[Flashback/Training] First Blood

[Siiri]

79th of Winter, 492AV

The girl gathered and carried the firewood to the storehouse while her brother, with a small handaxe, chopped the logs from which the wood came from. At seven years old, a good two years younger than her brother, she already stood as tall as him and just as strong, if not more so. Impatiently, she waited for him to chop enough pieces to make it worth her while to carry them into the nearby shed, shifting between tapping one of her feet on the hard earth and pacing back and forth, all in the span of a few seconds.

Both boy and girl hated their respective tasks: she because she knew she could do it so much faster than her brother, he because he’d really much rather be napping under the shade of the mango tree. They didn’t have any choice in the matter however; their mother had decreed that they perform their specific chores and now they must do them. Both suspected there was some sort of lesson to be found in what they're doing (such was the way of their mother after all) but they despised the work too much to care.

As fate would have, one of them would be spared from the onerous burden of such a mundane chore. A cloaked figure appeared behind the storehouse, throwing small stones at them to draw their attention.

“*Da'Shara!” the two children cried in unison upon recognizing the new arrival.

The woman they called Da'Shara, their Aunt Shara, pressed a finger to her lips to calm the excited duo. She tiptoed towards them in an exaggerated attempt at silence glancing left and right as if trying to make sure no one else saw her approach. Kneeling before the children, she said in a loud whisper, “I just saw the grandest thing! A boar just wandered into our hunting grounds, and it's just the right size for two kids your age to help me bring it down!” She paused dramatically, then eyed the two as if seeing them for the first time. “Hey, you're two kids your age, aren't you?”

At the confused looks she got from the children, the woman chuckled softly. “Nevermind. What do say we ditch this joint and go stick us a pig?” she suggested conspiratorially.

The girl gave a whoop of joy, then covered her mouth immediately as she realized she could have given them away. The boy however, looked doubtful. It dawned to him that he could get his nap faster with his sister gone. He will just tell their mother later on that he chopped as much wood as he could and moved them to the shed, but without his sister to help him, he couldn't finish enough to fill the storehouse. No one will be the wiser.

Feigning disinterest, the boy took up his small axe and shook his head. “I'm sorry, Aunt Shara, but I have to finish this.”

His aunt pretended to wipe her lips, but in truth she was hiding a smile, fully recognizing the boy's bluff but refusing to call it. She turned to the girl and eyed her expectantly. “What about you?”

“Let's go, let's go, let's go!” the girl gushed, barely able to hold in her excitement.

“Alright then!” Shara offered a closed fist to her and the girl banged her own against it lightly, a sign of camaraderie between them. Immediately after, the girl took her hand, ready to depart. Shara stood up, but did not move yet. “Sure you’re staying, Habin? Last chance!” she said teasingly in a singsong voice.

The boy still shook his head and dutifully (to all appearances) continued chopping wood. The woman shrugged at him. “Suit yourself then. Come on, Siiri!”

They left, rushing and laughing as they ran towards the city gates, but not before young Siiri made a face at her brother, sticking her tongue out at him and his silliness. It was going to be a fun day!

(*OOC link)

Edit: Changed year from 493 to 492 to fix continuity.

[Siiri]

Siiri followed her aunt as she crawled in the underbrush, doing her best to imitate the experienced hunter's every movement down to the last muscle twitch. At Shara's suggestion, they were both covered head to toe in mud, not only to camouflage them but also to mask their scent from their prey as they approached. The woman had replaced her trademark greatsword in favor of a sturdy spear fitted with a cross-guard set a couple of hands below the spear tip. A short bow and a quiver full of arrows were slung on one shoulder, a thick coil of rope on the other.

For herself Siiri held a dagger between her teeth, leaving her hands free to part the vegetation before her. Unlike the daggers from other parts of Mizahar which were small and compact and really made for subtlety and stealth, the youth's dagger, just like every other Myrian's dagger, was no such thing. It was a wicked-looking weapon, with a blade almost a foot long and, at its broadest point, was as wide as the girl's arm was thick. It was perfect for killing and skinning game.

“There he is,” Shara said, pointing at the beast with her lips, her voice just above a whisper so the sound would not carry. “Good sized boy, isn’t he?”

They were about fifteen yards away from the wild boar; any nearer and they might alert it of their presence. The creature looked only a little over twenty stones – a relatively medium-sized creature that wasn’t of the dire variety – but it being a male, it could still put up quite a fight, especially if it was cornered. At the moment, it was lying down between the roots of a mangrove tree, its eyes seemingly closed in slumber. Not surprising, considering its nocturnal habits. The shelter did not appear to be its proper burrow; it must be one of its resting places as it patrolled its stomping grounds.

Siiri felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see her aunt motioning for them to retreat once more. When they’ve gone a good distance away, Shara handed her the spear and began to uncoil the rope. She addressed Siiri as she worked.

“Listen, there’s only two of us, so I’m going to have to ask you to play bait. I need you to get that boar to charge you. Can you do that?”

Siiri merely nodded, thrilled at the prospect of action. She’s only hunted small game before, rodents and lizards mostly, and usually under the supervision of adults. Now there’s only her and her aunt, and she’s being treated as an equal in the hunting and trapping of the boar. She was almost giddy with excitement.

“Alright. You know how to avoid it when it comes too close, I’ve taught you before. You don’t want to get in the way of those tusks.” Shara had made a noose on one end of the rope and was now tying the other end around her waist. “I’ll be right behind you. If I miss, I want you to lure it towards me again.” The woman held up the noosed end for emphasis. She detailed the general plan to Siiri, stressing the critical points where the girl had to act without her help. Siiri took it all in, familiar with the ways of hunting boars despite never having participated in one before.

They made their way back to the small clearing where the wild boar rested, on their feet now rather than on all fours. Siiri wielded the spear now, if rather clumsily due to its sheer size, while Shara held the rope, the noose in one hand, the rest coiled and gripped in the other. As per the older woman’s instructions, they maintained a two-meter distance between them, Shara deferring to her niece to pick the best route to their prey.

Siiri could feel her aunt’s gaze upon her back, giving her the feeling that she was being judged. Determined to impress, the girl used every hunting technique she’s learned over the years. Whenever she took a step, she landed on the balls of her feet rather than the heels, both to reduce the noise made by her boots and to keep her poised and balanced. She maintained their route downwind of their destination as much as she could as well, knowing that the boar had a sensitive sense of smell. The spear she held as she had observed her aunt do it: sharp end pointing to the ground, hands evenly spaced and thumbs facing each other along the wooden shaft. Her grip on the left hand was tight, to give more force in her thrusts, and light on the right to better orient and control the weapon. She hoped approval from the woman, a person she had idolized and looked up to at a very young age.

But Shara remained quiet. Siiri half expected to find no one behind her whenever she turned, so silent was her aunt’s movements. The woman belonged to an elite group of scouts, and it always awed the girl to watch her aunt in her element. It was said among the warriors that, in the wilds, a Myrian scout could be standing an arm’s length away from you and you would not see them. Such was their skill in stealth that they would not be seen unless they wanted to be seen.

[Siiri]

They burst through the foliage, both whooping like howler monkeys, startling the boar into wakefulness. Shara has explained moments before that they needed to rouse it into attacking them rather than having it flee from a sound it might perceive as a threat. Few were as loud as the simian they were imitating now and none were as effecting in disturbing a creature's slumber. Already the boar was crawling out of its hole, its beady eyes scanning the area, its tail flicking back and forth in irritation. When it spotted Siiri hooting and jumping up and down beside a nearby tree, the boar gave a single mighty snort before lowering its head and charging at the girl, its little legs propelling it to great speeds.

Despite her wild act, Siiri was carefully observing the boar's every movement, timing its approach. With the creature's great strength and dangerous tusks, a miscalculation on her part could prove to be a very painful experience. As she watched it gallop to a run, Siiri crouched low, preparing herself to explode into action once the boar got near enough. When it got to within five meters of her, the girl thrust her spear into the ground and leaped straight up, catching hold of a low hanging branch and promptly pulled her legs up. The boar, despite being deprived of its target, continued its momentum, seeing another threat in the form of Siiri's aunt.

Shara was well-prepared for it however. Siiri watched in admiration as her aunt smoothly somersaulted over the boar at the last possible second, throwing the noose squarely around the porcine beast's head just as it was raising its snout to gore her with its tusks. The Myrian scout caught a branch of her own to hold on to – with her legs nonetheless! She immediately pulled herself up and jumped to the other side, effectively trapping the rope on the branch. The rope grew taut as the weights tied to each of its ends traveled in opposite direction. The two heard the boar grunt in pain and surprise as the noose tightened around it, stalling and ultimately stopping its charge. Shara drew on the rope, using her own body as an anchor to pull back the boar. Unfortunately, she saw that one of its forelegs was caught inside the noose. She could not choke out the animal.

“Siiri!” the woman exclaimed. “The spear!”

Siiri dropped to the ground at her aunt's call and rushed the beast, wrenching the weapon from the ground behind her as she ran. The boar was thrashing and grunting like a maddened devil as it tried to free itself from the rope. But its struggles had pulled the noose even tighter and it could not escape. In anger, it turned about to retaliate at one of its aggressors: Siiri. The boar charged the girl once more, tusks leading, but it was held back by the rope halfway through. Siiri could hear the shuffling of her aunt's feet behind her as she was dragged forward by the boar's momentum.

“Stab it!” the older woman called at her.

Siiri gripped the tighter as she moved closer to the boar, staying just out of the creature's reach. She tried a quick jab but it butted the weapon aside with its wild movements. It was tossing its head every which way as it tried to free itself from the rope once more and every spear thrust the girl attempted would either miss or get deflected. She just could not get a clean enough opening.

“Keep still!” Siiri growled in frustration.

[Siiri]

Again and again, the girl jabbed the spear at the creature, now hitting it more often than not, but still not inflicting enough damage to bring it down. The boar was bleeding from multiple stab wounds yet these only seemed to enrage it more. Rather than continue its futile efforts at freeing itself, it charged straight at Siiri again and again, ignoring the fact that its advance was held in check by the rope. Grunting mightily, the boar plowed on, drawing a little closer to its tormentor with each step; inch by inch it dragged the girl’s aunt along with it.

The strength and ferocity of the beast began to disconcert Siiri. Despite being the daughter of a people known for their warlike ways, she was still just a child and it was unnerving for her to behold a crazed beast more than three times her weight bearing down on her. She drew back, slowly, continuously taking stabs at the boar as she did so. One lucky strike hit the creature in the eye, piercing the orb, blinding it. The beast thrashed anew, squealing in pain and fury. The awful sound shook Siiri, and as she backpedaled in panic her foot caught on an exposed root, tripping and landing her on her buttocks.

It was at that moment that the unthinkable happened. The rope, tied around Shara's waist and the only thing holding the boar back from goring young Siiri with its tusks, inexplicably grew slack. The young girl watched in horror as the beast lunged at her. In the back of her mind, she thought she heard her aunt shout her name, but she could not focus on it, her whole attention fully occupied by the boar that was heading straight at her at ramming speed.

Whether by luck or by skill only the gods knew, but Siiri was able to keep the tip of her spear pointed at the creature. Instinctively, her grip on the weapon tightened just as the boar launched itself at her. It squealed once more, this time more agony-filled than furious; perhaps it was its death cry.

The creature had impaled itself on the spear, the tip penetrating its body from the shoulder. Its subsequent flailing to get back at its slayer only caused the weapon to dig deeper into it. Even when it hit the crosspiece of the spear it persisted in rushing for Siiri, determined to take her down along with it. The girl held on the spear's shaft for dear life, knowing that if she let go, the beast would stain its tusk with her blood and it would not stop until it had completely mauled her.

For what seemed like eternity, the boar struggled to get to Siiri, but eventually its strength began to wane, its movement slowing, until at last it collapsed to the ground, dying, expiring. It was not dead yet, but Siiri knew she had to make sure. It might be playing possum, to lull her into dropping her guard before attacking once more. In one swift movement, she pulled out the dagger sheathed at her back and flung herself at the back of the beast, smothering it like how she would her brother when they wrestled. The creature's bristles were prickly, they pierced her skin like so many needles. Three arrows protruded from its flank; a strange sight had she stopped to consider them, but she was too intent on drawing her blade across its neck to notice. Warm blood washed over her hands as she opened the boar's throat.

She sensed the movement almost before it happened.

The creature bucked, a weak motion but enough to push Siiri forward and in range of its tusks. With the last of its energy, the boar slashed upwards with its sharp ivories, straight at the girl's face. She saw it coming but could not move her head away fast enough; the attack threw her off the beast and her vision exploded into a world of red, blinding her. The left side of her face throbbed in pain. She tried to touch where the boar hit her but felt blood pouring out of the wound, soaking her, staining her jerkin crimson. She could hear her aunt now, screaming her name, asking if she was alright. From the sound of things, Shara was bodily hauling the boar away from her. Silly woman, her aunt. The boar was dead.

She killed it.

As the thought formed in her mind, soothing darkness embraced her and the red in her vision faded to black.

[Siiri]

She came to at the cool wetness trickling down her lips. Siiri opened her eyes, or tried to, but found that she could only see in one of them. Her vision rolled a bit, the world was still a blurry red haze, then eventually focused on the figure before her. It was her Aunt Shara. She was smiling down on her.

“Hey kid,” she greeted, urging her to drink some more from the waterskin.

Siiri obliged with a sip then shook her head away. She held her aunt's gaze with her one good eye and asked the question she dreaded to voice out. “Da,Shara, did it-did it get my...my eye?” She tried so very hard but her lips still trembled. She couldn’t lose her eyesight, even on just one eye! How would she practice archery with her sister or properly hit targets with throwing daggers? She couldn’t imagine being impaired like that!

“Don’t worry,” Shara laughed, squeezing the girl’s arm in reassurance. “Your eye is still there, there’s just a lot of blood in it. The boar nailed you pretty good. I think you’re going to have a fancy scar to show everyone later. Come on, let me clean you up.”

The woman washed her face with water, wiping the deep cut clean with strip of cloth she tore from her sleeve. The wound was still bleeding but not as much as before. The skin around it had puffed up however, making it hard for the girl to open her left eye.

Shara popped a couple of guava leaves in her mouth and chewed them until they were the consistency of paste. This she used to dress Siiri’s wound. Next, she plucked out the bristles that stuck to the girl’s skin, and there were quite a number of them. Siiri did flinched at each but stayed quiet.

As she worked, Shara explained to her niece that the boar had clipped her on the forehead. She mentioned that it was a fortunate thing that it was a glancing blow, else brain matter would be seeping out of a tusk-sized hole in Siiri’s forehead now. She traced the length of the wound, illustrating to the girl how, as she drew back from the beast, its tusk slashed open the left side of her face from forehead to cheek, miraculously missing her eyeball.

“There, that should do it.” Shara wiped her hands on her breeches as she examined her handiwork. She had tied the piece of cloth over the part of Siiri’s forehead where the cut was deepest. The girl could open both eyes now, although the left one was still bloodshot and irritated. She looked around, suddenly taking note of the presence of other Myrian warriors nearby. A tall male with skin almost as black as coal came up to them, a bloody heart cradled in his hands, which he offered to the girl. Siiri looked at him in confusion then to her aunt. The woman smiled at her. “Siiri, this is Bakh’ku. He leads the hunt in this part of the jungle today. He helped find the boar for me.”

The man spoke and addressed Siiri, his voice a deep baritone. “Congratulations. You are Hunter now, little one. Your family will eat well tonight I think. I’ve cut out the beast’s heart for you.” He offered the bloody organ to her once more. “Come, take the fruit of your kill.”

Siiri regarded the macabre object, dripping with blood and gore. Gingerly she reached out for it, holding it in both hands. She gazed at Bakh’ku and her aunt Shara, both smiling expectantly at her. She nodded at them, solemn, then bit a chunk out of the boar’s heart. Blood dribbling down her chin, she chewed the tough meat eagerly before letting it slide down her throat, making it a part of her.

She was a Hunter now.

[Cayenne]

I absolutely love this - excellent writing, and it's easy to get into the story and be Siiri, to see things through her eyes. It's really nice to see such background and character development, and I really like the closeness between Siiri and Shara. A fitting conclusion - a hunter indeed. I hereby award the following: Spear - 2 Hunting - 3 Tracking - 1 Wilderness Survival - 2 Trapping - 2 Dagger - 3 Medicine - 1