Thrill of the Hunt (Closed for InnocentBell )

[Silver_Wyvern]

Within a deep forest clearing there was a simple village, self sufficient but very very superstitious. Historically passed down from generation to generation were stories of vampires, were-creatures and other beasts constantly taking people in the night and killing livestock. Recently these rumors surfaced again, a were beast, many saying are like a panther. growing to a fever pitch, which resulted in a call for a mercenary to be hired to stop the newly emerging beast attacks..

The Verlasti family were famous hunters, said to be five brothers and a elderly father who surprisingly was the most dangerous even for his old age. Each brother, was seen as both experienced hunter and talented fighters. When the village called for the Verlasti, the youngest of the family Sorien responded to the call. He was clothed in worn thick , loose fitting leather and fur clothing, reinforced with a layer of light chain mail. Across his armored chest, belt and boots were lined with the tools of the trade: Silvered Stakes, knives, garlic and wolvesbane. His prefered weapon being a longbow strapped to his back.

The man was in his early thirties His black hair was cut in short and his skin had a leathery warn look..one of a experienced fighter. The most prominent feature was a scar, deep and jagged down the right side of his face, her right eye cloudy and white from blindness...but his slow calculated and deliberate moves show he's compensated for the loss of his depth perception. He on his way to the outskirts of the village..looking along where the beast was rumored to make away with small livestock for any tracks to get a feel for what he was hunting.

 

[InnocentBell]

Aviana had been all alone since she could remember. Her mother had, supposedly, abandoned her when she was only just a kitten. The poor girl had had to learn how to hunt and take care of herself. Through hard lessons and near death experiences she had learned how to capture wild animals, or livestock if nothing else was available, she knew not to stay too close to a village and that she had to move to a new village every few turns of the moon, but most importantly she learned to never let a human see her. Of course, humans knew that were-animals existed, but it was a whole other thing to let them see. Humans were terrified of were-animals and Aviana was no exception with her midnight black fur that covered her entire body, sharp claws, and piercing green eyes. Yes it had always turned out bad when humans saw her; she had to stay hidden, she had to.

She swept her long, black and silver hair up into a ponytail and got herself mentally ready to get her dinner. Part of her knew it was wrong to kill and eat the villagers livestock, but there was very little wild life around this area and she had to eat. Aviana had learned the number one rule early in her life: Always look out for yourself, period. With that rule in mind, she reminded herself of the second rule: Never be seen. Now that she was mentally ready the young panther woman set out at full speed to the nearest farm to grab a few juicy chickens for dinner.

 

[Silver_Wyvern]

The tracks where of a werecreature..feline in the print and spacing.." Sorin thought to himself, taking in the tracks..he had heard the stories that most of the woods were hunted clean of most wild animals..which would drive the creature to picking from livestock..but actual human casualties he was doubting..most were smart to keep out of sight from humans..only the rabid or hungry brought attention to itself..and those were the ones he was tasked to hunt.

As he traveled to the next farm he saw a streak of black in the corner of his eye..it was fast..the chickens would be bait..now he could get ready. Outside the coop the girl streaked into to capture he had moved to ready he drawing his bow..he kept his distance making sure she had no place she could run without getting shot at..and with how many times he's used the bow, he'd only need one

 

[InnocentBell]

Bright green orbs seemed to float in the shadows as the panther woman checked her surroundings. Her nose twitched and her whiskers flicked about as she scented the air for any hint of danger. The faint smell of a male's musk filled her nostrils as did the smell of the sleeping farm family in the house and the delicious smell of the fat ripe chickens. An alarm was going off in her head, telling her the male was awfully close, but she was so hungry and with her dark fur and speed he most likely wont even see her. She scanned the area once more before she leaped from the bushes and hopped the fence. Using her speed, she quickly grabbed two of the fat chickens and broke their necks. Her pink tongue darted out and wet her lips as she thought about her delicious her meal was going to be.
A strange noise made her large black ears twitch and stopped her short of digging her fangs into the first chicken's meat. She realized to late that it was an arrow slicing through the air and just barely had enough to move slightly but the arrow still stroke true and penetrated her shoulder. Aviana hissed and dropped both chickens. The pain was unimaginable and she quickly fled behind the chicken coop with angry tears running down her face. "Damn, I'll kill the bastard who did this to me..", she muttered to herself.

 

[Silver_Wyvern]

As the arrow struck home, it was purposefully non-vital, the arrow was dipped in a non-lethal but still dibiltating toxin that stiffens muscles of that arm and slowly flows into her. Sorin kept his distance knocking a second arrow, he didn't fire this time...the man was fair as a hunter "You..I'm getting the feeling that the villagers have exadgarated their claims on you killing at eating villagers.." he spoke as he stood ready..he knows enough that if she was rabid or too hungry not to care she would not respond..he was ready for that..

 

[InnocentBell]

Aviana could not contain her rage as the man began to speak. He was saying something about her eating villagers. She was in to much pain to really pay attention to what he was saying, but what she caught was enough. "Eating villagers?!!... I've never.." Her breathing was becoming shakey and her arm felt strange and she had trouble moving it, but her rage just wouldn't be contained. "I've never hurt anyone!" Blood was starting to run down her side and she knew she had to take the arrow out and lick her wound. She tried to calm herself and control her breathing, her chest shaking slightly as it rises and falls. Somehow she had to get away from this assassin that had been sent after her. Taking another deep breathe, she stood up into a crouch and tried to make a run for the safety of the dark forest, but it was not to be. The weak panther fell flat on her face as her body started to stiffen and give out on her. "What have... What have you done to me?!.."

 

[Silver_Wyvern]

"Cave spider poison." he simply responded "Ment to temporarily paralyze..if I was intending to kill you, you would be dead by now.." he spoke matter of factually as he approached "And I believe you, definitely would have thought otherwise if you attempted to attack me and not respond..." he spoke as he paused "Look..I know you were looking for food, but you wander out too far towards civilization like this..next time you might not run into a fair hunter like I am.." he spoke softly establishing that he was above some thug to be hired to kill without question. Taking a moment he walked forward to her "I have a antidote for the poison..in return for this and your safe passage, gonna have to promise me your not going to wander off near human settlements.."

 

[InnocentBell]

A weak hiss slipped from her lips as she smelt the hunter coming closer to her. She was able to turn her head slightly so that she could look into the face of her attacker. He was much worse than she envisioned. This man had a face that screamed dangerous and terrifying, but yet there was a certain appeal to the way he looked. Hissing at herself, Aviana tried to clear her thoughts and focus on his words. 'Stop hunting close to civilization?' This man had no idea what she had to go through just to stay alive. Did he really think that she wanted to hunt so close to the humans? Of course she didn't, but she really had no choice. Her legendary rage started to show it's ugly head.

"How can I make such a stupid promise such as that?! I am not like you! I can't just go out and get a job and pay for my food.. Look at me! When there is no wild to hunt.. I... I have to do what I have to do.." She quickly snapped her mouth shut before she had a melt down in front of this complete stranger. The sad truth was that many villages were starting to shoot Were-animals on site. This was one of the last places where she was safe. Or so she thought.

 

[Silver_Wyvern]

He observed her in silence as she yelled at him he letting out a sigh when she finished "I very well understand that areas have been over hunted, and yes more and more territory has been taken by humans..surprised honestly your still alive for being so far in.." he spoke slowly walking forward "Look, am willing to help get you over the border far away from this.." he spoke looking to her "But, you are going to need to trust me..if I was just going to bring you in or kill you, I would have done so already" he spoke as he just kept his distance a moment waiting for her to accept that help, he pulling out a vial of what looked like a clear fluid.