Arn did not wait for her answer and headed on down the obvious trail that had been left.  The group, whoever they were, were obviously not hunters.  They left more disturbed earth and signs of their passage than a herd of drunk seals.  At least, to his experienced eyes.  He grew serious as he looked over the scene.  He looked at the arrow.  He did not have to pick it up to analyze its construction being a fletcher himself.  He was particularly interested in how the arrow was broken.  If the arrow broke due to somebody falling on it, it broke almost along the length of the arrow, the wood trying to distribute the weight.  If it was done by someone of intelligence it would be done width wise.  

Regardless of the break,  the wounded being still held the arrow inside of them.  This was dangerous as any movement would continue to cause damage.  The hunter moved from spot to spot, his face serious and somber as he studied each clue.  Each made his brow furrow deepen.  The blood on the tree really brought concern to his face.  The height was much too  high for it to be a normal deer and the disturbed landscape did not hit to a bear being wounded.  After all, it would take more than a measly arrow to cause a bear to meander in the throes of pain.

He heard Gwendolyn rush behind him but even though he grunted his annoyance, he did not engage her further.  He was much too concentrated on his current task.  The girl may know of him or may be familiar with him but in his current state, he look wise and capable.  Not at all like the picture many in the village painted of him being a big slow brute.  

The bear man continued his tracking eventually leading him to the spring.  Arn had used it plenty of times to quench his thirst or as a place to hunt the animals that may come for the same reason.  This time of the year however, it would soon freeze and the debris dirtied the water so it was not very drinkable.  The purity of the spring however, was the last thing on the hunter’s mind as he gazed at the bottom. 

A figure, not unlike that of lupine semblance, lay at the bottom.  The animal, or what looked like an animal, was clearly wounded.  The wounds however did not match those that would be done by natural means.  Which meant, a human was involved or something resembling human intelligence.  


He felt the young woman come up behind him.  Instinctively, Arn grabbed her hand as he kneeled down enough to not cast a shadow that could be seen from below and have cover of the cliff if the animal spotted them.  Thankfully they seemed be downwind of the creature which should help keeping them hidden.  

The hunter did not know why he felt the need to hide but he became really aware that yet again, he had violated the young woman’s personal space.  He flushed and let her go but he used the same hand to bring a finger to his lips motioning for silence.  He retrieved his bow from his back and carefully notched an arrow while keeping his pulling hand at the ready.  

He scanned the area for any other danger and then turning to Gwendolyn he whispered. [color=0054a6] “Stay here.” [/color] That was the second time he had told her to do something.  He figured that just like his first, she would disobey but he felt the need to at least get the words out.  Carefully, like the hunters he mimicked, the big man moved slowly from their hiding place around and closer to the wolf thing.  He moved silently for being such a big person.  He kept his eyes on the thing while his pull arm was ready to fire should he need to.