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Who: Vanyel Ashkevron
What: Hunting practise
When: Saturday morning
Where: Woods
Rating: Hardly higher than PG-13

Following his conversation with Vanyel he had decided to tag along and learn some hunting skills. He was severely lacking in that area. The most experience he had was finding traps in the woods back home. Normally he would probably not care to learn but the last nine months had taught him that everything could happen around here and so he better be prepared for anything. So he had decided to do this. Not knowing what to take along he had dressed in clothes he didn't mind getting dirty, put Clyde on a leash and head outside to wait for Vanyel to come by and teach him. he didn't know if more people would join and he had assumed it was today. All he could do was wait. To make time go by he had sat down next to Clyde and petted the German Shepard. Clyde enjoyed it and made happy noises as he strokes through its fur.

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"Yeah. It's bread with jam on," Aaron responded and gave Vanyel a "are you dumb" look.

As they went deeper into the woods, Aaron let his gaze wander. He was feeling more comfortable on horseback. He did strain his muscles a bit to clench to the horseback. But as he grew more confident he loosened up some. The woods was a strange view. It looked old, without any sign of modern lumber business, but at the same time they were strangely clean-cut.

"Alright," he huffed and glanced over. It was a bit odd to hear their conversation as if the horse were more than an animal.

What? He had never heard the term before, and he gives the teen an equally bland look in return.

Vanyel made a sound and tapped at Yfandes' neck again, the mare letting something that sounded suspiciously like a laugh from a horse's throat.

"I think this is far enough," he nodded, Yfandes stopping without an cues from Vanyel and the man dismounted easily, leaving Yfandes as she was and coming around to Aaron. He gripped Aaron's mare's reins. "Come on down. I'll hitch her and we can go in. While I do that, though, why don't you take a look around and tell me what you see?"

He just wanted a small test of Aaron's initial observation skills, but he hardly expected anything. Not thinking Aaron was stupid, but thinking Aaron was a bit like him when he had started - not a hunter, not trained to look for such things. But some people had natural aptitudes and he thought it a good idea to get a sense of that.

Aaron huffed and threw a look around. It didn't look much different from anywhere else. He had built knowledge of the forest back home but this was all new to him. He wouldn't let that show though.

As he climbed off the horse though, he lost his footing and fell down onto the floor. He got a mouth full of dirt and his body ached from the sudden impact. He groaned and got back up. He glared at the saddle and cursed under his breath. Regaining his composure and putting his temper at bay he dusted himself off, trying to seem unaffected even though he felt stupid.

"Try and lower yourself more with your arms, keep ahold of the saddle," Vanyel suggested, and otherwise did not comment on his fall. It was an acquired skill, and he was not one to make fun of someone for trying and learning.

He took Yfandes and led her aside, the golden mare following. He took the mare's reins and worked off the bridle and put her halter on, securing her with a pitch. That done, he took out a small pack fro Yfandes' saddled bags and came back to Aaron.

"Right, let's go," he clapped his shoulder and headed further into the woods, sticking to what could loosely be defined as a trail.

Aaron glared back at the other man. But he was thankful that he didn't laugh or did anything else. His temper didn't get a chance to flare up.

He followed Vanyel into the woods and kept his gaze straight ahead. He tried to walk slow and quietly. He didn't want to disturb the animals or anything.

"All right, here," he said, stopping them and kneeling down, pointing out faint tracks in the earth. They were dry and old, but they were visible, which is what he needed more than anything.

He pointed out pads and the toes, small next to slightly larger.

"A rabbit," he told him. "An adult, from the size of them. Do you see the difference between hind and fore?"

Aaron hunches down next to Vanyel and looks down at the paw prints. He's frowning slightly. The trail looked old but at least he learned something. He remembered that Zak used traps to catch rabbits. It seemed easier than following a trail. He then points at the first set of prints.

"Those should be the fore right?" he asked and squinted at Vanyel. He hopes he was right because honestly he had no clue.

Vanyel smiled, giving him credit for at least trying. It was not an easy thing to learn, to be honest, and tracks could easily get mixed between one another in similar size animals. "Correct. The back are slightly larger than the front," he pointed between them. "When they come together like this - smaller and slightly bigger, it is safe to bet it is something like a squirrel or a rabbit. Either make for a fine enough meal to catch with a snare, and if you are careful, you could sell the rabbit pelt for extra if you needed money."

"My uncle Zak used to catch rabbits for food when they were low on cash," Aaron comments and inspects the prints. He would have to try to remember those. "He used some kind of trap tho," he adds and looks up at the other man.

He nodded. "Those are common, and snares. Snares are easier to set up and travel with than traps, but traps have less chance of ruining a belt if that's what you're after." He stood and brought around one of the packs he had brought with him, pulling out a bit of thick wire. "This can be used to make a snare, along with some sticks. They're harder to bait though, so it's not as easy to draw something into them. You usually have to find their trail and set it up there."

"Alright," Aaron responds and watches what Vanyel picks out. He's not familiar with those but he does get the general gist of things. "I've heard of ant trails but I didn't know rabbits went along certain paths," he then admits.

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