Solo Let the Wolf Run Wild

[Wymond]

4th of summer, 513


It had been 13 days since Wymond first came to the city of Wind Reach and finding his bond mate. In that span of time, Wymond was starting to become familiar with his surroundings and the culture of the Inarta people. Zed had been showing the Kelvic around since the third day, explaining things in his own way. Wymond didn’t agree with all of the customs but it wasn’t his place to say so. Regardless of Zed’s arrogance, Wymond still enjoyed spending time with his bondmate.

By the 6th day, Wymond had found himself becoming restless. He wanted to hunt and stretch his legs. It didn’t take much convincing of Zed to let him go for a few days, but Wymond could feel the slight worry coming from Zed. Even as Wymond lead Bea towards The Sanikas Gates he could feel Zed’s anxiety. Wymond decided then that he would make it up to his bondmate by buying something nice for him from the pinions he will make from his hunt.

The air was very warm, and the farther he got away from the city, the fresher the air became. It was nice to get out of the city and be alone for a few days. Well, not technically alone, just absent of other humans. Wymond lightly petted the side of his mare’s neck as he walked alongside her, he didn’t ride her. It always felt a bit silly for a Kelvic to ride another animal, and besides, Wymond preferred his own feet when it came to transportation.

Wymond and Bea walked in silence for a long while as they headed towards the Thunder Bay area. Many of the locals had said the forest around the lower areas of the path down to Thunder Bay held decent game, and wasn’t nearly as dangerous as the Unforgiven. Wymond liked that, because he knew that he still had much to learn in the ways of hunting. He gently led his mare down the stairs, taking in the lovely scenery, and listening to the rush of the Sanikas River. Along the way, Wymond and Bea passed many people who were either going to or from Thunder Bay. Wymond asked one red haired couple how long the trip was, and they said that if Wymond made good time it would only take one whole day. This made him grin. Perhaps he could shorten the time by shifting and running in his wolf form? It would give Bea a chance to stretch her legs too.

When he was a little bit more secluded, Wymond lead the mare off of the stairs and into a secluded area so that he could undress and tuck his clothes in the saddle bags. Then he quickly shifted into his wolf form. The mare hardly blinked when a large black furred wolf stood in place of her master. Wymond gave a slight toothy grin before taking off running, he could hear the horse whinny behind him before she too gave chase. He wouldn’t run at full speed, since Bea was carrying a lot of things. But it felt nice to just run!

The feeling of the wind brushing his fur was borderline ecstasy; the sound of his paws as they pounded against the grassy earth and the smells that surrounded him were truly amazing. He had missed this. Now, don’t get him wrong, he didn’t regret his bonding. That made him happier than words can describe, but this feeling of pure freedom was almost drug like. Wymond ran until his heart raced, and his tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth. He could hear the joyful sounds coming from behind him, reminding him that he needed to be mindful and not leave the poor mare behind.

It wasn’t long, or at least it didn’t feel like it took long, before the sky started to change color and darken. Wymond had become pleasantly worn out, and even Bea looked the same. The Kelvic decided it was about time to set up camp for the night, so that they could get a good start in the morning. So Wymond shifted into his human form, got dressed, and then began to quickly make camp; first setting up his tent, followed by building a small fire, and then tending to the needs of his horse. The sun had fully set by the time the two of them had settled down, and Wymond had fed Bea and himself.

The young Kelvic yawned as he doused the fire for the night and curled up in his tent with his blanket and makeshift pillow. His mind wondered back to Zed, he reached out with his feelings to make sure the Inarta was well. Yes he was well, a little lonely, but that will change when Wymond returned. The last thoughts on the Kelvic’s mind before he finally dozed off were of his childhood home back in Sunberth. He wondered if the sunrises were still as beautiful as he remembered them to be.

[Wymond]

5th of summer, 513


When Wymond awoke the next day, the sun had just started to brighten the sky. Birds could be heard singing their morning melodies and the air had a slight crispness to it that came early dawn. Wymond yawned as he crawled out of his tent and stretched. Bea was still dozing standing up, with her right hind leg propped slightly. Wymond chuckled as he went to the river to dip out some water to wash up in. He bathed quickly before returning the camp to start packing things up.

By the time everything was packed up once more, the sun was already bright in sky and the temperature had begun to rise. This time, Wymond had decided to remain in his human form with clothes on. He also got his short bow ready. He had been watching Zed practice with his bow, and Wymond was curious to try some new techniques he had learned. He easily strung his short bow, and tested its tautness. Once he deemed it correct, he strapped his quiver onto his back, dabbed a little bit of deer scent on himself and then motioned for Bea to follow him.

Wymond was instantly surprised at how close they were to the forest already! Perhaps they did get too carried away with the running yesterday. They were in clear view of the forest, and it didn’t take long at all before they were inside. Wymond took a deep breath, taking in all the scents. Wymond allowed his instincts to take over then. He knelt close to the earth to smell and check for tracks. Wymond finally found a decent set after twenty minutes of looking. They appeared to be incredibly small deer hoof prints. Wymond had never seen the like before! This discovery peaked his interest, and he then began his search.

Bea kept her distance, she knew the routine. The slightest disturbance could ruin the entire hunt. It wasn’t long before Wymond came across a slight clearing that had clear signs that something had been foraging there. Wymond looked around, and then sniffed the wind, checking both the area of other animals and what direction the wind was blowing. Whatever they were, they were still close by and Wymond was down wind of them. Good.

Wymond tried to work quickly to set up the traps and snares with novice fingers , all the while making sure his scent wasn’t left anywhere behind. He then hid the traps with foliage and backed away carefully to admit his handiwork. He couldn’t see anything. That meant he did a good job. He gave himself a self-satisfied nod before backing away to his horse and guiding her around the traps, making sure he gave them a wide distance from the traps before continuing on into the forest.

The day continued on, and the weather got warmer and warmer. Right around high noon, Wymond had decided to make camp in between a pair of trees whose branches created a pleasant pocket of shade. After pitching his tent and watering Bea from the nearby river, Wymond figured since the sun was still bright that he could explore a little more. He picked his bow back up, along with his quiver and dagger and started walking again.

[Wymond]

After a while of practicing his stalking, a sound caught his attention. Wymond swiftly ducked behind a tree, when he peeked around he saw a velvet horned Alkana Buck grazing lazily in an open patch. He appeared to be quite healthy, and his coat had a pleasant reddish color and Wymond could see the deer’s muscles flex with each movement and twitch. And luckily for Wymond, the deer was portside and gave the Kelvic an excellent shot at the animal’s lung and heart.

Wymond set his bow, slowly and quietly drew an arrow from his quiver, and then took aim. His arms shook slightly, because they were not used to such strain yet. He took a deep breath and loosed the arrow. The arrow missed the desired target and hit high in the lung. He cursed as the buck bolted deeper into the forest.

Wymond slid the bow over his body so that he was in between the string and the bow itself as he quickly gave chase. He allowed his instincts to take over, reveling in the thrill of the chase. Wymond could hear the wheezing breaths of the buck and how it clumsily charged through the brush. The smell of the dying animal’s blood hung heavy in the air. He pushed the speed of which he ran, sometimes tripping over an upturned root or stray vine, but he was luckily able to keep his balance.

At several points, Wymond had lost the trail of the beast. He had to quickly scan the area for signs of distress or a blood trail. Once he found the trail again, he took off running once more. When he finally came across his quarry, the buck was struggling for breath and wobbling on his legs. The deer must have stopped due to lack of energy or blood, and the lone arrow was still buried into its side. Wymond pulled the bow from his body once more and nocked an arrow. At closer range, he had better aim of his mark. The deer watched him as he loosed the arrow, and the sharp point pierced the animal’s heart.

When the Alkana buck fell, Wymond cautiously stepped forward while panting for breath, weary that the animal could still be a potential threat. Wymond drew out his dagger as he knelt by the deer and slit the beast’s throat. Wymond finally relaxed with a chuckle as he examined his prize. The buck had a nice 14 point rack; it was just a shame that it was velvet. Wymond became curious as to when the deer in these parts start too rub off the soft velvet coating on their horns. The pelt was nice and healthy, and not too damaged from the chase. It would bring in a nice pinion or two. A couple more catches like this one would be all Wymond would need to put meat in Zed’s larder and coin in Wymond’s pocket. The Kelvic gave a broad grin as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

Wymond wiped off the dagger and sheathed it, but only to pull out his hunting knife. It was best to field dress the prize now, rather than at the camp and draw more dangerous animals there because of the smell of blood. He then propped the animal on its back and begin field dressing by making a long cut from just above the genitals up to the rib cage. He had to be very careful as he did this; he only wanted to cut though the hide and muscle. To cut too deeply would mean puncturing the deer's intestines and having to deal with the god-awful smell. He then turned the deer onto its side to allow the entrails to partially fall out, but the vast majority of them were held inside by strings of fat of which Wymond carefully cut away. The Kelvic skillfully avoided harming the bladder, but instead moved to the back of the deer to carefully cut around the anus followed by tying it off with a piece of string. He then cut backwards from the abdominal cavity to remove the entire area, which was not an easy task.

The deer's abdominal cavity was separated from the chest cavity by the diaphragm, which separates the lung and heart from the stomach and bowels. To remove everything, Wymond needed to cut it away. But he did intend on keeping the liver and heart for tonight’s dinner, nicely cooked over an open fire.

Wymond took a deep breath, and with the guts still half in and half out he then cut the diaphragm away from the deer's chest cavity. Once done, he then reached as far up into the deer's chest as he possibly could to grab the deer esophagus. With the other hand, he carefully slid the knife into the deer's chest and worked his knife up into the chest to cut the esophagus just above his other hand. After it is cut he simply, but carefully pulled the heart and lungs out and with it came the rest of the intestines. He severed the heart and liver from the rest of the innards and set those aside specifically. The field dressing was very messy and tedious, but it made the animal so much lighter than it was before. After Wymond had moved the useless parts away, he took out his water bladder to first drink from, and then to wash up slightly. His clothes were ruined. Wymond sighed in annoyance; he was going to have to buy a new set when he returned to the Reach.

After washing up Wymond then looked around to get a decent barring as to where he was. The chase had lasted perhaps all of five minutes, though it felt like much longer. Wymond tipped back his head and let out a long howl in his human voice. A distant horse whinny answered him. So he was a bit further from camp than he had anticipated. Wymond knew that the horse was on her way, as long as he made occasional howls to remind her of where he was at. In the meantime, he had started tying the deer’s legs together with some string that he had decided to carry with him.

It didn’t take the mare too long to find her master as she trotted up from the bushes. Wymond smiled up at the horse as he stepped up to her. He praised her obedience by stroking her mane before he went to the saddle bags to retrieve a coil of rope. It took some time and frustration, but Wymond was soon able to hoist the carcass onto the back of his mare by using a pulley system that consisted of him pulling a rope that had been thrown over a tree branch and his own strength.

By the time Wymond and Bea had returned to their camp, it was already pretty late in the day. Wymond unloaded the deer from Bea’s back and hung it up by its hind legs on a strong tree branch so he could salt it later on in the evening so that it would stay good long enough to be taken and properly skinned and preserved once Wymond returned home.

[Wymond]

Wymond took a short moment to rest after such an exciting hunt. Even though it was still pretty hot, Wymond felt contented with himself. He looked over at the hanging animal and grinned almost wolfishly. His first take down with a bow and arrow. It had been difficult, and he needed a lot more practice but it still gave him a sense of pride. He had always depended on shifting into his wolf form to take down prey, but this new way was just as exhilarating and more challenging than chasing down the beast and ripping its throat out with his bare teeth.

After eating a quick meal of bread and dried meat with water, Wymond went to go check on the traps he had laid when he had first entered the forest. As he walked towards that direction, he hear the strangest sound; it sounded like a duck quack but at the end it got high pitched like a song bird. Wymond frowned and treaded more carefully. When he neared the small clearing, he could see a single deer like creature struggling to free its self from one of the many traps Wymond had set. The others appeared to have been untouched. Wymond stepped into the clearing, mindful of his own traps. He moved closer to the small critter, it struggled all the more. Its frantic cries were the duck sound Wymond had heard earlier. The animal stood about a foot tall and a foot long, and its short legs were very small and thin. Wymond made a mental note to remember asking about this creature when he returned to Wind Reach and he quickly restrained the beast and easily snapped its neck. He then freed the dead animal and collected all of his traps and he carried his tools and his dinner back with him to the camp.

When he returned, Bea was lazily munching on some of the greenery. She only lifted her head up to look at Wymond before returning to her snack. Wymond sighed as he carefully laid down the midget deer and then set to work on untangling his snares. Once that was done and the traps and snares were carefully stored away, Wymond went about building a small fire to cook with.

Truth be told, he was a terrible cook. He always burned the meat or it was too undercooked for others to eat. But it was good enough for him in the long run, and he never really had a taste for herbs on his meat. It was too over powering on his sensitive tongue. Just a little bit of salt and that was all he needed. It didn’t take long for Wymond to get the fire going, and he cut the heart and liver into several smaller pieces to impale with sticks to cook by the fire while Wymond went about cleaning the small deer. By the time the deer was cleaned out and skinned, the heart and liver had completely finished cooking. Wymond easily set up a makeshift spit to set the mostly whole deer upon to cook while the Kelvic ate the heart and liver of his previous catch.

After eating his hardy meal and cleaning up afterwards, the Kelvic set about salting his earlier catch. Once that was done, he placed a tarp over the kill to prevent most bugs getting to it and to hide most of the smell from possible predators. Then Wymond put out the fire, stripped from his dirty clothes, and shifted into his wolf form. Wymond thought that the night felt like it would be a good one to sleep in his wolf form. He then curled up on his bedroll, and was fast asleep in moments.