Kalath awakens before sunrise.

Except for the watch-standers who have made sure that no wandering predators have broken into the Stronghold overnight (or Hunters, which is to say much the same thing), she's the first of the fifty-odd survivors to awaken.

This may be for the best.  Kalath proves her worth to the Stronghold every day, because she's fast, and skilled, and sharp-eyed, and she does much more than her fair share when comes to venturing out into the wilderness of the City to bring back the game that, along with the vegetable gardens planted on the rooftops and the carefully maintained mushroom nurseries in Building Three, keep the Stronghold fed.  But this is very much a two-edged blade.

Everyone knows, has known since they were very small, what sorts of people the Call comes to.  Everyone knows, once a person hears the Call, that only those of the very strongest will can resist the temptations of the Call -- or else, to give in and surrender.  To transform.  In the end, to become a Hunter.

So the watch-standers -- today, it's Pel and her older brother Merric -- don't quite hide a little bit of relief as they let Kalath out through the gate and into the City.  And Kalath is perhaps a little bit relieved to be out in the City, in the crisp cold air and among the steep towers of the Old Time, all grown over with green and living things, where she doesn't have to put up with everyone being just slightly cautious and guarded, worrying over Kalath and if and when the Call may take her.

Kalath moves carefully through the silent avenues.  Trees and shrubs and grass and moss have long ago broken up most of the sidewalks and paving-stones into crumbled stone and gravel.  She is making for the area known as the Inner Wild, an expanse of more natural slopes and hills and a wide lake fenced in by the husks of ancient structures: the hunting is better (if riskier) in the Inner Wild as more creatures in the area.  Mind, for this reason it is more often frequented by the Hunters as well.  But there's always the chance of coming along a bird or wild fowl, or perhaps a spinewolf browsing among the old skyscrapers, before she reaches the Wild.

Suddenly, Kalath's senses prickle.  Off in the corner of her vision, she catches sight of a figure the like of which she has never seen before.  It seems to be the figure of a woman -- but the figure is all white, dressed in spotless draping robes that stand out stark against the browns and greens, unlike the clothing made from hides and furs and the occasional bit of old salvage, like Kalath and the other inhabitants of the Stronghold wear.  The figure is standing close to the corner of one of the old buildings, several intersections away from Kalath.  It seems to be looking in Kalath's direction, even though its features are indistinct: whether it is veiled, or covered by a featureless mask, is unclear from this distance.

Anything could be a threat. Anything, anyone. When her senses prickle, she snapped to alert. Almost like a cat; but that came with the territory. And her legs started to move; she almost sprinted over to where the woman in white was. She didn't speak, not yet, but she didn't attack either.

When Kalath starts moving, the white figure turns and starts to stride out of sight down the cross-road of the corner it's standing at.  It isn't moving quickly enough to make its escape or even to duck into one of the buildings, but it does go out of sight.

However, when Kalath clears the corner, the white figure is simply gone.  It doesn't seem possible; nevertheless, the figure is nowhere to be seen, and when Kalath checks her surroundings in case this was meant as some sort of ambush, she finds no trace.

Then movement catches her attention, from farther down the overrun street.  Kalath sees the form of a spine-wolf, with the telltale barbed bristles on its back.  It's some distance away, perhaps hunting for its own breakfast, and doesn't seem to have spotted Kalath -- the motion she noticed was the beast lifting its head to sniff the air.

She was still suspicious; but she couldn't afford to take the time to track it down. She didn't want to run afoul of Hunters before she got food; and she didn't want to have to go all out into the Wild.

But there! Food! Not the easiest perhaps; but might help more than simply a small animal or bird. Quick as a flash, she grabbed out her bow, and strung an arrow to the string; but she didn't fire; not yet. First, she needed to get closer. She moved closer, but ever so quietly. Hopefully the wind wouldn't carry her scent to it at this point, but the chance of that was why she had her arrow to the string already.

OOC: At work; so no books to check; but sneaking. Co-ordination + Sneaking.

08:33, Today: Kalath rolled 13 using 2d6+10 with rolls of 1,2.  Co-ordination + Sneaking.
Apparently, Sereth's dice-rolling has followed me.

Kalath sets eyes on the perfect spot where she can angle in behind the spine-wolf and get a clear shot, to take it down cleanly, she hopes.  But, careful as she is, she is only part way to her chosen blind when the overgrown rubble betrays her.  Her foot plants on a loose chunk of concrete that slides to the side with a scraping sound that cuts through the early morning silence.

THe spine-wolf looks up sharply.  It turns to look straight at Kalath.  Then it darts ahead, not at Kalath but across her field of view, toward the cover of an obscuring stand of overgrowth. Kalath knows that she and the wolf are more or less on equal footing -- and she would be a meal for it every bit as much as it would be a meal (well, more than one) for her.

OOC:

Essentially you were maneuvering to get an advantage, so the way I'll interpret that is that the creature has the chance to move and get to some cover.  It is going to try to close with Kalath; it starts out at a distance of 4.

This is certainly within her range with the bow.  Note that if you are going to move, you'll want to make a Coordination + Athletics roll, because the terrain is complicated.

18:25, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Spine-wolf, rolled 14 using 2d6+7 with rolls of 1,6.  Awareness(4) + Ingenuity(1) + Keen Senses(2).

She doesn't want to fire off at a running target. She moves firstly; to try to negate some of the cover; and then her bow is fired with a swift movement.

OOC:
09:52, Today: Kalath rolled 15 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 2,5.  Co-ordination + Athletics.
09:55, Today: Kalath rolled 14 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 5,1.  Co-ordination + Marksman.

I think I forgot something. -2 for second action on the bow.

Trav looks out the door of the TARDIS.  Her initial reaction is along the lines that civilization appears to have been and gone, on Kestartes Delta.

The TARDIS is sitting in the middle of a city intersection, or it would be, if there was a functioning city around it.  Instead, in all directions there are are the corpses of city buildings, apartment complexes and office buildings.  Concrete, brick and glass now serve as the anchors for tall pillars of vines, creepers, trees and shrubs; in many cases one can barely tell what the buildings originally were.

Nature has taken back this city with a vengeance, it seems.

Trav steps out. "I smell a mystery." She takes a deep breath of the air, and checks her guns.

"Some kind of disaster made this civilization collapse. It seems like there was massive depopulation that happened all at once - maybe over the course of a few decades. Whatever it was, it wasn't warfare or a natural disaster like an earthquake or a storm. Whatever killed this city was of a personal nature, I bet."

This reminded her of some of the cities she herself destroyed, with weapons such as mimetic plague, that made people forget the basic functions of how to eat and support themselves, and that spread through eye contact.

When you were the villain, all the more reason to be the hero, she thinks to herself. "We're looking for archives. You guys coming? Smoke, this sounds a lot like the way you described Paradise Towers."

The spine-wolf plays a canny game as it ducks and weaves nimbly through the foliage, trying to close with Kalath.

Even though she can't quite manage to keep a clear bead on it, Kalath does manage to keep the beast at a distance as it tries to move in on her.  And her shot, when she takes it, is true even though it's far from a killing blow.  The spine-wolf snarls as the arrow lodges in the shoulder of one foreleg -- and far from fear, the sound sends a thrill of excitement through Kalath.

The spine-wolf continues to come on, more angered than seriously hurt by the arrow, although Kalath can tell that the injury is beginning to hamper it a little.

OOC:

The spine-wolf took 1 wound, per bow damage for basic success.  Its Strength is higher than its Coordination, so I would figure that you would like to try to cripple it in order to make it less dangerous, by preference.

20:03, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Spine-wolf, rolled 16 using 2d6+7 with rolls of 5,4.  Closing with Kalath: Coordination(4) + Athletics(3).
20:04, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Spine-wolf, rolled 12 using 2d6+7 with rolls of 4,1.  Coordination(4) + Awareness(3) -2 (second action) +2(cover).

As noted, my thinking is that you've never actually had an Cheetah-Out episode as yet, at least not an unambiguous one.  It's not absolutely necessary that this scene cause that, but it can if you want it to.

She soon realised that she couldn't keep the wolf at a distance. She could possibly just turn and run; she was fast, but then she'd be back to hunting for food, and this prey was already hurt.

She drew out another arrow, and fired it at the beast, moving just enough to try to keep it away; but more worried about hurting it.

OOC: I'll play it by ear. If it manages to close; that can be the trigger.

11:36, Today: Kalath rolled 18 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 4,6.  Co-ordination + Marksman.

Didn't roll for athletics; as it doesn't seem likely for her to be able to keep it at distance; and actually kill it at this point.

Kalath stops her retreat, instead backing to the top of a low mound to set herself to take her next shot.  The legends of the Stronghold said that these mounds had once been unnatural machines that raced along the canyons of the City like hunting beasts, before the time had blown dirt over them and grass had take root; now they were just like graves for the world gone by.  It was true enough that if you dug one up, you found a casket of metal inside, and sometimes they contained other treasures -- or the dead.

So the injured spine-wolf comes on, and Kalath keeps her nerve until she finds the right opening, and looses.  The arrow punches through the spine-wolf's chest and out its back at an ugly angle; it yelps and blood spills from it -- sweet, hot blood that Kalath can smell from her stand on the hill.  The spine-wolf plows to a halt at the base of the mound.  Now it is struggling to try to drag its body around and perhaps get away, but plainly not all of its limbs are doing what it wants them to.

OOC:

Ignore the attack roll I made, with its already degraded Coordination it doesn't quite get to you -- down to 1 area away.  That will finish wrecking its Coordination if you like.

21:31, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Spine-wolf, rolled 13 using 2d6+6 with rolls of 2,5.  Closing with Kalath: Coordination(3) + Athletics(3).
21:32, Today: The Guardian, for the NPC Spine-wolf, rolled 12 using 2d6+4 with rolls of 5,3.  Dodging: Coordination(3) + Awareness(3) -2 (second action).
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:58, Mon 23 May 2016.

OOC: Finish degrading it's co-ordination. And then...

IC: She fought the urge to howl. She dropped her bow, and yanked out her spear, and leapt down towards the wolf; jabbing down at it as she went. -This- is what it was all about. The hunt, the kill.

OOC: Not sure rolls really required at this point but:
13:09, Today: Kalath rolled 13 using 2d6+6 with rolls of 2,5.  Co-ordination + Fighting -2 (second action) - Spearing wolf.
13:08, Today: Kalath rolled 19 using 2d6+8 with rolls of 6,5.  Athletics + Co-ordination: Closing with wolf.