A Day's Hunting - Part One

by **Jomir** Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:18 pm

This the first part of my story that I'm writing. I plan to write a continuation of this soon.

The Trap
The snowy valleys of Dun Morogh howled with ghostly rage that morning yet was caused by no evil creature or foul beast, but by the piercing winds that cut through the trees and smashed against the hills. In the woodland to the south of the region, the trees engaged each other in fierce battle, exchanging blow after blow as the wind pushed them into each other, their leaves’ rustling war cry drowning out all other sound in the woods.

A native Deer however welcomed the appalling Dun Morogh weather that morning. The clashing of the trees provided enough noise so that any leopards or bears in the area would never hear her hooves crunching through the snow, and the high winds would carry her scent away from their noses. However not all the luck was on her side today. Last night’s blizzard had completely covered any grass or bushes meaning she would have to venture deeper into the forest than she normally would in search of a meal. After an hour or so of carefully pacing through the forest she deemed it safe and started to prance deeper still.

Gradually, the trees thinned out to the entrance of a large clearing. The Deer has seen many of these clearings before in the northern part of the woods, created by the local Dwarves in their search for lumber, however the Deer did not think they would come this far into the forest. Any other day she would have quickly dismissed the clearing and continued on but a distinct flash of green caught her eye, and hunger clouded her judgement. There, right in the middle of the clearing stood a single bush. She cautiously stepped a few paces into the clearing and then stopped. Listening. Waiting. Watching. She had to be careful in the open, there were no trees to shield her, but with the howl of the wind and the rustle of the trees surely no predator would hear her approaching. The only thing apart from the bush in sight was a small snow-covered mound by the edge of the clearing to the west. She assumed it must have been a large tree stump. Yes of course, she could even spot the end of a snapped-off branch poking out of the snow directly facing her. But that was no stump, or indeed a snapped-off branch…

Her carelessness would be her downfall. The howling winds that she had relied on heavily in her journey seemed to be dying down as she finally began her approach to the bush. As she stepped ever closer, she began to realise she had completely forgotten about the most dangerous predator of all: the Hunter. She contemplated turning back, before the wind dissipated completely. However, it was too late. As she put her last hoof down the winds died and a loud crunch seemed to echo all around the clearing as it planted firmly in the snow. The Deer froze completely; her massive eyes wide open in shock. All the while the “branch” had followed her movements to the end.

“Gotcha.”

It was over in a flash of light and smoke. The bang erupting from the clearing was heard all over the forest. Birds nesting in the trees fluttered from all around and sensing the danger, sped off into the sky. The shot hit the Deer in the side of the head, where the skull is at its weakest. She died instantly, her body hitting the clearing floor with a crunch. “Took yer time, ye’ damn blasted critter!” roared a voice coming from the mound. The snow mound shuffled slightly, and then burst open to reveal short, grumpy, hairy and snowy mess of a creature. “Ach, I must o’ frozen me bollocks off in there…” grumbled the Dwarf, as he got up from his prone position and wiped off any remains of snow on his Mountaineer uniform.

The Dwarf, with his golden-ginger beard that run down to his waist, bent down to pick up his rifle, muttering furiously as he trudged his way to his trophy. “I thought fer a second ye’ were goin’ tae let ol’ Jomir go home empty handed there” said the Dwarf as he bound the deer’s legs together with rope, and lifted the carcass over his shoulder. Glancing at the bush he thought back to the early hours of the morning where he had planted the dug up bush in the clearing and let out a brief chuckle and said “Cannae believe these critters still fall fer tha’ lone bush trick” as Jomir gave the bush a punt into the trees. Turning back, and with his prize, Jomir disappeared into the forest.