Wanna come up and see my etchwings?
Oram had no idea who ‘Sir Chip’ was, but knew Doran. The professor seemed a smart, knowledgeably, scholarly sort; it did not surprise the hunter that he might be one who could figure out some of the secrets behind the etchwing’s highly unusual properties. A suit of etchwing feathers that could make one nearly invisible would be even better than a duplicity suit for hunting, he thought. The traveler was a bit surprised that Vega herself hadn’t mentioned interest in such an idea. Soon after, however, she revealed that she preferred simple things that weren’t too technical, nor temperamental, nor tricky to maintain.
When she asked him about the crossbow’s ease of repair, Oram shook his head. ”No, it isn’t easy to fix,” he conceded. ”That is a drawback, I guess. If I relied more heavily on a bow for my hunting, that might well prove a problem. But I mostly use traps. Among other things, that means that I usually have enough tools to do at least simple repairs myself, if need arises.”
Oram listened to what Vega told him about the kazan fowl. Faster than turkeys? Turkeys could be surprisingly fast -the wild ones, not the farm-raised ones. This should be interesting. Not as challenging as hunting an etchwing, perhaps, yet interesting.
It was not long before they came across a group of the fowl. A family, perhaps? Vega clearly knew what she was doing, to have led him to a group of the birds they were looking for so quickly. Oram laid a bolt atop the tiller of his crossbow, which was already drawn, so he at least didn’t have to rattle about with the gaffe, before approaching any closer. The less noise he had to make as he closed in, the better.
Ziell had lately granted him the ability to move in utter silence, yet whenever possible, he tried to rely on his own skills, especially in situations like the present one, where he faced no consequence more dire than the embarrassment of losing what ought to be an easy catch.
Before moving, he looked around, mentally mapping all the various hiding places he might use, the lines of sight into the clearing, and such. He picked one tree, stalked towards it. Waited and watched the fowl for a bit, then stalked to the next closest tree.
Oram had not chosen to use the Shooting Star ability on his crossbow previously -more because he had simply forgotten than on any principle- but he did so now as he took aim at the kazan fowl. A small light appeared in the direction he pointed, and he used it to line up his aim. Would Vega notice it? He wondered. It seemed likely, if she was keen-eyed enough to hunt those elusive etchwings.
Would the *birds* notice it? Oram wondered next. And if they did, what would they do? Would they start, ignore it, or be intrigued by it? Walking the light up to the flank of the largest bird, the hunter was about to find out.
