That's the Dangerous End of the Bow

[Jaeden Kincade]

14th Day of Spring, 510 AV There was a light morning haze that blanketed the lower area of the forest in the early morning hours. The sun itself had just peeked over the horizon no more than a bell ago as insects quieted slightly and gave way to the sounds of birds hunting them. By now, all the animals that laid dormant over the winter season had come out of hibernation, and were now seeking the food they had hidden over the during the fall. It was the perfect time for trapping small game. Jaeden, however, wasn't just after the small game. He had heard of the spring celebration to be held within Syliras featuring a grand play. He figured such a time to be grand opportunity to earn some extra coin with his trade. After all, big celebrations mean visitors, which in turn meant more food would be needed for feasting. Jaeden stood in the woods, his backpack was full of new stock. Two separate quivers were attached to the belt at his waist, one filled with normal arrows, the other filled with arrows for fishing. A small knife was now hooked to his belt at his back, yet another tool he would use when it came time to cleaning and skinning. Along his shoulders, Jaeden carried a large body sled. If things went well, he would possibly be able to make a trip or two back before the festival in Syliras began. For now, he simply gazed around the area before laying his sled along the ground near a large tree, covering it with some brush to come back to later. The tree itself had a very large knot in it's trunk that reminded him of a funny looking duck for some reason, so it would be easy for him to track his way back and eventually find it. Jaeden then dipped his hand into a small sack attached to his back pack, pulling out a few small snares from within. He then began walking idly as he observed the ground. It wasn't long before his head smacked up along a tree he had blindly walked strait into. Stumbling back a couple of steps, Jaeden's hand shot up, rubbing his brow right near the hairline as he hissed out a moan in pain. "Man, gotta stop doing that," he said as one eye winced shut, the other looking up as he lowered his hand to check if he was bleeding. A slow sigh was released when he found that, aside from the sting and a likely welt to follow, he was relatively unharmed. Looking back down to the ground, he quirked an eyebrow slightly and chrouched down as he began pushing aside some fallen twigs and brush to reveal small prints along the ground. "Wabbit," Jaeden said as he looked up further, following where the tracks led. A short distance later, Jaeden had found the idea spot as the tracks lead between a narrow opening between a tree and bush. Jaeden opened the loop some along the snare, crouching down next to the small tree. The free end of the snare was then attacked to the thick branches along the bush before the open loop was hung along some overhanging steps of the bush itself. The loop of the snare itself was in plain view and not opened extremely wide, but that didn't matter when it came to animals, they never saw such as a trap, if they even saw it at all. With luck, a rabbit or small game creature would go running between the area as it did before, and get snagged on the snare. If it did, then it would struggle to get free and likely strangle itself in the process if the snare managed to snag around it's neck. If not, there were other was to finish it off. Jaeden the looked around for a moment before finally pulling out his longsword, and making a small nick in the tree's bark to mark the location of his snare. With that one done, Jaeden now moved on to his next area of opportunity. This area was similar in that it was a choke point, but wider this time as tracks of a medium sized animal, most likely an Opossums or Raccoon. It was hard to tell because several different traps overlapped each other in this area. The area ran between a some large rocks sticking out of the ground as well as a smaller tree with branches hanging overhead of the area. A lone log rested over the choke point slightly elevated from the ground as it rested along the rocks. Jaeden stepped up to the area, reaching up as he grasped one of the overhead branches, pulling it down slightly to check it's strength. A slow nod was given before pulling out another one of his snares. He started by running the snare along the branch, pulling it down as he anchored the branch and snare line with cross branch that rested just under the elevated log, the noose loop then hung lightly under that. If it worked, an animal would snag on the noose, pulling the cross branch free and be lifted into the air by the branch. With two snares now done, Jaeden would move on to the next. He would spend the next couple of bells setting up snares over the forest as he gradually made his way towards the river, planning a fishing endeavor next.

[Jaeden Kincade]

The sound of cool rushing water echoed over the lands. The fog that blanketed the forest grounds was now practically gone, leaving only filtered sunlight shinning through in it's wake. Jaeden stood at the shore of the Cobalt River, his bow in hand and an arrow drawn. The arrowhead itself was barbed, and the tip sharp as he stared into the clear running waters as sunlight occasionally danced along the waves. The water level had fallen slightly after the initial melting of the snow left behind by the winter season had passed. The sound of running water lingered in Jaeden's ears, causing the slight urge to urinate, but Jaeden ignored such for the time being as he remained focused on the water. He had already lost three arrows to the water's current, missing the fish he had been shooting at before all three times. Now, a small twine was attached to the end of this arrow, so that he could retrieve it right away instead of trying to dive in after it as he had previously. Jaeden remained still, discovering his part of archery relied as much on timing as it did on accuracy. Which is likely why he had failed to hit a fish in as many as nine attempts. Counting the three arrows he had lost in the current, five more had broken when he loosed the arrow and it had hit the rocks along the bottom of the river. Jaeden's eyes soon caught sight of a trout, as it swam, with relative ease, against the current of the river. The current was light this time of day, but still fast enough to carry Jaeden's arrows away from him of course. Jaeden breathed in slowly as he drew the string of his back further, following the movement of the fish with his bow. Exhaling just as slowly, Jaeden then stopped his breaths for a short moment as his fingers relaxed their tension, loosing the arrow as it was sent flying towards towards the trout, slamming into the water just ahead of where it swam. There was a sudden quick jerking in the water as Jaeden quickly set his bow along the ground and grabbed the twine attached to the arrow. Quickly pulling it in, Jaeden walked closer to the shore before finally seeing the arrow's butt poke up out of the water. Grasping it, he picked the arrow up to reveal a foot long trout pierced through the top half of it's body about two inches behind it's head. "Awesoooooooooommmmmmme," Jaeden suddenly said before giving a higher pitched, "Hootie hoooooot!" Jaeden then slowly looked out to the river as he noticed a beaver poking it's head out of the water and staring at him funny. "What're you looking at? Go build a dam or something." Jaeden said before slowly detaching the twine from the back of his arrow and sticking it into the soft ground to keep the fish in place. About another bell had passed before Jaeden had finally exhausted all of his arrows. He had managed to catch five fish of various types by fishing with a bow. However, considering those five fish represented the only five arrows he managed to save out of twenty, he still needed work on his archery skills. Jaeden moved over to his pack began rummaging through inside before pulling out a small fishing kit from within. Sitting down, Jaeden slowly began unraveling the line as he looked out across the river. "Hrmm, don't think there's fifty feet worth here," Jaeden muttered under his breath before all the length was finally run out. He then began grabbing his hooks, leaving fifteen feet of slack at one end and attaching a hook every two and an half feet after until seven hooks in all lined the twine. Jaeden then wrapped the twine and tied it to a small piece of wood about a foot before the first hook before finally moving to attaching bait, small pieces of chicken liver, to each hook. An exhale was given when preparations for his fishing line had been completed. Jaeden then stood up and slowly began peeling off all his armor and clothing, hanging them along a nearby tree branch. Jaeden then grabbed another stick, stabbing it deeply into the ground before tying one end of the line along it. Picking up the other end, he then grabbed a stone about half the size of his hand, tying the other end to that before he began once again moving to his pack. His hemp rope was then removed from his pack as he began unwinding it along the ground. He took one end, tying the rope off to the end of the tree before taking the other end and tying it around his waist. Picking up the rock he had attached the twine to, Jaeden then made his way to the shoreline. As the rising and falling waters along the shore began licking at the tips of his toes, Jaeden paused. Realizing he was about to enter the river's waters naked, he slowly looked down at himself, staring for a short moment before finally looking back up at the water. "Oh Gods, I hope not," he simply said before entering the waters. Despite his build and shape, Jaeden wasn't much of a swimmer, as an almost mentally disabled doggy paddle swim was taken when he came to a dept that his head wouldn't reach above. He tried to swim both against the current and across the river, taking a diagonal direction. Such, coupled with his poor skills as a swimmer, made running his fishing line out slow going, and tiring. "I should look into getting a canoe in the future," Jaeden sputtered, trying to keep his head above water. He finally reached twenty feet out from shore before finally dropping the rock ahead up him upstream as the line ran under the rope that tied Jaeden off to shore. The rock fell to the river's bed, anchoring the line there so the river's current wouldn't drag the line back towards shore. The wood attached just a foot before the first hook, keep the line, hooks and bait themselves from being dragged to the river's bed along with the rock. Like the snares, this would allow Jaeden the opportunity of catching food without having to wait around for it. Jaeden then turned slowly, grasping the rope tied to his waist. Hand over hand, he slowly pulled himself back towards shore as the river's current carried him down stream. Between the river's current and Jaeden's pulling himself in, he found himself back at the shore in a fraction of the time it took for him to swim out part way across the river. He was fifteen feet further down shore by the time he reached it, but that was a small matter. Exhausted and breathing heavily, Jaeden laid along the shore, catching his breath for a short while Close to a quarter of a bell had passed before he finally felt rested enough to stand once again as he pushed himself off the ground and made his way back up shore. Freeing the rope from his waist and tossing it towards the tree, Jaeden then gathered his clothing, slipping them back on. His day, after all, was not quite over yet.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden walked along the forest slowly, his eyes following the deep hoof prints along that he had picked up not more than a bell ago. The fish he had caught were already cut into fillets and set within their preservation jars. Jaeden would check his traps and the fishing line about two bells before night fall. All that was left for him now, was big game hunting. With any luck he could bag whatever he was tracking. It, along with possibly anything he garnered from his traps, would provide enough meat for him to fill his body sled. He could then make his way back to Syliras in the morning, and sell off most of it, keeping a small amount to feed himself. Jaeden crouched down, sticking his fingers into the track as he usually did to check it's freshness. A slight amount of moisture collected in the ground from the morning's fog and humidity seeped through the ground where he pressed his fingers in, noting that the animal had passed by no more than a half a bell ago. Jaeden slowly looked up to the tree the tracks laid near. He began running his fingers over the small scratches along the bark found there. Leaning in close, he took a quick sniff of the scratches along the bark, revealing the very faint scene of what vaguely resembled burning hair. It was a buck, most likely a deer or an elk. It was quite common for a the males to run their antlers along a tree to not only remove the felt that lined the antler, but to also mark their territory and strengthen their neck muscles when it came time to fight during mating season. Jaeden ran his fingers over the scratch marks into the tree once again. There was still a slight hint of moisture there. The buck had passed sooner than Jaeden had originally anticipated. With this realization, Jaeden slowly reached to his quiver, as the feathers along the end of one of his arrows slid between his index and pointer finger before pinching the end slightly as he pulled it out and notching it into his bow. He came to a low crouch, grasping a small, dried out leaf and tossing it into the air to test the direction of the wind. As the leaf blew to his left, he gave a slow rub to the tip of his chin. It wasn't completely favorable, but he wasn't directly downwind at the moment. Satisfied with the current conditions, Jaeden remained crouched as he continued to follow the tracks, this time at a much slower pace as he stepped lightly, brushing way any twigs or dry leaves with the tip of his boot before letting his foot touch ground with any weight. He continued to follow for several minutes as they made several twists and turns through the forest grounds, never a predictable path or direction. Animals were just that way. They moved, they ate, the slept and they procreated. These were the base instincts, but everything about it was random, and could only be narrowed down to a geographical area of no smaller than at least one square mile for small animals. The larger ones covered much more ground. Fortunately for Jaeden, the tracks he now trailed were getting fresher each passing moment. When Jaeden then heard the rustling of bushes near by, he froze in his step, crouching down further. Coming up over a small hill, Jaeden finally spotted his quarry. The beast was large as the brown coat of fur shimmered in the rays of light that managed to break through the canopy of the forrest. Eight point antlers swayed back and forth as the deer ground its teeth along the grass, pulling some up from the ground to eat. Sturdy legs raised now and then to stomp into the ground as it loosened up nearby soil, making it's task easier. Jaeden lowered himself to one knee, raising his bow to eye level as he remained in the thick brush of the forest floor. Slowly inhaling, he drew back the string until his fingers were directly below his eye, touching the skin of his cheek. "Okay, just don't blow this first shot, or you'll be chasing this bastard for a bell's time," Jaeden thought to himself as he slowly exhaled his breath. His fingers then released their tension as the string of the bow gave that sudden "twang" and sent the arrow flying towards the buck. The arrow, for once flew strait and true................. right into the buck's ass. This still did not stop Jaeden's elation as he suddenly rose giving a quick arm pump motion in victory. "Yeah! Take that you primitive beast!" Jaeden shouted before his eyes widened. "Oh shyke, it's charging!"

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden suddenly turn and began running, a worried look on his face as he quickly made made his way over the forest grounds, that sudden four thumping step following quickly behind him. "What the hell?" Jaeden cried out slowly drawing his sword. "Why do I have to stumble upon the buck that wants retribution?" Jaeden heard the sound of the buck chasing him getting closer with each passing second as he continued to run from it. There was no way he would be able to outrun it, not if it was seriously looking to catch up with him, which seemed very likely considering Jaeden had just stuck an arrow in it's rump. Jaeden gripped his sword tightly as he listened, the thumps of the buck's hooves along the ground drew closer and closer, becoming more thunderous. Eventually, Jaeden could hear the heavy exhales the animal released with each stride of it's run. It was at that point that Jaeden suddenly stopped, twisting his body as he swung his sword around behind him. The swing missed entirely, as the distance was misjudged by Jaeden. The buck suddenly reared up on it's hind legs in response as it started thrash it's front hooves at Jaeden. Jaeden tossed his bow off to the side as he backed away when the buck approached using it's hind legs. Holding his sword out in front of him defensively, one of the hooves hit the flat of the blade as Jaeden's guard was forced down by the force alone, despite his own strength. The buck then slowly began to fall forward as one more thrash of the hoof barely missed Jaeden's head, striking him in the center of his chest instead, knocking him back a couple of paces before he fell to the ground. A strained look crossed his features as Jaeden's face went red. Then, finally drawing in a long slow gasp, Jaeden let out a couple of coughs as he began pushing himself to his feet again. Jaeden slowly looked up as he saw the bucks massive form once again on it's hind legs standing above him as it was about to bring them and it's full frontal weight crashing down atop of Jaeden. Jaeden quickly rolled his body forward, pushing off with his feet as the hooves suddenly slammed into empty ground. Jaeden rolled around along the ground before coming up to a crouched position next to the buck's hind legs. Gripping his swords with both hands, he quickly swung it around as the blade cut deep into the deer's right hind leg, nearly severing halfway through it. The buck suddenly gave a loud bark as it stumbled forward, as it kept most of it's weight on it's three remaining legs. Jaeden reached to the ground, grabbing one of the arrows that had spilled out from his roll as the buck began turning and running at only a fraction of it's speed due to the injury. Rushing over to where he threw his bow, Jaeden stabbed his sword into the ground picking up his bow as he quickly fidgeted to notch his arrow. The buck was already twenty yards away by the time he drew the arrow back. Quck aim was taken this time, centering upon the deer itself, as it began to veer off to the right. Leading his his shot as the buck began running across his field of vision, Jaeden loosed the arrow as it went rushing through the air dropping slightly over it's distance before embedding itself in the deer's right foreleg, causing the buck to come crashing to the ground. Jaeden's eyes widened before he looked down to his bow. "Whoa, lucky shot," Jaeden said lightly looking back up to the buck. "I mean, I was aiming for it's neck, but that still works." Jaeden then slowly slung his bow over his shoulder before retrieving his sword from the ground. He wiped the blade clean along the sleeve of his shirt and sheathed the sword as he began stepping over over towards the buck. It laid along it's side, still kicking wildly as it tried to get to it's feet. With only it's left legs uninjured, however, it failed to maintain it's balance for longer than a second or two before falling to the ground. Jaeden kept his distance to about fifteen feet, unslung his bow once again as he retrieved an arrow. Drawing the string back once again, he then aimed carefully as the buck continued it's struggle to get away. He was closer this time, but out of harms reach. He waited patiently as the buck rose once again before loosing the arrow. It quickly zipped over the distance between him and the deer before it pierced the buck's skin between the rib cage, severing it's left lung. The buck fell to the ground once again, the arrow being driven further in before eventually snapping under the buck's weight. It laid along the ground now, twitching slightly as it fell to into a state of labored breathing. Jaeden once again circled behind the deer, approaching it slowly as he set his bow down along the ground again. When he was within reach of it, Jaeden's hands snatched out, grasping the buck by it's antlers. There was a sudden jerking of surprise before Jaeden wrenched his arms with all his might as a sudden and loud popping noise could be heard from the buck's neck, ceasing it's movement all together to cease. Jaeden kept his grip along it's antlers for another moment just to be on the safe side before finally collapsing to the ground as his body leaned over the buck's. "Petching hell, that did not go at all as I had planned it," Jaeden exhaled. The adrenaline rush had slowly began to wear down as a slow, dull ache had began to make itself known along Jaeden's chest where the buck had struck him. It would likely be tender over the next week, but Jaeden considered himself lucky. It could have been much worse in the long run. "Thank gods I didn't come across an elk or moose," Jaeden said as he slowly stood up. Jaeden then spent the next couple of minutes going over the grounds and retrieving the arrows he had spilled out during his short struggle with the buck. He grumbled slightly, after his count revealed he was still missing two arrows, bringing his count to fourteen if he could retrieve the other two from the buck without damaging them. Picking up his bow and keeping hold of it in his left hand, he then gave a small sigh as he looked down to the buck's large form. "Okay then, back to camp with you," Jaeden said before crouching down. Several grunts and heaves were then released as Jaeden muscled the dead buck off the ground, eventually straddling it's body over his shoulder. A strained look remained on his face as the buck itself weighed nearly three hundred pounds. He slowly turned and began making his way back to camp at a slow pace, grunting slightly every few steps as he tried to shift the weight around slightly as he walked to reduce the burden. He would return to his camp and clean the buck. With any luck it wouldn't take him too long, and he would be able to check all of his traps and his fishing line before nights end.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden laid the deer along the ground, letting out subtle huffs of breath, feeling slightly exhausted over the small distance he had carried it back to his encampment. His tent and a fire had already been set up after he had returned from previously fishing. Small mason jars sat next to his body sled, one filled full with fillets of the fish he had caught. He sat next to the carcass, taking in heavy breaths as he rested himself for a short moment. He then slowly turned, settling to his knees in front of the buck as he set his composite longbow to the side. Reaching to his pack, he pulled out a length of rope before stepping over towards small tree, tossing one end of the rope over a hanging limb. Grabbing the buck, he pulled it over towards the tree, before tying the rope around it's hind legs. A stick was spaced between the buck's hindquarters, to keep it's legs spread before he pulled along the other end of the rope, hoisting the buck up off the ground. Another slow exhale was released as he looked to the buck while tying off the rope around the tree to keep the buck hoisted, he had hoped the hind leg would hold at least through the skinning process. Stepping in front of the buck now, Jaeden reached around his back, pulling a small knife from it's sheath. He slowly tapped the blade along the side of his chin as he tried to recollect exactly how Olevar once showed him how. Eventually, the tapping got to be too much as his head suddenly jerked back when the tip of the blade nicked his skin along the right side of his face, just below his lips. "Ouch," he said with a grumble as he looked back to the buck. He then slowly reached out to the buck, grabbing it by the left hind leg as he pierced the hide along the inside of the hind leg, dragging the knife slowly upward until he came to the first joint, before cutting the skin around the leg itself, making sure not to apply so much pressure that he began cutting through bone. Moving over to the more delicate leg, Jaeden began doing the same thing, moving slower and more softly so the weight and pressure he applied wouldn't cause the cut he had delivered to that leg to suddenly break free. He then began peeling the skin down, dragging the blade across the hide where the skin stuck to the meat. When the skin had been fully peeled from the hind legs, Jaeden the slowly cut across the pelvis of the deer before cutting off it's bushy tail all together and tossing it to the ground. He then cut down the belly and chest of the buck, stopping at the base of it's neck and soon repeated the process with the front legs he had done previously with it's hind legs. Finally, Jaeden began peeling back the skin, slowly cutting away at any parts that clung until the skin itself just hung along it's back. One finaly quick jerk then pulled the skin free. Bits and pieces still clung to the hide as he examined it slowly with a frown. The skin itself didn't seem to outline the same way he had seen Olevar's in the past as several uneven cuts and tears lined the skin where he had been cutting it away from the body. "Well, if nothing else, all things leather might still buy it," Jaeden commented to himself as he laid the skin out across the ground, using four pegs along the ground to both elevate it and stretch it out. He would then spend the next bell, scraping at the inside of the skin to remove further chunks of meat and excess flesh that had remained clung during the skinning process. Jaeden slowly dragged the back of his hand across his forehead. The weather was starting to warm up, but the temperature hadn't risen enough to start making the meat go bad, so he still had time to finish. Standing up from the skin, he then walked over towards his pack, pulling supplies free from his preservation kit. He then slowly began to cut away meat from the deer's rump, shoulders, back and ribs. Each pieces of meat was slowly slipped into wraps, and sealed as air tight as he could so that it would stay as fresh as possible over the night and still be good during transport back to the city. Jaeden finally stood, exhaling slowly as he wiped his hands clean along a rag. He then looked down to the deers head, rubbing his chin in though. Using the rag to now wipe the blade of his knife clean, Jaeden knelt down and began to cut off the buck's antlers. While they likely wouldn't sell for any use at the festivals, he had thought that one possibly might use them in alchemical concoctions, or that a weapon maker might use them for handles of knives or other weapons. It was at least worth checking out. With his work on the buck now done. Jaeden lowered what was left of the carcass to back to the ground, and dragged it off away from camp. He would have to set snares around the camp to prevent animals from approaching while he was away for the last time that day, checking on the snares and fishing line he had set in the early morning. Jaeden was slowly becoming tired, it was turning out to be a long day in the forest.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden slowly stood at the bank of the river, crouched down as he grasped his line with gloved hands. Lifting it up slightly, it felt a little heavier than it should, like there was more resistance than just the flow of the river. He slowly began pulling the line in as one by one, four fish were hooked along the fishing line Jaeden had laid out over the river. Out of seven hooks, that wasn't bad overall. One by one, Jaeden unhooked the fish, tossing them further up onto land. While they barely had any energy left in them, they still moved. Jaeden didn't want to risk them wriggling their way back into the river raters and getting away. A short time was then spent as Jaeden slowly removed the hooks and other attachments from his fishing line and rolling up the line itself before placing them back into his fishing kit. A long slender stick was then grabbed from a tree as the narrow end was slipped through each of the fish's mouths before coming out of their gills. The end was then bent around and tied to the end of the stick so the fish wouldn't slip off before Jaeden hung the stick at the back of his belt. Jaeden then began moving back towards the camp, stopping at each of the snares he had set up along the way. The first two were empty, the third actually gone. Jaeden grumbles slightly over that before he began moving to his trap meant for snaring medium prey. When he heard a rustling in the bush where he had left it, he became somewhat more enthused. Upon turning around a corner, his optimistic look faded quickly and a frown crossed his features as he muttered, "Oh suck," aloud. There, struggling to free itself from Jaeden's snare, as it growled and bit at the line of the snare, was a large black wolf. The snare had caught it by it's front right paw as it jumped and back and forth in the air with it's hind legs. The wolf must have been chasing prey, and got stuck in the snare during it's pursuit. Jaeden slowly unslung his bow, notching an arrow into it before drawing back the string as he took aim. The black fur of the wolf's coat gave a small shine in the now fading sun of the forest as it looked up to Jaeden with an alert, but inquisitive look. Jaeden's own memory went back to a not too distant past as he remembered a Kelvic wolf in the Northern Reach as he let out a light grumbled under his breath, slowly lowering his bow. He slipped the arrow back into it's quiver and set his bow down along the ground as he gave the wolf a frustrated look as he began slipping some gloves on before thrusting a finger in the wolf's direction. "You better not bite me," Jaeden said as he lowered himself to a crouch and began approaching slowly. The wolf struggled a little more as Jaeden approached, once again biting at the thread of the snare as another slow growl echoed out. When Jaeden was within reach, he then very slowly began reaching out, his hands barely moving past a inch per second as he calmly attempted to grasp the paw that had been snared. The wolf hadn't bit him yet, which was a good sign, but Jaeden wasn't going to be making any sort of sudden movements. It took a good five attempts before Jaeden's fingers lightly grasped around the wolf's paw as it began to nip lightly at the edge of Jaeden's gloves in response. Luckily, while Jaeden could fee the pinch from the pressure of the wolf's nip, it's teeth did not break the glove, or Jaeden's skin. Slowly, Jaeden continuously pull'ed the wolf's paw down as it tried to pull away from Jaeden's grip. Each time, when he had the slack, Jaeden loosened the hold the snare had over the wolf until finally the snare itself fell to the ground and Jaeden released the wolf's paw entirely. The wolf took a couple of steps away, lightly favoring the paw that had been snared before it paused and began licking lightly at it. Jaeden pulled the snare free from the ground itself and looked it over. The wolf's gnawing on it had frayed several areas along the thread itself. Another half a bells time, and it likely would have chewed through it, freeing itself. A slow sigh was released as Jaeden realized another piece of his hunting arsenal was now lost. He then looked to the wolf who was now looking back at him curiously as it sniffed in the air. "What?" Jaeden simply said before looking down at his waist to the fish. "Are you kidding me?" Jaeden suddenly cried as he rolled his eyes. His hand then went down to one of the fish as a quick twist and pull ripped the fish's body from clean from it's head before Jaeden tossed it to the ground at the wolf's feet. The wolf began sniffing it curiously before picking it up in it's mouth and looked to Jaeden once again. "There, consider it my apology for the snare. Now shoo. Shoo, shoo." The wolf soon turned, and made it's way south, carrying the fish with it. Jaeden exhaled another sigh as he turned back towards the general direction of his camp, and began heading for his next snare trap. Another two bells would pass and darkness casted over the forest by the time Jaeden returned to camp. He had managed to catch one rabbit and two squirrel's in the other snares he had set up over the forest, but the majority of them had been empty. Still, considering the buck and fish, along with three small game, it hadn't been a bad day overall, even if Jaeden felt exhausted. Jaeden would spend the next bell setting up defensive snares around the camp in case any animals came lingering in to investigate, saving the skinning and cleaning of the smaller game for the following morning. He would then, hopefully, have his camp broken down and be setting out to return to the city before the noon bell rung. ~Fin

[Gossamer]

Experience: 4 XP Hunting, 2 XP Tracking, 4 XP Composite Longbow, 2 XP Fishing, 1 XP Swimming, 3 XP Trapping (snares), 1 XP Fleeing, 1 XP Field Dressing, 1 XP sword, 1XP Knife Additional Notes: Great read!