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"With difficulty," the hunter admitted in a grunt, glancing back at Lin. "But you can help me if you'd like. I can't carry the buck and my bow at the same time, not easily. Would you mind terribly carrying my bow back for me?"

And he held his bow out to her, wondering at the same time how she would even carry it. It was easily twice her height after all, though it weighed next to nothing.

While Lin was trying to find a way to safely carry the bow, Gwaethir knelt next to the buck. He tugged his cloak forward a bit so that it wouldn't choke him, then edged his hands beneath the enormous beast's belly. His muscles bulged and tightened as he strained to lift it from the ground, ducking his head carefully beneath it so that he could sling it across his shoulders.

He climbed slowly, carefully, to his feet, his face showing the strain of the weight on his shoulders.

"Follow me," he said crisply, starting off through the trees once more, knees bent with his load.

For a long time, Gwaethir walked in silence, focusing all of his energy on carrying the buck through the trees without knocking it against anything (which just might knock him over). He kept glancing backwards to keep an eye on Lin - just in case something happened, since if he didn't catch it right away he wouldn't be able to react quickly enough - and though he was used to silence, there was a question growing in the back of his mind, one that he couldn't help but ask.

"Is this your first real hunt?" he grunted over his shoulder at Lin, keeping his pace steady.

Gwaethir nodded as well as he could with the enormous weight behind his head and grew silent once more as they continued on their way. Of course, he was in full realizatin of the fact that she hadn't technically asked to accompany him this time either - she had told the large cat that she was going to, which was a completely different matter.

Still, it was only a technicality, and he didn't particularly care. As long as he wasn't accused of taking her places she shouldn't have been (which he probably had) or showing her things that she probably shouldn't have seen (which, again, he probably had).

On the whole, he was rather impressed with her - she'd remained as silent as he knew she could, speaking only when necessary, and when first spoken to, and she had done a fair job keeping up with him - and he had expected her to take quite a bit longer, catching up with him after he had take off like that.

Yes, he was rather impressed indeed.

But he showed it by keeping silent, rather than congratulating her. By treating her almost as an equal, instead of the child that she was.

At long last, they made it back to the ranch, and ithout speaking to Lin, Gwaethir made his way in the direction of the smoke house, just to the south of the main house. He knew - or rather, was certain - that she would follow him there, since she did after all still have his bow, and so he again said nothing.

As they headed past the house, one of the fighters passed them by - one of the younger men who was usually on night duty instead of day duty.

"Need a hand?" he offered to Gwaethir, seeing the size of the buck compared to the hunter's short stature.

"No," Gwaethir replied flatly, continuing on.

The fighter shook his head and went on his way, heading towards the barracks.

"Tracks," the hunter replied, his tone far less gruff than it had been only the moment before. "Scat. Diet. The area. Instincts. Smell. Taste. Sound. A lifetime of experience."

As he approached the smoke house, he heaved the buck from his shoulders, dumping it heavily on the ground, then turned and looked at Lin. There was a large bloody stain on the shoulder of his cloak from the buk's wound, but he paid it no mind.

"Nothing that can't be learned."

Gwaethir nodded, and a hint of a smile played about his lips for the first time in many a long year. Despite the gruffness that stayed in his eyes, the smile softened his entire face, an almost miraculous effect that actually made him look somewhat friendly for once.

"Thank you for your help today, Lin," he said crisply, kneeling and reaching one hand out for his bow. "But what I am about to do ... I think your mother would not approve if you watched. I am not going to send you away, however: I will leave it to your discretion. You are obviously old enough to make your own decisions."