Status: :D
To Infinity and Beyond!
Chapter 3
We had been out in the cold for about two hours. Terrence was sitting across from me atop a tree branch that I had to crank my head back to see, and I was concealed in the brush across the way. Together, we hummed a soothing tune that still seemed to be fading into the bleak, cold air surrounding us. Usually, the hum entranced the animals to come closer. The 'animals' we were talking about were any variety of things - more 'creature' than animal; instead of fearing the noise, they approached it happily. Hunting was more of a fight to the death than just prey and predator: kill or be killed. That's why it was mostly a man's job: these creatures were vicious and could kill with one swipe of the jaw.
I was unafraid though. Terrence and I hunted in a pair to avoid that exact scenario. One of us always took a turn in the high branches of a tree and the other hid in the brush. The one in the brush always got the 'short end of the stick', as they say, because our direct plan was to bait the creatures. As soon as we had gotten the creature - usually a solitary one, sometimes harder hunting if there were more - the one of us in the tree would swing down and attack from above. This tactic was merely effortless and one-hundred percent successful - unless you counted the time when Terrence was first teaching me to hunt. The creatures may have been vicious, but they certainly weren't the smartest. Once we had found the tactic that worked, it always worked without fail.
"Ok, Terrence," I finally started my complaining, "where is everything? We've been humming for nearly the past two hours and there is nothing!"
"M'lady!" He sneered. If he would have been on the ground beside me, he would have rested my arm on his like a gentleman would do and pretend as if we were such a couple. "You must be patient m'lady. There have been eyes behind you all day. Be a good little girl and wait until he approaches!"
This was his way of warning me, though I wished it could've been done sooner. I resisted the urge to turn around and look at the creature - whatever we had ended up pursuing today - for fear that he might attack with a look. My cold hands and numb toes told me that we couldn't keep up this stalking all day though, and I eventually gave in. I slowly pivoted my head around my neck, hoping that we would have time to make the kill before he devoured me. Those eyes were bright yellow behind me, hidden in the depths of the brush even further in the dark forest than I was.
"You want me, I want you," I warned the beast, refusing to give him the 'go' signal by looking into his eyes before I had my full threat out. "Now let's go."
A second's eye contact, and the beast flew out of the brush that was around him. He was a unicorn of sorts, which I hadn't gathered from what I could see in the brush, but one perverted by the evil magic. His body was slender and muscle - the perfect game - but he had a more evil look than most of the 'good' unicorns that were found around these parts with darkening skin and a horn that looked as if it were made of thorns. Its wings looked tarnished but still ready for flight. Now, it was illegal - and punishable by an incredibly-painful death - to kill a 'good' unicorn; an evil one was a completely different story. The evil ones, though they seemed sinister, had the best meat of all of the animals in the forest and were in high demand. I knew that if we could kill him, we could pawn him off throughout the village and get quite a nice price for him: maybe we could get some warm bread or gracious feast dinners for the trade.
All of that went through my mind before he even reached me. I hadn't realized that I had gotten so lost in my thoughts, but Terrence had certainly been thinking the same things since he was quicker than I was to attack.
"Havaa!" Terrence cried, holding his hand out for the magic to disperse from, as the beast opened his sharp-teethed jaw to take a bite out of me. It was only the evil creatures in the forest - the only ones that we were allowed to claim bounty on - that had a taste for human flesh; the other animals stuck to plants.
The beast looked up at Terrence for only a second before collapsing to the ground, the light escaping his body instantly. I smiled up at him with a beaming smile, which he eagerly returned, before dragging the beast off into the brush with me in an unspoken agreement that we must keep hunting.
~~~
Four cold hours later had greeted us with enough game to feed our two families for a month and still have some to bargain off for something more. We hadn't seen anymore big game like that but had acquired a few squirrels and rabbits, though we were perfectly happy with those catches.
On our walk back we decided that it would be decent enough if we kept the prize unicorn for ourselves and sold the other pieces at the food market. Even with that, we would still get enough money to purchase some bread and other necessities for at least a month. We split ways at the end of the trail; I went towards the market place with the small skinned animals in my hunting bags (I could sell both the meat and the hides at a pretty good clip!) and Terrence took the unicorn around the back to our houses so that he wouldn't get raided by people on the way.
~~~
I got enough money for all of the game that I was able to buy two loaves of bread for each of our families before returning home. When I did, my parents hugged me tightly as they had never done before and said they were proud to have me as a daughter.
Things seemed to be going well for me now. Still I couldn't help but feel threatened by that extra tiny glint in my mother's eye. Had they found me a suitor? I could only hope not. I found salvation looking out the window, finding Saripha still out there... Still, I couldn't help but wonder, what was her deal...?
I was unafraid though. Terrence and I hunted in a pair to avoid that exact scenario. One of us always took a turn in the high branches of a tree and the other hid in the brush. The one in the brush always got the 'short end of the stick', as they say, because our direct plan was to bait the creatures. As soon as we had gotten the creature - usually a solitary one, sometimes harder hunting if there were more - the one of us in the tree would swing down and attack from above. This tactic was merely effortless and one-hundred percent successful - unless you counted the time when Terrence was first teaching me to hunt. The creatures may have been vicious, but they certainly weren't the smartest. Once we had found the tactic that worked, it always worked without fail.
"Ok, Terrence," I finally started my complaining, "where is everything? We've been humming for nearly the past two hours and there is nothing!"
"M'lady!" He sneered. If he would have been on the ground beside me, he would have rested my arm on his like a gentleman would do and pretend as if we were such a couple. "You must be patient m'lady. There have been eyes behind you all day. Be a good little girl and wait until he approaches!"
This was his way of warning me, though I wished it could've been done sooner. I resisted the urge to turn around and look at the creature - whatever we had ended up pursuing today - for fear that he might attack with a look. My cold hands and numb toes told me that we couldn't keep up this stalking all day though, and I eventually gave in. I slowly pivoted my head around my neck, hoping that we would have time to make the kill before he devoured me. Those eyes were bright yellow behind me, hidden in the depths of the brush even further in the dark forest than I was.
"You want me, I want you," I warned the beast, refusing to give him the 'go' signal by looking into his eyes before I had my full threat out. "Now let's go."
A second's eye contact, and the beast flew out of the brush that was around him. He was a unicorn of sorts, which I hadn't gathered from what I could see in the brush, but one perverted by the evil magic. His body was slender and muscle - the perfect game - but he had a more evil look than most of the 'good' unicorns that were found around these parts with darkening skin and a horn that looked as if it were made of thorns. Its wings looked tarnished but still ready for flight. Now, it was illegal - and punishable by an incredibly-painful death - to kill a 'good' unicorn; an evil one was a completely different story. The evil ones, though they seemed sinister, had the best meat of all of the animals in the forest and were in high demand. I knew that if we could kill him, we could pawn him off throughout the village and get quite a nice price for him: maybe we could get some warm bread or gracious feast dinners for the trade.
All of that went through my mind before he even reached me. I hadn't realized that I had gotten so lost in my thoughts, but Terrence had certainly been thinking the same things since he was quicker than I was to attack.
"Havaa!" Terrence cried, holding his hand out for the magic to disperse from, as the beast opened his sharp-teethed jaw to take a bite out of me. It was only the evil creatures in the forest - the only ones that we were allowed to claim bounty on - that had a taste for human flesh; the other animals stuck to plants.
The beast looked up at Terrence for only a second before collapsing to the ground, the light escaping his body instantly. I smiled up at him with a beaming smile, which he eagerly returned, before dragging the beast off into the brush with me in an unspoken agreement that we must keep hunting.
~~~
Four cold hours later had greeted us with enough game to feed our two families for a month and still have some to bargain off for something more. We hadn't seen anymore big game like that but had acquired a few squirrels and rabbits, though we were perfectly happy with those catches.
On our walk back we decided that it would be decent enough if we kept the prize unicorn for ourselves and sold the other pieces at the food market. Even with that, we would still get enough money to purchase some bread and other necessities for at least a month. We split ways at the end of the trail; I went towards the market place with the small skinned animals in my hunting bags (I could sell both the meat and the hides at a pretty good clip!) and Terrence took the unicorn around the back to our houses so that he wouldn't get raided by people on the way.
~~~
I got enough money for all of the game that I was able to buy two loaves of bread for each of our families before returning home. When I did, my parents hugged me tightly as they had never done before and said they were proud to have me as a daughter.
Things seemed to be going well for me now. Still I couldn't help but feel threatened by that extra tiny glint in my mother's eye. Had they found me a suitor? I could only hope not. I found salvation looking out the window, finding Saripha still out there... Still, I couldn't help but wonder, what was her deal...?