Solo CSI (Hunting)

[Akilah Windsong]

47 Spring, 515 AV

It was still early, the sun had barely begun to peek into the sky. Akilah looked at the clouds for a moment, at the pinkening sky, and then back to the grasslands in front of her.

It was the perfect time to hunt and she couldn't let it go to waste. Her strider stood a short distance away, perfectly content to munch on the short grasses found there. Akilah was not that good at hunting from horseback, not yet, and she preferred to get off and crawl through the bushes.

At least her chances of catching something rose that way.

Beside her, Vespera was quiet for once. The way the dog only got to be when there was a hunt occurring. He was sniffing the ground, silent but for the soft huff of his breath. It both pleased and bothered her--if only he have that much focus at other times as well.

Still, no point in wasting the gift.

Akilah crouched lower, examining the land around her. The grass swayed softly in the morning, slightly damp and salty from the nearby sea breeze. While most of it stood upright, she could spot a few broken stalks to her right. Signs of her prey, perhaps?

Or just signs of the weather. Akilah stared at the ground nearby , pushing the grass strands aside so she could see the dirt below. The grassy parts were hard to tell if they were distrubed--Akilah just didn't have the skill needed to do that yet.

But she could understand a print, a print that sunk into the mud, all four claws seen. Not hooves, hooves left a more roundish shape with a line in it.

No, this time marks were more claw shape, half circles up other half circles. The ground had swallowed part of the mark, but not enough that she couldn't see.

A thrill went up her spine at the size of the print--a big cat. She was definitely not ready for this. Definitely.

But she had to try anyways.

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[Akilah Windsong]

47 Spring, 515 AV

Her uncle had told her two main things were needed for hunting--patience and good observation skills.

She had never been good with the combination and his words repeated in her mind. Generally, it was a good idea to look ahead for signs instead of down--you missed so much that way and almost never caught the prey.

That said, she wasn't good at spotting patterns of signs, not yet, and she compromised. Occasionally she'd look up as she walked, while focusing for the most part on the small signs she could see below her. Eventually she could just look up.

Eventually. Hopefully.

The long grasses weren't that bent out of shape as she passed through them--they were resilient. To a fault. She could only make out the path by the rare pawprint and broken grass. Small clumps of broken grass meant something--maybe stopping and resting?

Just how old her trail was, she wasn't sure. Hopefully not too old. Her strider was still a distance behind. Every now and then, she'd look back to check up on her horse, to make sure she wasn't too far away from a quick getaway. Normal predators could be dangerous out here, in the high grasses.

A glassbeak even more so. Her horse followed slowly, remaining a good distance behind.

Vespera sniffed the ground eagerly, his tail low and wagging slightly. For the most part, he was too focused, occasionally bounding ahead and disappearing into the grass before returning.

This made it a little harder for her to recongize the trail, but if he caught a good scent, it would be worth it. As it was, his ears would prick every now and then and she wondered what he heard--a hidden predator? Or maybe some prey?

Maybe she should abandon this trail for something more fruitful.

"Oh!" Akilah whispered softly, coming upon a pile of spool. Even at sight she could tell it wasn't warm, but still, a sign she was closer. Looking around the area, she could see some tufts of fur--not from the cat, probably. The short dark fur seemed more like the goats' fur from back home, so maybe something similar shed here.

There were also feathers around, feathers and blood. A successful hunt? By her prey maybe?

Successful and hopefully somewhat recent? Akilah could only find more feathers as she looked around, enough to make a wing. The bird had definitely died here and probably to her cat.

Vespera had already started to move ahead as she stared at her scene.

Jerking out her thoughts, Akilah followed his lead. It was harder to tell here, just where the cat went. More grasses were bent now, almost flattened. A sign of high traffic and her cat could have gone on any one of those paths

And she just didn't have the skill to figure out which. Not yet at least. Maybe if she spotted another pawprint or something, she'd be able to tell. At least Vespera didn't seem lost and she kept near him, examining the ground as she went.

Hopefully her dog was following the right animal and not another mouse.

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