The Rain of Arrows

[The Archer]

((OOC: Closed to Vortimo))

I'm really glad I look ferocious, thought Seth as he stepped from the boat into Radasanth. He had just come from Salvar, where he had been chased from his hometown for having...turned....like this.

It means that no one bothers me.

He sighed, running a hand over his head, making his long ears flop back as he did so. He was a magnificent sight...Just over six feet tall and of a slender but solid build, the lycanthrope was one of the few brave enough to walk among man. Of course...he was new to being a lycan, and had yet to discover how brutal man could be. Thick black hair covered much of him, enough that he felt a shirt to be mostly pointless and wore pants only for modesty's sake, although it made an uncomfortable point right where his tail connected to his butt.

His ears swiveled around as he heard a rumbling coming from above. It's going to rain, and then I'm going to smell like wet dog. Might as well try to find somewhere to weather the storm...Radasanth DOES have the Citadel, and that will be open. I need to see what this body can do for me, now that it's stopped being so damn achy.

He stretched out, cracking his spine and feeling the bowstring tighten across his chest. He sighed once more, one of annoyance, and then headed off to the unmistakable sight of the Citadel -- a big ziggurat towering over the city.

The storm broke just before he made it into the building, and he hurried inside, shaking off irritably. Just slow enough.

Sighing, he looked around...there was only one door available, and so it seemed that was the one he would go into, and without other option (save back into the rain), he did.

Before him was a vast expanse of land with plenty of cover...perfect for him. It meant he could hide and shoot...or someone else could hide while he shot.

Seth let a low growl escape his chest...playfully. He could view this form as a curse or a gift...and he wanted to try taking the OTHER perspective from everyone else, at least for a while.

I suppose I'll just have to wait for my opponent to reveal himself, or herself...and keep alert.

The were-fox walked around the arena, taking in the details...this was amazing! Trees, bushes, logs...almost like a real forest...and the grass felt wonderfully soft under his paws.

It even smells the same.

He let his ears swivel around constantly...best to be on guard in case of predators.

[Vortimo]

Getting away from Faolan was prime in Kris Vortimo's book. The Draconian friend had been nothing but protective since they'd set foot on this piece of earth known as Corone. She wasn't a child anymore, and she didn't need him. So it was within the Radasanthian bazaar that she lost him, leaving the tall male looking around in confusion as she slid between the throng of maidens and crones that had come for whatever they needed to maintain their houses. Walking alone, she took in the sights of the big city, so different than the Dheathain swamp she'd come from. Rising from the muck, she found civilization.

She was horribly dissappointed.

The buildings of Corone seemed squat compared to the treetop villages she'd grown to love, the dry air chapping her lips. The people were uninteresting and ugly. Where were their scales? The wings? Claws? Instead, these fleshy things were just like she and her family. She'd lived with her family her whole life and while she had nothing but love for them, she was looking to find amazing things. Where was this diverse world that her father was always talking about?

And then, cresting a hill where a few taverns and an empty lot stood, she saw it. Rising above all the other silhouettes of the city like a bowed and noble giant, lay the Citadel. As she ascended the steps of the great ziggurat, she was ushered down a hallway by several robed figures. The monks said nothing, casting a few casual glances at the bow that lay against her back. She assumed they were admiring the iron bracing around the oaken bow, in an elegant design of her father's doing. When they led her to a door and she stepped through, however, confusion erased all assumptions.

Where there had been stone hallways lined with torches, now sat a forest. She stepped forward, pulling her bow from her back, but not bothering with her quiver just yet, she looked around in amazement. Sunlight filtered through emerald leaves. In the distance, she could hear the sweet song of birds, the babble of running water and the offerings of bullfrogs. Their croaks were answered with the splash of fish. The air was filled with the smell of rain, almost as if it had come with them into the arena. From what she saw of the sky, however, there were only a few clouds. Perhaps rain would come to this place, perhaps it had passed.

She stepped forward again, around a tree, and found exactly what she had been looking for.

"Hello," she cooed, a smile flitting along her lips. "What do we have here?"

[The Archer]

Someone had come...a female human. Seth was behind a tree and out of sight...but he could smell her...and she smelled good. Good enough to eat. Good enough to hunt.

No, he told himself. This virus did not turn me into an animal. A sly grin spread across his features, lighting up his eyes -- one beautifully green and one pitch black.

There's no harm in making her think I am, though.

Still hidden, he took his bow from off his chest and an arrow from the quiver at his hip, gently nocking it in a well-practiced motion. The arrow rested on the string and between his fingers, but he was not gripping it, and he had not drawn it yet.

Although he knew it was more common to WOLVES than foxes, Seth couldn't help it. He didn't mean the girl any REAL harm...but he wanted to give her a good scare first, and he knew he was capable of this particular sound.

Drawing a deep breath, Seth let a howl sound out from the very bottom of his belly, letting the note start low and ominous and travel upward to mimic the pitch of the winds howling through the mountains.

Let us see how she reacts to that, he thought, a sly grin playing across his caninoid features.

[Vortimo]

Kris cocked her head at the sound, letting her curls tumble down one shoulder and over her quiver. The mournful cry filled the air, filtering up to the sunlit canopy above. She wondered why whatever beast lay ahead sounded so sad. She thought for a moment of a wounded beast, laying in the path and bleeding. Concern etched itself on her face for the animal and she stepped forward, cautious.

It was several moments after the echo had died around the forest that she stepped beyond the tree where the man was hidden. She was puzzled, because she could have sworn that the noise was coming from here. Her gaze swept around, up, and even down to the ground. In this unfamiliar terrain, however, she could make no tracks out on the ground. The grass was broken, here and there, but the patches were random, unlike any footprints she'd ever seen. For a moment, she wished she'd brought Faolan with her. The hair on the back of her neck was standing at attention.

As the uneasy feeling within her grew, she reached back, trying to grop through tresses at an arrow. Failing, she backed up against a tree and lifted both her chin and voice in fearless command.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" she called in the thick amalgation of Salvaric and Dheathain accent she had. "I know I'm not standing alone."

[The Archer]

This was too easy. the point of the Citadel was combat...he could shoot her now and win easily. It would be just like felling a deer. But what was the fun of that? I mean, it doesn't hurt that she's cute, but prey deserves a sporting chance. Or at least a chance to run.

The fur on the back of Seth's neck stood on end as he began anticipating the thrill of the chase -- it had excited him as a man, and now that he was half beast, it excited him that much more.

Be good prey, my pretty. It amused him how he could almost smell the fear on her -- she knew she was being hunted, even if she could not see the predator. Best of all...she was practically right beside him.

He kept his grip on his bow, just in case the woman had more bite to her than it appeared, and then took a step to his side, keeping himself against the tree.

"Of course you aren't standing here alone, my dear," he whispered, pushing his nose a little closer. "Who would waste so lovely a day amidst the drab bleakness of the city. My only hope is that you prove to be as good an outdoorswoman as you appear."

[Vortimo]

Kris turned her head fast, stepping away from the tree as she came face to face with her watcher. Her brow flew upwards, her jaw dropping against her will. Beyond the exotic scenery that surrounded them, this was something much more. Faced with this strange beast, she felt her fear subside, and she cocked her head to get a better look at him. His eyes were the most amazing things she'd ever seen, and she grinned like a child as he spoke. His words were puzzling, but she'd seek out their meaning soon enough. For now, she just needed to conquer her temptation of reaching out and petting him.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, her fingers fidgeting as she looked downwards, taking in the rest of him. His feet intrigued her as well - how she'd like to tie him down and satisfy her curiousity!

Her eyes caught sight of his arrow, nocked on the string. He could pull and shoot now and she'd be dead, and she wondered now why he'd been hiding from her. Her face pulled into a more serious expression, and she stepped back again, cursing her curls as she fumbled for an arrow on her back.

[The Archer]

"You know," he rumbled, enjoying the deep chest that came with his half form, "your arrows don't get caught in your hair if you wear the quiver at your hip."

He stepped forward, circling her, letting his tail swish back and forth slowly. "Then again...if you had your hair up, it wouldn't be a problem, either."

He stepped in closer, gently nudging her face with his cold wet nose. She does smell good. Wonder what sort of vixen she'd -- NO.

He started walking away from her, circling back the way he'd come. "Surely you come from somewhere that is not this city. You, my girl, are dressed for the forest...I know a hunter when I see one."

He looked her up and down, noting her costume -- it was what marked her as an outdoorswoman or even a huntress. And she was pretty, dark brown hair overlapped by a rich blonde, and thick curls fell down shoulders.

Seth stepped over a stray stick so that it wouldn't snap, and finally turned to face this particular challenger. "But you made it to the city of Radasanth...into the Citadel itself. It would appear you come to fight, huntress...but I am a hunter myself. Should we make this battle a competition of hunters? Or would you rather be prey?"

He grinned, non-existent lips pulling back to expose shining sharp teeth. "In five minutes, the hunt begins."

[Vortimo]

"I like my quiver right where it is," she growled as her eyes met the fox-man's and stayed there. She was starting to understand what had come to pass. She had heard whispers of a Temple of Bloodshed that lay within the human's city. It was a place where warriors went to prove themselves, where people died and were reborn every day. She hadn't liked it when she had heard of it, and now she knew she hated this place. She was appalled at the man's words, disgusted at the wetness that stayed on her cheek when he nuzzled her. Somehow this exoticism wasn't turning out to be as delightful as she had first thought.

"I don't hunt for sport," she said icily after he announced the timeframe. Glaring at him, she moved from where she'd stood and began to make her way through the trees whence she came. One problem, however, overtook her. The door she'd entered from was gone. Only an expanse of forest went before her, the trail zagging to the left and branching out in three directions where it should have ended at the stone doorway. She inhaled, trying to keep from growling in frustration and turned back. Just through the trees, she could see the form of the archer she'd just tried to walk away from.

"But, thinking about it," she said, both frustration and a wicked sin filling her voice "I am going to Salvar soon. I could use a fur coat." She flicked her head to the side, her hair following and slapping against her cheek as the strands freed their grasp from the arrows. She pulled one and began to backpedal, deviating from the trails as she called out one last time. "Five minutes? We'll see if you hunt as well as you say, beast!"

With that, she turned and ran, stepping with more noise than the fox had done, but she had a plan. Running water covered scent and tracks, and she was sure she could find a tree to scale once she was in the water. A branch hanging low, surely. Her face set with determination, she continued to run, nocking her arrow as she did, splashing into a shallow stream when she found it.

All she needed now was to get to a tree.

[The Archer]

Seth spent the next five minutes playing idly with his bow. For the first part of this hunt, she had made herself the prey. That was interesting...and made the fox more than a little worried. If he couldn't find her and she spotted him, he was sure it would be the end of him.

No use thinking like that, man. After all...girls are into hunters who know their stuff. And is there a better hunter in the world?

The big tail waved back and forth as another grin spread across the canine face. "Definitely not."

He spun around abruptly, noting a leaf falling from one of the trees. He drew his arrow back, feeling the thrill as the wood creaked softly in his hands, and relishing the whistling noise his iron-tipped arrow made as it sped toward its mark, and even more in the thunk as it sank into the tree. He grinned as he saw the leaf pinned around the arrow's shaft.

"Yep. I've still got it."

Retrieving the arrow, he checked it for damage and then nocked it again. She went this way.

She'd had enough of a head start that he could afford to travel quickly, and he ran easily along the path, paws molding to the shape of the land to cushion sound.

After a minute, he could hear running water up ahead, and she had gone that way. Vixen. He grinned.

When he came to the stream, he lingered behind the tree line, sniffing around.

Now came the hard part. He couldn't detect scent on water, and would she have gone up stream...or down?

[Vortimo]

Kris had in fact gone downstream. Letting the current move her feet more quickly, she ran until she found just the branch she had been looking for. She jumped, pulling herself onto it and began to make her way carefully towards the trunk. Just don't you break, branch, she thought to herself as she slithered to higher reaches and sat in a natural cradle near the top. She took a couple of deep breaths and tried to calm her labored breathing. Sweat was pouring from her and she cursed the breeze that rattled the leaves and took her scent to who knows where.

She touched her cheek where the fox-man's nose had caressed it, frowning. She was sure he had been smelling her, and now that he had hold of her scent, it would be easier for him to find her. She at least had cover and a good vantage point, she decided.

Readying her arrow, she felt her grip around the shaft tighten, ready to use it to pull back the string. Her eyes searched the ground below her, the way the shadows moved as the branches danced in the wind. The way they dappled the ground was disturbing, and she was afraid for a moment that he might be camoflauged much better than she was down in the shadows. Leaning back tighter against the trunk, she shifted, hearing the branches rustle.

That's not good... she grumbled under her breath. If she couldn't move, she wasn't going to get a complete view around the base of her hideaway. While she waited, her eyes began to search for a more profitable vantage point.

[The Archer]

Tricky vixen.

Seth growled, frustrated. If he wanted any chance of finding the girl, he would have to go into the stream. But for all he knew, she could be waiting for him to break cover...and he would be a very big, very easy target out there like that.

And if she put an arrow in just the right spot...I'm not getting up again, this fight.

He turned, taking a few steps back the way he came, but then he turned back again. He took a single step out of cover, but returned to the safety of the brush immediately. He circled a little, sniffing around.

I can't smell her...

Sighing, the were-fox finally broke cover and ventured out into the shallow water, paws spreading out to find the best places to stand. It didn't move terribly fast, this stream -- something in his favor, since it meant the water couldn't move large rocks. This stream bed was mud, and therein had been the girl's mistake.

Any tracker could find tracks in mud, and the girl had been running, leaving the footprints that much deeper. The hunter followed them a little way, then crossed the stream, keeping his eyes on the water. there were no footprints here, which meant she hadn't doubled back, more than likely...but where...?

Seth stood to his full height, searching down the banks for anything that might be appealing to someone who didn't want to set her feet on the ground.

There. He could see the branch -- low-hanging and thick. Re-entering the woods, the lycan fox started jogging, slowing as he neared the tree.

Where is she...I know she's nearby. The breeze brought him little wafts of her scent, but it was hard to place her exact location.

But there aren't too many places that could hold a creature over a hundred pounds in weight...not that are also hard to see. It may also be more difficult for her to move from such a place...so let us encourage her to reveal herself.

Seth nocked an arrow, not pulling it quite yet.

"I can smell you, Huntress. Come now, let the games begin."

He tensed up, having announced his location, listening for the creak of a bow or the twang of a string -- or, better still, a big rustling noise. His paws spread out to make him lighter on his feet, and he waited. Waited for that unknown signal that he hoped wouldn't bring on an early death for him this match.