Hunting the Hunter Ch. 03

Score another one for the clever dark elf. Pink glowy thing dead-ahead.

She cozied up to a tree trunk to get a closer look. A Bosmer from the look of it, apparently they were everywhere these days. If people weren't careful the obnoxious fetchers were going to take right over.

They made damn good bowman though, and who else would look so comfy teetering on a branch. She didn't have the best shot, but she readied her bow anyway as she slipped from her cover. The bowman was distracted and looked like he was lining up his own shot. She sidestepped at a rapid trot to get an opening and fired. He cried out and fell from his perch as she moved in quickly, overpowering him in a quick and one-sided wrestling match. She crouched at the foot of the tree, waiting to see if anyone would investigate the mer's cry, but they seemed occupied with other things. She decided to take the Bosmer's old position to see what was what.

Just as she had suspected; the view was spectacular. The open field was practically an arena, shut in on all sides by heavy woods. Perfect for an ambush. Could she call it or what? One of the cats had gotten lured in. She didn't doubt for a second it was the young Owyn. What a sucker. He was circling a hunter who had her sword drawn. She looked like she knew what she was doing, and wasn't giving the cat many openings.

Inanna scanned the tree line for the glint of an arrow head, or a shifting in the trees that was neither leaves nor birds. She didn't spot another bow, but she did see something else, a prowling shadow that a first glance she thought might be one of her own party.

No. It was a hunter, definitely a hunter, but also a creature worthy of the 'sneaky kitty' title. The Khajiit vanished, only to reappear further along the clearing. He was slipping in to flank the lion. She approved of the maneuver. It took a cat to hunt a cat apparently.

The sly devil vanished again. It was too far to throw out a life detect without sucking herself dry for a respectable chunk of her day, but she had eyes in her head, and he would have to spring his trap sooner or later.

She readied her shot and sighted along the trajectory of the Khajiit's path. Her eyes ran over the smooth shaft. In and out he stalked, watching for his chance. She too waited patiently. In the corner of her eye a small yellowed leaf rocked past her vision and landed on her bended knee. The target paused and crouched, its body coiling tightly. Her own muscles contracted in time with the hunters, and the string of her bow reached peak tension just as the figure uncurled. The body and the arrow flew in tandem, and met in mid air, collapsing together in a roaring heap just a foot from Owyn, who jumped back, startled, and opened himself up to a blow from the swordswoman.

Inanna hastily nocked a second arrow and sent it hurtling toward the first hunter. It didn't do much more than startle her, but this gave Owyn his chance, which he took with brutal relish. The arrow had struck her pauldron and glanced off harmlessly, but it made her flinched and step awkwardly back. The lion took the moment to take her out the quick and dirty way. A huge paw, flashing with bright claws, came down quickly, slicing over the fighters face. A terrible scream went up as she stumbled back clutching at her eyes.

Inanna fired another arrow into the Khajiit before turning her eyes back to the woods. She could hear the shouts of men and mer, as well as the occasional snarl. Owyn had finished with the woman in the glade and had, intelligently, gotten the hell out of there. Apparently he'd finally comprehended that sticking his ass out in the open wasn't the most brilliant way to keep it from getting shot full of arrows.

But oh, what have we here?

The Dunmer dropped from her perch into a silent crouch. Red eyes glinting, and full red lips peeled back in a chilling smile.

Feric let out a low growl of satisfaction. Every nerve in his body was alive with adrenaline. He scented the air. The tang of blood hung heavily, but he was down wind of something else. He tasted fear, light and cloying, but close. He let out another purring growl and leapt over a fallen hunter, slipping silently into the brush.

He caught sight of his prey a moment later. A dark skinned man. Sweat glistened on his brow as he clung with his back to a tree, his sword drawn. Feric lowered himself into a crouch, digging his hind claws into the earth. The man swung towards him, his head cocked, as if listening to phantoms.

"Hello? I...what is that?"

Feric listened. He could hear nothing. Was that man so terrified he was hearing things? So much the better. Now if only he'd hear something in the other direction. He coiled himself for the leap, waiting for the right moment.

But before the man turned away and that moment could finally come, a dark blur rushed out behind him, as if materializing from the air itself.

The man arched forward, a spray of red paving his fall.

The blur rose from the kill, lithe and serpentine, morphing into a slender female holding a still-dripping dagger. He'd never scented her, he hadn't even heard her.

She chuckled. "A little spell goes a long way." She was still looking at the body beneath her, apparently talking to herself.

A familiar smell reached his nose and he stepped out of his cover without thinking, instinctively drawn to it.

The dark mer whirled towards him in a crouch, her lip curling into a feral expression before quickly twisting into something else. Her eyes glowed and her grin was ferocious. He felt every hair on his neck raise in silent response.

"Did I steal your kill?" She whispered with a twinkle in her eye, going down on her hands and knees and crawling toward him, mimicking his own cautious approach.

He answered with a low, pleased growl and couldn't resist brushing his cheek against hers when she crawled up next to him, or inhaling the heady scent of her earthy spice which blended tantalizingly with the scent of excitement and adrenaline still drifting off of her. There wasn't the slightest hint of fear. That fact filled him with pleasure and pride. The reality that he couldn't truly claim her as mate was, for this moment at least, suppressed by excitement and instinct. He knew this dangerous female and was pleased to mark her as his own. More pleased still that she let him.

She made her own low sound, something between a purr and a groan and slipped her hand up along the side of his still bloodied muzzle, rubbing her cheek decisively against his in return. Her hand slid along his face to his neck and clenched into his fur. His cock twitched in response and his claws, still extended, flexed involuntarily.

"Well we're still not square, so don't think you're off the hook. You owe me." She whispered in a low husky voice against his ear.

The meaning of her words was lost to him, but the seductive promise held in her dark tone was most certainly not. He turned his gaze on her with a shiver when they were interrupted by a soft sounds in the brush beyond. They clearly both heard the distant rustle and snapped back to attention.

It was too far up wind, but he knew it wasn't one of theirs...too noisy. He looked back at her and she was gazing up into the trees over head. She turned to him and grinned mischievously.

"Think you can herd 'em over here?"

He cocked his head quizzically.

"I figure we better take one alive now, before we get carried away." She said, answering, and clearly understanding, his silent question. She jerked her head back towards the clearing in a general gesture. "It's getting pretty quite out there. I don't think we'll get another shot." Indeed, she was right, he'd not heard a single growl or shout for quite some time.

He nodded his understanding and peeled away, though not before giving her one last lingering brush as he slipped off towards the sound, earning a low chuckle in his wake.

Feric circled wide getting himself back upwind until he caught the scent he was looking for. It was moving away from the clearing, and away from Inanna's position.

He slipped in behind the target, not having scented or heard anything else, and let out a low growl, just loud enough to be heard by the man he tracked. Feric saw him pause up ahead and turn to listen. He let out another sound and watched as the man scanned the trees then took a hesitant step forward, his short sword at the ready.

Feric wheeled and moved back towards Inanna, brushing against a large lilac bush and glancing to see if the man caught the movement. He had, and was following. It took three more tries until the man finally decided he knew what he was seeing, and came crashing after him at a run.

Feric tore away and led him back, slowing to let him catch up and letting the human catch the occasional glimpse when it looked like he was having trouble keeping him in sight.

'Must be getting low on real hunters' he thought sardonically. This one was certainly no tracker, and he was too bulky to move very quickly over the uneven terrain. Feric almost lost him when he bound over a fallen tree and made a hard left around a hidden cluster of boulders, leaving the hunter to scramble awkwardly over and around the same impediments only to catch his foot on a bramble of roots and take a bit of a tumble. He grinned to himself...now if it had been that scary little dark elf on his heels, he might actually have a bit of a challenge. Good thing she was on their side. Though, he considered, that might be fun to try sometime.

He slowed up as he neared his goal, letting the clumsy oaf bear down on him.

The man was of course startled to come across the body of his fellow hunter, still laying face down in the blood soaked dirt, but he was clearly more startled by the shout that came at him from above. The sound startled Feric as well, who had expected a silent attack like the one which had taken out the last hunter.

He swung around to watch the scene unfold once he was sure the man had frozen in his tracks.

"Mine!" Inanna cried as the hunter came into sight, stumbling slightly when he looked down to see the Redoran on the ground.

She flung herself from her perch and landed squarely on top of him, her foot in his big Nord chest. He went down, and his weapon went flying.

He stumbled to his feet and Inanna danced back, a dagger in one hand and a slowly building spell in the other. It wasn't an everyday sort of spell, not for her at least, and not one she was good at casting, so she had to build it gradually, carefully, mouthing words in a barest whisper. She needed to buy a little time.

He righted himself, and his face twisted in concern when he noticed his sword was on the wrong side of the dark elf girl in front of him. However, his concern seemed short lived and he smirked at the sight of her, no doubt thinking he could break her over one knee, and made like he was going to charge forward.

He stopped short when she grinned madly and tossed her dagger carelessly sideways into a nearby tree, where it stuck with a soft thunk. She crooked a finger at him.

"Come on big boy, now we're even; let's see what you've got."

She laughed, a giggling, half crazy sound, and cast a quick wink at Feric who was watching with a glint in his eye that she did not perceive as pleasure. He'd just have to suck it up.

She laughed darkly in her head as the Nord hesitated, his confidence clearly waning, perhaps perceiving that either she really was crazy, or he really was in way over his head. He seemed to decide on crazy because his smirk returned. It wasn't an unreasonable supposition after all, so she didn't hold it against him.

His eyes darkened.

"I'm gonna break you in two you crazy bitch." Yup, he definitely went with the first hypothesis. Good for him. Better for her.

Feric growled menacingly and fidgeted in the corner of her vision. He must not have liked that last comment. Did she mention what a gentleman he was?

"Now, now Serjo, let's not have any of that." she said sweetly, her eyes locked with the Nord's who was circling away from the cat and toward her, "I did call this one after all." She showed her teeth. "I get to play first."

He lunged for her, suddenly, and she danced away. She would have been stupid not to expect it. She was many things, but stupid was not one of them. She even managed to give him a light smack on the back of his head as he stumbled by. Just to get him riled up. Her life was just so much damned fun.

"Tag, you're it." He grunted and turned on her, missing her once more. "Here, let's make this more interesting." She planted her hands on her hips and jerked her head at him.

"If you can stay on your feet for the next thirty seconds, I'm yours, body and soul. If not....well," she grinned, "then you're mine. Come on, I'll give you the first go." She tilted her head up, as if prepared to take one on the chin.

"Say your prayers then dark elf," he muttered with a snarled. He strode the remaining steps between them and cranked back a meaty fist to clock her one. She dropped to her knees, tilting her head the very moment he had committed to the blow.

Her own palm connected with his stomach as his fist passed impotently through the air just inches overhead. It wasn't a blow on her part, just a cool dark palm against a leather cuirass. Her eyes never left his face, and she could read the confusion there. No dark elf where his fist should be, no pain where her own blow should be.

He doesn't feel the spell until his knees buckle and shoulders slump a second or two later, and he finds himself kneeling face to face with her.

"No." He gasped, his eyes growing heavy, and limbs trembling.

"You lose." She said sweetly as he slumped forward, overcome with exhaustion. She rolled her eyes and pushed him off her onto his front so she could bind his arms behind his back and prop him up against a sturdy looking tree.

She stood, clapping non-existent dust off her hands and huffed a satisfied breath. Looking over at Feric she saw that he had been joined by the other two. Well, who didn't like a good show.

"Well...that's that then." She nodded to the new comers and nudged the Nord's leg. He moaned, but remained dead to the world. Technically it was called an 'enervation' spell, but she liked to think of it more as her 'nighty-night' spell. She grabbed him by the collar and patted his face and got nothing. She must have really laid it on him. Either that or this guy's got no endurance. She smirked. They just don't make them like they used to.

She leaned down and called up a minor dispel, something she actually was good at, and slapped him hard across the face with it, leaving a nice pink splotch on his cheek. He woke with a start and a grunt.

She tossed a glance over her shoulder to see the lions prowling around behind her before focusing on the task at hand. Azura willing, it wouldn't take too long.

"So what should I call you?" She asked when he blinked open his eyes.

"Go fuck yourself." She gave him a mild smile, then backhanded him hard enough to make her fingers start to ache.

"I think we got off to a bad start. Your name fetcher?"

"Emperor Uriel."

"What a coincidence. I'm Queen Barenziah." She laid the overenthusiastic sarcasm on thick...just in case he was, then gave him a sneering smile. "How's about us two regal types have a nice chat then, monarch to monarch? But let's not be so formal eh? You know, I've always liked the name Billy. How about I just call you Billy. It just seems so much more friendly. Yes?"

He didn't seem to like that and lunged forward.

"I'm not telling you anything." How cliche. His bonds kept him from completing the move and she straitened up, shoving him back up against the tree with her boot on his shoulder. He looked past her and his eyes widened. What, just notice the three oversized lions now?

"Ok then, let's go with Jack since you don't like Billy. I like Jack too, Jack is good. Do you prefer Jack?" She paused and tipped her head in the direction of the cats without looking at them. "This'll probably take a while folks, we've got a hostile witness on our hands. You might as well go home and rest up." She continued to look down at her prey.

"Me and Jack here are going to get to know each other."

"Like hell we're leaving you alone with him."

She turned at the voice and looked over at Mirisa, who was standing naked in front of the other two. Well that explains why the Nord was staring; she was giving him quite a show. Inanna schooled herself and nodded.

"You're right, there might be others still kicking about, it's better if another stays."

Mirisa wasn't expecting that, and couldn't hide her surprise. Inanna was quite certain it was not her safety that she was concerned about. With another internal chuckle she continued.

"Would you mind staying? I'm sure the boys will be OK on their own." That threw her for another loop. Even the two lions behind her were clearly taken aback. Mirisa blinked, then shrugged, then looked to Feric, then shrugged again. Inanna wanted to laugh so badly it was making her jaw ache.

"I suppose." she murmured, giving Inanna a hard look that screamed, 'what's your game?'

The answer: throwing you off of yours. Just for kicks no less. Who says you can't mix business with pleasure. She gave her best impression of genuine and sincere appreciation.

"Thanks. I'll feel better knowing your keeping an eye on things." Right, and Molag-Bal likes long walks on the beach, rainbows, and fluffy kittens. After he rapes and eviscerates you, of course.

Ah, Daedric hobbies.

Mirisa's eyes were still narrowed, but she nodded.

The two women watched the others leave before Mirisa turned on her.

"Alright, what are you up to?" The lady don't mess around, gotta hand that to her at least.

Inanna shrugged.

"Nothing. No game. You don't trust me, and if I were you I wouldn't trust either of them alone with me," she waved towards the direction of the recently departed Feric and Owyn, "since one's a baby, and the other thinks I'm...well, swell." She smirked. "I knew you'd only be satisfied if it was you who stayed to keep tabs."

Perfectly amiable, perfectly reasonable: only partially true. In reality she didn't want anyone to see what she might have to do to this s'wit to make him talk. Owyn might not be able to handle it, and she sure as hell didn't want Feric seeing that side of her until she was sure he was too hooked to care.

Mirisa already hated her, or gave a decent impression of it, so no harm no foul. 'This is what we like to call damage control.' She thought morosely and shrugged again.

"What should I care? Knock yourself out."

Oh do. Pretty please. With a cherry on top.

Mirisa smirked.

"I suppose that's true...enough."

'A girl after my own heart, too bad she's always in such a snit.' Inanna smirked back. Apparently they'd reached a sort of understanding.

"May I?" She asked, indicating the man still glowering at them silently from under his tree. Mirisa sneered slightly and waved to indicate she may proceed

"I suppose. Do what you feel you must."

"My thanks, O gracious one." Ok, they'd reached an understanding; they weren't braiding each others hair and giggling their way through a trashy romance and a box of chocolates.

She proceeded to bore the life out of all three of them with the most insanely useless interrogation routine she could come up with. It was hard for her to be this incompetent, exhausting really. But eventually it paid off.

She was down on one knee next to Mr. Go-fuck-yourself, when Mirisa finally snapped.

"Oh for Kyn's sake, he doesn't know anything. This is taking forever." Mirisa grumbled from her post, returning once more to her humanoid form. Inanna'd been playing nice, using basic drain spells, slapping him awake and asking the same boring questions over and over. The same crap an imperial guard might use if his or her supervisor were watching. All upright and business like, and it was, predictably, getting them nowhere.