Hunting the Beast

by **Verilian** on March 24th, 2015, 1:33 am

Timestamp: 44th of Spring, 515 AV

The hunt was on, and groups were forming to seek out whatever beast was roaming the Sanikas Road, be it bear or some other threat, and take it down. Their group was not the only such group, of course, but Turrin, Brandon, Zhol, Azira, and Khara had all been paired together as part of a hunting party, to take down the threat if they could, but also to bring back anything else worth bringing back. As always, providing food for the city was of the utmost importance, and bear or no bear, they had a job to do. Killing the mad beast that was slaughtering innocent passerbys was of course a plus, and there were few hunters or endal in Wind Reach who wouldn't love the opportunity to claim the beast's head as their own personal trophy.

Turrin's hunting party was supposed to meet a few miles down the Sanikas road from the base of the mountain. Whether he chose to fly them down himself, or make them all walk, was entirely up to the Endal in question of course, but regardless, that was where they were to meet, at first light. A long and dark walk for those who had to walk, but it was nothing particularly unusual for hunting parties.

The last sighting of the bear, or whatever it was, had been by a pair of chiet game scouts who had seen the creature from afar. One of them, according to what Khara would have heard among her fellow scouts, had been certain it was a bear, though the largest she'd ever seen. Of course, most doubted she had ever seen a live bear anyway. The other scout, an older man with some experience under his belt seemed unsure that it was a bear at all. Large? Yes. But that had not gotten a close look at it, only having seen it from afar, and in the early morning hours when the sun was known to play tricks on the eyes. That wasn't the reason he felt uncertain however. It was only chance that Khara overheard the conversation the man was having with another of the older scouts, but heard it she did.

"I swear I've never seen anything like it. If it was a bear it was big as I've ever seen, but the way it moved.. unnatural. Like maybe it was injured, but we didn't see any blood when we crossed it's trail and.. well, it didn't make any of the normal noises a bear might make. But the weirdest part.. it just felt wrong. I can't describe it, but looking at that thing, I felt a shiver go down my spine and it unsettled me like nothing else ever has."

There wasn't much more information than that, from any source, to be had on the bear. The scouts said they were unsure of the exact location of where they sighted the bear. When pressed, both confessed that they were to shaken and in a hurry to get away to remember exactly where it had been. Half way between Wind Reach and Thunder Bay? They weren't sure. Less than half a bell from the road, they knew that much, for they quickly came upon the road when they fled the creature, but beyond that, they had no idea. Anyone who wanted to hunt the beast would have to find it on their own, and so that was the mission assigned Azira, Brandon, Khara, Zhol, and Turrin, along with other hunting parties going out at various times on other days. Eventually the beast would be found.

by **Turrin** on March 24th, 2015, 2:52 pm

By nature, Turrin was a early morning person, so the walk to the Sanikas Gates just felt like a typical morning for him. The endal already told Aponivi to go head of him when Syna started to peak her head over the horizon, so unlike Turrin the wind eagle got to sleep in a couple hours this morning. After getting his personal gear together, Turrin made sure that he ate a hearty breakfast and filled his skin with fresh water. Before he left the endal made sure that all his outdoor survival gear was in Aponivi's saddle bags like his tent, splitting ax, extra arrows, and other miscellaneous items that he didn't want to carry when he was walking to the meet up point. However, Turrin wasn't your typical endal because the half breed believed in armor, so he was dressed from head to toe in his camouflage armor. On his back, the endal carried secured with quiver filled ten brown feathered hunting arrows and ten calico feathered broad tipped arrows. When Turrin was finished securing his quiver, the endal immediately started to securing his talon sword with scabbard, kukri with scabbard, and throwing ax to his belt. Lastly, he put the last piece of armor on his camouflage helmet and decided carry his short bow.

Turrin knew that he looked like a walking arsenal, but the Beast was killing travelers along the Sanikas road for awhile now. If he was going to walk the road alone to the meet up point, it was best to be prepared for anything. As the myrian walked to Sanikas Gates, some of hunters who recognized him as a endal gave him strange looks as he waited in line to pass through. The myrian just gave them a nod if they stared to long and waited his turn. When he made it to Val Imsun, the old man looked at half-breed and said in common with a clever smirk on his wrinkled face, “Did you and your wind eagle get into a fight, Endal.”

Turrin wouldn't have tolerated the teasing from a lower caste that he barely knew, but Val Imsun was a former endal and elder too, so the myrian gave him the respect that he deserved and replied back in common, “I heard there was bounty for a really big beast on Sanikas road. I thought that I take a look...” Turrin looked at the gate keeper and said, “No, I needed to stretch my legs. Aponivi going to fly the rest of my gear to the meet up point while I make sure the road is safe enough for the rest of my hunting party.”

Val seemed to completely understand what the endal was talking about and said, “I understand, Endal. You keep safe and happy hunting...”

When Turrin walked out of the gate, the endal was immediately hit with a bone chilling air. The myrian knew that it would be cold in the morning, but it will eventually warm up as Syna got higher in the sky. The endal was lucky that the Leth was still up in the sky, so the morning wouldn't seem as dark as it would be if it was cloudy. Mostly the trip was uneventful accept for predictable morning song of the birds, but he did see a few mountain goats grazing in the natural pastures. If he wasn't supposed to be somewhere, he would have shot one of the large males with magnificent set of horns. However, he was needed elsewhere, so he walked by them disappointed. As Syna started to peek her head over the horizon, Turrin noticed the birds started to get louder and louder as time passed. He knew the endals and their wind eagles not assigned to hunt “the Beast” were probably getting ready to leave about this time too. The myrian looked up at Syna and noticed that the goddess blessed the sky with beautiful array of colors and with a spattering of clouds here and there. The sky almost looked like a painting. Turrin started to hear the loud squawks for the wind eagles filling the valleys as they started to fill the skies around the mountain for there day of hunting.

Suddenly, the half-breed heard a large wind eagle squawk behind, and the endal turned around to see large a white headed wind eagle flying towards him. When Turrin thought Aponivi was going to snatch him up in his large talons, the wind eagle pulled up at the last minute. The endal realized that wind eagle was messing with him because he was about fifteen feet above Turrin before he lifted up into the air. The myrian could only wave at the wind eagle before the eagle was out of range. A bell later, the endal saw Aponivi sitting on the ground at the meet up point. Aponivi turned his giant head to look at Turrin as he approached and contacted the endal, I was attempted to come look for you if you took any longer, Turrin. I was hoping that you would be eaten by the “Beast”, so I could have finally replaced you with much prettier Inarta woman as my rider.

When he arrived at the meet-up point, Turrin had to admit that his legs hurt from the walk, but he shot the wind eagle a hurt look and said out loud in common to the wind eagle, “Hey! I have been told by many woman that I am somewhat attractive, so you are stuck with me! You over-sized chicken!”

The wind eagle stood up, let out a loud squawk at the endal, flapped his massive wings, and said countered with his beak open, I haven't eaten yet, Myrian, so do not tempt me. Otherwise you might be my breakfast!

Turrin accepted the wind eagles challenge, held out his arms, and stated loudly to the wind eagle, “You have threatened to eat me for seven years, so here is your chance! I just hope I give you a foul stomach, Aponivi!" The endal had his back turned to the road leading up to Wind Reach, so he no clue if anyone was approaching from the city.

by **Zhol** on March 26th, 2015, 1:26 am

.
.
..

.
They were late.

Well no, that wasn't true. Zhol and Khara had been exactly on time, as had Azira; but the final member of their group, Brandon, had been nowhere to be seen. Displaying her legendary tolerance and patience as always, Azira had refused to wait for him. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She had waited, for a few chimes at least, which by Azira standards was actually uncharacteristically good natured of her. But then she'd strode off down the Sanikas Road, determined not to keep the Endal waiting any longer than necessary; and had left Zhol and Khara to wait for the errant bat.

The Endal. Quite the mismatched band that had been pulled together for this little band. With the exception of Khara, who Azira seemed to at the very least tolerate, and perhaps marginally respect for her skills, Azira seemed to hate pretty much everyone. She definitely hated Zhol - though there was a fledgeling hope that their fight against the cave abomination might have softened her opinion of his uselessness a little - and the horse boy was pretty sure he remembered some sort of story involving Azira throwing things at the outsider Endal, though admittedly that might just have been rumour: surely, not even Azira was that foolish, was she?

Then there was Brandon. He wasn't sure if the huntress and the kelvic had met, but this was Brandon: of course she'd find him infuriating; no sane person wouldn't. They were a disaster waiting to happen; a pile of dry tinder beside a naked flame. It was only a matter of time before things went disastrously wrong.

Zhol wasn't normally the sort of person to put his faith in superstition and that sort of nonsense. He believed himself too small and insignificant to be worthy of the attention of the gods: he didn't expect Ovek to adjust the odds in his favour; didn't expect gifts of divine inspiration or wisdom; they had better things to worry about, more important mortals who were far more deserving of their time and attention. He prayed for others, of course: no matter how unlikely he thought the gods were to respond, the people he loved were worth the effort; worth the attempt.

Right now though, he couldn't help wondering which deity he'd irked to cause this particularly undesirable situation; he might even have asked to move to a different group, were it not for his utter need to be there to keep Khara safe. Of course, then there was keeping Brandon out of trouble, and keeping him safe to spare Drusilla the sadness of losing part of her web. Azira fell under that distinction too; and she was one of the only huntresses who left Khara feeling like she was actually worth something. And then Turrin: another of Drusilla's brothers; another of a higher caste who'd shown kindness to Khara.

Petch, he grudgingly mused. He'd have to look out for all of them.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to Khara, his hand tightening ever so slightly around hers, her dainty digits threaded between his fingers. "I know you're worried about me being here, but everything will be fine. I can handle myself, I've been practising, and besides -"

He gently brought their hands to his lips, bowing enough to place a gentle kiss on the back of her hand, before using his fingers to point towards the sky. "- not a cloud in the sky. Remember what happened the last time we did this? As long as it doesn't rain, we'll be perfectly fine."

Zhol had been thinking of their encounter with the cave monster, trying to point out that they would still have the advantage of his reimancy unless the heavens opened; but his mind strayed to the other, more recent last time: to their expedition into the Unforgiving, the torrential shower of rain, their efforts to stay warm and get dry; his cheeks immediately began to turn red.

by **Khara** on March 26th, 2015, 3:04 am

Being entirely nervous was almost a natural state for the game scout but there were situations that seemed rather potent in their ability to threaten to turn those hesitations and worries into full blown anxiety that made just about every part of her hurt. This entire situation wasn't quite to that point, but it was getting there in rapid order.

While the conversation she had overheard was enough to make it feel like her blood had been replaced with ice and brought to mind all too quickly the monstrosity whose hulking mass still lurked at the edges of nightmares, it was the fellow members of the hunting party that brought on this particular disquiet. There were too many unknowns about all of them; how would Turrin act on a hunt when he was not in a mind to be so casual, what sort of awkwardness would be between her and Azira after the huntress had entirely stopped calling upon her just as Khara had - even if only in her thoughts - begun to consider the Avora a friend; how would Brandon act in a situation like this when deference to the upper castes was practically demanded of you; and lastly, how she was going to end up acting around Zhol as she tried to treat him with the respect that would be expected of her by the others while still letting he and she still be them. It was too much to worry about and worse, too many distractions when her head really needed to be worried about some sort of unseemly huge wrong bear-like... Thing.

Zhol's reassurances weren't for naught, though, and for an instant she was glad she had stayed behind with him to wait on the Kelvic rather than rushing along with Azira to try and avoid the Endal's ire. It delayed the inevitable shift in how she would have to treat him just for a few more chimes. Her fingers tightened around Zhol's as a glance was cast upwards, first catching and holding the horse boy's gaze before a fleeting look was given to Syna.

"I wish She could simply tell us where the bear is," Khara winced slightly against the bright light before looking back to Zhol. "But then I think there would be no need for me."

She managed a smile despite not really sure if she meant what she had said. If it had just been Azira and Zhol and Brandon, maybe she would have felt more certain of her place within the group, would know exactly what her role was. With Turrin though, Khara had no idea how the Endal's skills in tracking were and only the foolish would think themselves better than an Eagle Rider in anything.

As the trio of stragglers continued to head down the road, Khara nudged Zhol's arm with her own just slightly before she looked over at Brandon and a small frown formed on her lips. The bat was certainly going to press his luck with the upper castes if he kept this up. "Though if we don't hurry, I think maybe Endal Turrin and Azira won't wait to make use of any of us."

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

by **Brandon Blackwing** on March 26th, 2015, 4:21 pm

Brandon wasn't rushing to get to the gate, he didn't feel the need to hurry, even though he did realize he was probably running a bit late. It couldn't be helped, he'd needed some time to get the belts in place, and now that he had, he was overly conscious of them. On the latest market day, Brandon had bought a bit of necessary equipment; a couple belts, a pouch, and two daggers. He hadn't really realized how much he actually missed the possessions he had left behind in Lhavit. Of course, he had never once stopped wishing he had at least brought his scarf with him, but the other objects were on his mind too. His daggers, his skyglass orb, his lock picking gear,... Unarmed combat teacher or not, he was strangely comforted by the feel of a dagger on his body. Perhaps because it allowed him to block weapons instead of having to dodge them, or perhaps because he could inflict bloody wounds with it. He didn't know, but in any case, the steel reassured him.

Of course, Brandon had chosen to conceal his weaponry from the rest of the world. And even though there wasn't much to conceal his blades with, he found he had done it masterfully. It was not without reason the bat had bought five belts; one long and the others short. Two of the short ones kept one dagger attached to his lower leg. His boots ended halfway his lower leg and was quite suited for obscuring the weapon, Brandon had found, and he was right. True, he wasn't yet used to the feel of it being strapped to his leg, but it hardly mattered, it was invisible and in time of need he could draw it. Of course, that dagger was his back -up, he had another at the ready in a better accessible spot.

That was why there were four shorter belts and not two. The other dagger was strapped to his thigh, under his pants, on the opposite side of the other dagger, for balance. To be able to seemingly conjure it up from thin air, the bat had cut a hole in his pocket, thus being able to reach actually inside his pants from the pocket and draw his blade. Clever and easy to grab, he liked it that way. That had consumed some time, especially so because Brandon had felt as if it sat wrong against his skin and had redone it a couple times, but to no avail. The last of his belts went around his waist of course, and on the belt there was a single pouch where Brandon kept his makeshift larceny tools. Having them with him also made him feel somewhat safer, if only because he knew he could open just about any lock with them if he needed to -though it would take a bit longer since they were not ideal tools.

Once ready, Brandon had set course for the gates, his stealthy footsteps growing even more quiet once he reached it and heard Zhol making use of the bat's tardiness to flirt with Khara a bit. Or at least trying to make her feel a bit more comfortable. Sneaking up on people had always been some sort of bad habit, one he had developed by picking lots and lots of pockets, and he had noticed he couldn't help it, even though he did his best not to steal anything anymore. Well, unless he needed some money, or when his arms acted on their own. Truly, it was hard to stop what he'd been doing for almost two years. Bump into someone? Take their wallet. Meeting someone but they have their back turned towards you? Sneak up on them. More often than not he startled people by doing the latter, but he didn't really mind. He found their reactions funny, and he wasn't really planning on destroying what he had built up during the years. His habits were there to stay, period.

“You're selling yourself short, Khara,” the bat spoke suddenly, finding own his choice of words amusing -the Inarta were short after all- “besides, if Syna would just tell us where the bear was, it wouldn't be fun.” Fun, was maybe not the right word for this, certainly not since the bear had been going around killing people, but still. Fun was the only reason Brandon was here; hunting a dangerous beast was probably one of the more exciting events he'd experience here, and he hadn't seen a bear in years. He was looking forward to it. “Say, weren't there supposed to be four of us?” As they started walking however, Brandon realized the last member of their party had probably gone ahead. Well, no matter, that meant he'd meet two new people at once. One of them an Endal, the bat couldn't say he was looking forward to that. As far as he was concerned, anyone but the eagle rider was useful for sure, the Endal being a wildcard. Sure, the eagle would be helpful, but the rider? Well, the Kelvic mused, If not, we can still use him as a distraction.

Secret :

Credit goes to Cylos Marn

by **Azira** on March 28th, 2015, 9:35 pm

Whoever this other fellow in their hunting party was, Azira disliked him already. There was nothing she hated more than people who couldn't arrive at a rendezvous on time. Most people were willing to accept a few chimes over an appointed time but not the huntress. For her, every extra chime would lead to the agony of impatiently waiting and allow her annoyance to build. After a wait like that she always expected a damn good excuse.

She hadn't been able to stomach waiting around this time though. A group of them had been assigned to hunt this infamous Beast, which had been killing travellers along the Sanikas Road, and so she hadn't had to wait alone for the final member. Khara was someone that she could put up with, someone whose skill and way of thinking that she could respect. It was her choice of lover she couldn't bring herself to approve. It turned her stomach to see Zhol and Khara together and much to her chagrin, she had plenty of opportunity to be sickened as the horse boy had turned up to hunt with them. She couldn't deny that he could be of some use to them, if they needed to hurl fire at something, but she still considered it completely unnecessary for him to be with them. They would have been much better off with another hunter or scout in her opinion but she hadn't a choice in the matter or Azira would have made her thoughts known. There were only two other members of their party, the guy they were standing around waiting for and Turrin, who they were to meet further down the Sanikas Road. That meant that she was alone with Zhol and Khara with nothing to dilute their obvious affection for one another. She could feel it ebbing off them and she just couldn't handle it.

She had no fondness for Turrin but she'd take hurrying on ahead to meet the crazy Endal over remaining alone with the lovebirds. She made an excuse about not wanting to keep the eagle rider waiting before setting off and not a moment too soon.

Starting her trip down the mountain alone helped her mood. The teen didn't have to control herself and didn't have to consider how others would view her. She quickly came to believe that this was just an ordinary hunt, just her and the surrounding forests. The Avora could almost believe that there would be nothing waiting for her at the end of the road but prey. She was prepared as if it was a normal hunt anyway. She'd ensured that she had had a hearty breakfast to keep her strength up, had brought rations with her to last her a few days, traps, rope, a knife as well as her short bow and a full complement of arrows. She was ready for anything she might run up against outside of the city and she should even be able to take care of herself if she ended up being separated from the others and unable to get back to Wind Reach. It was an unlikely event but at least she could trust in herself and her supplies. She couldn't be as certain about her companions though.

Turrin had probably brought the right supplies but then the man wasn't entirely right in the head so who really knew? Khara would know what to expect of course but she doubted that Zhol had planned sufficiently ahead; he wasn't a hunter after all. Not knowing anything about the last member of the party, Azira couldn't guess how he would fare. There was no guarantee that he was a hunter and apparently you didn't need to be one to be a part of this hunting party if Zhol's presence was anything to go by. You could be more at home with cleaning up after horses and the Valintar would still let you be flung into danger. She hoped that whoever the guy was, he wasn't going to be a liability. More importantly, she hoped he wasn't going to be someone else who got on her nerves. There were already enough nuisances on this trip without adding another.

As she drew nearer the meet up point her thoughts turned to Turrin. They had struck up alliances in the past but they still didn't see eye to eye and so it was difficult to predict how well this trip would turn out. It didn't help that they would be stuck together as they waited for the others to arrive, giving them plenty of time to antagonise one another and sent tempers soaring. Admittedly, the man probably irritated her more than she irritated him but the Endal did have his moments when his temper could get the better of him. She had to hope that the others didn't take too long in catching up to them or else they might arrive after each of them managed to tear the other to pieces. Even if they survived that long, things were bound to get worse once they were all assembled but ideally they could succeed in carrying out their assigned task before any true trouble arose. There was no guarantee that she wouldn't butt heads with someone but as long as it didn't get in the way of anything then what did it matter?

The huntress heard Aponivi before she saw him, a menacing screech coming from the dire raptor that had her jogging to the sound's source. As she drew within sight of the Wind Eagle, she assessed the area quickly in search of the danger that had provoked such an outburst. There was nothing in sight except Aponivi and his rider and she halted in confusion. The two seemed to be having some sort of fight, the half-Myrian screaming at the bird to... eat him? Azira hurried forward again, hoping to intervene before Turrin could be ripped to shreds in front of her. It would be terribly inconvenient if he died after all. As she jogged forward to try to mediate a rapid reconciliation, she yelled ahead of her in an effort to distract them long enough for her to get in range to do something.

"Hey! You're supposed to be trying to kill a bear, not each other!"

Nari | Common

Template courtesy of Khara

by **Verilian** on April 16th, 2015, 12:39 am

By the time Azira reached Turrin, an Brandon Reached the others, Syna's light was spreading over the valley, lighting up the road before and behind them. The birds in the trees began their songs and the creatures of the night gave way to the sounds of the day. Syna probably could have shown Khara exactly where the beast they were hunting was, but that wouldn't make for much of an adventure, and the gods rarely made things so easy for the mortals of the world. No, they would have to find it the old fashioned way, just like anything else they wished to hunt.

It was another bell almost before the entire group had joined together, and the sun was beginning to warm the cool Spring air to more comfortable temperatures. During that time there was no sighting of the bear, or whatever it was, and it was most likely that the beast was somewhere further into the valley. While it had been seen near the road, the creature had yet to venture so close to Wind Reach itself, and that was likely a good thing for the group. It would not do well to be caught unprepared or split up, if the bear was aggressive as the rumors made it out to be. They would soon realize just how lucky they had been.

About half a bell down the road from Turrin and Azira

Zet's belly grumbled as he rolled along down the road, the mountain pony pulling the cart at a steady pace, sure foots even in the uneven light of the early morning. Syna was only just beginning to come into the sky, but Dust, the sturdy gray pony attached to the cart, knew the route well and had no trouble finding her way.

Normally Zet would have waited until after breakfast to start down the road, but he'd wanted to get a head start that morning, so instead he had brought some trail rations and set out before dawn. For a chiet it was a pretty sweet gig, he had to admit. All he had to do was drive back and forth between Wind Reach and Thunder Bay, transporting goods. Zet was a loner and such a job gave home plenty of time to himself, and better yet, her rarely had to deal directly with the upper castes. Usually he transported non-perishables, but sometimes he would have a load of salted meats, and more than once he'd snuck himself a small feast on the road.

His cart was empty that morning however, save for himself and his pack. The rations were in his pack, and when his belly let out a particularly angry grumble he turned around to dig inside it, trusting Dust to steer herself down the familiar path. So it was that when the cart suddenly stopped moving, Zet knew that something was wrong.

"Dust? What's wrong, girl?"

The horse stood frozen in fear, it's ears up and alert. It did not respond to Zets prompts to get it to move, and seemed not to register his voice. The horse was paralyzed with fear. Zet tried the reins, clicking, shouting. Finally he decided he would have to get off the cart and lead the horse on foot.

At that moment the beast appeared, and at that moment, Dust decided it was a good time to move. At that moment, Zet was just starting to get out of the cart, and the sudden lurch of movement as Dust took off down the path knocked him hard to the ground. He landed on a jagged rock, cutting a gash in his arm, and the chiet cursed, looking up just in time to see the beast slam into the pony a few yards down the road.

Zet felt a twinge of sadness for the loss of the pony, but knew that it would likely save his life. Figuring that the beast would be distracted feeding on its kill, Zet took the opportunity to run away, taking off into the woods and leaving behind a trail of blood. The beast did not feed, however, and as soon as the pony stopped moving it set its eyes on the fleeing Inarta, lumbering after him and disappearing into the trees, leaving behind the torn and bloody mess of Dust on the ground next to the now broken cart.

by **Turrin** on April 19th, 2015, 4:46 pm

When Turrin heard the Azira's voice, he turned around to face the uptight Avora. The endal looked for the rest of his hunting party and frowned with disappointment that he had to be stuck with the unpredictable avora women till the rest of them got here. Looking at Azira, Turrin thought to himself, Maybe she has changed since I have been gone? The myrian decided to test his theory with a little harmless joke and said in Nari, “My heart warms joy. Knowing you concern for my safety....After so long away! No worry Aponivi no eat me. We friends. Never eat each other...understand?”

Aponivi turned his giant head to face the avora teen and communicated, It is good to see you, Chick, and thank you for assisting us in killing this threat to Wind Reach.

Turrin decided to stop messing with her and speak in common, “Sorry, I was just fooling around with you. It is good to see a familiar face again, Azira. I hope that we can put the past behind us and start anew this season. I am happy you arrived first because I am going to make you second in command of the hunting party since you have the most hunting experience out of all us. I met our game scout once, so I am sure Khara will be valuable to the hunt. I know next to nothing about the outsiders Brandon Blackwing and Zhol. It says on the list my flight commander gave me that Blackwing is unarmed combat instructor, so he should be useful if we encounter the Beast; however, it doesn't say much about Zhol's skill set. Other than that he is a avora who works in the horse stables. It doesn't give me information about his skill set in hunting or combat.”

Turrin paused for a moment and thought that Azira might have encountered the two outsiders in Wind Reach and asked, “Have you encountered Brandon Blackwing or Zhol. If you did, what kind of people are they? Also, if you want to store, your extra gear in Aponivi's saddle bags than go ahead, Azira. If we can't find the Beast today than we will make camp in the evening.”

As Turrin listened to Azira, the myrian watched the road leading to Wind Reach. As the bell slowly passed and Syna slowly awakened from her slumber. The endal irritation with the rest of his party started to grow with every passing chime that they weren't here. He could tell Aponivi was getting bored too because the wind eagle decided to take a short nap. Turrin just stood in one spot with his arms crossed glaring at the bend in the road. In his mind, it was completely ridiculous that people who volunteered to hunt a beast who is killing Inarta travelers would be late to rendezvous. The endal knew that he would have to report everything to his commander after the hunt was said and done. He knew that it would be a definite black mark against the chiet game scout, Khara. He just hoped the outsiders Zhol or Brandon didn't distract her from her duty. He could see it happening because she was a cute girl, and he doubt the two men would leave her alone to do her job. Suddenly, Turrin whirled on Aponivi and said out loud, “Since our game scout isn't here, Aponivi, why don't you scout down the road for any signs of the Beast...”

Aponivi roses his head, let out a loud squawk, and took off into the sky. Turrin watched his friend follow the road towards Thunder Bay. Turrin let out a deep breath to try to calm his anger. Looking at Azira, he had respect for the huntress since she had the sense to show up on time. The myrian decided to complement her, “Thank you for being a professional, Azira. At least, I know that I can count on you. If they don't show up in another bell, I think you and me will set out on our own. I know Aponivi, you, and me can handle the Beast on our own....”

A half a bell passed since Aponivi left, Turrin started to pace back in forth to calm his mind. He didn't want to be a typical endal and just start yelling at the lower castes. His flight commander Naime would be absolutely enraged if he was the one who missed the rendezvous by a hour. He would be on bird shyke duty for the next third of season if he did what they were doing right now. Turrin figured the two outsiders didn't know any better since outsiders and idiots were considered equal in the minds of most Inarta. The myrian was sure Azira thought of him as a idiot when she first met him. Turrin would just treat them as outsiders, so he would care less if they were killed by the Beast. It would just mean there would be more food for the rest of the Inarta. Azira and Khara were Inarta, so the endal had a duty to get them back to Wind Reach alive and intact. However, Khara will not escape punishment for being late to hunt since she was a game scout, and it was her job to be here on time. Turrin knew since he was leader that he would have to be fair but firm with her since she was inspiring to be a avora hunter. Looking at Azira, Turrin said with no emotion, “Honestly, Zhol and Brandon can do what they want. I could care less about them, but Chiet Khara is inspiring to be avora hunter, so you can be as hard on her as you like for wasting our time, Azira...”

by **Azira** on April 22nd, 2015, 11:31 pm

Within a few ticks of speaking, the huntress regretted her intervention. Her eye twitched as she tried to suppress a wince at his atrocious Nari. It would have been better to watch him ripped to pieces rather than having to listen to this! she groaned inwardly. She managed to control herself, however, only snorting and eyebrow at him when he finished. She got the message though she found the man's response overly cheerful. That just seemed to be the norm for Turrin; he was strange after all.

The Wind Eagle's greeting was met with a stiff nod from the Avora, his naming of her as "chick" not going unnoticed. In Azira's mind that one word offset the rest of what the raptor had said and brought her perpetual scowl to her features. It was good to see her, good to have her help but it was implied that she wouldn't be able to contribute much in the dire bird's eyes. It might have been a genuine compliment but she'd never believe it now.

The huntress was on the verge of explaining where the rest of the party was when Turrin cut her off, thankfully speaking Common now rather than butchering her mother tongue. She expected more of his usual nonsense but was surprised her when he named her as his second. It made sense of course. Of all their party, the Endal obviously had the highest position because of his caste and while Zhol was an Avora too, she had the hunting expertise which made her more valuable for this trip. She knew what she was doing, he didn't so she was the obvious choice although she hadn't anticipated that Turrin would share any command. The Endal ordinarily shared power only grudgingly and only if the situation demanded it. If something happened to him or they had to split up then Azira's authority would be necessary. However, there had been nothing to prompt such a decision and it seemed strange for him to make it of his own accord. Not that the teen was going to argue of course.

She nodded in agreement of his assessment of Khara although she was eager to add to the scout's credentials. The girl had more worth than simply tracking for them and Azira had every intention of pointing that out to him, even if it meant revealing some of her own less than orthodox hunting methods. There would be no shame in revealing it though. Her interactions with Zhol were a different story. There was no way that the huntress was going to talk about him although she might be willing to hint at his special abilities. The thought brought a secretive smile to her face and the man couldn't finish speaking soon enough.

She made no move to place her belongings in the bags that hung from Aponivi. Her stuff was staying with her. Instead she crossed her arms over her chest and regarded him coolly as she gave him the information he wanted and a bit extra besides. "Khara's a good scout but she has other abilities as well that would be good in a hunt. She can shoot, her aim is fair and she can think on her feet. She's helped bring down big game before with me. She's quite valuable... for a Chiet," she added as an afterthought, drawing attention to the fact that her caste was lower than her abilities deserved.

"I haven't met Brandon. I have no idea what he does but I've met Zhol." She found herself smirking as she continued. "I don't know how valuable he'd been in a hunt but if it comes to a confrontation with whatever this animal is, you'll find that he has a bit of... fire in him." The Inarta had to quash the smile threatening to spread because of her little joke. She made no mention of why the group was delayed as she didn't trust herself to speak anymore. She didn't want to be stuck here with him but as long as he didn't make conversation, she was all right with being around him and the Myrian was good enough to be too distracted by his own impatience to her pay her any more attention. The teen wasn't pleased about the delay either but there was nothing she could do about it.

Even if Brandon had arrived right after she left, there would be three of them and as a group they'd naturally take longer getting down the mountain. Khara would be sure of her footing but the other two were another matter. Zhol had managed all right with the terrain around Thunder Bay but the mountain itself was much more difficult. As she knew nothing about Brandon, she couldn't know if he was used to the terrain. Inexperience would slow them down a lot. As time wore on she became certain that that was exactly what had led to their further tardiness. The huntress wanted to get moving, to get the task over and done with so they could return to the city. A return today was becoming less and less likely as the bell wore on. The only thing that helped with her impatience was by watching Turrin's own and the annoyance that went along with it. Secretly laughing at him kept her occupied.

The internal laughter sputtered and died though as almost a bell went by. Time was being wasted and they both knew it. They couldn't move until the others arrived and so the Wind Eagle was the only one who could scout for them. At least the bird might be able to report something back and give them something to work with whenever the others turned up. Whenever that would be.

The man's comment caught her off guard and her immediate reaction was to jump to Khara's defense. "It's not like her. It won't be her fault. Brandon was late, he wasn't there when I left and I don't know if Zhol and Brandon can manage the terrain well. She'll have to help them along and be slowed down herself too. I'd say that's what has happened."

Nari | Common

Template courtesy of Khara

by **Khara** on April 25th, 2015, 9:12 pm

oocZhol and I are swapping posting order. :ninja:

It had sounded like a good idea at the time. Only a few chimes had passed of the trio following the Sanikas Road before Khara realized just how behind they were and a twinge of panic had set in. Her mind conjured visions of Azira and Turrin waving off the others and heading out on their own, leaving the three of them to reach the rendezvous point abandoned. They couldn't just strike out in search of the bear without the two hunters and they would be forced to return to Wind Reach. The shame of it was almost too much for Khara to even consider and so she had made a suggestion - Cut across part of the pass to save time.

She'd journeyed that way often enough herself, choosing the uneven ground and steps that lead down into the valley rather than sticking to the main road entirely. It was almost routine for her and it was certainly a bit of a shortcut as far as Khara had considered. What she hadn't taken into account was that as much as the rough terrain was comfortably familiar to the scout, the others weren't quite so well versed. They weren't painfully slower than her by any means, but where Khara easily scrambled from one rock to another with her small and light frame, it took the other two a bit more time to cross the same paths. The scout had simply assumed they would be able to keep pace with her - and they had, just not entirely, and certainly not enough to make the deviation from the road worth it in the long run.

When the Sanikas Road had come back into view and they once more stepped foot upon it's even stone pathway, Khara had tried to hurry their pace once more but found her footsteps faltering when the two higher caste members came into view. It didn't take anyone any real skill to see the annoyance that was plain on the Endal's features, though Azira did seem far more calm. Turrin's Wind Eagle was also no where in sight and Khara couldn't quite make the decision in her mind as to whether that boded well or ill for them.

There was only one thing to do, then. As nervous as she had been leading Zhol and Brandon through the small bit of the pass, it was nothing compared to the sudden horrendous feeling of facing the frustrated Endal about the failure to even accomplish the simple task of arriving at a set time. Despite the lack of any anger in Azira's gaze, and the knowledge that Zhol was right behind her, Khara still felt dreadfully alone when scrutinized by the half-Myrian. It felt like she was in a cave where the stalactites overhead were only waiting for the wrong word to slip from her lips and entirely crush her.

"E-Endal Turrin, I-I'm sorry we... we're late. I... We were... " Oh gods, it wasn't coming out. There was a formal apology needed and she couldn't make it happen and all it was going to sound like was some pitiful excuse. The Endal would regret ever having been assigned to take her with him and no doubt that would translate towards Zhol and Brandon as well and it was all her fault. All it took was for that to be realized and the avalanche began within her mind. How far would this debacle's effect go? Had she caused the hunt to already be doomed from the start? Had she entirely obliterated any chance at becoming better than she was? Would this all come back to haunt her somewhere down the line? A lack of discipline and focus, it had been the bane of her years as a Yasi and now it was happening all over again and she couldn't even properly explain herself.

"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"

Quest Hunting the Beast