Closed All in a day's worth [Claudia Blackwood]

[Clemens Kos]

34th of Winter Fact was, hunting was an activity one was never really done with. Even though the morning was spend hunting a deer for a reason or two, one isn't really done with the job. After all, there are many more wild animals out in the open, and if there would ever be a time when there will be none anymore, the whole world will have a big problem. No, hunting can only be postponed to a later date, or simply stopped on for the time being. The hunters as a whole were responsible of bringing the more meaty food back in the city, but even they had a life other than following animals around all day. As was Kos, this moment. The oddly looking man with long, black hair on one side, which was completely shaved on the right side. His hair was covering his left eye, with only the left one revealed, and the green opticle looking around the woods for anything out of the ordinary. The somewhat rugged man had a halberd strapped on his back, and was currently sitting down on a rock, which served as a chair. His left hand was wrapped around in metal, as his rebrace and wambrace made his arm thicker, making it somewhat odd to look at underneath the black coat he wore. His hand was rose up, dragging his weapon from the straps and onto his lap. The man's leathery mask which coverest most of his lower face was pressed against his chest, as he looked down. With great care and attention, his fingers trailed over the metalic head of his weapon, testing the sharpness of the tool at hand, pressing some force against the axe-head. He really didn't pay much attention to the surroundings, but he knew he was close enough to the street to feel somewhat safe. His body was turned towards the direction of Syliras, knowing it was less than an hour of walking back to the city. His hunting in the afternoon wasn't exactly succesful, and he was just returning. But the idea of a break seemed like a good one. Not that he was tired, but more the fact he was in no hurry. At times like this, keeping away from the crowds and the loud noises of the town was an important thing to do sometimes. He disliked it. He was never good with people, and because of that he enjoyed these silent moments. It left his mind roam free of any other problem he had in the city. Enjoying the moment and forgetting about the bad of the world. In his world, there was no one to call him out. In there, he was the strong and powerful man he always wanted to be. Even though suffering defeat and defeat, over and over again he still had hope. Hope that one day, he'll show everyone who humiliated him. With that, he slowly stood himself up. Both of his hands reached down to his weapon, fingers wrapping around the wooden shaft. His eyes closed, and he took a deep breath. If he wanted to fight, he needed to get everything else out of his mind. Clearing his mind, and starting as a blank slate. Imagining only his weapon, and keeping track of his breathing. He didn't do something like this usually. Because he was simply too hectic and in a rush. But fighting isn't simply about flailing a weapon around. He needed to learn the finesse. The details. With every swing, he needed to be aware of where his weapon is, and how it curves through the wind. His left foot pressed against the ground, shifting his weight to that leg, letting the tip of his right foot trail over the ground, drawing a circle in the thin layer of snow. His whole body shifted to the left, and once somewhere half-way, his hands swung his weapon, letting it cut through the air without really openning his eyes. He had the reach. He had the chance. All he needed was time to adapt.

[Claudia Blackwood]

34th of Winter 514 AV

Hunting was not something she did very often. Contrary to that fact, Claudia actually enjoyed hunting. Besides helping out her father in his smith, and carrying out her own training to be a squire, it left her with hardly any time to do much else.

So she took every opportunity she had to make the trip back to the woods, hunting to her heart's content. This was the first time this winter she had been to the woods, and she intended to make it count.

And here she was at last, deep in the Bronze Woods of the Cobalt Mountains, hunting game, and with not a soul in sight, this trip was proving to be futile real quick. All things considered, it felt refreshing from the hustle and bustle of the city, with only the sounds of nature for company. The fresh mountain air, reinvigorated her senses and gave her a sense of freedom she could never feel in the city.

Sitting down on the stump of a fallen tree, Claudia took several chimes to appreciate the icy white forest landscape one would only find in winter. Removing her longbow from her back, she started to nock an arrow on her bow. With the longbow primed and ready, she moved on, starting the hunt for anything she could possibly find this winter.

Swiveling her head from side to side, she surveyed her surroundings. There wasn't much to look at, really. White dominated the landscape. The bleak icy landscape, seemed a far cry from what it used to look like in the warmer periods, some trees devoid of leaves, while others had managed to retain their leaves, but were sagging under a layer of freshly fallen snow.

There were no life that she could spot, so she moved on, treading slowly on the snowy frozen ground, her fingers remained gripped on her bow and arrow as she moved deeper into the forest ready for whatever lied ahead.

[Clemens Kos]

In complete silence, the mind can sometimes play games, and causing you to hear something that wasn't exactly there. Be it the lack of actual sound, or simply the imagination turning vivid. But Kos had a feeling he heard steps. As his eyes open, and the green orbs glanced around him he saw nothing, and he wondered if what he heard was actually there. After all, he saw enough lunatics and bandits walking around the wood for his exploration to warrant caution. After all, dying was something that was never a good idea to do. His inner turmoil was shown, when he began to think about following the supposing footsteps, or simply letting them be. He wasn't really that curious to begin with, and he shouldn't be if he wanted to stay but something still drew him into the unknown. The man's teeth were pressed against his lip as he bit down onto it, thinking about all the worst things that could happen should he decide to follow the sound. Even trying to explain the situation as just wind, it simply did not make the cut for the masked man. A sigh escaped as he finally rose to his feet. His mind was made up, and now he's going to follow his gut. The footsteps, as he heard them, were coming not that far away from him, yet deeper in the forest behind him. Dusting his worn black coat off to remove any unneeded snow, he turned around on his heels and decided to investigate. But his mind was already made up to not go too far away, simply because he had no real intentions of walking in the woods once night time comes. With his weapon in his hands, he began to walk forward, his leather boots connecting with the snow-covered foilage and twigs beneath. Wasn't difficult to find fresh footsteps after he got on the same path. Kneeling down, Kos tried to see the size of said print and what he could learn from it. He wasn't really all that good with tracking, but recognising the size wasn't really that hard. It wasn't an animal, for the print was too big and only a pair was seen. So it was probably a human. Or well, a humanoid of whatever race that goes to Syliras. Looking around, he only found that pair. So at least they were alone, and the actual risk of an ambush was slimmer because of it. Picking himself back up on his feet, he began to follow the footprints. It seemed like the most reasonable thing to guess was he was following a hunter. Or a bandit trying to look for something to eat. He should be careful approaching whatever it was that walked around, simply because his own apperance could scare someone just as easily as Kos himself could be intimidated. So the approach was the most important start. If he'd show himself as someone weak the person could take advantage of that, so Kos was ready to step us his game of pretend if it meant not getting hurt. For now, however, he simply decided to stay silent and follow the tracks, looking up to see if anything interesting comes his way.

[Claudia Blackwood]

Trekking through the forest as lightly as she could, Claudia kept her eyes alert by scanning the desolate landscape laid out in front of her. Silence and patience were of utmost important when tracking a prey. That she had learnt herself from past mistakes. When she first started hunting, her untrained jerky movements achieved nothing except scaring away any potential target.

Another thing she had learnt was to check for the direction of the wind, by using finger moistened with water, and lifting it up in the air, and feeling for the direction it was blowing from. The woods were a far cry from what the place was normally like in its warmer periods. It seemed to have lost a certain type of essence one would find when they visited the woods during its lively periods of spring or summer.

Gone were the diverse flowers of multiple colours, the plethora of varied fruit and vegetable bearing flora. The assorted fauna wandering through the heavily shaded trees, leaving their marks and calls echoing through the woods.

The bleak forest now carried an aura of eerie silence about it, further emphasied by the overstretching tree branches, devoid of any leaves. The feeling was not one she fancied. Claudia settled down low, keeping her eyes ready, twin dark green orbs scanning her immediate environment. Her dilligence was duly rewarded when she spotted her prey wandering into sight a short distance ahead.

A lone stag foraging in the ground, its muzzle frantically digging on the icy snow-covered ground, hoping to find any sustenance. Lowering herself down to a crouch, she covered the distance between her and her target.

When Claudia decided she could go no further, she got down on her knees. Stretching her left arm to pull back the bowstring with the nocked arrow, she prepared to fire, taking in a deep breath, before counting to three before firing. The arrow landed right where she wanted it too. And for one, she was glad that her regular archery practice kept her aim true.

Claudia wasn't worried, as the deer wouldn't go far, not with the arrow lodged right in its vitals. Getting up from her position, she made her move forward, tracking down her target.

[Clemens Kos]

It wasn't long till Kos found the owner of the footprints he followed. The covered body was found in a kneeling position, armed with a bow. Luckily, it didn't look like it was military grade, but more of a hunting instrument. So after all, he found himself another hunter in these woods, which wasn't really too suprising. It happens sometimes that two meet up, and it is not exactly a problem until they begin to argue about who's game it actually was. The two main excuses to bring one home was either seeing it first, or killing it first. often, the one that deliver the killing blow is the one to win such an argument. Then again, Kos himself wasn't exactly here to argue, because he neither saw, nor shot the animal that released a pained groan, watching the foilage move and twist as it limped away. if not else, he needed to commend on the hit of the other hunter, which was clean enough to be acknowledged. Then again, releasing the arrow of a bow left the other hunter in quite a disadvantage should she choose to be hostile. With his weapon already drawn, and hers needing time to be reloaded he felt comfortable enough finally making himself visible, and test the waters of weither he met a citizen, or a bandit. Stopping his sneakily placed steps infront of him, he pressed his leather boots tightly against the ground, releasing the faintest of thuds, before slamming the butt of the halberd into the ground besides him, taking on a guarding pose without being actually armed and pointing the weapon forward. It would signal to the other hunter he wasn't exactly here to start a fight, or at least for now stay clear of any combat. Then again, even with such a stance he still looked kind of shady, so with that in mind the man spoke out. His voice was muffed due to the leather infront of his face, but he still tried to be as clean and audiable as posible. "Nice shot." Was the first thing that came to his mind, his head motioning to the blood trail visible in the white, ran through snow. it's crimson trail leading somewhat deeper into the woods, before the animal hit finally succumbed to it's wounds. With the amount of groaning and panting Kos knew it was just a matter of time. Where some hunters frowned upon that, the masked man himself found odd satisfaction in listening to such a scene unfold. Quite wierd to others, he figured, so that was one thing he kept quiet to himself. The tip of his tongue going to faintly wetten his lips, as he felt the odd cold draining them. So what should he do now. He wainted for a reaction of the woman first and foremost. He wouldn't really mind if the other hunter simply shrugged and went away, as that would probably be something he'd do himself if in a bad mood. But the justification of the approach was easy. Better to find a potential thread first, than letting them get the first move. Specially armed with a bow Kos didn't feel like fighting with that unless it needed to be reloaded. The range was far bigger than anything he could get with his halberd, and a good hit would easily be fatal. Thus, he'd be removing any thread if he got the first move. With that, his head nodded and finally spoke out once more, his one green eye begin focused on the other person. "Don't get too shocked, though. Not here to cause any trouble." He needed to add that. He got a lot of responses to warrant such an explanation before it came up. If the woman wasn't a bandit, there was a chance of his apperance not being the most appealing.

[Claudia Blackwood]

As she got up from her crouched position, Claudia was about to take a step forward, when she heard a "THUD" followed by a muffled male voice from her back. The words were "Nice shot." Her hairs standing on edge, frightened by the sudden intrusion. Whipped her head around, dual green orbs scanned the immediate environment before locking on to a male figure standing a short distance away from her, narrowing as she took in his appearance.

He was a tall young man, with messy dark hair parted on one side of his head, completely shaved on the other. She spotted a lone green eye, uncovered by his long draping hair, and it seemed to be staring at casually, yet she could tell that this was merely a facade for something deeper. He carried a halberd in one arm, its butt of its haft planted firmly on the ground, assuming a guarding pose, possibly to appear non-threatening.

What that could possibly mean, she did not yet know. From what she could see, the man's nose seemed out of place, possibly broken several times in the past. Covering his mouth was a brown leather mask, which he probably wore either to disguise himself.

Judging from his non-aggressive stance, he didn't seemed to be here for combat. But judging from his dressing, he looked like a bandit. "Anything can happen at anytime. It is always important to be on your guard." Her father had reiterated that phrase to her, time and time again, and made her commit that to memory.

A light breeze went by, sending several stray strands of hair into her face. Swiping them clear of her face, it was then that she finally spoke."Thank you. It's mine though. I killed it." The man followed by saying "Don't get shocked, though. Not here to cause any trouble." She flashed him her beautiful smile that she was known so well for. Of course you aren't. She thought to herself.

After a brief pause, she continued "Who are you? What are you doing around these parts in Winter?"

[Clemens Kos]

The man's fingers tighten firmly around the shaft of his weapon, as he watched the person react to his entrance like many so far have. Eyes filled with fear and uncertainty. He didn't really feel to good about himself because of that, however, as he knew it was a simple human reaction to preserve one self. He rather tried to decipher the person that he walked on, trying to see any recognisable features alongside her facial expression. No luck came out of it though, with the woman seeming quite unknown. He needed to commend her on playing it out so smooth. Kos sometimes robbed the people of any bright words for a few moments of seeing him due to his oddnes but shock aside she didn't seem too phased. Slowly, his free left hand was lifted up, running his finger against the base of his nose in a scratching manner, seemingly the oddly shaped bone he had on his face didn't fully heal just yet. Be it as it is, the man felt somewhat humored at the fact the woman had to call out her prey even with him not showing any interest in it. Slowly, he shook his head as his hand fell back down to his sides, fingers outstreched and pointing down towards the ground. With a faked cough to get the woman's attention he spoke out. "If I wanted to take it that badly, I don't think I would approach you like this." His words should of sound like a threat due to the wording, but his tone was kept at a casual level, without sounding too harsh or rough. His one eye observing the woman, thinking if he simply imagined or did he just earned a smile from the other hunter. Quite an odd thing to consider, simply because Kos wasn't known to have that happen to him usually. The masked man didn't exactly pay it too much attention though, as he rather listened to her next two questions at hand. He blinked his revealed eye at them, feeling those to be quite odd. Kos didn't fully understand why he shouldn't be in 'these parts', as the woman herself was walking around and hunting in the same 'parts' to begin with. He stayed silent for a moment and just watched her, trying to call her out on the odd nature of her question. With his lips parting, the same slightly muffed voice came out, without a change on his tone or anything. "The same thing everyone would be doing here. Probably the same reason you are here, if not someone else." Were the words he went by, trying not to sound sarcastic or insultive, even though some of it might sip through his mental filter. "Was out hunting, heard some footsteps and found you." Hunting sounded way better than telling her he was just being lazy and sitting on a chair. Not that she'd know any difference, and it would leave him with some credibility. "Can't say I had any luck, but that's to be expected. Winter is rough for all of us." Before motioning to the downed stag in the distance. "That is unless one gets a lucky find."

[Claudia Blackwood]

The scruffy looking man remarked that if he wanted to steal her prey, he would have done so already. Still it had to be said. One could never know. Claudia spoke "I've met all kinds of people in the woods, and there had been several times where I had to fight tooth and nail for my work." The woods were safe, but only to a certain extent. Drop your guard, and you could well, possibly lose your life at any moment, especially when one was as alone as herself.

"Except that everyone is not here." Cocking an eyebrow at him, Claudia pursed her lips at the man before continuing "You and that dead deer over there were the only signs of life I've detected the whole time I was here. Hunters don't normally hunt in winter. They would wait for the leaves to grow, the flowers to bloom and for the animals to emerge from their habitats, roaming the forests once more, before resuming their trips."

The man then went on about how he was out hunting, and hearing footsteps, he followed in her wake. It was then that Claudia stepped forward, walking casually, her recently made longsword clinking in its scabbard as she closed the distance between her and the young man.

With the reduced distance, she could now see man's appearance properly up close. His appearance may have made him looks rough and uncultured, but she was suspecting that there may possibly be more than meets-the-eye when it comes to this lad here standing in front of her.

Her fears were temporarily allayed for the moment, as she could sense that he meant no harm, yet. Walking of to his left, she circled around the guy, before returning back to the her initial position, right in front of the man.

Sticking her head out a tad, she narrowed her sparkling green eyes, a shade as deep as fields of endless green, as she asked "Are you from Syliras? What's your name? Who are you? I feel like I've seen you before somewhere."

"You can call me Claudia."

[Clemens Kos]

The man listened to her explanation, which caused his own head to shake to the side, almost as if rejecting her words all together. Of course most hunters stayed in their warms homes during the winter, but there were some unlucky sods, like Kos himself, who didn't exactly earn enough during the other seasons. Specially with him simply starting this profession, he would need a lot more time to become good. And once that would be done, he would also get to slack off in the winter, enjoying the fruits of his labors. But for that, he also needed a house. Which in return also required gold. As it stood, he'll need a lot of time before he'll get to lazily lie around in bed for more then just a day. Not that he was actively looking forward to it. The weight of his weapon on his shoulders was all the motivation he needed to actually get going, and after a horrible experience waking up, he has no more complaints. "Not all have that kind of luxury." were the words Kos decided to go by. He wasn't really aiming to explain his life's trouble to this person he didn't even know a minute ago, but lying too much usually left a hole behind which one can easily fall into if not careful enough. Nothing would come of harm if he at least tried to make the few words he spoke out honest. Be it as it is, the man did indeed tense up as he saw the woman walk closer. His free hand's fingers coiled into a fist, and the grip around his halberd turned into iron. His one revealed green eye closely followed the woman which was getting closer and closer, taking in every inch of the advancing human. If that would be any other time, where the risk of a sword inside his gut wasn't this strong, he might of even looked at the more womanly features more carefully, but as it stood then, his eyes were focused on the woman's sword hand and her eyes, trying to decipher whatever it was she was on to. It didn't seem like she wanted to cause any harm, but the dreaded feeling as she vanished from his field of view was still there, haunting him. She picked the one side of his which was covered with his hair, and that made it somewhat difficult to track her as she was gone. He still heard the footsteps, however, and those didn't change the rhytm and thus at least for the moment, told Kos he wasn't going to get attacked just yet. A silent sigh followed him as he finally saw her coming around his back, in the right corner of his eye. Now, her standing so close wasn't exactly that bad. After all it was miles better than keeping her behind him, and out of view. Slowly, she began to ask questions. And the oddity that was Kos never liked answering questions. His own mentality could quickly make people look at him in the wrong light, so he needed to think about an answer to reply without insulting his conversation partner. But he really knew nothing of this person, nor what she would like to hear. He was left guessing. But lucky enough, Kos was asked really generic questions, which rarely caused any controversy. He kept his posture, with his back arched up, standing there in all his size. Weapon in hand. He still felt an advantage with the two, due to the fact she would still need to draw his weapon. So for now he doubted the woman was looking for a fight. That however didn't let him drop his guard. He learned quite fast that underastimating your oponnent can easily leave you on the ground and bleeding. "I am. You can call me Kos. And I have no clue what you want me to answer with such a question. I am who you see infront of you. As for seeing me, I doubt you can miss me walking around. People tend to move to the side." He tried to answer as short as he could, but the last question was simply too much. Be it as it is, he learned the name of the human girl infront of him. He pasued for a moment, before simply shrugging and speaking out. "I never liked questions. But I guess I can still say hello, huh."

[Claudia Blackwood]

The man in front of her,"Kos"introduced himself to her mentioning that not all hunters have the luxury of choosing when to hunt. Thinking over what he said, she realised that what he said made complete sense.

She just thought him to be a professional hunter, and those usually have more freedom on when they carry out their hunting trips. Maybe, he was like her, who could only afford the occasional visits to the woods. Or maybe, he had even worst luck than her, and could never find any prey on his hunting trips, so he had to make more trips in order to catch anything worthwhile to use or sell.

Taking those in consideration, she decided to drop that particular matter and turn her view onto others. She narrowed her eyes and gestured towards the mask he wore asking him "Why are you wearing that mask? Do you have something to hide, or perhaps you are a bandit in disguise.. or might you be a criminal? Anyway it matters not."

Now that the two of them were in relatively close distance, and Claudia had determined that neither of them would want a conflict, she hoped Kos wouldn't feel so threatened as before. She would think that he had no reason to be, but his reasons were his own.

She had no desire to start a fight, and judging from her intuition, from the way he behaved and his lack of action, neither did he, though she was sure that he was more than ready to, if the circumstances prove it needed.

Claudia removed the brown cotton cloak that she had been wearing, revealing her chocolate brown hair falling down her shoulders. Her luscious hair framed her beautifully shaped face, which only seemed to emphasise her piercing green eyes even more. She then proceeded to drape her cloak over her right shoulder. Beneath the cloak, Claudia was dressed in a worn but clean white tunic, accompanied by a brown pants.

She saw his grip on his halberd tightening, as he seemed to get more anxious. But it would not get to that stage. She meant no harm. Sensing no imminent threat, her friendly personality that loved having new friends kicked in. Claudia wanted to be friends with Kos. Raising her hand out for a handshake, she said "Its nice to meet you Kos!" and thereafter she gestured,

"I'm not hostile, nor am I planning to fight, you can loosen up. I'm not afraid of you or how you look if that's what you're wondering. Shall we be friends?"