Tsuruchi's Hunt

Greg Palmer

Chapter One - The Moonlight

The night was cold, Tsuruchi's breath visibly filled the air as she leant against a large, frost covered tree. The moon was high and vibrant, it broke through the canopy of the forest spilling light into random areas ahead of her. Bow and arrow in hand she scanned through the forest as best she could looking for a shadow, a glimpse of movement, anything to help her pick up the trail.

'You're proving quite the challenge...' Tsuruchi thought to herself, she had been tracking this particular target for two days.

Nothing was moving, wild life asleep, no wind to rustle the leaves, no soft footsteps pressing down on the frosted floor...

Tsuruchi knelt down and replaced the arrow to her quiver.

'There must be tracks' she thought 'They can't be this good... what am I missing?' she surveyed the scene, looking back over her venture so far.  Perhaps a broken branch was just a broken branch, perhaps an impression in the ground was older and from another tracker?

Something wasn't right.

"Where did you go?" she whispered to herself as she stood to her full height. "Interesting...." she muttered as she slowly began to kneel once more and then promptly stand again. The moonlight was working in her favour and the change in perspective made for an odd shape in the brush not too far in front of her.

She nocked another arrow and looked back where the tracks faded... "That's one hell of a jump" she stated aloud as she crept forward slowly, quickly regaining the tracks she had lost for a moment.

Moving as silently as nature would allow Tsuruchi picked up the pace, navigating the trees sticking to shadows where she could. The crisp frosted ground made for 'silence' being a little trickier than normal, but she had to get her target before it made it to the river. In these temperatures the river would almost certainly be frozen and tracking anything across the ice would prove difficult. The river was wide, open, what wind there was would certainly whip up any disturbed frosting atop the ice and replace it with a fresh batch. Her target would be lost.

Sound! Tsuruchi froze, immediately closed her eyes and raised her bow. She heard something, something that wasn't her. Seconds passed... a Minute... several Minutes... 'Patience' Tsuruchi thought to herself, 'Remember what Aria would say'... It was times like this she would remember her twin sister.

Suddenly Tsuruchi flinched to her left and loosed an arrow, the sound was distant but clear. A split second later was the sound of impact and a stifled scream. Tsuruchi drew another arrow and took off at pace, silence was no longer necessary.

Her target was still on the move, it wasn't long before she picked up the blood trail and curiously a broken arrow. Broken from moving through the trees? or broken intentionally? She didn't have time to ponder, especially as she now had a blood trail to follow.

The sound of the wind started to echo through the trees, she must be close to the river. The wind was whistling across the ice and piercing the tree line like a thousand frozen arrows. Tsuruchi took shelter behind a tree as she retrieved her mask from her pack to help against the cold. Her mask didn't just cover her wounds, it lifted her confidence and on this occasion it aided in protecting her face against the elements.

Chapter Two - The River

The river was vast, crossing it was never easy, even in the height of summer, by boat or canoe it was always a challenge as the powerful current wrenched the wanton traveller about like a rag doll. In winter, frozen, it was not only challenging but it was dangerous to. Was the current still ripping through the ground beneath the ice? One wrong step could mean a very cold resting place.

Luck, however, was with Tsuruchi this night.

The blood trail painted a clear safe path across the ice, what started as a few drops of blood soon became darker pools of deep red that were already freezing into the river like a strange artisan painting.

There was a strange beauty about it, the wind was almost like a paint brush, whipping the blood this way and that. However, Tsuruchi didn't have the time to wait for natures artist to finish, the wind was starting to pierce through her cloak and leather armour and hyperthermia was not in her game plan.

Chapter Three - The Kill

'How is he still going?!' she thought to herself as she stepped into the tree line on the other side. Tsuruchi knew he couldn't keep up the pace, his heart would be pumping harder, faster with every step, that in turn would cause him to bleed more and more from the obvious wound Tsuruchi had landed earlier.

Tsuruchi paused, there, in the distance, the faint rise of air from the worn out lungs of her prey. Trees and brush obscured her target, but rising rapidly above her obstacles was a definite sign of life.

This hunt had been fun, rarely would Tsuruchi have to track a target this far, her prey had proved a challenge, she liked a challenge, it allowed her to hone her skills.

She slowed her pace, her target was motionless, admitting defeat perhaps? or simply unable to take another step? She circled around to ensure an accurate shot, he had truly tested Tsuruchi's skill, to her, this one deserved the finesse of her total concentration.

She rounded some undergrowth and could see her target stood, leaning against a tree. He lifted his head and looked over in her direction, eyes dark, fur dripping with blood. Tsuruchi smiled as she loosed her final arrow.

She slung her bow over her shoulder and walked into the clearing, 'We'll eat well tonight...' she thought to herself as she knelt next to the deer, 'We'll eat well...'