Bleating of the Elk(Featherline & Aleksi)

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

4th of Winter, 510AV

Winter had come, but a hunter's life was never truly on pause. One of the great advantages of the Tent City Endrykas was that it moved with the seasons to where nature was most bountiful at the time, to where it could sustain itself. This part of the year the elk would be coming down off the snow-capped rims of the Stardowns crater. They preferred the cold, and it was difficult to find them in the grasslands during the warmer seasons.

Unfortunately, It was doubtful they'd still be in their rut, their mating season. Deer, elk, and most any creature on the planet was most vulnerable during mating season. The male's mind would be fuddled, chasing after women recklessly, and they'd be strutting and bleating for all the world to see in order to impress. When he thought of it that way it really illustrated just how little humans had separated themselves from nature after all.

Jarhal stood outside the main entrance to Endrykas with Chural leaning against his leg. He wore a thicker winter cloak with what looked like elk fur lining the hood, which was currently flipped up to shield his face from the biting wind. To think it was still daytime, too. Tonight, in his little open tent, he'd be shivering himself to sleep. The nights were terrible.

He held his simple composite bow in his left hand, still dressed as green as ever. After the cloak, the rest of his outfit seemed to not be changed for the season. Sometimes a man just had to endure a bit of cold, it made one tough. That's what his father had always said, anyhow... of course, his father sat in a big warm tent all year now that he could.

Regardless, he stood patiently waiting for Featherline and whoever else in the frosty morning hours. It was a shame he'd had to postpone that hunt with her for a few days, but this was the best he could do. Actually having a schedule was a difficult thing to adjust to.

[Featherline]

Featherline, who enjoyed wet and warm climate, had stayed in her bedroll for as long as she could before making her way to where Jarhal would be waiting. She couldn't wait to try the human hunt, but this was just unreasonable. Why did he not warn her about the cold, dry air and the frosty wool that fell from the sky? The first day she saw it she thought it was beautiful, but she had learned the true nature of the deceitful fluff Jarhal called snow over the last few days. Days, though they felt like years: she only stepped outside to take a short flight, but even with her feathers she wouldn't be outside for long, and she spent most of her time inside her tent which she luckily had gotten up before winter.

"How is this possible? Your world is cruel," she said as she approached Jarhal and his dog. She had learned to like the dog, and not in the way she liked prey. It had a warm pelt she could snug up to. Being a bad crafter, she had decided to keep her warmth by covering her shoulders with the cadaver of two dead rats she had caught, held at place by her dress. It didn't help much, but the rotten smell of the rats kept her mind off complaining about the dry air.

[Aleksi]

Aleksi, as usual, kept a huge grin on her face, whistling a song and not really caring that she will probably wake up half of the Tent City. Luc was dragging himself next to her, stretching and growling quietly as his head rubbed against Aleksi's leg. Every now and then, she'd scratch between his ears just to calm the cat down. He didn't like the cold, not one bit, probably just because of the fact that he was a cat.

Aleksi looked different, her hair was falling down her shoulders and back, a big, warmer, white fur cloak was covering her upper body and reaching to the middle of her thighs, and her pants weren't silky anymore, they were tight, leather pants tucked in comfortable, fur boots. Under the cloak, she had a tight, leather top, making it almost look like a corset, but a bit more comfortable, cause of the hunt. All in all, she looked a lot less gentle then during the fall, even though most of her tattoos were completely covered at this time.

Luc growled quietly and looked at Aleksi which made her grin. Someone familiar was standing just outside the gates. Someone who obviously like green color. Aleksi chuckled and then went back to whistling her song as she walked to Jarhal. Nodding, she added in a more cheerful tone then ever before "Morning", before moving her eyes to the female standing next to Jarhal and letting her lips form a polite smile.

[Featherline]

Featherline looked at the approaching woman, who was a complete stranger to her. She had tried to avoid contact with as many humans as she could, fearing that they might notice her animal within and decide to chase her away. Therefore she simply smiled back, and concentrated about the cat instead. Animals were easier creatures, they didn't have that many flavors of mind. She reached her hand out, offering to pet the cat. Cats and birds weren't exactly friends, but she didn't have a habit of eating cats. Her love for these cute fluffy animals preceded her hunger. Besides, most of them wouldn't dare attack her.

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

"The early bird gets the worm, Miss Featherline." He said with a smirk, barely containing himself to not laugh at his own dumb joke. "It will grow a little warmer as the day drags on. A little."

It was about then that he realized she was wearing two dead rats for a scarf. He didn't bother asking why since he doubted it would answer any questions.
"Here, take my cloak and please throw away those rats." He said, undoing his new cloak from the emerald gemstone clasp and offering it to her. "The flies are going to be giving us away in the wild."

As Aleksi came up, he inclined his head while greeting her. All the while, though, he was wishing he had bought the eagle-woman a scarf or something. This would be his punishment for not thinking ahead, it seemed. Sometimes a man had to endure a bit of cold and so forth and so on.

"Hello Aleksi. I was just about to take Featherline here to hunt some elk..." With a short glance over to the Kelvic, he decided it might be prudent to leave it up to her whether to reveal herself. "She's got some business in Endrykas, so I figured I'd show her how a proper Drykas hunts while she's here. If she doesn't mind, you're free to come along with us."

[Featherline]

Featherline glared at Jarhal. "A little? You shouldn't expect an 'early bird' from me if this temperature goes on. I'll just have to make do without any worms."

She grinned and accepted the coat gladly, throwing the rats to the ground. "Thank you. When will we be expecting the white fluff to fly away again? I think it's rude of me to borrow your clothes." She had never seen anyone else share their clothes with others. While Jarhal and the stranger -Aleksi, he called her- spoke, Featherline remained in the background trying to befriend the cat while waiting for the woman to go away. She tightened her lips when Jarhal suggested that she joined them, but tried to act as if she hadn't heard their conversation. If the woman wanted to come she could come, but if it could be avoided Featherline would rather not have to watch her back for two humans instead of just one. But she had to start her acceptance of human presence somewhere, so maybe bringing one more person along wouldn't be so bad? Besides this was a woman, maybe she could teach her how women in Endrykas acted.

[Aleksi]

Aleksi smiled at Jarhal and then at the woman as well "That's a tempting offer Jarhal... I'd love to see you hunt, especially since we had our hunt trip with me showing off before", slowly scratching Luc between his ears as she said that.

Luc wasn't a really friendly cat, especially not around people his owner didn't know. She grinned as she saw Luc growl at the girl. It wasn't a good thing, but it sure as hell was funny "Come boy", she added quietly while looking at the woman again. Her face had no bad emotions on it and her voice was rather warm "I see you've made a new friend Jarhal... I'm Aleksi, pleasure to meet you... oh and don't let this big fluff ball scare you, he's just not used to people around us.."

It was quite obvious the cat was more comfortable around his owner. He licked Aleksi's fingertips as she stepped towards the two and added in a polite manner "You'll freeze to death Jarhal... take your cloak back, mine would fit her a lot better, she's a bit too pretty to be wearing something that big and besides, I'm covered with leather, I'm not going to be all that cold..., a cheeky grin appeared on her lips as she pulled the cloak off of her shoulders. She was not lying. Leather top was covering her upper body and tight leather pants were covering the bottom parts. The only parts of her tattoos uncovered were on her wrists, which was annoying.

[Jarhal Treeshadow]

With a shrug, he returned his cloak to it's former place and made sure it was straight. Now that the game of musical cloaks had come to an end, Jarhal turned to the side. Half to the two women and half to the wilds behind him, he seemed to wait and listen a moment. After a little bit of time, he looked down to his hound at his leg.

"I think we'll find our prey a short walk this way. If you are both ready, follow me." He said as he began to walk off into the wilderness, his composite bow in his hand once again. "Aleksi is from the Diamond clan, Featherline. Like I told you, they're mostly warriors and she's pretty good with a dagger."

He hoped they would have some conversation for the short walk before he'd have to tell them to quiet down, it made one forget the cold just a little bit when you had something to talk about. Then there would be the time for creeping and waiting... Caiyha bless him not to miss. He might die of shame if he did. Aleksi would understand, maybe, but he really truly dreaded looking like a fool in front of the kelvic. He had told her he was the King of Arrows, after all.

They were headed straight for the Stardowns crater, but they would by no means enter it if he had anything to say. It was a blessed site, holy to all races if not just Drykas, and something didn't sit right with him for hunting in it. On the outskirts, however, there should be elk in plenty and Chural knew how to find them as well as Jarhal himself did. He just hoped his fingers wouldn't freeze before then.

[Featherline]

Featherline looked puzzled at her new cloak, but didn't protest. It smelled good, and she kind of liked it. "Good with daggers? Is that what you call the steel fang? Maybe she could teach me," Featherline said to Jarhal. She could have spoken directly to Aleksi, but she wasn't sure she dared to. Keeping her head to the ground as if looking for tracks, she tried to pretend Aleksi wasn't there at all.

But after some time, she actually did see tracks. Many of them too, and they went in multiple directions. The tracks looked like deers, but they were much heavier and bigger. Cows? It could just be her eagle eyes, but these tracks were so obvious that even a child would notice them. A human child. Therefore, she didn't say anything about the tracks, but instead asked about the animal.
"Are we hunting bulls? That track there looks like some kind of cow has been jumping about." She pointed to one of the tracks, though all of them looked like cows jumping in the grass and snow to her.

[Aleksi]

Aleksi smiled proudly at Jarhal's comment about her knowledge with daggers. Her eyes went straight to Jarhal and followed his look as it went over the wilderness. When he mentioned Elk, Luc growled in a rather happy manner and Aleksi scratched his head lightly "There, there boy... we're watching today... and if something comes our way, feel free to jump on it", grinning she looked at the girl wearing her cloak.

"That suits you a lot better... and you have a beautiful name, Featherline... I don't think we've met officially.. I'm Aleksi and yes, the steel fang is a dagger... , she giggled at the new name for her favorite toys, before adding again, quietly "It would be a pleasure to teach you those things, as the matter of a fact, Jarhal and I were planning on doing some training together, so maybe you could come... ". Aleksi's voice was calm, warm and inviting. The friend of Jarhal would be a friend of hers as well. There was nothing wrong with inviting her over, she though, or well, hoped that Jarhal thought the same way.
Cows? Well, Aleksi doubted those were cows and she just giggled, bending down to touch the ground lightly, before whispering
"And it hasn't been too long since they've walked through here... the ground is, believe it or not, still warm.. even with all the freezing weather we have"