After lewds comes hunting practice.

After a quick stop in the camp to drop off Miranda and to pick up their gear, Arnold, John and Cynthia set off towards the forest barrier. Nissa was supposed to go with them today, but she didn’t feel too well and wanted to stay in and play with Nibbles.

Now, they once again appeared in the forest barrier, this time, all three of them together. The gear Arnold wore was the same as John had seen him in the first time they met 6 days ago. ‘God, that seemed so long ago,’ John thought when he realized it.

Arnold's first action was to swipe his hand over a pouch on his shoulder, two sharp looking feathers appearing between his fingers as he gestured for Cynthia and John to take out their weapons.

“Today, we will be hunting together. I will keep you safe, but the purpose of today is that you, John, manage to become a more competent hunter by yourself. Before we set off, I want you to listen to me for a moment, okay?” he asked before whistling, Marco appearing from his back and flying into the air. “Marco, check around us, scout for anything dangerous, then come back in a few minutes.” the thunderbird cawed at him, then beat his wings and, with the scent of ozone, disappeared into the trees.

John nodded as he took out his bow, waiting for Arnold to impart some of his wisdom on him. Cynthia next to him pulled out a different bow from before. It looked like there was a hint of metal threaded through her bowstring; the entire bow looked a lot more sturdy than the one she took to Straya too. She showed it off with a grin. “This is my normal bow, I only take it out when I need to get serious,” she whispered into his ear, then nudged him and looked at her father.

“First rule of hunting.” Arnold started. “Never go in blind. Before you fire a shot, give your surroundings a good look. Listen to the sounds, make sure that when you are going in for an attack, that there is nothing that will complicate matters unnecessarily. As an example, if you hear wolves nearby, don’t draw blood. Before you can take your trophy, you will have a pack of them trying to take your prey away from you.”

“Rule two. Always go in with a plan. After you scout your surroundings, think. Plan ahead. If this deer runs forward, then I will, for instance, throw my bolas around its hind legs and trip it. Or I will shoot this branch down and block its path. Think of more than one scenario. Make sure that you have a backup in case the creature doesn’t do what you expect it to do.”

“Rule three. Be quick and be silent. The longer you spend on a prey, the more variables can pop up. Try to finish your prey with as few shots as possible, fire for their heads, their vitals, and try to keep them from making sound if you can. The fewer creatures know about you being there, the easier things will be for you.”
“Rule four. Don’t be seen if you can help it. This ties in to the rule before: if you get spotted, variables pop up. We wear green because it’s a camouflage color, we try to blend in as much as possible before we strike.”

“Rule five. Don’t let your prey suffer. We are hunters, not monsters. We hunt because it is our way of life, but we do not make our prey suffer without need. If you see that your prey is in pain, finish it off before you do anything else. Also, don’t let me catch you using an animal’s painful cries to attract other creatures. That is not how we do things.”

“Rule six. Your life is more important than whatever prey you can bring in. There is always danger when hunting, but there is a difference between knowing you are doomed while going in and having to face something unexpected up close. If you know that your chances of success are slim, then don’t hunt the creature, no matter how pretty its pelt or how valuable its horns. If it’s likely to get you killed, give up, escape, bring others with you next time. Don’t go on suicide missions.”

“And finally, a rule decreed upon us by the council. Do not hunt were-creatures. That includes werewolves, weregiraffes and wererabbits. If you are hunting a creature and it yells at you that its sapient, stop. There are telltale signs about them, and yes, there are times when you accidentally kill one, but if you can help it, don’t.”

“That clear, John?” Arnold asked, seeing John try to remember them all at once. “I will repeat them when necessary, but these are the basics meant to keep us safe, our hunts honorable and our werecreature friends unlikely to hurt us.”

John nodded as he coughed softly. “Okay, so basically, make sure you know what is happening around you, don’t make your prey suffer, don’t wing it and don’t kill werewolves?”

“That’s about the long and short of it, yeah.” Arnold nodded, then heard a cry from the sky, and Marco folded his wings in and landed on his shoulder. Both Arnold’s and Marco’s eyes lit up in a flash of purple. Arnold rubbed his chin, then nodded. “Alright. I think we have found our first prey of the day. I think you should first see how it’s done before we let you try it yourself. Cyn, there is a large lynx a few hundred meters into the forest. Go and kill it. John and I will be right behind you,” Arnold gave the orders; Cynthia nodded as she looked giddily at her father.

“Yes, Dad! My pleasure. John, time to show you that not just you are capable of some interesting tricks,” she teased him, kissing his cheek as she drew a fully metal arrow on her bow and started to climb a tree, disappearing into the foliage a few moments later.

When she was gone, Arnold gestured at the nearby bushes and started walking himself, keeping low as John followed him in a similar fashion. “Keep your pets dismissed for now. We will start including them after you managed to kill a few simple creatures, like a deer or so, by yourself without endangering yourself,” Arnold whispered. John nodded once again, in full learning mode.

Arnold led John to a small clearing, gesturing for him to get down, then pointed at a nearby tree top where John could vaguely make out the form of his girlfriend. As they watched, they could hear the soft sound of humming in the air. The lynx, dosing softly on top of a large rock in the middle of the clearing, started to get restless. Its fur stood on end as John saw sparks appearing from Cynthia’s fingers.

The humming got louder as the lynx cocked its head left and right, getting to its feet. “Thundah! nananana nana na na, thundah!” Just as the lynx got ready to pounce and leave, Cynthia’s voice sang: “Thunderstruck!” A large purple flash of lighting shot from Cynthia’s bow, hitting the Lynx’s neck before it could move, electrocuting it on impact. Its hair stood up straight as it convulsed twice, before dropping dead on the rock, smoke coming out of its mouth and ears, utterly roasted.

Cynthia then quickly made her way down, took out her knife and pried a large canine out of the creature’s mouth, storing it away as she looked around. Arnold stood up to indicate where they were, and Cynthia happily walked up to them. “Pretty cool right, John? I am the best of Mom and Dad. Great with a bow and with electricity,” she giggled at him, watching how he slowly closed his mouth that he had no idea had fallen open.

“So, you're telling me that you could have taken out the magnumpie with ease back then?” John asked slowly.

“Yup. I didn’t think it would wipe me off my feet though, that was sadly my own hubris. But hey, I wanted to give you a chance to show off! And you did back then!” Cynthia consoled him and kissed his cheek again.

John scowled slightly but then laughed as well. “Thanks, great for my ego…” he mumbled which got him a pat on the head from Arnold.

“Hey, she has been hunting since she was a lil girl, of course she should be able to hunt some creatures by herself. Regardless, John, did you see how she did it? She scouted around, charged her attack, and then in one shot killed the lynx and she even got her trophy in less than a minute after firing her bow."