[PQ] special shade of red

Alys's plan to distract the herd worked perhaps a little too well; her snapping branch had the herd on edge, antsy and ready to flee at the drop of a hat. She frowned at her mistake, but then a fog rolled in, obscuring them from view. She supposed she had one of the men to thank for that, though truth be told, she wouldn't have been able to tell you which one.

Then a bright dome covered them, and Alys watched with surprise before realizing that this was a perfect opportunity to shoot. She raised her bow, sighted carefully - more slowly than Noah - and loosed at a massive buck, hoping that she'd be more likely to hit a larger target. It was one thing to practice with targets at home - and she was improving with those all the time - and another entirely to shoot at a living creature. Mostly, she just hoped that if she hit it, she'd make a clean kill.

------

Alys shoots at one deer.

alys glasse

waiting for the right mind to drive insane

DEIMOS And in your darkest hour, I hold secrets flame It should’ve gone well – the plans were all there. But sometimes even the hardiest calculations couldn’t be swayed by the forces and fortune of nature. Or, in this case, the panic of an entire deer herd. It probably would’ve happened sooner or later, but the inevitable trigger was the scorching dome of celestial light breaking through the fog, affixing the prey’s sights directly upon the incandescent beams, and then complete, utter panic. No accounting of arrows, incantations, or anything else would’ve mattered, and Deimos had a moment where he simply stared as they raced and rallied around the sixty-foot radius. Hang on he called through the bond to Noah, sighing heavily as the creatures couldn’t find any trace of escape, and only seemed to rise to utter chaos. I could get a few with my Life Drain if they come near, but -, he didn’t finish the thought, clenching his jaw tightly. His attention went to the fellow Abandoned, pondering over possibilities. “We cannot hunt like this,” he shouted to Alys, while moving out of the way of a charging stag. “I am going to try and calm them,” or at least manage something through the Beast Speaker proportions. “Maybe you can make another illusion that would do the same?” -- Bad rolls means the herd is running around in a panic in Noah’s celestial dome. No post order! master of nothing place; of recoil and grace

The herd was in a panic, and all their carefully laid plans were in shambles.

Alys stared as the luxere roiled within the dome, running frantically this way and that, completely out of their minds with fear. She wondered if some of them might run into the dome and, therefore, accidentally to their deaths, but she was distracted by Deimos's shout. An illusion to calm them? What could she do that was big enough without draining her magic entirely?

Gritting her teeth, she summoned her illusion, trying to use her magic to blur out the incandescent dome, trying to make it look like it wasn't there. She couldn't get rid of the whole thing, of course, but perhaps feeling as though they had an exit would calm the poor, frightened beasts?

------

Alys tries to obscure the dome with her illusion magic.

alys glasse

waiting for the right mind to drive insane

will heaven step in?

Noah's eyes widened big before he pulled them in for narrowed focus. Since becoming a demigod, being gifted with so much power and so much ability, he had never had a hunt go this poorly. He ground his teeth together and lifted his bow again with another arrow nocked, anger boiling in his chest. He shot again at the first buck he had missed, the one that seemed to be leading the charge of this panic.

Vi'dore snorted and pawed at the ground, his heart pounding against his chest. As the herd stirred and bolted and ran, his every prey animal instinct wanted only to follow then. It was Noah's pull on his heart and command of his soul that kept him in place, but the whites of his eyes flashed and surely displayed every behavior he was holding back.

Eira dove in, then. Her body, large and powerful and quick, aimed to land atop a mid-size doe and bring her down. Every instinct in her screamed to help Noah make his kill, and she intended to break the doe's neck on impact, and if she didn't, she would scrap her claws down the creature's throat until it slept in its own blood.

--

Noah shoots, Vi'dore panics, and Eira attacks.

will it save us from our sin?

DEIMOS And in your darkest hour, I hold secrets flame The frustration contorted its way through the Sword’s mind as Noah ignored his requests, watching as the attacks and assaults were ultimately rendered pointless and nothing – the shot missed, going wide over the buck and landing poignantly into the snow. Eira’s assail mattered little either, talons scraping along hide and hair, and they’d be left to Deimos and Alys’s efforts in calming the herd. Which went much smoother; between Attuned adornments and dome obscuring, most of the herd, or those out of sight of the demigod’s recent siege, began to slow, whittling away until exhausted limbs stayed amidst the brief reign of terror in their eyes. Deimos gave a silent nod of gratitude towards Alys, permitting a long sigh before quietly extending out the measures of his Mastered Life Drain towards the closest cluster of deer. Perhaps, now, this could go much smoother and easier. -- Noah and Eira miss, and Alys and Deimos have calmed down the herd. Now’s your chance! master of nothing place; of recoil and grace

will heaven step in?

His arrow swung high and he damned himself inwardly, a string of curses lighting up the space behind his eyes. Eira missed as well, but ready to rally and used to such a thing (it happened, after all), she turned quickly in the snow and launched herself at the same doe, wings and claws splayed.

Noah nocked another arrow, having to turn his body and creep along another ten or so feet to get a better angle. The calming -- that he so hastily ignored in his deeply ingrained panic to finish a hunt successful -- seemed to work for the most part. Now with the buck at a better angle, Noah pulled in a breath and steadied himself. He took his time to aim and draw, but let his arrow fly once more.

Vi'dore calmed some, but tried to press closer to Zuriel.

--

Noah shoots at the same buck, Eira lunges for the same doe. BUT CALMER.

will it save us from our sin?

Deimos and Alys paired their efforts to calm the herd, and (much to Alys's surprise), it seemed to work. The beasts slowed, falling from a panicked run into more sedate movement, and Alys breathed a soft sigh of relief. Perhaps now they would have better luck with their hunt.

She drew another arrow from her quiver and sighted down the shaft, targeting another large buck that she hoped would prove a large enough target not to miss completely, although her last attempt did not give her much hope in that regard. She would wait, then, to shoot until the others had struck, not wishing to startle the herd into flight once more.

And so she did, waiting to draw her bow until Noah had done so, and loosing her arrow when she saw his fly.

------

Alys tries to shoot a buck!

alys glasse

waiting for the right mind to drive insane

DEIMOS And in your darkest hour, I hold secrets flame For whatever reason, luck and fortune were not on Noah’s side today. The arrow flew, and Eira did the same, but the doe had caught on from the other assault, and shot forward, leaping and launching without another scratch on her. As for the demigod’s siege, the armament did a sweeping turn, only to be notched into nothing but the wisp of the buck’s tail as he maneuvered too, following after the doe. Noah would have the option of trying again, or developing another strategy. Alys and Deimos were far more successful. The former, despite her inexperience, managed to pin her arrow into the side of a nearby young stag, and with a slow fall, did not take much longer to fade into nothingness, another soul released to Mort. The Sword’s Mastered Life Drain swept along the feet of the closest doe, and she too hadn’t seen its nefarious wake coming. Her knees buckled, and she too succumbed to the wicked wake, and so the group had finally taken down two. -- Up to you – try again for another deer, or grab the one you already felled and load it on the sled? No post order! master of nothing place; of recoil and grace

will heaven step in?

Forgoing his weapon, Noah ignited the dome again. Within a 60 foot radius from him, the herd would once again find themselves in the throws of being his enemy. His friends, his companions, would feel the renewing of their bones and their muscles once more, and to the deer he wished their hearts to stop and their bodies to drop — all to feed his people.

He could feel the heat in his ears and his cheeks and along the collar of his jacket as he laced the bow over his back and strode towards the buck he had missed twice, ready to shift into his polar bear form and grab it by the neck if need be to bring it down. Eira, as frustrated as her bonded, tried once more to go for the doe.

—

Noah uses his Divine Opposition once more, stalks towards the buck, and prepares to shift if he doesn’t bring any deer down. Eira tries again with the doe.

will it save us from our sin?

Alys looked on with surprise and delight as her arrow struck true, bringing a deer to its knees in the snow. While she felt a pang of regret for the life taken, she knew that their hunt was important for feeding Halo's people. It was the circle of life. The Wheel of Fortune turned ever onward.

She felt Noah's magic raise again in a dome and paused, hesitant to wander into his path by accident when he seemed so frustrated. It would only take an errant bit of magic or an arrow to end her life by accident, and she was not keen to meet Death on this day. Instead, she nocked another arrow, picking another luxere a short distance away (on the other side of the herd from Noah), aiming for its heart, and loosing.

------

Alys tries to shoot another deer!

alys glasse

waiting for the right mind to drive insane

DEIMOS And in your darkest hour, I hold secrets flame Now there was a rhythm to the hunting machinations – seamless and undaunted, all three falling into perpetual lines of assault and siege. Noah’s incantations finally earned him a clean kill, and the buck went down with little to no fight. Eira’s motions towards the doe, now after several passes, ensured the panic-stricken and fatigued animal could be felled, crumpling into the snow. Alys’s accuracy remained nearly uncanny, and she’d been wise to avoid the demigod’s path. Her arrow flew, pummeling another young stag straight through the neck, and it wouldn’t have felt a thing as it too descended into the terrain with a dull thud. The Sword reached forth with his Life Drain once again, forging it along until it slithered and struck an elderly doe rampaging into the enchantment’s path. Within an instant she was gone, and together they’d clambered together more than enough to haul home. Lifting his head from the study and perusal of their wares, he announced the end of the hunt. “We have enough,” maneuvering forward to grab hold of the animal, intending to maneuver her towards the sled. And while his constituents may have protested, there was plenty of meat on the animals, and they shouldn’t be weakening the herd further either. Not if next year’s intervals mattered too. -- Load the deer on the sled and then they can head home! No post order! master of nothing place; of recoil and grace

will heaven step in?

Finally his luck kicked in. The win was enough to shatter the armor that frustration and rage had caused and for Noah to give a woop over the attuned bond. Sliding his bow back where it needed to be, and Eira quickly moving away from her target to not imbue it with her toxins, they rallied.

Noah approached his buck and nodded to the others. "we will want to gut them here, and be quick." He didn't waste any time, nor give any grace to Alys who might not have seen such a thing before, as he unsheathed his hunting knife and went into carving the innards from his buck. Once that was finished, he moved on to Eira's doe.

"We can take them to my place to hang before they need to be butchered." Noah offered, though the pangs of exhaustion rung in the tones of his voice. The scent of blood made Vi'dore fidget uncomfortably and stomp his hooves into the snow below him. Noah soothed him over their bond, but did not get into his proximity. There was only so much he could do to calm the nature of the beast. He helped load the creatures onto the sled and then readied himself for their trek home.

will it save us from our sin?

Alys watched with satisfaction as her second arrow found its target, felling another stag. For the first time, she understood why her friends enjoyed the hunt so much. Sure, it was sad, killing another living being, but it was also strangely thrilling to know that she held that kind of power, that she had that kind of skill. She was never going to be an avid hunter like Noah, but at least she would be able to fend for herself if the need ever arose.

For now, she watched curiously as Noah mentioned something about gutting them, and quickly wished she hadn't; she turned her head away and went to collect her arrows from the luxere she had killed. When she returned, the snow was stained red, and her stomach rolled, but she managed to help load the fallen deer without much of a problem. Then she followed along behind, her bow notched with another arrow, just in case something nearby decided to come after their kill.

alys glasse

waiting for the right mind to drive insane

DEIMOS And in your darkest hour, I hold secrets flame With plans in motion – including moving, gutting, and future intentions of bringing them to Noah’s lodges – they moved with precision. Deimos’ hunting knife glided through pelt, fur, flesh, and sinew rapidly, and the demigod’s did the same, well practiced and well versed, as Alys surveyed the surroundings, ensuring nothing was coming their way. The scent of blood would be something enticing for any other predators, especially that ursur left behind, and before long, they were finished with what they needed to do for the moment. “We can head out,” he noted, pulling at the sled, and that was exactly what they did. Heading for home, more food for the Citadel in tow. {FIN} master of nothing place; of recoil and grace