NOVEL FROG Chapter 722 – On the Hunt
“Contrary to popular belief, members of a hunter-gatherer society often possess more free time compared to those of an agricultural society. While such societies do constantly hunt and gather for their continued sustenance, typically it would be different groups that went out on different days.
As a result, a typical hunter in such a society might spend three to four days of the week out on a hunt and the rest of the time leisurely resting, compared to the often endless tasks that a farmer or a rancher need to take care of every single day.” - Excerpt from a dissertation by Leigh Wainwrought, sociology scholar at the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 695 FP.
The morning after the welcome feast, the orcs showed their resilience by going through life as normal, despite the heavy drinking of the previous night. Amongst the group, Rhys was incapacitated by a bad hangover, though the others weren’t much worse off in comparison since they had better tolerance to alcohol or could straight up ignore its effects.
Since Rhys was indisposed, Celia accompanied him as the orcish clan continued on their travels. Aideen’s group had caught up with them while they were on their way to their summer hunting ground, which was still around another week’s travels or so when they stopped for the feast. The Bloodfangs continued their journey the next day, while at the same time sending out hunting parties that would catch some game and catch up with the clan later on.
Aideen decided to bring Kino, Áine, and Eilonwy to accompany one of the hunting parties, which were mostly orcish youths. Juuka and Uria happened to be part of said group, so they had some familiar faces to break the ice as the two young orcs helped introduce them to the rest of the hunters while they traversed the plains in search of prey.
Unlike when on patrol, the hunters were on foot, as the more carnivorous of their mounts might drive away prey just by their presence. One of the older hunters explained to the girls that they would typically take a route that transcribed a half-circle, so that they would intersect with the clan’s caravan by the sunset to bring their hunted prey back.
The caravan itself moved rather slowly since the beasts of burden were weighed down or pulled wagons full of the clan’s belongings, so the hunters were easily able to match their pace despite taking a longer route, even with the time taken for the hunt itself.
Together, the hunting group – a total of seventeen people, with the addition of Aideen and the three girls – walked through the tall grass of the prairie. The grass reached only up to their ankles in some areas, whereas in others it went as high as their chests or shoulders, or even taller. Throughout the journey they kept their eyes open in search of prey along the way.
After several hours of walking briskly, they finally ran into a herd of grazing antelopes. The group immediately called for a halt. They were situated downwind from the antelopes, far enough away that the grazing animals were unaware of their presence at the moment. That would change if they got too close or if the wind changed directions, however.
Without a spoken word, the orcish hunters nocked arrows to their bows. Orcs were well-known for their archery skills and their use of bows so heavy that the arrows they launched were able to defeat even plate armor, so their weapons were simply overkill for hunting creatures like these antelopes. On the other hand, since larger beasts like thunder lizards were amongst what the orcs considered prey, their preference for such heavy bows made more sense.
After all, even for the smaller giant lizards it would take a great amount of power to propel an arrow deep enough to cause a potentially fatal wound.
Áine and Eilonwy brought out javelins from their storage rings. The longer limbs and lanky build of elves made using bows somewhat more difficult for them, as their arms would be positioned in a less than ideal manner to use most bows. On the other hand, they excelled at using throwing weapons, and the two were trained in the use of javelins themselves.
One of the older orc hunters noted that and gestured at the two to aim towards the head or the heart of the beasts. They were hunting for sustenance, after all, so they purposely avoided aiming too close to the abdominal areas of the animals in question. A poor shot through the abdomen might rupture the stomach, intestine, or gallbladder, all of which would taint the meat, a thoroughly undesirable outcome.
After both girls nodded their understanding, the hunters took deep breaths and calmed themselves down. Antelopes were skittish creatures so they would only get one shot before the herd bolted, and on foot, there was no way for them to catch up to the fleeing creatures. The result of their hunt would be decided within their first and only shot.
The oldest hunter waved his hand as a signal, and the other hunters drew their bows in unison, each one aiming at their own target. At the same time, Áine and Eilonwy twisted their bodies around to give as much force as they could to their throws. Everyone loosed their projectiles at their chosen target within roughly a single breath’s worth of time, the first projectile still in the air when the last was loosed.
Those projectiles struck the antelopes like a swarm of angry bees, the creatures reacting far too late. The orcish hunters had focused on three antelopes, all of which were taken down by multiple arrows to the chest, some of which went through the hearts or lungs of the creatures, killing them swiftly before they even realized what happened.
Áine’s and Eilonwy’s javelins were slightly slower than the arrows, so the antelopes had started to bolt away by the time the javelins reached their target. The two sisters had expected that, however, and aimed their javelins accordingly. Eilonwy’s javelin landed first, striking the hind leg of an antelope that was just about to bolt, halting it on its tracks.
Áine’s javelin landed a moment later, piercing accurately through the same antelope’s head from behind and ending its life in an instant.
