Tooth and Claw

It was hunger that drove him here. The forest had yielded little to eat and danger was just background noise at this point. The rolling crackle of thunder seemed far enough away to ignore as well. He just needed to find some berries or roots or maybe a small animal. Yeah, he could really go for a frog or maybe even a mole. A really nice find would be a deer. Not that he was sure he could take a deer down in his current state.

Since his departure from his 'home,' he'd hadn't slept much. Or eaten much. Nightmares plagued his dreams and animals alluded his waking hours. He could feel something brewing but he wasn't sure what it was. An itch under his skin, a tingle on the back of his neck. It was probably nothing. Life enjoyed throwing him false positives after all. He laughed quietly to himself as he stalked through the taller grass.

Nothing in sight. Of course.

KIADA

you are a weapon

Diving toward the fields again, the Harpy soars high above the fields, occasionally dipping below to run her talons along the grasses that reach upward. It’s a calming feeling that helps the surge of uncertainty that laces through her bones with every minute of every hour. Things had gotten better, but only minimally, and the girl finds it easier to slip away for a few hours to herself in any section of the Outskirts. Away from people, away from everything. She even leaves her companion home on these rendezvous, finding his addition to her company too distracting.

It’s as she’s soaring above the Fields on one of these outings that she scouts below, typically finding nobody or familiar faces. But this time, it’s different. Her scarlet gaze slips away from the rest of the fields to focus on the boy that stalks through the tall grasses. And for a moment, the girl circles with a guttural croak of a hello before she descends in large circles until she reaches the grasses. The blades of grass are taller than she is in her vulture form, and for a moment she’s hidden against the shadows of them before she shifts back into herself.

She glances back toward the boy with her icy gaze, finding him unfamiliar despite knowing most of those that dwelled in the barrier. He didn’t seem to be new like so many other’s she’d stumbled across, but she also knows she hasn’t met or seen every Natural that lived within the barrier for a time as well. She pulls her dark hair back from her face before she faces the boy more fully. “If you’re looking for some excitement this way, it’s pretty dull out there right now.” She says by way of greeting.

Feral

and weapons

don't

weep

He catches sight of a shadow only briefly before the sound of a vulture. He looks up, watching it circle. Does it think he's dead already? Or is there something rotten nearby? He smells nothing so it must be fresh. He's not above scavenging like a wild creature. Feral keeps his eyes trained on where the vulture lands, moving swiftly towards it. Will he wrestle a bird for its food? Probably.

But alas, it is not just a vulture but one of those shifter people. Some part of him is jealous but he pushes that feeling down. He stands a bit straighter, running a hand through his mop of brown hair. "Not excitement so much as a meal. But that seems just as elusive." How long had it been since he'd last seen another person? Well interacted with them. Sometimes he would hover on the edge of society, just to see what was happening. Something about a queen? As if that is what they needed right now.

He studies her for a moment, making a point to avoid her gaze. He was taller than she was but her movements sung of a predator. "What brings you out here? As you said, there is no entertainment." With his right hand, he gestures toward the grasses. He hopes he's not about to be the entertainment.

Kiada

KIADA

you are a weapon

Kiada watches with a predatory gaze as the boy runs a hand through his hair and replies to her. A meal? She raises her shoulders in a slight shrug. “There’s food in the Settlement, unless it’s the chase you crave.” She asks with a raised eyebrow and a slight wolffish smirk that’s directed his way. But the conversation shifts slightly as he regards her, studies her, making a point to avoid her gaze — allowing her to study him in response. She doesn’t know what it is he seeks within her, but she waits until he finishes speaking before she follows his hand as he gestures to the fields and she turns to look back the way she came.

“Well I was hoping for some excitement.” She offers with another light shrug. “Seems we’re both disappointed I suppose.” She says with a quiet huff of a laugh. “But the fields are nice on days like this, never hurts to get out and experience it.” Adding the extra tidbit of information in, she turns to look at him again. “I’m Kiada.” She says, giving him a half bow of greeting that might come off a bit more mocking than she intends.

and weapons

don't

weep

The Settlement? The words burn through his brain. He was going to have to go there soon. He couldn't just live out in the wild, on his own, forever. "I'm aware." He shifts, nervous, as he rolls his shoulder in feigned disinterest. "I prefer to.. hunt, yes. A fresh meal is always best." Once again, he tries to ignore how much he feels like a sheep in the presence of a wolf. He's still unsure of her, best to keep her in his line of sight. He doesn't even turn his head all the way to see where she is looking, nodding a bit.

"It's rare for there to be nothing happening. So maybe it's for the best we get to enjoy it." Right? Right. Yeah, sure. He gives a bit of a laugh, coated with unease. She introduces herself with a little mock bow and he's unsure of how to handle it. So he mirrors her bow, "Name's Feral." Has he ever told anyone that? No, probably not. What kind of name was Feral anyway? But Silas was long dead.

KIADA

you are a weapon

He says he knows, and she offers him a small smirk and a shrug in response. Her gaze drifts from him, finding him nothing to be truly wary of, as she nods. “Yeah, it is.” She agrees. But when he mentions that it’s rare that nothing is happening, she offers a quiet snort of laughter in response. “But don’t you think it’s almost… weird? To get so used to things happening, that when they don’t you’re certain something is just wrong?” She asks, eyes slipping back toward him.

But he says his name, and offers another bow and she gives him a toothy grin. “Feral, nice to meet you.” She says, not remarking on the name at all. She’s met people with weirder names, sometimes she doesn’t even learn people’s real names and simply refers to them as their chosen ones. It’s nothing unusual to the Harpy. But, if Feral is looking for food, perhaps the more the merrier might help in getting something to eat.

Her gaze lingers on him briefly before turning back toward the grasses around them. “What were you hunting for? I could help.” She asks casually, internally wanting something to do so terribly bad.

and weapons

don't

weep

He nods with her statement, taking a moment to look back toward town. "It's like being in the eye of a storm. Seems okay but you'll probably die if you go outside." He rolls one shoulder as he turns back to her. Ever since the portals started popping up, ever since the barrier went down, he hasn't felt safe. Not that life inside the barrier was safe but at least he knew what to expect. Now? He had no idea.

She asks what he is hunting for and he's a bit lost. "Well to be honest, anything. But I could go for a deer if I could find one. With the apple trees being in season, I assume they're hanging around them. I could go for an apple as well." He wasn't hungry. Not at all. "If you want to help me hunt, I can split the meat with you. And the pelt, if you want." He couldn't do much with pelts.

He was starting to warm up to this girl, a bit. She seemed alright so far.

Kiada

KIADA

you are a weapon

She snorts in response to his dark prophecy. She agrees, there’s nothing there to prove it wrong when she’d seen it firsthand. “I had the enjoyment of going out on Longnight, so I understand what you mean.” She replies, giving him a small grin. Longnight, while being overall a terrible time, had been made worse with the destruction and death of so many, but she had received her Luxere as a companion that night. And if she didn’t have him through it all, she didn’t know where she’d be.

Her bright gaze slips back to him as he tells her what he’s hunting for. He mentions a deer, and she nods. Then, when he offers the suggestion of sharing the hunt, she gives him another bright toothy grin. “Sounds good to me.” She says, turning away from him to look over by the trees and their depths – certain there has to be apple trees and deer within it. “I’ll shift into my vulture form and soar above, see if I can spot anything. If you hear a weird croak that doesn’t sound like any other bird here, it’s probably me.” She says over her shoulder, glancing back to him before she shifts into the large pale bird.

Spreading her wings wide, she takes to the sky toward the trees, to soar above their branches and peer below. It takes some time, but she notices at least an apple tree. She begins to circle, a loud guttural croak leaving her beak, hoping Feral can hear it. Her circling grows a bit larger as she scouts to see if there are deer nearby too.

and weapons

don't

weep

He shivers at the mention of the Longnight. It was always an ordeal and this year would be his first alone. But he would worry about that later! "It must have been hard," he nods to her, "For you.. not having been born here... to go through that. Glad you're okay." He means it, really. He's afraid of her but he's taken a bit of a shine to her. Something about her feels very much like himself? Like she's on a similar wavelength.

Oh yeah! She can turn into a bird. "Works for me. I'll keep an ear out for ya." He nods again, watching as she takes off before ducking into a stalk. He reached back, carefully pulling out his bow. For a split second he thought about shooting the vulture down but shook his head, trying to follow her as best as he could.

Hearing her call, he begins to move a bit quicker. His eyes lingered on her a moment before searching through the treeline. Something moved, something large. He gives a call, something birdlike but not quite as he draws his bow. He takes careful aim before firing.

Kiada

KIADA

you are a weapon

She gives him a small half smile as he mentions that Longnight must have been hard. It was entirely an understatement, and she gives him a small shrug. She’d gotten her Luxere that night, but at the cost of the love of her life perishing behind the rathskeller doors. But Kiada doesn’t dwell on it long, instead, she turns to attention toward the task at hand. Hunting. And boy, she enjoys it. She takes to the sky after Feral agrees to their small commitment, and she soars until she spots the apple trees.

She continues to circle, her scarlet gaze watching as he approaches and spots a large creature, one that’s hidden from Kiada behind the rustling tree tops. She begins to circle lower, aiming to avoid the large branches of the trees as Feral lets his arrow fly, and she follows it’s location until she spots it strike the deer in the chest. She croons a guttural response to Feral, something that sounds vaguely excited, as she dives toward the deer. It’s attempting to run, and she reaches out with her talons in the hopes of smacking it into the head so it’ll fall and they can fire another arrow.

Her talons strike true, angling the deer just enough to give Feral another good shot to put it out of it’s misery.

and weapons

don't

weep

FERAL

He can't help but wiggle a bit in excitement as the arrow hits the deer in the chest. Kiada's call pulls attention for just a fraction of a moment. He stalks closer, watching as she circles around before grabbing the deer. For never having hunted together, they move together well. He readies his arrow, aiming at the chest again. The satisfying ring of the bow string as the arrow is let loose only stirs more excitement.

When it hits again, he lets out a whoop of excitement before heading over to the deer. He kneels down next to it, pulling out a dagger and slitting its throat. As he does so, he mutters a little prayer to Mort. He may not like the gods or worship them but.. well, maybe the deer did. He turns to Kiada, "So, which parts do you want?" It'd take a bit to carve up and skin but he wasn't too shabby at it. Not as skilled as his father was but that would come with time.

Kiada

I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me.

KIADA

you are a weapon

As she collides with the deer, her course is steered off center, and she has to make a choice whether to fly up to try and direct the deer again or to land in the soft undergrowth of the trees and hope that Feral’s arrow hits its mark. She chooses the latter, sliding down toward the roots of a few trees, her head tilting toward the deer as she watches it fall and hears Feral’s whoop of excitement. A smile crosses her face, though it’s unseen on the vulture’s beak until she shifts and approaches, icy eyes light and excited.

She doesn’t pay any attention to the prayers he says, he seems to be from here and she can’t fault him any. Gods knew she had been close once upon a time to a god too, but that was neither here nor there. Instead, she steps up toward him and reaches down into her boot for a knife she kept tucked away to help remove the pelt. “I’m good with whatever you don’t want.” She says easily, figuring that if he was out here hunting, he probably would want far more than she did.

“Nice shot by the way.” She compliments, giving him a small toothy grin before she kneels beside the deer and feels for which part of the meat will be the most tender – figuring that Feral would likely prefer those parts.  Her head shifts back toward Feral with a curious eye. “Where’d you learn to use a bow like that?” She asks, both out of curiosity and the need to make small talk.

and weapons

don't

weep

FERAL

He gives a little hum as she shifts and returns to his side. "Well. I wanted to make some jerky so I'll need the rump. And maybe the pelt, if you didn't want it." You could make jerky from any part but rump jerky was the best. He figured he could trade the pelt. "Other than that, I'm good. Although deer liver stew is pretty good."

She complimented his shooting and he could feel the heat rise in his face. The hermit had never really taken time to notice that he was good at anything? If he even was good at anything. But he did enjoy using his bow. "Ah, my pa showed me. He was a good hunter." Maybe one of the best. He didn't have the nerve to ask anyone about it, lest they realise who he was. "Gotta be able to feed yourself."

"You always been able to do.. the shift thing? I always thought it'd be cool," He paused, "To turn into an animal, ya know?" Humans were such.. monsters. At least animals had some decency.

Kiada

I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me.

KIADA

you are a weapon

She nods with a small shrug, helping to remove the pelt and meat from the deer. “You can have the pelt, I’ve got more than enough.” She offers with a quiet laugh. “I’ve never had liver stew, so perhaps I’ll take some of that just to try it.” She adds, icy eyes lifting toward Feral with a small grin. She begins to section off the parts for each of them, listening while he explains who taught him how to hunt. And she nods in response to his following answer. “Can’t rely on other people.” She adds in agreement and understanding.

But then he pauses and asks her if she could always shift, and she shakes her head solemnly. “No, actually.” She begins with a quiet laugh. “The world I was born in had given me fire magic. I could make tornadoes with them, animals, many times.” She pauses, as if she’s considering it. “I had a companion then, named Khairi. He was a vulture. He came with me to my second world, been with me nearly all my life. I lost him in the tumble here – perhaps we merged somehow.” She shrugs as if she doesn’t have a better answer.

There’s a part of her that thinks Khairi is still out there, somewhere, but where is as good a guess as any.

and weapons

don't

weep