"We need food," Lavinia grunted angrily. The other Marked ignore her overly obvious observation, but they couldn't ignore the fact that she was right. They were out of food, the world was frozen over, and they would all die soon if somebody couldn't think of something.
"I guess we could go hunting," Lavinia's devoted husband murmured, joining her at her barstool seat.
"What? No, John. It's too cold," Lavinia scowled firmly at her beloved. For all her wicked ways, she loved her John too much to have him needlessly risk his life trying to find something out there in the frozen weather. Humans weren't the only ones dropping like flies.
"Yeah, what would you even find?" Sarah asked from a nearby table, voicing Lavinia's thoughts. "This place has offered me the first food I've seen since the real winter!" she remarked bitterly. Behind her, Rosalie was crawling around in circles on the floor.
"Well actually, there is a good chance that we will find something, just as long as we look in the right place," Henry interrupted.
"What do you mean?" James asked, first to recover his wits. He and Tim were comparing hunting knives when Henry had spoken.
"I mean that probably, if we go to places in SC that are naturally cold, we will find something. Probably foxes, bears, or other creatures fit to deal with the cold," Henry explained. He was a hunter, so he'd know.
"But isn't that just the problem?" asked Mary, her bulldog on her lap. "SC isn't cold," she paused before sighing heavily. "At least, not this cold."
"Some places are," Edward said to her. "Henry is right. I've been there before myself. I've killed hares there!"
"But we need something bigger than a few stringy rabbits!" James argued.
"Well, you aren't exactly the best person to get advice from," Storm snickered and the others echoed the sound knowingly. They all knew James and his family were cannibals but they weren't afraid. James had vowed never to eat a Marked.
"Look, guys. None of this matters. We need food and that's the long and the short of it. It doesn't matter where we need to go or what we're going to be hunting, we just need food and we need it fast!" Tim interrupted them all, deep voice thrumming loudly. The other Marked were silenced. The man had a point. "I may be new here but I've got a big, big gun and she's ready to shoot. I just need something to shoot!" he said impatiently. It was clear that he didn't care where or what they hunted, so long as they hunted. His determination did get the others somewhat back on track and it was finally John who offered a solution. Rosalie crawled over to the fireplace, trying to warm herself with the dying embers.
"There are a few black bears native to SC. They won't be very meaty but if we can find them, who knows?" he asked. Black bears. Now that was a thought. But it was either that or humans and so far, James and his brood were the only ones who felt fully comfortable with eating a human. The others would if it came to it, but they still believed in trying to avoid cannibalism as long as possible. James hadn't felt the same. He hadn't wanted to eat humans but the moment that became a viable option, he took it. Now here he sat, listening as his comrades suggested trying to hunt animals. He had the propriety not to try and convince them just to heat human anymore.
"So black bears?" Tender asked finally. John nodded. "Ok. Sign me and Storm up."
What ensued was a mini argument over who was getting to go hunting.
"I want to go!" Edward pleaded eagerly, waving his sword. It was short but it was real. He hadn't been lying about killing several hares on it and, if his mark was true, that wasn't the only thing to meet its bitter end on Edward's sword.
"No way, you're just a child!" Mary and Johnny both frowned at him.
"So are you!" Edward protested. Johnny, Edward and Mary were 8, 10, and 12. Edward's brother and murder victim, William, had been six.
"But we aren't planning on going," Mary said. She was petting her dog while Johnny was petting his crow.
"But I want to go!" Edward argued. Rosalie had abandoned her place by the fire to watch the proceedings.
"I don't think so," John and Lavinia both denied the little boy. He looked angry but even he wouldn't test Lavinia. She was the leader of the Marked and he wasn't going to get on her bad side.
"But you all know I'm coming," Tim said, standing up with his gun already in his hand.
"So am I," Henry mirrored his movements.
"And so are we!" Tender and Storm both got up at the same time.
"Ok, hold on!" Lavinia interrupted. "Before everyone starts volunteering, we need at least a few people to stay behind and look after this place!" there was a moment of silence as glances were exchanged. Who was going to stay?
"I guess I will," James offered first. "You know I have no interest in animals."
"Ok. And somebody else is going to stay," Lavinia insisted. "Somebody needs to watch the kids and Rosalie while James takes care of the inn."
"I will," John decided finally. He didn't look too happy about being left behind but he sat back down in his seat. Lavinia's face softened.
"Thanks," she told him and he shook his head with a small smile.
"Ok, so if that's enough, everyone else can come along," Sarah said impatiently. Lavinia nodded.
"Let's go then!" Tim pushed his way to the front of their little pack and opened the door, bracing himself against the wintery draft that almost knocked him back inside. This hunting was not going to be fun by any stretch of the imagination.
At last, the hunting party reached the place Henry had been talking about.
"Are you sure there are bears here?" Sarah asked, shaking violently from the cold.
"Yes!" Henry's teeth were chattering as he shouted over the wind. "I've killed a few before. Haven't you seen all the pelts I own?"
"Quit bragging!" Tim snapped. "It's prideful and vain."
"It's prideful and vain!" Henry mimicked him angrily.
"Hey! What's that over there?!" Lavinia's shout silenced the bickering men and they all looked to where she was pointing. It was a large boulder but according to Henry, that was not as big of a letdown as it seemed.
"This is where we need to be!" Henry promised. "That rock marks some of the territory larger game likes to hide in."
"So we're just going to wait? Let's pray we don't freeze to death!" Storm muttered angrily but he didn't protest any further. Tender, who stood beside him, only continued to look for something, anything, that might be a good food source.
Finally, though, the wait did pay off. The bear that came wandering across their path was horrifically thin, just as starved as its soon-to-be hunters were, but it was still large and meaty enough to make at least a few meals for everyone.
"Ok, on my signal!" Lavinia whisper-shouted as she loaded her rifle. Sarah, beside her, copied the movement. "Three…two…one!" a mini volley of bullets struck the bear and the beast stumbled slightly but it was still far from dead.
"Don't let him get away!" Tender warned as he and Storm took the next shots while Sarah and Lavinia reloaded. Then after Tender and Storm, Henry and Tim took their own shots.
Ultimately, the group didn't need to take more than about three shots each before the bear was wounded enough to collapse. The moment the group saw it fall, Henry sprinted ahead of the others and whipped out a hunting knife, finishing the bear off quickly. Lavinia shot its head once more just to ensure that it was truly dead. As if the 20-some bullet wounds and Henry's knife hadn't ensured that already!
"Ha. That'll show him, Lavinia," Tender snorted. Lavinia ignored him as she leaned over the bear. Over her head, Storm pointed at her and rolled his eyes. Tender and Henry snickered. Sarah and Tim, meanwhile, were trussing up the bear.
"It's gonna be a long walk home," Sarah grunted, shouldering part of the beast. The others felt their spirits fall in response. The kill had been so bloody and wonderful that the realization that the real grunt work was only just starting was an unpleasant thought.
"Oh, well. It's not like we have a choice," Lavinia grunted, then she grabbed her own part of the burden and the others followed suit.
"I don't get paid enough for this," Henry grunted as he nearly dropped his part of the carcass.
"We aren't getting paid at all!" Tim gave a barking laugh.
20 minutes, the group felt frozen to death (well, more so than normal).
"It's too cold for this time of year," Henry asked growled. Storm hit him with a snowball while Sarah and Tender rolled their eyes.
"You don't say?" Lavinia sneered at him. He frowned at her.
"Let's just keep going!" Tim interrupted with another growl. He didn't want them to kill each other now. They should at least enjoy one meal from their kill before going totally berserk. His authoritative rumble hushed the others for the time being and the hunting party managed to take it home with only two more arguments and five more snowballs (three from Storm, one from Tender, and one from Lavinia who had gotten sick of the antics of the former two).
"Oh! You killed the bear!" Mary was the first to greet the hunters once they returned to the Six Mile Inn. Her bulldog jumped off of her lap as she ran over to the group, helping them drag the bear inside.
"Wow!" Edward and Johnny both went wide-eyed as the bear was dragged into the kitchen. It was small, even for a black bear, but it was still probably the largest thing they'd ever seen. Even Johnny's crow cawed in surprise.
"I'm so going on the next hunt!" John insisted. Henry and Tim laughed at him.
"Be my guest," Lavinia smirked, breathing hard as she and the others set the bear down with a loud thud.
"That should be good for all of us to have about three meals," James muttered as he mentally measure how large the creature was. Rosalie, meanwhile, had stepped out from her corner in the kitchen. Because it was after dark and the inn was officially closed, she was allowed out of her chains. She sauntered over to the group and petted the bear appreciatively, giving the hunters a massive and slightly drooling smile. The others smiled back and Storm even caressed her cheek. Behind them, Tender was rolling his eyes.
"So, how are we going to cook this thing?" Sarah asked, pulling them all back to the present as she set her rifle down beside Lavinia's.
"I don't know," Lavinia admitted. "But hey, it's ours and I'd say that's mighty impressive!" the others agreed fully.
AN: This fic was just the 1816 era characters all going out on a hunt together. It was just my excuse to see them interacting.