A Different Landing

Chapter-9

Sophie walked, carefully following her first's steps and trying to be completely silent. They were moving the spears to their stations around the trap. Valoria, Brady, and Leo were preparing the metal and bone net hung between two trees, ready to tangle the pauna once they lured it through the slight thinning in this section of woods.

She carefully double checked every one of her ten spears so that they would be in easy reach. It was her first pauna hunt and she could feel a cold sweat dripping down her back. Wiping her palms on her pants, she breathed in trying to calm herself.

"Don't worry so much kid, this is old hat for us old folks," Keaton said, leaning against a tree.

She blushed brightly at the hunter. "I've never been a part of a pauna hunt before." Admitting it stung a bit.

Keaton grinned, leaning in and ruffling her hair. "Fear is the most natural thing in the world and nothing to be ashamed of, it is a part of life. On our first pauna hunt I almost bled out, Dax got knocked out, and Clarke broke her nose and screamed in a register she will never admit to."

Sophie opened her mouth in awe listening to him. After all, his old pauna hunting team was a legend. They had killed more than any other pauna team ever, all within two years. "But... if you almost died what about us?!"

He snorted, she noticed the other two seconds were listening in on the conversation. "You've got four experienced hunters and an assassin on your side. We were all a bunch of untrained seconds sent out to take care of a 'wolf' problem. Wolf my ass."

She stared in open surprise, wondering if she could get the whole story from him. After all, that hunt was beyond legendary. Everyone knew a version of the tale of the giant two headed wolf in the northern reaches that was slain during a blizzard. To get to hear the tale from one of those actually on the hunt was an honor. "What happened on the hunt?"

Keaton had moved so that he could reach and double check the knots on the net. He seemed to consider it. "Alright, I'll tell you lot the story while we wait for Klark's signal. Get to all your places first though."

Sophie quickly moved to her slightly covered spot on the ground with a stack of spears. She watched Brady rolling himself under some cover just in front of the net while Valoria moved to her spear vantage point behind where the net would fall. Glancing up a tree, she saw Niles sitting at ease on a branch, his legs dangling. He gave her a flirtatious wink causing her to blush bright red and look away.

Keaton, who was also hidden carefully in front of where the net would fall, cleared his throat. "So, back when I was an itsy second."

"You're not a particularly big boy now," Niles snarked from his position up a tree.

Keaton chucked a pinecone at him before continuing. "Anyways, we were on the edge of Azgeda territory before it turns into the snow plains. Where the ice and snow never melts, and the white outs come in the wind, and the sun never sets in the summer, and never rises in the winter. Toba, the furthest outpost, was being plagued with bandits and we'd been receiving reports of a larger amount of banditry than expected. So, when the villagers came and begged for help with a wolf that was killing their livestock, the captain of the outpost sent us lowly new seconds out into the wild plains to track and kill the beast."

"We tracked the animal through the snow, barely finding tracks, when Harper, our archer, spotted a paw print the size of my head in the snow." He paused dramatically. "Realizing it must be a pauna, we argued on whether to push ahead and slay the beast or retreat and call for more experienced warriors. Klark argued we should head back, that we would surely die against such a fearsome beast. But, Atom fought to stay the course, reminding us of the hunger the villagers faced because of its hunting."