Volume One

[aimzicr]

Vessa couldn't surpress a small cry of dismay to see how this hunt was handled. One with fire to scare away the easier-to-catch quarry, and the lack of cohesion and organisation involved in attacking the moose. No discussion, no patience... Were these folk mad?

She drew her hunting knife and braced herself for the furious creature's charge. As soon as it arrived, she'd leap and slice it's throat. A merciful end to the poor creature's pain. Hopefully, she'd be able to act without any of the others getting in the way.

Though perhaps if they /did/ get trampled it would serve them right... No. A good hunter never lets anything suffer.

She launched herself at the moose, aiming the blade at the base of it's skull.

[Pentharis]

The moose fell with some fight, the knife saving them from what could have been a very painful, prolonged struggle.

"I was worried for a second." Natan admitted with some curiosity, and fluttered back down. He again retained his distance. Not to say he was scared of it, but the last thing he wanted to do was get charged with carrying it. He was strong for an angel, but he still had hollow bones. Not to mention his wings, which might be awkward in assisting to carry something like that.
"Are you a hunter, then? You dispatched it quite neatly." He remarked with perhaps a hint of admiration, looking over at the wound curiously, to see just how well it had been killed. He would have aimed for the heart, but a cynical part in the back of his head reminded him that that was -always- where he would aim. He silently chided himself on having such a one-track mind.

[aimzicr]

"I mentioned as such before, yes." There was a little deference in her tone, but the way she stood over the body of the moose, turning her knife in one hand, told volumes about how she wanted a little more personal space. "If the others who are more at home in the civilised center would kindly set up camp, I will get and quarter the prey... beast. The prey-beast."

Without further ado, she crouched down and slit the beast from neck to stomach, letting the rubbery slither of entrails spill out onto the ground.

[Pentharis]

The angel raised his hands slightly to show he meant nothing by it, and stepped back. "Did you? My apologies. My hearing can be a little off, in this mask." He pointed out, and gestured to the fact that it sort of sealed off one's ears. It was rather remarkable he could hear as well as he did, though he didn't recall having heard it before. He backed off to his usual respectful distance and settled himself into his stature-like poise again, gazing off into the distance. He had no interest in watching the slaughter, he was just sticking by because they were more likely to need his help further in the woods than anything.

He didn't seem to be quick to make friends, but at the same time he seemed to be trying particularly hard not to offend anybody. It was either a sign of his own want to make friends, or it was simply how he behaved around people. One had to wonder what he was like when he was around people he considered friends, if he ever had such a thing. Perhaps he was a loner. He also seemed to be in no hurry to remove his supposedly cumbersome mask, though it could have just been because he tended to forget it, or didn't want to carry it in his bag.

[KirbyOfHyrule]

"Grab so beer when you come back" Forgath yelled,when the hunting party ventured in the woods,but he didn't get any response. "spoilsports" he mumbled.
He turned around the his remaining companion, but the bard kept staring in the fire,silently.
He was bored and the silence wasn't helping.
With the girls,the grave robber and his favorite angelic doc -even if he lacked a sense of humor- gone he and the guitar guy where the only ones remaining. And if one of two people is bored and the other stays silent...
well...

"Come on,Bardy McMusic, sing a song or something" Forgath said,while he decided to climb a tree,just to see how he he could get without using his wings.
"I wonder,if they bring some cheese,too" he smirked.

[missdetermined]

Amelia watched the kill in silence. She had she stayed behind they probably could have been better off. Maybe even getting some smaller creatures along with the big. She tried not to think about how better off they could have been. Mostly because she couldn't see anyone being better off without her. All she wanted now was to get back and cook it. She felt the need to put all her power into a powerful fire. Maybe after that she could sleep. She looked away from the kill as its belly was sliced. She tried to keep her eyes on the doctor who never seemed to talk except for apologizing for being rude. She wondered what he would say if he was given the chance to really speak his mind. Then there was the hunter, Vessa. She seemed quiet talented at her job. And it all came back to the grave robber. He was handsome in his own was and quiet. He was skilled with a cross bow and could be helpful on this trip. There was something more to him though. He had something she liked. She stopped looking at him once she realized she was staring. She was watching, and over analyzing everything. The man hadn't been watching her. The doctor was just a doctor. The hunter was just as she said she was, a hunter. Nothing more nothing else, whether she wanted it different or not.

[Pentharis]

The doctor must have noticed Amelia's behaviour, and his wings twitched a bit in thought. He stepped over with his hands behind his back, folded as one might expect a doctor to do as a peaceful gesture, and looked over. "Is something troubling you? I'm just in the way, sticking around here." He remarked lightly, twitching a wing toward the dead moose, though that may have just been an incidental twitch. He still retained his distance, but in hindsight it made sense: He was a plague doctor. The type of guy who carries a scalpel and can cut out a person's internal organs just because they feel like it. No doubt he'd been violently greeted by one of his patients before (it didn't help that he looked like some sort of hellish vulture with the beak and the wings and the black leather outfit) and learned to keep his distance until everyone was aware of his intentions. Maybe he would loosen up when (if) they all became friends, but until then he was stuck in some sort of stoic limbo.

[missdetermined]

Amelia looked over as the doctor spoke to her. She looked around the group then back at him. "Nothing I just wish to have been more help to the hunt. Should have stayed back. Maybe if I had I could have started the fire up and ready by now." She shrugged. She smiled at the doctor to show him she appreciated him asking. The words thank you didn't come from her often. "Maybe we should get the food back down that its...de-gutted" she had to put effort into keeping a look off her face. It turned out to be less fun than she thought. She walked over to the creature and looked at it with sad eyes. She was sorry that it had to be killed for them. She wanted to say something but she wasn't sure if it would be right in front of them so she walked back over to the doctor.

[KirbyOfHyrule]

balancing on the treetop, Forgath tried to get a look at the hunting party. He was bored and that was bad. It made him think. His hand moved towards the ring he was wearing under his clothes, chained around his neck. It was a painful reminder of his fall. No,he didn't want to think of it now. He started trying to jouggle with his throwing knifes,but they slipped and fell down. He sighed and jumped down the tree to pick them up again. Hopefully the others would return soon. He was getting hungry. And maybe he could mock the angel a little more. just a little,so it still would be fun.

[Pentharis]

"I am not sure that we should touch it unless invited to. regardless, I am sure you can have a fine fire working in no time, a walk in the woods can do anybody a bit of good, provided nothing goes awry. Or so I'm told, I've rarely ever done so. When one has wings, there's little reason to, and I rarely go near places with such, except to do house calls. Four-hundred and fifty years of life, and there are still new things to do. I should have left Aterra sooner." He admitted with just a hint of cheer, bouncing on the balls of his feet just a bit while he looked around at their surroundings. Sure the forest was getting dark and spooky and the sun was all but gone, but he was still fascinated. The moons were bright and in view, the closer moon and the littler moon.

"I suspect it's better that you came along, after all. We'll be wanting a torch to guide us back, you know. Or at least I will." He remarked lightly, perhaps to cheer her up a bit.

[missdetermined]

Amelia was much surprised by his sudden giddiness. It was a funny sight seeing the doctor some what happy. "Well glad to help" she said and closed her eyes saying a pray for help then lighting a small flame in her hand. "So doctor tell me about yourself. What kind of house calls have you seen?" she could imagine them being extreme to nothing more than a cold but she was sure the doctor could come up with something. She played with the fire that showed shadows. dance across the trees. It could be creepy for someone who didn't have their focus on the fire or on someone else. She had no interest in caring what other people were feeling at the moment. Her fire would cause no more discomfort than the moose would.

[aimzicr]

Vessaa removed her gloves as she worked, setting aside the creature's organs before skinning and dissecting the beast. She worked quietly, efficiently, hands well-practiced.

This was a mistake. None of them are competent out here. They're all housetrained pups; they can't possibly hope to be be a coherent group. Not yet. She loaded the moose parts onto a bloody canvas, rolling it at the corners and starting to drag it back to camp. I can't be leader. Keeping them alive is going to be a full-time job.

She chewed on a sliver of the creature's liver to test it, then nodded to herself. Once back at camp, she handed the ones near the fire a few slabs of the rich heavy meat, then retreated from the group. She made her own small firepit, boiling water to make soup and stringing up smaller bits of meat to smoke while she prepared the organs for mincing and wrapping. Haggis made for good travel rations, when cooked right.

[Pentharis]

The doctor considered, and started stepping along back toward the camp, keeping well behind the hunter, and lagging a bit so the graverobber wouldn't stay far behind. He told stories during the walk about hallucinating victims, pulling a bug out of someone's ear that had been driving them mad, the removal of a massive tapeworm, that sort of thing. He also mentioned that heart transplants were his speciality, but it wasn't often called for, except in the Cyber-alliance, which had a hard time with him because he was from Aterra, and the two areas were less than cooperative with one-another.

"Moving to Meradil got me more business, since medicine here isn't as advanced. It's better, usually, to just get a healing priest. For things like birth defects or long-term illnesses, however, I'm the best they can get. To say nothing of removed or damaged organs and limbs, but those are much more difficult to deal with, since they require transplants -and therefore, someone to transplant from-." He explained patiently as they got back to camp. He was careful to keep an eye out (including from above) for the draco-human that seemed to enjoy snapping at him. The last thing he needed was to be surprised. If he was, however, said draco-human would earn a scalpel to whatever part of him happened to be closest. The Doctor could only take so much crap from someone before he lashed out. He had his boiling point, and when he boiled it could take place in a flash.

[missdetermined]

Amelia nodded and listened with eyes staring at him. His stories were all so interesting. How he handled it she would never know. She walked back to the camp standing next to him but wanting to wait for the robber. "So what was your first big house call, the one you remember over them all?" she asked. Walking and listening she tried to get all the fires going a little more. Maybe she could dance later when everyone was relaxed. She also wanted to fight with someone. Maybe the man who had stared at her...She rolled her eyes, he was not staring at you. She sat down on the ground and was handed a piece of meat from the hunter before she went and sat down. Tomorrow they would need to assign jobs to everyone before they reached the dragon. Then people could decide if they really wanted to stay or go. She didn't really care if all of them went. She would fight the dragon without them. She would need to find a blade but she would fight it none the less.

[KirbyOfHyrule]

Forgath was still searching for his last dropped knife when the hunters returned. They seemed to have succeded, Vessa dragged a moose and started handing out some parts of it. While chewing, he continued his search. "Ha,gotcha!" He picked it up and slit it in his belt. Then he wqandered off to the doc.
"Hey Nate, I've got a question. Since you're a pro in medicine and healing and stuff like that...
Do you know how to heal a soul? or are you just in the physical stuff? 'Just repair what you can touch' or something like that?"