Eight Intertwined

31 - Hunter

The process of finishing the training of the younger people in the village went by quickly and easily. It was almost effortless to H'aanit, and after both of the youths lost under the power of her lore of the forest, she offered the commentary that she believed would help them most. Once they were gone, off to practice all that she had taught them, H'aanit remained where she was and scratched at the back of Linde's ears. The leopard purred and leaned into the huntress' grasp, her eyes falling shut from the serenity of the situation. 

However, Linde perked up again a moment later, her tail flicking back and forth. H'aanit frowned at the sight, wondering what had caught her companion's attention. She heard footsteps from behind her, and when H'aanit turned, she saw a young girl standing before her. 

"Huntress H'aanit!" the girl cried out as she slowed to a stop in front of the hunter and her partner. Her brown hair rustled as she stopped her dash, and she began to run her fingers through it gently. 

H'aanit pulled her hand away from Linde slowly. "What is it?" she asked. There was something on edge about the girl's voice, and H'aanit found herself resisting the urge to reach for her bow and nock a few arrows. She was the one in charge of defense in the village, after all, and she wasn't about to slack on her duties after all this time. 

"The headman sent me to find thee," the girl explained. "He said he must speaketh with thee right away!"

H'aanit nodded. "Then I will make haste. He is at home, I take it?" she questioned. In a way, H'aanit was relieved for the next chance to focus on her duties rather than the fact that she still missed Z'aanta terribly. She was willing to take this for what it was without a beat of hesitation. 

"Yes! Follow me!" the girl cried out, her voice loud in her excitement. There was something else in her tone as well, though H'aanit struggled to fully judge what it was that had passed through the girl's mind with such an influence on her. 

As the girl dashed off in the direction of the headman's home, H'aanit shifted her gaze down to Linde. "An urgent hunt, mayhap?" she prompted of her partner. As expected, Linde did not answer beyond a simple flick of her tail, and before long H'aanit was walking in the girl's footsteps towards the headman's home. She moved at a decent clip while still remaining slow enough to ensure that she didn't crash into anyone along the way. 

The headman was standing outside his home, his expression dire and stony as he stared down at the ground below. He didn't even seem to notice that H'aanit had arrived, prompting her to speak first. "Headman. Ye wished to seen me?" she questioned of him even though she already knew the answer. 

The headman nodded as he looked up from the grass. "Yes. A request hath comen in from the demesne of Lord Ciaran," the headman replied. "It would seem a beast hath strayed into his provincial forest." He glanced over in the direction of the young girl that had brought H'aanit to him in the first place, and he gave her a small nod to dismiss her. The girl smiled up at him before pivoting on her heel and dashing away to continue going about her daily business. 

"And he will it gone," H'aanit concluded, crossing her arms over her chest. She knew loosely of Lord Ciaran, albeit not much. He was a noble with territory in the Woodlands. Supposedly, he had a manse near Victors Hollow and had a sway in the government within the nearby town of bustling activity. He also held territory closer to S'warkii, and if H'aanit had to guess, it was that nearby land that was giving Lord Ciaran so much trouble in the first place. 

The headman nodded once more. "Just so. He asketh for our best hunter," he told H'aanit. "And while Master Z'aanta is off on the hunt, that meaneth thee." 

H'aanit couldn't help but frown at the mention of Z'aanta. She knew that the headman was right, but it still bothered her in a quiet way that she was seeing traces of Z'aanta's prolonged absence every direction that she looked. It was because that day was the anniversary of Z'aanta's departure, she knew, but it bothered her regardless.