Post by Amanita Vernia on Feb 22, 2005 5:23:02 GMT -5
The Death of the Jungle Panther
THE HUNT --- The dense jungle canopy hanging over their heads allowed just enough light from the three moons to see in a ten foot radius, torches would only scare the prey, so only during the brightest night did the Taluna hunt their nemesis, the panther. Faces painted with dyed mud, their hair woven into small braids and pulled back, dressed in pelts and animal skins from other hunts, each of them holding their weapon of choice -- spears, clubs, sleen knife, the short bow. Andraste clung tightly to her panga, using it to cut through whatever obstacle came before them. They split apart at the stream, keeping together in pairs, covering more ground. The sound of a twig snapping ahead brought her to a halt, lowering into a crouch as she focused on the darkness, trying to make out what creature was ahead. Her hand lifted with a silent signal to her sister to ready her arrow, in case.
Raika had her arrow nocked before she even saw the signal, her own dark eyes staring into the darkness before them. The quiver was strapped to a bare, bronzed-gold thigh with thick hides, buckles of tortoise shell drawn tight. A handful of thick braids spilled down her narrow back, banded in leather and for once without their usual malachite and bronze beads- they were far too noisy for this kind of work. She slipped to the side without a word, the slender frame of the woman half-disappearing into the shadow of a looming tree, keeping Andraste in view even as she shifted lightly. Thick bands of black tiger-striped her face below her large eyes, with more green-gold stripes sliding down her back and the long lines of her thighs and calves. The hunting paint covered more than her actual clothes did, the dark striping running down her bare back and the sleek line of her belly as well, compared to the simple hide halter and dark cotton loin clothe. The almost knee-high boots of tharlarlion leather were broken in and soundless, making her movements eerily quiet as she slowly drew the arrow back, keeping it at light tension even as she glanced over the area, braids spilling against each other and tumbling down her spine in a riot of black silk. The panthers were tricky beasts, fully capable of circling around their hunters - as many of them had learned before.
While Raika slide into place with her arrow notched so a simple pluck at the string would deliver it into the hide of their feline friend. Andraste would act as the bait. She stayed alert, letting her ears search out what her eyes could not find. Her heart was beating faster as she heard another snap... more to the left this time. Her head turned to track the movements as she stayed close to the ground, ready to lunge in either direction. She pulled from her thigh the sleen knife, held in her weaker hand, in her fist, ready to stab at the beast if it attacked. A third snap coming from the right. Could there be two? Or was the animal just playing with them like urts. Waiting to bat them around before it tore into the midnight snack. Andrasta could taste the sweat dripping off her upper lip, the salt making her lips tingle. She inhaled slowly, keeping her breath soft, then inching forward with two more steps. Her own blond braids barely reached her shoulders, bangs feathered across her forehead, clinging to her sun kissed skin by beads of sweat. Silence made the moment all the more alarming, no other creatures giving themselves up as a sacrifice to the panther, it was between the humans and the beast. Even the wind had hushed for this momentous occasion.
Raika didn't move from her position, merely drawing the bow back a bit more as she watched the blonde girl advance. She was pure tension in that moment, eyes narrowed while she listened to the silence of the jungle around them with the ingrained reactions of a predator. A light sheen of sweat glistened on her own skin, the color of polished bronze, as she lifted the bow to track the movements of the other girl and the prey, nostrils flaring as if to catch the scent. There might very well be two of them out there, though that would have met they'd have caught either a mating pair, or interrupted a pair of males in the middle of settling a dispute over territory. She crept forward, keeping her bow half-drawn as she padded on the soles of her boots across the wet jungle floor, feeling the silence in the air around them. She never broke the hunting distance between her and the blonde, the fluid distance that made sure that the prey couldn't get both of them without one getting a good hit in. Though a pair made it much more dangerous. She rolled her bare shoulders, nostrils flaring as she slowly straightened up from the bush, standing to her full height among the ferns and peering in the twilight cast by the full glow of the three moons through the thick canopy above. She'd need to see the beasts coming to make a true shot. And prevent the blonde from becoming prey.
In those few moments of silence an eternity flashed by in thoughts and at the same time her mind was still, focused on the hunt. She couldn't let emotion come into play, though instinct was turned to full blast, her stomach tightly knotted as she swallowed another few feet in distance. Each step closing in on their adversary. She didn't need to turn back to know that Raika was right there behind her, this was not their first hunt, though one false step and it could become either one of their last. The muscles of her thighs began to burn as she remained half crouched down in a position ready to pounce, the larger blade still held steady in front of her. A sound finally broke through that barrier of silence, but it wasn't a beast's growl, instead the squeal of a frightened tarsk fleeing. It only took a second before the creature that scared it to come into view, and a split second before it was about to pounce on top of an even larger meal, Andraste. The sudden catapult of the jungle panther coming out of the darkness left her with no chance of running. She lifted her right arm, the blade in it used to guard while the left reached out to stab. Raika had one chance, a single arrow, to make an impact and slow the beast.
She was moving the moment she saw the darker shadow of the panther in the night, lifting the bow and pulling the arrow back even as it began its leap onto the blonde woman. For a moment, time seemed to pause, her eye sighting along the arrow even as the horn-bow creaked and the sinew thrummed with tension. She waited until it had begun its leap before letting go, hand dropping to the quiver at her thigh without pause to pull another gold & green fletched arrow from the leather case even as the first arrow slammed into the throat of the panther. At the short range she had fired from the wide-bladed head punched through the soft fur of its throat with an audible crunch, burying itself up to the fletching and nearly coming out the other side. The bright green bird feathers stood out above its collarbone as it continued the leap, though it was already dying. The weight of the beast slammed into the blonde, carrying her to the jungle floor even as it spasmed in its death-throws. It tried to hiss and growl, the sounds coming instead as airless grunts while blood poured into its lungs. It was dying, but the predators were still dangerous, eager to drag the unwary down with them into death.
Had the arrow missed it's target, Andraste would of been torn to shreds even if she got a chance to stab at the pouncing predator. Even half dead the weight of the animal slammed her on her back knocking the wind out of her. Sleen knife stretched out to catch the underside of the belly, but a last effort to take the blonde woman along was felt against her thigh when the panther's claws made contact. Crying out in agony along with the growling beast, sending an alert to the others in their band that something had gone wrong. They turned on their own tracks and ran towards the sounds. Andraste rolled out of the way, but she wasn't able to stand on her own, only crawl the rest of the way until she was out of range. Her blades were gone now, the sleen knife left in the gut of the animal as it bled out on the jungle floor. The blonde felt her own blood coating her thigh, using her hand to give pressure to the wound and cursing herself out for letting the animal take a piece out of her.
THE HUNT --- The dense jungle canopy hanging over their heads allowed just enough light from the three moons to see in a ten foot radius, torches would only scare the prey, so only during the brightest night did the Taluna hunt their nemesis, the panther. Faces painted with dyed mud, their hair woven into small braids and pulled back, dressed in pelts and animal skins from other hunts, each of them holding their weapon of choice -- spears, clubs, sleen knife, the short bow. Andraste clung tightly to her panga, using it to cut through whatever obstacle came before them. They split apart at the stream, keeping together in pairs, covering more ground. The sound of a twig snapping ahead brought her to a halt, lowering into a crouch as she focused on the darkness, trying to make out what creature was ahead. Her hand lifted with a silent signal to her sister to ready her arrow, in case.
Raika had her arrow nocked before she even saw the signal, her own dark eyes staring into the darkness before them. The quiver was strapped to a bare, bronzed-gold thigh with thick hides, buckles of tortoise shell drawn tight. A handful of thick braids spilled down her narrow back, banded in leather and for once without their usual malachite and bronze beads- they were far too noisy for this kind of work. She slipped to the side without a word, the slender frame of the woman half-disappearing into the shadow of a looming tree, keeping Andraste in view even as she shifted lightly. Thick bands of black tiger-striped her face below her large eyes, with more green-gold stripes sliding down her back and the long lines of her thighs and calves. The hunting paint covered more than her actual clothes did, the dark striping running down her bare back and the sleek line of her belly as well, compared to the simple hide halter and dark cotton loin clothe. The almost knee-high boots of tharlarlion leather were broken in and soundless, making her movements eerily quiet as she slowly drew the arrow back, keeping it at light tension even as she glanced over the area, braids spilling against each other and tumbling down her spine in a riot of black silk. The panthers were tricky beasts, fully capable of circling around their hunters - as many of them had learned before.
While Raika slide into place with her arrow notched so a simple pluck at the string would deliver it into the hide of their feline friend. Andraste would act as the bait. She stayed alert, letting her ears search out what her eyes could not find. Her heart was beating faster as she heard another snap... more to the left this time. Her head turned to track the movements as she stayed close to the ground, ready to lunge in either direction. She pulled from her thigh the sleen knife, held in her weaker hand, in her fist, ready to stab at the beast if it attacked. A third snap coming from the right. Could there be two? Or was the animal just playing with them like urts. Waiting to bat them around before it tore into the midnight snack. Andrasta could taste the sweat dripping off her upper lip, the salt making her lips tingle. She inhaled slowly, keeping her breath soft, then inching forward with two more steps. Her own blond braids barely reached her shoulders, bangs feathered across her forehead, clinging to her sun kissed skin by beads of sweat. Silence made the moment all the more alarming, no other creatures giving themselves up as a sacrifice to the panther, it was between the humans and the beast. Even the wind had hushed for this momentous occasion.
Raika didn't move from her position, merely drawing the bow back a bit more as she watched the blonde girl advance. She was pure tension in that moment, eyes narrowed while she listened to the silence of the jungle around them with the ingrained reactions of a predator. A light sheen of sweat glistened on her own skin, the color of polished bronze, as she lifted the bow to track the movements of the other girl and the prey, nostrils flaring as if to catch the scent. There might very well be two of them out there, though that would have met they'd have caught either a mating pair, or interrupted a pair of males in the middle of settling a dispute over territory. She crept forward, keeping her bow half-drawn as she padded on the soles of her boots across the wet jungle floor, feeling the silence in the air around them. She never broke the hunting distance between her and the blonde, the fluid distance that made sure that the prey couldn't get both of them without one getting a good hit in. Though a pair made it much more dangerous. She rolled her bare shoulders, nostrils flaring as she slowly straightened up from the bush, standing to her full height among the ferns and peering in the twilight cast by the full glow of the three moons through the thick canopy above. She'd need to see the beasts coming to make a true shot. And prevent the blonde from becoming prey.
In those few moments of silence an eternity flashed by in thoughts and at the same time her mind was still, focused on the hunt. She couldn't let emotion come into play, though instinct was turned to full blast, her stomach tightly knotted as she swallowed another few feet in distance. Each step closing in on their adversary. She didn't need to turn back to know that Raika was right there behind her, this was not their first hunt, though one false step and it could become either one of their last. The muscles of her thighs began to burn as she remained half crouched down in a position ready to pounce, the larger blade still held steady in front of her. A sound finally broke through that barrier of silence, but it wasn't a beast's growl, instead the squeal of a frightened tarsk fleeing. It only took a second before the creature that scared it to come into view, and a split second before it was about to pounce on top of an even larger meal, Andraste. The sudden catapult of the jungle panther coming out of the darkness left her with no chance of running. She lifted her right arm, the blade in it used to guard while the left reached out to stab. Raika had one chance, a single arrow, to make an impact and slow the beast.
She was moving the moment she saw the darker shadow of the panther in the night, lifting the bow and pulling the arrow back even as it began its leap onto the blonde woman. For a moment, time seemed to pause, her eye sighting along the arrow even as the horn-bow creaked and the sinew thrummed with tension. She waited until it had begun its leap before letting go, hand dropping to the quiver at her thigh without pause to pull another gold & green fletched arrow from the leather case even as the first arrow slammed into the throat of the panther. At the short range she had fired from the wide-bladed head punched through the soft fur of its throat with an audible crunch, burying itself up to the fletching and nearly coming out the other side. The bright green bird feathers stood out above its collarbone as it continued the leap, though it was already dying. The weight of the beast slammed into the blonde, carrying her to the jungle floor even as it spasmed in its death-throws. It tried to hiss and growl, the sounds coming instead as airless grunts while blood poured into its lungs. It was dying, but the predators were still dangerous, eager to drag the unwary down with them into death.
Had the arrow missed it's target, Andraste would of been torn to shreds even if she got a chance to stab at the pouncing predator. Even half dead the weight of the animal slammed her on her back knocking the wind out of her. Sleen knife stretched out to catch the underside of the belly, but a last effort to take the blonde woman along was felt against her thigh when the panther's claws made contact. Crying out in agony along with the growling beast, sending an alert to the others in their band that something had gone wrong. They turned on their own tracks and ran towards the sounds. Andraste rolled out of the way, but she wasn't able to stand on her own, only crawl the rest of the way until she was out of range. Her blades were gone now, the sleen knife left in the gut of the animal as it bled out on the jungle floor. The blonde felt her own blood coating her thigh, using her hand to give pressure to the wound and cursing herself out for letting the animal take a piece out of her.
