15th of Cylus, 717
Lakia woke up early, rolling out of the bed and getting dressed in silence. She had to set out early if she wanted to get the best chance at finding the best prey, so she picked up her bow and quiver, then slipped on her coat and shut the door quietly behind her as she left the room. It was dark and cold and she shivered as she left the inn. Pulling her coat tighter around her, she stopped by the butchers that were already opening. Apparently she wasn't the only hunter up this early in Almund, and she checked to see what the going rate on animals was before she left town entirely. Apparently, some of the hunters did requests, but she would hunt whatever stepped across her path first.
The hunter took a deep breath as she stepped into the woods. The locals told her they were called the Sweetwine Woods, but she could care less. A forest was a forest to her, and to her that meant home. Quiet and calm, if not exactly safe, but safer than the cities were, that was for sure. This time though, she was out there for purpose, to hunt game not for her own food, but to get the money to pay off their in costs. They were staying at the inn partially because it was freezing outside, and partly because Delta seemed to prefer it and she was trying to find some way to improve their relationship. Probably a futile effort, all things considered, but one that she was going to make regardless.
However, in order to make the money she needed, Lakia would have to do more hunting than she usually did. Usually a single deer would feed her and Delta for a fair bit, but this time she had to have enough to sell profitably. That varied from city to city, some would buy a deer for a solid amount. Others payed very little for a single deer, but would buy a brace of rabbits for a fair bit. Scalvoris, from what she saw, seemed like it would pay even amounts for whatever she managed to gather. The eternal twilight of Cylus didn't help at all, however, and she had to look hard to find any of the tracks she desperately needed to find.
Eventually, Lakia found a set of rabbit tracks and started to follow them to their den. As she hunted, she thought about her relationship to the biqaj slave that was also the only thing Lakia had ever had to a friend.Delta hated her, there was no way around that, and she had good reason too, in fairness. Lakia kept her drugged, kept her a slave. She had to obey the Naerrik, however sarcastically and unwillingly she did so, because she had no choice. If she disobeyed, she'd be denied the Psinia that Delta so desperately needed, kept from reaching the high that allowed her to function.
In a way, her method of controlling the biqaj disgusted her, but it was better than many other methods she had seen. Beatings, strangling, starvation, she'd seen them all done. Even worse was when a master allowed a slave to develop an attachment to someone and then threatened that instead of the slave themselves. Pets or children almost always seemed to fill that role, and part of the reason she had decided to stick with the drugs was because she didn't want to be violent towards Delta. That had been how her mother had controlled her father, had controlled her in a way, and it wasn't how she was going to control Delta.
But was her way any better, really? Probably not, for all that it involved less physical damage, it was just as damaging mentally. The addiction had an obvious effect on her mind, and the longer it went, the worse it likely got. The real problem was that she couldn't free Delta. She had to be able to trust her, to have someone to trust, and the free could not be trusted. She had learned that firsthand time and time again, through beatings, starvation, and outright abandonment as a child.
So no, she wouldn't free Delta. Delta was safer where she was, for all that she could probably be healthier. Perhaps if she worked it so that she needed less Psinia, or needed it less often. Either way, the biqaj would be better off after the change. Her mood would probably improve too, which would also be a plus. Granted, she'd still be sniping at Lakia every chance she got, but she didn't mind the sniping, honestly. She preferred Delta's fire to her passivity, it showed that Lakia couldn't break the biqaj, and neither could the people who handled her original training.
Lakia was shaken out of her musings as a rabbit bounced across her path. Considering the weather, it was likely heading to its burrow, so she turned on her heel and started to follow the animal. It led her on a merry chase through the woods, but she was able to keep up with it well enough that she didn't lose sight of the rabbit. Soon enough, she had it followed back to its den, where she put an arrow to her bow and waited for a rabbit to appear.
Fortunately, she had patience to spare. It was probably her only real virtue, but it was one she got a lot of use out of. That being said, it was also cold as all hell so her hands were shaking. She considered that a moment and realized she'd either have to have far better timing on her shot then she usually capable of, or she'd have to find a way to steady her hand, even for just a moment. After a moment, she practiced a method for that, hoping it would work. She took a deep breath and forced her arms and hands to stillness.
It worked, and her aim steadied, but she could only hold it for a second. She'd still have to have pretty good timing, but she thought she could pull it off. Five rabbits should do it, she thought, and she waited patiently for her first chance. After a moment, there was some shuffling at the entrance of the burrow and Lakia steadied her aim, releasing it a moment later when a rabbit bounced out of the burrow. She got lucky, and the rabbit stopped for a moment only to get hit dead on by the arrow. Lakia grinned slightly at the successful kill, then calmed down and got ready for when the next rabbit came out.
Over the course of the next two breaks, Lakia managed to gather up five rabbits. She also missed four more, but five would do. Standing up, she walked over to the dead rabbits and gathered them up, pulling her arrows out of them and checking to make sure she hadn't done too much damage to the bodies. After a moment, she nodded and started back towards Almund, the rabbits stuffed into her bag. One the way back, she spotted another rabbit that didn't notice her and decided to add that one to her bag. A single shot and she was up to six rabbits, a pretty good haul for the time she had spent. After a moments thought, she decided she would sell five of them flat out, and trade the last one for the makings of a rabbit stew.
It took a fairly long walk to make it back to Almund, but she spent it quietly, thinking about what else she would put in the rabbit stew. Carrots were always good, and a bit of potato would help a bit as well, throw in some onions for flavor and just a touch of salt and pepper. Her mouth was watering just thinking of it and she quickened her steps. Delta's mood seemed to improve after a good meal, as did her own, so a good rabbit stew might just do it.
Once she was back in Almund, Lakia wasted no time in making her way to a butcher shop to sell the rabbits she had killed. The butcher tried to haggle her on the price for the rabbits, but she stuck firmly to the standard price for rabbits and, grumbling about how she took all the fun out of the business, he agreed and handed over her payment. The exchange of the sixth rabbit for stew meat got him riled up again and he tried to say that a single rabbit was insufficient for such an exchange. Again, Lakia stuck hard to her intended goal and the butcher agreed to with poor grace, butchering the rabbit and handing over the stew meat she wanted.
Once she had her meat, she examined the rest of the stalls, looking through the market for the carrots, potatoes, onions, and seasoning she would need. Rabbit stew was a pretty simple dish to make, and she was able to find the ingredients she needed in a hurry. Once she had them all, she headed back to the inn, where they'd get their meal made.
Lakia woke up early, rolling out of the bed and getting dressed in silence. She had to set out early if she wanted to get the best chance at finding the best prey, so she picked up her bow and quiver, then slipped on her coat and shut the door quietly behind her as she left the room. It was dark and cold and she shivered as she left the inn. Pulling her coat tighter around her, she stopped by the butchers that were already opening. Apparently she wasn't the only hunter up this early in Almund, and she checked to see what the going rate on animals was before she left town entirely. Apparently, some of the hunters did requests, but she would hunt whatever stepped across her path first.
The hunter took a deep breath as she stepped into the woods. The locals told her they were called the Sweetwine Woods, but she could care less. A forest was a forest to her, and to her that meant home. Quiet and calm, if not exactly safe, but safer than the cities were, that was for sure. This time though, she was out there for purpose, to hunt game not for her own food, but to get the money to pay off their in costs. They were staying at the inn partially because it was freezing outside, and partly because Delta seemed to prefer it and she was trying to find some way to improve their relationship. Probably a futile effort, all things considered, but one that she was going to make regardless.
However, in order to make the money she needed, Lakia would have to do more hunting than she usually did. Usually a single deer would feed her and Delta for a fair bit, but this time she had to have enough to sell profitably. That varied from city to city, some would buy a deer for a solid amount. Others payed very little for a single deer, but would buy a brace of rabbits for a fair bit. Scalvoris, from what she saw, seemed like it would pay even amounts for whatever she managed to gather. The eternal twilight of Cylus didn't help at all, however, and she had to look hard to find any of the tracks she desperately needed to find.
Eventually, Lakia found a set of rabbit tracks and started to follow them to their den. As she hunted, she thought about her relationship to the biqaj slave that was also the only thing Lakia had ever had to a friend.Delta hated her, there was no way around that, and she had good reason too, in fairness. Lakia kept her drugged, kept her a slave. She had to obey the Naerrik, however sarcastically and unwillingly she did so, because she had no choice. If she disobeyed, she'd be denied the Psinia that Delta so desperately needed, kept from reaching the high that allowed her to function.
In a way, her method of controlling the biqaj disgusted her, but it was better than many other methods she had seen. Beatings, strangling, starvation, she'd seen them all done. Even worse was when a master allowed a slave to develop an attachment to someone and then threatened that instead of the slave themselves. Pets or children almost always seemed to fill that role, and part of the reason she had decided to stick with the drugs was because she didn't want to be violent towards Delta. That had been how her mother had controlled her father, had controlled her in a way, and it wasn't how she was going to control Delta.
But was her way any better, really? Probably not, for all that it involved less physical damage, it was just as damaging mentally. The addiction had an obvious effect on her mind, and the longer it went, the worse it likely got. The real problem was that she couldn't free Delta. She had to be able to trust her, to have someone to trust, and the free could not be trusted. She had learned that firsthand time and time again, through beatings, starvation, and outright abandonment as a child.
So no, she wouldn't free Delta. Delta was safer where she was, for all that she could probably be healthier. Perhaps if she worked it so that she needed less Psinia, or needed it less often. Either way, the biqaj would be better off after the change. Her mood would probably improve too, which would also be a plus. Granted, she'd still be sniping at Lakia every chance she got, but she didn't mind the sniping, honestly. She preferred Delta's fire to her passivity, it showed that Lakia couldn't break the biqaj, and neither could the people who handled her original training.
Lakia was shaken out of her musings as a rabbit bounced across her path. Considering the weather, it was likely heading to its burrow, so she turned on her heel and started to follow the animal. It led her on a merry chase through the woods, but she was able to keep up with it well enough that she didn't lose sight of the rabbit. Soon enough, she had it followed back to its den, where she put an arrow to her bow and waited for a rabbit to appear.
Fortunately, she had patience to spare. It was probably her only real virtue, but it was one she got a lot of use out of. That being said, it was also cold as all hell so her hands were shaking. She considered that a moment and realized she'd either have to have far better timing on her shot then she usually capable of, or she'd have to find a way to steady her hand, even for just a moment. After a moment, she practiced a method for that, hoping it would work. She took a deep breath and forced her arms and hands to stillness.
It worked, and her aim steadied, but she could only hold it for a second. She'd still have to have pretty good timing, but she thought she could pull it off. Five rabbits should do it, she thought, and she waited patiently for her first chance. After a moment, there was some shuffling at the entrance of the burrow and Lakia steadied her aim, releasing it a moment later when a rabbit bounced out of the burrow. She got lucky, and the rabbit stopped for a moment only to get hit dead on by the arrow. Lakia grinned slightly at the successful kill, then calmed down and got ready for when the next rabbit came out.
Over the course of the next two breaks, Lakia managed to gather up five rabbits. She also missed four more, but five would do. Standing up, she walked over to the dead rabbits and gathered them up, pulling her arrows out of them and checking to make sure she hadn't done too much damage to the bodies. After a moment, she nodded and started back towards Almund, the rabbits stuffed into her bag. One the way back, she spotted another rabbit that didn't notice her and decided to add that one to her bag. A single shot and she was up to six rabbits, a pretty good haul for the time she had spent. After a moments thought, she decided she would sell five of them flat out, and trade the last one for the makings of a rabbit stew.
It took a fairly long walk to make it back to Almund, but she spent it quietly, thinking about what else she would put in the rabbit stew. Carrots were always good, and a bit of potato would help a bit as well, throw in some onions for flavor and just a touch of salt and pepper. Her mouth was watering just thinking of it and she quickened her steps. Delta's mood seemed to improve after a good meal, as did her own, so a good rabbit stew might just do it.
Once she was back in Almund, Lakia wasted no time in making her way to a butcher shop to sell the rabbits she had killed. The butcher tried to haggle her on the price for the rabbits, but she stuck firmly to the standard price for rabbits and, grumbling about how she took all the fun out of the business, he agreed and handed over her payment. The exchange of the sixth rabbit for stew meat got him riled up again and he tried to say that a single rabbit was insufficient for such an exchange. Again, Lakia stuck hard to her intended goal and the butcher agreed to with poor grace, butchering the rabbit and handing over the stew meat she wanted.
Once she had her meat, she examined the rest of the stalls, looking through the market for the carrots, potatoes, onions, and seasoning she would need. Rabbit stew was a pretty simple dish to make, and she was able to find the ingredients she needed in a hurry. Once she had them all, she headed back to the inn, where they'd get their meal made.
