Gertrud sighs. "This is not far and the target is not moving." she tells. then she shoots some arrows herself. On the last one she curses as it isn't on target.
"Well, one of mine is off too. But that is how it should look. Imagine shooting that goblin. He wouldn't have held still. And as you have seen it didn't miss when shooting Silas." Gertrud explains.
After a few more rounds of arrows shot it shows who has a promising talent for that and who not.
"Maybe for some of you it would indeed be better to simply have a stick to beat what approaches you."
"But whatever. Tomorrow I'll take you on a hunt. We'll see how well you fare there. With hunting we will choose targets that run and don't attack. But it will give you and idea how it is to shoot on living, moving targets."
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Tarjun brightens up. He can make a Stick. He knows quite a lot about Sticks. It probably won't help him for the Hunt, but at least it will pass the time. Perhaps he wouldn't get it right on his first try, but with enough time, he's sure he can make a decent Stick.
One that doesn't twist in his hands like a live snake.
"Yes ma'am. Thanks ma'am," he says.
And as soon as possible, he runs off to find a decent fallen branch.
He does find abranch, and starts carving it while whistling. But halfway through his work, he realises that something about it isn't right. It's too thin, and a bit flexible when he tries to bend it. It's not really better than an average club.
"Shame," he mutters, somewhat disappointed.
He throws it away. He can try with another one.
After another round that is even worse than the first one Clara decides she needs a stick too. She asks he dad for a knife and then sits down carving herself a stick from one of the poles used as a growing help for the beans. It becomes a rather nice staff.
Tobar starts to whittle a stick into a decent club but after breaking 3 different sticks in succession he decides that
"Who needs a silly stick anyway. I'm going to stick with the bow!"
"Well, I want a good stick this time!" Jewel selects a piece of wood that she thinks might work and tries to carve it into a proper weapon.
"Well, not quite what I wanted, but it should be functional if I need it."
Clara got the coolest stick ever. Ok, she got scolded by her dad for ruining one of the poles that are reserved for other uses - which will earn her an extra shift of weeding as soon as the weed has grown again. But that's totally worth it. And maybe he'll forget until then. she hopes.
Clara needs to test her stick. As Tarjun has a stick too she decides to whack him over the head. "Hey Tarjun. En garde!" Without waiting for his response, she swings her quarterstaff overhead at him.
Clara just manages to get out of the stick's way. So that's what her mum meant with living and moving and fighting back targets. "Mommy!" she cries out as she runs away.
Gertrud rolls her eyes. Mommy had an eye out and saw what happened. Eventually this training comes to an end. Everything is cleaned up and stowed away where it belongs.
The kids are sent to bed early for the next day starts before sunrise. Just as the night changes from black to dark blue Gertrud starts with all the kids who are interested on a hunt. Gertrud knows the places, where the prey comes onto the clearings in the morning. She expects some bunnies, or hares and if they are lucky some deer.
Gertrud rolls her eyes. Mommy had an eye out and saw what happened. Eventually this training comes to an end. Everything is cleaned up and stowed away where it belongs.
The kids are sent to bed early for the next day starts before sunrise. Just as the night changes from black to dark blue Gertrud starts with all the kids who are interested on a hunt. Gertrud knows the places, where the prey comes onto the clearings in the morning. She expects some bunnies, or hares and if they are lucky some deer.
She places all of the kids inside a cleared out space in some shrubs. It is a bit tight with so many people, but it usually is spacious for Gertrud alone. She tells the kids to be silent and to look out if they see something.
Clara sneaks out of the bushes and tries to sneak up on the hare. As she starts stumbling over roots and her own feet from the start she shoots the arrow from far away.
Clara makes the hare run away and shoots at a tree. Tarjun is much better in sneaking up. And even when shooting he manages that the bunny doesn't notice.
Getting up early isn't a great way to start a day, but once she remembers that they are going hunting she moves along faster. With the goal, and the process explained she does her best....
Jewel spots a boar.
Trying to sneak up on it she thinks that she does OK.
She takes her shot, missing terribly!
The boar is blissfully unaware of your presence. But as the arrow lands close to it, it turns and actively searches for the source.
Stepping on a branch kjust then doesn't help and Jewel faces a charging boar.
Using her Feral Speech hex Jewel gives herself the ability to speak with and understand boars. She turns to run away screaming "Don't kill me! I wasn't trying to hurt you. I really wasn't!"
Tobar, the mighty hunter, has sighted a boar and tries to sneak up on it. Tonight, he'll bring back the bacon!!!!
He sneaks up to REALLY, REALLY close to the boar (80 feet or so away) and shoots at the boar
for
He HITS the boar. For a moment, he is excited and really, really pleased with himself. Then he realizes that the boar isn't dead
Brina bravely steps up, ready to defend Tobar should the nasty pig try to hurt HER person.
Silas was, understandably, fairly rattled after being shot by a goblin. He spent most of the next few days inside, scared of what might be lurking outside. However, he decided he needed to learn to fight better. He decided to go on the hunt with the rest of the kids.
He spotted a hare, and snuck a closer to it, until he was about 90 feet or so.
He took aim, and fired.
As Jewel runs and talks to the boar, she notices that it has an arrow in it's flank. Which makes her moving speech a bit unbelievable.
Silas is the first to shoot something, that will finally end in the pot and fill some hungry stomachs. But no one is there to notice his success as the boar has all the attention by now.
Tobar, standing besides a tree sees the boar passing only 20 feet away from him as it goes after Jewel.
"Don't worry Jewel, we'll save you"
Tobar again shoots at the boar
for
"Brina, save her!!"
As a swift action, Brina is given the aspect of the bull
After the arrow is shot at the boar, Brina leaps in to tear at the boars side
for
for
for
Tobar shoots another arrow at the boar and hits it. But boars are resistant creatures. Brina quickly catches up with the beast, but doesn't get hold of it.
Clara looks at Jewel running and the boar behind her. She'd never hit that animal. She'd be lucky not to hit Jewel. Instead she starts speaking unintelligible words and wrings her hands together with the thumbs interlocking and the fingers spreading out to the sides.
Jewel continues running, too scared to think of anything else.
Silas sees the boar charging at Jewel and yelps slightly before shouting at it, "Get "
Gertrud shoots at the boar, but even with that well placed arrow it continues charging after Jewel.
The boar catches up with Jewel and with its large tusks it rips up her whole back, puncturing her lung and taking her out.
Tarjun steps closer and works hi smagic on the boar to make it flee, and immediately the boar turns around to run from the horrible sight, that Tarjun is now for the animal.
Silas angrily shouts at the boar for attacking his sister and causes a bloody wound to open on the boar's back, leaving the boar staggered.
An eagle's screech echoes through the woods as a mighty bird appears over the boar. It sinks it's talons into the animal and bites at it.
The boar drops to the ground dying.
Gertrud runs to Jewel and puts her hand on her. The wound closes a bit, but it isn't enough to wake her.
Clara is worried about Jewel and follows the example of her mother. But with much better effect. As Jewel opens her eyes, the worries are gone and Clara's face shines with joy and pride. "Hi. You're good?" she asks, leaning over Jewel smiling from one ear to the other.
Jewel feels the tusks from the boar rip her open. The pain is worse that anything she ever remembers, making her faint. She is blissfully unaware of the rest of the battle, waking only when healing magic is applied to her.
She comes to hearing the words of her friend Clara and quickly does an assessment of herself and starts to cry. "Mom and Dad are going to be so upset they'll never let us play again! My cloths are all torn up, and bloody! Stupid old pig. I don't think I ever want to eat pig anymore. I'll be a vejja.... What do you call people that don't eat pig?"
Getting up she tries to hold her torn cloths together wishing that she had magic to clean and fix them.
"Pigadores?" Clara guesses. "It's dead now. it'll be tasty. Sorry, can't heal clothes." she comments.
"We'll get you something else to wear and no one needs to know." Gertrud suggests.
Jewel's sniffles slowly end. She wipes her tears away and smiles at Mrs. Johnson's words. "They don't need to know? Thank you! And I can fix these when I get home, if the blood will wash out. I'm pretty good at mending things once I have some quiet time to do it."
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Tarjun's jaw drops at the sight of his sister's blood.
He doesn't remember having ever been that horrified. Not even when he couldn't leave the bed because his parents were scared that his leg was slowly going paralysed, and he overheard one of the healers mention that if it turned out to be necrotis then the leg was dead and they would have to emputate it.
He'd always thought that if something bad were to happen, he'd be the first to go. And that didn't scare him, not really. It's not as if anyone would have been caught unaware.
What was scary was that he was supposed to look after his siblings, and things could happen to them, and he'd never thought they could.
Still in a state of shock, he hugs Jewel for a long moment, suddenly very quiet.
"Yer gonna hafta learn how to defend yerself, little sis," he finally says, releasing her. "Chirp's not a great bodyguard."
Silas runs over to Jewel and says, "You're gonna be okay sis. When the goblin hurt me, it was scary but I'm okay. Soon, it'll seem fine."
"You leave the clothes with us, and if you want you can come over and fix them, after I washed them. Clara will get some spare clothes out of the house and this stays our secret. Because if not, you're probably groundid until you marry, and they won't talk to me ever again for leading you into this situation."
"So if someone asks, you ripped that shirt apart when you got caught at a tree." Gertrud suggests. Her face shows the resignation of knowing quite well, that all attempts to get honest kids are going down the gutter right now.
The eagle that hovered over the dead boar vanishes.
Clara listens closely to what her mother tells, learning with every word. Her expression one between excitement and shock.
"That was very, very scary!! But we won't tell anybody what happened. But we DO take the pig back, right? Bacon, sausages, PIG ROAST!!!!"
Brina is ignoring all the fuss and happily drinking some of the pigs spilled blood.
"That big a meal we for sure won't leave. And you really earned to eat that." Gertrud tells. "But I guess you got enough excitement for one day. Shall we go back?"
Jewel grins at everyone, "Well, I guess we can drag the carcass back and start a roast then. And I'll mend my shirt as good as new tomorrow, after Chirp teaches me how."
She grins at Tarjun. "Chirp isn't a bodyguard. She's a friend and teacher. She taught me how to talk with animals, and a few other things."
"What's sarcasm?" Clara asks interested.
Gertrud guts the boar and the hare and binds the boar with the feet to a stick, so the kids can carry it together. Close to home Clara gets released from carrying duty and is sent to secretly fetch a shirt for Jewel. After changing the bloodied and ripped shirt for the new one the group proudly parades the boar into the village.
It is too late to prepare a meal from that boar, so there is a feast with sausages from another boar held together with the Branston family.
Jewel just grins at Tarjun's words. Of course she understood sarcasm, but it had been a long day....
Once she gets the different shirt she steps aside and casts a cantrip to create some water to try to clean the blood out it. Mending could repair the material, but it wouldn't clean it.
The duties for the next day are clear: Make a meal out of the boar. The kids get to collect wood. A bonfire is built, and a barbecue is held for the whole village. Everyone enjoys the party and the kids get a lot patting their back for their first successful hunt. And Gertrud puts the emphasis on the kids finding and bringing down the boar.