The Water Sprite

The Hunter

Crouched low behind the tall ferns, her clothing melded easily with her surroundings.  Her eyes were closed to mere slits and her breath shallow as she watched the creature slowly amble past towards the blackberry bushes to feast.  It sensed nothing of her presence, it merely continued passed just a few inches away.

The soft breeze carried her scent behind her, so she knew the creature would not notice her.  Waiting for it to stop moving, she silently and effortlessly drew back her bow and steadied her hand as she continued to watch its movements.

Lowering her head slightly to sight her target, the creature paused.  Its head shot around to look directly at her, its small body shivered slightly.  But seeing nothing, it slowly turned to continued until it reached its destination.  A row of blackberry bushes that grew wild in that part of the forest along with fruit trees that the animals would eat when they fell from the branches.

Suddenly the air broke with the snap of the arrow flying off its bow and straight into the creatures head killing it instantly.

Bai Qians archery skills had improved so much, that she never missed her target, and having eaten so little meat of late, she was hungry.

She only ever hunted the animals when she needed nourishment, otherwise she ate the fruits and edible roots that grew plentiful in the thick forest that surrounded her home.

Learning to hunt and gather edible plants had been a necessity, and she learned from the animals themselves.  

"If you are not sure if you can eat it or not, then pay attention to the wildlife."

This voice she sometimes heard in her head from a memory long ago, would come to her when she needed it the most.  Her first few months had been exceptionally hard, but a voice that seemed to be surrounded in water, one she had a vague recollection of, would sometimes come back to her.

So this is exactly what she did.  She studied the animals, the birds and even the insects.  If it was good enough for them, then its good enough for me, she thought to herself.  She even learned what plants to avoid by noticing how they would all scoot around them, and she learned which ones held healing properties by the way they would rub themselves on certain leaves or bark if they were injured.  

She even learned how to make her own hides, by watching how they buried their dead.  These creatures were full of knowledge and ancient wisdom, that they constantly surprised her.  Watching as a small family of beaver dragged their deceased loved one to a hole they had dug out, she then watched as they urinated on the body before stripping nearby fronds from the tall ferns to cover the body.  Once done, they then pushed him into the hole before covering him with the dirt.

Not understanding why they would do that, she decided to come back and check on the body when she next visited.  It was several days later when she did come back, and the first thing she did was unearth the body.  Immediately she noticed that the remains had not only decomposed, but the hide was preserved quite well, but most importantly, it had very little smell.  The fronds had acted as a kind of sieve which soaked up the scent of the urine which in turn, drew the scent of decomposition into itself leaving the hide intact while protecting the body from being found by other animals and dug up.

With this knowledge she learned how to make hides using her own urine and fern fronds to preserve them, while at the same time, creating a kind of barrier that masked her scent, so she could hunt undetected.

All of this knowledge she put to good use.  With the fat from their bodies, she melted it down to create oils for cooking and for making her own medicinal balms.  Soaking the leaves and bark she learned held healing properties in the oils she made, she then sieved off the oil through the the thin strips of lace she had cut from her dress, leaving only the oil which took a few hours to settle.  But when it did, she had a workable healing balm that she used to heal her cuts and abrasions that would sometimes happen if she was not careful.