What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Bonkers (Keelin)

[Cernunnos Wilde]

He saw a rabbit dart out from between the rocks and he was off, barely taking a second to identify his prey. Time was not a luxury the banshee could afford when it came to feeding himself. His eyes were fixed on the rabbit as he shrugged his bow over his shoulders and knocked an arrow to the string, his nimble feet seeking a pathway through the treacherous rocks and ditches.

Although he had put buckles on his boots to prevent any jingling, he still wasn't exactly a silent pursuer: he was panting heavily, the leather of his clothing and boots was squeaking with every step and little rocks tumbled down as he madly dashed down the mountainside. He located a clear view of the rabbit and in a flash, he was pulling the string back to his ear and taking aim. His turquoise eyes were fixed on the center of his prey's body, zeroing in on his target. He was so focused that he didn't even hear the crumbling sound associated with rocks as he let his arrow fly.

Suddenly, everything came apart as the ledge he had been standing on crumbled under his meager weight. His arrow flew home, hitting the rabbit in the stomach and killing it instantly, but Cernunnos was more preoccupied with struggling to right himself as he tumbled down the mountainside, wings fluttering uselessly until finally, he stopped rolling head-over-heels as he was thrown to Earth one last time.

He lay there, winded, for a minute, before forcing himself into a standing position and dusting himself out as best he could. There was a bruise on his left cheekbone, he was bleeding from a cut on his hand and he was dusty and disheveled, but he still had to eat, so he climbed over to the rabbit and removed his arrow from it, sticking it into his quiver and picking his meal by its hind legs.

[Keelin Wilde]

Even with her eyes closed, Keelin could see and sense the rabbit as it moved through the rocks. She had been tracking it for some time, but her limited sense of prediction had not alerted her to someone else that may have been following it. This was how Keelin always hunted, using her sense of prediction to judge where an animal may move to. Then she would shoot an arrow into it and be away with the rabbit for her supper. At least... that was how she planned it to be, though it didn't always work. Taking aim in the direction her inner sight told her to fire, Keelin knocked the arrow and drew back on the string. Breathing evenly to steady the bow, Keelin loosed the arrow and watched it soar, tracking the path of the red flights of the arrow so that she didn't loose it.

The exile nearly swore out when the arrow merely struck a rock and made the rabbit dart out and away. Keelin grumbled and retrieved her arrow, shoving it back in her quiver before setting off it hot pursuit of the direction of the rabbit. Her pet Harpy Eagle, Ari, soared over head with a loud screech, telling her off for not having set him after the rabbit instead. Ari was a natural hunter, and Keelin often took advantage of his skills... but Keelin needed the practice. Her brothers had always been better archers than her... Keelin was better at the lyre, but when you live in exile, you have to pick up new skills in order to survive.

Ari screeched at her again, making her look up as she ran, scolding her again for not having let him hunt for her.
"You think I don't know that?" Keelin shouted at the bird, already irritated enough that she had missed the infernal rabbit that was targeted to be her dinner. Keelin had not eaten properly from three days by now, and the scraps of meet that she had for Ari were running out too. Keelin remembered her lessons from when she was young and took a deep breath to calm herself before she rounded a corner, sliding on a series of rocks. The young woman stifled a scream as she fell in a tangled heap in her cloak and wings. Her wings were pitch black with a few white feathers speckled across them to match her raven coloured hair. Keelin quite often wore a cloak now to keep her wings hidden, but when her klutz habits decided to act up, wings and cloak together did not make it easy to disentangle herself.

After about five minutes of being sprawled on the ground Keelin managed to stand up, dust of her cloak and then set off again at a calm walk. The girl figured that she had to accept that the rabbit was long gone by now. When she finished rounding the corner Keelin had her hood raised and saw an unexpected sight. The rabbit! In the clutches of another! Keelin raised her bow and knocked an arrow, pulling the string to half draw.
"Do you think it's okay to take someone else's rabbit?" she called out, standing on a rock ledge higher up from her opponent. “That rabbit is mine. Now hand it over!”

The Harpy Eagle, Ari, landed on her shoulder with a flutter of feathers and studied the other hunter suspiciously. Moving his head side to side, Ari decided that he didn't like Keelin's opponent and stretched out his wings, screeching loudly in protest.