Shaon's Tale: Part Two

[Sochi]

Continued from Part One


It was dusk when she woke and as silent as a shadow, she left her concealment and headed off to the east. She held her bow ready as she traveled. At her belt, amongst the pouches hanging there was her taming rod. Her free hand brushed it as she walked and she felt the tingle of the magic it held. It was only six inches from end to end. Bone formed the main cylinder, hollowed out to hold two teeth, one a fang, one the tooth of a herbivore. Inside as well, she had been told, was a single feather, the sort any bird might have and a scale from a reptile. Representations of the creatures of the world. Leather wrapped the middle of the rod, an intricate braiding. Silver capped both ends, and a leather thong depended from one end, allowing it to be tied to a belt or hung from a wrist in readiness. It wasn't a weapon, no hunter wielded it against the creature they chose to tame. It was more of a talisman, a link between hunter and beast while the taming took place. All it needed was invoking and the magic took over. A battle of wills and sometimes of tooth and claw as the hunter and the creature exerted themselves against each other. Not always. Sometimes the hunter chose the pet, sometimes the pet chose the hunter. Sometimes, she was told, both hunter and creature wanted the same thing.
It was very dark when she came to the place where she hoped her cat would be. She found herself at a small lake somewhere in the southeastern quadrant of Teldrassil’s wilds. Shaon hoped she was far enough from both the road and any habitation. Despite being well armed with a full quiver and her axe, she was deep in enemy territory. She had a way out, but she didn’t wish to use it. She could almost feel the hearthstone grow heavier in her small side beltpouch, as though just thinking of whisking herself off to safety had added two pounds to the carved piece of rock.
No, she was in too deeply to leave now. She settled in to wait. Tracks around the lakeside had told her that large cats frequented this area. It provided both water and food, for prey would come to drink here too. Shaon waited in readiness. She had replaced the sharp arrow she had readied with one that had a blunted tip. With it, she would get the cat’s attention.The taming rod now hung around her wrist, ready to be snapped up into her hand. She could feel the magic in it, a low humming in the bone. Once she had the cat at her side, she’d invoke the hearthstone and whisk them both away.
The night deepened as Shaon waited, shifting her stance inperceptably to keep her muscles from cramping. The lake was still, reflecting bits of light from moon and stars. About her, the night denizens of the forest went about their business and somewhere out in the dark, predator and prey played out their age old dance of the hunt.
And Shaon waited.
It was sometime in the young hours of the morning when a large shadow detatched itself from the other shadows and made its way down to the lake. Shaon caught her breath in sudden excitement. It was one of the cats. She could not tell if it was male or female, young or old, but from what little light there was, she could see the white spots on its coat. There was no breeze and it neither smelt or heard her.
She lifted the bow in a smooth, easy motion, and sent the blunt arrow winging at the cat. She stepped forth from concealment as the arrow struck its side and sent the cat into a snarling crouch of readiness. Green eyes spied her, recognized her as a foe and the cat did what instinct told it, it attacked. With a snarl, it charged her and Shaon was ready, whipping the tough canvas tarp up as the cat reached her, wrapping the animal in it and getting it tangled in the material as its claws sought something, anything to rip into. And then, as though she had done it a thousand times before, Shaon snapped the taming rod into her hand and tackled the maddened cat.
Through the heavy waxed canvas, Shaon sought a bit of flesh to put the rod to, the magic required contact to work. She found it as she avoided a swipe and the rod made contact against the soft obsidian fur. Shaon froze, the cat froze. Magic swept over and through both of them, Shaon could feel the cat now, in her mind, could feel the bond forming. She welcomed it, wanted it, let it creep into her deepest self. The cat, however, wanted none of this. She could feel him, yes, it was a male, fighting it. The magic was wrapping itself around his being, tying him to Shaon with a bond as strong as life itself. As the magic worked, Shaon spoke to the cat in Thalassian. She softly spoke of the hunt, of new places and things. She told the cat of adventure and of the sights, smells and sounds they would encounter. Shaon spoke to him of a life-long bond, of a deep friendship between them. She told the cat that she needed him as her companion as surely as she needed the air to breath.
The canvas had come off of the cat’s head and his forest green eyes met hers. They both froze and looked at one another. In his eyes, Shaon saw a small bit of panic but it was soon replaced by a kind of understanding and then by acceptance.
And the magic took its full hold, the cat accepting it now, welcoming it. Shaon released her hold on the cat and sat down heavily. The cat freed himself from the canvas and sat down as well, panting to cool itself after that struggle. The night forest, which had gone quiet in the struggle, came once more to life.
Hunter and cat sat watching each other, both of them wearied. Neither was alone now, the bond forged between them, though new, was strong. They could feel each other, could have known where the other was if there were miles between them. For Shaon it was an odd sensation, that she wasn’t really alone in her own skin anymore. But it wasn’t a bad feeling either and she could sense in her newfound companion, that he felt this was good too. After a little while, her heart beat slowed once more, she raised one slim hand to the cat. On slightly shaky legs, as if he had been waiting for that one motion, the cat padded to the hunter and pressed his forehead to her hand, a deep rumble of a purr coming from his chest. Shaon let out a small sound, one of joy and pushed herself up to put her arms about her new friend’s neck. And into his ear, she whispered a name, “Ramas”.
Long moments later, in the last hours of the night, there a green flash of light from a heathstone and both elf and cat were gone.

Thus begins Shaon’s tale. It is not her tale alone, for her path is walked with companions, both humanoid and creature.

[Kamalia]

Lovely. <3 The taming process you described was very different from others stories I've heard, and I like how you included ghost travelling. Makes me feel bad for my hunters now, considering that I usually fling them in a pond to get starting on the journey.

[Aweena]

man i wish i was this good at story telling love it great story keep it going please

[Sochi]

First, I am so glad all of you are enjoying my writing efforts. I usually get odd about my writing and hardly ever show it to anyone, even my husband, whom I love dearly used to never get a peek at my work. But I feel very comfy here, amongst my fellow hunters, so I've shelved the shyness.

Next time I produce a wall of text, I won't open a second thread. It has been a very long time since I posted anything to a forum and forgot some basic skills XD

I'm working on the next part now; the telling of how Shaon got her bear, or maybe how the bear got Shaon.

[Makoes]

Another fansastic piece of art from our very telanted Sochi Can't wait to read more of your work, keep it up!!