06-07-2016, 03:49 AM
Oki muttered a curse under his breath as he climbed along the frozen slope, ramming two short rocks into the ground to pull himself upwards. All could have gone so well... the wampa had been right there. He had spent over a day tracking that single specimen, finding its last hunting grounds, uncovering its most recent tracks and setting off in pursuit. The wampa had walked for a while until getting to its home, why it hadn't devoured the carcass while the meat was still warm and fresh he did not know. Perhaps it wanted the safety of its cave as opposed to the openness of the fields. Oki had tracked it down to its lair, coming so close to slaying another of those terrifying predators, when his hunt had gotten interrupted.
He suspected them to be trolls. The snowstorms responsible for the poor sight coupled with the only vague, inaccurate descriptions of the dwarves he had spoken to hadn't provided him with enough evidence to make it out, though it did look like they were bipedal, and while trying to avoid seeing what he WANTED to see, he believed to catch glimpses of tusks pointing out from their heads. But whether they were troll hunters looking for meat or for some opponent to paint the snow red or a group of beasts, herbi- or carnivore, roaming the fields of ice, he could not expose himself to the risk of pursuing his hunt whilst they were nearby. If they were trolls they would rejoice in the opportunity of slaying him in his weakened state after battle and take the wampa hide, and possibly the carcass too, back to their tribe for usage, and the smell of blood drawn if he slew the wampa would doubtlessly attract the group if they were predators. He could not risk it. He had to be patient. So he had left the wampa behind, believing that it would likely eat and rest for a while now, and snuck after the group instead, bent on waiting until they were sufficiently far away that he could resume his original hunt.
Such a time was now. The group had turned away from the center of the Frozen Fields and resumed their journey, hunt or whatever it was they were out here for, and eventually had crossed the limit beyond which Oki deemed them to be far away enough to return to the wampa cavern. Even if it had left in the meantime he could attempt to set a trap or lay an ambush for its return - from what he could tell wampas seemed fairly territorial and spent their time in one place without moving much. On his way back he had chosen a much more direct route than what the group had taken, and that was how he had found himself in front of the icy slope that he was now climbing. He knew, however, that he was close. The cliffside into which the cavern was built was barely distinguishable in the fog already. But when he arrived, he was in for quite a surprise...
Amaterasu hurriedly got on her feet when she saw a silhouette peel itself out of the snow, coming closer. Could it be some pursuer? Maybe another wampa? No, it was smaller and not as bulky as the furred predators... the tracks came to her mind. She readied the Yasakani no Magatama, bracing for an attack, but none came.
Could it be that the person coming closer hadn't seen her? No, they must have. If not her herself, then her Fur-Selkie, which was huge and brown colored. At this distance it was impossible to not take note of it even in the fog. And she was right next to it, so she had little hope of having passed by unnoticed. Plus, the person that the silhouette belonged to was coming right at her. Soon she could hear the thick fur boots wading through the snow, creating muffled crunch sounds. And she saw the outline of a drawn sword appearing amidst the fog. But despite that she felt strangely calm, and when the fog could not obscure the person's features any longer, she understood why.
The Yasakani no Magatama dropped into the snow as Amaterasu lost control of them. Not that she needed them. For a few brief moments she looked at the man with the blue wolf mask, then asked a question that she already knew the answer to: "Oki? Is that you?"
"Amaterasu?" came the surprised reply. Oki held his sword Kuton by his side but made no movement of attack. Although he had asked, he knew the answer.
Amaterasu rushed through the snow as fast as she could and leapt into his arms, nearly crying with joy. "It's you! It's really you!" Oki dropped his sword as they fell over and rolled through the snow a few meters, both laughing and hugging each other.
"What are you doing here? How did you find me? And why are you human now?!" asked Oki. He was as glad to see his old friend as Amaterasu herself, but could not keep his questions back.
"Ahe... it's a long story", replied Amaterasu as she got to her knees then stood up and helped Oki to his feet as well. "After going into the Ark of Yamato... that's when I regained my human form. Yami had drained me of my powers, but humanity's faith in me restored me to my true self and allowed me to slay him. And I found you... I don't even know how, really. Intuition maybe. I felt that you were around somewhere and asked the dwarves about you, but I didn't think I'd run into you here. Did I poach your prey?"
"What? You mean you slew the wampa? I... no, of course not. I mean, I was hunting it but only to rid the dwarves of it. It's been causing a lot of troubles for them and such... how come you got it? And you still didn't tell me how you got here!"
"Neither did you. But yes, I want to bring them the hide among others. Gotta be one I hunted myself. But me, it all started after the showdown on the Ark of Yamato. After I..." She began to explain whilst returning to the Fur-Selkie with Oki and sitting against its belly for warmth. She went on about everything from their departure on the mythical Ark to return to the Celestial Realm, to her brief meeting with Omni, to the events of the Hero's Graveyard and how she had finally gotten here, to the Frozen Fields. There was a lot to tell and she didn't pause as Oki listened, saving his questions for later.
"... and that's how the tracks led me to the lair. I slew the wampa and skinned it... and now I need to find a troll before I can return to Urist."
"A troll, huh... I happened to run by a group earlier that may have been trolls. I couldn't see them in the icy fog, not well enough to tell if they were trolls anyway, but I suspect that they could be. But a group might be too dangerous to take on. Trolls are smart and dangerous..."
"I'm aware. I only was able to kill the one that attacked Urist because he had his back turned... and was tired from battle. No, we should find them in a small group of one or two."
"That won't be easy, but... perhaps we could use the wampa hide you harvested to separate the group? Or pose as a wampa as we kill one of them. I could pull the hide over myself to disguise as one and you deal the killing blow with your brush."
"A great idea. Lead the way!" She slid onto the Fur-Selkie's back but left space at the front for Oki to take the reins and put them on track of the group of trolls they were after.
He suspected them to be trolls. The snowstorms responsible for the poor sight coupled with the only vague, inaccurate descriptions of the dwarves he had spoken to hadn't provided him with enough evidence to make it out, though it did look like they were bipedal, and while trying to avoid seeing what he WANTED to see, he believed to catch glimpses of tusks pointing out from their heads. But whether they were troll hunters looking for meat or for some opponent to paint the snow red or a group of beasts, herbi- or carnivore, roaming the fields of ice, he could not expose himself to the risk of pursuing his hunt whilst they were nearby. If they were trolls they would rejoice in the opportunity of slaying him in his weakened state after battle and take the wampa hide, and possibly the carcass too, back to their tribe for usage, and the smell of blood drawn if he slew the wampa would doubtlessly attract the group if they were predators. He could not risk it. He had to be patient. So he had left the wampa behind, believing that it would likely eat and rest for a while now, and snuck after the group instead, bent on waiting until they were sufficiently far away that he could resume his original hunt.
Such a time was now. The group had turned away from the center of the Frozen Fields and resumed their journey, hunt or whatever it was they were out here for, and eventually had crossed the limit beyond which Oki deemed them to be far away enough to return to the wampa cavern. Even if it had left in the meantime he could attempt to set a trap or lay an ambush for its return - from what he could tell wampas seemed fairly territorial and spent their time in one place without moving much. On his way back he had chosen a much more direct route than what the group had taken, and that was how he had found himself in front of the icy slope that he was now climbing. He knew, however, that he was close. The cliffside into which the cavern was built was barely distinguishable in the fog already. But when he arrived, he was in for quite a surprise...
Amaterasu hurriedly got on her feet when she saw a silhouette peel itself out of the snow, coming closer. Could it be some pursuer? Maybe another wampa? No, it was smaller and not as bulky as the furred predators... the tracks came to her mind. She readied the Yasakani no Magatama, bracing for an attack, but none came.
Could it be that the person coming closer hadn't seen her? No, they must have. If not her herself, then her Fur-Selkie, which was huge and brown colored. At this distance it was impossible to not take note of it even in the fog. And she was right next to it, so she had little hope of having passed by unnoticed. Plus, the person that the silhouette belonged to was coming right at her. Soon she could hear the thick fur boots wading through the snow, creating muffled crunch sounds. And she saw the outline of a drawn sword appearing amidst the fog. But despite that she felt strangely calm, and when the fog could not obscure the person's features any longer, she understood why.
The Yasakani no Magatama dropped into the snow as Amaterasu lost control of them. Not that she needed them. For a few brief moments she looked at the man with the blue wolf mask, then asked a question that she already knew the answer to: "Oki? Is that you?"
"Amaterasu?" came the surprised reply. Oki held his sword Kuton by his side but made no movement of attack. Although he had asked, he knew the answer.
Amaterasu rushed through the snow as fast as she could and leapt into his arms, nearly crying with joy. "It's you! It's really you!" Oki dropped his sword as they fell over and rolled through the snow a few meters, both laughing and hugging each other.
"What are you doing here? How did you find me? And why are you human now?!" asked Oki. He was as glad to see his old friend as Amaterasu herself, but could not keep his questions back.
"Ahe... it's a long story", replied Amaterasu as she got to her knees then stood up and helped Oki to his feet as well. "After going into the Ark of Yamato... that's when I regained my human form. Yami had drained me of my powers, but humanity's faith in me restored me to my true self and allowed me to slay him. And I found you... I don't even know how, really. Intuition maybe. I felt that you were around somewhere and asked the dwarves about you, but I didn't think I'd run into you here. Did I poach your prey?"
"What? You mean you slew the wampa? I... no, of course not. I mean, I was hunting it but only to rid the dwarves of it. It's been causing a lot of troubles for them and such... how come you got it? And you still didn't tell me how you got here!"
"Neither did you. But yes, I want to bring them the hide among others. Gotta be one I hunted myself. But me, it all started after the showdown on the Ark of Yamato. After I..." She began to explain whilst returning to the Fur-Selkie with Oki and sitting against its belly for warmth. She went on about everything from their departure on the mythical Ark to return to the Celestial Realm, to her brief meeting with Omni, to the events of the Hero's Graveyard and how she had finally gotten here, to the Frozen Fields. There was a lot to tell and she didn't pause as Oki listened, saving his questions for later.
"... and that's how the tracks led me to the lair. I slew the wampa and skinned it... and now I need to find a troll before I can return to Urist."
"A troll, huh... I happened to run by a group earlier that may have been trolls. I couldn't see them in the icy fog, not well enough to tell if they were trolls anyway, but I suspect that they could be. But a group might be too dangerous to take on. Trolls are smart and dangerous..."
"I'm aware. I only was able to kill the one that attacked Urist because he had his back turned... and was tired from battle. No, we should find them in a small group of one or two."
"That won't be easy, but... perhaps we could use the wampa hide you harvested to separate the group? Or pose as a wampa as we kill one of them. I could pull the hide over myself to disguise as one and you deal the killing blow with your brush."
"A great idea. Lead the way!" She slid onto the Fur-Selkie's back but left space at the front for Oki to take the reins and put them on track of the group of trolls they were after.
Quote:1337 words written... hue.
Amaterasu has regenerated 1 SP (2/3 available)
✓ Wampa killed and skinned for its hide.
✘ Troll slain and proof of its death obtained.
✘ Cobalt ore chunk mined.
✘ Dwarven champion defeated in spar.
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undoge: Credit & Hugs to Ruby for the sign, and to Guu for the smileys! undoge:Hide your chicken nuggers, hide your heads, the Sundoge is coming and she'll hat everyone!
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