Auriel, Eural and a cameo from Annabeth. --- “This almost feels like my job before the college.” Auriel said absentmindedly as she dismounted the horse she had been riding alongside the cart with the ballista. It was not entirely pleasant to be near the end of the convoy, but it was worth it, for one reason alone. In a convoy filled with women, there was one ruggedly handsome young man who seemed to be in charge, and riding further back meant she could keep an eye - or both eyes - on him. As they set up camp, Auriel went about stringing the longbow she had ‘borrowed’ from another student just prior to departing. It wasn’t her usual weapon of choice, but she was as much a Ghannos girl as her peers had been, and that meant some degree of skill with the weapon. It was on the upper end of what she could handle, not an immensely powerful bow but enough that she didn’t like the idea of firing too many shots, not that there were all that many in the quiver she had to accompany it. She finished the stringing the weapon just as Aramir started asking questions about their prey. She listened in, this stuff was important, though didn’t really take it as seriously as her diminutive room mate. Hunting was never a favourite pastime of hers - she was mostly here because of Eural. And perhaps the nagging feeling that it would be terrible to find out her roommate was not coming back. But she pushed that thought away as soon as it occurred, now wasn’t a good time to try and figure out why she cared. Instead she just held the bow loosely while Eural answered the questions, already coming up with her own devious plan to finish [i]her[/i] hunt in the manner she desired. Eural frowned, his eyes narrowed on Aramir, before he noted she had chosen to sit slightly away from the rest. Though she had become less tense when she began to shot off the various questions in a rapid succession. He had to admit to himself half them were rather better than he had originally expected some idle brained mages to ask. He inhaled then answered all her questions in the same order she started them, counting them off on his fingers to ensure he had gotten them. “One, hearing’s rather poor though they can feel vibrations through the ground and their perch. Two, their intelligence depends on what details you want. If you’re talking about human smart then they fall short so no, though it’s pretty damn close. If she’s seen a ballista before and it’s been used on her, then yes she would. And that will be the first thing she attacks. Three, for the pair question that’s very rare. Unless there’s hatchlings, which its too early in the season for there to be and she’s too far up north, they don’t like each other’s company. See she’s not a native here which if we’re being honest here, worries me.” Eural had just managed to get a breath in before another of the females popped off her own questions. He raised a brow and sat back, his tongue rolled alongside his cheek then spoke. “No, we’re not the first to take out the Roc. Someone in a village not far from here tried and failed which we’ve learned recently. This thing’s been traveling a rather far distance from home. As for luring it, unlikely though I was sure someone would’ve noticed something was wrong. All the way here, didn’t you realize there was a lack of animals around? I know the horses did which is why they are rather skittish. See Roc don’t kill their prey, instead they hoard them within their nests using the piled wood, branches, and more to corral such creatures in. Usually herbivores while they will eat the carnivores early in between gathering. No one wants to be taken back to a nest by her, namely because it would be your end. Now, any other questions or shall we crack on to a battle plan?” Auriel smiled as Eural finished speaking, obviously slightly annoyed by the volume of questions from his entourage of women. She didn’t have anything to add about the hunt having thought better, for a change, of mentioning that her specialty was in ruining hunts, not making them successful. Instead, she looked at Eural and drew back the bow, making an effort to stand in the wrong stance with all the wrong posture while also accentuating her body. Letting the string back slowly she said in her best ‘ignorant little girl’ voice “Should be easy.” Eural’s palm smacked into his forehead when he saw Auriel’s pose, his head slightly sting after the hit. Gods help him, he thought, why mages? He lifted his head from his hand then placed at his side, his eyes turned to her slightly amused by her confidence as from what he could see it was so clearly misplaced. He pushed himself upright and started to draw closer to the red haired elf. “First thing is first, you’re holding it wrong.” He reached behind her, gently pressing close, to readjust her fingers then her elbows into the accurate position. She was too stiff for the shoot to be of any good or actually be released farther than a cheapened few feet. Slowly he put his hands about her hips where he redirected them to the side and parallel with the arrow. Each time he was careful not give the wrong impression as he sure as hell didn’t want to be burnt to a crisp or some other magical reaction these mages could do. The exhilaration of success filled Auriel as Eural came over to her, a comically worried look on his face. Her skin tingled under the leather as he touched her hips, and a grin crept over her face when he wasn’t looking. When he reached around her to adjust her shoulder, she purposefully leaned far too far forward, crashing into him as she did. “Oops!” She said in an innocent voice. “Like this?” She said, assuming another completely incorrect posture, more exaggerated than before, winking at him as soon as she caught his gaze. Eural flinched, his lip bitten in the process when he struggled not to fall over. His eyes once more centered on her during her apology, his his mind continued its patience while he noticed her posture had again fallen into a sloppy one. This woman appeared never to hold a bow in her life which didn’t help her survival chances. Still resistant to give in, mainlynot to be force babysit her, he had almost considered giving her his crossbow instead when he caught the wink. It only took a few moments for the reality of the situation to click: the dame was playing him. Mentally he debated a few seconds before he made his choice, he moved to use his own body to straighten her own against and kept them in very close proximity. His head leaned slightly closer until it was just lingering within a few centimeters of her ear, his breath brushed against it while he whispered. “You know, there’s better ways to gain my attention then playing dumb. Though its rather clever to play me and I will admit, there’s something rather… arousing about mind games sometimes.” Slowly his hand reached around where it checked her pelvis was set according though it likely lingered slightly longer than it should’ve. Mainly to see if he understood her little clue correctly enough. Auriel enjoyed every moment of first watching him figure out what she was doing and then as he reached around her, this time without all the nobility he had tried to show before. “But none so fun…” She replied, whispering as he did. “My hunt is complete.” She continued, leaning into him as she did. “Shall we focus on finishing the real hunt so I can… enjoy the spoils of victory?” She whispered playfully into his ear. “Indeed, though I suggest one thing… Don’t die.” Eural said, his body pulled away while he teased her slightly with his finger brushing the top of her pants. His lips curled into a smirk while he returned back to the rest of the group and waited slightly for anything farther before they would finally determine their next course of action. “Let’s hope that L on your bow stands for Lucky rather than your first name…”