nisana Curare]

It did not take Nisana very long to make her way through Kalinor and to the exit where she would depart on her hunt. The few Symenestra she had met on her way she had greeted politely, but had not paused to converse. The only thought in her mind was the hunt, and the future that success would lead to.

Looking out of the cavern at the nighttime world beyond Nisana made one last check of her equipment before descending down to the soft earth below. Despite wearing her sandals the ground felt wrong. It wasn't as hard as the stone of the cavern, but it was firmer than the soft fabrics that composed the dwellings of Kalinor. Even with the many times she had come out with her Mother she could still feel it, though it was easier to ignore now.

Taking her bow firmly in her left hand, and opening her quiver with her right, she moved away from Kalinor at a decent, but quiet pace. With some luck and patience she would have probably been able to find something to eat nearby Kalinor, but there would not be much pride in such a kill. Anything close to Kalinor would be small and weak. Even if that would satisfy her Mother Nisana knew that she could do better, and so she would.

As the cavern that housed Kalinor grew smaller behind her Nisana slowed her pace and turned her attention to the ground. Her amethyst eyes traveled back and forth over the grass and soil, looking for signs of good prey nearby. Of course there was nothing in the immediate area, and so she continued on her way. She made sure to not ignore what she heard over what she saw though, as she knew that her ears could give her fair warning of an approaching danger long before she saw it.

Carefully moving around a couple of bushes, so as to not snap the branches and alert any prey, she finally spotted signs of a good target. A patch of dirt held the faint impression of a feline paw, and by the looks of it the creature was somewhere ahead of Nisana. A faint smile touched Nisana's lips as she thought about how fitting it would be to bring back such a kill on her first hunt. She couldn't get ahead of herself though, she had to find the creature, and kill it, first.

[Nisana Curare]

Cautiously Nisana followed the faint tracks left by the feline, winding around bushes and trees as she carefully withdrew an arrow from her quiver. From what she had seen of the tracks so far she was guessing that the feline was close. Slowly she placed the arrow on the string of her bow, her amethyst eyes searching the area for further signs of her prey.

It wasn't her eyes that gave her the first sign her prey was near, but her ears. The faint snap of a twig drew her attention, and she quickly glanced up towards the sound to see the large cat jumping, from the tree it had been hiding in, right at her. With a sharp intake of breath Nisana jumped back to avoid being pounced on, and almost succeeded. She wasn't quite fast enough, and one of the feline's paws caught her right arm. Her armor kept the beast's sharpened claws from digging into her skin, but the force of the blow was enough to shake her hand violently and cause her readied arrow to fall uselessly to the forest floor.

For the space of a breath Nisana's eyes met the feline's slitted pupils, and then the cat pounced again with a snarl. Nisana was already moving though, rolling to the side to avoid the sound strike. This was not how she wanted to hunt, but her Mother had trained her for this. Coming back up from her roll onto her feet she started running away from the large cat behind her.

The hunted had become the hunter now as Nisana's feet pounded the ground as she ran. She knew she couldn't outrun the cat so she needed a way to turn the the situation back to her advantage. Luckily there was a nice thick tree just a little ways to her right. Between the sound of her feet on the ground and her quick breathing she could barely hear the feline giving chase, but she knew it was there. She just needed to make it to the tree before the animal caught her.

As she reached the base of the tree she heard another snarl from behind as the feline pounced once more. The animal probably expected her to stop at the base of the tree, but years of practice guided Nisana's body as she ran up the side of the tree. The bark was rough, and pain stabbed at her right foot, but she continued running up as she had practiced countless times. As her momentum up started to slow she kicked off the tree with both of her feet, pushing off to the side, and curled her body into a flip as her hand pulled out another arrow.

Landing to the feline's side habit guided Nisana's hands as she placed to arrow on her bow string and pulled back. In less time than a breath she picked her target and released the arrow as the cat started to turn to face her. The beast crouched down, preparing to pounce once more, but before it could the arrow pierced its skin just below the shoulder. The feline yowled in pain, turning its head to bite at whatever had hurt it, and as it did Nisana notched and released another arrow. This one struck cleanly in the neck, and a confident smile touched Nisana's lips as she saw the blood start to pour out.

In a few moments the feline collapsed, and soon was dead. Confident Nisana took a step forward to claim her prey only to cry out at the pain that shot up from her foot. Looking down she was surprised to find her heel a bloody mess. The cat must have caught part of her when she was running up the tree. She would have to be careful on her travel back to Kalinor, but at least she could still walk.

Trying to not put too much weight on her injured heel she made her way over to the dead animal. It was a good size, probably close to a hundred pounds, and would make a fine first hunt. With a little work she got it onto her back, front paws around her neck, like some kind of extremely heavy cloak. Smiling with pride at her success she started the journey back to Kalinor.

[Poison]

Thread Award! Experience: +1 Acrobatics, +1 Shortbow, +1 Hunting Lores: Going on a hunt alone, Looking for prey, Fighting large cats Additional Notes: I really enjoyed reading the thread. You described how Nisana prepares for her first hunt alone and how she fights the cat very well! I also like how you wrote that Nisana is looking forward to going on a Harvest and providing surrogates for her family. It’s great to read about a Symenestra that doesn't oppose the Harvest! I gave you you 1 XP in Acrobatics for trying to avoid the cat and running up the tree, 1 XP for successfully killing the cat with the bow and 1 XP in Hunting. I wish I could have given you more XP, but at three posts the thread was a little short. Still, well done! I look forward to reading/grading more of your threads! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions!