I've got pigglies on my mind

[Goku]

Goku rode his horse leisurely along the winding forest path. The air was fresh, filled with the scent of the trees and the distant chirping of birds. He enjoyed these rides as they gave him a sense of peace and an opportunity to clear his mind.

As they rounded a bend, Goku spotted a figure lying by the side of the road. He tugged on the reins, bringing the horse to a halt. The person on the ground looked injured and, to Goku's surprise, was covered in what appeared to be a foul-smelling mess.

“Hey! Are you okay?” Goku called out, dismounting quickly and hurrying over to the stranger.

The man groaned and looked up at Goku with a pained expression. “I’ve been better,” he replied weakly. His clothes were splattered with a sticky brown substance, and the smell was almost unbearable.

“What happened to you?” Goku asked, trying to suppress a grin at the absurdity of the situation.

The man sighed heavily. “I was minding my own business, just walking along this path, when out of nowhere, poo fell from the sky! I’m betting it was one of those flying pigs that have been in the area recently.”

Goku couldn’t help it; he burst out laughing. “Flying pigs? That’s a good one! I’ve heard of weird things, but flying pigs? Really?”

The man frowned, clearly not amused by Goku’s reaction. “I’m serious! I’ve seen them myself. Big, fat pigs with wings, flying around and causing all sorts of trouble.”

Goku wiped a tear from his eye, still chuckling. “Well, I guess I have heard stranger things. Let’s get you cleaned up and see if you need any help with those injuries.”

[Illuvia]

Luvi had been riding alongside Goku when the… unfortunate man came into view. This was one case where she didn’t feel like stopping to help because the smell was awful. But Goku and his kind heart spoke up, so she went with the flow.

“I find it hard to believe that there are flying pigs, and why it would single you out in particular…” she said as she narrowed her eyes. “What were you doing when it… did that?”

Something about his story didn’t make sense. She didn’t think that a pig would go out of its way to do something like this for no reason. There had to be a reason, or the man had to have very bad luck.

“I was walking along, and BOOM out of nowhere, it happened!”

Luvi paid close attention to him as he spoke and noticed how he didn’t seem to want to meet her eyes. She got the feeling that he was lying, but she didn’t know why he would do such a thing. She shrugged, giving him the benefit of the doubt since it didn’t seem to matter in the end.

“So, these pigs, they’re that big of a nuisance? I’m surprised that people don’t shoot them down.”

“They do! Plenty want them gone. There’s no reward for killing them, as far as I know, but you’d be doing the people a favor if you happen to cull their numbers. I see you’re both mages. Killing them would probably be easy.”

[Goku]

Goku chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Well, we’ll keep our eyes out for those pigs and do our best."

After helping the man clean himself up in the stream and applying some healing runes to his injuries, Goku took a moment to assess the situation. The man’s clothes were still damp and stained, but at least he was no longer covered in the foul-smelling mess. Goku’s healing runes had done their job, and the man’s scrapes and bruises were beginning to fade.

As they mounted their horses and began to ride away, Goku leaned over to Luvi and said, “I’ve never heard of flying pigs before, and I’m not entirely convinced they exist. But if they do, it’s going to be a challenge to deal with them. Attacking something that high up seems nearly impossible.”

After a few moments of silence, Goku turned to Luvi again. “Hey, how’s your archery practice coming along? Think you’re good enough to shoot something down from the sky? it might be our best shot, no pun intended.”

The path ahead was lined with tall trees. Goku enjoyed the tranquility of the forest, but the thought of pigs soaring through the sky kept nagging at him. He pictured himself leaping into the air, trying to catch one of the creatures mid-flight.

In the distance, a shape moved against the sky, flapping wings that seemed too broad and powerful for a bird. He squinted, trying to get a clearer view, but the figure was too far away to make out any details. It soared gracefully, its silhouette shifting with the breeze. Then it moved behind a cloud and it was lost again.

[Illuvia]

“Same. If we hadn’t run into that man I’m not sure I would believe the story either. I don’t know how we could take it down either. I have gotten a lot better at shooting but am I good enough to shoot a bird out of the sky? Probably not. There’s no telling how fast the pigs move though, or how big they are. So, it might be possible. We’ll just have to see.”

As they rode along, Luvi tried to shoot from the back of her horse. She did not have much luck. Every time she tried to shift herself to try using her bow, she accidentally signaled for the horse to do something unfavorable. Even when she happened to get a chance to fire an arrow, the motions of the horse threw off her aim considerably, sending her arrow way off course.

It wasn’t long before Luvi gave up and slung the bow back over her shoulder. “I’m even less confident than before,” she told Goku, even though she knew she wasn’t likely to be shooting at the pigs from horseback.

When the strange figure appeared in the sky, Luvi said, “come on, let’s see if we can catch up to it!” She urged her horse to break into a full speed gallop. It didn’t move very quickly at first, but the horse picked up on her urgency when she started shouting and moving her hips aggressively.

It wasn’t long before the pig exited the cloud and started to descend. “We can catch up to it once it lands,” she shouted at Goku. She had to break off of the beaten trail, but she expected to reach the pig within a half hour if it stuck around.

[Goku]

Suddenly, Luvi called out. Goku followed her gaze and saw a dark shape swooping low over the trees. Without a second thought, he urged his horse into a gallop, determined to catch up. The creature landed in a clearing up ahead, and as they drew nearer, Goku could see it more clearly. It was indeed a pig, munching on something in the grass.

Just as they were about to close in, Goku noticed more movement above. A group of avriel descended, their arrows drawn. In a swift motion, they fired at the pig, killing it almost instantly. They landed gracefully and began butchering the carcass.

Goku slowed his horse and approached them cautiously. "What are you doing?" he asked, genuinely curious.

One of the avriel looked up from their work. "These pigs are good meat," he said simply. "We hunt them whenever we can."

Before Goku could ask more, another avriel stepped forward. "Don't come any closer," he commanded, his bow still drawn and aimed at Goku. Luvi halted her horse beside Goku, her eyes wide with surprise.

"We're just curious," Goku said, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. "We're not a threat."

The avriel narrowed his eyes. "This is our kill. Leave now," he ordered. The other avriel aimed their arrows at Goku and Luvi, creating a tense standoff.

Goku sighed, sensing that pushing further would only escalate the situation. "Alright, we'll go," he said, guiding his horse to turn away. As they retreated, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to these flying pigs than met the eye.

[Illuvia]

OOC: Avriels written up here

Luvi thought the entire interaction with the avriels was strange. She tensed herself for combat while Goku conversed, ultimately letting herself calm when Goku diffused the tension. Surely there was no harm in letting them get close, unless there was something they were hiding. “I think there’s even more to these pigs than meets the eye,” Luvi said as they rode away.

She kept an eye on the avriels who went back to butchering the pig, but they didn’t seem to be all too focused on gathering the meat. They did that, but Luvi thought they looked like they were focused on getting inside of the pig, as if they were searching for something. And when the avriels finally flew away, they hardly had all the meat from the pig with them.

“We need to kill one and find out what the secret is,” Luvi said. “But if we have to compete with people who can fly… then we probably won’t have much luck.” She thought some more then continued, “but, if they are hauling meat, that means that they couldn’t possibly hunt that many of them at a time. It must take a lot of energy to fly with that much extra weight.”

A devilish smile crept across her face as another idea came to mind. “We could even sabotage the competition. It might be a good opportunity to try practicing a few ideas I’ve had with runic traps. We just need to find a pig.”

Finding one, as it so happened, was a lot easier said than done. There were no footprints to find so all she could do was to follow their droppings and keep track of the pigs as they flew in the sky. The pigs were no pushovers, that was for certain. She saw the avriels try to take one down in the sky only for one of them to get covered in poo before the pig sped off at speeds that the aerial hunters couldn’t even keep up with.

[Goku]

“I don’t think we are good enough to hunt the pigs down,” Goku admitted, frustration creeping into his voice after an hour of trying without success. His eyes scanned the horizon, searching for any sign of movement. Each failed attempt weighed heavily on him, but he refused to give up. The mystery surrounding these pigs drove him to keep pushing forward.

The silence between them stretched on, the tension almost palpable. Goku's eyes suddenly widened as he spotted a pig landing in a small clearing ahead. The animal's wings folded awkwardly against its sides as it began to root around in the grass, seemingly unaware of their presence.

"There," he whispered urgently, pointing toward the creature. "Another one just landed, but we can't get close enough without being noticed. These pigs are too wary. I think it already saw us, so if we get too close, it will take off."

Goku turned to Luvi, his expression serious and determined. "We need to be quick and precise. Take the shot from here. It's our best chance."

He kept his eyes locked on the pig, which was now eying them warily. Goku's mind raced, considering their options and the best way to handle the situation. He knew their window of opportunity was narrow; any sudden movement could spook the pig and send it flying off into the sky.

The pig continued to root around in the grass, occasionally glancing up at them. Its behavior seemed almost normal, but Goku knew better. These creatures were anything but ordinary.

[Illuvia]

Luvi hopped off her horse and tied it to a tree when they decided to stop. “You’re right. I think it will take off very quickly if we mess this up. It’s that butt that I’m scared of. We’ve both seen what it’s capable of. I think we should stand by these trees. If it bolts, then we should take cover.”

She knew that they didn’t have much time. It wouldn’t be long before those avriels would come by. “Looks like I only get a few shots at this,” Luvi said as nocked an arrow and aimed down the sight. Her bow was of basic quality, nothing impressive… but it was a longbow. She pulled the arrow back and tried to be conscious of external factors such as her breathing and the wind. She couldn’t accurately account for either, but trying was better than nothing.

TWAP

The arrow flew through the air and missed wildly. The pig lifted its head and looked at them again. It trotted a ways then started to eat again.

“Let’s try again,” she whispered to herself while drawing another arrow. She tried aiming a little in the opposite direction that she’d missed by. By compensating, her aim was greatly improved. The arrow went zipping by the pig, grazing it just barely.

The pig squealed and took off. It didn’t let out any poo, thankfully. Perhaps the range of that attack wasn’t as large as Luvi had thought. She continued to fire arrow after arrow, but if she could barely hit it while stationary, it was basically impossible while it was on the move.

“Any ideas?” she asked Goku, “I don’t think I can do better than that.”

[Goku]

Goku watched intently as Luvi took her shot, but his heart sank when the arrow missed its mark completely. "Damn," he swore under his breath, frustration evident in his tone. Seeing Luvi nock another arrow and take aim again, he couldn't help but admire her persistence. However, when her second shot only grazed the pig, which then squealed and took off, he knew their chances were dwindling.

"That's okay," Goku said, trying to keep his voice steady and reassuring. "We'll get another chance."

Realizing that their current approach wasn't working, Goku thought quickly. "Maybe we should try to find where the avriel are making camp," he suggested. "If we can approach them there, we might be able to learn more without having to chase these pigs all over the place."

The sun was beginning to set. Goku knew they had to make a decision soon before it got too dark to see. "Let's head back to the main road and watch the skies. We might be able to follow the avriel and see where they land."

Mounting his horse, he signaled for Luvi to follow. As they rode back to the main road, Goku kept his eyes trained on the sky, scanning for any sign of the avriel. His patience paid off when he spotted a group of them descending in the distance. He followed them with his eyes, watching carefully as they landed in a secluded area.

"There," he pointed out to Luvi. "Looks like they've made camp over there. Let's go."

[Illuvia]

“Approach them? They nearly shot at us last time we met… I don’t think they’re going to want to chat. Unless you had something else in mind.” She frowned and thought some more about what Goku’s intentions might be. “I suppose we could sneak up on them and listen to their plans. I do know the rune of sound so I could listen from a distance.”

She nodded to Goku and continued, “and if we do get caught, we’ll be better prepared for their aggression. How dare they aim arrows at us when we did nothing wrong? I hope they do shoot at us - it’ll give me a good excuse to retaliate.”

It was almost dark by the time Luvi approached the avriel’s clearing. She tied her horse to a tree and crept forward, careful to stay a good distance away. She had two runes active on her forehead – sight and sound. She could see quite well despite the fading light which helped her avoid making as much noise as she usually did. She left her weapons with the horse, all except her pouch of projectiles. It was common sense for her to leave her heavy weaponry behind to make less noise.

She rested her back against a tree, facing away from the camp. She closed her eyes and focused on the sounds being made. It took her a moment for her ears to adjust to having hearing that was magnified at this level. The clanging of pots drowned out conversations as a meal was prepared. The wonderful smells of roasted pork drifted towards Luvi who’s stomach growled hungrily.

Luvi listened for what seemed like an hour without hearing anything interesting. Small talk revolving around getting camp set up. It wasn’t until they settled down to eat did the useful information come to light.

“A whole day and not one Well,” said one.

“We’ve only found one since we started hunting them. I think it’s fair to say that they’re rare,” said another.

“At least the meat’s good, well or no,” said a third.

“We just have to keep at it,” said a much more bold and commanding voice. It screamed leadership. “We’ll be rich soon enough.”

She didn’t hear anything else useful after that. She would relay what she heard to Goku and ask, “so, what do you think?”