The Hunt of the Peryton (Hunting Group Only)

[Zephyr]

In a small conclave of trees there existed a body of water, no more than a few square meters wide. It's stillness was almost eerie, the way the clear liquid refracted the sunlight that beamed through the emerald hued leaves above and irradiated it's surroundings was supremely beautiful, but it was the type of beauty that makes one realize they're viewing it alone. It was the type of serene spectacle that makes one think about deeper meanings and to search for answers to questions that we could never hope to attain. A hollow silence filled the air, stagnated it and excreted the scents of fear and rage in the wake of the natural smells that would permeate your being. The forest flowers that were blooming, fruits and berries just turning ripe for the picking, all of it washed away by the scent of sweat, fur, feathers.

There the Peryton stood, it's brightly feathered physique adorning the light, absorbing it and usurping it to make it's own splendor more apparent. The only movement apparent was it's steady, heavy breathing. A globule of saliva escaped it's frothing mouth, falling hard into the body of water, the overlapping ripples it made broke the seams of the pools banks, the cool and clean water flowing over the rocks at it's embankment for a moment before settling. This was no normal beast, heavily mutated from it's former self, it's bones contorted and displaced, it's complacent animal nature from before had been replaced with a taught wire that held a weight on the end, eventually the wire would snap and this monster would become feral enough to rival any of the other creatures around. It puffed out it's chest, filling the cavity and exhaling hard, flecks of vapor shot from it's nose, immersed in the steam from it's flaring nostrils. The Peryton began walking through the forest, it was a tight squeeze between the trees but as it came closer toward the village it became easier to move. It stretched out it's wings, gave them a single, hard flap, before returning them to their closed state, nuzzling into the base of it's left wing as it did so.

[Hayyel Crawford]

Hayyel almost seemed to freeze, she at least slowed to a extremely slow walk, her hand immediately flying up to signal a stop, two fingers pointing up while holding onto one of her curved daggers. She inhaled again, her sea green eyes, narrowed and searching the trees before her. The Peryton was headed their way. She could hear the rustle of brush and then the movement of feather against feather. She couldn't see it though. It wasn't a surprise to her, the coloring of it's feathers would help it blend with the background of the foliage and shadows.

She glanced back at the others and pointed at Rey, who she noticed had taken to the trees. The only reason she actually noticed her in the trees was because of the direction of her scent. She pointed Rey in the direction of right. Obviously meaning she wanted her circle the beast and come up on its right flank. Then Hayyel pointed at Greg and pointed him in the direction of left. She wanted him to do the same only on the left side. She mouthed the words, "wait until I say go." She motioned to the others to stay with her by pointing at them and then pointing straight ahead. Then she turned and began to approach further forward.

Then she saw it. A flash of darker, glossy black. The tips of long feathers. A cloven hoof. She gripped her dagger a little harder. Her breathing coming out slower as she controlled it. Her lips curled into a half-smirk, a grim look. This buck was large, but they had it in a good spot. It couldn't take off right now. But if it got to the actual clearing it could fly. This would be a hard hunt. Peryton's were dangerous, with slashing hooves and sharp teeth. They would have to find the right moment to kill it, run it ragged like a wolf pack until then. Though it probably had a lot more stamina than them. Although, they didn't have to run the whole time, she had the senses where they could follow at a decent pace and they wouldn't lose it.

Words: 370
Muse: Pretty Good
Song: Boys in the Summer- Jessie James
OOC: Zephyr is now playing the Peryton

[Reyshi Nylecoj]

Reyshi stopped at their leader’s signal, freezing in place as if she had been startled by a flickering shadow or the passing wind. Slowly and deliberately she set down her foot so her shoe wouldn’t make a sound against the dirt below and looked around as if she could sense something that Hayyel could not, but that was not the case. Although she didn’t know what she meant by holding two fingers up the lead hunter had stopped in her tracks and so she took the signal to mean that she too should stop, and looked around for confirmation from her companions. At first she couldn’t find one of them—who it was she didn’t know for no one had introduced themselves—but a flash of red caught her eye in a tree and assumed that it was the missing girl.

She watched for further orders given by the busty red head and nodded in acknowledgement on understanding hers. She made a mental note of where the rest of their party would be and what colors they were wearing for she did not want to waste an arrow on them, whether or not they became injured from the arrow was none of her concern. Placing one foot in front of the other she silently followed Hayyel as her right hand itched to notch an arrow and shoot it at the beast that she knew was close at hand. She gave in to half her temptation as she reached behind her and grabbed an arrow out of its quiver, the feathers a soft and plain brown that matched the wood of her bow. Glancing down she made sure that her dagger was in its proper place in case the Peryton came too close for comfort and moved her fingers in a small stretch. Her body released the tension she hadn’t known she was holding as she let out a slow and inaudible breath. So now the true hunt began.

[Noble]

Greg stopped with the leader's signal and watched her hand. The girl in the trees to the right... him to the left. He turned as his signal was finished, watching the others take their places, unhooking the bow from his body and notching an arrow as he circled the morphed deer. The pieces that he could see, a fleck of green, a glimmer off a black feather... he knew where it was from just that. He stepped in a wide circle around the deer and came to rest between to closely growing trees. He knew he could run through, but not the deer. He was safe, and he had a clear shot of the animal's flank or wing, he rest of the body covered by leaves. He could hardly see he others, but his red fletched arrow peered from between the trees. He knew if one looked they would see it easily and know where he was, except the color-blind morphed deer. Greg's heart beat against his breast bone and he smiled. Boy he missed this.

[Zeven Cross]

Zeven continued to stretch still fueling his anger when when suddenly everyone else stopped stretching. Zeven quickly stopped as well when seeing that the hunt was finally starting. He watched the lead hunter give out orders with her fingers and nodded when she told the rest of the hunters to stay with her.

Zeven was next to Reyshi holding on to his rock daggers tightly as he followed the lead hunter. "Ok when the beast is close enough i'll sneak around it and stab the hell out of it. Hmmm or maybe i can try getting on its back and try to stab its head." Zeven said in his head trying to come up with ways to kill the beast. Zeven then looked at Reyshi and smirked. "Alright then lets see how good you are with those arrows cutie and try not to shoot the lead hunter or else were screwed." Zeven said to himself.

[Zephyr]

[OOC]: sorry for the late reply, busy busy, was given permission to god-mod Rey a little here btw.

The peryton's large cranium swung from side to side as it's cumbersome body tried to maneuver between the trees that straddled the path it had chosen to take. In it's movements it had caught a small whiff of a hostile presence, though it was clearly upwind from them and therefore couldn't get a direct location. It strafed through the undergrowth slowly, it's tail feathers getting caught in thorns and being torn out, scattering among the bushes like they were flowers that grew there naturally as it did so. The scent of the humans faded and returned in irregular ways, from differing directions, a flurry of different thoughts occurred to the beast. It's immediate nature was to flee, outnumbered, in a tight enclosure, the logical part of it's brain told it that it's chances of survival were nil. However this was no normal creature, animal logic didn't apply when your thoughts were corrupted by a man-influenced mutation. Instead it opted to stride to it's left, zig-zagging though the brush as if it were going to attempt to take on it's pursuers head on.

A small fleck of foam escaped it's mouth as it's breath grew heavy, it kicked at the moss beneath it's hooves, it's wings spread open, though this was difficult with the tight circumstances it was in. With a single powerful stroke it lifted itself a good three to four feet in the air, hovering against gravity with it's wind resistance. Another strong flap of it's bulky wings and it was propelled forward at a great velocity. As it's frame hurtled forward it's left wing struck a tree and displaced it's direction. With a mighty crash it hit the earth beneath it and began rolling toward the humans in a straight line. The taste of dirt clogged it's senses, the scent and sights were all clouded by the clods of mud that stuck to it's face as it clambered to it's feet. Finding itself directly in front of one of the very hunters that had been tracking it. A young female.

The peryton had landed hard on it's flanks, damaging it's ribs and almost snapping the ligament that connected it's wing in two, this effected it's balance quite badly and it found it difficult to find a footing with the up heaved dirt around it's hooves. It raised it's chest, breathing in deeply to fill it's chest cavity in an attempt to frighten it's opponents, with this motion it reared up onto it's hind legs, kicking out furiously with it's fores. It's neck contorted to look beneath it as the base of it's hoof connected with the sternum of the woman beneath it, the sharpened point dragging down onto her as the flailing foot dropped back to the earth, the weight of the motion forced through her clothes, the blade like heel cutting through her flesh. It was a thin wound, one that stings more than it really hurts, like a paper-cut between the webbing of ones fingers. But this coupled with the perytons body mass coming down behind it after was enough to send her backward, to it's hopes incapacitating her at the same time.

As it landed it turned to the next nearest person, it's head shifting from one set of eyes to another to judge it's best course of action. If it made a single error in it's movements it would find itself upon the blades of it's enemies, in that moment the predator and the prey would be decided between the two factions.