Sleeping Dragon River Fishing

Quickie Hunter thread - Fishing roll 

Goliath had set himself up in the middle of the Queya river , dragging several large dry branches to place whichever fish he caught to be protected from the snow. He had been waiting for quite a while, looking for the smallest sliver in the water, where he could nip the fish out of the water, crush its head, and place it down. By now, his legs had begun to be cold and tired, and he had to make some laps to warm them up once again. His belly had become wet and cold, yet the river was still unfrozen. It was confusing for him, why still bodies of water froze while rivers took longer to freeze. It was of no important matter, for him, that was better.  

The time that he was waiting was too long, but either way, he just waited in the river, his eyes fixed. He kept parts of his feet on hard stones, so that he would not slip. Every twig that passed was just a disappointment for him, and his anger lashed out for a second as he missed the sliver of a fish fin, which he was too slow to catch. "Damn it!"  he shouted, one of the few words he knew. In the time he was waiting, he actually was going through simple sentences in his head, and basic grammar. 

Hours passed, and they passed slowly.

He had almost missed the nice, juicy Brown Trout that was slipping past his point, it was actually followed by several more, but he was too slow to catch them as well. His hunger had almost got to him when it was his jaws, but he decided to save it, and brought it to the side of the river, and placed it in the snow, as to keep the recently killed fish fresh. In the meantime, while waiting for the next, he began to gut the fish by splitting its head off with his jaws, and removing the skin around it.

Hope you don't mind Snacha! :)

Snacha usually wasn't far from Thuringwethil, but lately she had wanted to stretch her legs a bit and get to know her other packmates. If she was going to fight and perhaps die alongside them, she wanted to know in whom she placed her trust, and if they deserved such respect in the first place. So she had left the heda earlier that day and scouted along the mountain, following the course of a river down its side. Soon she heard splashing and cursing, and with an ear pitched forward, crouched down before anyone saw her.

The raccoon-styled yearling crawled into the shadows at the base of a tree and quietly watched as a large wolf fished, jumping in and out of the water as he caught a few morsels, which he killed quickly, then threw onto the snowy bank between two sticks to keep fresh. Snacha's mouth watered at the sight, but she made no move toward the wolf or the fish he had caught; she was certain he would crush her skull as easily as the fish's if she tried to steal from him. Besides, if they were pack...

With a soft bark, she revealed herself from the shadows, and stood on the opposite side of the river, watching him skin the fish in his jaws. "You are good at that." Her voice was soft as she complimented him, but she meant every word.

Hush found that the lower slopes of the Sleeping Dragon were more to his liking that the crags above. Perhaps it was his dislike of heights, or that the winds loved to sweep through the higher elevations. Regardless, he spent his time near the river, patrolling the territory and mapping out the taiga below.

The coywolfdog felt his stomach growl slightly as he trotted alongside the river. He looked down at the water below, watching the fish and little aquatic creatures swim by in the freezing cold water that would give him hypothermia- he definitely was not going to fish in that water.

Luckily for him another wolf was stupid enough to fishing in the waters, and was already successful. Hush approached, hoping that this ma-hoo-sive wolf was fishing for the pack and not just himself. The hybrid was not interested in stealing from one of his own packmates, especially not one as large as this one was. He walked towards the goliath (little did he know that was the wolf's name), his eyes flitting over to the wolf across the waters as he chuffed softly in greeting to them both, silently assessing the situation. Was there enough for them all?

He placed his paw on its back, and began cutting the belly of the fish, only to pull the abdominal cord out with his jaws. Blood had spread on his lips by now, and only then did he recognize the wolf appearing before him. He looked at the wolf before him, then back at the fish he was cleaning, removed his paw, and grunted "Thanks" before returning back to the stream he had fished from. "I Goliath, What you want?" he asked slowly, not meaning to sound rude, but he didn't mean to fish in front of an audience. 

All the insulation he had prior from his fur was gone, in fact, it almost made the water colder, yet he was still warm from the deposits of muscle and fat built around his stout legs. He had been focusing on the stream of water intently, not noticing the other wolf approaching. Once again he dunked his head in the water, but had only caught but a teeny tiny rock bass. He had almost swallowed it, he realized, before pulling his head out once more, only to find yet another wolf at the side of the river. 

He tensed for a second, but he soon assigned the scent back to his pack, something he was never used to. Either way, he didn't enjoy the intent of the other wolves, and kept himself alert. He wasn't a food truck, and wouldn't give out the food he had spent time catching to people who simply watched.

He decided to make the wolves work for what he had fished, and threw the small (and still alive) fish towards them. "Gut" he barked, before adding "If gut, food for all." he finished, his limited vocabulary couldn't be hard to understand. He would catch for them, if they gutted it themselves. That much, he could give them.

Sorry for the wait here!

Soon another of their wolves joined them. Snacha studied the other with her quick brown gaze, taking in his demure bearing and features. Snacha was small and agile, but she was also quite scrappy, and could hold her own against any but the largest opponents. Goliath introduced himself and Snacha returned her gaze to him, ears flicking as he asked a question. What did she want? That could be answered multiple ways, but she was sure Goliath wouldn't appreciate a confusing answer. "I was exploring the land and found you." Her gaze turned from him to the other and she nodded a greeting. "Seems like the river is a good place to find pack-mates."

She wouldn't say friends, for they were not friends. Perhaps they never would be to her. Snacha was a peculiar wolf, with little regard for others aside from Heda Thuringwethil and the silver queen that ruled beside her. "My name is Snacha." She gave a nod of her head toward the others, her brown eyes studying them neutrally. She was not trying to threaten them, but rather get to know their movements and shapes, to know them in the dark if she ran across them during a patrol. Their scents were easy to distinguish, especially this close. Then he surprised her with a toss of a fish, offering her food if she gutted them herself. It was not a kindness she experienced much in Trigeda, but she would not turn down the opportunity to eat. "Ah, that is kind of you, Goliath." She settled down with the fish between her paws and mimicked his movements, biting the head first and peeling the spine back.

Hush made a soft chuff of amusement at the massive wolf's name. So he was Goliath. Aptly put. The other wolf, the female with a raccoon visage, called herself Snacha. He wondered if she was of the same blood as Thurin, but he was not a fan or had any interest in linguistics. Hush, realizing that his name was needed as well, choked out his name in his own peculiar way, "Hush." He stressed, moving in closer to the wolves.

With a toss of his huge head, the wolf called Goliath tossed fish towards him and Snacha, unwilling to share the rest of his kill. Without hesitation, the raccoon-bodied woman snatched it. Hush walked over to the woman, looking at her, and then at Goliath, his brow furrowed. Should he ask for more like a starving orphan or ask the woman to kindly give him a piece. Decisions, decisions.

I'm going to play it like Goliath left, so we can finish this thread up. Sound okay?

As she settled to her belly to eat, the wolf named Hush came toward her, looking between her fish and the one's Goliath had caught. The giant had climbed out of the river at that point and settled down to eat his own food. Snacha felt a little strange having the quiet one staring at her, but then she realized that perhaps he was just hungry. After it was gutted and cleaned, she tossed him half of her fish. "Hush, eat." Her voice was soft, but she meant it. He needed his strength if he was going to be useful.

Then after a few quiet moments of crunching bones and babbling water, Goliath stood and left them with a soft word. Snacha wondered where he was headed, but didn't want to follow him. No matter her strength and agility, he could crush her beneath his body weight. She didn't want to anger or annoy him, and getting one of his fish seemed to be enough kindness from the giant. After he left, Snacha turned back toward Hush, studying him. Her dark tail thumped contently behind her hips, showing Hush that it was alright to relax.

Sorry for the wait. last post from me

Hush took the offered fish, tearing into it without any ceremony. His hunger was evident from the quick way he teared the meat apart, swallowing the small pieces quickly before, almost instantly, the next was in his mouth. Within a few minutes, the fish was gone, and within those few minutes, so was Goliath.

It would be the last time he would see the massive wolf, but that thought did not and would not bother him had he known. Hush was grateful for the meal, however small it was. He licked his lips, then looked at Snacha. His head dipped in a bow showing his gratitude, then he left. He had no conversation to bring nor did he wish to stay around the river any longer. He wished to explore this new land of his.