Firefly Glen raindrops on my window sill

12/11 :)

the creek remained unfrozen, though its waters ran slow. the sky above was painted an opaque black, the stars that littered its canvas reflecting upon the water. the huntress sighed as she settled to rest. 

evening was only beginning. what prey remained would soon come out into the open, ready to be caught. ying would wait (impatiently) until then, perhaps taking a moment to close her eyes...

Why he even bothered to return to these lands was beyond him. But then, when was the last time he had he even cared? Whatever ambition had fired his youth had tempered out to some clouded sense of indifference, and Tuathal made no attempt to change that. Ceara would not be proud of him, he knew that full well, or if what little he now made of his life, but what did that matter anymore? She was dead.

The evening sky was clear tonight, and clear always meant cold. The days were little better, but they, at least, had the sun — all Tuathal could hope in to keep him warm, given his lack of companions or a pack. In the moonlit hours he preferred to keep moving, to shake the ice from his bones (for through all his apathy, he still felt that strong desire to live).

Tonight he paced along the river’s edge, fully aware that his paws fell in line with the recent steps of another, but not caring to avoid the consequence of running into another, even when he saw them resting by the river bank ahead. He kept to his course, mostly; only when he came close enough would he strike a berth to move around her, if she didn’t notice him first.

the scent of another drifted in on a chilled breeze. the huntress blinked her eyes open, ears perking as she moved to stand. he showed no intention of stopping on his own.

ying cleared her throat and held a steady wag. mòshēng rén, she called, hunt with me? together, they could easily down something larger than a hare. it would provide them both with sustenance, a promise that she thought might attract him.

Him? Hunt? She must’ve gotten her wolves mixed up, and he quirked his brow — genuinely taken aback. “Sorry — me?” he huffed a little laugh, and swung to look behind him — sure he would see a more formidable wolf strolling up to meet them, someone strong, of better mind, more ...pieced together...

But all he saw was darkness, and forest, and that they were quite alone. “Uh, right.” Well that was new. From what he knew of the wolves in these wilds...

Tuathal turned back to face her, his brows still raised with a lingering surprise.

”You got a trail or something?” He hadn’t hunted anything larger than a hare in... jeez, how long had it been? Did the world even make moose anymore? “Or are we working from the ground up?”

the huntress yawned and stretched out each leg. no trail, she replied, we can find one. there had to be something to hunt, right? ying hoped so for the sake of her stomach. 

looking back to the boy, she asked, you know how to track? there wasn't a wolf who didn't, so far as she knew, but these weren't the wolves of home. these beasts were foreign, potentially useless, too.

He rocked out a single, rather pathetic laugh. "I dunno, I like to think I've got some skill in that particular area," what a silly question -- unless she assumed he only knew how to scavenge the dead. Which, sure, she wasn't completely off.

"You know how to track?" he returned, docile -- yet somewhat cheeky -- in his delivery. Tuathal already took his eyes off the silver clad stranger to focus on the ground. Scent, scat, hoof marks. He'd take anything, honestly.

ying heard the teasing undertones and decided to retort. i bet that i track a meal before you. they could turn this into a game, wherein they both went on their own seperate hunts. if things went as planned, it meant double the meat; a potential wager?

the stranger had turned his attention away. in an effort to earn it back, ying hopped forward and nipped at whatever piece of him was available. it can be fun, but only if you play.

Tuathal drew his head away, when the stranger's warm breath clicked a measure from his cheek. "Do you now?" His mouth pressed into a crooked smile, but the softest measure of sorrow sank through his eyes. If she were only a few shades brighter, and a few relations closer, she could have been Ceara, but the feeling was fleeting.

"S'long as you know what you're gettin' yourself into," he said with a casual lift of his brow. "Why don't you choose your direction first? I've already been sniffing, I'd hate to have a head start," his smile teased.

you are flirting. ying glared at the boy but quickly softened her gaze. for added effect, she offered an encouraging smirk. i go my way, you go yours. i will see you soon. she didn't wait for him to respond (didn't he say he had a headstart anyway?), instead racing straight ahead in search of a solid trail.

How would you like to conduct the hunt? I thought we could either roll for who tracks something down and kills it first, or we could roll each turn to see if they find a trail, and then roll to see if they manage to track they prey down and kill it. The latter would be more complex, but potentially more exciting, since an initial success doesn't mean an automatic win, since the other character could catch up. I hope that made sense haha I'm honestly down for anything! :)

His smile held, and he tipped his head with the slightest edge of humor. If he was flirting, he would let her decide; he was simply having good fun, with an admittedly pretty face. He sauntered away with an easy wave of his tail. "Lookin' forward to it," he said in the wake of her departure. His eyes lingered after her in a moment of thought, before he turned around and began his hunt.

rolled on discord and tagged you! based on that, ying is the loser. :(

ying continued searching, confident that she would find something before her opponent. the winter wind was sharp, numbing her nose and making it difficult to define each scent. she would have to come upon something soon, lest she relinquish victory!

the huntress sniffed furiously with each passing breeze but was having little luck. had her moral code been any different, she might have left and dropped out of the game. instead, ying decided to turn back and face the boy empty-handed.

The wind blew about him, and snow blinded his eyes, but his nose remained as sharp as ever - or maybe luck had just finally decided to be a lady for him tonight. Whatever the case, he felt a thrill when he found the first trace of a lonely deer westward through the deep December snow. A hoofmark was his next sign, and a trail left uncovered. The beast was near, too large for him alone.

Tuathal retraced his steps, and found Ying waiting, unaccompanied by the sign of a kill. Perhaps he would have gloated, in a different circumstance, one where probably both their lives didn't actually hang on whether or not they made this hunt. "I found the tracks of a wandering doe. I bet we could take 'er together," he nodded from where he'd came, and made a sharp u-turn to point that way again, "C'mon."

is it bad that i want to archive this and start a second one? two trade threads in one go, ayy.

instead of bragging, the boy came back with a request. she listened to his words, her interest swelling as he spoke. taking down a doe would mean much more than whatever small game they might have caught otherwise. okay, flirt, she teased, trotting up to bump her shoulder against his.