The deer was crouched over by a stream running though the forest, it's small size a clear indication of its youth. Alia took a steadying breath as she sighted down the shaft of her arrow at the creature. She had no clear indication of how much longer the deer would drink the refreshing water, but it seemed obvious her remaining time to fire the arrow could be counted in heartbeats rather than seconds. She had mustered the courage to fire the bow, but where could she place the arrow so the deer would die without pain. Alia was not certain she could score a direct hit on the head, the legs would only slow the beast down, possibly condemning it to a long period of agony. She took another breath and shifted her aim slightly till the arrow lingered over the creatures heart. She breathed in one more time, then held the breath inside her. The leather gloves on her hands creaked with the tension held in the taut bowstring, her arms feeling the pleasant burn of strain. 

A monumental roar of some enraged giant burst through the forest sending alarm through all of its occupants. Alia spun wildly, the arrow launching extremely of course in her surprise. Behind her the deer bolted for protection entirely unharmed. [color=00a651]"What in the blazes was that?"[/color] A traditional curse from her mother wormed its way from her mouth as her gaze darted around the forest trees near her looking for the danger. The sound came again, rustling the leaves in the trees around her with the force of the noise. The roar was strange, louder and more ferocious than any beast she had ever heard. Yet still, there was something strange about the noise... It seemed amplified somehow and less like a roar of anger and more one of... pain?

Alia relaxed her stance and calmed down, she glanced behind her expectantly and found the deer gone. She let out a grunt of unsurprised annoyance. That would have been a decent day's wages for her. Her eyes flicked around the landscape around her trying to determine where the noise had originated. The village was to the south of here but too distant to have come that far. The east led to the lake and the west was merely more forest for many leagues. However, the north had a stone mountain in it known to contain a fairly elaborate cave system. She nodded at it, the cave system could have produced the strange echoey amplification she had heard in the second roar. 

If she investigated the noise, her village might be better prepared to defend itself against some new threat or call upon the King's Forces to protect them. However, if she simply left the noise alone perhaps nothing would come of it. She paused for a moment weighing the potential pros and cons and came to the decision to investigate the noise, but to go no further than observation. She jogged using the strange silent gait Shema had taught her to move the forest floor. There were no animals to be seen, they had either fleed or his at the massive bellowing sounds. As she approached the mountain, she could clearly see a cave smashed into a wider opening, clouds of stone dust still in the air around the point of impact. Her eyes widened at the sight of it and she retreated back slightly to a patch of soft mud left by the last rainfall. She coated her clothes and exposed skin in the muck, masking her scent. She spun her orange hair into a tight bun making it easier to cover.

Alia approached the mountain again and slowly began to climb the porous surface careful to have her balance set at every motion. She eyes the new loose stone suspiciously for signs of movement in case something slipped and crashed into her. A few pepples fell down nearly silently and she tensed her body in caution, ready to flee if need be. Waiting for a moment before continuing, she finished climbing to the newly expanded cave, and knelt by the outside of the cave. She brought a knife out of the sheath by her side and polished it on the inside of her clothes to a reflective clean surface. Still pressed up against the outside of the wall she slid down and lowered the knife to floor at an angle, attempting to peer in through the cave through its reflection.