Calming Hunt

Faerie was ready to go out some more once they unloaded their prey back in town, so the three reos forged back out again. If they could, the trio wanted to continue to hunt for the same things; caribou were good amounts of food, and had a fair amount of things that could be harvested from them for use. Foxes too were useful, and Faerie had half a thought that the soft white pelts might sell for more back home in Vitalus.

Faerie wanted to be useful and led the way, her lighter build dancing over the snow while the pullers dragged behind. The moment she caught a trace of fox smell, she darted ahead, her intent was to flush the creatures out and straight for the pullers. 

Her soft pink and blue pelt almost blended in with the snow, but it contrasted enough to allow the warriors to keep an eye on her in this tundra, which was for the best when a herd of the other prey they were looking for darted across their path. Faerie started to zig and zag to avoid being run over by the larger beasts, while still keeping her nose trained on what little of the fox scent she could make out over the musky beasts. She could hear the warriors behind her rushing to snag the larger prey, and knew they had to have it handled.

She finally saw a bushy tail up ahead, darting away from the larger animals as the caribou thundering past had scared them as well. She pulled ahead, determined to nab the smaller animals and leave the caribou to the pullers.

***

Warrick had kept his eyes on Faerie, but was unsurprised when the caribou darted out. He had long heard them coming, and had rolled his eyes at her surprise when they started cantering across the snow. With their musk, he wasn’t even sure how she managed to keep on the fox scent, as the caribou often overpowered the senses. 

He didn’t have a lot of time to focus on her however, as the caribou drew closer. He wouldn’t fully ignore the pastel vay, and could see her summon her small golems to chase after the foxes they were flushing out, but he knew Cassia’s talents would be better backup for the runner, not that he assumed she would need it.

Instead, he sent calming waves among the animals, making them slow their run. He was getting better at this, and he saw the effects even reaching the tiny mammals Faerie hunted. Cassia gave him a side eye glance, and he knew she was thinking he was being a bit boring. The girl loved a challenge, so for her irritation, he’d remember to entice them to run straight for her next time. 

The antlered beasts slowed to a trot, and then a walk, almost oblivious to the predators nearby, making the puller’s job that much easier to take them down. He glanced over and saw the foxes being easily gathered up by Faerie and her golems, and the few that were out of his reach didn’t have a chance to escape from Cassia’s magical wrath.

Perfect.

The male raced ahead, taking down the larger prey with ease. Sure he liked a challenge as much as Cassia did, but when the prey practically leaped into his paws and guaranteed a good haul, well, he wouldn’t be able to say no to that. This meat would feed the town and the army for quite some time. The snow and magical talents such as Cassia’s would make sure it wouldn’t go to waste, so there was no reason not to go all out sometimes.

***

Warrick often did little tricks like this to bother Cassia. Teasing her, or sometimes punishment for her mouthy attitude or some other reason. Her fangs and claws easily took down a few caribou, and she was glad she had the foresight to remember a sled this time. She may have crunched down on a few a bit too hard out of anger, bones snapping more than a little excessively, well past the point where they were dead. 

While the larger beasts went down with ease, she noticed that Faerie had nearly taken down all of the foxes. They too seemed complacent, and she grumbled at Warrick’s magic at work.

A few though, seemed to escape his skills, and Cassia swiftly summoned her ice, sending little spears of icicles across the land to impale those that got away. The golems of the plastel runner quickly got to work, gathering up the foxes that had attempted to run.

The runner clearly had things under control, so Cassia took the time to gather up the caribou she and Warrick had managed to nab, while he went back for the sled. Faerie and her golems dragged the warren of foxes over to her pile, just in time for Warrick to dump a sled full of snow over the female runner. 

He didn’t have to say anything, mentally or audibly, and she knew it was retaliation for her impatience. She sighed and started loading up the sled, ignoring the giggles from the runner. She’d get him back next time.

-End-

Hunt for Cassia 11637 | Warrick 10084 | Faerie 12614

Continent: Roenden

Prey: Caribou & Arctic Fox