Chapter 3: II. The Gathering
The day of gathering has arrived. All of the younger elves gathered at the town colosseum situated just a few kilometers away from the town and near the forest. Almost the entire town was there. Elves who are participating are armed with either a bow and arrow or guns. They also sport their family arm band, an indicator that they are the chosen proud representatives of their household. Amongst the elves who are joining are their parents with them.
A young elf was there with her parents. Her mother was fixing up her arm band to show the family crest and making sure it would not fall off. Meanwhile her father was making sure her weapon, an old hunting rifle would not malfunction during the event. As her parents finished with what they were doing they talked to their daughter one last time.
"This is a race. But that doesn't mean you have to come first." Her mother assured her.
"If you can't finish first, make up for it by hunting as many as you can. If you found a rabbit make sure to remove the foot from the joint. If you can find a bigger bird, it'll give you more points and less weight than killing smaller once." Her father advised.
"I'll remember." the elf replied.
"Oh, and when you hunt a deer. Don't cut the entire antler, it'll slow you down, just enough for the committee to recognize." Her father added.
The elf was nervous. She wasn't much of a hunter but she was chosen by her family because they know that she has the potential. Her parents were filled with pride. The colosseum was packed. It was also loud with overlapping voices of parents and children talking. Everyone was filled with pride, except for a family just a few steps away from the young elf.
"I told you mom. Dad gave me the band and the equipment" A female elf sharply replied to her mother.
"I can't believe your father gave you that without consulting me." Her mother looked at her father.
"Well Syun is old enough. And I believe she can finish the race better than we did back in our day." Her father replied.
The family continued to argue with each other. The young elf looked at them and back at her parents.
"Who's that?" The elf asked her mom.
"That's Syun, and her mother, who doesn't want her to join the gathering."
They wanted to expand their conversation but the fanfare has played and all non participants must leave and proceed to the viewing gallery. The young elf smiled and kissed her parents as they wished her luck. As the parents left the colosseum grounds all looked at the stage where the town's leader stood. He was draped in traditional elven attire. The crowds cheered and he raised his hand motioning everyone to attention.
"Greetings everyone, today is a special day for all elves. Today is the day we celebrate The Gathering." he announced as he raised his hand. Then he continued his speech. Most of the youth ignored him wishing it'll be over, others listened patiently.
"The gathering might be a race of the fittest youth here. But remember this is also a test of your hunting capabilities. That is why this is held in the first week of the hunting season. All of the wild animals in the forest have a designated point with regards to our elder's guidelines" He gave emphasis on one crucial part.
"So it doesn't matter if you reached here first, if you came empty handed you might lose to someone who arrived last but has a bounty full of trophies." He continued and thanked every household for upholding such a long running tradition. He thanked their gods, particularly their hunting god, to provide the youth with a wonderful catch. He looked at the elders and then the youth.
"As the town head I declare the five hour of the gathering open! Good luck and may you have a great catch" He said to close. The fanfare played again. A ceremonial archer fired an arrow that then exploded into fireworks. This was a cue for everyone in attendance to cheer and those who are participating to run.
The young elf ran as well, but she was pushed aside by those faster behind her. The people passing her by continued but she pushed back and ran. She was like a snake slithering through the sea of elf trying to run into the forest. As they got near they suddenly were slowed down by the narrow path leading up to their destination. As the bottleneck started to fill the young elf was again pushed back. But she remembered her father's words. 'If you can't finish first, make up for it by hunting as many as you can'.
Everyone who entered the forest drew out their arms and moved away from each other as possible. Some moved together in groups. The young elf waited patiently as she got inside the forest. As she got out she pulled out her rifle putting it close to her chest and ran due west where only a handful headed. Because she was in the path where there were less people hunting she managed to hunt down a few birds. She killed and bagged the bodies on her backpack. She continued at a steady pace.
Then she saw a peacock. The elf froze in awe, it was a big one. But she unfroze when she remembered her father's advice with regards to big birds. She followed the peacock until it landed on a clear part of the forest. She stalked it, pulled out her rifle. Her moves was silent, then she fired at the peacock. It dropped dead. She surveyed the area to check if there were other animals. When it was clear she moved towards the peacock, she double checked if it was dead. Knowing that it was dead she prepared to bag the bird. As she finished up a loud bang hit her head.
The hit knocked her back to the ground. Then a male elf joining the gathering walked up near the peacock and placed it in his bag. The elf saw this and waited for the male to lower his body. She stood up and jumped behind the male and put him into a chokehold. They both struggled. The male grunted as he stood up and fell on his back. The impact made the young elf release his grip from the male. The male then stood on top of him and began to choke her.
"And here I thought I wouldn't kill any elf here" The male said. "You might be wondering, this is not in the rules... well the rule said to hunt. And I am hunting. The hunter" He continued.
The young elf struggled to remove the choke. Then she stopped and tried another plan. She frisked around her pants looking for something. Then she found a stun gun. She activated it and stunned the male choking him. The male was knocked unconscious. She coughed a little, went to the male and shocked him again. Double tapping the man.
"Prick" She said with a raspy voice kicking his head.
She picked up the peacock and continued. She walked a few steps and she saw a small ravine. The young elf decided to follow the ravine. After a few steps she saw a deer eating. She stopped at her tracks and stalked the animal. As she pulled her gun a flock of birds landed on her backpack. She tried to scare them away. But as the birds were not flying from the soft scare she was forced to shout at the birds. Her voice spooked the deer. She fired in only grazing the deer's leg. The deer ran in fear.
"Great" She said to herself as she got up and chased after the deer.
It only took her a few minutes to catch up to the deer. She wrestled it to the ground and with her hands on the head, she snapped the deer's neck killing it. She took a moment to catch her breath. The young elf stood up. And looked around, which proved to be a good thing.
She witnessed a great elven bear devouring a few elves. The bear was twice as tall and thrice as large as a grizzly bear. It was common knowledge that the great elven bears have very thick, nearly invincible skin. With only a small weakness under its chin.
The bear finished the arm he's eating. Let a small growl. His eyes dead set on the female elf.
"Oh boy" The young elf stood for a moment. She has two options, fight or flight.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone