Sun Mote Copse Promises Kept

Gonna assume I can post here since their deal is over (and that her deal extended from the 14th to the 21st-lemme know if this is wrong), but if it's not okay I'll be happy to move it elsewhere. Looking for anyone and everyone lol <3 Im gonna assume that her knowledge of what goes on is limited, since she's on a kind of probation the last week-if anyone wants to fill her in thatd be awesome :3

Giana was keeping well to her promise to Eshamun-she'd been here just under a week- waking at the break of dawn every morning and hunting till midday or later. It left her tired, aching, and hungrier than ever-but it also got her back into routine, and better yet gave her a reason- and each day she felt herself grow stronger. Her bony figure hadn't improved, but the smell of infection-even as stale as it had been-was nearly void. The ivory woman refused to eat until she'd caught at least two or three pieces for the cache, and today was no different. 
 Today, however, it was taking longer than usual to find something to catch. All she'd found today was a squirrel-the red thing hung limply in her jaws-and it was nearly noon. Usually by now she could've found another rabbit or two-today everything seemed to be hiding. The air had a chill to it that Giana couldn't deny, but she was excited for Winter. It was her favorite season, and this might be her last good one as a younger wolf-she could still play and have fun. Those thoughts brought her to her children, though: she missed her three little darlings so much, but had little hope they'd ever find her here in The Malkaria. As she limped quietly through the woods, she wondered if the leaders would permit her to have pups for the Copse before she grew too old to keep up with them. 
         I guess it doesn't matter, since I don't have a mate anyway.
The bitter, venomous thoughts rolling through her head were aimed towards Giancarlo-how dare he abandon her, let the family fall apart? This was all his fault.

would love to use this as a hunting thread, if you're up to it! Ragna can also teach Giana what she knows

As Eshamun had requested, Ragna kept track of Giana's progress. Ragna had begun to keep a separate cache for her own catches so that she could better track Giana's. Each night she checked what new additions there were, and each night she found herself impressed. The woman was true to her word, proving herself to be a valuable addition to the pack. It was this that led her to seek Giana out. She had been working tirelessly, and Ragna thought that that deserved some recognition. In the end it would be Eshamun that made the final call on whether Giana would have a place her, but as far as Ragna was concerned, she had earned it.

The copse was now familiar to Ragna, and she moved through it with ease and confidence. She came upon Giana as the newcomer limped through the trees, a dead squirrel clasped between her jaws. Eat that, Ragna said, not as an order. You will need your strength. We will bring in something bigger. Ragna had been tracking the herd of deer that lived in the Cedar Sweep, and one of the does had an injured leg. Ragna would need help to catch it, and it would be a far larger meal than anything Giana could bring in alone.

Absolutely!

Giana had seen little of the wolves who lived here, and based on the scents of few, she understood. There was nothing to say if she was being avoided or was just unlucky to have not crossed paths with some of them, but eventually the scent of Ragna drifted to the Ferretti. The memory of their meeting flashed through her eyes-had Giana been doing enough to show she wasn't useless? She sure hoped so, cause she also didn't think she could keep this up day after day; hunting for the pack was one thing, but spending half of every day striving to fill caches-that was much more taxing. 

Anything, though, to keep her place secure. Getting on Eshamuns good side was a must, but also being friends with everyone else would help too.
The pale woman came up behind her, Gia having felt the approaching pawsteps soon enough to avoid being startled. Ragna surprised her, then, telling her to eat the squirrel: confusion twisted her mask of focus, and had she not been holding the thing, she'd have objected. However, the motives were soon revealed in the form of something much bigger-something that very well may seal the deal. It was only after a moment of hesitation that the ivory coated woman did nod and crouch, stripping meat from the bones she couldn't chew themselves, and eating swiftly as to not hold up their hunt. To fill the silence, Gia added between bites:
                "How far, how big?"

In her shyness, Ragna had avoided direct contact with Giana, preferring to do her business alone. She did not want to interfere with Giana's task by aiding or sabotaging her by neither purpose nor accident. So she continued as she had, ranging over the fields and hills from afar to track the herds. This was how she found the injured doe, still fat from the summer's plenty, but hobbled by its injury. Ragna could have sought out any of the Malkaria, any able hunter would do. But the best test of a wolf was not only of how well she worked alone, but how well she followed orders and worked as a team.

Ragna watched Giana eat, and as she did, she spoke. Not far, but large, she said, and was happy to leave it at that. Yet she continued. The better informed the newcomer was, the better they would do. To the south, in the cedar sweep. The herd is not far. There is an injured doe among them. The herd was perfectly placed. Two wolves could herd them towards the river. There, only one would need to chase from behind while the other kept the herd from diverging from their path. They could force the doe into the river, and that would be the end.

Giana, while she was very tired, would not have wanted the week to go any different.  She never would have asked for or accepted help in any way - but now, she recognized this as a test. This was the last thing that would decide what she was to the pack, and there was no way Giana could turn this down if she wanted to. 

Ears cupped up to listen to Ragna's words, the ivory woman snapped the rest of the squirrel and swallowed, leaving what scraps she didn't eat for the crows and standing in a swift motion. She stumbled back, muttering about her useless leg but standing at attention - maybe she was trying too hard to be a member and not a leader -  and nodding to show she was ready. Clearly, the more official Baakar would lead this hunt for more than one reason.

I rolled now to see if they catch the deer or not for the sake of other threads. They do!

Giana didn't speak, which served Ragna quite well. She took it as tacit acceptance of her lead, and immediately trotted off towards the cedars. Come, she bid, and did not look behind her to see if the newcomer followed.

Once they had crossed into neutral lands and the scent of the herd wafted towards her, Ragna slowed, then stopped. She gestured to the river with her nose. There is a river there, and a bend. We drive them into the water. Our quarry will be slowed by the waters, she explained. She paused, waiting for Giana to ask any questions, then set off towards the herd. Follow my lead, I know these woods well.

Ragna took her lead and swept off towards the Cedars - Giana followed with quiet reservedness, but inside her heart was fighting the cage of her ribs. Her rust paws padded after the pure white woman, and only stopped when the shieldmaiden did. The river- they would drive them into the river- it was a good plan, one that would give them both time and the upper hand. No questions asked, only a nod of her head, and they were off again. Giana fell into step, limping forward quietly. She was thankful her leg was not as bad as some she knew, and she still had control of it - but it was annoying as hell.

Giana accepted Ragna's leadership wordlessly, which struck fierce pride and confidence into her. The shieldmaiden struck out for where she knew the herd to be, slowing to predator's prowl when she smelled and heard them near. She circled them until the angle was right, then burst from the undergrowth. She trusted Giana to do as instructed and herded the bolting deer towards the river.

The tree line thinned and broke. Down the sandy bank the deer leapt, and the healthy among them were able to cross the river with little difficulty. Their target, the injured doe, became bogged down in the shallows, and Ragna was upon her within moments, closing around one of the doe's healthy legs and yanking it towards the shore.

Giana kept an even pace behind Ragna, slowing when she slowed and split away when they began to circle. When the hunter lunged, the Ferretti was bounding after with her jaws snapping and a snarl bellowing from her throat. Together, they drove the herd towards the river, and as planned all but the injured one were soon bounding further ahead - Ragna and Giana fell onto the doe in the water, one grabbing a leg and the other going for the side, hoping to knock it over and go for a killing bite.

The doe kicked and stamped in frenzied desperation. The leg that Ragna held jerked in her grip, but she dare not release it for fear of getting kicked. Even the way she held it meant that, with each sharp jerk of its leg, the unyielding hooves dug into the thickness of Ragna's shoulder and drew blood. The pain merely added to the fire of the hunt, the adrenaline burn that she loved so well. Her heart sang as she jerked her head to the side. A great crack resounded as she broke the leg of the deer.

With Giana's attack, the deer fell in the shallows, the water erupting in great splashes as the two wolves fell upon it. Ragna went to finish the deed and tear the poor beast's throat open, though she was content to watch if it was Giana that arrived at the neck first.

Giana saw the strike on her packmates shoulder, and found she was right to throw herself as she did - the doe crumbled with a broken leg, the three beings splashing around. For a brief moment, Giana wasn't sure where to strike - but as she saw Ragna lunge for the throat, the ivory woman slid back and went for the spine. Together, they would end the beasts pain and take it back to the Copse, feeding most if not all of the pack for a good while: this coupled with all her additions meant they would be well fed and able to survive the winter.

slight pp here. as always, let me know if you'd like to to change something <3

Blood flowed freely from her wound, but it was not so deep nor in such a terrible position that she was concerned. It matted her fur along with the blood of the doe, whose throat Ragna opened with little ceremony. It jerked and writhed as its lifeblood drained from it in waves, each desperate pump of its heart sending it quicker to its end. With Giana's strike to the back of its neck, the light of life fled from its eyes. Still the heart beat, its blood rushing into the the shallows and over Ragna's paws. Her face and chest were stained crimson, her paws a lighter color by the blood mingled water. Their hunt was over. Ragna's breaths came in quick, her heart slowing as the adrenaline fled from her.

We must take it to the cache, she said simply, and found a grip on the dead deer and began to tug it from the waters.

All good! :D I usually try to stay vague in group activities, so feel free to just tug her along to keep things moving!

Giana barely noticed yet the blood flowing from her packmate, but focused wholly on the task at paw - getting the deer out of the river. Their doublesided strike had left it dead, she knew - even if its heart still fought to pump, that too would soon be empty and limp. As she released her grip from the next, glancing to Ragna, she noted the blood matting her fur - 

                    "Are you okay?"

She was no healer, but she knew things could go wrong with a wound in seconds - or in days. Nonetheless, when the shieldmaden gave her order and began to tug, Giana pulled her own weight without another word - latching onto whatever would give her a solid hold, she threw her body into it and did her share even as sore as she was becoming - her body hadn't been worked like this in moons.

faded here, it seemed like a good spot B)

The pain, though sharp, was negligible in the face of their success. I am fine, she said, dismissing the thought that she was anything other than in good shape. Perhaps the wound would scar, but she cared not. What they had done was no easy task, and she was proud of their success. Later she would lick her wounds and judge their impact, but for now she merely gripped and yanked the deer towards the nearest cache, Giana at her side. They would split ways once their task was done.