12 of Ashan
From the Spirits Primer:
12th of Ashan
"A widespread phenomenon that allows, over the course of the day, even unmarked mortals the opportunity to partially see the Spirits that surround their world. They form as translucent flickers of light and darkness to those without the ability to see them already, and to most, often appear to dance through the air and across the ground. Many speculate that this might somehow be related to Daia."
12th of Ashan
"A widespread phenomenon that allows, over the course of the day, even unmarked mortals the opportunity to partially see the Spirits that surround their world. They form as translucent flickers of light and darkness to those without the ability to see them already, and to most, often appear to dance through the air and across the ground. Many speculate that this might somehow be related to Daia."
Unfortunately, budding shoots did not make a meal for an adult human.
Jinyel appreciated the season, of course. It was all a reminder that the world was still turning. It was all still here, those things which had existed since the dawn of time. The rabbits peered out of their burrows. The young bucks sized each other up, because their yearly tournament was just around the corner. Their mothers nipped their flanks to keep the peace, at least until their urge to fight was too powerful to control. The world was still breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Winter. Spring.
Jinyel took his camps where he could find them, and at noon on the twelfth of Ashan he pitched his horse beside a small, shallow stream in the forest floor. From the bend of trees, there had once been a pond here as wide across as a large house, but winter had drained it down to a trickle. It splashed through its rocks like music, and because it was both cold and moving, Jinyel knew it was safe to drink.
He brought his horse and mule to hitch beside the water, which they drank briefly and then whickered in unhappiness at the chill. For camp, Jinyel chose a spot at the edge of the basin, farther from where the stream currently ran, between the bend of two half-fallen willows. The trees created a natural shield against the wind, and concealment from predators on one side, which would put both Jinyel and his animals slightly at ease. Finding food would be another matter; the horses could graze the new shoots in the basin, but Jinyel could not. His rations had been drained by the winter, and though he had enough to survive for a few more days, there was emphasis on “few.” The rations were his safety net against starvation, and nowadays it was a thin, thin safety net.
He needed fresh food. That meant he couldn’t afford to rely solely upon the hunt, or the snares, or the gathering, but that he had to use all three. The stream was too small for fish, and the spring growth was too new to do anything but offer a few seasonings. And he knew nothing about cooking to use seasonings in the first place.
Luckily, running water was always a magnet for life. A quick trek around the edge of the basin revealed several burrows, some large and others small, and a tangle of bracken tall as a man with tiny pathways at the base. It was the bracken where Jinyel chose to lay his traps; rabbits preferred thick places like this to hide. He had two snares, and chose the two most well-worn entrances to set them. A medium chance of success, but Jinyel had to stack his chances if he wanted to eat something hot tonight.
With that done, he pulled the bow from his back and made ready to hunt. Or at least, he would have done that, if not for his horse’s terrified whinny from beside the stream.
