You're so cold
but you feel alive
"Yes, I'm fine." His concern was appreciated, though perhaps not wholly necessary. Her smile said as much - but Maea was still grateful for the slower pace and the chance to get her wind back, to cough out the closeness of her throat and enjoy the arm he wrapped around her. She couldn't seem to be close enough to him, always eager to touch, to invade his space and draw his attention. Now that she could, was allowed to, supposed to.
"I bet people are harder to catch than rabbits... What did you do with them once you 'got' them?"
She waited until they'd found a good spot before she stopped. At the far end of the clearing was a small creek, its waters flowing too swiftly to freeze even in these temperatures. Animal tracks were frequent here, skirting along tree trunks and between drifts, and Maea pointed out a few that looked like hare, and another set that implied birds; perhaps Ningo, perhaps something else about the same size.
"A good place is on the path to water, and around their dens," she explained. Measuring out some of the cord, she pulled the simple knife he'd given her from the shaft of a boot and cut it off, then tied a simple sliding knot on one end of it. "Not right by it, where they are most cautious, but nearby, where they have to pass. The trick is to keep your scent off the trap, and to make sure the noose is set right."
Picking the hair tracks, she found a cluster of low-hanging branches where the activity had been both frequent and recent. Forcing one of the branches down and pinning it in place with a rock, she continued to set the trap, tied the leather noose to the branch and set up a trigger, so that anything caught within would be jerked upwards by the releasing branch. With any luck, the hare would have its neck broken by the snap. And if not, well... at least it would hang, preventing a slow death.
"Also, it's important to never leave the traps unchecked for too long," she said, and came back to Sunjata. "Or you get your catch taken by some predator.
"Here, you try." She handed him the cord with a smile, and indicated the bird tracks.
"I bet people are harder to catch than rabbits... What did you do with them once you 'got' them?"
She waited until they'd found a good spot before she stopped. At the far end of the clearing was a small creek, its waters flowing too swiftly to freeze even in these temperatures. Animal tracks were frequent here, skirting along tree trunks and between drifts, and Maea pointed out a few that looked like hare, and another set that implied birds; perhaps Ningo, perhaps something else about the same size.
"A good place is on the path to water, and around their dens," she explained. Measuring out some of the cord, she pulled the simple knife he'd given her from the shaft of a boot and cut it off, then tied a simple sliding knot on one end of it. "Not right by it, where they are most cautious, but nearby, where they have to pass. The trick is to keep your scent off the trap, and to make sure the noose is set right."
Picking the hair tracks, she found a cluster of low-hanging branches where the activity had been both frequent and recent. Forcing one of the branches down and pinning it in place with a rock, she continued to set the trap, tied the leather noose to the branch and set up a trigger, so that anything caught within would be jerked upwards by the releasing branch. With any luck, the hare would have its neck broken by the snap. And if not, well... at least it would hang, preventing a slow death.
"Also, it's important to never leave the traps unchecked for too long," she said, and came back to Sunjata. "Or you get your catch taken by some predator.
"Here, you try." She handed him the cord with a smile, and indicated the bird tracks.
lay your hands on me
one last time
MAEA
