[SE] Are you luxer-ious?

Tal needed to find a luxere, and for that he needed to hire a hunter. Unfortunately, the best hunter he knew was Noah, who was busy taking care of his pregnant wife and getting ready for the imminent arrival of the babies.

The second-best hunter he knew was heavily pregnant and not in the best position to be out tracking wild game in the Deepfrost snow, especially when the courier didn't think she had any way of warding off the cold the way he did.

So that left Sah. The courier had 'anonymously' left a package of spice cookies he'd cadged from his sister for the man in thanks for being saved in the Greatwood, but he'd been avoiding Sah ever since because it was fuckin' awkward.

This time, though, he'd finally gone up to the hunter's door to gruffly hire his services as a tracker on a quest for finding a luxere. Preferably one who could be annoyed into charging the courier and putting his Vest to the test. That was the easy part, really. Tal had a positive talent for annoying people into trying to hit him.

Which was a long winded way of saying they'd ended up following the tracks of a trio of luxere into the eerie Hollow Forest. Tal looked uneasily around at the clatter and clash of metal branches whenever the wind blew, and even Boreal snorted and shook her head every few minutes, staying on the ground with the wolves as they prowled wide to make sure their prey didn't escape off to the side.

Sah

The forest never sleeps and the wolf never dies

Sah had known exactly where the cookies were from the second, he'd taken a bite. Tal had shared them before, bragging about his sister's baking skills. As he enjoyed his prize, Sah wondered if the courier was aware of how he'd outed himself. The thought just made the cookies taste even better. At the end of the day though, the Abandoned was just thankful that he'd been in the right place at the right time to help.  And if opened his door to Tal's knock, with one of the cookies in his mouth and a smirk, well who was to say if that was intentional or not?

Now as they near-silently made their way through the forest, it was all business. Lilly and Pad flanked the group, tracking the herd with perked ears and busy noses. Soon the two paused and a prod through the bond let Sah now that they were getting close. The hunter paused and nodded his head in the direction his wolves had indicated, letting Tal know that they were close.

Sah then cautiously moved closer, crouching behind a wide tree and scanning the area beyond before laying eyes on the herd.

If the cookies had bee too anonymous they wouldn't have been much of a thank you, so Tal had pretended not to notice just what Sah was snacking on that morning - though he'd worn a bit of a smug smirk himself due to his terrible poker face.

But fun and games and pranks and play-fighting had no place on the hunt. Tal might not have been a hunter by trade, but like most Halovians he'd hunted enough smaller game to supplement their Deepfrost stores to know when to take things seriously. He followed Sah's lead, letting his senses ride Boreal's sharper eyes and hearing as he ghosted over the snow. When the other man gave the signal Tal went still, waiting for the hunter to take a position before creeping forward to press himself a nearby tree and peek around as well.

A luxere stag and two does were pawing through the thinner snow beneath the metallic trees, seeking some hint of green to strip. A gust of wind skirled through the woods from an unexpected angle, sending the branches into a lilting crash and clatter. The stag raised his head, snorting, as the errant breeze brought the scent of the wolves to his nose. Tal swore silently and Boreal responded by slinking around wide from the other direction, belly to the snow and her pale coloring blending eerily in as she began to make her way behind the little herd.

Sah

The forest never sleeps and the wolf never dies

Sah's brow furrowed as the wind changed directions. At his cue, his companions moved into action alongside Boreal. Lilly's silver coloring helped her to blend in as she circled the herd from the opposite side of her dragon friend, trapping the luxere between two pale shadows.

Pad, however, did the opposite. The black wolf came out of the direction opposite of the two humans, finishing the encirclement. Lips peeled back in a snarl, he stalked forward, trying to drive the herd to run. Whichever direction they chose, there'd be a dragon, wolf, or human to ambush them.

Sah called upon his magic, letting it spark beneath his skin, ready to use at a moment's notice. One of his hands settled onto the hilt of his sword as well.

You know how sometimes you step outside and the cold just catches your lungs? And you cough and gasp and desperately try to inhale more oxygen?

Congratulations! You probably just wandered into a breath snatch!

Yeah, that glittering cloud of glittering frost wasn’t friendly either. Who knew?

---

You’ve encountered a Breath Snatch. This counts as an uncommon creature encounter for the purposes of levelling, but does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention. If you choose to follow this creature, you do so at your own risk, however, just having it in this thread is enough to satisfy your levelling requirements. (You may not kill this creature without admin permission. )

Breath Snatch (uncommon) - A minor Halo nuisance, the Breath Snatch is a small elemental spirit that lingers in open areas on cold days. They're easiest to notice on bright days, a concentrated cloud of glittering frost lingering in the air, but if not noticed and walked into, the elemental will disperse in a puff of freezing air, often freezing the breath in the lungs of whomever was unlucky enough to come across it. It doesn't seem to possess enough sentience to be truly malevolent. Large groups of the spirits are rare, but potentially deadly if walked into unknowingly.

Pad was a scary sight when he appeared out of hiding, all sharp teeth and dark fur bristled on end so he looked even bigger. The luxere spooked immediately, turning to head away from the deadly predator as hooves churned the snow and the stag caught up with one of his does. The other had started to veer left, breaking away to the side, but Boreal put a stop to that as she bounded up onto a steel-drum stump and spread her wings in a flash of bright movement.

The doe rejoined her thundering herd and Tal had just enough time to grip his Knife and let out a resigned sigh, bracing for impact before the luxere reached the humans.

In their defense they did try to go around them.

Tal had other ideas, however. Swearing at himself, the luxere, and Ludo indiscriminately he lunged to get back in front of the stag as it tried to dodge. The startled deer tried to skid to a halt but put its head down to knock Tal out of the way with its antlers instead when there was no time to stop.

Welp. Good news! It hit his Vest, which covered the courier's poor, bruised ribs and protected them from serious injury.

Bad news! It hit Tal and flung him off to the side, his swearing promptly silenced as the breath was quite thoroughly knocked out of him. It might have been luck or skill (or probably a combination of both), but even at a distance his flailing stab went home and the stag bellowed in confusion before wobbling to its knees.

Leaving Sah with his choice of does for his own portion of the LongNight provisioning hunt.

Sah

The forest never sleeps and the wolf never dies

Sah watched with baffled confusion as Tal purposefully put himself in the line of fire instead of simply killing the deer. Why in the world would he want to be hit? It dawned on the Abandoned as he lunged at one of the does as she ran past him, that it must be part of Tal's quest. And wasn't that a disturbing thought?

Sah stabbed deeply into the doe's side, killing her swiftly to avoid her unnecessary pain. As she fell, he sent this sword after the second doe. Telekinesis and air had the sword sailing through the air, changing direction to reach the doe. The lightning crackling along the blade reached her before the actual edge. In an instant, her heart had stopped.

Walking over to each of the does, Sah put a hand on their side and murmured a quiet 'thank you'. Glancing over at where Talyson had flown, Sah called out, "Are you alive..ack!?" It was mostly a joke, but if there was a tint of genuine concern, who could say. The question was caught off as Sah's lungs suddenly filled with ice. Coughing, he glared at the breath snatch that had been hiding in the glittering shadows of the metallic trees.

The problem with having the breath knocked out of you was that you couldn't even groan properly. Tal wheezed instead, the breath whistling in his throat as he decompressed his ribs and slowly sat up, patting himself to make sure everything was still properly attached.

Sah's question might have been met with a more flippant answer if the other man hadn't broken off into a gasp of his own. Pale grey eyes sharpened on the hunter with what might have been concern, but as he just broke into a Deepfrost coughing fit Tal slowly relaxed and made his way over to the stag to begin butchering it into the meat they'd be taking back for LongNight supplies. "Yeah, yeah, doin' better'n you," he waved (though he kept a surreptitious glance back to make sure it was just a coughing fit and not anything more serious). "Might not even have bruises, actually." And if there was a note of genuine surprise in his voice, it was well-earned.

This had been one fucker of a quest so far.

Even with two of them working together and all three companions begging for scrapshelping, dressing three luxere wasn't quick. The brief sun of Deepfrost was already sinking into the west by the time they loaded up their Bags of Holding and headed home with their provisions for the coming dark.

Sah

The forest never sleeps and the wolf never dies

"Fuck off. Fuckin' breath snatch." Getting his breathing under control, Sah let out a scoff. "Gods, I hate those things." Grumbling under his breath, he noted Tal's barely disguised concern with a snicker. "I'm ok, Errand Boy, no need to look so worried." It warmed something in his chest to note it though, not that the Abandoned was inclined to share.

The lack of bruises received a raised brow, "Really?" Letting out a small pondering hum, Sah walked over to rejoin Tal. As the two got to work preparing the meat and rewarding their hardworking companions, the Abandoned glanced at the sky. "Come on.  Let's go home.

-{FIN}