Another one.

Sarr'vuln watches as Luca and Sarr'ina leaves the hut and slumps into the hide covered wooden chair he'd been sitting in. He didn't regret his harsh words towards Luca as he felt that it was imperative that he stop relying on his daughter for everything. It had been a while since Luca had arrived and Sarr'vuln felt that Luca was capable of taking care of himself at this point, he knew that people seek comfort in things that remain the same. He thought that this was the primary reason Luca hadn't become more independent yet, there were a few other thoughts such as him not being smart or strong enough but after seeing his improvements Sarr'vuln didn't think that was the case.

Another thing that bothered him with Sarr'ina's confusing care and affection for him, she had never met him before and Sarr'vuln didn't see any qualities that would attract her to him... At first he thought it was an interest in his peculiar looks as he himself had never seen dark red hair before, nor his pale skin complexion. However as time went by he didn't see her affection waning at any moment, leaving him worried for his daughters future prospects. He didn't care who she ended up up, only that they were able to provide for and protect her. Something that couldn't currently be said for Luca, which was why he was forcing the boy into such a situation. Yes they tribe was nearing war but a single person not pulling their weight wasn't that big a deal, nor was it uncommon. However it was a good excuse to get him motivated and hopefully eventually strong enough to protect his daughter should she choose to continue this path.

Even if he doesn't manage to survive on his own Sarr'vuln wouldn't let him die, he'd simply give him another role that isn't hunting but no before forbidding Sarr'ina from interacting with him, that was his role and responsibility as a father.

Luca had just woken up in his hut and knew today was going to be a terrible one.

*Rumble*

His stomach rumbles, pleading to it's own for some sustenance but Luca only has a couple berries left over from his stash. He slowly pops them into his mouth, enjoying the taste of each and everyone of them, he's left with a couple left but he remembers Sarr'ina's words and gains a determined expression, he puts them back in their pouch before tying it around his waist and deciding to not eat them. His hunger still hadn't subsided but he simply used the feeling to push himself forward and deal with it. He wraps his bearskin around himself, grabs his spear and leaves his hut.

Outside he notes that all of the hunters are gone with the only combat-able people either watching the herd of sheep or patrolling the outskirts of the village. Instead of looking around for Sarr'ina like he'd usually do he walks to the lake and takes a few deep gulps of water, it isn't food but it's something to fill his stomach with which soothes his hunger pangs slightly.

He takes one last look at Sarr'vulns hut before finally leaving towards the hunting grounds. He walks for a few miles before deciding that this place is devoid of any other hunters, he sits on a stump and thinks over his plan for today. Obviously traditional hunting isn't going to work for him and placing snares everywhere would prove counter productive as the predators would eat his catch before he managed to check all of them... He gets up and walks around for a while before finding a patch of grass that looks pretty heavily used by small animals, Luca retrieves some of the nettle plant fibre that he'd made into string with the assistance of Sarr'ina and makes a snare by snapping a few pieces of wood into shape and using them as the foundation.

He steps back and examines the snare he'd made, it took almost an hour as he was a complete novice but it looks like it would be functional... With the path being commonly used he suspected he'd catch something, whether or not it'd stay, be eaten or escape by itself was another matter entirely.

Deciding to stay near his near in case it catches anything he pulls out a couple berries and lay them down on a stump that's sitting in the daylight, making it incredibly visible to any animal around and especially birds. Once done he simply sits still and quiet to wait for something to buy the bait....

Luca waits for another hour or so before he spots a bird glaring down at the berries, he readies his spear but as it's flying down he hears something making a lot of noise behind him, where his snare is... While his attention is away the bird manages to fly down, eat the berry and retreat again, causing Luca to scowl at it. "Whatever, I couldn't catch a bird but hopefully the snare worked..." he mutters to himself as he starts walking over to it.

He peeks over the bushes and sees his snare in pieces on the floor... Apparently whatever it had caught was too big to contain, Luca had no idea what animals were around here besides the few that he had personally seen so he was seriously worried about what it may be. However as he's thinking about retreating his stomach rumbles again... With starving being a possibility he quickly sets the snare back up and sneaks back into the bushes, only to feel something bite onto his ankle causing him to panic and jump away. He holds his spear tightly and looks around rapidly to see what'd attacked him but doesn't spot anything... Examining his leg he sees two puncture marks which are oozing blood... "Snake... Oh fuck... fuck, fuck fuck FUCK!" he shouts, as he feels the venom beginning to spread up his leg. It didn't hurt at first, only feeling like a hot pressure however it quickly became a burning sensation that made him feel as if his leg was on fire.

Luca sweats heavily at the pain and falls backwards onto the forest floor, he starts getting spasms in his leg but continues to panic as he feels teh sensation slowly travelling up his body. It reaches his abdomen and his shouts of pain might have even reached the village with how loud they were. Tears stream down his face as snot and saliva follow them and collect on the forest floor. The pain reaches his ribs and his other leg, the pain is so great he can barely move.

Eventually the sensation reaches his chest and Luca feels something give out, as if his body didn't wish to function anymore. Instead of the burning pain of the venom it was sharp and deep and it's location was where his heart was... He only had a few seconds after that until he lost consciousness.

...

...

A couple hours later as the day is slowly drawing to a close Luca wakes up with a gasp, he pats himself all over and scans the surroundings to makesure everything is ok... This is the first time he knew what had happened... He died, it was as simple as that. He felt the venom, he felt the pain, he felt his heart stop... He feels bile in his throat from thinking about it but swallows it back down, he wasn't hungry anymore which was a positive, however the pain he'd experienced and the memories of dying definitely was not worth it.

He takes a couple minutes to get his breathing in order and calm himself, once done he looks up and sees that the day is almost done and decides to pack up and head back to the village. He could claim that he managed to hunt a squirrel or something to explain his lack of hunger... Ateast then he'd be able to keep his pride in-front of Sarr'ina and her father should the man ask.