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Northern Alpines, Autumn Event

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Hunter Skill Event: Prompt

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You notice the strange clouds in the sky above. It seems unusual, for despite the sun ... the clouds are thick and dark, reaching with fettered tendrils down toward the earth below. They smell of rain and ... deer? You stare forward, squinting your eyes and watching as the clouds slowly lower to touch the surface of the earth. And from the mist, you seem them appear: a strange herd of dark blue stags. They stand before you, but seem unaware of your presence so far. Your belly growls, and you feel suddenly inspired to start a hunt. Chances are the prize will not just be a full belly ...

What will you do?

Curious. Fascinating, truly. The ghost remained still, her icy gaze sweeping across the newly appeared herd. Where had they come from? What were they? Was this some kind of sign? Should she test her luck, dive in and snatch a bite? The thought alone was invigorating, and with a swift decision she crouched low. She didn’t know what they were capable of, so caution was needed. But she also needed answers.

Silently, she crept closer, eyes devouring the forms of the dark blue stags. Testing the wind, she drew in their scent. They smelled like deer, a promise of a good meal. Yet their appearance was something else entirely: strange, stunning, otherworldly. She slowly ran her tongue across her teeth as she slinked nearer. Probably not the wisest idea. But how else was she going to learn the truth?

skill: hunter

It is a bright sky, yet the clouds which loomed were dark. Like fingers stretching and reaching down to the earth like a great smog, when it touches the ground out from the mist appears a herd of deer. Dark blue deer, seemingly unaware of the wolves which gather to linger in awe. A feeling in her gut, nearly compelling her forward to hunt and yet, an omen was clear. Surely, nothing good to become of blue deer.

skill: hunter

Quick, soft steps made silent trail the shadow which was his large, elder half-sister. Head low as the hunter prowled forward. These lands were magical ones, he was slowly becoming aware, yet the magics seemed dark and foreboding. Twisted with trickery. Such delights which caused a smirk from the Nightshadow wolf.

Ice Raven is mighty clever. As the pair drew nearer, he studied the herds movements. What would happen if they hunted them? Would the deer end up hunting them? Would they disappeared into the fog of cloud if touched? Yaalk'ali was curious what scheme was manifesting here.

skill: hunter

The ginger and snow wolf moved swiftly. The smell of deer on the horizon, along with rain and the promise of storms to come. Though what type of storm would befall the lands had yet to be determined, for the bright skies yet dark clouds moving in streaks across the sky was one which both curiosity and worry into the mind of the valkyrie.

Ahead, wolves gathered, likely so compelled to hunt in the same manner as she. The woman's movements stop short at the sight of the deer, dark, colored like coal - no, colored blue like deep ocean waters. The woman does not pursue further, instead stopping to examine from afar. Surely, they were some sort of plague too.

Skill: Hunter

Ever since Sølvi's disappearance, he had not been the same. It was hard enough coming to terms with having murdered his own grandfather - justified though it may have been - but without her, without the sun, without the light she shed, there wasn't any meaning to the world at all.

There was no plan - no purpose - but he watched as the skies grew heavy.

And then the clouds inexplicably plunged toward earth.

He moved with a terrible urgency, as though his own limbs were too slow to carry him forward. The others felt it - the heat, the fury - like a wrathful storm forcing its way through the small gathering of strangers. Alder did not look at them, did not speak to them, carving out his own space as he shoved brusquely past anyone unlucky enough to impede his progress; his shoulders were great battering rams, his gaze smoldering embers, and all the while a hot fire burned in his chest.

Farther ahead, beneath a cluster of scattered trees where dark clouds finished their descent with eerie purpose, he watched in rapt attention as the herd of strange blue deer slowly materialized out from the fog.

It was easy, so easy to regress into who he had been before She.

Fuck the Plague. Fuck this weird blue herd.

He wondered if they were blue on the inside, too -

- and ran forward with fangs bared to find out.

Skill: Hunter

The sky had always fascinated her. It was a thing so vast, so varied, so tumultuous, she often wondered what lay beyond the blue; she could only imagine just what those shimmering stars were that twinkled overhead in the darkness (for being a very regular wolf, she had no concept of space), and it was a point of great interest watching the formation of heavy thunderclouds before a storm.

And so it was with even greater interest she watched them come together, and then slowly fall toward the ground.

What on earth... she whispered to herself, trotting toward the descending clouds. Aurelia had never seen anything like it.

A small circle of wolves were scattered loosely nearby. Apparently she wasn't the only one who'd glimpsed the strange phenomenon from a distance, but what were they looking at?

Oh.

At first she thought something was wrong with her eyes, and she blinked several times to try and clear whatever was obstructing her vision - but the herd of deer remained a very peculiar shade of blue, and Aurelia realized the gathering was likely a small hunting party. Curiosity consumed her; she padded toward the gathering with silent intent to join.

Suddenly, an enormous red figure thrust its way through the group, roughly shouldering Aurelia aside. Hey! she barked sharply. What is wrong with -

By the time she recognized Alder, he had already taken off at a dead sprint heading straight for the herd.

Grief, she thought, was a terrible monster.

skill: hunter

Vidarr was confused. He couldn't find Hilde, and it had been looking for her that had brought him from Dawnbreak's borders. He hoped that nothing had happened to her between the chaos of the world - he did not think she had merely gotten lost, she was a capable woman on her own without need of being watched like a pup. The dark clouds heralded another storm, and Vidarr felt his anxiety grow. Rain would take away any potential traces of his beloved, and then he would be even further from finding her.

The sudden pitch of the clouds made him stop in his tracks. He could see others closer than he was, and then he was moving again once he'd found his feet. He saw another run in, looking like he was a blur of orange. It was fortuitous that he was so much further away, the way the redhead was ramming his way through anyone unfortunate enough to be in his way. If he'd hit Vidarr's scarred shoulder, he might have found himself retaliating. That was when he spotted Aurelia and the way that she had been shoved aside. Immediately, he growled and picked up the speed so that he could try and muscle his way between Alder and Aurelia, though it didn't seem like Alder was after Lia specifically. Still, after losing her parents repeatedly, since Tiberius hadn't thought any of them worthy enough to visit again, Vidarr found himself even more protective of the Shaki-Vaes children.

He nosed at Aurelia's shoulder gently to check on her, but his vision had already moved to the herd. An angry puff of air snorted through his nose, finding the focus moving past a perceived threat and to the strange deer before them. Never seen such a thing, Vidarr admitted. He was curious, though, and the intention felt instinctive seeing so many of them and so many of the deer to track.

What a strange hunt before them.

skill: hunter

The boy, though hardly a boy anymore, was tracking the dark clouds above them. He hadn't realized that Aurelia was there until he spotted her and Vidarr. He chuffed his greeting to them, only catching what Vidarr had said. Never. It was an agreement, and Isaiah swung his head towards the deer. I...hmm......shall we? Isaiah didn't wait for either of his packmates to respond, instead, he took off.

It was a rare moment of excitement and joy coalescing into the hunt. He didn't typically hunt with anyone else so no one else saw him as he was - he enjoyed himself. Genuinely. It meant he could do something for his family, and providing food for them had been embedded in his brain since Olive had died. This was good. This was fulfilling a promise he'd made to his mother that he would take care of his siblings.

Skill — Hunter

Caan had seen the decline of those dark clouds with the smothering, purple snow on the horizon. It should have brought comfort, but a new phenomenon cloaked the skies. In dark shapes the clouds moved downward like grasping vines. Despite the flutter in his heart, he is drawn forward.

Caan finds that he is not alone, as many others have drawn near to investigate. Amongst the strangers Caan spies his aunt and uncle. The boy joined them, grunted softly as Yaalk'ali made mention of Ice Raven.

A herd of blue deer stand where the clouds touch the earth. If they were conjured by the trickster, would hunting them be a test of skill or ill omen? His body ached for the thrill, and his stomach did its best to persuade him onward. As the boy pondered, a red flash barrels towards the herd. A grey shadow in hot pursuit.

Caan steals a few steps forward before looking back to his kin. His wish to join evident in his eyes.