Closed Let A Sleeping Bear Lie (Seju)

[Ko Loraynhaus]

48th of Winter, 513 AV

It's too early for this. Ko grumbled to herself as she trudged across the sandy road. Of all the days for the ever-changing city to give her a hard time, it was today. She turned onto a regular cobble road, and spotted the Sanity Center. Relieved, Ko began to walk at a normal speed, her boots not slowed down by the sand any longer. After a few seconds, Ko realized she was no longer looking at the Sanity center. The street had turned, the houses switching places without her noticing.

"Damn it!" Ko hissed under her breath, it usually wasn't a problem for her to get out of Alvadas, her house tended to stay around the walls. A grimace set on her face, Ko turned around, angry at Ionu's tricks keeping her from her destination. Obviously it wasn't pointed at her in particular, but the nuisance still had an effect on her.The Gaping Maw stood tall and welcoming, one street over. Jogging down an ally, Ko reached the entrance to her city, cautious of the streets changing again before she got there. Ko nodded to the guards before exited the city. Ko slowed once she was out of the gates, the stationary hills welcoming her. The brick wall was high right next to the gate, and Ko leaned against it. Quickly she changed her mind, and slid into a sitting position, her pack scraping against the wall. Ko wasn't the most careful with her stuff, but she didn't mind, it survived this far.

Normally the grass below her would be covered in frost, or even snow, but under Ionu's illusions, simple dew seeped through her pants. The early morning stars cast long shadows across the hills. As the world around her lightened the birds began to sing, and a beetles began a journey across her left boot. Not being a morning person, Ko was content sitting still against the wall. She had always loved nature. Her father did, and so she learned to as well. Quietly Ko started to hum a small six-note tune her father used to whistle. She didn't know how to whistle, so the song didn't sound as good as it should have, forced through her damaged throat. Even though she continued her rough hum, she put all thoughts of her father out of her mind. He was gone and he had to stay gone.

She hadn't seen her friend in a while, considering she wasn't too busy herself this season, maybe he was. She didn't care too much either way, the excitement of today's mission lightening her mood. They found each other again at a tavern a few days ago. She made a comment to Seju on the lack of excitement in hunting during the winter. Ko didn't know who had the idea to wake a bear, but now they had plans to do so. Without an actually den in mind, they had to go find one first. But Ko didn't mind, a dangerous adventure with an old friend was not something she passed up. And the goods that bringing a dead bear, especially at this time of year, would offer was very tempting reason in itself. Ko didn't have to wait longer than a few minutes when Seju showed up, clearly as tired as she was. Ko hoisted herself up off the ground, feeling her Kopis loosen on her belt.

"Mornin' grumpy." Ko smiled, stepping up to meet her friend, she tossed a playful fist at his shoulder."Been up to no good?" She reached to her hip, tying the hilt of her weapon on her belt better. The blade was bare and roughly held on her, but Ko needed it to be reachable, being her only close hand weapon. She didn't worry about having to use it against Seju, she's known him long enough to trust the man not to stab her in the back. But the wilds were a very dangerous place and the two hunters that had chosen an intimidating profession, knew that bows are not always the fastest defense.

[Seju]

i know that all my life i've been tired and blue
but still i keep on fighting, i got too many things left to do
- trombone shorty

Blue smoke twisted to the haggard sky. Brittle leaves scraped over the rocky cleft, tumbled across the naked birches. Red-lidded eyes jerked open.

Seju tried to keep them closed. Ain't a good day for this, he grumbled, but he was stiff and cold, and he couldn't just stay under his pelts. He crawled out and peered blankly through the trees. His bones ached. He was probably getting sick. Taking a stick, he tried cajoling a flame from a scattering of coals. They were too far gone to catch. He sighed. Then blew his nose loudly.

The crows were arguing. The wind stirred.

Pulling his shawl tighter, he hunched over and began to get his things together. Took down his tent, did up the straps to the ringmail girdle. There were a few greasy sausages still in his pot, but tipped them onto the leaves. They just made him feel sicker. Then, taking up his bow, he began trudging. Pale trees jabbed up like ghosts on all sides. Twisty vines snagged his shins, and he grumbled again. Fat boulders lined a small creek. There was a shallow trickle through it, and he kneeled to splatter water on his face. The shock of cold just made him colder. Looking down, he saw broken stones in the dirt. Tiny scuffs where rodents had crossed. The yawing of an exposed root.

Seju jerked away and followed the creek, until it twisted under a low bluff. He climbed out and trudged over crunching grasses, making for the gates. They plunged up from a stand of pines, all jagged stone and illusion. There was a short woman with braided hair sitting there. The friend he'd arranged to join up with.

“Ko,” Seju nodded to her. Rubbed his shoulder where she hit it. “I haven't been guzzling wine if that's what you're asking,” he replied with a small smile. That seemed like an excellent notion, but then again, it wouldn't bring in the bacon.

“If you're all ready, we might as well get going. I'll wager there are a few caves further back in the hills. It might be a fair place to look.”

Seju began to walk, quickly turning down a narrow dirt trail. His eyes darted over the trees. He could hear them scraping together in the wind. He idly nudged open the flap of his quiver. Rubbed a thumb against the bundled arrows just to make certain they were still there. Then he looked at Ko. “D'you know if there's anything exciting going on in the city?” That was quite possible. The illusions were always causing surprises. “I haven't been there since we talked. I suppose it hasn't all burned down just yet?”

[Ko Loraynhaus]

Ko glanced over Seju, he looked tired, really tired. She briefly wondered if the man was sick, but he chose to live in the woods so Ko figured he could deal with whatever came his way. Ko was pretty content with a silent walk through the woods, a usual habit of hunting alone. Seju glanced around a few times, a bit on edge. Maybe from the darkness, Ko didn't know, her Isur eyes making it easier for her to see through the shadows. Her vision in the dark wasn't perfect, she was still human, but it definitely gave her an edge. The sun was coming up soon anyways.

“D'you know if there's anything exciting going on in the city? I haven't been there since we talked. I suppose it hasn't all burned down just yet?” Ko gave a small chuckle at Ionu's latest trick.

"Not yet, though some people are going crazy over Ionu's latest. There has been some little creatures taking colorful things, a bit early if you ask me, the Prism Festival isn't for another week or two. Some say they are furry, others say they are scaly, the outsiders think everyone is lying, but how often is that true?" The whole ordeal has been dying down, but when Ko visited the tavern to turn in her hunts she heard snippets of conversations that were outrageous and plenty amusing. Who's to say she wont get something of hers stolen? Might not be funny then. Ko switched her bow to her other hand and tried to match her short strides with Seju's long ones. The woods thinned some as they reached high elevation. Patches of shrubbery still littered the ground. A chilly gust of wind made Ko pull her scarf up, the further they got away from Alvadas the colder it seemed to get. Ko kept her eyes peeled for something she recognized, a hollowed tree, a hole covered by moss in the side of a hill or a cave.

The dens should have been easier to find, the bear population had been growing lately. Then again, they are meant to be hidden. Keeping her eyes low, Ko scanned the hills around the two hunters. Frosty breathe seeped through her lips, and her boots crunched mutely on the grass. Her tread was light, but the grass was dead and stiff with the cold, countering her silent boots. The was just about to rise, the sky getting lighter, when a skinny rabbit skittered across their path. Ko didn't bother, the rabit too scrawny and a bigger prey on her mind. Bear wasn't a common pelt even in the summer, bringing a bear into Alvadas at this time of year was going to be something. A flicker of a smirk crossed Ko's lips before a sobering thought came to mind If it doesn't kill us first. Annoyed with herself Ko pushed her feet faster, almost missing a very important detail in the wilderness surrounding her.

"Seju" Ko whispered, lightly grabbing the man's forearm in an immediate reaction to stop him from going forward. No doubt he had seen it too, so Ko didn't bother to point. To the left of the hunters was a small clearing in the woods, it gave way to the beginning of a rather steep hill. Covered in thick frost, that may be a light coating of snow, the hill was completely smooth a few lumps of who-know-what farther up on the hill. At the base, maybe ten or eleven meters from the hunters, was a small crevice. There was a dirt build up out side of the entrance, an obvious result of something digging straight into the ground. Large piles of leaves and broken branches had been dragged up over the hole, mostly covering it, and keeping the chilly winter air out. Ko stepped forward once, anticipation making her toes tingle in her boots. She glanced at seju, trying to keep her cool since her heart flying faster than she thought was possible, as the cold truth unraveled in her brain. She had no idea what she was doing.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. She knew that if she got closer the bear would tear out of its hibernation and rip them to shreds, having sensed their approach already. She knew the best place to shoot the thing was its eye or its tender belly. She knew that if Seju or herself could get behind the bear while the other was in front, the bear was going to be defending and not attacking. She knew somethings, but she also knew that if she let her fear take over she's get herself and possibly Seju maimed or worse. Ko moved back to the tree line, motioning to Seju to talk. They hadn't really planned on how to actually go about killing this creature after all.

"Any ideas? I got one, but it is not the safest, not by far." She spoke low, checking the strings security on her bow. Mentally confirming that her old bow is sound enough, Ko pulled one arrow out. She simply twirled it between her fingers, anxious to get start and desperately wanting to run in the other direction. She wanted to hear his thoughts, her idea of one behind and one in front, not yet fully formulated on her tongue.

[Seju]

Seju cuffed at his right eye. It felt gritty. If he blinked, it seemed to stick a bit. He listened to Ko, grunting when she passed on the rumor. “That's peculiar,” he replied absently. The cogs in his head began grinding. Tiny creatures that swiped bright trinkets and the like... he'd heard odder, but it got him thinking. That'd be a clever ploy for mage-thieves. Then again, it could've just been illusion.

Icy beads clung to the grass. Seju looked back at Ko, just to make certain she was still there. They weren't saying much. That kind of noise would've driven off any animals.

Yawning, he jabbed his chin at the blotchy clouds. They were getting lighter. The bakers would've been up for a while now, kneading dough and stoking their tile-lined ovens. The thought almost made him hungry. Tapering vessels would soon be putting into the bay, and wagons rattling over the cobbles.

Then he stumbled. The solemn pines pressed in on him, needles itching where they touched his face. There was a sticky drag of resin.

Seju tugged his gaze over the dirt. There were scuffs partly covered by leaves. Tangled branches and juts of boulder. The mosses had already been picked over, judging by how they'd been disturbed. He tried to listen, but all the noises blended. Dried vines scraped against trunks. Birds croaked. Zephyrs rushed against his ears. They seemed strangely muffled. Exhaling, he chafed his palms together to drive away the chill. Try as he might, it wouldn't quit him. Ko seemed to be doing all right beside him, so he tried not to grumble.

Reddish brambles jerked at his sleeve as he shambled along. These weren't always defiant, though. Flattened patches twisted through them, likely crushed down by something large. A few piles of small, hard droppings were hidden in the brambles. But they'd been there a while.

[color=red]“Seju..”

Ko grabbed at his arm. Seju stopped and went stiff. Yanked an arrow from his quiver as he scoured the towering trees. Then he glimpsed the disturbed dirt on the hill. There was a sudden hammering in his chest.

Seju bit his cracked lip. This wasn't what he'd wanted to see. The dirt would've been pressed down if the beast was still hibernating, but by the looks of it, there'd been an interruption. That made him think it was just dozing. The cold wasn't so bad here, anyway. Taking a firmer grip on his bow, he exhaled deeply.

They could always just leave, but he wasn't going to suggest it. There was too much pride in him.

Ko slipped back further into the pines, clearly wanting to discuss what they'd be doing. Seju joined her, listened to what she said. The details were a bit fuzzy, but the thought was sound enough. “All right, he grunted, trying to disguise his doubts “I don't need to tell you that the bear won't go down easily. If it just charges at one of us, well, that's not going to end well. O say one of us gets it attention, and keeps it while the other tries to kill the damned thing.” He peered down at his hands. He didn't want to say it, but he did anyway. [b]“I'll do it. I run quicker than you, and besides, you're better with a bow. I'd wager the bear will still be groggy, so I'll be able to shake it pretty well. at first, so I should be able to shake it pretty well, but once it gets angry... well, I just need you to kill it quickly. I'll try to hit it as well, but I'll mostly be running.”

Seju scratched nervously at his chin. [b]“That do for you?”[b]

OOCsorry for not giving you much to work with, I didn't want to jump ahead before getting the plan sorted