Rays of sunshine push through the thick canopy of the Chocobo Forest, casting dappled patterns across the earthy floor. Light dances across the bark of the mighty trees and small animals scurry to each new spot, bathing in its warmth. High in the trees, in the fork of an uppermost branch, a midlander squats with his bow in hand. Striking blue eyes close, and his shoulders lift up and slowly lower as his breathes slowly in and out, steadying himself. He lifts his bow and nocked an arrow in one fluid motion. His eyes open once more, focused on the squirrel a few trees down. A smirk lifts the corner of his lips and he narrows his eyes. He tenses his back and shoulders, drawing the string of the bow. Air catches in his throat as he holds the posture, waiting for the perfect time..... There! Shane releases his breath and the string at the same time, just as the squirrel looked up at his tree. Thunk! The arrow sunk deep into the eye of the small animal and it keels over instantly. A quick and clean death. With a nod to himself, the hunter leans forward, intending to roll on the thickest part of the branch in order to hang off the edge; however, he misjudged. His hands grabbed for thin air and his boots kick nothingness. Leaves and smaller branches grab at his pants and scratch his bare chest. Finally, about halfway down, his back crashes into a lower branch and he lets out a laugh. “Zelshane, ya ole bastard, ya got lucky thi--,” he’s cut off by a loud cracking sound, and suddenly he’s falling again. The bowman lets out a short yell and suddenly he’s on the ground with a thud.
He groans, and it’s a few ticks before he’s able to roll himself off the ground. In his mind’s eye, he can see his father laughing at him. All show, no talent!, he used to say, but don’t worry, you’ll get there, he’d then add on, always coming over to his fallen son to ruffle his hair and tend his wounds. Zelshane drags himself over to the trunk of the tree, eyeing the squirrel he shot, to make sure no other beast had gotten it while he was... preoccupied. He leans back, placing his wrists on his knees and craning his head back to gaze back into the leaves at the top of the tree. It had been 12 years since his father died, and yet he still thought about him everyday. His mother, too. He grimaces as the memories flood his still throbbing head. The bandersnatch cub they rescued from the chocobo trap. The roar. His dad shoving him away, shouting run. His mother leaping in front of his dad, thinking she could calm the raging mother bandersnatch as did the cub. It was too late. 8 year old Zelshane couldn’t do anything but watch from around the trunk of a tree. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, he couldn’t even go get help. He remembered how cold it got that night, an unlikely storm bringing too much rain, that washed the bodies clean, leaving only gaping wounds in his parents chests and stomachs and backs. How if it weren’t for the chocobo chick that was being washed downstream brought the Tailfeather hunters to his location, he would have probably died, right there next to his parents. Zelshane shakes his head, freeing himself of the dark memories. He bites his lip until it bleeds, clenching his father’s amulet in his hand. Zelshane had turned it into a lanyard, keeping it tied tightly around the tip of his bow. An ever present reminder that one day, he’ll get there.
Zelshane stands up, his red hair seeming to catch fire in the sunlight. He dusts off his pants and stretches, coughing some. He’d taken worse falls. Slowly, he limps over to his kill. He slices the tail off cleanly, shoving it in a bag. Then he takes the arrow and puts it in his belt loops. The hunter stuffs the rest of the squirrel into a separate bag and faces Tailfeather. He began the long walk back to town with his meager catch. He shrugs and glances at his bow, and the amulet dangling there. “One o’ these days, I’ll get there,” he says to himself, a small smile playing on his lips.
Zelshane is the only one of my OC’s that believes in luck. Kadi, Syn and Taj, and Khal all pretty much believe that what’ll happen, will happen. Though, I will say, Kadi, Syn, and Khal think that often fate grants you choices to change your fate, but I don’t think that’s the same as luck. Zelshane however, does have a lucky charm, a squirrel tail he keeps tied to his belt at all times.
