Let it Bee

Shilah hummed delightedly to himself in the early morning light of a beautiul spring morning. The sunlight spilled out over the grassland in rich tones of gold and amber as the birds greeted the morning with song. He'd heard about Algoma prairie from another loner who mentioned that it was a good place to hunt and boy he could see that. The prairie was alive with the sounds of spring. Birds were singing loudly and numerous bugs were joining the concert. It was nice to walk through a land so full of life. The fact that it was teaming with flora and fauna only doubled the beauty of the place… and also made him rather hungry.

Shilah immediately started sifting through the scents of the land as he looked for potential prey. The first scent he caught was for pronghorn antelope. He didn't detect any traces of disease or blood that would make following the scent worthwhile. Taking a pronghorn antelope solo would be extremely difficult, which was a shame. Antelope was one of his favorite meals but he was going to have to pass in favor of easier prey. He did smell a number of rabbits. Perhaps he should just go for something simple. However, it was spring. Surely there were some small herds that had vulnerable young he might be able to slay.

Shilah did pick up the scent of an elk herd and he opted to give it a try. He followed the scent to where the herd was grazing. He could see that some of the cows were pregnant but he didn't see any young and no one seemed ill or injured. There was one older cow that could be a potential candidate but he decided it wasn't worth the risk of injury trying to take such a large animal solo. Best to just cut his losses and stick to something small. Opting to go for a rabbit he started sifting through scents when something sweet caught his nose. Ohhh that smelt like honey! Shilah didn't do much with honey but it was a sweet treat he enjoyed from time to time, mostly for special occasions.

He took off, following the scent to the edge of the prairie where there were a number of small, shrub-like trees. Not far off he could see the Briar. That was definitely not a place he cared to go to. Truth be told he wasn't quite prepared to gather honey but it never hurt to do a little investigating. Shilah rooted around the clumps of shrubs until he spied one that had bees flying and buzzing all over it. He took a step closer, trying to get an idea of where the hive was. As he got close suddenly the swarm seemed to mobilize. Rather than hanging out close around the shrubs they took to flight and were headed right toward him. "Oh, wait I didn't mean-" Shilah sputtered but didn't bother to finish his sentence. He turned tail and ran. Having no weapon to really utilize he used the next best thing, his tail.

Shilah's tail wagged wildly as he ran, the fluffy fur stirring the air and throwing the bees off course and even swatting a few. However, it wasn't really the best defense. He felt a few sharp stinks on his back and he snarled at the pain. Viscious little beasts! Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor he put on a burst of speed and sprinted out across the plains in an effort to loose the bees. Shilah knew better than to turn and look back at them. Instead he waited til the sounds of buzzing grew fainter and fainter until they finally fell silent. Shilah slowed his pace, panting as he came to a stand still. Well that wasn't fun. He turned to try and look at his back. Did he dare to lick it? No, no, that was probably a bad idea. If he recalled correctly bees, like honey bees, often left a stinger. Crap! He didn't even have his companion with him, how was he going to get those out? Should he try rolling in the grass? Maybe he just needed to find another patch of trees and try rubbing along them. Or maybe a rock or something. With a sigh Shilah sauntered away back toward where he had started his journey. If he recalled correctly there were a set of decent sized rocks he could rub against and hopefully remove the bee stings. After that he wasn’t sure what he should do. He wasn’t a healer and didn’t know anyone who was except for some of the nomads he’d been traveling with. Perhaps with any luck he could track one of them down and get some medical assistance. In the mean time he’d just have to tough it out.