Disclaimer I don't own a song of ice and fire all I own are my OC's
Author note is chapter is an experiment tell me to it is better or worse than my previous chapters
third person POV
For about a month every morning Dran and one of his relatives left the cave to set up snares in different locations every morning. Then they would go out every morning and check on the snares they set the day before if there was nothing in the snare they would leave it for the next day.
If there was something in the snare they would gut it, use the edible part and bary the part they could not use in the ground then they would take apart the snares and bring back the animal to the cave to be skinned and eaten.
After weeks of this routine Dran asked if they could learn something else, because after weeks of doing the same thing everyday he wasn't leaving anything but learning how to build snares faster and more efficiently, the same with skinning most small animals.
Because while Dran was learning to skin small animals faster and more efficiently he could also learn that with time and experience, he believed that he was not using his time efficiently.
Dran's POV
In hunting with traps I had hit a block with learning better ways of hunting with snares. At this point I was learning something but a few tips and tricks that could make the process slightly faster or other things along those lines.
I wasn't getting much of a return from the work I put into it. At this point the only way to get better would be experience which would come with time, so I asked my relatives to take me with them as they hunted larger prey.
After about a week of asking they consented to teach me to hunt and track larger pray
I was first told to be silent and to not say a word until I am back in the cave.
Second was to do everything I was told when I was told no second guessing or hesitation' because if i didn't do as I was told I could get myself and them killed.
third person POV
When they left the cave the first thing he told Dran to do was observe what he was doing and how he did it and to copy it to the best of his abilities.
As they left the area of the cave they started heading towards the Milkwater on the way there Dran saw areas with nothing but snow others teaming with life and areas with nothing but sharp jaded rocks jutting up towards the sky.
When observing his relative Dran noticed how silent their steps were leaving almost no indention in the ground, and how carefully they observed their surroundings constantly looking out for danger.
After hours of traveling they stopped next to a large pine tree. It was straight and symmetrical standing about 90 feet tall with long needles.
Dran was told that they would be stopping to rest for an hour and then they would then move on to hunting for fresh enough tracks.
When the hour had passed they packed up their things and headed out towards an area deeper into the forest, on their way there they saw the occasional bird or small mammal in the trees.
After traveling for an undetermined amount of time they stopped after coming across a game trail that looked like it was distributed recently Dran observed as his relative identified the different tracks and told him what they were.
There was three visible types of tracks one being the tracks of a lone deer another being a pare of coyotes and lastly there was another, tracks that were four times the size of the deer.
Dran,s POV
He said it was a group of reindeer but not the type of reindeer from my world but twice the size and four times as dangerous with antlers that could skewer a bear.
they were not the three to five feet tall at the shoulder reindeer of my world no this world's could get up to eight feet at the shoulder can weigh over a ton and can run over sixty mph
It was a very dangerous animal and we would need a hunting party just to bring one down. No, he said we would try to track down the deer and that the reindeer would be too dangerous to hunt on our own.
As we followed the tracks he gave me advice like how to tell how fresh animal droppings are and if a branch was recently broken or how if your unlucky enough to get caught in a storm while hunting then you might as well give up on following any tracks.
He said that if you're caught in a storm this far north then your best bet is to dig a hole and pray to the old god in hope of survival. Especially if you are alone if there is someone then you could at least keep yourselves warm but if you're alone then you have a much higher chance of dying from the cold.
third person POV
As Dran followed his relative they came across some animal dropping; he said they were a few hours old because the inside was not completely frozen.
Meaning they were getting closer, after hours of tracking and looking for signs that they were getting closer they came across a clearing with multiple deer.
There was a strong buck and seven doe, he said it was not a good idea to hunt pregnant doe if they did then there would not be any more in this area, if people hunted every animal they came across.
He said no we would hunt one of the smaller ones even if it meant the deer would not have as much meat on it.
He said they would go for one of the smaller ones at the edge, they were too far away to hit them with anything smaller than a longbow so as they got closer. They headed in the opposite direction so that they could circle around so that they could come in down wind of the deer so the deer would not be alerted to their presence.
Dran's POV
As we got closer I thought about skinchanging into one of the deer to get it to come closer but I did want anyone to no of the gift not even my relatives and I had never skinchanged into an animal that large so I discarded that idea.
When we got into range of our bow I was told to go for the one on the edge. As I pulled the bow string taught I tried to steady my breath to keep myself from putting off my aim, after I calmed myself down I aimed for the neck and let the arrow fly.
When it hit the deer there was a sharp twang of the bow string causing all of the deer to jerk their heads up, as the arrow hit the small deer along the edge of the field it made a strangled noise, took a set and fell on its side causing all the other deer to bolt.
After the deer bolted we looked around to make sure that nothing was coming back around to attack us. We quickly yet quietly approached the downed deer, when I got close enough I could hear its rigid breathing as its throat filled with blood.
He told me it wasn't right to let it suffer and it best to kill it as painlessly as possible, saying that he showed me where to stop it's heart to put it out of it's misery.
Hearing the wet squelch of the knife as it entered into the heart of the deer made me slightly nauseous, but I suppressed it so as to not look weak.
After I had put the deer out of its misery, I had to first drain it then gut it. As I was draining the deer. My relative got out a wooden bowl then let the blood drain into it, when I asked what he was doing he said it is good to keep you warm and it'll help you grow strong.
As I thought about it I figured since blood has a lot of nutrients the body needs to to grow strong the free Folk interpreted that drinking the blood of strong animals makes you grow strong, and knowing the Magic in this world it could be true. An example would be Tormond Giantsbane a Free Folk Chieftain who was one of the strongest fighters in the books is said to have drunk the milk from a Giants tits which made him grow strong.
So with all of that I decided to go ahead and drink the blood even if it was disgusting. As I took the first sip and almost threw up from the heavy copper taste and thickness as it went down, but I forced myself to drink it anyway.
After we had both drunk a bowl of the deer's blood we let the rest drain out on the forest floor, we stored the useful parts that we gutted and buried the rest so it would not attract predators with its scent.
Dran's POV
As we finished, all of this night was approaching so we hung the deer carcass in a tree so no predators could get it while we slept, we then made a fire next to said tree and we gathered enough wood so we could keep the fire running all night long.
We both laid down heavy and covered ourselves with a thick fur pelt so that we would not freeze in the night. I was told to keep a knife next to me as I slept. Just in case something that does not fear fire comes upon us in the night, not that a knife would do much against a snow bear if one comes Upon Us in the night.
He had gotten a fire going, and he told me to go ahead and lay down for some rest because we would be leaving for the cave before the sun rises.
third person POV
After Dran was woken up by his relative they cut down the carcass after packing their things and covering up any evidence of a camp. Then they set out back towards the cave, since it was a relatively small deer carcass they alternated carrying the carcass so neither one of them would become too exhausted in case something happened. It took them most of the day, but as the sun was going down they arrived at The cave.
Tell me if you like me righting it this way or the way I did it before.
I welcome constructive criticism, and welcome any ideas you have for this story.