[Closed] Nature is not a place to visit.

[the_effect_she_has]

WHO: Katniss Everdeen and Merrick Ashara
WHAT: A Huntin' They Will Go
WHEN: Before Katniss goes off elven ruins trekking
WHERE: Forest outside of Skyhold
NOTES: Intense people being intense.

For all her training in Skyhold, for her making of friends and settling in with her hut and her cat, it's clear to anyone who knows her that where Katniss truly feels at home is out in the woods. Cullen is the closest she has come to a person feeling like that, so is it any wonder that the moment that she and Merrick step away from the camps and into the wilderness that her eyes brighten, her walk becomes softer and more relaxed, and she seeps into the forest as if she was born there.

Which actually, she was.

Today Merrick is with her - someone she is learning to communicate with without sound, without words. Words are precious commodity, and should not be wasted. She looks over at him, gives him a small smile and lifts up her eyebrows. It's better out here, is it not? The air, the smells, everything. Even in the frozen winter - a forest is always alive

Comments

[dalishious]

Merrick doesn't romanticize the forest quite as much. He's lived here his whole life; for him, day-to-day survival had been a constant struggle, a battle against the elements. As a result, he moves through the environment as if he knows every tree, every rock, every tiny branch on the forest floor.

His ears are perked up as he listens for movement, which is both easier and more difficult in this weather. The blanket of silence creates a louder echo, but there is far less life here, and the snow muffles footfalls.

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss kept a sigh to herself, but followed after him. Rolling her feet against the ground, so she doesn't crack branches or rustle the bushes. For about the thousandth time, she wondered if she shouldn't consider training as the Dalish do, in bare feet on the snow and rough ground, so she wouldn't have to worry about how her boots were tramping around.

The snow also makes footprints obvious so she pauses, kneeling to study which animals are going in which way. There are bears, of course. Snofleurs, rams. Some fennecs. There are of course geese flying overhead. She glances over at Merrick, arching an eyebrow in silent question. What would they like to take down today?"