[center][h2][color=888888][b]Maltar[/b][/color][/h2][/center] [center][color=888888]Spirit of the Beast[/color][/center] [hr] Being a hunter of unsavory variety prey establishes certain traits in a person. Constant vigilance was something Maltar's mentors instilled in him from a young age. Vigilance was essential to surviving their family's line of work. Naturally, this affected how easy it was for the hunter to be roused from his sleep. Faline's quiet sigh opened his eyes in the morning. He was instantly alert, but unmoving. Eyes on the ceiling, he felt gruntled for not waking up in some random location. He followed Faline's movements by sound alone as she went about her waking activities. Maltar had no real reason to be wary, as the only thing close to a threat in that place was Budi, and the Orc was more comical than threatening. The hunter would have gotten up sooner, wanted to talk with Faline while the others still slept, but he had to wait for his morning wood to subside. Thinking about dead cats did the trick, and Maltar managed to quietly leave his bed before any of the others got up. He came out of the bedroom right on que for Cook to arrive hollering loud enough to wake the dead. A one-on-one chat with Faline became quickly unlikely for the time being. His curiosity in regard to the half-Elvian woman's views on a specific matter would have to wait. He greeted Faline as she took her food, then shoved an apple in his pocket and went to the hearth to open his appointed chest with his foot while he ate his roll. Chewing lowly, his eyes narrowed charily on the weapons left for him by his mentors. He already had a crossbow with him - a handed-down gift from Thoren many years prior - and there was not another in the chest to replace it. There were, however, two new swords to replace his old short sword, and what appeared to be a type of gauntlet-style retractable blade. The new weapons, especially the gauntlet blade, seemed to be specifically designed for covert defense. Both the gauntlet and short swords appeared more advanced than any weapons Maltar had previously used. All three blades were crafted from steel he hadn't seen before and enchanted with an inscription that he [i]did[/i] recognize, sigils to prevent the steel from dulling. Maltar had to wonder why Thoren and Marya felt the need to provide him with this sort of stylized weaponry. Not that he was of the mind to complain about weapons that could only improve the hunt. Once his chary passed, he stuffed the last of his roll in his mouth and took his new weapons from the chest. [color=888888]"Yeah, I'm ready, but hey,"[/color] Maltar answered Faline as he turned to her, fastening the gauntlet to his forearm while regarding her own weapons, [color=888888]"Nice quiver, I like it. Like your bow, too,"[/color] he glanced Faline over with a small grin, [color=888888]"nice curves."[/color]