Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter CXXXVIII - Wolf by the Ears

Bishop had been on edge for a while now.

He felt watched. Followed. He was sure of it. He knew that feeling all too well.

It was fucking unnerving. He was supposed to be the hunter now. He never felt like this on his hunts.

It was another day spent in the wilderness of the southern Rift, still by the southeastern edges. The dusk was slowly approaching and, since their meat supplies were beginning to run low, he had opted to go out on a hunt before it was completely dark out. It was just going to be quick. He didn't want to be away from Aeyrin for too long anyway. But he needed to catch something. It would have been much easier if he wasn't on edge like this.

He wasn't sure when it started. He was feeling paranoid before he even set off on his hunt, but it was getting worse with each step. Instead of concentrating on aiming at his prey, every snap of a twig or rustle of leaves made him twitch. Usually it made him release the arrow too and scare away his target. He fucking hated it. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him. He looked around constantly – nothing was following him, as far as he knew.

He shook his head at himself in silent chastisement when he spotted another deer in the distance. This one was gonna be his. No matter those fucking distractions.

He snuck a little closer – towards a fallen tree. He could easily hide a bit behind the crown and shoot the deer from there. It was currently idling in a nearby clearing, eating the sparse spring grass peeking up from the ground covered in leaves.

He knelt down there, notching an arrow. The deer was currently perfectly still. Only one precise shot was needed.

Hit!

Finally.

This had been a long-ass hunt. But he finally caught something. The deer's pained wails echoed through the forest and he quickly clasped his bow back onto his back again and grabbed his hunting knife instead. It needed to be put out of its misery.

Bishop was there within a second and he slit the animal's throat in one swift motion. He considered for a while that he should take the whole thing back to camp and get the meat off there, but then he would have to lug the carcass somewhere further away after that to keep it from attracting wildlife to them. As much as he wanted to go back, it wasn't worth the hassle.

When he knelt down again and unclasped the meat sack from his belt though, he heard the sounds once more – rustling of leaves, snapping of branches. It was everywhere around him. Sure, those were kind of the natural sounds of the forest, but it still got him too alert. He wasn't sure what it was today that made him like that.

With another sigh, he turned back to his kill. Another rustle, now very close to him, but he chose to ignore it. It wasn't anything the entire fucking time. He was sick of it.

He didn't even manage to get his knife close again to that deer though.

Suddenly there was a great weight on him, toppling him down to the ground. Something jumped out at him from the nearby bramble. He tumbled for a while, confused and panicked. He still had his knife firmly in hand, but before he could actually do anything with it, he felt a familiar feeling.

His free hand buried itself into the soft fur of his assailant. Before he could even open his eyes, the strong paws pinned him more firmly to the ground and he felt a wet tongue run across his cheek.

Bishop's merry laugh rang through the forest only a second later when he finally realized what just happened. He couldn't pretend like he hadn't been wondering – did Karnwyr come here in the end? Was he even alright?