A Hunt Hidden by the Clouds [Wald]

[Pig Boy]

40th of Ymiden 719

It was a cloudy and cold night in the Videnese wilderness. Dark, but what light was there reflected off the pure white of the snow in shades of blue-gray and violet.

The camp was peaceful and almost tranquil, yet the wilderness sounds persisted, undisturbed. That is, until the call arose.

It began as a baying of a wolf, and then grew into a full-on howl as one of the moons broke through the cloud cover, to show its face. The light was almost blinding, full as the moon was in the sky. It lit the snowfields and trees with brilliant white light.

Wald would feel Ylfa stirring, her temperament restless. Finally, when the baying and howling of wolves subsided, she said to Wald, "Master, it's Karem! She calls us to hunt!"

Once more the wolf cried in the distance, until all fell silent. The tranquil ambience of the wilderness disturbed. Karem had marked the prey that Wald was to hunt. Yet that would not make it easier to hunt. Far from it.

When Karem marked her prey in order to test hunters, she did so not for ease of finding them. She did it to give them good sport. That most probably meant days and sleepless nights of tracking the prey, until it has been brought down, and a trophy claimed from it.

Karem would not interfere, not until Wald attributed the creature's flesh to her, as the Wolf Mother's share.

This left Wald with whatever else he might like off of the mysterious prey. In Karem's pack, one shared their kills with their kin.

The moon was swiftly obscured by clouds as the call faded into echo.

!	Message from: Pig Boy
	Alright Wald, Praetorum has volunteered to make this hunt interesting for you as a GST. You can post once now, and then he will post, and I'll let you two work out how you want to proceed from there. When Karem is needed to make an appearance, I'll jump in one last time. Hope you have fun!

[Wald Lowca]

Wald had been laying in his tent, the unnatural warmth of which kept him and his animals safe from the biting cold. The peace was slowly taken away from the hunter's camp, as Ylfa stood alerted to some force within the forest. Wald's eyes would open, his thoughts clouded for a few moments. His eyes began to give a dull burn, along with his teeth. It was his mark being pulled, it was similar to when his abilities increased. This time however, it was for another reason.

The wolf spirit he trusted soon began to speak, this led Wald's brow to quark. His body slowly climbed to his feet, from the ground where he was to sleep. Moving out of the tent slowly, he could hear the wolf cries once more in the distance. His senses could feel that something was out there waiting, just not one that could be followed with the mark. There was finally a creature out there, one that could challenge the hunter.

Grabbing hold of his longbow, and equipping his arrows Wald prepared for the trials ahead. A smile would enter his face though, he was being tested, maybe this hunt will spark his ambition once again. As the mark Karem had gifted him, it made things easier. The thrill of hunting something of the unknown again, that is what he sought after.

As the echos left, Wald would begin to move from his camp. Calling upon his companion. "Let us go for the hunt."

Ylfa recognized that face on the hunter. The last time it was there, he hunted the bear near his camp. She would need to help bring him down from this high, if not the hunt could end in failure. "Yes I will come, Master." Though for now, she choose to follow the hunter. Sniffing out for clues of the location, as Wald's eyes scanned the forest for tracks and broken branches.

[Praetorum]

The wilds were strangely silent as Wald emerged--as if all of Karem's realm was holding its breath, giving this hunt the gravity it deserved. The only sounds for Wald to hear were the crunch of snow under his feet, and the whistle of the wind through the trees

As Wald began to search, Ylfa would catch a strange, faint scent, almost like the sweet smoke of a cherrywood fire. Following this scent would lead them a short way away from where they had made camp.

And there, Wald would discover that the hunt had begun breaks before the first wolf call, when his prey had come to take the measure of him.

It was no natural animal that Wald was to hunt; no mundane creature would have been worthy of a hunt, a test such as this. No mundane creature would have deliberately come so close to a predator.

Something had slowly paced a perfect circle around Wald's campsite, leaving behind that odd scent, and what must have been crisp, unhurried prints in the thick snow. But the snow never ceased so far north, and the flakes that had fallen between then and now had partially filled the tracks, blurring them into the faint impression of hooves.

Beyond those, any sign of the creature's passage were far better hidden, or else had been entirely obscured by the snow. Ylfa would, however, be able to detect that the smoky scent was slightly stronger to the north, though the scent trail was too old to be very precise.

!	Message from: Praetorum
	You can ask for up to 3 clues, prints, or signs over Discord or PM. For each, please give me a rough idea of the actions Wald takes to search for them

[Wald Lowca]

When Wald walked out he saw the circular impression around his camp. His eyes curiously followed the trail, as the smell tickled his nose lightly. Ylfa however had a much stronger scent of things, as she moved towards the circle. The hunter would follow slowly, leaning down to check over the odd impressions. The impression were hoofed, they were prints that surrounded the camp. They were old, far older then the first sign the hunt started. Moving his fingers down he traced the print. Two inward hooked toes, along with two smaller spikes in the back. The creature was large, the prints something like a caribou, maybe a moose? After he looked at another set, the moose was scratched from his mind. The split was to far apart for a moose.

Wald would follow the rotation of the tracks, watching the sides carefully to catch signs of the creature. It was a good sized creature, and whatever it was... Well the thought of it being a simple caribou was out of the question. The beast did not spark the man's senses, Karem made sure of that. He walked in a clockwise motion around the camp, similar to what the animal did for the encirclement. "It went towards the stream, Master." Wald took the information in for the time being, there may yet be a clue.

Along the way back to the north of the circle, Wald noticed a rubbing against the tree. Its normal brownish grey was contrasted by a bright color. Moving closer, he could see a red tuft of fur. The creature most of gotten caught on the branch for only a moment. "Ylfa come." He called to the wolf, the smell of cherry smoke thick in the tuft.

Ylfa came over as quickly as Wald called. "Yes, Master."

Wald would snap the branch, as to not contaminate the smell. "Here is some fur, get a good smell for tacking Ylfa." The wolf began to sniff and take in the scent, memorizing it fully. As the two both hurried to the north, just off the trail Wald had to the stream. It was an old game trail, it seemed to avoid certain parts of the forest though. Both The hunter and his wolf went in a hurry, but made sure to keep their senses open for any surprises to come. There was no telling how long they would be on this trail.

[Praetorum]

The scent trail was old and patchy, but Ylfa's keen nose would guide them true, following the trail deep, deep into the forest, past Wald's game trail, past the stream, and past most of the landmarks Wald knew in this area. The creature they were following seemed to shun many of the common, easier trails, instead weaving its way through dense forest and over tangled bushes, clearly well aware that Wald would follow in its tracks, and not willing to make it easy for him.

For the first break, Wald would see few, if any clear tracks in the snow. It seemed disturbed in many places, but the breaks of snowfall since those disturbances had been made had smoothed out the details, leaving little but the scent, and the occasional strand of reddish fur for Wald and Ylfa to follow.

As the forest canopy above thickened, though, and the snow covering the ground thinned, more tracks would begin to appear, the same hoofprints as before, mostly at walking pace, but occasionally breaking into a trot over an open patch of forest. This trail would continue without much variation for a few more breaks, until the trees cleared out to reveal Wald's first major obstacle.

The river was wide and deep, and though it wasn't dangerously fast, the glut of snowmelt in the hot cycle swelling the river meant that it would take a strong swimmer to cut across it.

Here and there, there were exposed stones, with hoofprints marking the otherwise pristine snow atop them. Ylfa would be able to confirm that the scent led right over this river, and if Wald looked carefully, he might even be able to make out hoofprints on the far bank.

!	Message from: Praetorum
	You can ask for up to 3 clues, prints, or signs over Discord or PM. For each, please give me a rough idea of the actions Wald takes to search for them. You can post multiple times if you want, and I'll cut in once you cross the river or find an alternative.

[Wald Lowca]

The trail seemed nearly random at first, waving and bobbing around trees. Thorns and thick brush seemed to pepper the path the creature made. Ylfa had little not no issues with following the scent. Wald had to take a few more moments, going through the thorns could be dangerous. Gaining a cut in middle of a hunt could cause the smell of blood to spook the creature. Likely the creature could be aroused on by the scent, at least based on how blatant it was around its camp.

Small tufts of read were scattered on the trail. I clear sign they were heading in the right direction. They continued for a long time moving through the forest. Soon enough a small clearing was visible up ahead. The sound of a river filled the air, as the hunter and wolf made their approach. The two walked out of the clearing, only to see a river that was in middle of a swell. Ylfa went right to the river, wanting to cross. "It is ahead, Master."

This made Wald look up and down the river for a moment, there seemed to be no major bridge in the area. There were only a few small stones lining across the river. That seemed like the only bridge like structure in the area. Wald slowly walked down to the river, slowly putting his hand in. The river was moving quickly. Slowly he brought the water to his mouth, tasting it for only a moment. It was slightly salty. Dumping the water, Wald walked over to the stone path across the river. He took his hatchet out, slowly pushing on the rock. It seemed stable enough.

It would take time to get across, as Wald was not a strong swimmer. The current could easily push him away. He moved towards the trees nearby, choosing a tall skinny tree for his target. The man began to chop away at the tree, it would take him quite some time to finally fell the tree. Once he did though, Wald cleared away half the branches with Ylfa's help. Before, pushing it into the water up stream from the stones.

The tree flowed into the stones, getting stuck by the stone path. Wald strapped all his gear on him before getting to the river's bank. "I will see you on the other side." He spoke you Ylfa one last time, before he began to walk into the stream, holding onto the felled tree. The water was ice cold, but the man was unable to feel the temperature change. Even though a normal man would get frozen to death in such waters, due to Karem's blessing he was unaffected by the low temperature.

He made his way slowly to the other side, before shaking off as much of the water as he could. It would at least hide his scent a bit better, though his close would stick to him for a few breaks. The two would continue on with their quest for the animal.

[Pig Boy]

The journey across the river rapids was not easy on Wald. And not only because of the temperature of the freezing waters, which Karem's blessing allowed him to sustain against.

It was the difficulty of staying on foot through the river, all while maintaining a grip on the log he'd cut. Without the log, the river would have almost certainly swept him along its current. Not only was the current strong and fierce, but the rocks were slippery with water, ice and whatever sludge settled on the bottom of the river bed.

Nevertheless, Karem must have smiled on his efforts, as he made his way across safely, thanks in no small part to his sense of coordination and strength that the skills he acquired engendered.

When at last he made it beyond the river bed, and shook off those droplets, he heard Ylfa murmuring into his mind.

"No, master." Ylfa said sadly, "I cannot follow you there. The Wolf Mother forbids it."

"My hunt is elsewhere." Was the last he heard from her that night before she went bounding off in the other direction, opposite the river.

He could hear the cry of a Stag on the wind. Its musk was evident on the air. Behind Wald, he could hear hooves padding against the ground, and then a sudden shrieking roar. A large fanged Stag approached the hunter, it's canines nearly four inches long, with antlers spanning at least four feet across, with wickedly sharpened ends to each branch.

It padded the ground only a moment, before it lowered its head, and charged him. It was nearly seventy feet away from him, but he could tell it would be on him in mere moments.

The Hunt was on, but who was the prey now?

[Wald Lowca]

Shaking off the water for a moment, some dripped away, but it all got to his body temperature after leaving the water. Wald looked to his spirit wolf companion, who may of helped with leading the way, sniffing out a path. Ylfa would leave him to deal with the prey on his own. It was not a big deal, he was use to working alone. Ylfa was a nice boon to his force though, Wald would watch her leave before the sound and smell of something reached him.

He turned to the creature, it had a predatory gaze upon Wald. It seemed strange, It in all accounts looked like a deer, but it seemed to crave flesh. It gave out a shrieking roar, the creature was ready to hunt the hunter. Something swelled within Wald's core, a feeling of child like excitement entered his body.

The fanged deer began a charge to Wald, it would only be a bit before they were upon the hunter. If his bow was readied, he could fire a volley of arrows before the creature reached him. Though from this distance, he would be hit before giving the creature damage. Wald had walked into a clearing in the forest, the deer set a trap for him it seemed.

Wald had to think fast, as he readied himself to face the deer head on. A thumping powering through his chest. He had killed bears, deers, wolves and boars, but this seemed different. He could feel an eye watching him, a smile crept onto his face, excitement pulsed through his body. The sharp antlers were almost upon the man, as he dove into the charge. Gripping into the front legs of the animal with a vise like grip. The antlers caught Wald though, catching his pants, lifting his legs into the air. His back end in the air, he could not exert his full force.

A change of plans, as the deer began to thrash about, tearing his clothing. Wald's hands pushed together, forcing the deer's legs to come together at the chest. Forcing the creature to fall to the side, though Wald got freed from the hooks of the antlers. His pants were torn, and he had a few digging cuts in his lower back.

Instead of standing like a man would, he scurried around over the deer. As the creature began to try and rise. Unlike Wald, the deer needed to be on its feet to fight properly. Wald was used to fighting on the back foot, he trained with Ylfa, until he himself could beat the wolf unarmed. His muscles tensed, trying to keep the deer's head from moving keeping hold of its large antlers. Soon he would try for a bite into the deer's flesh. Would his grip hold though, long enough for the bite into the neck to finish the beast?

[Pig Boy]

The Oh'deer Dire Hart struggled against his grappling with its antlers. Wald would find, as he gripped them, they were razor sharp, with tines that bit deep into the flesh of his hands. He managed his hold, for a moment, but a moment was all he really needed to enact the maneuver he'd practiced so often with Ylfa in play fights. He sank his fangs into the flesh of the Oh'deer, causing it to bleed profusely from the neck.

It didn't give up though, as he bit into it's neck, it came around to bite him with its own fangs, sinking them into his shoulder, while it's legs pummeled his belly, his legs, anything within reach. However, slowly, as the blood seeped out of the creature, its struggles began to slow. Wald would bring it to the ground, where it would lie, it's red blood seeping into the snow.

It was over.

Before it seemed like he would have time to dress and harvest his quarry, he could hear a slight trembling in the earth. A rumbling that caused the lighter snows to kick up off the ground in tremors could be felt all over, through the ground, bringing snow down from the tree branches. Then, out of the darkness of the wood, he could see at least a half dozen of the same kind of deer, making a beeline for Wald's position over the dire hart. They were not close, still about 400 yards out from him. But they were big, and they looked angry.

And they weren't getting any farther away from Wald.

Ylfa could be heard to howl in the distance, and in his head he would hear her voice, "Do you need me master? Karem has given me permission to join you now!"

[Wald Lowca]

Biting into the neck the blood was almost refreshing to Wald. Even as the creature kicked for its life, Wald kept a tight grip on the creature. Life blood flowed out as the creature's final breath left it. He caught his breath for just a moment, before his sense screamed at him. Looking out he saw a half dozen more coming in from the distance. A howl would ring through the air, as a voice echoed into the hunter's head. "Do you need me, Master? Karem has given me permission to join you now, Master!" Wald would not turn his head from the prey, even as the howling began.

Wald would grab hold of his bow, and begin to ready his arrows. "Ylfa front!" Wald gave a simple order to the spirit wolf, as she would move just a few meters ahead of Wald. Wald would begin to fire arrow after arrow to the group of deer that came in. His shots were strong, a few of them cracked the air as they flew. Though he could feel some of the damage from the last deer on some of his shots. Ylfa would engage with the first deer to get close enough, as Wald would be getting ready. His knees were bent even as he fired his last arrow. If one got past Ylfa, he would throw the bow to the side. He would go for the creature's legs, deer legs were thin meant for jumping. But if he was not careful with how he grabbed them it could hurt him worst. The last time he did such an act was against a group of wild boar. This time though, the horns were much higher then tusks.