[SE] blink and you'll miss it

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

A twig snapped beneath her foot, and Maea lunged, hands outstretched to catch the fuzzy creature. The hare she'd been stalking for the better part of an hour twitched at the sound and with a swift pop it vanished, appearing some feet away just as Maea hit the ground. 
"It's coming your way!" she wheezed as the hare tore off towards Alys. Shii was in hot pursuit already, whizzing along through the wilting flower field as though catching up would accomplish anything. 

Reaching for the most recent contribution to her arsenal of abilities, Maea dart!ed off after them - or tried to. Not yet back on her feet, the act of teleporting only sent her sprawling back down some foot away from where she'd begun. Humiliation reddened her cheeks; a hasty look towards Alys had her praying that the seer would be too occupied to witness her clumsiness.

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

Catching blink hares, as it turned out, was about as simple as catching smoke with one's bare hands.

Even her illusion magic had been no use thus far, with the hares seeming to have a sixth sense about where she was even when she was invisible. Perhaps she hadn't quite mastered the art of disguising her scent or something, because she knew for a fact that she wasn't able to be seen or heard. Having given up, then, on that course of action, Alys was very much visible as Maea thumped to the ground and wheezed out a warning that the hare was headed for the seer.

The fat, fluffy hare came at her, pursued by a very excited will-o-wisp. Somewhere to Alys's right, Sascha stared, fixated on the hare, waiting to pounce. The seer, focused on the rabbit as she was, did not notice Maea's lack of coordination. Instead, she summoned her air magic, sending a gust of wind to try to steer the hare into her trap -

And then it blinked and was off, bounding away again.

Alys cursed, then looked around for Maea with a sigh. "I wonder," she mused in a teasing tone as she made her way to Maea. "Is the point of this exercise to create frustration, or is there something we're meant to learn?"

ALYS GLASSE

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

Clambering gingerly back on her feet, Maea dusted dry soil and the chaff of crushed straw off her coat. "Beats me," she admitted, while plucking a strand out of her hair. "Remind me what your instructions were again? Though sometimes you gotta wonder if the gods just like watching us flail around a bit." The effort of the worshippers to stave off divine boredom... something along those lines.

For her part, Maea was mostly focused on actually catching the critters. With the dragoons leaving for Stormbreak, New Haven was shrinking back to its regular size but had left many a larder dangerously empty. With the cold seasons quickly approaching, she was helping an elderly pair stock up a bit. Fuzzy legs already poked out from the backpack she had left by the road, and she fully intended to catch a few more of the flighty fuckers before they called it a day.

"Let's try again," she suggested, once they'd had a chance to catch their breath. "If I herd it with fire, and you stay hidden by those brambles over there – " she pointed to a snarl of overgrown blackberries, spiky and full to bursting with ripe berries " – it shouldn't be able to get away." Of course, she'd said that before, so Alys was free to offer alternatives if she had any ideas.

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

"I'm supposed to try and catch them while 'paying particular attention to their blinkiness,'" Alys replied, watching as the hare blinked away. The good news, she supposed, was that she probably wouldn't be docked points for failing to catch one; at least she wasn't supposed to return with one's pelt, or something similarly unfortunate. Perhaps the effort would be enough, in this particular instance.

Though failure to capture the creatures would, of course, make it difficult to help the people of King's End - a mission of Maea's with which Alys wholeheartedly agreed.

Once they'd caught their breath, Alys listened to Maea's instructions and nodded her agreement. "Alright," she said. Sure, they'd had mixed results so far, but it couldn't hurt to give it another try. "I'll get in place, then. Sascha can let you know when I'm ready." And so she called upon her illusion magic, hiding herself from view, muffling her footsteps, and even going so far as trying to disguise her scent - though she wasn't sure it would work - as she made her way towards the blackberries. Once there, she sent a nudge through her bond with Sascha, who had stayed near Maea, and the little ursur pawed at the Ancient's leg before ambling off in the other direction.

ALYS GLASSE

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

Smiling down at the little ursur while Alys went to get ready, Maea prepared for her own part by summoning a flame to her hand. Moving away to a good distance within which she was sure at least one blink hare ought to be hidden, she patted Sascha absently until the go ahead arrived in the formal of a paw upon her leg.

Manipulating the scorching magic with a thrill of delight, Maea shaped it into a net and cast it wide to either side of herself. Not unlike a fisherman with a net, as she began stepping towards Alys' spot by the brambles, the net raked above the tip of wilted grasses, trawling for prey. A pheasant took off in a flutter of beating wings, soon followed by smaller birds. Insects too took to the sky to escape the heat, but what Maea listened for was the plopping of teleportation, of the thump and rustle as a soft body landed in the grass and scuttled away.

There it was. And there - "Two incoming!" she called over the crackling flames, exhilarated as much by the chase as from working with her abilities. If they could catch these, there would be enough to stock a larder for at least a few weeks - and knowing the kind of tough old ladies that lived out in these parts, that granny would be able to stretch the hares way past anything Maea was capable of making.

-----

Scorch (Ancient): Can generate and manipulate flames within a 30ft radius, pulling heat from the environment or their own body.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

Sascha appreciated the affection, and made her feelings known by nudging Maea's hand every time it strayed from the proper place. It was only when the little ursur felt her bonded nudge her that she gave a little sigh and placed her paw upon Maea's leg. It was a shame the humans were hunting; Sascha really would have preferred that they sit and cuddle a while, especially when the prey were too quick for the bear to easily participate in the hunt.

Alys hid near the brambles, concentrating on her illusion, until she saw a net of fire appear to either side of her friend. The seer raised her brows in approval. That was certainly one way to send the blink hares running. With two incoming, Alys focused, using her other senses as much as her eyes. She heard the pitter-patter of running feet and tensed, readying herself - and then the two blink hares burst forth, running straight for Alys's hideaway.

ALYS GLASSE

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

There would be plenty of time for cuddling once they were done here, but at least for the moment there was work to do. Maea kept constricting the size of the flaming web as she closed in on Alys, her focus split between ensuring she didn't start a grass fire, while keeping track of the scampering hares.

One of them tried to break away for the brambles, straight towards Alys, while the second attempted to take off to the side and through the net. Adjusting the pattern so that it couldn't see the other side and blink away, Maea split off a ball of flame and hurled it towards the animal; it collapsed with a single screech, no longer breathing by the time the fire died down. Thus the fate of the last one was placed in the seer's hands; whether she wanted to catch it, kill it or simply let it escape back into the wild.

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

Ignoring the flaming net that grew closer by the minute - trusting Maea not to burn her - Alys focused instead on the fleeing blink hares. One took off to the side, while the other headed straight for the brambles. Focusing her efforts on the latter, Alys decided quickly to help her friend in her efforts to aid King's End. Calling upon her air magic, Alys waited, waited, waited until the hare was in range, and then sliced with a bit of the breeze floating by - and the hare dropped without even so much as a squeal as a parting cry.

Releasing her hold on her illusion magic, Alys shimmered into existence by the brambles. "I got it!" she called to Maea. It was a bittersweet victory - Alys had never liked killing, even if it was a necessity. At least this particular hunt had been for a good cause. "How many did you want to get? I should probably find at least one more to watch - contemplate its blinkiness and all that."

ALYS GLASSE

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

The fires died down, leaving a haze of smoke to meld with the misty and drifting clouds. Maea approached her friend to accept the hare from her, to join the singed specimen in her pack along with the others. While pleased that the tactic had worked, she was subdued in her celebrations. It may be in her nature to savor a clean kill, but that didn't mean she felt any joy at taking a life.

"I don't think there's a limit to how much food we can bring back," she admitted, "but these should tide over a fair few folks." Gazing out over the meadows, she did notice some flowers gone to seed, fruit trees and wild garlic beginning to wilt; "If you study some more hares, I'll dress these, and we can forage for some extra foodstuffs on the way back. How's that sound?" Reaching out to poke a finger at Shii when the wisp came drifting back on a chill wind, she felt its exhilaration in the aftermath of the chase. No shadows dwelled in their minds today; all was as good as it could be.

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

Alys agreed easily to Maea's plan. "I think there were a few more just over this way. I'll be back in a few minutes." And then she and Sascha were off.

Staying downwind of the spot she though she'd seen some more blink hares, Alys cloaked herself and her companion in invisibility. They crept closer, and closer, and closer still, until they could easily watch the hares as they grazed. Every once in a while, one would pop its head up to look around, but the didn't seem to know that Alys and Sascha were there, and happily went back to munching on the grass. Given that Alys needed to see them teleport, she intentionally loosened her hold on her illusion. Clearing her throat sent a wave of panic amongst the hares, and they darted for cover, blinking in this direction and that. Alys did her best to contemplate the way they teleported, and how she was never quite sure exactly where they were going to end up next. Perhaps that was the lesson here. Or perhaps the gods simply liked to see mortals fumble around for a bit, and there was nothing to be learned by this task at all.

Either way, when Alys returned to Maea a few moments after the hares had disappeared into the brush, it was with a lighter step knowing that her quest was one task nearer to completion. "Well, I think I've contemplated blinkiness as much as I can," she said as she approached. "Need any help here?"

ALYS GLASSE

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

With Alys and Sascha going off on their own, Maea was left to do the messy part of the hunt at her leisure. With expert efficiency she gutted the hares, skinned them and butchered the meat into parts that would be easy to further refine at a later time. From her satchel, she withdrew a roll of waxed paper and began wrapping up the meat, and had just finished up the last one by the time her friend returned.

"Nah, I'm good," she replied, smiling as she summoned fire to burn off the blood on her hands. Dusting off the ashes like others would dry water from their fingers, she did nod towards the skins left out to dry. "Do you have a use for those? Otherwise I might salt them, to trade for something later on." They made for good gloves, or hats, and would be very nice to line a garment with. "Sascha, here's for you." Showing the ursur to the pile of offal, she rose to stretch her back.

"I've been wanting to ask... have you heard anything from Talyson for a while?" The Messenger had been on her mind ever since the pool party. Her continued hunt for flowers was as much for his sake as dor Liam's, and the long silence had been concerning.

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

Alys was not as experienced a butcher as Maea clearly was; the Ancient had completed her task by the time the seer returned and was wrapping up the last bit of meat in a bit of wax paper. Sascha gladly fell on the offal left for her, rumbling her thanks; Alys shook her head ruefully at the sight. On the one hand, she was glad that Sascha was fed; on the other, the blood would stain her coat for days. "No, you take them. I don't really have a need for them." She'd probably just trade them, herself, and with a storefront in King's End that did fairly well for itself, she didn't really need them.

Alys blinked at the Ancient's next question, a sudden feeling of guilt coming over her. She'd forgotten to fill Maea in on what had happened with Tal. "Oh! I should have told you - I found a rose in the Greatwood. Tal's cured! He's mostly staying home for now, so I don't know when you'll see him out and about next." He was... struggling with what had happened over the past few seasons, but she wasn't sure how much he'd want her to share of that with Maea.

ALYS GLASSE

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

Relief blazed across the youthful woman's face. Feeling suddenly faint, she slumped down to sit on the ground, heedless of the damp that soaked into her gown. It was a weight coming off her shoulders, and for once she didn't even try to hold back the tears stinging in her eyes. "I'm glad," she ground out, smiling even as she rubbed at her eyes. "Just because I needed two of them I couldn't seem to find a single flower - I'm so happy one found you instead. Now there's only Liam – " And that was a conundrum and a half, given how well adjusted he seemed. But would her soldier thank her for allowing that confidence decide her course of action? When she knew it had been done through coersion and not through any choice of his? Maea didn't know. Would have to find a way to get an answer from him somehow - but first she needed a rose, a lily, a miracle to keep in her pocket for when the day came.

As for Talyson, she couldn't say she blamed him for needing time to process. "Do you think he'd be okay if I left a letter for him with you?" She missed him, missed their steady friendship and the ridiculous antics of Boreal - wanted to see whether he'd get along with Liam and show him Shii – so many things.

Slowly, still processing, Maea reached for the pack and began stuffing the parcels of meat into it. Without getting up, she cleaned off her knife and rolled up the skins to be salted later - and then slumped back to lay flat on the ground. Just for a moment  - she needed some time to think, and adjust; Tal was cured. He was safe - or as safe as anyone could be, with his new weakness to the Void.

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

Maea's reaction was stronger than Alys had been expecting, and she loved her friend all the more fiercely for how relieved the Ancient seemed to be by the news of Tal's cure. That Maea's Liam was still infected was unfortunate, but surely a rose would come to her sooner or later, and she'd be able to cure him, too. "I can help you look for one, too," Alys offered. "Maybe between the two of us, we could find something." A rose, a lily - it hardly mattered in the end, so long as one was found.

As for Tal, Alys reached out to squeeze her friend's arm and nodded. "I'd be happy to deliver a letter." It would be nice, Alys thought, for her partner to know that others cared about him and wished him well. "I think he'd like that."

With their hunt completed, Alys bent to help Maea stuff meat into her pack. When the other woman was ready, they could head back into New Haven and distribute the meat as it was needed. But for right now - just for a moment - they could sit and enjoy this small victory.

fin

ALYS GLASSE