Every year, at the spring equinox, the goddess of the forest demands a hunt.
 
 
Men from the village gather their bows. And woman volunteer to be their prey.
 
 
The goddess doesn't demand their sacrifice. She only demands that the girls do their best to survive, and men do their best to claim them.
 
 
The ritual lasts for two days and three nights, the dawn of the third day signalling for the ritual to end. Any girl captured before then, living or dead, is brought out by her hunter, body intact.
 
 
Any girl who has not been captured is free to continue her life, blessed with health and fertility. Any man who has captured a girl is free to do with her as he wishes, and the goddess blesses him with vitality and successful hunts for the rest of his days.
 
 
Men often hunt their daughters, sisters, and lovers. Proof to the goddess of their intent to bring down their prey.
 
 
Any woman who is claimed in this hunt is welcomed into the Goddess' Hunting Grounds, along with her hunter, to live out the rest of their eternity in a neverending hunt.