Stone Circle Following The Stars

A flurry of white charged from the forest ahead - Kiran, alight with the drive of the hunt. This would be an easy kill - until the beaver jumped and bolted, betraying nimble paws despite its thick and lumbering body. Nanook bristled and stalled, caught with the sudden shock. But she set her brow and recover, and the Apaata leapt from her cover just as the beaver made for the line of bushes that stood along the bank of the river.

The beaver crashed beneath her weight, and Nanook grappled for purchase. It squirmed and thrashed, and once nearly scored her face, but Nanook held a tight grip. She sunk her teeth deep, until she pierced through the beaver's insulating fat and reached the lifeblood beneath. Crimson stained her jaws and the snow beneath them - the beaver grew sluggish, its heartbeat slowed, and finally, fell limp.

Nanook pulled away and swiped a tongue across the corners of her mouth. The beaver still twitched with a phantom life, but its heart stilled, dead. She turned a narrowed look at Kiran. "That wasn't slow," she remarked. The white wolf had been wrong about that - but it was hardly enough to fault her on. Kiran had worked well as a team, and showed skill in her prowess and speed. Nanook crooked her head, a shimmer of interest in her eyes. "Valette will decide your place with us." She gestured to the beaver and stepped away to allow Kiran to pick up their prize.