The over watch team arrived quickly. Regardless of which group each hunter was in, speed was of the essence. While the thunder jaws were busy following the herd, who knew when they'd come back? The machine and organics were creatures of habit. Once they found a grazing ground, they always came back until it was freshly cleaned out. From Taellana's experience, this was the conclusion she came to. However, she had no desire to test that hypothesis. Get in and out quickly. That was the name of the game.
Helping the others load the game into the carts, Taellana looked around. It didn't take her long to notice what was missing from the gathering of hunters. Her mirror self. Alliminum. Where was she? Was she okay? Did she get separated? Numerous thoughts and scenarios played through her mind as she found the nearest over watch hunter. "Where's Ally? She was with you, right?"
The woman shrugged as she looked around. "Last time I saw her, she was watching a watcher," the hunter said. "Not sure why the elder wanted her to come along. In insult intended."
Taellana shook her head as she walked over to Kolton. "Ally's missing. I need to go look for her," she said. She checked her supplies. "I'll meet you all back at the village. Think you can manage a hunter down?"
Kolton scoffed as he nodded to the group. "We'll manage. There's extra jerky and water in my bag. Help yourself."
"I won't be gone for long."
The veteran hunter frowned. "No matter how trivial your outing, never underestimate the forest. When one drops their guard is when she'll lash out."
Taellana should've known that. She sighed as she reached into Kolton's bag and retrieved the provisions. "My sister. My worry for her trumps reason," she said. "I tried to get her out of this hunt. Unsuccessful as you can see."
"We do what we must for the village."
Taellana nodded. Checking over things, she began to head towards the over watch area. "May we meet again."
"May we meet again," Kolton said. "Come back safe. The two of you."
Taellana smiled. "We will."
It didn't take long for Taellana to reach the position the over watch team took. Seeing a number of tracks, she looked around until she saw foot depressions in the grass leading away. The hunter sighed to herself. Ally wasn't her, she just wandered off like a stupid putz.
Following the footsteps, it didn't take too long for Taellana to find her twin looking at plants and what not. Trying to reign in her temper - failing miserably - she approached her twin. "By the Paragons! Ally. Really?" Taellana walked up to her twin and turned her around to face her. "Wandering off to look at plants? Wandering off while the others are working to get the game back to the village? Do you want people to starve, sister? Our harvest wasn't good this year! And wandering off by yourself? Ally, you know what lurks out here. Dangerous things! What if a thunder jaw came back? What would you do?"
Releasing her grip from her sister, Taellana took a deep breath as she looked around. "I hope your little nature walk was enjoyable," she said. "We've leaving. Now. We hurry along, we can catch up with the others. Paragons, Ally! Honestly."