Hunting for Supplies (Solo)

[Aello]

Spring 15, 511 AV Location: Wilderness just outside Ravok Aello was stepping lightly over a series of fallen twigs. They crunched beneath her step as she walked silently through the wilderness. The trees that surrounded her on all sides towered over both her, and her sparrow Yune. Much like the young spiritist, the bird was silent. The girl was holding her bow tightly in her left hand, the bowstring in her right. An arrow had already been knocked onto the string. The bow was pointing downwards, at the ground, her arrow, at her feet, so that if she were alarmed, she wouldn't shoot her bow accidently, and lose everything. Aello's eyes were scanning the forest floor, from left to right, looking for any sign of life. Something she could kill for tonight's meal. The two had been searching for a few hours now, and the girl was starting to get restless. If she didn't find something soon, she may have to go without dinner for the night. The two continued on in silence for several more minutes. Aello's shoes left little more than a muddy trail of footsteps behind her. She hoped that nothing and no one saw them. She didn't need a potential food source becoming privy to her whereabouts. The same went for other people, considering how she was in no mood to be disturbed. Off in the distance, Aello could hear the sound of trickling water. It was more than likely the rest of the rain droplets from the night before falling off the leaves of the trees. Hopefully she will find something soon, her stomach is starting to growl. Almost, as if on que, the girl's stomach growled. "We'll find something soon," she whispered, as she walked through another thin line of trees. The coast seemed clear, and Aello was just about to continue her journey through the forest when she noticed a rabbit hop out from behind a large maple tree. Finally! Life! The rabbit seemed young, no more than a year or two old. It had long, floppy brown ears, a tiny cotton-ball-shaped brown tail, and short dark brown fur. The creature's nose was twitching as it moved closer to where Aello and Yune were hiding behind another tree. Its small silver whiskers seemed to flex as it sniffed the air, looking for signs of trouble. Thank goodness we are downwind. The rabbit hopped forward again; and Aello continued to stare hungrily. It was such a small, delicate thing, no more than five pounds at most. But it will do. Aello stood so that half her body was concealed by the tree, and the other half was exposed. Her bow was peaking out of the side of the tree. Aello closed her left eye, and raised the bow to the shooting position. She pulled the string back past her smile, and stared down the arrow. Aello moved her bow around, inching back and forth, from left to right, until it had lined up with the rabbit. Her left hand was clenching more and more tightly on the grip with anticipation. The three middle fingers of her right hand were growing sore as they pulled back more and more tightly on the string. It appeared as though the girl were aiming down at the ground at this point. Her heart had skipped several beats as she waited. The rabbit's small black eyes seemed to just skim over her as it went about its business- munching on a few wild strawberries. Sick of waiting, and deciding that her aim was as good as it was going to get, Aello let go of the bow string. There was a soft twang, as the peacock-feather tipped arrow erupted from the bowstring. The string was shivering; vibrating it seemed, as it waited to see where the arrow went. The arrow, had shot relatively straight, but began to dip as it flew. Soon enough, it had lodged itself in the rabbit's left side. Yes! It is about time we got something. Aello strode out from behind the tree and towards the rabbit. Warm, crimson red blood was pouring out of the creature's side, pooling around it. A stream of red that mixed with the hardened ground to form a sickly mud. Its chest was rising and falling rapidly. Its eyes seemed to be filled with trepidation as it waited. They were glazing over by the time Aello stood over it. It was suffering; dying. Best to take the poor thing out of its misery. Aello knelt down beside the rabbit. It was wheezing now, coughing up blood. Its fur was matted with the stuff, and not at all pleasant to look at. Aello put her bow down beside her, and retrieved her cursed blade from concealment. The blood seemed to glow as she raised it over the creature's head. She was holding it tightly in her right hand, and yet, she seemed to tremble. Aello braced her right hand with the left, and then brought the dagger down upon the creature's neck. There was a loud snap, a crunching of bones. Blood squirting up and onto her hands. It splattered tiny red droplets that tickled her skin. The rabbit let out one last, agonizing breath before its eyes closed, and its heart stopped. It was dead. Well that was no where near as satisfying as it should have been. Aello brought the knife back, cutting through rabbit flesh. When she reached the edge of its neck, she lifted the blade. The head was hanging onto the body by a thread. Aello cut it away, and left the head, she wouldn't need such a thing, so the animals could have it. Aello put her blade away, and picked up her bow in her left hand. The rabbit, she picked up with the right. Her hand wrapped around its hind leg, her fingers dug into its matted fur as she got up and walked away. She needed to find a larger space to work with, somewhere she could start a fire without running the risk of lighting a nearby tree on fire.

[Aello]

Aello and her companion walked in silence as the remaining blood from the rabbit left a trail behind them. The girl was searching for the lake that she knew surrounded the city. There, she knew she would be able to obtain water; clean herself up and easily start a fire. There were plenty of resources in that location. The ground seemed to flatten beneath the girl's feet as she reached the edge of the lake. As soon as she had, she bent down, and placed her bow beside her. The rabbit, she gingerly placed in front of her feet. Aello weaved her bag off her back and over her arms, and placed it next to her bow. Now that her hands were free, Aello curled into her knees, and got ready to work. She placed her left hand on the rabbit's side, so that her palm was flat on its matted fur. The arrow was sticking out from in-between Aello's thumb and index fingers. Her right hand wrapped around the bottom of the arrow, as close to the tip as the girl could get. Slowly, she twisted the arrow out of the rabbit's flesh. When she had pulled it all of the way out, Aello realized that it was caked in blood. Delicately, Aello turned towards the blue-green waters of the lake. The water was shimmering a bright yellow color in the sunlight. The girl dipped the arrow into the water, and washed away the blood. She then dried it off by wiping the tip on a nearby patch of grass. She didn't want the arrows to warp, after all. As soon as the arrow was dry, Aello tossed it back in her quiver with the others. She pulled the bloody blade out of concealment again, as Yune flapped off her shoulder and proceeded to pluck several blades of grass out of the ground. She seemed to be munching on them happily. Well at least one of us seems satisfied, Aello thought as she prepared herself for skinning the rabbit. Slowly, Aello nudged the rabbit with her left hand, so that it was lying on its back. She grabbed the top of the rabbit in her left hand, and then proceeded to make her first incision. She started where the creature's head had once been, and then cut a line as straight as she could to its tail. The dagger seemed to slice through the fur easily, despite the fact that it didn't cut deeply into the creature's flesh. Just keep cutting, and perhaps you'll slice it in two. Are you supposed to slice it in two? Or does it not matter because you wind up with the meat anyway? Aello lifted her blade out of the creature, and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. Blood stained her hands as she lowered them again to work. She made another small cut down the line she had made before. The pale pink meat was starting to split. Thin lines of blood coursed throughout, and Aello couldn't help but wonder just how much more it could have. Maybe you should have started the fire first. Aello ignored her brain for another moment before she decided it was right. She put her dagger down on the rabbit, and proceeded to the side of the lake where her sparrow was now drinking. She washed the blood that stained her hands off, before proceeding to the side of the forest to gather some wood for a fire. Several dark brown branches lined the forest floor, and thus, the girl was able to retrieve a large pile of small branches and twigs within twenty minutes, and return to the spot where she had left Yune and her rabbit dinner. Aello dropped the wood a foot away from the rabbit. She began to sort the wood into two piles- twigs and sticks. When she had finished, she began to prepare the wood for a fire. She placed all the sticks in a teepee formation, littering twigs in the center of it. Aello enclosed the structure with a few grey stones she found by the side of the lake. They made a circle. Hopefully, if this gets out of hand, the stones will contain everything, at least for a little while. When she was done setting up the fire, Aello walked over to her bag, opened it, and then rummaged through it for a bit. When she found her flint and steel, she walked back to her bag. She rubbed the two items together for several minutes, until she had made a spark. The first one didn't catch, so she tried tilting her hands towards the fire more while she kept trying. Eventually, she produced another spark, which lit the wood on fire. Aello dropped her flint and steel, and bent down, so that her cheek was practically resting upon the ground. Lightly, she blew on the tiny fire she had made to get it going. Slowly, the fire seemed to rise from the dead. It spewed a thick grey smoke from time to time, and gave off a warm glow. The orange-colored flame continued to grow steadily as she returned her flint and steel to her bag. It can grow while we finish off the rabbit. Once again, Aello lifted the bloody dagger that waited for her there atop the creature's pink flesh. She held the hilt tightly in her right hand. Slowly, the girl cut each of the animal's legs off, and placed them beside its body. Each of the legs was covered in blood. Its once beautiful fur ruined. But Aello didn't care, the only thing she needed were the bones. Even so, for now, the girl ignored them. She proceeded to lift the rabbit's disfigured corpse a little closer. When she had, she delicately slid her dagger beneath its skin. She began the slow and delicate process of peeling off the rabbit's skin, much like one would attempt to peel an orange with the use of the knife. When she had finished, her hands and her knife were covered in blood. Several bloody tufts of fur rested at the side of the creature's body, and the meat was horribly cut up. It was apparent that the girl had no idea as to what she was doing. Of course, Aello didn't really care, she only wanted tiny strips of meat to cook anyway. So perhaps her lack of skill worked to her advantage in the end. OOCI don't know how to skin animals, and neither does my pc, so this works out rather well, now doesn't it?

[Aello]

Aello left the dagger by the side of the meat strips, and fallen fur, and walked over to the other side of her fire, and grabbed one of the sticks she didn't use to make her fire. She then returned to the mess she had made, and speared a piece of rabbit meat. It dangled precariously from the tip of the stick. Aello sat back down by the side of the small fire she had made. She could just make out its warmth on her skin next to the cold air that was moving in from the side of the lake. Her legs were crossed and she held the stick in her right hand over the fire. The fire seemed to jump up and lick the edges. Aello watched it tiredly. There had to be a way for her to cook the meat without burning it too badly, or undercooking it. A way that would allow her to go off and do things as well, so she wouldn't die of boredom. Finally deciding that it would be the best she could do, Aello dug the edge of the stick into the dirt. The meat was dangling over the fire, and was slowly growing dark around the edges. Now we can do something slightly more productive. Slowly, Aello got to her feet, and returned to her knife and the four rabbit legs. She picked one of the legs up in her left hand, and the dagger in her right. Slowly, Aello brought the tip of the knife to the rabbit's fur, and began to peel it off with the knife. Eventually, the fur came away, and left her with nothing more than a bone with a bit of meat scattered here and there. The tufts of fur the girl had pulled away rested by her feet. Aello placed the knife in her lap, and proceeded to rip the rabbit meat off the bone with her fingers. Fatty oils wedged into the spaces between her fingers and her nails, along with the rabbit's blood. It felt cold, and squishy, but the girl ignored it, so intent was she on completing her task. Aello was biting her bottom lip as she lifted the bone a little higher, so she could see what she was doing a little better. Eventually, she cleared all the meat from the bone. Aello flicked the meat away into the grass. She wouldn't eat it, but perhaps a rather hungry animal would. The girl placed the clean bone in her lap, and then proceeded to clean off the four remaining legs. The process took her about forty-five minutes, and by the time she had looked up, the girl noticed that the smoke she had been smelling was her food having caught on fire. Startled, Aello quickly put her dagger back and placed the clean rabbit bones by Yune's side. The bird was sleeping at the side of the lake. Aello got to her feet, and pulled the stick with the meat from the ground. She lifted the stick with the smoking meat to the side of the lake, where it soon fell into the dark green waters. It sunk into the depths, leaving nothing more than a ripple on the surface, and a trail of dark grey smoke. Aello walked back to the side of her fire. Perhaps you should be more careful with the next batch. Aello nodded as she speared another piece of rabbit meat, and dug the stick back into the ground. The meat hung over the fire. Now we just have to wait until that is done, and we're finished carving these bones. It shouldn't be too too long now. Aello walked back over to her pile of bones. She pulled her dagger back out, and then, with her left hand, pressed the tips of her fingers into the bone. She raised her dagger, and eye-balled it. If she cut the knob off one end in a diagonal line, the end would be pointy, and she could use it as a sort of spike. Slowly, Aello lowered the knife again, and began to saw off the edge of the bone. Within a few minutes, she had cut off the right knob, leaving her with nothing more than a jagged spike made of bone. Or perhaps a peg was a better word for it. Even the word "nail" would suffice. The chopped off-edge was rather jagged. Not at all as straight as the girl would have hoped, but she couldn't expect her first attempt to be perfect. She continued on with the process, cutting of a single end of each of the rabbit leg bones in the same way. It only took her about twenty minutes to finish making the bone nails. When she had, Aello put her knife away, and looked at the rabbit meat which was slowly cooking over the fire. The rabbit meat was mainly a reddish-pink color now, although it was a medium brown color around the edges. It looks ready, Aello thought as she plucked the stick off the ground and brought the meat to her lips. It was time for her to eat.

[Verilian]

Aello +1 Hunting +1 Stealth +1 Shortbow +1 Dagger +2 Wilderness Survival +1 Cooking +1 CarvingIf you believe there is a more appropriate skill for this let me know and I'll edit this You Question My Logic? : Okay, I awarded a bunch of points here. Hunting for hunting obviously, Stealth for trying to remain quiet, the bow is obvious, the dagger is for finishing the bunny off. I gave you two points for wilderness survival for the fire starting and... something else, I don't remember what, lol. The cooking for cooking, and the Carving is for carving the bone nails. If you feel there is a more appropriate skill for that then I'll give you that. I don't think I can award any spiritism points here because you didn't really do anything involving Soul Mist, though if you'd like to argue the point I'll happily listen to anything you have to say. Lores: Hunting Wabbits, Mercy Killing, Cleaning and Skinning a Rabbit, Prepping a Fire, How to Make Rabbit Strips, How to Burn Rabbit Strips, How to Make Nails from Bone Loot: 4 Rabbit-Bone Nails Notes: Always enjoy grading your threads, Aello. You are one of my favorites.