Broken Antler Fen Why Not?

Tagging @Aduin but this is for anyone who wants to join them!

Brandy couldn't decide what was worse: the locusts swarming, or their aftermath. Or, rather, the utter lack of one. There was nothing LEFT, after all. A hare could be scented here and there, and mice seemed to not mind the locust carcasses, but no large prey remained. The copper and cream female had spent her morning looking for anything, and had found nothing until the rabbit she was now looking at. It was a distance away, but there was nothing to hide behind. The tricolored female pressed as close as she could to the earth, praying her copper and black furs would somewhat provide her camoflauge. It worked for a little while, but eventually the rabbit spotted her and took off. Not this time! The yearling shot forward like a bullet out of a gun, pushing herself faster than she'd ever run out of despiration. They NEEDED every morsel of prey they could get! Her fiery paws pummeled the ground and she couldn't help the snarl that ripped from her jaws. Brandy coiled the muscles in her hind legs and sprung, only JUST latching onto the rabbits hind leg with a paw. It nearly escaped from dull nails, but another smack from the other paw dazed it long enough to go for a killing bite of the spine.
Panting hard, the yearling didn't bother standing: she needed a moment! She'd never had to chase a rabbit such a distance, and it really took a lot of her inital energy away. The wolves of the fen couldn't live like this, and it was bound to get WORSE. What were they to do? Brandy was an experienced hunter and catching a hare had nearly proved impossible. Her mother, for instance, probably wouldn't have made the catch. They were relatively the same size, but her tan and black coat likely would've been seen from further, plus the fact that Brandy knew she was faster than her mother. 
The bodies of the locusts were starting to disturb Brandy, littering the earth and damn near covering some places.... Wait a second, couldn't bugs be food too? The yearling thought back to The Cove, and her first eating of the insect. It hadn't tasted all that bad, just a little weird. If it meant survival, however, Brandy would eat every bug on the fen. Her life was finally starting to fall into place, now that she had a pack and a home and friends. It couldn't go to hell NOW! Would they have to move? Could they stay here, in the fen? 
Standing, Brandy snatched the hare and padded towards the lakes. Perhaps a swim would calm her nerves? Speaking of nerves.... Where was Aduin? She hadn't seen him in her treck this morning, and usually by now they'd found each other. She loosed a howl for him the moment she dropped the rabbit on the earth. She'd cleared a decent space from the horrid bugs, eating a few of them just for the hell of it. Better get used to it now.... Her face twisted at the texture, but thought to herself that the taste was more bland than anything.

Aduin wanted the flowers to grow back. The leaves to dance in the wind. Not some empty howling, but whistling as air rushed through leaves. This was all dull and unsettling. A landscape of no green. He missed that color. He missed the plants that hid him when he felt like needing alone time. And the plants brought prey. Now, there was barely any around. No large prey that he could see.

A howl brought him a warm feeling. Brandy must have wanted to show him a find. Aduin trotted in her direction, then found her. Surrounded by dead bugs. She was in a clear space, and he stepped lightly to avoid crunching any of the bodies. They didn't feel right under his toes. 

"Brandy? What is it?" Then he froze. Was that a crunch?

I can only imagine his face at seeing a locust in her mouth. He would probably find it disgusting

xD He probably thinks shes crazy, sitting here muching on the things that killed their home!

Apparently he hadnt been far, for he found her before she was even done chewing. He tiptoed around bodies, clearly unhappy with the feeling. Brandy herself didn't mind much, once she'd realized they could be food. She didn't like feeling the crush beneath her paws though, she had to admit. He looked fairly worried, and his gaze was focused on, well, her mouth. 
          "They don't taste bad, but they don't FEEL good."
She swallowed, making another face and shuddering a little bit. Her lemon eyes lit up suddenly, a sastisfied glint in her eye as if she'd won something.
                       "Bugs should be a good source of... Stuff, I guess. The things we need. It's not meat, I know, but if you dont want to do that.... I know where we can get prey."

Aduin stared at her mouth in disbelief, jaw half open. She was eating the bugs? It made him even gag a bit. "Y-You're eating them?" He didn't even want to try them, even though she said that they didn't taste bad. Bugs were for birds, not wolves. That's how he saw it. Although she did shudder after swallowing, so they must have been bad. 

"B-But they're bugs! BUGS!" He shuddered himself, just imagining them in his mouth. He didn't even want to look at them without imagining that. But then she mentioned prey. His ears perked up at that. "Where? I would rather anything, as long as it isn't bugs."

Brandy laughed for a good moment before standing, turning on her toes and facing the water. She glanced back at him as she poked her paw towards the surface.
        "The fish are still in the lakes, the locusts didn't eat them too. And they have nowhere to go! I'm not sure if there are any water plants left, but I did some looking around today."
She motioned to the rabbit with a shrug, and glared at it for a second.
                   "That damn thing was probably the hardest time I've ever had chasing down a RABBIT. There isn't any cover."

Shall they chase the rabbit again? If so, we should do a roll. 2 and 4 are success, I believe

Aduin couldn't help but make a grumpy face at her laughing at him. But it slowly turned into a smile. He could never be mad at her. The male went along with her to the water, peering into it to try and see these fish she spoke of. "But fish won't be nearly enough for the pack."

He followed her quick glare to the rabbit. Once more, something that would not be enough for an entire pack. In no time soon, they would most likely begin to look very malnourished. Skinny and looking like they were having a rough time. How long would they last? "Want to try again?" he asked with a grin. A chase seemed like a good idea to take their mind off things.

Why would they go again? O.o

Brandy rolled her eyes and licked his grumpy looking face, and it wasn't long before he was smiling at her. Of course he couldn't be upset with her! She was just too cute, and she knew it. He pointed out that the fish wouldn't be enough, but it was SOMETHING.
     "Its enough to keep us alive."
Then he turned to her rabbit, and asked if she wanted to go again. Hell, she was still a little winded from taking that one down! But the pack needed what they could get, and it would be wrong to NOT keep going.
             "If we got lucky to find another, I guess. But that one was hard enough to catch."

I am so silly. I forgot she caught the first one

He nodded to her words. Indeed it might be enough to keep them alive. Then he gave her a grin after she said that her catch was hard enough to get. "But there's two of us. That's got to count for something, right?" he asked, his tail wagging.

Brandy shook her head and giggled at his nonchalance, bumping her head into his chest playfully. The copper and cream female had better ideas than hunting.... She reared and flailed her paws towards him with a mischevious glimmer in her lemon eyes. It was playtime, not hunting time. The first chase had pissed her off too bad for another right now.

The male was at first surprised, then gave a toothy grin in her direction. He bowed down, tail wagging side to side in the air. Aduin stepped back to avoid her paws, then bat a paw in her direction. Obviously he was too far to hit. A playful yip came from his muzzle as he pounced forth after batting at her, aiming to put his legs over her shoulders to try and wrestle her down.

Victory! Her mate gave in, play bowing as he avoided her "attack" and swiping at her himself. The dark male was too far to land a hit, not that he was really trying, but his next move surprised her. He made a playful noise and jumped for her, and the copper female let him take her down. Brandy plopped to the ground under his paws and let out a teasing bark as she churned her fiery paws at his face. Even if they did land, they would be little more than tapping.

Aduin had managed to get her down. A big grin on his face, he went to nibble on her ear. He felt paws start drumming at his head softly that made him pause, letting go of her ear if he had it, then he went back to trying to do what he aimed to do. Eventually, he got off her and rolled away trying his best to get up as quickly as possible.

The tricolored female squealed in joy as he grabbed her ear, but he didn't keep it long. Aduin didn't even stay on her long, rolling off and getting to his paws as she watched, curious. Brandy got to her fiery paws not long after, wasting no time and springing after him. 
           "Im gonna get you!"

Bran gave chase to him, and when he saw that he ran laughing all the way. He enjoyed this, despite all the leaves that were gone. But thoughts that would come to question later began to arise. Is this all they would be doing? Or would there be something more to their relationship? These thoughts did not stop him, however. He kept on running, looking behind to see if she still chased.

Oh she chased. Brandy kept hot on his heels, swiping at his tail every few paces and growling playfully. She didn't share her mates worries, just had fun while they were in this mood. The copper female needed to be older for much else to happen, of course, but she did plan on bonding with him even further. She wanted to know as much about him as he knew about him, and vise versa.

Aduin decided to turn the tables and suddenly stopped, turned and went into a play bow, tail wagging. He was panting heavily, but did his best to ignore that. Sure he was exhausted. That wasn't going to stop him. Once he believed her to be close enough he pounced forth, hoping to surprise her.

Brandy was running so close she had to swerve to AVOID hitting him, flopping onto her side as she tried to come to a halt. She rolled a few times but when she stopped, laughter burst from her throat. She stayed sprawed out on her side, panting heavily and deciding to wait for Aduin to come to her. The copper female was obviously not hurt, just very tired.

Aduin laughed along with her and approached her to place a paw on her side while holding his head up triumphantly. "I..got you" he panted before proddin her shoulder with his nose. This was how he wished they could play every time, without worry of getting injured. He could feel their connection growing stronger by every moment.

Brandy flicked her lemon eyes up to Aduin, tail thumping on the ground even after he claimed victory. The copper female figured that, now they were mates, she could stand for him winning every now and again. She was just too tired to fight back anymore, not after her treck over the fen and her prolonged hunt. Brandy reached up and gave Aduin a wolfy kiss before giggling.
         "You got me."

Aduin's tail swayed high up, a big smile on his muzzle. His wagging stopped when she gave him a wolfish kiss on his face. He froze, kind of caught off guard by it. But he came back to reality when Bran spoke. He backed off and nuzzled his chin against her shoulder after laying down on his stomach.

"That was..tiring..and fun..wasn't it?" he asked, half-panting. "Thanks..for that..Bran." Aduin's tail swayed back and forth slowly behind him as he rested his chin softly on her shoulder.

Brandy rumbled softly deep in her chest, a sound that resonated joy and contentment. For once, at least for the time being, her ansty paws didn't ache to go off on an unknown adventure. Aduin cuddled up to her seemed to calm her very soul, despite her slight panting.
       "It was! Anytime, Addy."
His nickname for her made a grin break her muzzle, and she returned it with one of her own.

Fade out whenever ?

Aduin let a smile cross his face at her nickname for him. Addy. He liked it. Something they could use with each other without anyone else doing the same. His tail swayed side to side in contempt. He reached over his muzzle to her cheek to give it a sweet kiss, before murmuring something in her ear. "I love you, Brandy. Don't forget that, ever." And he meant those very words.

What a sweet way to end it. If you want Brandy to say something, I will wait before archiving