Timestamp: Timestamp: Autumn, 15th day, 509 AV
She stood frozen, her seemingly frail body buffeted by the wind. Shadows emerged, beginning to play their games. The wind kissed her slightly ruddy cheeks, the invisible hands brushing her long strands of red hair that fell down her back in beautiful scarlet locks. However, on occasions such as these, she braided the normally free hair, and performed the painstaking undertaking that was pulling out the glass birds woven into the bottom of her hair. Though they were pretty little things that twinkled when the sun came out, they were not ideal for hunting.
And that was what she was doing – at least, what she planned on doing. The first few times she had tried, it hadn’t actually gone in her favour. In fact, she could still feel the humiliating sting that resulted in her latest hunt. Nobody had actually told her that a wolf would be so difficult to catch. She had only made its movements more lethargic, more arduous. She hadn’t actually done anything – merely making it easier for him to rescue him. Him as in the Endal who had decided to rescue her from fighting off the wolf.
The wolf had come so close to winning in their savage battle, and Aurelia could almost see the thin threads of her life floating away from her. She could do this. She tried repeating over and over again in her head. She would show that man that she was worth something. She was capable of being useful, being brave, just like him. She wasn’t just some pushover that decided to reap the benefits of being saved by a random Endal. No, she was going to show him that she could hunt properly.
As the sun streaked the sky, dying it shades of blood and scarlet, Aurelia let the scene play out before her, remaining detached from it. Though she had never been evidently good at hunting, something about it called out to her. It was one of the only times she could truly be on her own, without the background noise of others fidgeting around her. It was one of the only times she could truly fit into her surroundings.
She was often alienated because of the fact she hadn’t spent the first few years in the schooling part of Wind Reach, but instead, confined to a small house. Sometimes, it was hard to forget that Invarta enjoyed their independence, and did not crave the same amount of friendship and contact with others that she did. But, on the hunt, she could focus on only her own feelings. She did not have to worry about the ones of around her.
Lithely, she climbed up into a tree, keeping her bow balanced on her tensed back. She didn’t want to make the same mistake as she had last time. She was determined that she was going to successfully hunt whatever came her way. Last time her mistake had been that she hadn’t realised the strategic importance of height. Now, she knew she had covered that perfectly. All she had to wait for was the prowling beast that she would hunt.
Patience is a virtue. Patience is a virtue. Patience is a virtue.
She repeated this to herself, trying to overcome the overwhelming itching feeling that was seeming to compel her to climb down and do something. She could do it. It couldn’t be that hard. Not if all of the other Endal could do the same. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t one of them yet. It was what she wanted to be when she grew up, so surely there couldn’t be any harm in getting some extra practise at what she was ultimately going to do for the rest of her life?
So she waited in the tree, only half aware of the happenings underneath the leafy foliage. When she heard the small shriek of terror, Aurelia nearly fell out of her perch on the tree. Violently, she tossed her head from side to side, trying to see where it originated from. Nothing, nada. She couldn’t tell where or who had made that blood-curdling shriek.
Slowly, she ventured out from the safety of the tree. She knew it was a bad moment, the second her foot gingerly touched the ground.
And for once, the forest seemed eerily silent. The voice could not be heard.
