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Huntress Starsong Vice Captain
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 Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:30 pm
She had stumbled into the forest, calling to Shine as she rubbed her head absently, a low fuzzy noise rang in her ears.. or was it just in her head? She couldn't tell, but it was annoying.
She sniffed the air but didn't smell anything, yet she knew something was out there, she could hear it. She called to Shine again and started walking down the forest path, continually sniffing the air for the distinctive smell of game.
Starsong reeled a bit, her head swum and she felt hot. Incredibly hot, as the fever still lingered. She staggered against a tree and fell to her knees. The tattered clothes she was still wearing since the catastrophe, all but falling apart as she tore at them. Ripping the shirt into a much smaller one, exposing her midriff and her leggings up to the top of her thigh. Tying the scraps into a sash which she then tied around her waist.
Panting a little from the exertion she wiped the sweat off her brow and fingered her damp limp hair. Pulling her obsidian dagger from the sheath around her ankle she grabbed large hunks of her hair and started to cut it until it was a mismatched, uneven mop about shoulder length on her head.
Once finished she did indeed feel quiet cooler, and a bit more natural. Sometimes she would hunt naked depending on the weather, but these "new" clothes she had fashioned allowed her to be more limber and not restricted by the fabric. She stood up and called to Shine a third time, wondering where he could be, that ever present humming in her head as she felt the thrill of the hunt come alive.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:59 pm
Blaze had left the cave as soon as he learned that Star had gone hunting, still sick as, well, a dog, but not before catching up his bandolier of spikes, sharp as cactus spines from his efforts to harden and sharpen them during the storm. Other than that, the only weapon he carried was the heat of the Daystar. The sun had returned, and with it his familiar rough vitality.
Sun-toasted feet squished faintly in the saturated dirt, and even though he'd learned not to trip over every root and get clotheslined by every lowhanging branch and vine, the wolfrider would have heard him long before she saw him. But before even that, his sends. **Oy, huntress! Where are ya? Wait for me, eh?** A low "punt" noise, and suprised pop. **Damn treehopper. That'll fix you. Heh. Nice and crispy.**
He too followed the trail; it seemed like the right thing to do. Unless she hid, or went farther on without him, he'd find her even if she didn't respond. And even then, he'd been told she needed help. He wouldn't just let her go.
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Huntress Starsong Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:50 am
Shine came racing towards her after several very long minutes and she embraced him. Burring her face in his fur and breathing deeply, she was very glad that he weathered the storm safely somewhere. She had missed him terribly and by the way his tail was wagging, she knew he missed her too. They exchanged some excited sends and wolflike gestures until she felt someone else touch her mind. Turning she looked back down the path and spotted Blaze heavily making his way towards her. She sighed and shook her head, pulling her head up again to sniff for prey. She sent to Shine to see if his finer nose could pick anything up,but he just shook his head. They had to be here, she could feel it, maybe her instincts were getting rusty, after not having been used in a bit of time. She waited for the firestarter, why she wasn't sure though. She was on a hunt, but maybe he brought word from Savith. Oh she couldn't wait for that, she was in a hurry. She jumped on shines back and was about ready to head further and faster into the woods. Once on Shine though her head felt very fuzzy and she reeled, her head spinning as the world around her turned very fast. She gripped the fur of Shine's scruff to keep from falling off. Holding her head in her other hand she waited for it to pass, loosing valuable time. Shine gave a small whine of concern for his bond and started slowly towards the firestarter, an back home. **No** she told Shine and pulled back a little, nearly falling off as the world continued to spin. **Its there, I can hear it!** she told the wolf who gave a whuff of disapproval. By now the firestarter was in rock throwing distance away, and she had lost so much time.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:50 pm
Apart, the wolf and wolfrider could have hidden easily from the fire elf, but mounted, the wind-seed flower of Starsong's chopped hair was held well above the low ferns and grass. In fact, as Blaze walked up on what he had forgotten was most likely a pair, he was suprised to see her so tall above the grass, as if she had grown a few hands taller in the short time since the night before. But what caught his attention most was the way she tottered and held her head, as if sunsick, or starved for water. It was a signal flag to him for immediate aid, he moved quickly to help her.
**Starsong... First Ones, you're in no condition to-** The worried advance stoped dead in it's tracks as his eyes fixed on the great wolf's. He'd nearly forgotten the size of the things. This was no desert fox that you could chase away with a shout. Keeping a solid eye on the Shine's business end, Blaze backed up slowly to what he though seemed a respectfull distance, sending as he went. **Chief was worried over you. I came to make shure you were going to be safe. Although,** he added with a wary grin, **I think you're pretty well protected.** His face hardened, tone becoming serious again. **But hunting, in your condition? I suppose you won't be stopped, but at least take me along. I'll not interfere unless you want me to, or you get into some sort of mess you can't get yourself out of.**
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Huntress Starsong Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:14 pm
It took a few moments but finally her head cleared slightly, and the world stopped spinning. She knew she was sick, but something else yearned deeper inside her, something much more important than just going and laying down, even though that did sound heavenly right about now. Shine tilted his head and merely gazed at the fire starter. He gave him a brief sniff in his direction then snorted, as if to imply that the wolf was not very interested in the other elf. Starsong looked down upon Blaze, her green eyes seemed to hold a fierceness that normally wasn't there. He sure seemed to chatter on about a whole lot of nothing, and as he did so, he was wasting time. Holding back the urge to roll her eyes when he told her that he was coming with she continued to gaze down at him. Her face emotionless, her eyes bright and cold. **You have no mount, Firestarter, how do you expect to keep up? ** She didn't have time for his answer really, it was a rhetorical question anyhow. She sent quickly to Shine who started towards the other elf, his head low as yellow eyes watched the male without blinking. Circling Blaze once, Starsong reached down and grabbed the firestarter by the arm, jerking him upwards towards the mount. Heat from her fever still radiated off her body, though it was nothing like it had been several hours prior. **Get on, Hold tight, If you fall, I'm not returning for you** She sent gruffly, a single purpose on her mind which was evident in her send.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:40 pm
Blaze stood still as the wolf approached, not taking his amber eyes from the yellow ones for a moment, regardless of intentions. Dancer's tiger he had established as the friendly sort, more like a short-legged zwoot with strange appetites than anything else in it's sheer size. But wolves were different, just like their riders. Regardless, he accepted the inevitable and obvious solution, and took Star's hand before doing his best to pull him self up.
Once behind her Blaze held on, cooling the air and her clothing momentarily as a gesture of goodwill, but soon letting up so that the sypthom might do it's work driving the infection from her body. **And if you dont watch where we're going, and run us under a branch, I'm telling Savith, and he'll not let you out of the cave for aontoher half-turn of the moon. I want to take him back a good report, and you want that, too.** He shrugged slightly. **But I'll shut up now. Hunt.**
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Huntress Starsong Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:38 am
Starsong, now, did roll her eyes. She did not care what Savith thought, he had no more control over her than the moons did to the falling stars, and we all know how that turned out. A path had formed in her head, of the forest she had scouted out and knew quite well by this time. For some reason the map in her head had her go left, away from the river, which is something that she normally would never do. Animals need water, often, and that is where they usually convened which is why she would have headed straight there to begin with. But something in her gut told her that she would have no success there. Her tired brain giving in to her urge as she sent the path to Shine to that he too may follow it. He gave another whuff of uncertainty but obeyed as a good bond should. She waited until he had stopped sending to reply with a short, curt tone **Keep your head down and hold on tight** At that she spurned the great wolf forward. He had gone from 0 to 30 in a heartbeat, she half expected the other to fall off instantly, for which she would be most certainly grateful, and it would have been nobody's fault but his own.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:29 pm
Blaze was nearly unseated by the sudden acceleration, but his reflexes hadn't been dampened by the period of lethargy during the storm, and he understood the warning from his ride on Firebright. His arms fastened in a deathgrip around her waist and he ducked his head to the side against any stray branches. It was good that he hadn't brought along his hat, he would have soon lost it, and then he would have jumped off at full speed to recover it.
At first his mind blanked, and locked down in the same manner as his body, seeing, but not processing, as the sudden acceleration made it imperative that he think of nothing but staying on. He soon recovered, but the way the forest tore by, and the wind whistled about his ears; the speed of it all was an entirely new feeling. Shure, he'd taken an occasional gallop on a zwoot, but the ponderous gallumphing sway of those beasts was nothing like this. It set his heart pounding, and he wasn't shy of sharing the feeling, a hint of gratitude in his mind.
As they went, he tried to make note of the things they passed, if he had to find his way back; a trickle of a ditch crossed here, a gnarled tree of some sort there, but soon every object seemed to run together as one tree, one ditch, and so on. It worried him that he couldn't find the way back, but he could always send if he needed. That they were headed away from water never even crossed his mind, and he was confident that Starsong knew more of the forest than he did. If she was sick in the head as well as body, the wolfrider was doing a good job of hiding it. So he held on, and did his best to maintain a sense of the direction the coast lay in.
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Huntress Starsong Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 8:46 am
As they took off, a surge of adrenalin coursed its way down her body, coupled with the chill of the fever it led to a very strong sensation. One which she had always enjoyed, thrills, excitement, and danger. Her one true joy in life, though she would never tell anybody her secret, not even Snowmane her soulmate, rest his soul wherever he may be. Shaking her head of stray thoughts, she focused on the now.
Her body moving to that of Shines, the familiar motions of his sinewy body as she mimicked them, making herself less of a burden for him to travel swiftly, the syncopation was exact and it made the wolfrider feel even closer to her bond, as if they were one creature running through the woods instead of two.
Shine jumped over a rock and skidded to a halt, hunkering down as was his normal mode when they were beginning the hunt. The humming noise in her head seemed louder, and she wondered if she would be able to hear the animals at all over its racket. She rubbed her head absently as she slid off Shine and gave him a combination of Send and hand signals to tell him what to do. Shine jerked his rear unceremoniously to make sure the other elf was off too, if he wasn't, that was sure to get him knocked to the ground without nothing to hang onto.
Shine snuck off in an opposite direction as Starsong took out her bow and knocked an arrow in it. She couldn't hear anything, or see much. The place they had come she had never been to before. It was very overgrown, even the sun above had dissipated behind the large tree's with vines and mosses and brambles all over them. This place looked almost like it was hiding something, almost as if it were purposeful. Starsong never had any magic feeling, so she couldn't tell if this place had been shaped to look this way, or if it was natural. Not caring either way, she looked for her footholds in the ground before continuing forward slowly, and silently. She had forgotten that Blaze was even there, her mind only on one purpose now, and that was fresh meat. And she was close, very very close, or so her mind said.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:52 pm
Blaze sat slightly stunned on the ground, the sudden buck a suprise enough to make him wonder why he ws suddenly on the ground. He rolled to his feet and dusted off his rear, a habitual motion, and realized ruefully that the soaked earth had gotten him wet yet again. A scathing glance at the rude wolf, and he turned to inspect his surroundings.
The dense presence of the area hit him hard enough to make him blink a few times, and he immediately recalled an image of a cairn, a great way-stone pulled from the bones of the desert by a powerful rockshaper, its wind-ground shape still pointing the way out of the deep dunes. It had not been fire shaped here, he was shure of that, but it had been something. A damp, cool, living magic seemed to linger, but barely. He shrugged the feeling off. It was just a bunch of weeds to wade through; and the cold was probably going to his head.
The huntress and the hunter seemed intent on their hunt, and there was no place for the dune-runner with them. But still, he'd promised that he would keep her safe, and his send was his pledge. Following at a respecfull disance, he tried to keep as quiet as possible, and once the brambles and bushes became too thick for him to move silently, he stopped, leaning against one of the leafy pillars. Yet even as he held his back to the bark, he felt watched. The thick underbrush came alive with possibilities, and he took hold of the scraps of solar heat that he could. Better to be prepared for nothing then be unprepared for something.
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Huntress Starsong Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:41 pm
Starsong couldn't see or hear Blaze, which was probably a good thing, but she also couldn't see or hear much of anything else. The woods were dead, not a bird twittered, not a leaf rustled. She found a large root to one of the large trees and began scaling it with ease. Once on top of the root, she tried to survey the area, her keen eyes looking for any sign of prey or .. well anything for that matter. She looked down and could see Blaze's mop of red and groaned a bit. If his tromping through the woods, though he was quiet now, didn't scare the beasts away, his shock of bright red hair would most certainly do the trick. As she looked around she heard a noise, a trampling noise and a few snorts. So there was prey around here.. She inhaled deeply again, a faint whiff of hide lingered on the air, but where it was coming from, she couldn't exactly say. In front of her the large wall of brambles and bushes made going through impossible, and from her perspective, it looked as if it continued for a while in either direction. Who, or what had fashioned a wall like this out of the plants itself, she wondered for a moment before straining her ears to try and pick out the sounds again. She teetered on the root, her mind becoming suddenly loud and full of buzzing. "Ugh" she murmured softly and held her head. **Whats...happening to.. me** she sent, to nobody in particular as she suddenly saw, very clear in her mind a large buck, grazing with five does and 3 young males. Secluded in the brambles and the high brush. Bringing her bow up she aimed all but for a brief second, her arrow whizzing through the air was the only noise for half a heartbeat. Then the forest was alive with all sorts of sounds. A pained yowl, stamping and snorting, things rushing and running, and a low thud...then another one. Nearby the wall of thorns thrashed and broke free as large antlers pierced it. The buck lay struggling, ripping apart some of the wall as it continued, then all was still. The air did not blow, nor the earth made a sound. Starsong had fallen from where she was perched, the first low thud as brambles and thorns cut at her face, arms, legs, belly, anything that was exposed. She made a low groan as she tried to pick herself up, but not succeeding. ((This post tentative for GM review, wait for the go-ahead before replying))
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 5:54 pm
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ChosenSavith Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 6:34 pm
Blaze watched the wolfrider clamber up onto the tree, staring curiously back at her, shrugging once as if to say "well, you're here, now hunt" before turning back the other way, watching the rim of the low depression they were in. The area was truly beginning to unsettle him, how the underbrush could hide something the size of a wolf, or even greater. He was a plainsrunner, he was used to seeing something coming as soon as it crested the horizon. Needless to say, the sudden thrashing nearly made him jump out of his skin.
Whirling towards the floundering beast, the firestarter saw the wolfrider's perch empty, and tore through the brush towards the general area. **Starsong!** He reached the spot by the time the buck's last throes had ceased, waist and forearms scraped by the thorns. **You allright there?** He offered her a hand up, a good-natured smirk curling at his cheeks. **I thought wolfriders were good at not falling out of trees.** As he sent, he looked at the downed animal, the arrow having killed it cleanly, and wondered what exactly it was. But more important, how it tasted.
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 11:32 am
Starsong sat up with the assistance of Blaze and rubbed her head, the fuzziness had ceased for the time being. **Wh.what happened?* she managed as she stood up. Her body seemed spent, like all her energy was gone. She felt tired, and weak. She leaned heavily on Blaze for support as she took a few shaky steps forward. Then she saw the buck...anger filled her as she turned on Blaze. This was supposed to be her hunt, and the moment she blacks out he goes and kills something without her? **How could you?** she asked, her send filled with anger and hurt. She called to Shine who was busy gnawing his way through the underbrush a little ways down. Upon joining the two he set about his duties to the kill, sniffing it, and pulling on the antlers with his teeth to free it so they could take it back home.. **Don't bother** She sent openly, though obvious it was for the wolf. **He killed it, he can carry it!** she started to walk away from Blaze, tired, and fatigued.
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Huntress Starsong Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 12:23 am
The firestarter looked at the wolfrider as if she'd just grown a third eye. A perplexed frown lengthened his face, and his send was immediate, and a little harsh for the strong sense of injustice, no matter why it's cause, that he felt. It demanded an explanation for the anger-laced accusation. **You flat-headed chuckle-brain. What are you trying to pull? I was over there when that horn-thing thrashing nearly scared the skin off my back, and I turn around and see you falling out of the damn tree! First off, I can't kill things at that range. Second off, I bet you the honor of carrying it home that the beast has your arrows in it.**
His ire somewhat satisfied, he calmed, and noticed her still slightly unsteady walk. **I've seen Joy and Dew in action; your kind don't just trip and fall. Either you just haven't gotten over your sick yet, or I was worried about this place for a reason.** He glanced at the thick hedging, an almost superstitious shudder accompanying his send. He was already scaring himself, and the excitement wasn't helping. **How'd you see that thing so fast, anyways? I wasn't looking over there for but a few moments and all the sudden, crash, you got this thing. Don't tell me stuff like that big can hide in scrubby little bushes like those.**
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