Solitary Hunt [open]

[thewolfdaughter.livejournal.com]

San's shoulder was not healed. But pain was relative, and if she'd been at home, in her forest, then this would be nothing next to the pit in her stomach. It was more important to stay sharp, to hunt this simulation of the Wilds instead of laying on her back and feeling her stomach burn with shame or guilt.

...or follow Ashitaka around.

She should know better than that, really. Ashitaka was the kind of human who made friends with everyone— it was enough to make her doubt he even was human. He didn't need her babysitting any more than she enjoyed trailing him like a lost pup. Laying in the plant temple was at least as rankling.

So, here she was, in a simulated forest, tracking a solitary deer through countless miles of wandering forest. The tree's rots snarled and knotted the ground like angry fingers twisted 'round a fistful of sand, they made tracking both easier and more difficult and walking treacherous. It was a good night, cool without being cold and breezy enough to mask the sounds of soft-padded feet on soil and root. The rotted leaves were soft, slipping under her stance like slimy tongues. She felt comfortable this way, the slow, patient, meditative crawl, tracking deer by spoor and foot-trail, eventually by sound and smell until you stood poised over them on a branch or a hill. The final run, hot blood against her hands and then a feast of copper-smell and salty-sweet meat. The simulation of her lost spear was light in her hand.

It was early yet, and San had yet to gain anything like that stalking closeness with her prey, but the deer was out there, and she would find it, very soon.

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[thewolfdaughter.livejournal.com]

A successful hunt was a thing born of a hundred failures. One did not simply take every leap that presented itself, or soon there'd be nothing to leap at and you'd go hungry regardless. You had to pay attention, focus, watch, predict and—

What was that?

San had drawn near her herd, approaching them from the leeward side, moving with care when they bent to eat, and holding herself in trembling stillness when their heads came up again, scanning the underbrush for a presence they sensed but could not find well enough yet to fear.

But something was...subtly wrong, and San waited through her next opportunity to move when she saw it. Him. What did he want?

But no, she wouldn't give up on this. It had taken her too long on this stalk already. She wasn't leaving until she had the taste of venison in her teeth.

[governorkang]

...ah, so this was a hunt. Kang was careful to stay upwind of the deer, and held still, watching them from the underbrush. He could sense someone else watching them, and immediately picked out the best spots other than his own for someone to come at the deer; he saw her right as she saw him.

It was the girl who'd broken in to the tavern and tried to attack him. He'd wanted to talk to her about what had happened, but he figured it could wait until after she'd finished her hunt; hell, why not help her, even if the food was fake? It'd taste real enough. Acknowledging her with a nod, he pointed at the herd and silently drew his dagger from his belt, waiting for her signal. She was the more experienced one here.