Exploring the Forest

[John Harding]

By all means, show us what you've got.

Jonah quietly chuckled, then nudged Venom in the ribs and spoke in almost a whisper so as not to disturb Rue's concentration.

So Venom, where exactly is it you come from? Sounds like an dreadful place.

[venom]

Nice shot. Should I find some wood to start a fire, Rue?

Venom turned to see what poked him in the rib to see Jonah whispering to him. He keeps his voice down in response.

... Dreadful it was, but it no longer exists... If you have never encountered one of my people, with tattoos like mine, you are greatful for that believe me. Only one other person today survives from that place.

He begins to look around for any fallen branches.

What was it like to live in a tribe?

[Legault]

With his knack for survival skills, Venom was able to find all kinds of dry branches and kindling. Assuming he wanted to--he could have a nice fire going in a matter of minutes.

[John Harding]

In response to Venom's question, Jonah said,

Tribe life is great. Real community spirit, you know? Everyone helps everyone. It's like we're one big family.

[venom]

Venom was shocked to here what it was like to be in a tribe. It was nothing like where he was from. He gathered the dry branches and place them together with some dried grass underneath them. Once he found some small rocks that could make a spark, he banged them together trying to make a spark to start the fire.

Do you miss your family Jonah?

[John Harding]

Sure, but I know that leaving the tribe to go travelling allows me to meet new people - potential friends and extensions to my ever-growing family.

Jonah felt a little sorry for Venom, clearly the man hadn't had a good life wherever he had come from.

So, what do your tattoos mean?

[Rue]

While Venom and Jonah had been talking, Rue had been preparing the squirrel to be cooked. When Venom began to light the fire, she walked back over to where they were standing, carrying the skinned and cleaned squirrel at her side.

"Yes, Venom, I was wondering that too. What do they mean, if you don't mind telling us?"

[venom]

Venom sat by the fire and watched as Rue cooked the squirrel as he answered the question.

They are a little of rank and how many people one has killed in his lifetime. It was almost a sport for us. The more lives one took, the more others in our village feared you. As you can see, I have many tattoos. Death was always around us. We did not fear it. We embraced it. You would never see someone in our village taken by age. Death was our glory.

Venom knew they would think different of him now, so he remained silent for a while throwing sticks into the fire to keep it going.

... How many lives have you saved with your healing powers Rue?

[Rue]

Rue was quiet for a few moments, staring into the fire. She was horrified by Venom's story - she didn't think anyone could love death as much as his people seemed to. She continued to cook the squirrel until it seemed finished, then took it out of the fire and divided it amongst the three of them. Offering Jonah and Venom each their piece, she tried to think of the people she had saved with her magic.

"I couldn't tell you. During my travels, I would occasionally come across a person in need of help whom I would assist. When my mother was still around, she was the best doctor in the city, and I would assist her sometimes. I've saved a few people, I suppose," she said with a shrug.

[Legault]

Neither of the men were able to respond because of a sudden deep growling near by. The hunting party turned to spot a rather large black bear rising up on her hind legs with he mouth opened and teeth bared.

Rue was the closest to the black bear while Jonah was the farthest. It stood a mere thirty feet away from Rue and wasn't going to stay in the air much longer.
Sure enough, the beast dropped back to all fours and started to lumber toward Rue. With each step the bear would pick up speed until she was right up to her target. Rue might want to move...

All three of them probably realized that the winds had shifted some time ago and they were now upwind of the bear.

[venom]

Venom had just grabbed his piece of meat cooked when the bear was about to attack Rue. His body reacted as soon as he saw it happening and charged forward towards Rue to push her out of the way. He knew he was risking himself to a lethal attack from the bears enormous claws or jaws, but it was too late to do anything else. "How bad could it be, it's like that orc but with a lot of hair and with claws." Venom just stood there expecting the worst.

[Legault]

The bear hesitated by the sudden movement. She had intended to scare them all away--roughly if need be. She did not expect anyone to charge back toward her. However, the hesitation was very slight and she quickly lifted back up and swung with her right forepaw.

[Rue]

Rue stumbled to the side as Venom pushed her out of the way. She would have felt immense gratefulness towards him if not for her complete attention on the bear. As it raised its paw to claw Venom, Rue loaded her bow and sent an arrow flying at its swinging paw, trying to get it to back off of Venom.

[venom]

Venom tries to spin from the bear's vicious swing. He had no time to unsheath his weapon and fight back. It was all about staying alive right now and getting some distance from the bear. Being it's target, maybe the other two could bring it down while it was distracted. Their hunting skills would be put to the test.

[Legault]

The brief moment of shock from the arrow sinking into the bear's paw, caused her to lose concentration just long enough for Venom to twist his body out of her reach.The bear stood up tall and growled loudly in an attempt to scare the hunters away.