A/N: "This will be a one-shot" I told myself. HA! Yeah, right. Plotbunnies mauled me recently, so here's a thing. Enjoy~
Hunter's Rite
A Haikyu! and Skyrim Crossover
Whiterun at last!
Well... close to it anyway.
He had spent the better part of his day traveling through the mountains, and the better part of morning before that waiting for villagers to rouse and load up the one and only large cart in all of town, shared amongst all its people. Most other settlements would have at least a couple of carts, most privately owned. Not Ivarstaed. There were a few smaller hand-push carts, sure, but the horse-drawn one was used amongst everyone.
They'd loaded it up with mostly their overstock of crops. Eighty-four cabbages, nine wild gourds, thirty-four potatoes, and four bundles of wheat. It had been a good growing year.
There were also three large cuts of venison from wild deer, twelve betty fish, a sabrecat tooth, a decent collection of animal claws, a broad assortment of insects and bugs such as bees, butterflies, dartwings, and torchbugs, bushels of various species of flowers, deer antlers, berries, roots, and various other odds and ends that he couldn't even begin to start listing and remember it all. There were books that everyone who wanted to had read too many times, a few gems better put to use in trade, a horker tusk, a few ingots and ores mined from the mountains and the wilds, and a good stack of furs, most either deer or wolf.
He couldn't even begin to remember the going-rate for everything in the cart, but thankfully he wasn't going to have to, being given a list of all the items and their values for when he reached Whiterun. There were some Be safe's and Keep an eye out for trouble's and We're counting on you's before he headed off, flicking the reins and guiding the old nag along down the dirt road following the river.
The way was quiet and he managed to avoid the troll along the river without trouble, crossing easily where the stones rose a little higher than the fast-moving water and heading down the hill towards Eastmarch. The hardest part was navigating the lower unmarked path through the northern pass at the bottom of the Throat of the World, with its thicker overgrowth of trees and plants. Regardless, it was faster and safer than going by the main road.
Of course, the view of all of Eastmarch, of Windhelm beyond, and the bay connecting the White River to the Sea of Ghosts all laid out at his feet was a nice bonus as well.
Higher up, snow made pulling the cart up a precariously steep slope even more difficult, but with careful encouragement and stubbornness, they made it up to the leveling pass and continued on their way, disturbed only by flighty mountain goats. The path steadily sloped downward, then began to zigzag, before they finally reached the tundra at the foot of the mountain.
By then, the city was only a hop and a jump away, or at least it would be if his horse were younger by a few years.
They arrived by mid-evening, parking the cart just outside the main gate. Word traveled quickly and many of the townspeople came to see what he had to offer. Ore and ingots sold the fastest - no surprise. Next were pelts and ingredients. A few traded books directly for other books, rather than buying with coin. Vegetables and meat were likewise exchanged for other kinds of food, crop, and mead. He managed to trade for new clothes imported from Solitude for the people of Ivarstaed and get some new tools and blades from the blacksmiths in town.
There were a few people who tried to get a far too-low price but thankfully he had his list and knew the value, silently thanking whoever had written it up for doing so.
Around sun-down, the red-haired youth heard a few people marveling at something from the wall overlooking the road and - while there was no one there to potentially walk off with anything form his cart without paying - wandered over to look in curiosity. Just down the road were not one, or even two, but three flat platform carts, each one carrying their own dead mammoth.
He had barely ever even seen live ones, save for huge moving specks in the distance, though he had certainly heard innumerable tales about how huge, frightening, and difficult to take down they were. He could barely even catch hares or small deer, so he couldn't help but be in awe of the massive catch, which he imagined only a full military battalion must have been responsible for catching and killing.
"...that him? The Little-Giant?"
The boy turned his head, broken out of his train of thought by a guard standing with his arms crossed. Both men - guards - were dressed almost exactly the same.
"Yeah. He certainly lives up to his reputation, doesn't he? Hard to believe."
"Little-Giant?" the redhead repeated, drawing their attention.
"Haven't you heard? One of Solitude's youth. A talented hunter, that one. Honestly he probably doesn't even need to take the rite of passage, other than for the formality of it anyway. He and the rest of this year's batch have already more than proven themselves."
"Oh?" He tilted his head in question.
"You know, the Nord rite of passage, hunting Ice Wraiths in the north. Its an old tradition going way back. Still, to be able to hunt and take down mammoths with only a few other youngsters on your side is a huge feat. That's why they call him the Little-Giant, because no matter how big his quarry, he and his team always manage to take it down."
"You mean only a few kids my age caught three mammoths by themselves?!" He marveled. Surely, nothing short of an army could have done it!
"Well... not your age. You're about a decade too young for that," the man laughed.
He couldn't help but growl slightly in irritation. Chances were the man saw him as much younger than he was, owing to his height, as most everyone from outside Ivarstead did.
"Of course, he's not much taller than you either," the man continued, deflating the boy's temper somewhat. "That shorter one over there with the black hair."
Amber eyes searched the road and saw him - a black-haired kid maybe just a few years older than him. He almost missed spotting the guy entirely if not for the horse he was leading along.
"Looks like they're already riding out for Winterhold. I remember when I took the rite of passage. Bloody cold up there. I certainly don't envy them at all, though it'll probably be way easier for them than it was for me at the time. Maybe one day you'll take the rite too, eh?"
"Yeah..." he hummed, distracted with his own thoughts. He hadn't failed to miss the touches of admiration in the guard's voice, but it was a sentiment he could completely understand. Someone at his own stature and almost his own age, taking down small groups of mammoths on their own, and being revered by people three times their ages for it? He couldn't help but tremble, not from the cold, but with envy.
He had always just sort of assumed he'd be doomed to be a rural country bumpkin, hunting just enough to keep his village fed, month after month. It had never even crossed his mind that someone like him could ever be more than that, but then here was someone else his same height and almost his same age, doing such great things? He wanted to do that too. He could barely even imagine being viewed with any kind of awe like that, just with his stature alone, rather than always being looked down upon, both figuratively and literally.
Maybe one day you'll take the rite too, eh?
Perhaps before, he wouldn't thought much of it, but now, as far as he saw it, there was only one answer to that.
"I'm Shoyo Hinata! I'm here to take the rite of passage!"
Both the guards at the gate looked at him in silence for an uncomfortably long amount of time. Finally one of them chuckled.
"Aren't you a little young to be taking it? Does your mother know you're here?"
Hinata growled. "I'm old enough!" he protested, then fell into a reluctant grumble. "Just... a little short... is all..."
The guards exchanged a look, contemplating, before one of them shrugged. "What sort of skills do you have? Regarding hunting, of course..."
"Bow and arrows," Hinata supplied.
"You're from Ivarstead, aren't you?" the other guard cut in. "I think I remember you... you always drive the trade cart back and forth between here and there. Alone, too. If I remember right, that area has all kinds of huge bears and trolls. Gotta be doing something right to make that trip safely all the time. You help the village hunt, too?"
Hinata perked up, nodding. "You bet!"
"Well..." The guards exchanged another glance. "I see no reason why not... the Rift has a lot more dangers than the tundra, generally speaking. I'm sure he's capable enough." The man thumbed over his shoulder. "Go on through. The rest of the youth for the rite are gathering up in the Bannered Mare. You know where that is?"
Hinata nodded. "Yes. Thank you!"
Skipping through, he hummed to himself enthusiastically. Three full years it had been since he'd first heard about the Little-Giant and rite of passage. He had been looking forward to this day ever since then, and certainly hadn't spent the time simply sitting on his laurels.
Whiterun Hold was much bigger than Ivarstead. His home village was comprised of only about five buildings, and one of them was an inn. The only people who even visited, who didn't already live there, were pilgrims who wanted to make the march up the 7,000 steps to the top of the Throat of the World, and High Hrothgar where the Greybeards - who spoke the old, forgotten language of the dragons - resided in solitude. Even then, it was rare that anyone came through.
Already he had passed twice the number of buildings as there were in his village before reaching the Bannered Mare, which was almost always heavily occupied. A quick scan of the room turned up mostly older occupants sitting around the hearth in the center of the room. As he was walking and gazing around, trying to identify who was probably the aforementioned other youth, he bumped into someone and back-stepped.
"Ah, sor-"
"Watch where you're going."
Hinata stopped and looked up at a taller black-haired Nord with a sour face. At the very least, the guy was somewhere around his age, so maybe he was here for the same thing?
"Sorry! Ah... are you here for the rite, too?"
The older male's brow ticked upwards slightly. "Too?" Hinata already knew what was going through the other's head before anything more was said. "You mean the rite of passage? This isn't some foolish kid's game. Come back in a few years."
"I'm probably as old as you!" Hinata snarled at the other guy's backside, since the condescending prick had already turned around away from him. Huffing out his anger, he tried to at least force his tone neutral. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen, not that its any of your business."
"I'm fifteen, too!" Hinata told him, feeling a rush of satisfaction as the guy angled his head around and gave him another look-over, scrutinizing in disbelief. It was a reaction he was used to by now, but he still managed to enjoy the double-take.
It was then that the other's eyes lingered over the longbow strung over his shoulder, as if the weapon somehow offended him. "And you actually know how to use that thing without shooting yourself?"
Hinata flushed, feeling his temper shoot skyward. "Of course I do!"
"You're both here for the rite, then?"
Hinata and the other male turned their attention from each other and to another, slightly older male, also with short black hair. Trailing behind him were two others, one whose hair was almost shaved clear, leaving only short peach-fuzz. The other Hinata at first assumed to be someone of old age by their gray hair, but when he got a good look at their face, they were far too young. Older than him, still, but probably only by a few years.
"That's correct. I'm Tobio Kageyama."
"Sawamura Daichi," the other black-haired male introduced, putting a hand on his chin and inspecting Kageyama closely. "You're not dressed much like a hunter..." he observed.
Hinata blinked, glancing Kageyama up and down, not having paid much attention to the attire the other wore before now, and smirked. The prick was dressed more in long robes, plainly elegant in design. He knew what they were, but after the earlier attitude, he couldn't help mocking, "Nice dress."
Kageyama's head whipped around so fast Hinata wouldn't be surprised if the guy gave himself whiplash, his glare one that could easily intimidate a Draugr. "They're highly respectable robes you stupid peasant!" The outburst caught everyone by surprise, a few eyes besides just Hinata's widening. Kageyama sighed and turned his head back to Daichi, pointedly ignoring Hinata's existence, his glare not entirely softening. "I'm from Winterhold. I've studied at the College."
"A mage, then?" Daichi pondered.
"That isn't going to be a problem, is it?" Kageyama asked.
"Depends on your skill level... and I'm curious to see how capable you are in other skills as well, involving melee and ranged weapons."
"I would be willing to demonstrate other skills, if that's what you want," Kageyama supplied without hesitation. Daichi nodded, then turned his eyes on Hinata, who immediately started in without waiting to be prompted.
"I'm Hinata, from Ivarstead! I'm an archer!"
"I noticed," Daichi hummed, smirking amusedly. "Do you mind if we get a feel for your skills as well? There's a practice courtyard just behind Jorrvaskr that the Companions let us use. We can go there to see how skilled both of you are."
Both Hinata and Kageyama nodded and followed the older three. The other two that hadn't yet introduced themselves talked on the walk there. The one with short silvery hair introduced himself as Sugawara, and the one with a nearly-bald scalp was Tanaka. They also mentioned two other males who weren't yet present - one named Asahi and another named Noya - and another two who would be arriving from outside Whiterun later. When they arrived, they met with a black-haired girl named Shimizu, who Tanaka instantly tried and failed to flirt with.
Jorrvaskr was a strange looking building. The roof looked like a huge ship turned upside-down, with bow and stern mounts in the shape of animals were perched at the very top. Some of the long panels of staggered wood were missing in places, and all around the building between wall and roof were shields mounted at each outer support beam of the building. They went around the outside to a small cobblestone courtyard in the back, where there were a few targets and several hay-stuffed dummies mounted upright on poles.
Hinata immediately tried to volunteer himself to go first, but Daichi suggested Kageyama to step up before he could, leaving the redhead pouting off to the side. Kageyama calmly let out a preparatory breath and the ignited a flickering flame in his palm. Hinata knew of magicks, but he almost never got to see them in person, so as much as he already disliked Kageyama, he watched with rapt attention.
Kageyama sent one fireball flying into a target, then immediately launched another that exploded on impact, sending flames in all directions for a good six or seven feet. Hinata hadn't even had the time to marvel before the taller male switched to some kind of ice magick, frost writhing in his palm and forming a flying spike in mid-air as he thrust his palm forward. Hinata thought that was the end of the element switching, but again, he changed it, this time to first a stream bolt of electricity, then a flying ball of it. By the end of all three spell types, the training dummy was nothing but cindering ashes. Off to the side, Suga whistled, impressed.
"That's not all that I can do," Kageyama said, before he could be asked about other skills. A bluish light came to life in his palm, lighting up and forming into a ghostly bow, which he aimed and fired an equally spectral arrow at one of the other, still standing dummies. "I can conjure spectral bows and arrows, swords, and axes, illusion fear spells that disperse attackers or animals, detection spells for both living and dead things, spells for creating light to see by," he paused, casting a ball of light from his palm that stuck to a rock wall and stayed there, gleaming brightly, even in the sun, "and telekinesis for pulling and pushing objects." The last he demonstrated by casting on a cup on a table behind them, pulling it towards him with an invisible force, then sending it flying at another target and hitting it.
Show-off, Hinata couldn't help but think. At the same time, he was equal parts impressed and intimidated. Earlier mocking of his attire not withstanding, and even having little experience with magicks, he could tell that Kageyama was talented-and-a-half - and clearly, he was not the only one to notice. How was he supposed to even register as capable compared to that? His hand tightened on his bow self-consciously until his knuckles turned white and his fingers ached.
He hadn't even heard most of their following conversation until a hand landed on his shoulder and made him jump, looking up. "Ah! What?"
"Your turn," Tanaka said, pushing him forward by his shoulder blades. Hinata stumbled to where Kageyama had just been standing. He didn't fail to notice the slightly smug look from Kageyama at his unsteadiness. He gulped, hoping it wasn't too noticeable, and tugged his leather gloves on snugly just past his wrists, then took his bow from his shoulder and an iron arrow from his quiver.
I can do this. I can do this.
The target was about fifteen feet from where he was standing, so not a terrible distance away. He told himself he had to get it to the very center, or at least the inner part of the ring around it. If he couldn't even manage that much from this distance, he'd be nothing more than a laughing stock. Breathing out in preparation, he leveled his bow and nocked the arrow back, taking his while to aim and then fire. As soon as the arrow left the bow, he couldn't help but close his eyes, praying that it would hit the mark true.
When he cracked his eyes open again, he was overjoyed to see that he'd hit it dead center perfectly.
"Nice," Daichi observed with approval.
He ran to retrieve his arrow. Feeling a little more self-assured, he tried again, this time from double the distance, once again hitting it perfectly in the center. He aimed a second arrow at the target directly next to it, hitting the bulls-eye a third time.
"Amazing aim," Tanaka complimented with a beaming smile, causing Hinata to glow with praise. "This will definitely come in handy out in the field tomorrow."
"I guess that's to be expected, coming from Ivarstead. They don't have a market that just sells you whatever meat you want like we do here," Suga added.
"Alright, both of you are definitely skilled enough to join the hunt tomorrow," Daichi decided. "We'll be meeting first thing in the morning. You both have a place to stay, right?"
"I have enough money for the inn," Hinata nodded.
"Same."
Daichi nodded. "Good. Then be sure to meet us at the gate just before sun-up."
"You're actually going to hunt with that horse?"
Hinata blinked, deliberately ignoring the condescending tone from Kageyama. "Yeah. What's wrong with it?" So sure, it was an old horse, but what difference was that going to make?
"Its back is more bowed than your bow..." another - this one a blond guy by the name of Tsukishima - muttered critically.
Everyone generally gave concerned looks.
"Um, Hinata..." Suga began, getting his attention. "You're absolutely sure that you and your horse will be able to keep up? You know a lot of our hunting is done from horseback."
"Is that so?" Hinata hummed, unable to completely keep a flutter of anxiety from coming alive deep in his chest.
"Have you ever hunted from horseback?"
He considered lying, but that would do him no good, and inevitably shook his head. "Normally I hunt on foot. Its easier to sneak up on animals that way."
Suga hummed. "I guess that makes sense. I've heard the Rift is very hilly and dense with foliage, but out here, your best bet is hunting by horse. Its difficult to sneak up on things when the lands are generally flat and sparse on plant life. You understand?"
Huffing, Hinata nodded. He hadn't actually thought ahead of time about how the tactic of the hunt would be different, but at least he had remembered to bring a horse at all, even if it was getting on in years.
"This was really the only option that I had. We only have one horse in Ivarstead, and most of the time its just to help plow fields and transport trade goods between there and the cities."
"Can't really be helped, then," Daichi heaved, before perking up and looking eastward down the main road. "Ah! There they are."
Hinata leaned in his saddle and nudged his horse a few steps forward to look, spotting two horses trotting down the road towards them.
"Good. You both made it. These two are Asahi and Noya. I mentioned them just the other day."
Hinata regarded the first young man neutrally, another Nord - technically everyone here was a Nord, though he supposed that made sense since it was specifically a Nord tradition - who had long brown hair, erring more on the tall side and well-muscled.
The one who caught his attention most was the one following him, hair also brown but short and spiked, with one streak of blond in the front, but who was just as short - no, shorter - than he was. Suddenly he felt a little less self-conscious, brightening.
"Asahi, Noya, these four are Kageyama, Hinata, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi," Daichi introduced in-turn.
"Its good to meet you all," Asahi greeted, smiling amiably.
"Hey, hey!" Hinata piped at Noya. "How old are you?"
Noya blinked, confused. "Sixteen. Why?"
Hinata's eyes widened a little. "You're even shorter than I am!"
The slightly choked noise that Noya emitted indicated offense. "Didn't your parents ever teach you to respect people older than you?!"
"Ah, sorry, sorry!" Hinata apologized frantically and sincerely. "I'm always used to being the shortest person in a group." Noya at least looked as though he'd forgiven the tactlessness fairly easily. Hinata noticed a shield at the shorter male's side, growing curious. "You use a shield for hunting? Or...?"
Noya grinned at him. "Of course! Just because you're going up against beasts instead of people doesn't mean a shield becomes any less important. In fact, it may be even more important when hunting wild animals than it often is with people."
Hinata tilted his head. "Really? I've never heard of that."
"Think about it. Let's say you're hunting wolves, who normally travel in packs. You might shoot down one with an arrow or cut it down with a sword, but most of them travel in groups, and you might have to block another one from lunging and biting you."
"I guess that makes sense..." Hinata hummed.
"Or say that you're hunting a bear or a troll - which never go down just with one hit. A few swipes from one of those can crush a sabre-cat's skull. Or you could also be attacked by a sabre cat, with its own deadly claws and huge teeth."
"That's true... I never thought of that," Hinata agreed again, remembering all the times he'd tried to take down a bear or troll with arrows and it ended with him chased up a tree, unable to get down for hours. Luckily, he was small enough that he could climb trees bears and trolls couldn't. Even so, those were some terrifying experiences.
"And you might not think it at first, but deer, too! Some of them are even worse than the predators, and their horns can rip right through you if they're really going on the attack. Most people think a hunter's best friend is their bow or sword, but really, you want a shield most of all! That's why a lot of hunters end up dead. And there's always the chance that you could be attacked by bandits while you're hunting, too, so you have to be prepared for those as well."
"That's amazing!" Clearly, the praise was well-appreciated. Hinata paused. "What about mammoths?"
Noya immediately shook his head. "You're better off running."
Hinata hummed. Somehow that wasn't the amazing answer he was hoping for, but he couldn't argue that logic.
"Well, if you're all done getting acquainted," Daichi interrupted. "I think it would be in our interest to head out and start discussing our plan for the hunt."
"Plan?"
Suga nodded. "The point isn't only to go out and hunt whatever we find. We have very specific methods and targets, starting from easy things and working our way up, until eventually everyone is ready to do the real deal up hunting Ice Wraiths in the far north."
"Anyone who isn't equipped enough to handle hunting in some place like the open tundra now has no business trying to survive Winterhold and the Pale in the dead of winter later," Tsukishima hummed, glancing at Daichi and Suga. "Is that about right?"
Daichi and Suga nodded confirmation.
"If anyone in our group isn't fit to head north in winter to perform the rite and survive it, then they won't be allowed to join. None of us wants to be responsible for anyone else's death over titles of personal glory. Also, we have to all be certain that each and every one of the group is trustworthy to watch each other's back. You may be here thinking that this rite of passage relies entirely on your own individual abilities, but no man is an island. This is a group effort."
Hinata didn't fail to notice the sneaking glance towards Kageyama, and none towards himself. Maybe he had a little bit more of a chance after all. Kageyama didn't seem like the 'team player' type.
"What's our first target?" Kageyama inquired.
"Skeevers."
Kageyama's brow knitted, silently repeating Daichi's declaration in distaste.
"Despite their small size and relative weakness compared to most other wild beasts, finding them in the wilds is generally no easy task, and they're still more dangerous than birds or hares. If you can both handle that, then we'll move on to more difficult prey." They started down the road. "So, where would one find Skeevers away from human civilization?"
"Oh, I know!" Hinata volunteered enthusiastically. "They'd either be in old ruins or probably somewhere near a water supply, like a river. Probably in an old fox burrow or a rabbit warren."
Suga chuckled. "I guess skeevers don't change much from one Hold to another, do they?"
Once they reached a watchtower, they branched away from the road, heading through the open brush of the tundra. Suga was right - it was much easier to see for a long ways, which would make sneaking up on prey that much harder.
They checked out a small stream and pond with no success in locating any skeever, only mudcrabs, and Daichi made it clear that they were only to hunt what they had been assigned for now and nothing else. They passed by a giant camp, and were eyed by a couple of giants and a goodly number of mammoths that comprised a small herd, flicking their ears and swaying their tusks as if to remind the hunters of the deadly weapons.
He remembered the mammoths he had seen a few years ago that hunters had brought back to Whiterun, but seeing living ones so close, he couldn't help but lose his nerve to even consider it. They were massive.
They headed further northwest to where the tundra met with the road once more, with a small bridge heading over a shallow stream. There were shinier gray shapes of more mud crabs, but also some slightly larger black shapes milling around the bank just down the hill at the water's edge. Big rat-like animals the size of medium dogs. Skeevers.
"I've got this one." Hinata drew his bow and set an arrow, taking aim and trying to keep his breathing steady. He could do this. He'd prove he was cut out for it. Once he felt like his aim and draw was true, he let the arrow fly, managing to hit the animal in the flank. The rat-like skeever screeched in surprise and pain. Hinata already had another arrow drawn quickly, unleashing it and hitting his mark again. It flailed on its side and then stilled, going silent. "Yes!"
The victory was short-lived as several more appeared out of a hole in the shadow of the bridge, standing up on their hind legs and spotting him and the horses. Despite that they were at a clear disadvantage of size, the skeevers - Hinata counted at least seven of them - came charging straight at them, bounding through the grass, just small enough that their movements weren't easy to track.
"Get ready!" Daichi warned. Hinata took a quick, uncertain glance at his companions. Daichi was armed with a long sword, Asahi with a bow he was drawing ready-to-fire, Tanaka with a long-handled war axe, and Kageyama with a frost-spell collecting in his palm. The rest hung back, out of the way. Most of the horses were shifting nervously, stepping backward.
Hinata turned his attention back and caught a glance of a skeever, firing his arrow and missing by the length of a palm, the arrow planting itself in frosty soil instead. The skeever leapt straight out of the brush a second afterwards, screaming in fury and lunging to bite at his horse. The equine reared and stomped down at it, but - surprisingly enough - only stunned the skeever rather than managed to crush it.
Hinata leveled another arrow, but missed again when his horse whipped around and bolted, forcing him to focus on regaining control of the old mare before it could run him all the way back to Ivarstead. He managed to turn her around and lead the horse back towards the stream, where already several either dead or half-dead skeever peppered the hill.
A couple of skeever not already attacking the other young hunters sprinted towards him, flashing long, ugly teeth. He wheeled his horse around the side of them and fired, managing to lodge an arrow between one's shoulder before the other two managed to lunge towards him. His horse whinnied fearfully and whirled, kicking out behind her and managing to send one bouncing across the grass, but it was otherwise unharmed and swiftly regrouped.
He raced his horse across the hill and then to the other side of the road, turning his horse around and stopping her to aim another arrow as the skeevers pursued. Again, he missed, the huge rodent-beasts scattering and attacking from either flank. He didn't have time to load another arrow and instead smacked one away with the end of his bow, while one on the other side clawed at his horse's side and his leg, spooking her into a run again. Luckily, the skeever came dislodged and fell before it could bite him.
He swiveled around and fired, one arrow after the other, but every one of them missed, one after the other, and he cursed under his breath.
Paying more attention to the skeevers running behind him rather than where he was going, another appeared leaping out of the brush and at his horse's chest, frightening her into rearing and tossing him from the saddle. He rolled with the landing, ignoring the sting of the landing and loading another arrow, sending it flying as the two pursuing skeever were closing in. It was only a few yards away, but his arrow whizzed past it, cutting only air.
He sucked in a breath as one lunged to jump straight on top of him, only for it to go flying to the side, impaled on a projectile spike of ice. The other took a well-placed arrow through its neck and fell short of him, skidding somewhere alongside him and flailing in a pitiful death throe. Wide-eyed, he sent a relieved, grateful look at Asahi and Kageyama, one of which looked likewise relieved and the other deeply annoyed.
"Th-thank-"
"You idiot!" Kageyama burst out, making him jump. "The skeever was right there. How in Oblivion could anyone possibly miss that shot?!"
Hinata stuttered for words, at a loss and flushing, feeling too many eyes on him all at once. The worst of the expressions wasn't the exasperation in Kageyama's face, but the concern and doubt in the faces of Daichi, Tanaka, and Suga. Doubt that he was cut out for doing this after all. Much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't blame them for it. Not with the sheer number of times he'd missed targets that shouldn't have been a problem.
He pursed his lips, lowering his gaze. "...sorry..."
He knew already what his problem was. Shooting at an unmoving target or one small animal that didn't know he was there to even flee was one thing, but moving targets - he found - were a much more difficult prospect. And then to do it from horseback as well?
"Tch. So you can hit a dummy, but not a real target that's in front of you. Why are you even here?" Kageyama challenged, earning himself a half-hearted glare from the redhead. "You think that something like this is just going to be child's play? You're lucky not to have been gored, and skeever are hardly the most difficult thing out here to deal with!"
"I can handle it!" Hinata protested fiercely. "And I can hunt, too! I'm just not used to doing it this way, that's all! I'll find my rhythm and be just as useful as anyone else here!"
Kageyama scoffed. "You aren't cut out. When you can't even hit something from a few yards away coming straight at you, you have no business even being out here."
"That's enough," Daichi sighed, though he looked as if he may have silently agreed with Kageyama, and Hinata felt his fear that they'd deny letting him go any further spike. "This is why we start with something easy, rather than jump straight into a more difficult hunt from the start." He leveled dark eyes on Hinata. "You still want to try?"
"Of course!" Hinata answered without hesitation, determined. That at least seemed enough to placate Daichi into accepting his conviction.
"Very well. We'll still give you a chance. There are other places to find skeever, so you'll have plenty of time to adjust to a new style of hunting, and we'll see where to go from there."
Hinata glowed with appreciation and gratitude. "Thank you! I won't disappoint!"
If only his skill level backed up his ambition.
Ever since he'd first messed up and been scolded by Kageyama in front of everyone that earlier mid-morning, he hadn't managed to get any better, no matter how many tries he gave it or effort he put forward. Sure, he managed a few hits here and there, but most of them were pure dumb luck more than anything, or because he was taking the first shot on something unaware to him.
He returned with the rest to Whiterun at sun-down feeling defeated, hoping the next day would be better, and while he did manage a few more hits by the second day than he had the first, it wasn't enough to satisfy anyone that he was improving fast enough. The third day was the worst of all. His anxiety was through the roof, inching higher every time he caught an uncertain or conflicted look from Daichi or anyone else.
He didn't need to be told in words that they were considering telling him he couldn't keep hunting with them. That he was just wasting their time with even being here.
Finally the last straw came when he reached for an arrow to take down one last skeever and grasped only empty air, having run out, and Kageyama had to save him yet again with a fireball spell that sent the rat-creature flying and screaming in pain.
"Damn you, I'm already sick of this! Why don't you just get lost already?! You literally couldn't shoot an arrow straight if your life depended on it, and I would know since I'm having to clean up after your mistakes! You're not worthy of taking the rite, and you're just going to end up slowing us down and getting yourself or us killed!"
"Hey, hey! And who gave you the right to decide-" Tanaka butted in - as he had through many of Kageyama's (and Tsukishima's) other criticisms - his face set into a menacing snarl.
"Tanaka," Daichi interrupted, shaking his head.
The near-bald male pouted at him, expression questioning why he was being told to stay silent.
Daichi sighed aloud. "Unfortunately I have to agree with Kageyama on this one." Hinata couldn't help but flinch, hunching his shoulders self-consciously. "I know that you want to prove yourself, and that you're trying very hard, but eventually you're going to end up getting hurt or worse. None of us want that. I think - for now, at least - that maybe it'd be best to give up for the time being... maybe try again in a few years when you're better prepared."
Hinata missed the indicating nod that passed between Daichi and Suga, until the grey-haired male rode just past him and directed towards Whiterun. "I'll ride back with you."
Somehow that made him feel even worse. It felt as if they thought he couldn't even handle himself well enough to reach town unescorted without getting himself into danger.
Despondent, he nudged his horse to follow Suga's without protest. Suga tried to reassure him on the way back, offering up gentle explanations and encouragement - which did help to lift his spirits somewhat - but it couldn't make up for the fact that everyone saw him as too incompetent to even be involved with them at all.
An hour or two after he and Suga arrived back, the rest of the party returned. Suga gave him a last sympathetic look and rejoined the others, leaving Hinata alone to his thoughts, which spiraled on and on, an insidious little voice in the back of his mind whispering that he wasn't good enough and all of the others knew it. He hardly slept all night, and in the morning, the others all left without him as he sat on the edge of a crumbling outer wall with his arms folded over his knees sulking, discussing amongst themselves their plans for hunting. There were a few sympathetic glances, but no one came to talk to him directly.
Fine enough. If they didn't want him to hunt with them, he could simply hunt on his own. He didn't need anyone's permission for that.
Soon as he saw them disappear far down the road towards the Whiterun watchtower, he headed down to the stable to retrieve his horse and headed the opposite direction, not heading home to Ivarstead but towards the opposite side of the tundra where he wouldn't run into them, not fancying a lecture or more yelling from either Daichi or Kageyama, no matter how well-intentioned the former would be.
Upon reaching the tundra on the opposite side of the city, he slid from his horse's saddle and gave his legs and arms a good stretch. Maybe the others were going to hunt from horseback and do just fine at it, but he felt more comfortable on his own two feet. As flat as the lands were, they still had dense shrubbery in places, and he was small. For his own technique in hunting, that was to his advantage, even out here, plus much of the plant life was orangey in color.
And that wasn't his only advantage.
He started with following the river to his right side. At one point he spotted a fox taking a drink down by the river and easily caught it by surprise with his arrows, and two skeever further down the bank, thankfully not backed by an entire hive of more of them. When he started to head away from the river, he almost ran headlong into a lone wolf, managing to hear it howling just in time to backtrack and swing wide around to where he'd have the advantage of height to see it clearly.
That meant taking the long way around to reach the higher hills and rocky outcroppings, but it was worth the trouble when he managed to shoot it down before it even knew what was happening. He couldn't help smirking to himself smugly.
Who needed to hunt skeever from horseback when he could much more easily hunt bigger things on-foot?
He carried the wolf and fox back to his horse, draping them over the saddle and heading further into the tundra. He managed to catch a few hares, but nothing beyond that. Of course, a wolf was a good catch, but he was hoping to bag at least one more decently-sized animal before returning, deciding that a deer would probably be his best bet.
Locating a herd wasn't terribly difficult, the redhead simply finding his way to a reliable water source where several animals were taking a drink, grazing, or resting. He left his horse in the shadow of some trees and crept through the brush, his bow ready as he sized up which deer to take down.
He didn't want one too big to handle or that would turn more aggressive than scared, but he also didn't want to take anything down that looked ready to drop dead if the wind hit it too hard either. In any case, he couldn't take too long to decide. Once he'd decided on a target, he let his arrow fly into its flank.
The deer squealed in surprise and pain, and every single one scattered. He kept his eyes trained on the one that he'd hit earlier, giving chase across the tundra after it.
He leapt the stream and jumped over rocks, dodging through bushes and keeping the fleeing animal in his sights. The deer scrambled down a small rocky cliff and he skidded down after it, not slowing his pace at all. Mud crabs sprung out of the mud of another stream and snipped at his heels, but he nimbly vaulted over them with a few light curses. It turned and dashed north, towards the mountains bordering Hjaalmarch Hold and around the bank of a pond.
Hinata would have continued to give chase, but something big sprung from a jagged ridge near the pond and straight on top of the deer, the hooved creature bugling in alarm as it went down and was ripped into by claws and fangs. The other animal was just as tall as the deer was at the shoulder, but in terms of size, it was huge by comparison, rippling with broad muscles wrapped in light brown fur.
The wildcat turned golden eyes on him and flattened its ears, baring fangs that were individually as long as his forearms if not moreso. He took a tentative step back, and then another, and leapt straight into a sprint as the predator snarled and lunged at him.
His first impulse was to climb up a tree - which usually worked. Unfortunately, he didn't see one taller than two or three yards for what must have been miles of tundra. His heart was hammering hard in his chest with adrenaline as he launched up onto rocky ledges popping out of the hilly soil and down slopes, leaping small fallen trees and blazing through shrubbery.
He heard a sound and realized - half-surprised - that it was a voice he recognized.
"Hey, Hinata! What are- Holy!"
He didn't even have the time or room to humor them with a response, blazing past the group of horses and riders a fair distance off to the side, who were too stunned for several moments seeing him sprinting with a sabre cat at his heels to even react.
He wasn't sure how far or how long he ran, exactly, but it was already past difficult to keep running, his legs and lungs burning, and at some point he was sure he heard galloping hooves at his tail as well as the sabre cat and frantic shouting. It was all a blur really - all he knew was the cat was still pursuing and he wasn't going to stop until it did.
The shouting increased in both volume and frequency behind him, and ahead of him up the hill, a long gap opened up with a shallow stream several yards below, far enough that falling would injure if not break his leg. Still, in the moment of fleeing, he barely even paused to think about it, sprinting full-tilt and launching himself clear across the gap from the very last scrap of stone beneath his feet.
The landing certainly hurt, both the impact and the feel of knees scraping as he fell forward and rolled, but he made the gap.
The sabre cat was still a few paces from the edge, its pace hesitating slightly before it leapt too.
Hinata took advantage of every quarter-second that the cat took to prepare itself to leap, readying an arrow from where he'd landed on his side and letting it fly. One lodged in the front of its chest, close to the pit of its leg.
The sabre roared but didn't stop, rushing and leaping the edge. Hinata had another arrow ready, and this one impaled the cat's eye, causing it to roar and falter in the air. Instead of reaching the ledge, it tumbled and collided with the wall, falling into the stream below.
The sabre snarled and shook itself, pawing at the arrow in its eye. In that moment, the horses and riders came skidding or dancing to a halt, and Hinata saw Asahi lift what looked like a long spear over his head, chucking it down towards the cat and catching it between the shoulders. It roared deafeningly and writhed for several sickening moments before slumping down into the water and gurgling its last breaths.
Next thing he knew, he was being showered by questions of interrogative concern and awe all at once.
"Are you alright?!"
"What did you think you were doing?!"
"You didn't seriously try to take down a sabre cat by yourself, did you?"
"You're not hurt?"
"Man, I've never seen someone run so fast in my entire life before!"
"How did you make that impossible jump?!"
"I can't even believe what I just saw!"
"You went out to hunt by yourself?"
"That was too reckless!"
Hinata only blinked dumbly, overwhelmed and still trying to catch his breath. He was pretty sure, on the contrary, that everyone else had stopped breathing entirely waiting for a response.
"...I'm okay. Just a little scraped up, but nothing big," he finally managed to reply, hearing a collective breath of relief, even as a few pairs of eyes scrutinized him just to be sure.
"Hinata, that jump was amazing!" Noya declared above everyone else, giving him the most intense look. "How did you do it?!"
He blinked again. "I just... jumped." It didn't seem like such a big deal to him. Sure, he was small in stature, but he knew how to be fast, and to jump far.
"And you- you ran so fast!" Suga marveled, still looking flustered at the close call. "You were giving the sabre cat a good run for its money... and our horses, too! How did you manage to get that kind of speed?"
"Oh, well..." Hinata hummed. "Every few days, I run up the way to High Hrothgar. I usually bring food supplies and such up there. There are some places where the path is narrow and there are wild beasts too - there's even a point where a big frost troll lives - so you have to either fight to get through or run faster than anything else that lives there."
The looks he was getting were a mix of impressed, dumbfounded, and surprised.
"You mean to tell me you make the whole trip up the seven-thousand steps every week?" Tanaka marveled, eyes bulging.
Hinata nodded.
Daichi breathed out a long sigh. "Well... I think this most recent display changes things a little."
Hinata couldn't help but dare to hope that that meant what he thought it did, eyes lighting up. "You mean...?"
Daichi nodded. "I think its only fair we give you another chance and re-work some of our hunting plans."