Anyone taking a casual stroll through the woods would have noticed the stag standing proudly a and nibbling at the contents on the forest floor, but they would not have noticed the Wood Elf blended amongst the trees: a blessing to her people by Y'ffre and his Green Pact. She had taken care to be up wind of her prey, sand had been watching him for a few moments now. Slowly, she drew and notched an arrow into the polished bone bow, and drew the arrow back, her eyes piercing and her pink tongue sticking out ever-so-slightly, as she lined up her arrow. A second later, and the arrow went flying, and found its mark in the neck of the stag. Red blood sprung from the mortal wound and splashed what was his meal, and the stag collapsed with its final groan to the floor. Carawen released a pent up breath as a sigh, and made her way to the beast with a drawn knife. Skinning and butchering a deer was something she was well practiced with. This wouldn't take too long. --------- Carrying a couple hundred pounds of meat was better said than done. Luckily Caenlin, the owner of the shop she worked for, was more than happy to help her bring in her catch. Intestines for sausage, liver, venison steaks, stomach and cartilage for kabobs, venison steaks, and the eyeballs and other odd-bits for soup. Carawen was able to keep the bones for fletching and the marrow as a treat; the marrow along with a few steaks was her share for her kill. She hoped to smoke one of the steaks to keep for later, and was chatting to him as they walked back into town with his cart and horse pulling the catch. "That's three bucks down, do you think you could get any more, Carawen?" "More? Like what? Pheasant?" "Pheasant would be nice." "That will be trickier, you know." Carawen frowned. Not like she couldn't track and kill a pheasant, it's just that a bird was a bird; skittish and with great sight. "Yes, but that is why you are here; for the tricky prey." He grinned at her, which caused her to shake her head and push him lightly. "Fine, fine, I will go get you your bird. Can you hang one of those steaks for me in the smokehouse for me?" She eyed through the steaks and pointed at a small sirloin cut. "I'd be happy with that one." "The sirloin? Alright, since you did a good job with this buck! Go, mighty hunter, and bring me a pheasant! Or a wild boar!" "Don't push it!" She grinned at him and waved good bye as she turned to start walking back to the woods, but stopped dead in her tracks when she realized what she was close to. Her grin sagged into a mournful, longing look at the docks; where she first entered Cyrodiil and began what she believed to be the dumbest thing she had ever done in her whole life. All she wanted to do was explore, but she had gone too quickly, too brashly, and against the advice of her parents, jumped on the first ship on a ship that she presumed was going to the Imperial City so that she could see what was beyond Valenwood and its heavily wooded, nearly cage-like lands. A few months later, she landed not at the Imperial City, but a backwater town called Leyawiin; she had guessed wrong. And if that wasn't enough, she hadn't a coin to her name and was stuck in a foreign land. She was lucky that Caenlin offered her a job and cheap lodging. But despite his kindness and her diligent work for a decade, her salary was meager. Coupled with rent, supplies, and taxes, her pay was so small, that she was unable to buy passage on a ship despite how long she has worked. The damage that one mistake could cause was nearly surreal to her. She missed home. She missed her friends, her beloved parents, the trees, the familiar sights and smells, and being among her people, where she was considered normal. The Bosmer had long lives and could be patient, but she was on her emergency supply of patience at this point. [I]"Oh, what I'd give to go home,"[/I] she thought in her head, sadly shaking it as she turned to walk back to the woods and begin her hunt again. Paying no heed to how dangerous that thought could be, or to the Argonian assassin across the water.