The Hunt

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Wu. Autumn, 184 AD.

The main part of the area of Wu would be known as the city, the great and magnificent dwelling place of the civilized people and none other than the army of Sun Jian, the proud crimson banner. But there were other things inhabiting the area, as well as many natural findings and structures. Small mountains and rolling hills, damp and lush forests full of tall trees. Many of these places were rarely visited by people, as they preferred to take the road. Instead, these areas were inhabited only by wild animals, residing upon the natural resources at their will.

Hunting had been a sign of bravery on the part of men for many generations. And if bravery and manliness was an option, Han Dang would immediately jump in to join in the act. Thus, a regular hunt for wild animals, bears and wild cats, was a favorite means of recreation for the outgoing man. And even on this day, Han Yigong had entered the forest of Wu alone, the hike up the hill behind him, unsupported and unguarded, with his unbendable, stubborn will only to assist him in his goal.

He would go for the tiger.

Lying low in the grass, Yigong noticed that the underside of his armor and clothes were wet and dirty from the morning dew and the mud piling on the ground. Swearing under his breath as he slowly lifted his arm from the stick mud, he grabbed the long wooden bow lying beside him. He peeked his head up from the grass silently. There it was, the tiger. The cat, prowling about alone, without any support, on a hunt of its own.

"Must be a Han Dang tiger, hehe."

He fixed the arrow to the bow and slowly, very slowly, rose from his place. Drawing his bow, he waited.

One. Two. Three.

Springing from his seat, Yigong let go of the string. The arrow flew, and hit the beast straight in the back of the neck, piercing through the throat and taking the life away from it instantly. Smiling in pride and a feeling of accomplishment, Han Dang leapt over to the dead corpse and kicked it over, only to see... a deer. A rather large and muscular male, what had happened to its antlers none knew.

"Damn, it's so difficult to see in this fog."

And yes, he was lost. As always. But he'd find a way down, just wait a few hours or days till bright sunlight when the fog goes away, and he'll run down the hill back home, in a muddy mess.

"Eh, might as well have some deer meat."

He sat down and started a fire.

[Na Tanya]

Na Tanya was sitting in a tree trying to find something to eat for herself being starved not being to eat in the last few days any meat at all. The woods were silence and the fog was everywhere but she could see through the fog being used to the wilderness. The large tree she sat on was one of the tallest tree in the forest and also were she can see the way out if she ever forgets were it is.

She was not usually in the region of the Wu city grounds but she was still in the search of making a decision on who should be her leader. She knew that Wu had a lot of great members but she also knew that she would not belong in there greatness and there ranks of following the tigers way.

All the sudden she saw a man seemed to be in the Wu army but she did not recognize his face. The way his armor was made was almost certain a man of Sun Jian forces but sometimes they do these thing to trick you so you cannot be certain. She saw that the man killed a will animal that looked like a deer without any horns could he had killed a Fawn thinking he was full grown? She stayed away for a few moments just watching the man cooking his meat.

Twenty to a half hour later a Tiger was going behind the man that was there and it went slowly close to the man. She knew the look in the Tiger eye it was sneaking to kill the man. She quickly draw her bow and took five second to calculate the speed of the tiger to identify were it would be when the arrow would hit it. She then released the shot the second that the Tiger was jumping to kill Han Dang and got the arrow go through the left eye of the tiger and got out the tip through the throat of the beast. It death was fast a painless since it killed it instantly but she did not feel comfortable with what she did.

She got off the tree and walked toward the man with her bow in her hand in case that he did not want to trust her and try to attack. The bow was aiming down on the ground but ready to shoot if it needs to be shot. "Are you alright?" She looked at her while shivering a bit from the cold weather of the forest and also because she was not sure what the man would do to her.

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Upon the blaze of the fire upon the few sticks of wood he had gathered nearby, Han Dang, content with his work there, took out a short dagger and stabbed it into the hide of the dead corpse of the deer. Piercing through its flesh as he began to slowly peel through the skin and blood to get to the red meat below, he silently sat as he worked, unaware of his surrounding and honestly not expecting any further danger or company.

And then, the sound of a flying arrow.

The scream of what Yigong knew as a cry of pain coming from none other than the voice of a tiger.

"Hmm?"

Han Dang turned about, only to see a tiger on the ground, arrow stuck in his left eye and dead already. An instant kill, and it also showed that there might be other tigers nearby; there was no pack for the tigers, but that didn't keep the same species from having similar choices for a habitat, or at least a temporary refuge during travels. Looking at the corpse, Yigong raised an eyebrow before he looked up to find the killer.

A woman. Hmm...

"I'm quite fine, actually. I wouldn't get injured from killing a deer anyway. Nice shot."

Turning back to face the deer, Yigong resumed his bloody task of peeling the hide away to get his lunch. It wouldn't take too long, but it still was a tiring job.

"So, what brings you out here in the woods?"

[Na Tanya]

Na Tanya got closer to the man and the fire looking around making sure it was safe and that the man does not have a warrior that would attack her. She disarm her bow placing the bow on the floor and knell down to get some heat so she would not freeze to her death. Her hands were finally warm enough to be able to move her own figures easy compare then before.

She looked at the man having trouble skinning his animal that he killed. She throws her hunting knife right at the location of the neck of the beast. "That knife will be better it is made to cut the flesh of a animal without damaging the meat. I actually made the blade my self for the curve to be easier to do what it is made for." She then look at the tiger that she killed with her bow and ripped the arrow out of the skull of the animal. She then started to clean the blood with the fire to make it evaporate.

She then noticed that the man asked her what was her reason to be in this forest. She looked at him silently wondering what was his thought in his head. "I am only here to hunt and to make my self some food to survive the day" She used a second blade that she only has for hunting and cut the tiger head off it body and then cut the fur off the body placing it in her bag." I know this is not really comfortable to look at but I do not really want to do it but just need the money." She had a tear going down her cheek feeling guilty for what she did. She collapsed on her knees crying not knowing if she did the right thing or not.

Na Tanya went next to the fire and placed her head on the bag she has for hunting. Her face was saying pain and her hand one her stomach describing hunger. "Is it alright if I lay down here close to the fire?" She looks at the man that was close to her but she did not know if he wanted her dead cause she did kill a animal even do it was to protect a human being.

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A knife stuck straight into the deer's neck, Han Dang pulled it out and examined it. Surely a fine a blade, much better compared to what Yigong had used often. The man's knife was a simple excuse for a dagger consisting of a sharpened piece of metal. Nodding, he took the new blade and pierced it into the same spot he was working on, resuming the task. He was almost done, his hands were covered in crimson blood, but it was worth it.

"Eh, the sight doesn't bother me; I do similar stuff often anyway. And being on the battlefield so many times keeps me from being bothered at all by blood or severed heads or anything of the sort."

Yigong noticed that the woman was crying. Huh. Very emotional, he assumed. Tears were signs of weakness anyway. Apparently the woman was a type of female warrior. More so a sign of weakness, in that case. A true warrior should be strong and firm, and of course oblivious to pain or killing. It was Han Dang's job to fight and, ultimately, kill. Or was the woman crying from hunger...?

"No I don't mind, lie down where you want," Yigong replied as he went on knifing the deer.

"So, uh, I assume you don't have a proper master to serve."

[Na Tanya]

Na Tanya ignored the man for a few moments trying to think if she did the right thing killing the animal like that. She then looked at the fire and the arrow that she hit the beast and also killed the beast with and throws it in the fire watching the black smoke get out from the blade and the blood that was still on the arrow.

She then gets up and walk toward the guy and the animal and cut the animal in a few piece that would be good to eat for them if well cooked. She then started to cook a bit of the meat for Han Dang. After a few minute and she knew that he was still having fun making himself the cut meat she gets next to him and gives him the piece of the meat to the man .

She then return to the fire laying down without anything in her little body. She did not take any food for her self thinking that she does not deserve to eat for destroying the life of a animal. She started to think that she betrayed her own believes and does not deserve to eat or even be comfortable.

She then left the cozy fire and went to the forest toward the tree were she was before coming here and help the man fight for his life. She went up the tree and lay down on the thick branch were she was a few moments ago. She looks toward the city seeing it so quiet and peaceful like the region was not in war.

She then heard the question from Han Dang asking if she was following any leader but she was not a war person. "I am not serving a lord because they are all about war and fame. My strategies will only serve the people that can handle the idea of having peace in the land without doing war and only defend their land to survive." She look at the country in peace and falls asleep.

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Han Dang simply nodded as a sign of thanks and appreciation as he accepted the cooked piece of deer meat, before he began to chow down on it. Meat was always nice, though he silently wondered why the woman didn;t even try to eat and had simply gone up to a tree branch. Oh well, her loss. Yigong finished up his meal and packed up the blood-dry but still red raw meat in a bundle before he lay down on the ground.

"Defend their land but not fight in a war? Impossible. How can one defend from an oncoming army of swords and shields without counterattacking themselves? Negotiations? Nah, that won't work ever, except for the weak ones."

And Yigong noticed that the woman was asleep. Eh, he hadn't even asked for her name, neither had she asked for his. Some meeting between strangers; maybe Han Dang had been to consumed in his work that he was acting different today. He peered at the woman above before he slowly crept over to the dead and beheaded meat of the tiger.

"Hmm. Wonder what tiger meat tastes like. Though I'm too full right now to try."

Flipping the woman's knife over in his hand, Han Dang stared off into the treetops, doing basically... nothing.