Flashback A Hunting Lesson [Part Two]

[Sayani]

2nd of Summer, 505 AV

Sayani's hands and arms were still sore from the day before, but her father was awakening her way earlier than usual. Sayani woke up, scowling, her stomach grumbling with hunger. Duran had allowed her water, but he forbade food, for some reason. So she had to sit and watch her mother and three sibling eat, while just drinking as much water as she could, to try to fool her stomach. And now, her father was ready to go hunting again, while Sayani just wanted to sleep.

Wondering if her brother suffered through the same as her, she wrapped the silk around her body. Duran wanted to get out of Kalinor in the first light of Syna, and with the time it took to wrap the stupid silk, this meant she was up really, really early. In fact, Sayani felt like she hadn't slept at all.

After a whole bell, she was finally ready to go, although the sleep and tiredness were still there. Duran seemed to suffer none of that, and Sayani eyed her father with a little anger, wondering why he was doing that. It was completely unnecessary on her eyes.

Nevertheless, they crawled through the silk ropes and out of Kalinor, and Sayani pouted at the small light that was just now beginning to appear in the sky. Once again, they walked towards the trees, and Sayani sighed, knowing this would be another very long day.

At least this time Duran had brought a backpack full of things, although Sayani couldn't exactly know what kind of things, nor if they were going to be of any use.

[Sayani]

"Go to the five traps you put up yesterday, and we will see if they caught anything." Duran commanded, and Sayani nodded, the memory of the places still fresh in the memory. It wouldn't be hard to find.

And it really wasn't, however, the first one was empty. The young Symenestra pressed her lips together, inspecting the hole, wondering if she had done something wrong. As far as she could tell, everything was fine. There really was no reason for the rabbit not to have been caught.

"Relax, Sayani." her father didn't seem disappointed. He never did, actually, but his voice carried the same excited tone as ever. "Sometimes, it takes some days to caught something. It's not a precise science. Later today, we will come by again, and if still there isn't anything, we will come back tomorrow. Now, to work."

The next two were also empty, and Sayani was beginning to feel helpless. Maybe she hadn't really caught anything. But each time they passed an empty trap, Duran would pat her on the back and assure her this was normal. The young Symenestra couldn't decide whatever it was true or if it was just her father trying to make her feel better.

Finally, on the fourth one, the hole was visible, not covered anymore by leaves or sticks. With a huge smile, Sayani ran towards the trap, looking inside and almost jumping with joy. The rabbit was still trying to get out of the trap, so it probably had just fallen in, but that was not important. The important part was that Sayani had caught something. Reaching inside, she grabbed the rabbit by its ears, taking it out of the trap and showing it to her father.

"Congratulations." he said, a small smile playing on his lips. "You can kill a rabbit by twisting its neck, with a knife or even shouting, I've heard. They can die of fright."

Sayani nodded, before deciding to just twist the animal's neck. A knife would be messy, and a shout was just too embarrassing. The Symenestra quickly killed the rabbit, hearing the bones cracking and feeling a shiver pass through her body. It wasn't one of disgust, or fear, or anything like that, and this knowledge frightened her a bit. She looked up, facing her father, worry written all over her face, but Duran simply kept smiling, before motioning to her to get up.

She did, trying to shove the thoughts and the worry away, and going to the fifth and last trap. It was the one closer to the clearing from the day before, but it was also empty. Well, at least they had caught something.