[TheLadyAerowen]

Alearindu watched as Tane trotted on his horse away from her. He had a point. If any Ranger really wanted to go on this hunt, they wouldn’t mind her being their leader. After all, there was only going to be one team of Rangers.

Alearindu mounted Mornen, and headed over to the camp. As soon as she got there, she started to glance around; looking for any Rangers who might want to go on the hunt. It was late morning, so she had some time. She spotted one Ranger, dismounted Mornen, and jogged over to him.

“Excuse me, fellow Ranger?” He looked over at her. “I was wondering if you were interested in joining the hunting team for the Rangers.” The look on the Ranger’s face made Alearindu think he thought she was jesting.

“I don’t know if I’m interested. Why would I want to be on your team?” He responded with emphasis on ‘your’.

Alearindu raised an eyebrow. “Well. I guess you don’t want go on the hunt so much, then. Or else you wouldn’t mind me being your leader.” Having said this, Alearindu turned the opposite way, and began to walk away.

Alearindu heard him sigh, and then call out to her; “Lady, wait. I’ll join the team.” Alearindu somewhat winced at him addressing her as Lady, but smiled nevertheless.

Alearindu turned around and smiled at him. “Good. Be back at the settlement an hour after midday.” The male Ranger nodded, and Alearindu went on her way. She found two more Rangers talking amongst themselves. After a slight hesitation, they both accepted her invitation. Her team now consisted of four; including her. She was going more for a five or six person team. Alearindu rounded up another Ranger, who wasn’t going to join the team until she mentioned that there was already three other men on it. The last Ranger had watched Alearindu discuss with the previous, and came over to her asking to be on the team. Alearindu gratefully accepted, and with him, she completed her team.

She was going to go to the settlement, but she saw Tane walk into his cabin. Alearindu jogged over to him and reached him before he went inside the cabin.

“We have a team for the hunt after all,” Alearindu said, grinning. “I managed to get together a team of six; Ethiner, Roharan, Sulënar, Athruin, Dínrandir and myself. I really didn’t think I would’ve been able to manage this one.”

Tane smiled, but seemed somewhat distracted. “Good, Alearindu. I told you you could do it.”

“What are you going to do while the hunting is going on?” Alearindu asked.


“I need a small break…” he replied. “I think I’ll go out and take a ride tomorrow morning.”

“I don’t mean to rush off, but I think I need to be getting back to the settlement. I told the rest of my team to meet me there an hour after midday. Thank you, Tane, for letting me do this.” Tane nodded and slightly waved as Alearindu mounted Mornen, and left for the settlement. She arrived a little early, but she wanted to be there before the rest of her team did. As the moments passed, the team gradually came together, until finally all six were there.

“Alright. Now that we’re all here, I’ll begin.” Alearindu said. “You all know what the hunt is about, and we are to represent the Rangers in the competition. I figure we should start looking for game in the Southern section of the woods. I’ve heard from various rumours around here that the settler team is already out and in the Eastern area. Let’s not fall too far behind so let’s get going.” Alearindu squeezed Mornen’s sides, and trotted him out of the settlement.

Once they reached the woods at the Southern border, Alearindu urged Mornen into a canter, and the others followed suit. After a few minutes of riding, Alearindu slowed her horse to a quiet trot. They continued for the rest of the day without any signs of tracks or trails. There were times when they followed tracks, but came to a stream where the tracks ended, or went on a goose-chase down a wood trail to find nothing. A few hours after dusk came upon them, Alearindu made the decision to stop for camp. “We’ll start out early in the morning, and hopefully have more luck then.”

The Rangers found a small clearing in the woods that would due for a temporary night camp. They tied their horses to near-by trees, and set out their own sleeping gear. Sulënar and Roharan were the first on watch, and Alearindu was part of the third watch, with Athruin. No one and nothing bothered any of them during the night watches, and once Alearindu had awoken Dínrandir to switch shifts, she stretched out underneath the tree she had tied Mornen to, and fell into a light sleep.

As soon as the first rays of dawn peeked over the horizon, she awoke. Two of the other Rangers were already packed for the day; the ones who had had the last watch, and the other three rose shortly after Alearindu. It didn’t take the rest of them long to pack up, and once they had, it was back to the trails.

Alearindu, being in front, was the first to spot a trail of deer tracks on a trail that led to the left of the path. She motioned to it, and the Rangers dismounted their horses; the trail was too narrow and dense for them. The six of them walked slowly and quietly down the path, until they came to a small opening in the woods. There was a buck drinking water from a small stream on the opposite bank of where the Rangers were. No one or thing could have heard the Rangers, even if they were standing right beside them.

Alearindu looked back at her team, and nodded. She drew her bow, and strung an arrow. Silently pulling the string of the bow back, she whistled quietly, and the buck raised his head to see where the noise came from. That, was the opportune moment. An arrow pierced the chest of the buck, but it wasn’t Alearindu’s. She looked back and saw that Sulënar, the first and somewhat rude Ranger she had asked to join the team, had an empty bow. He smirked at her and went to retrieve their game. Alearindu released the tension of her bow and sighed. This was going to be a long day, unless she came up with some other idea.

After putting up the smoke signal, the Ranger team traveled on; deeper into the woods. Alearindu was still trying to come up with a way so that they could get the most game, when they came to a four-way fork in the road. That was when the idea struck her. “From here, I’ll mostly let you be on your own. We’ll go out in pairs; Roharan and Athruin, go west, Ethiner and I will head south from here, and Sulënar and Dínrandir; take the deer back to the area where we had the night camp and guard it there. If you manage to get any game, take it back to Sulënar and Dínrandir. Meet back at the camp a few hours after dusk. Good luck.”