Hard sunshine

The distance between Elseweyr and Fate's Respite was easily closed over the course of a day and a half, owing to their brisk pace and seemingly endless conversation. The two women had much to talk about, spanning across hunting techniques and favored weather to slightly more delicate questions of religion (for example: when you sacrifice an animal to the gods, is it better for the creature to be blameless and unblemished, or hideous and full of disease as a true representative of sin?); Valeska found herself more and more intrigued, not used to strangers being so... confident in their persona. Urszula seemed to have entered this realm and hit the ground running, retaining most of her old skills and knowledge that would likely prove useful in the long run.

As they approached Fate's Respite, all shining sun and glittering water, it remained an idyllic paradise and Valeska felt a wave of relief wash over her. She enjoyed exploring the surrounding lands, but nothing could quite replace the feeling of home.

Hidden behind a row of trees, a doe and its offspring stood drinking at the edge of the lake, brown coats mottled by the rays of sunlight that seeped through the overhead branches. They were difficult to spot at first, but the pale wolf's ears swiveled forward hungrily as she noticed the telltale motion that gave them away.

“I wish to learn,” she said in a whisper, glancing back toward Zula. “What is best for practice - the doe or the fawn?”

She herself assumed the fawn might be better for beginner's skinning, owing to its small size (yet not small enough to break with rough paws and teeth), but she wanted to hear it from the mouth of an expert.

“Say the word, and we shall make haste.”

the staff team luvs u

The Priestess was an interesting woman, often telling tales from far and wide as well as the ones she held dear, like the religion they did not share though could both find respite in. It was a breather, to have the small talk alongside topics of butchery and religion. Sacrifices were to be made, and Urszula thought it best to keep creatures pure enough but often sickness could be kept hidden so it was difficult to know. Only the best animals were sacrifices and the girl had to prefer a horse for such things, or boar if horses were too hard to find. Blood was the main focus in her rituals, and so any blood would often do. Blood meant strength and strength brought fertility and luck in battle. Any sacrifice was an offering for something in return, no matter how small the gift returned from the gods was.

It was as the conversation trickled that Urszula took in her surroundings, the moulding of the mountains as they dove low into a secluded valley, a basin with a watering hole so clear she believed it to be made of crystals. However, with all their mountaineering and kept pace, Urszula found herself short of breath easier and perhaps a little tired; not that she would let it on too much. They had yet to hunt and she was saving her remaining energy for such an excursion. This basin, it brought a safeness to Zula and it almost felt it was sensing her weary being and feeding her small amounts of life to keep her going until her task was accomplished. 

A spiritual place indeed. 

It hadn't taken long before they were upon the lakes edge, the trees that encircled it masking the she-wolves from their targets. The pair of aromas hummed in Zula's nose as she peered through the brush with a thoughtful look on her expression. "Well, does the Fawn look old enough to survive on it's own? Perhaps if it could, I'd be willing to take on their ma. However, the mother can always create more offspring while the fawn may not make it to it's first year without her." So she said, with a simple nod she focused her attention on the fawn. She felt more remorse for the fawn than she did the beaver child, but life was all swings and roundabouts.

"The fawn will be easiest, and more beneficial to the new year. Unless you wish to raise a deer yourself?" Zula turned a side eye to Valeska, lifting a single brow with her query. She was more than happy herself to look after the young buck until it could go off on its own. 

the staff team luvs u

The sound of Zula's gentle huffing breaths were carried away on the wind, leaving her companion none the wiser as to her struggle in the thinner air. It usually took a few weeks to acclimate to such heights, though Valeska herself had been born into it and never noticed the strain their altitude brought on newcomers. If pride had been an issue, she was mercifully oblivious.

She felt an odd kinship with this woman - not romantic in nature, but just sheer fascination - as if they were two side of a similar coin, though one walked in light as the other lingered in darkness. Their ways of life proved similar, their interests aligned, and Urszula had much to offer by way of new skills and techniques that would benefit their pack greatly; it almost seemed serendipitous that they met at all.

As they silently approached their quarry, the dark she-wolf laid out their options. While she spoke in hushed whispers, Valeska couldn't help but notice how very... strange, the deer looked. They were quite small in stature, moreso than the regular whitetails that often roamed their territory, and the fawn was the color of pitch - black as night with eyes an unsettling shade of crimson. It looked toward the pair's hiding place as if it could see them, but remained seemingly unbothered.

It raised the fur along her spine just slightly.

Zula had a point, however; the mother could still thrive and create more offspring to fill the surrounding herds and replenish stock, while the fawn's likelihood at survival was up in the air. She couldn't tell how old it was, however, given their collective size - so Valeska considered their choices and ultimately made a decision.

“I think,” she began quietly, “Perhaps we hunt the mother - we are in need of meat this week - and track the fawn after?”

Zula nodded, giving the all-clear.

Valeska steadied herself, took a breath - and burst out from their cover, taking off like a silver star through the tall grasses. She lunged for the doe, making contact with her rump, biting at her flanks and scrabbling for purchase in an effort to slow her down so Zula could come in for the kill.

the staff team luvs u

It happened quickly, once her nod gave signal. Urszula listened to what Valeska had to say and couldn’t agree more, especially if they were to treat the meat before it had a change to stew in itself.

The she wolf was quick to dart away too, and so too was Zula, glancing quickly at the dark fawn with questioning eyes as it darted in the opposing direction.

It looked haunting, as it darted into the shadows of the trees.

Pity she could not look longer as the hunt was on. Urszula lunge with purpose and accuracy in her strides. Even as the silver slither launched at the deers rump, Zula did not find herself distracted. She knew her place and that was at the front of the doe.

Caught up in a matter of seconds, she pounce on the opportunity to grab the doe by the throat. Teeth sunk into flesh and the taste of crimson teased her tongue as she released a rumbling snarl. The woman dropped her weight as the deer began to thrash, pulling the creature off balance until it collapsed. With a screaming bleed, it’s front legs kicked and scored Zula with her hooves, until she moved no more. All fighting ceased.

What felt like a matter of seconds, were actually minutes of struggle. And once the pulse paused at the bloody maidens jaws, she released and licked her lips with a smile with a light pant parting her jowls.

“A gift. For your pack to feast upon.”

the staff team luvs u

It was exhilarating. That rush of air and the pounding of adrenaline as she surged forward, struggling against the doe's efforts at escape. She wasn't one to engage in something just for the thrill of it, but hunting had always been a pleasure of hers and there was something pure, even holy in the cycle of life and death. A life to sustain life. They were not barbaric in their ways, but Valeska could not deny the spiritual importance of blood, and she felt her own run hot as she witnessed the doe's crimson life ebb away from her neck - Zula was a marvel to witness in action; such strong, confident strides, muscles tensing and pushing on as she tackled their prey with perfect accuracy.

At last the deer collapsed, lifeless though still warm to the touch. Valeska released her grip on its hindquarters, shooting her companion a pleased look as she herself panted from the exertion.

“Marvelous display,” she complimented genuinely, looking back down at their quarry. How peculiar - something was stuck out from its upper jaw. It almost looked like a long fang that had broken off at some point, but that was absurd.

“My pack,” she began hestiantly, “I do not wish to impose, but - if you like - it could be yours, too.”

Valeska grinned mischievously, then shifted her gaze back toward where the fawn had fled from their pursuit.

“You can think about it while we find the child.”

Nose to the ground, ears pricked forward, the pale wolf began following its trail with an urgency, golden eyes hard and focused ahead.

the staff team luvs u

The hunt was easy and Valeska was a dream to be beside during such an adrenaline junky act of life and death. Today they were lucky and to it, as the does blood spluttered and ebbed from her veins to the ground, Zula uttered a great thanks to her gods, the blood her offering in hopes for strength to be returned in the forms of fertility or luck.

“You are a fantastic huntress, Valeska,” the she-wolf hummed as she returned to the present, her prayer settled and sent into the winds.

The shock of being offered a place in a pack she had yet to meet honoured the woman and she offered a nod and a gentle, but bloody, smile. No words, only thanks. It would be something she’d have to ponder on.

Carefully she began to pinch and pull at the delicate stomach tissue, tearing the skin open with delicate but intended purpose. It was only when she was half way down did she notice Valeska begin her trek to find the fawn, and she was quick to giggle and invite the woman back.

“They can wait, it’s properly shivering under a bush. What happened to our lesson of preservation?” The jeer was light and her eyes playful, looking to the smaller woman with a sideway glance full of mischief.

the staff team luvs u

Valeska made a noise similar to a child being dragged back to school by its teacher, smiling playfully as she did so. She hadn't forgotten about the lesson, but she desperately wanted to ensure that the ominous-looking little fawn didn't get away - something about it made her nervous, and the idea of a red-eyed motherless apparition haunting their grounds pricked at her subconscious. There really was something disturbing about it...

Urszula pulled her back to the present moment with her gentle chiding, and the pale wolf bowed her head dutifully and returned to the doe strewn out before them. She made a valid point; no use letting the corpse go foul before they had the opportunity to dress it.

“I am admonished,” she replied somberly, though the laughter in her eyes gave away her true disposition. “So - the first part is to skin, yes? From which side do you start?”

She eyed the carcass uncertainly, then used a paw to roll it onto its back as she looked toward Zula for approval. It made sense to start with it belly-up, but she wasn't sure where to proceed from there - the bleed-hole in the neck, or make a fresh cut?

“I am sorry if I seem foolish; this is a first for me!”

the staff team luvs u

Zula shook her head and chuckled but turned her attention back to the doe.

“We won’t need to skin it yet, that can wait for when we bring it to the cache. However, we want to remove the intestines and stomach, anything full of yucky stuff that’ll taint the meat.”

Carefully, Zula rolled the deer onto its back and held it in place until it showed no signs of tipping back over. She offered up the last bit of skin tearing to the priestess too, in case she was more of a doer than a listener.

“Just pinch the skin and almost gnaw a slit down the centre of the stomach, from rib to groin, like you would with skinning.”

the staff team luvs u

Fascinating. That there could be a proper method of handling carcasses was still new to her, having grown up with the traditional wolf mindset of 'tear into it as soon as it's on the ground and stuff your stomach until you want to puke'. It felt good, though - she enjoyed order, she liked rituals. They provided a sense of security and something of the familiar in a chaotic world of mortality and surprises.

Lowering her head, she followed the direction of Zula's paw demonstrating where to gnaw, and set to work with the care of a student on their first day in class. She had done much of the work already, but graciously allowed Valeska to step in and have her own go at precision-cutting - accurately assuming she was a 'doer' after all.

The deed done (and noting with some pride how her portion wasn't as rough-looking as she had initially feared), she used her paw as leverage and began to methodically, almost reverently pull out the doe's intestines and other organs, careful not to tear too roughly or disturb the skin they were presently housed within. After a short time she had left quite the bloodied pile next to them, eyeing it with a look of questioning but understanding this was all part of the process. So that was how one kept a corpse fresher in the long term - she supposed it made sense, and felt surprised that she hadn't ever considered it herself.

Then again, she was standing next to an expert in the trade. It obviously wasn't something most wolves thought too hard about in their day-to-day.

“I do not think I have done too bad,” she said ponderously, more to herself than Zula. “Mine is definitely wobbly-looking next to yours, but perhaps with practice I shall improve.”

the staff team luvs u

"You should've seen my first," she laughed as her cheeks became hot with embarrassment, "You've definitely done a lot better,"

Adrenaline fuelled sight looked over the corpse and the entrails sat in their messy pile off to the side, a skip in her chest pattering the ivory prison that contained the life within her. It was done, and now all they would have to do is take it back to wherever Valeska's cache was contained. They did have time to baby sit the meat while it sat but now that the contents was outside of the body, none of the impurities would rot it from the inside out. 

However...

Intrigue coated the young dam's features and she looked to the pale wraith, curious as to her previous reaction and earlier statement about the dark fawn with the burning eyes. A dainty smile pursued her lips and lifted the corners of her blackened jowls. "What do you wish to do with the fawn when we find them?" After all, she herself had mentioned raising it but surely the woman would take such a thing as a jest. The creature could be tainted by the gods, perhaps a figure posed as a deer when in truth Loki had possessed it in order to continue his trickery. Dark wolves were often seen as an omen themselves, looking so much like Fenrir, so what was to say a deer was not walking the earth as one too?

An Omen. 

Zula felt a tingle of excitement shudder down her spine and her smile pulled wider. Things were about to get interesting for this Priestess if she continued down this path.

the staff team luvs u

The question of the strange fawn hung in the air unanswered. She had never seen such a creature before - fur as dark as the night sky with eyes like a crimson moon, and she could swear it had looked at her - rather, through her.

But that was impossible.

Right?

Valeska stole a glance toward her companion, whose smile seemed to creep up ever further as a wicked little shiver wracked her body in anticipation of the impending hunt. The silver wolf bit her lip indecisively, struggling to make a choice; to track down and slay the fawn for meat as they had its mother, or... what? Raise it? Keep it as some sort of cursed pet?

“I think I should like to get a closer look,” she said slowly, looking off toward the direction it had run in. “At least, before making a decision. There is something... wrong, about it. I wish to see.”

Rising from her position, she turned to Zula. “Shall we?”

At the very least, they could put the beast out of its misery. Whatever ill omens it brought, the gods would tell them what to do with it once they had it cornered. She lifted her nose to the air, still able to detect its scent, like still-warm ash after a forest fire.

It couldn't have gone far.
 

{Exit Valeska}

the staff team luvs u

And so the gods willed it. 

Valeska wandered off after her decision and Zula couldn't deny she had a point. So with a deep inhale that lingered in her nose, the she-wolf searched for the omen's scent and focused her mind on the fawn's fleeting steps before she put her nose to the ground and stalked it. Following her companion was easy enough if she wished to be blind to a situation but Zula didn't like surprises and knowing when and where the fawn was about to spring out to was something the abyss of a girl was going to find out.

[ ~ Exit Urszula ]

the staff team luvs u