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Old 06-27-2007, 07:01 AM   #70
Firefoot
Illusionary Holbytla
 
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Join Date: Dec 2003
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Firefoot has been trapped in the Barrow!
Rugh understood quite clearly that the dog wanted him to follow. He was also aware, however, that he stood near the boundaries of the land of the mad woman of these mountains, and while he did not precisely fear her, he left her to her own, as he left all Tall Men to their own, and she, if she even knew of him, acted likewise.

The dog barked again, its tone urgent and demanding. Very well, then. Rugh took off at a surprisingly quick pace for his stumpy legs. After a very brief tail wag, the dog was also off and running, bounding ahead several feet before pausing to make sure Rugh was still following and let him catch up before repeating the process.

Before too long, however, the dog stopped with a yelp, not a yelp of triumph and the end of a hunt but of surprise and pain. As Rugh approached, he saw that the dog's hind leg had been caught in some sort of snare; this would be the work of that mad woman. Rugh's eyes glinted red in anger. This was no way to catch animals for a meal! How long might an animal suffer here before that Tall Woman came to kill them? Hours? Days, even? His own darts, when he chose to eat meat, caused a quick and painless death from fast-acting poison, if the shot itself from his precise aim was not enough to kill.

The mechanism of the snare was simple enough, and the dog was soon free and eager to resume the chase. Rugh watched, as the dog ran, for any sign of a limp and stewed over the Tall Woman. For if he had had any doubt, it was now gone: she might live in the wild like Wild Men, but she was still Tall Woman all through, with typical disregard for life around her.
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