Take Back the Crown

Thora wasn't really paying attention to the others that were foraging, but she knew that her hands/arms were full and she couldn't collect anymore. She began to make her way back to the camp, slowly munching on water lilies along the way. She hoped someone back at camp knew how to cook the leaves of the lily pads. . . it would make a good dish to go with the cattails and berries.
 

(Sorry, I'm super tired and need to sleep so this gonna be short aghh go ahead and take the lead if you guys want!)




Yaroslav drew back his arrow, almost in sync with Oceana, and he eyed the buck they had been tracking. He exhaled slowly and thunk! With ease, his arrow met its target.
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Hjalmar grimaced, but was also a tad amused with their poking and prodding. "I'll have you know, I'm 19. So technically not that old, but I am seasoned." He leaned back again, this time containing his blushes a little more, and closed his eyes, "l was asking her for, uh-- well, I-I guess a loan?" He didn't really want to divulge his situation, it would only lead to more personal questions that he was not willing to share.


@TeeKay @Danika @soundofmind @RP Marshall
​
 
Oceana never took her eyes off of the doe, watching as her head bent to nibble on the forest grass.


Hearing Yaroslav's bowstring creak, she pulled her own. Her elven senses alerted her to the exact, split second of her companion's arrow release.


She stared into the doe's eyes apologetically as she fired.


Suddenly a fawn trotted up to nuzzle his mother.


The doe at which Oceana had taken aim.


Crying out in anguished surprise, the elf maiden jerked her bow aside, just as the arrows shaft passed along it....causing it to veer straight into the neck of another buck that had been strutting forward near Yaro's.


Yaroslav's buck and the other went down, one silent and one screaming and chuffing in pain.


The herd of deer took off running, disappearing into the brush.


The elf maiden sprinted to the crying, kicking deer, sliding on to her knees.


"I am so sorry!" She cried.


Her eyes burning with shame, she quickly unsheathed her large, gleaming hunting knife and stabbed it into the deer's heart.


And jerked it back out.


Hot, dark blood gushed onto her hand but she didn't flinch.


Instead she leaned over the dead buck, and kissed it's head.


"I truly am sorry." She whispered.


Her tall, ginger haired companion gave her a questioning look but said nothing.


Yaroslav then made to shoulder Oceana's bigger buck.


It was clear the big man wanted her to carry his smaller buck but she leapt in front of him.


"I must carry the larger one." She said, eyes defiant, daring him to contest. Then the cerulean orbs turned sad.


"His pain filled death is my burden to bear."


Looking slightly perplexed and annoyed the man said nothing but nodded slowly.


Hefting their bucks onto their shoulders, the two made their way back to camp, a slow trickle of deer blood dripping over the elf's chest as she struggled along the trail.


@Lo Alyssa @Danika @TeeKay @Rydellius


(I assume at first glance oceana covered in fresh blood would be very disconcerting)
 
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'You know, for a thief, you are very easy to read.' Dorian said as he landed near Hjalmar, finally deciding to adress the boy. 'How much trouble are you in that you even need to ask the princess for a loan? Seriously, you must owe some mob boss big-time.' He asked and looked at the thief, waiting for his reaction. Most people found it surprising, to say the least, that a hawk was speaking to them. Some even showed it quite colorfully. One of his friends even had fallen of a flight of stairs because of it.


@Lo Alyssa
 

"A loan? That debt you have must be really breathing down your neck, whatever it is." Phaedra frowned, now expressing concern for Hjalmar - a sudden shift in her behavior from serious to joking and vice versa wasn't unusual for her by now. "Well, I hope she helped you out. You wouldn't be any use to us dead..."

She shrugged, now losing all interest in the conversation having seen that Hjalmar's body language had shifted as well. He had closed himself off and Phaedra didn't wish to dig into anything personal. Feigning that she did not care would perhaps draw him out and allow him to speak more freely of it at another time - those were her thoughts on the matter, anyway. One way or the other, she would find out precisely what troubled the rogue, but now was not the time.

This thought was quickly interrupted by Yaroslav and Oceana, carrying two bucks back to camp. Oceana was thoroughly covered in blood, though upon closer examination, she was unwounded. Still, it was a shock. Phaedra decided it was wise not to mention anything of it, just in case if it triggered Oceana's temper to ask. She was on good terms with the Elf at the moment and she didn't want to ruin that quite yet with an ill timed question.

"The hunt went... well..? It is the norm to be covered in blood like that? I've never gone hunting before."

Her mouth apparently didn't get the memo. Phaedra couldn't actually refrain from asking anything, even though she had just promised herself she wouldn't.

@OlKaJa77 @Lo Alyssa @Danika @soundofmind @Rydellius @RP Marshall
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Oceana was struggling quite hard with her burden by the time they were back in camp.


The elf glared at Phaedra, not in the mood for prodding questions.


And then promptly felt her legs give out, falling face first into the dirt right in front of all of them. She urged her body to move on, to pick the buck up and keep going. But it was still weak and wouldn't listen. So there she lay, seething, head and neck covered by the dead animal with her buttocks slightly in the air.


@Lo Alyssa @TeeKay @Rydellius @Danika
 
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Oceana just breathed for a bit, before trying to get up with the deer. When that failed she tried to push it off, but her arms were more like soggy dough than anything.


Fuming, she resigned herself to asking for help.


"I'm stuck!" She yelled, humiliated.


But being stuck under her burden as she was, all the others could hear was


"Eehm stchurk!"
 

Hjalmar was not interested in talking about it. He didn't even have to tell the princess in order to get the money, so why would he tell them? "Nah, it's not that big of a deal." He lied, "What I'm interested in knowing," he said looking at the strange bird, "is how you can talk. Fairly obvious observation, but you're not our average bird, are you?" He raised an eyebrow, hoping to switch the topic.


@TeeKay @Danika @L1d1ja @Rydellius @RP Marshall





Yaroslav frowned, wishing she would have just let him carry the big one back. But she was honor bound, and Yaroslav understood that better than anyone. He deemed she had carried it far enough though, they were at the camp at least, so he grabbed the buck by its antler, lifting it with one hand and slipping it off of the elf's shoulders, then dragging them both to the side of the caravan where they could begin preparing it. The sun was still in the sky, so they had not been gone for too long. They were lucky a herd was so close by. Usually it took him a couple days to track them down. After he was done that, he went back over to help Oceana off the ground, if she needed to use him as a prop, he didn't mind. "You should probably go clean yourself in the river." He said with a small impressed smile, she was a rather stubborn but also enduring character, "But, you might want to wait until we're done preparing the deer. You would just get bloody all over again."


@OlKaJa77
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'Honey, I'm everything but average.' Dorian drawled 'I simply like to look around before joining a group.' He added to explain, though it was a lie by omission.





@Lo Alyssa


After having dropped off the plants he had found, Garret walked up to Yaroslav and Oceana. "Need any help?" He asked.


@OlKaJa77
 
"Many thanks" the elf said tiredly to Yaro, dusting herself off with shaky hands.


Turning to Garret, Oceana was about to snap at him but found herself lacking the energy to do any such thing.


Sighing long and loud, she tucked her raven locks behind her ears angrily and huffed,


"I may need some assistance."


Then she turned to glare in Valeiah's direction, having heard the human's heavy breathing from trying to stifle her laughter.


Letting out annoyed grunt she turned back to her work, trying her absolute hardest to not slice a limb off of her companions.
 
"Try not to decapitate any of our rude teammates." Garrett stated in elvish to Oceana, his pronunciation of the language rather accented. He spoke in the other language simply because he did not want to insult Valeiah or anyone else. He then went to work trying to help Oceana out with her catch, already quite used to working with dead animals as he had grown up on a farm as a child.


@OlKaJa77
 
Lucasta looked up from her staring at the crown, to the group. She glanced back down to the crown, then quickly put it in her satchel. She hopped off the wagon, and approached them, awkwardly.


"I see the hunt went well..." She muttered, rubbing her arm, looking at the large buck that Oceana had brought.
 
Oceana's mouth dropped open in surprise at the mage's voice suddenly speaking in elvish instead of common.


She instantly appreciated his presence in their group a bit more beyond his magical strength and soldier's wit.


Smiling in good humor she unsheathed her knife, and looking at her reflection in the blade, replied


"I will try."


Then she bent down and cut a slit down the center of the deer's chest to its crotch.


With Garrett helping hold it open, the elf began the process of gutting the animal.


( I'm quite sure we can skip the details and cut straight to dinner time)


@L1d1ja @Lo Alyssa
 
Not long after the others appeared with the deer, Foxrun popped up as well. He had left his trap to sit in the waters. He would check it later. He noticed the carcasses that had been stripped and we're being prepared. Wow. That will last for a while. He was clearly astonished by how well the two had done. "We could make jerky from some of what is left over. To insure we have meat at a time when we can't obtain it as easily as you two seemed to this time." He suggested as he looked things over. "A very effective hunting team we have here." He grinned over at yaro and Oceana, not knowing of what had actually happened.


@Lo Alyssa @OlKaJa77
 
Foxrun noticed the odd look "did I do something? Because your face shows slightly more displeasure than usual right now." He seemed the smallest bit worried that he had offended her somehow and would soon find himself the target of her fury again if he were not careful.


@OlKaJa77
 
"Foxrun" Oceana said quietly, lips smiling but eyes sad.


"Please help Garrett."


And with that she strode into the wood to be alone, to pray for forgiveness.


@GalacticRam
 
"What?" His brow furrowed in further confusion as he watched her leave. he then turned to garret. "Do I just offend her naturally?" He sighed but did his best to lend him a hand


@L1d1ja
 
"Yeah. It seem like it. But you're not the only one." Garrett nodded. "But I think it just has been an extra bad day." He added and went back to work.


@GalacticRam
 

Svetlana and Ayda seemed to be the last ones in the river, everyone else had gone on ahead, leaving them in the dust. When they both felt they had enough, they returned to camp just as Garrett, Foxrun and Yaroslav were done preparing the meat. She could see the baskets her companions used, sitting by the fire. She smiled, "Alright, everybody! Time to pitch in!" She said setting her baskets down full of cattails and jenber berries, "Some people can pick berries, others can help me strip and cut the icky parts of the cattails, and--" She stopped for a moment, glancing down at Thora's basket, "looks like we're preparing lily pads too!"She knew that the rootstocks were rather tasteless this time of year, but they'd still be good eatin', the roots themselves were good too if cooked, they made a good substitute for potatoes.


Most everybody was already sitting at the fire, but there were a few who seemed to be off doing their own thing. She took a seat, and Yaroslav bumbled over, Garrett and Foxrun not too far behind, with some meat ready to be roasted over the fire. The spit was already set up.


"Hey thief." Yaroslav growled at Hjalmar, "Go get Oceana." He said bluntly. Hjalmar snickered and then stood up, "Finally trusting me with something, eh?" The man just glared in response and then went back to skewering the meat.
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He didn't have to walk too far away from the camp. It was a small isolated spot, quiet too. That's probably what she went there in the first place. Hjalmar didn't wish to disturb her, so he leaned against a tree in silence, deciding to wait until she was finished with... well, whatever she was doing. It looked like she could be meditating, or praying. Hjalmar wouldn't know since he did neither of those things. He folded his arms patiently.
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