• Closed • [Willow Woods] Got Game?

[Arlo Creede]

52nd Trial of Ashan, Arc 717

It had been one of those rare mornings when Arlo had slept longer than Vega, and he'd placed a mug of tea outside her tent flap along with a plate of corn cakes drizzled with honey. And by the time she finally came out of her tent, he was hitching up Peg to her cart and loading some supplies into the back. Things he thought they might need, not only for the expected, but also for the unexpected.

The plan was to head out into the Willow Woods, then find, kill and process a Buxon for a local butcher who'd placed an ad for just that on the local bounty board. Rumor had it that the Willow Woods were a strange enough place during the trial. But at night? A man at the docks had told him it was better not to get caught out there after dark.

"Took you long enough," he muttered, smiling when Vega finally wandered out of her tent. Though it was just dawn, Arlo wanted to get an early start. He figured that's when the best hunting would be. And it would lessen the chances of getting delayed past dusk. He was dressed in leathers from collar to toe, armed with his long sword, knife and bow, and was busy putting more supplies in the back of the cart.

"I'm not planning on getting stuck there after dark," he told her. But she knew their kind of luck. Better to be prepared. "Legend has it that at night in the Willow Woods, you can hear screaming, and unseen children laughing. What do you think that's about?" he wondered. She might want to pack up supplies for a night though, and he was taking the cart, believing they might need it to haul back their kill.

And as they headed out, Arlo considered the butcher's request again. "You know he only mentioned wanting the meat. Means we're free to keep the hide and the antlers if there are any." But a Buxon. He'd never heard of it, so only assumed he'd never seen one either. "It's some kind of deer as I understand it. But I've also heard you can ride the things, so it must not be as small as a regular one. You know what one looks like?" he asked as he pulled Peg along behind him.

[Vega]

"Mornin', sunshine." Vega rubbed her eyes sleepily and concentrated on wrapping her hands around the tea. "Mmm, sweet things. Thanks, Arlo." She had a bleary expression which would take quite a few bits to shift. The tea and sweet cakes helped, it must be said. "I should cook more, I'm sorry." Thinking about it, she gave a sudden grin, "I should learn to cook better, then I should cook more." Her cooking was abysmal but she always made sure that she did her share, if it wasn't in the preparation of meals, in other ways around their camp.

"But you are planning to live there?" Getting herself together, Vega could not help but grin at the cart full of things. He was a strange conundrum, her friend Arlo, of slapdash-chuck-it-together-it'll-be-fine and very, very prepared. "So long as you don't decide to dive head first into a hole in the ground, we'll be good I think." Vega started pulling the last of her things together, most of her packing up had been done the night before, so it didn't take her long before she put her backpack on the cart and gave a shrug. "I dunno, probably a combination of things," was her response to his thoughts about the sounds at night in the Willow Woods. "Wind whistling through trees, overactive imaginations and tall tales."

With a glance at him and a smile which said she wouldn't really mind at all if it was the case, "or it's haunted. Who knows?" Why would it be the screams of children, though? Vega sighed and thumped him gently on the arm, "Now I'm going to be stuck with serious thoughts. Why do you do that to me?"

Keeping the hide and antlers would be good, Vega agreed. However, her thought was, "I think we should try and get two of them. Since we're there. Or more. Wild Wood rabbits and buxons. No, no idea. I thought you'd asked that when you, you know, got the job." Vega grinned and shrugged. "Deer like thing big enough to ride. How many of those can there be?"

Then, though, she came back to the first part of the conversation and she sighed slightly, "If we have to spend the night, which I'd rather we didn't, we should take some earplugs or something. I don't wanna be listenin' to screamin' kids all night." She did a good imitation of grumpy when she said that, although it wasn't real at all. "If I wanted to spend my nights listenin' to that, I'd have married someone. No thanks." She yawned away the last of her sleep and then realised something. "Which way?"

[Arlo Creede]

"Haunted? Maybe," Arlo considered as they finally headed out. "That seems to be what people are implying anyway." He figured it was probably that, and not the other things she'd mentioned. Sure, tall tales and active imaginations were one thing. But he'd never heard whistling trees sounding like night terrors and maniacal children before.

"Because you asked," he responded with a shrug, when she asked why he'd told her all that. Had she actually asked? He couldn't remember. But Arlo figured she would have sooner or later, so better to tell her sooner. "There's apparently things called Sylvithia and Lurkers in Willow Woods too. I'm not sure what they are but they don't sound much like bunnies and fox do they?" All the more reason, probably, not to get caught out in the place by night.

It was also where the Seraas en Avellach, the ruined fort was, he told Vega, though he'd probably mangled the pronunciation of it beyond recognition. "The butcher said if we stumbled across it, we ought to steer clear of the place." To his mind, that was all the more reason for seeking it out and exploring.

He agreed though that if they could bring down two of the buxons, they should. Apparently the meat was a delicacy, and he'd like to keep some of it to cook, and more to mix with berries and grains and preserve for eating on the road. "I figured you'd know," Arlo argued when she asked why hadn't he looked into what the things actually were. Better to deflect the blame, after all, than to admit there'd been a pretty girl nearby. He'd been preoccupied with looking, and had forgotten to ask.

"The kids aren't screaming. There's screaming, then there's the children laughing. Changes the context completely," he pointed out. In fact, to Arlo's mind that made it seem just a little bit creepier than it did already. So best not to get delayed after dark. But northeast of the city, he told her, and pointed at the treeline growing closer with a handful of visible paths they could take into the woods.

[Vega]

"I dunno, I guess the power of suggestion is a powerful thing?" In her mind, it was much more likely that there were a whole bunch of stories and a bigger group of folks with over active imaginations. "And no, I didn't." Ask, that was. Still, she would have done, so she shrugged and ignored it. Still, he was insistent on dredging up monsters where there might not be any. "They might be bunnies. Cute little bunnies that lurk around the place. It could happen, I'm jus' saying." No, she didn't believe it either, but it was a possibility and she was feeling determinedly optimistic.

But he didn't know what these things even looked like? Vega looked at him with a challenge in her ice-blue eyes and then she grinned. "You forgot to ask, didn't you?" What had distracted him, she wondered. Pretty and wearing a skirt or interesting and piqued his imagination? Of course, if the trial ever came where Arlo met someone who met all four of those criteria, he'd be lost she was fairly sure. Still, in a moment of not hassling him, she said no more. Because 'I thought you'd know' was the worst excuse she'd heard in a while, so he must be desperate. There was no point tormenting him for that, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Instead, she'd wait and torment him about something meaningful.

"Oh, well that wouldn't 'appen if I was married. My kids would scream. Not laugh." Vega thumped him on the arm and added. "So that makes it much less creepy, don't it?" Which she understood might not be entirely true.

So, the Willow Woods was that way? That was fine and as they made their way, Vega looked out for herbs and unusual plants and stopped a few times to pick up some mushrooms, some mint, that kind of thing. They chose, of course, the path into the woods which was the one seeming to be least traveled and, as they went forward, Vega spotted and moved over to some tracks. "Arlo? These look like deer to you? Big though, like, horse sized. Heavy, too, judging by the depth?"

Not that she realised it, but since they'd first met and he'd taught her how to hunt and spot tracks, Vega had learned a lot about hunting. Still, though, she looked up to him as she knelt next to the tracks and checked that she'd got it right.

[Arlo Creede]

Power of suggestion and imagination both, were powerful things. And maybe there was a little of that in the legends surrounding the Willow Woods. But it was Arlo's nature. He preferred to believe the place was haunted. Vega would know it was his preferred way of thinking, just by observing the lift of his shoulders in response, as if to say, suit yourself. "Laughing and screaming bunnies, you mean?" he said though and grinned. "Now that might be interesting."

But then it seemed to him there was mystery enough at hand. They'd need to identify the sought after Bruxom, without exactly knowing what one was. Except that it was some sort of deer, and said to be larger than the ordinary, garden variety of deer. "I might have." He came as close as he would to admitting that he'd forgotten to ask about the coveted creature. But he'd had other things on his mind and wasn't telling her what they'd been. Meanwhile, Peg had grown stubborn, was dragging her feet...so to speak, and he gave her a good tug and a click of his tongue.

"It's just a forest Peg. I was only teasing about the ghosts." He might have given the mare's resistance more weight than he did though. Horses seemed to sense things that two legged mortals didn't. He couldn't help grinning again though when Vega mentioned children. Teasing each other seemed to come as second nature to them both. "You'd make a fine mother I'm sure Vega. Being all matronly like you are."

He'd pick up a few things along the way as well. Mushrooms, herbs, only those things he could cook with though. But in addition, things that caught his eye like a rounder and smoother stone than most, one with an impression of some kind of plant left in it. A bright colored feather at the edge of the treeline. And before he knew it they'd arrived at their choice of ways into the woods.

When she pointed out the tracks though, Arlo spotted them easily even before he dropped down on his heels. "Some sort of deer, sure," he said and frowned deeply as he placed the palm of his hand down to compare it with the size of one of the imprints. "But if it's a deer that left it, based on the size of the tracks and the depth, like you say, it's gotta be a big one." And by big, he didn't mean just an ordinary deer on large end of the spectrum.

"And look there," he added as he stood up, pointing to a nearby tree that was a mature one, tall, thick and stout. "See the damage on the trunk? Bucks rub their antlers on trees to remove the velvet. But they don't usually do that kind of damage. The one that did that is strong."

If the animal that made those tracks was as large as a horse, it wasn't an ordinary horse either. More like a draft horse, he figured, which could easily double Peg's weight and tower over her too. Arlo smiled then, taking his bow in hand before they went any further. "By the looks of it, we might need bigger arrows. Still, there's no telling when it left those tracks. It could be miles away by now. But if it's nearby it shouldn't be hard to spot."

So far, Peg and her cart could easily travel the path they were on, though at some point he might have to tie her off and leave her till they returned again. As for Lyova, the little fairy had come along and was currently curled up in the brim of his hat, keeping her oversized eyes trained on the forest around them. And they'd gone just a half a break or so when Arlo spotted movement head of them. Leaves rustling, small branches bending and snapping back gently as if something might be traveling away from them, but not in any particular hurry.

It could be anything, but it was large enough to move the small branches as it went. So slowing, Arlo looped Peg's lead over a branch, pulled an arrow from his quiver and then pointed out the movement ahead of them for Vega's sake. No telling what they were seeing, but that way, he implied, seemed to be the best option for finding out.

[Vega]

The look on Vega's face was immediately and obviously triumphant. "Knew you'd be the first to cave in. You lose, Arlo Creede. Which means, of course, I win." Just in case he needed reminding, she added, "I 'aven't tormented you about your age since I said I wouldn't. You couldn't 'elp yourself. In. Your. Face." That kind of behaviour, of course, made matronly far less of an appropriate term for her, but Vega couldn't hide her delight. "Oh, I could pinch your cheeks and ruffle your hair, I'm so happy."

Still, they had to be at least a little bit serious when they got to the tracks and she nodded. If that was a deer, it was as big as a horse, easily. She looked up at the tree as Arlo pointed it out and frowned. "It's... yeah. That's a big deer. An 'oh dear, deer', you could say." Not if you had anything resembling a sense of humour, she knew, but still. She was riding high and not even the knowledge that her joke was awful was making a dent in that. Still, she too readied her bow and they made their way.

A half break, maybe a little less she figured and Arlo was the first to spot movement. As he looped Peg's harness, Vega narrowed her eyes and watched. Yes, there was movement and she nodded at Arlo. Once he was done the two of them moved forward, slow and careful. As always, Vega was cautious about where she stood, very aware that the slightest noise could spook an animal; yet this one behave rather differently, not at all like it was running away more like it was moving alongside.

Further forward and there, in a clearing in front of them was possibly the most beautiful creature Vega had seen. It was bathed in light and majestic, and it was big too - as Arlo had surmised it was easily the size of a very large horse and the light which moved around it was like nothing Vega had ever seen before. It was beyond beautiful and although she had raised her bow, Vega took stock of what she was seeing and hesitated. For itself, the creature in question looked at the two of them, from one to the other and Vega would swear that there was intelligence, or something very like it, in those eyes. Her bow lowered and she whispered, barely an outbreath, "Arlo?"

[Arlo Creede]

The expression on Arlo's face as they'd gone along, implied he didn't mind that Vega had won, by virtue of him being the first to run afoul of their pact. He failed to suppress a grin, shrugged a little. So she'd won, he seemed to imply. He wasn't sorry, though he hadn't exactly done it on purpose either. He'd forgotten, and let his natural inclinations take over. "Gloat all you like Vega," he told her, still grinning. "Just remember that you'll never been getting any younger."

Not that she was exactly the old crone he teased her about being, time to time. She was far from that and barely older than him. But she got her back up easily, and for some reason Arlo enjoyed making it happen. Once they'd entered the forest though, the banter was forgotten. They'd a mysterious creature to catch up with and slay, that in a number of ways must have amounted to an outsized deer. Or so the young man assumed.

It was strange though, that once they spotted movement ahead of them, whatever was causing it didn't dart away or speed up its pace at least. It wasn't very deer like behavior, and surely it had spotted or heard them coming? The wheels on the cart had a squeak to them after all, and he'd kept forgetting to oil them. Arlo glanced at Vega once, frowning curiously as they walked along, the thing always just a stone's toss away.

"Almost feels as if it's watching us like we're watching for it," he thought. And it must have been, because when the stumbled into the clearing where the creature was standing, somehow it felt as if the thing was waiting for them. Still, he nocked his arrow, took aim and for the first time looked at what could only be a Bruxon. Really looked at it.

Arlo had never seen anything like it. In fact if he had, he'd have had a hard time describing it to anyone else. It was enormous, and he'd expected it. But he hadn't expected the light swirling around the animal. He hadn't expected it to appear so noble and intelligent in a way that other animals weren't. It was facing them, nostrils flaring, and looking at them right down the length of their arrows.

It didn't look afraid. Not at all. His string was drawn back, he was watching it down the length of his arrow, just as it was doing to them. And it suddenly struck him. The thing was sizing them up, taking their measure...and waiting. Arlo relaxed the tension in the string and just as he did, Vega had lowered her own bow and whispered to him. His own was still raised, but he whispered back, "I don't think I can."

Funny though. Arlo had downed any number of deer, rabbits, fox, furry creatures that others might shrink away from the thought of killing, even for food. It was survival at it's most basic. But this was different. and just as he thought it, the Bruxon shifted and walked right towards them. He kept his bow raised just a trill or two more. He knew how dangerous, how completely deadly an angry, mature buck could be.

But as it came closer, then stopped just a yard or two in front of them, dropped its head just a bit and flared its nostrils to get a good scent from them, he shook his head and lowered his bow completely. "I can't do it Vega. I can't shoot it."

[Vega]

"Well none of us are doing that, are we?" He should be more put out that he'd lost, really. He was breaking the unwritten, unspoken but entirely known rules. "And yer short, too." It was a childish shot, and she knew it. However, there it was.

As they stepped into the woods themselves, though, all teasing and messing around ended and the pair of them switched, somehow, into a different way of being. Here, teasing and ribbing might get one or either of them dead. So, instead, they made their way into the woods and the thing with them seemed to be, well, with them. Keeping pace, even watching them. How could that be? Vega was starting to get a bad feeling about this, which really wasn't helped by that squeaking wheel. If he didn't fix that soon she was going to beat him into a bloody pulp, she considered. She wouldn't mind if he'd just let her do it but no, he'd said he was going to and he would. When she'd suggested it, he'd got that look on his face like she'd just insulted his ancestors or somehow suggested that he was a lesser being.

Boys.

However, all consideration of the ridiculous nature of males up and down Idalos and just before she got to wondering if male mer were as stubborn and stupid as human and biqaj ones, they saw what must be the creature they were hunting. It was beyond beautiful and Vega looked at it with amazement and awe on her face. Her eyes changed, swirling in a range of colours as she considered that they'd taken a job to do this but.... she lowered her bow.

Just a few trill later, so did Arlo and Vega realised that she'd been holding her breath. Relief flooded through her as he spoke what she was feeling and she felt a wave of an entirely unfamiliar emotion. Later, she'd consider it and recognise that she was pleased beyond measure that Arlo hadn't taken the shot, had felt the same as she did. Because if he had done so, she would have been disappointed in him. Immortals, she thought in the moment, friendships were complicated. As she said, "I know, me neither. Hey, there." Vega decided that she was going to try and dislike Arlo more, just so that she wouldn't be in this kind of situation again. Entirely logical, she thought with a smile at him.

She held one hand out, palm open so that the creature could sniff if it wanted to. "It's beautiful. And I think clever, too. Hello." The creature took a tentative step forward and Vega knelt, making herself smaller. "You're not going to hurt us, are you? I'm sorry, we didn't know it was you. This is Arlo, I'm Vega." If she thought it odd to talk to an animal, she certainly didn't show it. In truth it didn't seem strange to her at all.

"So what are we going to do?" Without looking at him, it was still obvious from her tone that Vega was talking to Arlo. Because there was no way they were killing this thing. "You got anything to eat? For the Bruxom, I mean, not you." Vega added the second, sure that he'd deny he'd ever think anything different and equally sure that it needed saying.

[Arlo Creede]

Though he hadn't realized it, Arlo had been holding his breath too. He wouldn't have been able to say why, except that at first it was in order to steady his bow and take his shot. But then, maybe it was because he was eyeing a wonder down the length of his arrow. Or maybe because having failed to loose the thing sooner, the Bruxon had strolled too close to them to make anything useful of firing it. And had it wanted to, it could have killed them both.

But as he lowered his bow, he let his breath out slowly. How could he have shot it? He'd never thought much about souls, except that he'd have maintained that animals didn't have one. This creature though, it was as if another thinking, reasoning soul was looking back at them. And now up close and taking in their scent.

He watched, fascinated as the Bruxon walked even closer, slowly, and nuzzled Vega's outstretched hand. He imagined its muzzle must feel like velvet. Then raising its head and swinging it towards him, it took a deep, nostril flaring sniff of the bridge of his nose, before lifting up and nudging the brim of his hat so that the prized possession sat back further on his forehead. If anyone else had done it, he'd have objected. Instead Arlo laughed.

What could they do? Well they wouldn't be collecting a bounty this trial, that was for sure. He smiled and shrugged, taking the opportunity to gently run the palm of his hand down across the Bruxon's nose. Then as if it had understood what she said about food, or eating, it swung its head again and nudged her shoulder. "I only have..." Arlo started, thinking of the dried meat he had stored in his rucksack, but then he realized he might have something better.

"Keep him happy," he said as he took the few paces it would take to return to the cart. All the while, he kept an eye on the creature to make sure it didn't suddenly turn on Vega. But in a blink he was back with a small sack in his hands. "I bought some berries at the market last trial. I was going to make a tart over the fire," he told her, and then showed her what he had in the sack. Strawberries and blueberries both.

So pulling out a strawberry first, he offered it up in his palm to the Bruxom, who after just one sniff devoured the thing hole and began nudging at the sack again. This time it was a handful of blueberries that he handed to Vega, then Arlo took another handful for himself. And before Arlo or Vega either one could offer one of the small fruits, the Bruxon's eyes seemed to light up at the sight of them, and he was nudging both of them to hurry up with a taste.

► Show Spoiler

Blueberries, strawberries and honey deducted from ledger.

[Vega]

"Oh, it's beautiful. He's beautiful. He's a he? Oh, I was going to call him Henrietta. Maybe Henry? Do you like that?" Vega looked at the antlers and gave a shrug, "I spent most of my life on the ocean. Give me a break." She smiled and then she couldn't quite help that she gave a gasp of delight as the beautiful creature nuzzled against her hand. "Oh, he's so soft, Arlo. Hello."

As Arlo stepped forward, and then the Bruxom nudged against his hat, Vega smiled up from her kneeling position. "You're very honoured, you know," she explained to the Bruxom as she turned her attention back to it. "He's only let me touch that hat once and then he thought we were gonna die." She chuckled as the creature nudged her in the shoulder, "I promise you, you're happier with food provided by him. I can't boil water without making a mess." Arlo was quick to return though and she took the blueberries from him before chuckling in amazement at the creature. "Arlo, I'm sure he knows what we're saying. Do you, Henry?"

Henry, or whatever his name actually was seemed utterly delighted at the prospect and Vega giggled in a most girlie manner as the creature ate the blueberries from her hand in a speed which would have to be seen to be believed and then moved to do the same from Arlo's hand. "I think he likes blueberries, Arlo." Her eyes were a mixture of gold and bright green. By now, Arlo probably knew that gold or silver meant extreme emotions, strong ones. That, and the more colours the more confused or conflicted she was were the only two rules about Vega's eyes.

Once the two handfuls were eaten in mere trills, 'Henry' was quickly snuffling for more. Even though he was obviously keen, he was also careful with both of them and Vega gently moved her hand to stroke his neck, well aware that the grin on her face had not abated for some time as she marvelled at the beautiful creature in front of them. "You got any more of those fruits?" As she asked the question, the creature turned to Arlo and tilted its head, as though curious also.