Notes of the Forest

The duo are both relieved when Gil'ga agrees to accompany them, though, now they just needed to see if Zul'meshii would come too. They'd be willing to go with just Gil'ga, but having another set of hands to assist would be appreciated, especially since this concerns life or death... Well, for everyone other than Luca.

Fortunately, Gil'ga knew the vague location of Zul'meshii since they'd arrived at the hunting grounds together before splitting up. Apparently, they did this to drive any escaping prey into the other, maximising their success rate.

Luca thought it was a good strategy, even if it required excellent coordination to pull off, aswell as a good sense of where the other would be at all times.

Gil'ga leads them to the adjacent hunting grounds before pulling something out from the pouch on his hip... A bone? No... A flute fashioned from one. He places it to his lips and starts playing a single rough note, changing it to another after a few seconds before returning to the previous one.

He continued this until he was out of breath, the notes having been played continuously without break.

"Er, what's that for?" Luca asks, his curiosity piqued.

Gil'ga grins at him, "It is so we can contact each other, see how I played it? That means that he should come to me immediately." he explains.

"Would that not make it easy for any Karaskir to find you?" she asks, the threat of the other tribe still fresh on her mind.

Gil'ga nod, "It would, but finding the origin of the noise is difficult without practice. That, and we have other sounds that alert each other to enemies. You do not live to our age without being careful after all." he says with a light smile.

The sound of rustling leaves and branches draws the groups attention, the relatively short form of Zul'meshii coming into view, the man walking in with his bow at the ready and an arrow already knocked.

"Hmmph?" he murmurs questioningly.

Gil'ga chuckles and gives a light punch to his chest, "Words Zul, use them."

"Hmm, no." he states, getting smirks from Sarr'ina and Luca.

Gil'ga looks at them, "Do not worry about him, he would never say anything if he could manage it. No one knows why and he will not say." he shrugs.

"Hmm?!" he sounds nodding at the two while glancing at Gil'ga.

"They are here to ask you whether or not you wanted to try and kill the monster of the cursed waters, I have already agreed to join them."

Zul'meshii just nods and pats his bicep, looks like he'd also be accompanying them. Luca didn't know how strong he was as he wasn't all that intimidating compared to the other hunters... He was relatively short with a thinner build than most. He probably made up for it with skill though? he thought to himself.

"We can head there now if you are ready? Better to finish it before my father starts asking questions." Sarr'ina says.

"It depends on if you both are ready... You must be completely sure that you are in the best condition to fight, I will now lead you to your deaths, not just because I care for you, but because Sarr'vuln will make me follow you." Gil'ga explains as he gives them an appraising look. Luca could tell that any sign of weakness or hesitation and he'd send them straight back to the tribe.

"We are ready, we'll kill the monster and drag its corpse back to show everyone our accomplishment." Luca states with a determined look, he'd not allow his home to be destroyed by those wolf-fucking savages, and if that meant he'd have to kill a giant frog then so fucking be it!

Sarr'ina walks beside him and holds his hand, nodding at Gil'ga, "We can do it."

"So be it... Lead the way and tell us anything you know about the monster." Gi'ga says after finding their resolve satisfactory.

As they walk Luca explains to the two more experienced hunters that they should do their best to avoid any fluids produced by the frog, most of the inhabitants of the cursed waters were incredibly poisonous, so it was likely that anything from the monster was just as bad or perhaps even worse.

Sarr'ina also told them about her own encounter with it, the fact that its tongue was incredibly strong, accurate, and able to stick to things it touched. She wanted them to keep their knives ready incase they get caught by it as they'd stand no chance breaking free of its grip without severing the thing.

She didn't even know if it'd grown back after her last confrontation with it, it wasn't a natural creature so she wouldn't reject the theory of it having incredible healing capabilities.

They also suggested good places to target the creatures from Sarr'ina's descriptions, its large bulbous eyes would be an easy target for one, damaging its hind legs would cripple its movements, and if they also severed its tongue then it'd be a sitting duck, allowing them to bombard it with arrows until it eventually perished.

Luca honestly couldn't help but feel anxious as they got closer and closer to their destination, strangely, he didn't think it was due to fear for himself... But for the rest of his group. His immortality made worrying about any threat to himself rather pointless, it was weird to feel like this for someone else, so perhaps it was just pre-battle jitters?

In his high-alert state, he did notice that Gil'ga and Zul'meshii were sending glances to one another and smiling as if they'd just been told a joke. He hoped that whatever was so amusing to the duo wouldn't affect their hunt...

Sarr'ina looks to him and gives a nervous smile, apparently echoing his sentiments. "We will be fine Lu." she reassures him. Though, by the way she keeps checking the condition of her arrows and bow, she wasn't all that sure herself.