A Reset

After a somewhat brisk ride, Ava saw Vaylah, who turned around and waved at her, holding up a pheasant in her hand, "Seven!"

Rolling her eyes, Ava trotted the horse over to Vaylah and pulled out a tusk, and tossed it to Vaylah, who caught it with a dark expression. "Where the hell did you find a boar in this season?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Ava said, "Found it by the riverside, got lucky, I guess. Don't think Betsy is going to be able to carry much more, though." Patting the horse's mane, Ava pointed at the bag before grabbing a carrot and feeding it to Betsy, who let out a satisfied neigh and lightly stomped a hoof.

Riding to Ava's side, Kayla opened up the burlap bag and sighed when she looked at the meat. "Looks like a young one too. Fresh boar meat from a young sprout…" Glancing down at her bag Vaylah could only let out a sigh. Although the rich folks in town liked all sorts of exotic games, the small critters they had caught couldn't be considered much in front of a boar. Although Ava had cut off the tusks and didn't bring back a full head, which lost some of the value, the meat itself was worth quite a pretty penny, considering that it was from a younger animal.

Then, if she sold the tusks as well… Rolling her eyes, Vaylah let out a sigh before saying, "Alright, let's have back and deposit some of our catches first. We'll come back after. I'm not convinced I can't beat one measly boar."

Nodding, Ava smiled before tossing up a tusk and catching it. Blinking her eyes, she asked in an innocent tone, "How much do you think it'll sell for if I have the tusks made into daggers?"

Her expression darkened, and Vaylah snorted before pulling on the reins and leading the way.

Smiling, Ava followed after.

After meeting Arlo and passing on their spoils, they stopped for a quick snack break before heading back into the forest to try to make the most of the day before the sun went down.

Hoping to find some more interesting prey, Vaylah led them down a slightly different path closer to the riverside in hopes she would get a lucky catch like Ava had. But unfortunately, a rabbit and a rodent later, Vaylah was left somewhat disappointed. "Jeeze, why are you so lucky today."

Smiling, Ava placed the grouse she had caught into her bag and patted it. Although Vaylah had only caught a rabbit and a rat, she had had a bit more luck on this afternoon trip and had found a quail, a rabbit, and a grouse, giving her a slight lead over Vaylah's pickings in the afternoon. Then, adding the fact that she had gained a lot more in the morning… it was looking a bit hard for Vaylah to turn things around.

Rolling her eyes, Vaylah thought for a second before saying, "I'm not convinced. How about we split up? For everything we got up to now… how about we call it even and start counting anew?"

Faced with this shameless request, Ava let out a small smile and said, "Are you sure?"

A shiver ran down her spine. Vaylah puffed her cheeks before saying, "Alright, I admit it's a little bit unfair for you. How about this, no matter win or lose, I'll buy the boar meat off of you and get someone to polish the two tusks into two throwing knives for you. Deal?"

Letting out a nod, Ava agreed.

Smiling, Vaylah nodded her head and said, "It's a deal then. We can meet up where we had lunch in…" Looking up, Vaylah thought for a moment and said, "Two hours then." Before kicking at the side of the horse and yelling, "Hyah!" and heading off into the forest.

It wasn't just shamelessness that had allowed Vaylah to make a bet, but also confidence. Although she was now only a slightly better shot than Ava, she was still a much better rider and could move much faster on her own than if she was moving around with Ava. This didn't really have much to do with talent but simply her trust in her horse and her own ability to brace for a fall should anything go wrong.

Looking down at Betsy, Ava lightly patted the horse before leading her to go to the side. Thinking about the time, it was just right for her to check her three traps and take a little stroll around in the meantime.

Of course, while Vaylah had confidence in her ability… Ava had her own confidence. Although she had only set up three traps, she didn't really need all that much yield. Just a prey or two was enough for her to go even with Vaylah, as long as she caught a thing or two along the way. Adding to the fact that her traps were set up for slightly larger animals, which meant that any rodents wouldn't get the best of her, Ava was fairly confident that even if the two ended up with the same number of prey, hers would be a bit higher in quality overall.

Making a round, Ava was pleasantly surprised to find that two of her traps had sprung and caught her a fox with a beautiful red pelt, as well as a rather plump goose that had wandered a bit too far. Shooting both through the eye, Ava bagged them and added them to her other spoils.

Returning back to camp, Ava saw Arlo was waiting and let out a small wave before heading inside and leading Betsy to her stable to rest before entering a private room that Vaylah had reserved for her and changing out of her dirty clothes before going to the sitting room and grabbing a snack and relaxing.

A little while later, Vaylah arrived and entered the room with a triumphant smile on her face.

Looking up from the miniature sandwiches she was eating, Ava gave Vaylah a glance before returning her attention to the food. "You have dirt on your lip."

Startled, Vaylah raised her finger and rubbed off some dirt before quickly blushing and heading upstairs to change.