Common Text
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Zi'da 35, 717
Qit'ria looked out over the lake she'd discovered, safe in her tree, wrapped up in her cloak. She couldn't quite believe her eyes, for a couple of reasons. The first is that there was a cliff, made of gold. She'd never seen such a thing before. She never particularly cared for gold or other shiny metals, they simply held no allure for her. But she did recognize its value, to other people. And it was just sitting there. Out in the open. Mostly unguarded. The guard, though, was the other oddity she could see. There was a large, brown bear near the cliff. And it was floating.
Not floating in water, but hovering above the ground, for a couple of feet. It just swam through the air as easily, if not more so, as swimming through water. And the sight of it truly excited her spark within. It felt like a dog yanking on its leash, spurring her forward. And she'd been learning lately that it was nearly impossible to ignore. Her meditation used to keep it at bay, but ever since it got stronger, it was overcoming her attempts at placation. She'd been too busy preparing for winter and such, that she'd not been meditating near as much as she should've been.
And since she couldn't resist it, she had to give in. So might as well just do it, and do it the right way. She rolled off the branch and dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch, spear drawn. She'd learned from past experience that javelins had little effect on bears. Qit was stronger now but still, she didn't want to work with something that was acting on a detriment. So her larger spear was the weapon of choice. Stronger piercing power, defensive capabilities, and a longer reach than her sword.
She stayed at forest's edge, obscured by shadow and limited foliage, always ducking into a shadow or behind a tree as the opportunity presented itself. Qit'ria moved along, head on a swivel, eyes and ears open. She kept her eyes on the bear, as well as the ground before her. There were a lot of tracks. The problem was they were all one type. Bear. She was getting a bad feeling in her gut, something wasn't right. Something... off. She listened to the woods, stopping all movement. She listened for the birds, for the wind, for the... wait. Where were the birds? Other insects were dead or hibernated, some birds migrated away. But not all. There were birds in other parts of the woods.
But it was silent here.
Why was it so quiet? She took her mind off the hunt, and began searching the woods properly. Only bear tracks. Silence. More and more of each as she continued. Surely the bears hadn't wiped everything else out around here? That wasn't a bear's style. They could eat anything, but they normally didn't eat enough to eat everything, right? Coming around a small copse of evergreens her ears picked up a sound. A buzzing sound. The sound of a flying insect of some sort. At this time of arc? In winter? She moved about, trying to pick up the exact direction of the sound, only to realize that it was coming her way.
And around the evergreen it came. A single Grizzly Bee. Two feet in length, fuzzy, yellow, and staring directly at her. Qit had seen bees throughout Sweetwine that were larger than those in other lands, a few inches long, thick as a finger. But this thing was a monster. She brought her spear down forehand under the shaft, backhand over top, grip tight, blade up. She wasn't as confident with this spear as she was her javelins, but it was just the one insect. For now.
Qit'ria skirted backwards, snarling, dipping back around the evergreens. She heard the bee moving forward to fill the gap, and Qit waited around the other side. Her adversary had different plans though. The bee pushed through a gap in the trees, and dove at her before she realized what it'd done. She'd not expected it to be smarter than she'd thought. A stinger plunged into the meat of her arm, and she gasped in pain. She pulled a hand off her spear, and grabbed at the giant bug. It tried to pull the stinger out, and Qit reached over and grabbed it, barely keeping a hold on the spear with her injured arm.
She jerked hard upward on the stinger, ripping it from the bee's butt. She swiveled her wrist around, and stabbed the stinger down into the bee's head. The half punch, half stabbing through the bee into the ground, where it died, guts oozing out of it. Qit looked at the stinger, then slipped it into her pack. She looked down at her arm, watching it bleed steadily. She sighed, then growled. Pulling out a knife, she carved the fuzzy skin off of the bee. She cut a strip from it, and moved out to lake's edge. She quickly rubbed the skin down with a rock, scraping off any of the meat and threads and such, and washed it off. Qit'ria then tied it around the wound and pulled tight, using her fingers and teeth.
Stomping back to the bee corpse, Qit'ria was in a foul mood. Her arm was on fire, probably from the toxin spreading through it from the bee. She knew she didn't have the extreme reaction to bees that some people did, but this wasn't a normal bee. She looked down at the goopy corpse, and had an idea. She suspected that maybe the bees, if they were this size, and that aggressive, had killed most of the other creature's around this lake. But... bears will eat basically anything... She smiled. It was time for a trap.
Qit'ria gathered up the corpse and stalked around the lake until she found what she wanted. A nice hollow log. She tucked it inside at one end, and set to work on the actual mechanisms of the trap. It would have to be a manual, it was too spontaneous for a triggered trap. She would need more time to study the bear's habits, and with the large, aggressive bees here, that was not a smart idea. Time for an opportunistic trap. She made a simple noose with a rope, dangled it to match the width of the hole of the hollow log. It wasn't a perfect plan, but the idea was that the bear stick it's head through there, she pulls it tight, keeps the bear in control and from floating away.
She took the slack length away from the log, and stood next to a sturdy, but smaller tree. She stayed beneath her cloak, ducked out of sight. And there she waited. And waited. It was the only time she truly ever had patience, for hunting, at least stealth hunting, was a lot of waiting and wishing for it to come along. And several breaks later, her target arrived. It looked smaller than the one she saw before, and it wasn't floating. Walking along, sniffing at the air. Its nose brought it over to the log, where it sniffed all around it, walking over the rope slack that laid upon the ground. It sniffed at the entrance that she'd trapped, but instead of sticking its head in, it reached a paw in.
Not according to plan, but it would have to do. Qit waited until it reached in fully, and then she yanked on the noose. It caught the bear's leg and tightened. She quickly wrapped her rope around the tree three times, then tied it off as the bear tried to yank free. Qit'ria grabbed her spear and jogged closer, when the bear realized it was under attack. It stood its ground and roared at Qit. Qit didn't flinch, and snarled back. She lunged at the bear, not striking, just judging its reactions and reach. It pulled backwards, likely because it was a younger of its kind, but the rope trap held the paw in place.
Qit moved around it, toward the back, and it continued to try and turn, to keep her in its vision. She sped up her circling around it, more and more, until the bear stumbled into the log. It turned back, to look and that's when Qit chose to attack. She lunged forward, holding the spear with both hands, and leaned forward into the thrust. it struck the bear's front leg, piercing the flesh, though not particularly deep. The bear roared in pain, and swatted the spear before she could retract it, causing it to strike hard into Qit's ribs, tossing her to the side.
She growled through the pain, and dashed off out of reach of the bear. It limped toward her, to the end of its trapping leash. Qit moved closer, and the injured bear no longer retreated. Spear out in front, she stared the beast in the eyes, seeing the anger and challenge therein. It roared loudly at her and she roared back. And then got an idea. She roared once again, tightening her grip and lowering her stance as she did. The bear responded in kind, and just as the maw opened up, Qit thrust forward, aiming the head into that mouth. The blade punctured the back of the neck beneath the skull.
Qit'ria pulled the spear free and the bear slumped forward, dead. She stuck the spear into the ground, and pulled out her short sword, preparing to skin it. She needed a new cloak. A bear would make a fine addition. She poked at it, making sure it was dead. Once satisfied she set to work. It took her nearly two breaks to skin it, another two to scrape the skin clean. She would soak it once back at camp. But for now, she set to work on the skull, left untouched. She cut away the top half of the skull, cleaning it with a knife, washing it down in the lake. Then she used her knife to carve runes into the roof of the mouth. Bees, fangs, paws, air. Then, taking some of its blood, she smeared it into the runes. While she waited for the blood to dry, she set to work carving out meat, as much as she could reasonably carry.
Then she took meat and skin back to her camp. She set a flank of meat on the fire to roast, and took the half skull in her hands, staring it in the face. She blocked out the pain in her arm, she focused on the bear, and her spark awoke. She reached out with her soul, and began pouring her ether into the cloak, all while remembering the fight, the strength of the bear, how it knocked her aside by her spear, but most importantly, the look in its eyes.
Several breaks later, she was exhausted, hungry, and held her new totem. It wasn't the finest cloak in the land, but it was hers. As she bit into the cooked meat, she smiled. Another good trial.
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Zi'da 35, 717
Qit'ria looked out over the lake she'd discovered, safe in her tree, wrapped up in her cloak. She couldn't quite believe her eyes, for a couple of reasons. The first is that there was a cliff, made of gold. She'd never seen such a thing before. She never particularly cared for gold or other shiny metals, they simply held no allure for her. But she did recognize its value, to other people. And it was just sitting there. Out in the open. Mostly unguarded. The guard, though, was the other oddity she could see. There was a large, brown bear near the cliff. And it was floating.
Not floating in water, but hovering above the ground, for a couple of feet. It just swam through the air as easily, if not more so, as swimming through water. And the sight of it truly excited her spark within. It felt like a dog yanking on its leash, spurring her forward. And she'd been learning lately that it was nearly impossible to ignore. Her meditation used to keep it at bay, but ever since it got stronger, it was overcoming her attempts at placation. She'd been too busy preparing for winter and such, that she'd not been meditating near as much as she should've been.
And since she couldn't resist it, she had to give in. So might as well just do it, and do it the right way. She rolled off the branch and dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch, spear drawn. She'd learned from past experience that javelins had little effect on bears. Qit was stronger now but still, she didn't want to work with something that was acting on a detriment. So her larger spear was the weapon of choice. Stronger piercing power, defensive capabilities, and a longer reach than her sword.
She stayed at forest's edge, obscured by shadow and limited foliage, always ducking into a shadow or behind a tree as the opportunity presented itself. Qit'ria moved along, head on a swivel, eyes and ears open. She kept her eyes on the bear, as well as the ground before her. There were a lot of tracks. The problem was they were all one type. Bear. She was getting a bad feeling in her gut, something wasn't right. Something... off. She listened to the woods, stopping all movement. She listened for the birds, for the wind, for the... wait. Where were the birds? Other insects were dead or hibernated, some birds migrated away. But not all. There were birds in other parts of the woods.
But it was silent here.
Why was it so quiet? She took her mind off the hunt, and began searching the woods properly. Only bear tracks. Silence. More and more of each as she continued. Surely the bears hadn't wiped everything else out around here? That wasn't a bear's style. They could eat anything, but they normally didn't eat enough to eat everything, right? Coming around a small copse of evergreens her ears picked up a sound. A buzzing sound. The sound of a flying insect of some sort. At this time of arc? In winter? She moved about, trying to pick up the exact direction of the sound, only to realize that it was coming her way.
And around the evergreen it came. A single Grizzly Bee. Two feet in length, fuzzy, yellow, and staring directly at her. Qit had seen bees throughout Sweetwine that were larger than those in other lands, a few inches long, thick as a finger. But this thing was a monster. She brought her spear down forehand under the shaft, backhand over top, grip tight, blade up. She wasn't as confident with this spear as she was her javelins, but it was just the one insect. For now.
Qit'ria skirted backwards, snarling, dipping back around the evergreens. She heard the bee moving forward to fill the gap, and Qit waited around the other side. Her adversary had different plans though. The bee pushed through a gap in the trees, and dove at her before she realized what it'd done. She'd not expected it to be smarter than she'd thought. A stinger plunged into the meat of her arm, and she gasped in pain. She pulled a hand off her spear, and grabbed at the giant bug. It tried to pull the stinger out, and Qit reached over and grabbed it, barely keeping a hold on the spear with her injured arm.
She jerked hard upward on the stinger, ripping it from the bee's butt. She swiveled her wrist around, and stabbed the stinger down into the bee's head. The half punch, half stabbing through the bee into the ground, where it died, guts oozing out of it. Qit looked at the stinger, then slipped it into her pack. She looked down at her arm, watching it bleed steadily. She sighed, then growled. Pulling out a knife, she carved the fuzzy skin off of the bee. She cut a strip from it, and moved out to lake's edge. She quickly rubbed the skin down with a rock, scraping off any of the meat and threads and such, and washed it off. Qit'ria then tied it around the wound and pulled tight, using her fingers and teeth.
Stomping back to the bee corpse, Qit'ria was in a foul mood. Her arm was on fire, probably from the toxin spreading through it from the bee. She knew she didn't have the extreme reaction to bees that some people did, but this wasn't a normal bee. She looked down at the goopy corpse, and had an idea. She suspected that maybe the bees, if they were this size, and that aggressive, had killed most of the other creature's around this lake. But... bears will eat basically anything... She smiled. It was time for a trap.
Qit'ria gathered up the corpse and stalked around the lake until she found what she wanted. A nice hollow log. She tucked it inside at one end, and set to work on the actual mechanisms of the trap. It would have to be a manual, it was too spontaneous for a triggered trap. She would need more time to study the bear's habits, and with the large, aggressive bees here, that was not a smart idea. Time for an opportunistic trap. She made a simple noose with a rope, dangled it to match the width of the hole of the hollow log. It wasn't a perfect plan, but the idea was that the bear stick it's head through there, she pulls it tight, keeps the bear in control and from floating away.
She took the slack length away from the log, and stood next to a sturdy, but smaller tree. She stayed beneath her cloak, ducked out of sight. And there she waited. And waited. It was the only time she truly ever had patience, for hunting, at least stealth hunting, was a lot of waiting and wishing for it to come along. And several breaks later, her target arrived. It looked smaller than the one she saw before, and it wasn't floating. Walking along, sniffing at the air. Its nose brought it over to the log, where it sniffed all around it, walking over the rope slack that laid upon the ground. It sniffed at the entrance that she'd trapped, but instead of sticking its head in, it reached a paw in.
Not according to plan, but it would have to do. Qit waited until it reached in fully, and then she yanked on the noose. It caught the bear's leg and tightened. She quickly wrapped her rope around the tree three times, then tied it off as the bear tried to yank free. Qit'ria grabbed her spear and jogged closer, when the bear realized it was under attack. It stood its ground and roared at Qit. Qit didn't flinch, and snarled back. She lunged at the bear, not striking, just judging its reactions and reach. It pulled backwards, likely because it was a younger of its kind, but the rope trap held the paw in place.
Qit moved around it, toward the back, and it continued to try and turn, to keep her in its vision. She sped up her circling around it, more and more, until the bear stumbled into the log. It turned back, to look and that's when Qit chose to attack. She lunged forward, holding the spear with both hands, and leaned forward into the thrust. it struck the bear's front leg, piercing the flesh, though not particularly deep. The bear roared in pain, and swatted the spear before she could retract it, causing it to strike hard into Qit's ribs, tossing her to the side.
She growled through the pain, and dashed off out of reach of the bear. It limped toward her, to the end of its trapping leash. Qit moved closer, and the injured bear no longer retreated. Spear out in front, she stared the beast in the eyes, seeing the anger and challenge therein. It roared loudly at her and she roared back. And then got an idea. She roared once again, tightening her grip and lowering her stance as she did. The bear responded in kind, and just as the maw opened up, Qit thrust forward, aiming the head into that mouth. The blade punctured the back of the neck beneath the skull.
Qit'ria pulled the spear free and the bear slumped forward, dead. She stuck the spear into the ground, and pulled out her short sword, preparing to skin it. She needed a new cloak. A bear would make a fine addition. She poked at it, making sure it was dead. Once satisfied she set to work. It took her nearly two breaks to skin it, another two to scrape the skin clean. She would soak it once back at camp. But for now, she set to work on the skull, left untouched. She cut away the top half of the skull, cleaning it with a knife, washing it down in the lake. Then she used her knife to carve runes into the roof of the mouth. Bees, fangs, paws, air. Then, taking some of its blood, she smeared it into the runes. While she waited for the blood to dry, she set to work carving out meat, as much as she could reasonably carry.
Then she took meat and skin back to her camp. She set a flank of meat on the fire to roast, and took the half skull in her hands, staring it in the face. She blocked out the pain in her arm, she focused on the bear, and her spark awoke. She reached out with her soul, and began pouring her ether into the cloak, all while remembering the fight, the strength of the bear, how it knocked her aside by her spear, but most importantly, the look in its eyes.
Several breaks later, she was exhausted, hungry, and held her new totem. It wasn't the finest cloak in the land, but it was hers. As she bit into the cooked meat, she smiled. Another good trial.
