What Big Teeth You Have (Tag: Vowel Owl)

[Tande]

Karin had spent much of her time walking today - following along the trades of a deer.  A stag, by what it looked like, and she was just behind its heels for more than an hour.  It led her towards the East - towards where a small stream lay.  It didn't surprise her - and she kept up with the animal, though didn't want to fire until she was certain it wouldn't bound off faster than she could catch up with.

Though something sent alarms up in her head - especially as she swore she saw the hulking mass of furs that was a bear.  It both frightened her and what she was tracking - the deer running off at full speed, leaving her in the dust. 

This was one time she wished her father was with her - bears were frightening creatures, but at the same time heavier than what she could carry back.  Killing a bear was pointless for Karin, but she was fairly sure it had noticed her.  Better her take the safe side of things and take care of the creature before it hunted her down.

She circled around it as fast as she could without making much noise - being careful with where she stepped.  Drawing her bow back she took aim and fired at the black bear, aiming for the hulking mass's thick neck. 

[VowelOwl]

Oddr had been traipsing through these woods in pursuit of prey for sometime today. Oddr found two things about hunting prey animals however. The first, they're boring to hunt. Second, they run away when you try to hunt them with nothing but your sword.

So here he was, looking for wolves to tackle, they always put up a good fight, and their organs made for good rituals, and their meat would feed his banquet well tonight.

Up ahead he saw a deer in a clearing, possibly a stag, he was tempted to take it down, but he hadn't brought his bow. He decided to continuing walking towards it anyway, it'd run after he got to o close and making too many turns in a forest was never a good idea.

As he walked closer to the deer he could of sworn he saw a red fox in the bushes near by. Might make for a nice fur, but foxes were more likely to run then put up a good fight. No, Oddr was set to find a nice wolf, perhaps if he got lucky he'd be able to find a bear, that'd impress the--

Before he could finish his thought, he had the strangest feeling their was something warm trickling down his side, he inclined his head to look. There he saw an arrow shaft, embedded in his side.

"Oh."

And he collapsed.

[Tande]

She drew close to the hulking mass of furs, bow still drawn with arrow at the ready.  She seemed to had hit it right on the dot - taking it out with one arrow.  It was a bit of a new record, something she was actually pretty excited to tell her father. 

She poked at it with her boot with some caution, but only then she realized that hulking mass of fur wasn't a bear - it was a man.  A man who was now bleeding rather profusely from a wound she gave him with an arrow.

-This- wasn't something the seventeen year old wanted to do.  She had witnessed her father kill men for coming across their land with the intent to harm them, but this man...she didn't really want to have the blood of just a harmless man on her hands.  Her heart raced and she nearly swallowed her tongue with fright as she rushed to compress the wound and hopefully get that arrowhead out of him.  She worked with shaking hands, ripping the fabric of her own cloak to wrap and compress the wound itself, hopefully staving the bleeding.

Only then she'd drag him on back towards home, hoping the wolves didn't follow the scent of blood.

-
She had thrown him in her father's bed and then gotten to cleaning the wound more thoroughly.  Once done, she wrapped the wound, having to undress his shirt in order to get to it.  She was more worried about having to explain this to her father once he came home from his own business than Oddr's own comfort, though, and left him to rest in the bed while she continued her chores.  He did just get blood all over the floors, after all.

[VowelOwl]

Oddr awoke with a shooting pain in his side, in a strange bed, in a strange building, and most likely in a strange land. He was in a lot of pain, but mostly confused. Why would he be attacked? Who had the forethought to try to assassinate him before his army even began to march? And who managed to find his body and save him in time all that way out in the woods?

He had a lot of questions in his delirious mind, but not a lot of answers from his surroundings. As he looked around all he could gather was that he was in some sort of building, and someone was in it recently, because the fire was still burning. He called out to see if they were still inside.

"Hello! Anyone?"

With a groan, he grabbed his side and tried to pull himself out of the bed. As he looked around for anyone who responded.

"Are you here? Hello? My name is Oddr Østergård! I'm a king..."

His breathing became labored as he looked around for any sign of life, he lost more blood than he thought.


"...Is the house on fire?"

[Tande]

She had just begun working on dinner for herself, knowing her father would take his time selling pelts in the city - home was about a three hours ride away anyway.  He'd be home far after the sun set, and probably smelling like alcohol while he was at it.

The voice only reminded her that she forgot to add enough oats in for the man, who seemed to be awake.  Adding enough into the pot, she called up to him from the first floor of the hut.

"No King would be hunting alone."  This guy -had- to be kidding.  There was no King here, and he certainly wasn't a young idiot like this guy.  "Don't move, you will only open up your wound.  Do you need water?  Are you thirsty?"  Her head popped up from the first floor peeking at him from the ladder.  Her bright red hair seemed to be most of what he'd be able to see from where he lay.

[VowelOwl]

Oddr sat back down with a thump, still holding his side, he groaned and nodded his head.

Setting his icy eyes on Karin he regained some composure now that he was sitting down.

"Some water would be fine thank you...And you're wrong. A king would hunt alone. I may be a king, but I am no coward."

Oddr raised his chin smugly as he continued his talk. "I am Oddr Østergård, I will be King of the whole Sionad one day. I hunt alone for the challenge, something you can probably relate with, hunting alone yourself."

Oddr took a good look at Karin, her hair was interesting. "Your hair is an interesting colour...I've never seen that before...Where are we exactly?"

[Tande]

"There is no shame is hunting with another.  Wolves are frequent in this land, as well as wargs.  You do best hunting with a partner, especially one that has your back so no wolf takes up behind you."  She hummed in an almost annoyed tone, going to fetch him some water.  She disappeared to the first floor again, grabbing a canteen of water for the man.  "I hunt alone for my own enjoyment, not just because I am no coward.  But because I know my father's land like the back of my hand and trust my judgement."

She trust the man could decipher his own answers from her words, climbing up the ladder to the second floor and offering over the canteen.  "If you want to be King you should really watch your back.  Especially when hunting alone."

[VowelOwl]

"I hunt for the same reason. The enjoyment. You fear finding wolves? I revel in it. I take the challenge to fight the wolves up close and personal. You may of noticed I don't carry a bow. I don't usually need one, I also don't usually feel the need to worry about injury. Wolves can't fire arrows at me. Which leaves me with only two questions."

Oddr leaned forward and stared at Karin with scrutinizing eyes.

"Did you see who shot me? And where exactly is your fathers land?"

[Tande]

She shot him an incredulous stare, as if not believing a word he stated.  Did he really think he was that manly?  Nothing about him being in that bed wounded made him look very manly to her.  If anything, he was just digging himself a bigger hole of disbelief in her head.

"I shot you."  She murmured, "I thought you were a bear."

She started back downstairs, swearing she heard the sizzling of the water boiling over with the oats in the pot.  The last thing she needed was accidentally putting out the fire.  "My father's land is here.  Near the forests that mark the mountains.  Did you not know where you were hunting, mister King?"

[VowelOwl]

Oddr shouted his answers down to her as she checked on the oatmeal.

"What!? Weren't you even looking? Do I look like a bear to you? I'm a king of Sionad, so I hunted in a Sionadi forest.  It can't be much of a forest anyway if you don't even know a bear when you see one."

Oddr leaned forward trying to get a look at her down the stairs, but no dice.

"What are you even doing down there?"

[Tande]

"I am cooking dinner."  She answered, stirring the boiling oats in hope that would reduce it from spilling over.  She pushed the pot aside a bit from the fire, hoping she hadn't just ruined the whole batch with burning it.

"And you are no Sionadi King, or else I would know.  And you are on my father's land.  Here, my father may as well be King considering he is the man who owns it.  And you are hunting on his land without paying.  You are stealing my family's prey." 

The oats would need to cool down and steam anyway.  Putting the lid over the cooking kettle, she brushed off her hands and went to pop a stare up at Oddmund from the floorboards again.

"Count yourself lucky that it was me who found you instead of my father."

[VowelOwl]

"Stealing your prey? There is plenty for everyone. And what will your father do when he finds me here then? Arrest me? Kill me? I have an army at least the size of this city at my back who will come searching for me. There must be many things you don't know if you haven't noticed my growing host at Coldbarrow."

Oddr stared into her eyes as he continued, there was not much he could do phsyically at the moment, he was going to make good use of his glares and stares now.

"Though, I didn't actually manage to kill anything. And you shot me with an arrow. You also patched me up, so I should thank you. And then we can call it even."

Oddr bowed his head, but tried to retain eye contact. "Thank you."

[Tande]

"An army?"  She was still doubting what he was saying, but she had heard the name 'Coldbarrow' before, straight from her father's mouth.  Pausing with some tensity, she frowned and climbed back to the second floor, hesitantly staring at the man in her father's bed.

"It is my father's land, and thus my father's prey.  It's rather rude to steal another hunter's prey, especially without paying for the right."  Though, she fell silent, staring at him again with a fierce look in her eyes.

Only after some thoughtful silence would she open her mouth to respond with, "We are even, fine.  But do not stray on my family's land again."

[VowelOwl]

"Unfortunately my lady, I have to ask, why, exactly? I'm hunting here for sport, not the entirety of my people. Does your father need every pelt in these forests? Because he can have the pelts, I don't need them. I like the sport, I have more than enough furs if that's the payment you want."

Oddr looked up at her and smiled "Perhaps if you vouch for me we can set up a trade. Coldbarrow is above the treeline for the most part, so you let me hunt in your woods, and you get the pelts."


Taking another shot at standing up, Oddr grabbed his side and walked over to his clothing.

"You can even...escort me in those woods if you wish. You said you'd like a hunting partner didn't you?"

Pulling the thinnest layer of clothing he had on over himself, he turned to Karin and awaited her response.

[Tande]

She stared him down.  Sure, her father took the pelts to sell.  It sounded like the man would even give up the meat as well if it came down to it.  But even if he was willing to give her an inch, she wouldn't be satisfied.  Karin was just that stubborn.

"Or you could find some other woods to hunt in, King.  I am sure you can find thousands of acres that are not my father's land if you are a King."  The young woman looked away, heading down the ladder in almost a huffy, pacing fashion.  Why did she care so much?

Well, her father would care.  That was what it boiled down to.  He'd fight tooth and nail to keep anyone off his land, including self proclaimed blue bloods.

"I told you not to move.  But you don't listen to me anyway.  ...You have to be gone by the time father is here, anyway.  I have food down here if you want it, but I doubt it holds to your royal standards."  Every word dripping with sarcasm.  "I like hunting with a partner who knows how to hunt, not one who gets ambushed by someone because they do not check their back."

[VowelOwl]

"There aren't many woods in the tundra, you know that."

Oddr followed her down the ladder, descending slowly as one hand held his wound and the other helped him descend.

"I am a true king, not a southern king. I appreciate a meal no matter how "noble" it is. And to honest, miss, I have to admit I am a little confused. One second you're telling me to lay down, and eat dinner with you, but then you're telling me to hurry up and leave."

Once Oddr descended the ladder, Oddr stuck close behind Karin as he questioned and was questioned.

"And thirdly, to be accurate I wasn't watching my side, not my back, you shot me in the side. And that hair of yours made me think it was a fox running by, not a huntress such as yourself."

Oddr may not be as stubborn as she was, but he had his own ego and reputation to protect.

[Tande]

"A true King?"  Karin checked on the oats again, using a thick cooking pad to tug it off the cooking spic, setting the bowl on a table set with benches for chairs and a few prepared bowls and utensils - one set on a serving tray.

"A true King can find another forest that isn't my father's.  You aren't my King."

She served the oats after making sure they were cooked through.  It wasn't exactly the neatest meal - slopped into a bowl and shoved at the general direction of his hands, but it'd stick to the stomach and keep a person warm. 

Idly, she stroked the curled red locks that hung by her face, still eying him carefully as if it attempt to read what exactly he wanted.  If he were a bandit he would have attacked some time ago.  Now it just sounded like he was trying to worm his way out of paying her father for being caught hunting on his land.

[VowelOwl]

Oddr took the bowl of oats in one hand and his cutlery in the other and slowly lowered himself onto the bench to eat.

"A true king could find another forest yes, but he also doesn't have to. Being royalty comes with a certain, rather extensive, set of privileges. I do try and not abuse those privileges of course, which is why I'm trying to set up a deal. I'm sure if I spoke to your father he'd take the deal gladly. It is rather one sidedly in your favour.

Oddr looked up from his oats to Karin and set his eyes on her and scrutinized as she played with her. Oddr raised his eyebrows as he tried to read the vibe of the gesture before he continued.

"Besides, I could be your king..If we wanted."

Subtle, Oddr. Play it cool.

[Tande]

"It is not just about pelts, King."  Her words seem to sting, harsh and viper-like.  "You fail to realize that I am much kinder than my father.  If he were the one finding you tramping about his land, he would have shot you dead and left you for dead, royalty or not."

Truthfully, it was about more than just pelts or meat - but for hunting rights of this forest.  If there was another group of people killing the prey here, it'd leave less for the Raske family.  And beyond just that, but the fact the lady was the family's, passed down through generations.  Why else would they be in this godforsaken chilly near-death scape?

Her expression didn't dull at all, even when he tried his hand at coming onto her.  If anything, it made her angrier.  "I need no King."

[VowelOwl]

Oddr laughed and straightened his back.

"Of course you do. And I'll tell you why. This land we live in we can both agree is harsh. Here the weak freeze, the strong freeze, the lonesome...freeze. But united, even the weak last...a bit longer. Before the strong forget them as the ever encroaching snows begin to pile,"

Oddrs voice slowly gained volume and his tone slowly became mroe dramatic as his speech went on.

" and the strong continue to dig their way out and the weak's arms begin to atrophy. And for awhile, the strong will give mercy, they will dig the weak out until they dig again, yes. But eventually, when the storm comes and the hail begins to hammer and the snow begins to slam as the sleet slices trough the skies covering everything in it's smothering embrace, the strong will tire of digging the weak out. And then, finally unencumbered they will break through and reach the top of the snow banks and they will feel, finally, the touch of sun on their skin while the weak drown in their own self despair and excrement."


Oddr pushed over the meager remnants of his porridge across the table to Karin.

"That storm is coming. And I am the shovel, that will dig the strong out of the snow."