The Hunt Begins }{ (OPEN)

[TJ]

A cold wind carrying the sent of pine wafted through the forest. Bounding across rocks and trees alike, the breeze went unnoticed by the creatures that called the dense forest home. Breathing in deeply the scent of the forest, Tythus let a smile flash across his face.

It was not that the young hunter wasnt used to the smell, it was the many months at sea that had allowed him to come to the new and strange land he now traversed. The scent of the the sea, although enjoyable, had lost its luster during the long voyage. Along with the fact that it had been just as long since Tythus had left the warm earth beneath his feet, it was safe to say he was glad to be back on dry land.

The ship he had traveled in made landfall at the mouth of a great river, which the hunter had taken far up into the mainland's interior. All the while the forest seemed to grow thicker and more foreboding, though this did not bother Tythus in the least. He had been in far worse places, but even that fact did not make the hunter drop his guard. After all, he was a solitary human in a forest that looked as if it could manifest any manner of beast.

For the moment at least, Tythus took the time to admire the beauty that the new land had to offer. He stood atop a slight ridge, on the higher side of the valley formed by the rivers passage through the forest. From said vantage point, he was granted the view of almost the entire valley, even down to the mouth of the river and the sea beyond. As he enjoyed the sight however, a rumbling from his gut reminded him that he hadnt eaten since he had ended his sea voyage.

Being that his chosen profession was that of a hunter, Tythus only ate what he himself was able to catch, unless of course something were offered to him by a trusted individual. Crouching down in the spot he had been standing in for the last several minutes, the young hunter surveyed ground around him. Paying close attention to the pine needle covered dirt beneath his feet, Tythus could make out the faintest sign of hoof prints. As extremely old as they were, they had little use to the hunter, but it at least told him that potential prey had visited the spot before, and were sure to do so again.

Doing as many natural predator's would do, Tythus eyed the river from afar. Where water flowed edible animals were sure to follow, as was natural in his homeland and was sure to be the same in the new and exciting land he now inhabited. Scanning what parts of the river he could see, the hunter spied several deer drinking, completely oblivious to the human's presence.

With practiced silence and stealth, Tythus made his way down the valley wall towards the river and his potential prey. His throwing ax already in hand, Tythus would make short work of his prey once he was within throwing range.

[Lujayn]

Aneira squinted into the undergrowth, straining her clear blue eyes for any sign of the tiny white flowers that signaled the herb she needed. She pushed aside the leaves with black-gloved hands, for it was quite poisonous, and it got to its victims through touch. Luckily for the inhabitants of this land, it was quite rare, this far away from her own native country, so they didn't have to watch their steps nearly as much. However, it proved a problem for her, as a number of her dyes required the herb, and she scarcely had the coin to feed herself, nevermind obtain such an expensive and dangerous item.

She sighed at that, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Her charms were not selling well, and she had a feeling she'd have to start begging- an idea she was loathe to practice, since she had pride, and it took a serious knock when she had to do something so demeaning.

She moved on from her spot, checking closer to the river, spotting the deer and smiling. She had always liked deer, being the sweet creatures that they were (discluding the bucks). She peered at them closely, watching the Death Flow crawl around them eagerly, and she knew there was the potential for death amongst the small herd.

A hunter? she thought, or a wild animal? Either way, it could cause problems for her, so she began to back off... and then slipped.

Unfortunately for her, she was on a slight overhang above the river, and she plunged, with a shriek, right into the cold waters. Sputtering, her black hair with the single white lock stuck to her pale face and giving off the appearance of a rather drowned rat, she clung to a rock to stop the current from dragging her further away. She was thankful, then, that she had taken the time to spell each of her many pockets and pouches against the elements, as most of her things couldn't survive being submerged in water.

And some of those things were irreplaceable, indeed.

Startled by her shrieking and splashing about, the deer bolted, probably angering whomever had been hunting them, rather dimming her chances of being helped. Still a chance, however. Aneira cast her glance about, depending more on the Death Flow than her true vision to find the hunter. She could see, just off in the distance, a small knot of the flow writhing happily around someone- a sign that, whomever they may be, they had most certainly killed before.

She shivered. She had been running into killers a lot, here in this strange land. Don't be silly, he could just be a killer of beats, and not of men. The Death Flow does not distinguish, remember? Still, there was a worrying amount of darkness around whomever this was, and she was reluctant to ask for aid.

Not that it mattered any longer, since whomever it was appeared to have noticed her anyways. Yay...Oooh, he has a scottish accent, eh? Heehee, Aneira's is slightly french-like :P -

[TJ]

The very moment Tythus pulled back his ax to send it flying into the family of deer, a shriek and the sound of splashing water startled the creatures and sent them careening into the forest on the opposite side of the river. Instead of swearing and beginning a chase that would probably last several hours, the hunter instead rammed the bottom of his staff into the soft mud around him and placed his weapons and satchel on one of the many hooks that adorned its surface. Deftly opening the satchel's main flap, the hunter pulled a long rope that looked as if it were made of some type of exotic leather.

Throwing his helmet to the ground next to his other personal effects, Tythus turned on the ball of his foot and started sprinting to the rivers edge. The young hunter had heard almost every sound most animals could make, the scream he heard definitely wasn't from a wild beast, but of a sentient being. Whether it was human or not didn't concern the hunter, whomever it was would be his first contact with someone native, and he wanted his first impression to be a good one.

Stopping at the river bank, Tythus scanned the waters surface for the source of the shriek. It didnt take him long, but due to the foaming water and distance he was still unable to identify whether or not it was infact human, or even what gender it was. Tying one end of his rope to a tree branch that jutted over the flowing water and the other around his waist, Tythus waded in.

Upon entering the water, a part of Tythus instantly regretted it. It was quite cold, more so than originally anticipated. However he did not show his discomfort, instead he funneled it into swimming faster and harder. The faster he got the drowning person to safety the sooner he himself could get out of the water too.

As he neared his target, Tythus was able to identify that it was indeed human, and even that it, was in fact a she. Wasting no time with small talk, the hunter scooped the smaller female out of the water and simultaneously started pulling both himself and her back shore with the rope he had previously tied around himself. Fighting against the rivers current made wading back to the shore tougher and longer than before, but Tythus made it without too much trouble.

Dropping the girl on the wet sand of the river bank before he himself sat down next to his belongings, Tythus ran a hand through his hair to help it dry faster as he began to speak.

" Fancy a swim did yeh'? Not really the safest place for a young lass such as yourself... But I wont judge. "

[Lujayn]

Aneira ignored him for the time being, concentrating more on expelling water from her lungs and getting in a proper breath. She certainly looked terrible, having gone even paler than one could think possible from her normal ghostly shade, and her lips were going rather blue from a combination of her own natural sickness and the cold from the river. Her clothes, all four or so layers of them, were soaked right through and plastered to her, as was her hair, making her appear even more like a drowned rat.

She wasn't going to die, oh no, she'd been even far more far gone that this before and had obviously recovered, but she was still going to be feeling distinctly miserable for the next few days.

Dragging her wet hair out of her eyes, she slid a rather venomous look towards the young man that had saved her. "Do you always mock those in poor condition," she asked acidly, "or is that just part of your charm?" Apparently, she wasn't in a terribly good mood. She stood shakily, taking a moment to wring out her hair- in vain, since it didn't appear to be much dryer. "Well, regardless, you have my thanks for your rescue... which is about all you can get, as I have no coin on my person. And my person isn't for trade, sorry." The last bit was said in a rather dry, sarcastic tone that implied more than a few had tried to take some of that currency for services rendered.

Not that they had gotten anything, of course. Being a mage in general had its uses in that regard, after all.

Aneira coughed violently into her hand, noting with some distaste that there was still some water in her lungs, and began mentally running down a list of ingredients she would have to pull out to soothe her lungs, from both accidental water inhalation and from the constant wearing down of her body because of her connection to the Death Flow.

To an outside observer, however, she would just appear to be a very, very sickly girl on her last legs.