Fantasy The Wild Hunt [CLOSED]

[Asa Loko]

​

A gentle breeze came over the green and sandy landscape, that was right next to the shore. The salty smell of the sea was filling the air, while the sound of the whistling wind was everywhere to be heard. The high grass and the trees' leaves started rustling, drowning the faint sound of waves crashing against the beach. The breeze stopped for a moment. Seagulls were crying and the sound of footsteps arose. Calmly and with well-chosen steps, the woman's feet carried her along the non-paved path, that was leading her somewhere further north.

It was evening, clearly visible by the blood red sky above her head. Also indicated by the setting sun, which was the cause of the change in color the sky experienced at this late hour. Nothing unordinary, in fact, completely common. Nonetheless, the woman who was walking there disliked the tone of color. It was unsettling for her. But she didn't have time to ponder all too much about this. Soon night would settle in and monsters would come out of their hiding places. She had a katana with her, resting at her side. Tightly secured within its fancy, black scabbard, that had a flower pattern on it. So it was most likely she knew how to defend herself. Instead, it was rather the fact, that she wanted to sleep. Her legs grew more and more tired with each step.

A sigh left the blue-haired woman's throat, as she placed her left forearm onto the sword's hilt. There, the limb that was covered in in smooth fabric throned on the weapon, like a queen did on her royal seat. She heard rustling from within the high-grass, but there was no wind. It was obvious to her, that something non-human must have been the sound's source. Fast steps, not made by paws like from a dog's or bear's. No, steps made by sandals, just like the woman's own movements. She came to a halt and kept facing forward, her right hand reached towards the sword's hilt, while her left was moving further down. Holding onto the scabbard, as she awaited the person's move.

(If you read until here and feel like jumping right into this scene, feel free to do so without asking me for permission! All you need to know is that it's gonna be high-fantasy. If you really feel like questions, just DM me)

 

[IndoWriter]

Intense temperatures baked the vivid land.





Like a casual fire, humidity from the weather slithered through the world of the K'Narthian rainforest. Its heat touched every inch of the amazing jungle and left no crevice undiscovered in its relentless battle to claim everything. The temperature soared for the jungle, reaching a staggering high of 118° Fahrenheit as the day progressed and the sun flew higher into the clear blue sky. Rays from the mammoth ball of yellow cooked and baked the earth, not dissimilar from the effects of a mud ball in a tanning salon. Dry earth certainly marked some area of the magnificent land, but it was not called a rainforest for its lack of water.





While no clouds would come until night to quench the thirst of the land, steam clouds made up the rebellion against the repressive forces of heat. They lubricated the parched trees and moistened the coarse shrubs. Not a leaf was left unkissed by the kind lips of the steam, and the plants of the jungle were thankful to be given a chance for existence. Their plants flowed freely even under the assault of the sun, and vividly colored fruit grew in unimaginable sizes.





The infinite number animals in the jungle were just as fortunate as the plants, overheated as they were this day. Gango Sloths needed to have moisture in the air--sleeping just wasn't the same when your tree caught on fire. Violet Macaws were pleased with the constant supply of steam in the air, keeping their nests from becoming ovens for their eggs. They ignored the neverending calls of their unruly neighbors, the rustubel monkeys who seated themselves at the highest parts of their trees to feel a sense of superiority and volume. They hooted down at the giant tusked G'ar boar that passed but kept silent when a sleek, starving Fig leopard prowled after the scent of the brown coated pigs. On occasions, a few striped peacocks, and peahens squawked their way across the jungle floor. Their fairly slow gait made them easy chicken dinner for the likes of leopards, but they weren't the only predators that favored their poultry meat. If some got close enough then a big cat was a likely outcome, but straying near an occupied water source could lead to a cave-dwelling caiman’s lunch. Ground dwellings often resulted in large lizards snacking upon startled peacocks, so a few of their genus would rightly assume that trees were safe places. Or, any creature for that matter.





It’s what made them so easy to hunt. To collect a few of their bodies, one would only have to search for their plumage in the trees and dispatch them with arrows. From there, it was the simple task of using boiling water to help remove the feathers and a claw to aid in the task of skinning the whole thing. Interestingly enough, the skin of striped peacocks was perfect bait for attracting Proicies Salmon that swam upstream at this time of year. All it took was a little piece to eventually create a swarm of nibbling fish and a good meal from their bodies soon after. It was what she did when she fished in the past and it was what she would do soon enough.





She looked up in time to spot a few small monkeys leaping over her head, carefully eyeing them as they disappeared off behind her to do who knows what. Her bright yellow orbs resettled on the river just ahead of her, nonchalantly half-lidded as she approached the muddy banks. The clay was deep; deep enough to kiss her currently human feet with frigid moisture through her stolen sandals. The soles of her feet were already coated with a thin layer of dried mud as it was, along with the lower edges of her black Lehenga from previous rainy days. The grey smears dirtied the bronze symbols that lined the ends, the ones that curled this way and that like twirling fireworks. Not used to having long hair occasionally getting in her face, she had it tightly tied back to avoid annoying her...though that often failed.




She nearly stumbled in mid-stride and forced herself to go slower. It had been a very long day since that fateful encounter in a different form, where she made the mistake of a remaining a deer for too long in the presence of humans who sought them for game. It had felt nice to be a peaceful herbivore, with no need to worry about starving given the abundance of food. Had that hunter's arrow punctured her a little deeper, tearing it out would have been fatal. Maybe it still was; she hadn't quite stopped oozing purple blood since then and she didn't think staying in human form was going to keep suspicion off her back if any humans found her bleeding out. Or, even worse, a creature of the forest would discover her and attempt to find out if Puca flesh actually did taste as good many claimed it did.


M'oa stared down at her side again, moved her hand to see the throbbing wound and then placed it back to avoid having to stare at the gruesome sight. It didn't show signs of stopping, despite the human's bodily defense being to clot blood until it's stops bleeding at the source of the wound. She had to find another form to shift into, or face the prospect of death by bleeding out in this useless body. She sighed as the smell and noises of the ocean hit her, drawing her attention to them. If the ocean was nearby, perhaps there was a fast healing beast in the depths that she could mimic to be healthy and unwounded again. The puca began to huff for breath as she imagined a good mental image of what she could turn into to get there.


Her human face elongated slowly, then curved into a sharp looking beak while her hair and her skin melted together into a coat of thick bird feathers and a muscular quadruped body. Giant, stocky paws grew in the place of her hands and feet, not to mention an actual tail as well. When her wings flared out at her sides, the only recognizable part about M'oa ended up being her yellow orbs and the oozing wound just beneath her ribcage. Uttering a short cry that resembled an eagle and a lion, she took off into the air to try and quickly coast her way down to to the beach. The air of the sea was strong with airborne seasalt and willing to push her around if she glided, but not fast enough to get her to the beach alive in time. Despite wincing at the fresh pang of pain she felt every few seconds, her Gryphon form performed admirably. She managed a few minutes of shaky air travel before she was half tumbling, half landing herself in a field of grass to avoid meeting a much quicker death.


The Puca coughed in a dangerously wet tone, spilling out more bodily fluids then she was comfortable with in Gryphon form. The ocean was too far away to even walk, not that she really had the strength to do it by now. Just when she thought she was going to slowly slip away right there in the silent company of flowers and tall grass in an unforgiving enviroment from an arrow wound the day before, a strange scent wafted over by riding the many winds of the air. M'oa lifted her head as much as she could to peek over the grass, to a sight that made her flinch. A blue haired woman, quite beautiful in looks, stepped her way down the dirt road without a noise to escape her feet or the weapon she clearly carried with her. In fact, her noticing the lack of noise was probably what gave her away a few seconds later--she drew a very sharp and dangerous looking sword from her hip, one that M'oa didn't doubt would kill her if used the right way. She was far too drained and weak from the hunter to run, and even weaker to put up an actual fight against someone--even if all they had was a meager sword. The best option, in this instance, was a more peaceful route.

The Gryphon stood before the woman slowly, wings flared out to its sides weakly. Then, with a weakened speed, the body began to shift and form and shrink. Gone were the feathers and the beak and the giant paws, and in were the two human feet, the regular clothing, the hair and the skin. The instant her wings melted back into her body, a fresh spasm of pain greater than the rest forced her to one knee before the woman. M'oa gasped for breath that had trouble getting to her, and she soon forgot all about the human when more pain hit her. Then...

Unconciousness met M'oa.

 

[Asa Loko]

The lean, calloused fingertips were holding onto the sword's hilt. With a silent clacking sound, she unsheathed the first inch of the sharp blade with a hardening line, that was shaped like a shark's teeth. A wild zigzag on the sword made out of blue shining metal. She raised her chin and closed her eyes. Letting her ears do the job of providing necessary information.

However, as soon as Asako heard the sound of the person approaching, she opened her right eye and turned her upper body sideways, whilst her head faced the direction where the sound came from. With a raised eyebrow she was looking at the gravely wounded woman, who had kissed the ground.

The eyelid on the left side moved up to and revealed the dark sea blue, that matched on both sides. Even if the color on her right eye was slightly lighter than on the other side. She scanned the area for any other person after M'oa fell down. There must have been someone, who did this to her after all. However, a few seconds later she hasn't seen anything, nor heard or sensed anything. Usually, she would have been able to pick up animosity in her close environment. A skill she acquired after many nights filled with the terror of fights and monster hunting.

For the moment she had to accept, that not everything made sense right now. But it was for the sake of the woman's life. Quickly she rushed down to her side, after sheathing the curved blade. The same clacking sound like when she drew it appeared.

"Miss? You there?", her gentle voice asked as she turned her around onto her backside. Upon seeing the arrow wound beneath her ribcage Asako frowned. Worry was clearly visible on the swordsman's face before she made a decision. She ripped apart the fabric around her right sleeve, that she was never wearing on her arm. Instead, she wore the kimono in a rather unfashionable way with her right sword-arm remaining free for more mobility with the limb. Something she didn't want to go without.

The stripes of cloth were laid onto the woman's stomach next to each other before she finally started bandaging the wound. After pouring some alcohol onto it to clean it, of course. Just closing a wound wasn't enough to treat it properly.

Eventually, Asako got done with bandaging the woman. Her hands were covered in dried blood, which made her look like the crimson red evening sky. "Urgh", she sighed and looked around. Still no one, she thought to herself and then inhaled deeply. A moment later she squatted back down, put one hand beneath M'oa's kneecaps and another beneath her back. She picked the woman up and carried her bridal style.

With the woman in her arms, the huntress grew more and more tired with each step. But her efforts were going to be rewarded. Along the way was a very small wooden shrine. Naara, the patron goddess of the travelers. And a perfect place to put the woman down for the moment and to let her own body rest.

A sigh left her throat, as she finally sat down and let the tension leave her muscles. The sky turned darker and darker. Light fading away and the last rays of the sun were to be seen on the horizon at the ocean. The day was over and thus the night started.

"Fire", she muttered and collected some minor stones, which she used to form a small circle around some wooden sticks and high-grass she ripped out. With a spark of lightning arising from the swordswoman's tip the needed spark for the campfire was created. Soon the heat of it warmed both her and M'oa up. Simultaneously it kept away the prying eyes of some beings watching over them from within the high-grass.

Beautifully, the half-full double moons shined in the starry night-sky. One as white as snow, the other more yellow than white, whilst both were covered in craters. But it wasn't the nice view the swordswoman was concentrating on. But rather the red-eyes hidden in the thicket of the fields. The only thing to be heard was the shrine's bell ringing every now and then from a weak gust of wind and the sound of cracking branches in the fire.

 

[IndoWriter]

The world remained dark for M'oa as she slipped through the inky void of unconsciousness, her body feeling cut off from all five senses in the strangest of ways. Memories occasionally floated through her mind and lit up the dark aura around her with thoughts of her lonely childhood, her growth into an adolescent of her species and then her status as an Adult shapeshifter. Then all was dark again, though this time she was allowed the ability to actually hear some of the things around her. There was a strange noise from all around. Something...crackling? The air appeared to be hotter than normal, moving to and fro around the position she seemed to be in. Where was she? Lying on her back somewhere, with heated dirt settling beneath her like a flatbed. Yes, it was dirt. Hot dirt meant a sure nearby, didn't it? M'oa groaned softly as the world began to convulse back to her and fill her mind with more recent memories and thoughts. Her travels into the mountainous ranges, the experiences she felt while in the form of a quiet for and the sharp break of a stone arrow piercing through her flesh.

The first thing she tasted was smoke in the air, and it was the same thing to grab the attention of her mortal nostrils. Despite the heat surrounding her atmosphere, M'oa also detected a mild stinging sensation at her wound--much less painful than before and fully wrapped with something soft. The first thing she saw upon awakening was the sky, a swirling mass of inky darkness sprinkled with those bizarre twinkling lights that she could never quite put a name to. Then she shifted her view down while slowly sitting up, easily ignoring the protests of her cut--with her second wind and apparent aid, the wound would be nothing short of a scar in a few hours time. As she sat up slowly and blearly blinked around, she wondered just who was the person who dared to treat the wounds of a shapeshifter...

She recognized the blue haired woman, but in the same breath...things seemed different.

An unfathomable beauty seemed to be not far from her, angled just enough for her to distantly smell her wonderful scent over the smell of smoke in the air. The Puca swallowed the rampaging heart in her throat as she took mental note of the beauty's gorgeous blue hair styled in the most attractive way, if only to showcase a face that could probably make roses weep. A generous helping of skin--tanned to a pleasant hue--adorned her pleasantly stoic expression, while deep pink marked the world's most valuable smile. Her body seemed to be enthralling; boasting of athletically toned frame (not that she'd say out loud). It had only been a few a seconds of M'oa staring with wide, smitten yellow eyes and part of her was already imagining how well they might fit together. It was strange; she was not used to beauty such as this being kind to her, forcing any thoughts of words away from her. M'oa couldn't think to move, let alone wordlessly stammer like someone before their high school crush.

Humor, perhaps? Yes. Humans always used humor to keep potential conflict at a low, from what she'd read from stolen books. Perhaps she should try to some to seem friendly. She awkwardly glanced at the fire and cringed.

"I...hope you're not going to...cook me...?" She weakly quipped.

 

[Asa Loko]

The swordswoman's face remained stoic at the Puca's remark. Only when she turned her head sideways to face the injured woman, she perked up an eyebrow. In the faint light of the twin moons and the campfire one could see the outline of an old cut-scar, that was at the left corner of woman's mouth. A scar, that definitely had a story and a meaning

For a few more seconds the stared at the shapeshifter, not saying anything, as if she was indeed about to cook the woman and was surprised about how swiftly she returned from the realms of dreams and slumber. "No, of course not. Otherwise, I wouldn't have stitched you up. Wouldn't make sense to tend to your future food's wounds, if you are going to cut it up anyway", the woman spoke with a tone as dry as the desert. But a moment later, the right side of her mouth moved up for a half-sided smirk. "Lay down, have a drink and some food. You must be both thirsty and hungry, right?", Asako asked as she put the sheathed blade away. Right next to her.

After that she reached beneath the fabric of her kimono, pulling out a waterskin and something, that was covered in leaves. "Here, some ration I got from the elves of the Kamasilva forest. Dig in", she offered the Puca and stretched out the limb. Holding both out to M'oa with the arm, that wasn't covered in the soft cotton of her outlandish dress.

Her voice was gentle, fitting to the feminine features of her face, even though she had her own rough sides with the small scars and colorful tattoos, that adorned her skin. Ink paintings of animals, dragons, flowers, and various signs were visible on her right arm and partly exposed shoulder. One could safely assume, that the tattoos continued beneath the cover of her clothing.

"Don't worry, it ain't poisoned or specially seasoned, so that you'll taste good in the end", she continued smirking with a smile.

In the meantime, the watching predators around the street-shrine continued their lurking, whilst drawing a small circle around the two women resting at the campfire.

 

[IndoWriter]

M'oa winced, even more, the longer the awkward silence and staring progressed between them. It gave her time to take notice of the enrapturing eyes of the woman, like twin pools of blue that could suck anything into them. It was a bit unique that her eyes would be different shades of blue but it was just another tiny detail that she found all the more attractive. M'oa would have probably begun to scold herself for the random thoughts floating around in her head in such an unflattering way, but she was more interested in the deadpan delivery of her reaction. M'oa resisted the strong urge to pout; she thought it was a pretty funny thing to say, at least. The question the woman sent her made her shrug. “On the contrary, I’m still half full from all the grass I've been eating for the past week.” She said nonchalantly, almost bored in a way. “I could nibble something, I suppose.”


But eventually she earned a sort of smirk from the woman that made her heart flutter again, and then she was mentioning water from the Kamasilva forest and handing her food. It was another mild shock; no one had ever handed her food before, and here this woman was-- offering a piece of what little she appeared to have to a total stranger. She took the food and water eventually, with shaky hands that didn't quite know how to accept the kindness. She slowly managed to convince herself to drink a bit of the water, then nibble away at the food rationing she provided. M'oa glanced at her, her pupiless yellow eyes cleaning thanks to the fire. “You know...you’re taking this whole thing rather...well, considering I'm a shapeshifting entity. What with the food and the bandage and all…” She paused, and her left leg lifted awkwardly so she could scratch at the back of her head and relieve her itchy sensations. “And, Uh...seeing as how you did save my life, I'm...I'm supposed to say something...its...oh, yes! Thank you. T-thanks.”


The noise from beyond the fire was distraction to be sure, but it wasn't quite as distracting the distant smell of the predators jaws from previous kills of theirs. She wrinkled her nose as her hypersensitive nose picked up on them checking the radius of the fire, than turned to stare off into the darkness. Her eyes suddenly grew slitted black pupils; the eyes of a Sumatran tiger, the animals with the best night vision. The shapes moving didn't stop moving, but seeing what kind of animals they were, she didn't seem to be physically worried. “Hmm. They're starting to bother me. Would you like ms to scare them off?” She coughed and quickly added. “I'm only asking because I'm permanently locked in a life debt with you now”

 

[Asa Loko]

A laugh escaped the woman's throat, as she held her stomach and leaned back. "And you take the fact, that I only helped you a little bit too far for someone, who was on the brink of death", the words crossed her lips in a tone of pure amusement. A state of bliss one could say. "Jeez", she wiped off a single tear from her right eye and shook her head. "Stay put and let them be for now. Unless the fire goes out they won't attack. And if they dare to, I am here. For the moment you should rather prioritize on getting yourself back to normal. Or rather not heavily injured. At least until morning comes", she added at the very end and took the sword, to have it rest on her lap.

Her gaze still rested on M'oa, who ate the rations from the elves. It was consisting of a very brittle and soft bread, that had some sort of tofu between the slices alongside some herbs and spices. All natural, as the elfen-kind from the Kamasilva forest refrained from hunting animals. So it was obvious there would be no meat in this. The water was infused with minerals and tasted a little bit like iron.

"But: You are welcome. It was nothing, but a small gesture from my side, because we outcasts gotta stick together and help one another", Asako gave her a wink and then closed her eyes, while her empty gaze was turned towards the burning fire. "How did you end up like that, if I may ask? The wound, that is", she asked with curiosity in her voice and carefully paid attention to her answer and the surroundings, as the wolf-like creatures with the blood-red gaze kept moving in cautious circles. Their bodies colored the same way as the darkness of the night. Dire wolves from their finest.

 

[IndoWriter]

M'oa pouted at the woman's bid to leave the beasts be and instead allow herself to get back to her normal health. Granted, she had been fairly close to death and she was in a form very close to that of a human's...but she highly doubted the wound would be much more than a scar tomorrow morning. Thanks to the food she was eating and the generous healing aid from the woman, it would take no time at all for the Puca to be to normal. Then, if there were any other beasts out there that were too bold or hungry to be scared off by flame, then she would be able to dissuade them from her rescuer. She ate her portions a bit more, but she kept a close ear out for any signs of the beasts circling them in case they wanted to dare a bite or two. The tofu infused bread was actually quite delicious as it was peculiar and the mineral water was more than refreshing.



The Puca cocked her head in interest when the woman winked at her, and she tried to do the same right back only to blink both eyes awkwardly. She finished her meal and drink in satisfaction, her stomach now completely full and content to remain that way for many hours from now. She was just about to ask about the nature of the sword and perhaps why she only had one singular weapon in such a dangerous wilderness environment, but Asayo best her to giving her a question of her own. M'oa sighed in embarrassment as she tried to think of a non-humiliatingway to explain. “ I...thought it would be good to become a deer for a day; a doe. But then a hunter randomly shot me with an arrow. Too be honest, I shouldn't have been in that form for too long. I'm surprised no predators have taken me down by now.” It was a real wonder she hadn't been killed sooner, but she supposed she was thankful not be killed earlier.


She glanced at the dire wolves circling them as she lay back, carefully positioning herself. Her throat slowly morphed to adapt to the voicebox of a fire wolf, and when it seemed she was finished she uttered a series of short, playful yips. Just as she expected and much to her amusement, the dire wolves stopped circling fo stare in pure confusion as the call of a dire wolf sounded from something that was not a dire wolf at all.

Asa Loko

 

[Asa Loko]

The blood red eyes dispersed into the night. The wolves the gazes belonged ran further into the fields, before letting out a howl, that soon was joined by the rest of the pack. It was a somewhat idyllic scenery with the twin moons shining down onto the wide field at night. The beginning summer was promising in more than just one way. Good weather and plenty of monsters for the blue-haired huntress to kill once she was closer to settlements where she would get paid for her work.

"I see... I guess it's a double-edged sword for your kind to choose a plain disguise. On one hand, no one will pay attention you wandering around as a deer unless they are a hunter or some animal higher than you in the food-chain", she raised her tattooed limb to tip her chin, while she thoughtfully gazed at the stars. "Life as shapeshifter sure isn't easy now, is it?", Asako raised her chin and eyed Puca from the corner of her eye. "Say, how old are you, if I may ask? It's my second time meeting someone like you and the first time... Well, we didn't meet under good circumstances, because I had to drive them secretly out of a town since people wanted them gone for good. Y'know, they cursed him and said he was some sort of demon, while he only wanted to live in peace", she rolled her eyes and closed her eyes to lay against the wooden wall of the shrine at the roadside.

Next to her was the wooden statue of Naara, the patron of travelers. It was a woman wearing a long robe. She had her arms stretched out and she held her head up proudly while offering water and food to the person looking at it. A statue, that depicted the current situation fairly well!