Swiftcurrent Creek 500 ways to use a carcass

Gamekeeper thread, with some skinning! For SC wolves.

Meat was in plentiful supply around Swiftcurrent Creek. Bazi and Njal had chased down a buck not days prior, and today she had brought down a younger, similarly sized animal that had - by sheer luck - snapped a leg during a stampede. Bazi had found it not long after, bleating in pain and stumbling around in blind circles. Its family were long gone, choosing to sacrifice this poor beast to the wolves to save them all. The Creek wolf gave it a swift, merciful end, and quietly thanked the still corpse for its gift when the deed was done.

She had it in her mind to give Tuwawi a large, dried skin to line her den, but skinning this size of animal was a job for more than one wolf. She needed someone with small, precise teeth and time to spare - when the skin was free and drying in the sun, there was meat to bury, bones to clean, and ofle to sort through. The choice cuts would go to Fox, Njal, and Tuwawi, she decided, picking those in greatest need or of highest rank. It would still leave plenty for the rest of the Creek to enjoy.

Keeping it vague until we finish the other thread lol
Jace's shoulder was healing well. He was still a bit unnerved around others especially since his conversation with Ferdie and then Bazi not days later. He had a lot to sort through so the solitude became his best friend. He had run throughout most of the pack land marking borders and checking for any scent of coyotes.

he just so happened to upon Bazi. He approached her quietly but chuffed to let her know he was there. Like some dark wraith he stood watching to see what she was doing. It had been a few days since he had eaten as he just wasn't feeling like it.

"Do you need help Bazi? he asked her quietly unsure if she would welcome company or not.

Bazi was crouched by the downed animal's abdomen and was in the process of opening a hole in its chest when Jace arrived. The kill had stained her front, and the fur around her muzzle was a solid, vibrant red.

The girl waved her still clean tail at the sound of his voice, but didn't look up - her teeth was busily nipping at the tough skin. "I'm trying to get the skin," she told him through a mouth-full of fur. "You can snap the legs off."

Jace approached the beast and with a small chuff he bent down to study the legs and how to best remove them. He began to chew at the meat around the first leg and after it was peeled away and he could see Bone he grasped it in his maw and with an almight growl he bit down hard and twisted at the sametime and it came off with an audible crack and he lay it down near his body.

Speaking between chews he asked What are you skinning the beast for? Just curious? He had skinned them before for his own den mostly though he had used smaller pelts and furs.

Whilst Jace worried at the limbs, Bazi split the animal's belly to the groin and pulled the skin away to protect it from the stomach contents. When that was ready, she pierced the abdominal sack, spilling its hot, red contents onto the ground. After a bit of rummaging around with her head fully inside the carcass, all major organs - heart, liver, lungs - were in a pile on the ground. Bazi's face was more red than white when she emerged again, licking thick slops of blood from around her mouth. By this point, Jace had successfully severed a leg.

"For Tuwawi," she answered, smiling at the thought of her pack-mate's face when she saw the big, thick skin. "We'll call everyone to feed on the carcass when I've taken it back home to dry. Where is your den, Jace?" Whilst he answered, Bazi began pulling the skin away from the body with firm but careful tugs.

Jace was in the middle of tearing at the second leg when she asked him a question so all she got at first was a grunt and a growl as he ripped the other leg. Splashing his obsidian coat with gore. He looked up at her teeth stained red as he licked at his muzzle and spoke. I don't have one. I sleep outside. Occasionally when the weather was bad he'd find a hole to worm his way into, but for the most part the peaceful night air kept him calm and semi- alert. He and his father had always taken turns being outside the den at his former home, though it was usually him. He had never liked closed spaces.

He tilted his head and smiled Tuwawi will like that she likes the organs too if you want to make them a gift as well. That's the first thing she went for the other day when she and I were hunting. He tilted his head and began gnawing at the third leg to snap it off.

Bazi nodded and gave a few wags of her tail. "I'll do that." Tuwawi was fast becoming a favourite. There was something so calming and inviting about the red woman, though Bazi had seen flashes of temper that suggested she was more than capable of the opposite.

The two youths worked quickly, and soon the majority of the animal was skinned on one side - Jace's quick work on the legs allowed Bazi to pull the skin free there too without much resistance. It looked quite strange to see the animal without its coat, baring fat and red muscle to the elements.

"I think you should dig a den near us," Bazi told him whilst she nibbled around the deer's front leg, eyes fixed on her work - this was the last piece before the entire animal would have to be turned over. "We dug a den in that bowl made of those trees and their roots - you saw it, on top of a little mound. We could dig you a little hollow on the other side, or maybe at the bottom of the mound. If it ever rains," the girl added, not wanting to pressure him.

Jace himself enjoyed and genuinely liked Tuwawi. Her mate was still up in the wind for the youthful male, but that was mostly because he didn't know where he stood with the warden of the Creek. He did not wish to step on toes and his apology had not gone as planned as he had ended up talking to Tuwawi rather than Njal. He shrugged he would try again another day.

Jace turned blue eyes towards her and blinked "I could do that. I can't promise that i'll sleep in it all that often. I prefer to be outside, but it would be nice to have a place near friends that I can go when the weather is increasingly bad. He offered her a smile and with a snap of his jaws severed the third leg. "Would you like me to finish that fourth leg for you or you got it?

Fast-forwarding a bit! :)

"It'll be nice to have you around," Bazi said, and then, "Do the fourth, please - then help me turn this thing over and separate the skin."

They worked diligently for over an hour after that, turning the deer and stripping the skin from its neck and upper limbs. Eventually, Bazi was able to pull the whole skin loose and drag it to one side. They were left with a very strange-looking creature - a whole head, still covered in smooth fur, with staring eyes and a lolling tongue, attached to a red, raw, legless body.

"Now that's ugly," Bazi declared, frowning at the corpse. "Do you want to take some of it away to refresh the caches near the dens? I'll call Tuwawi and the others to clean up the fresh produce when we're done. ... have you spoken to Tuwawi much, by the way?"

Jace smiled at her It will be nice to have some friend around too. He gnawed at the fourth leg snapping it off. Then with a grunt he grabbed a hold of the beast and jerked it over with Bazi's help.

Jace frowned as well "Yes Yes it is. He nodded his head and began to rip some different choice pieces off of the carcass to fill the caches putting them in a pile near his feet. I have spoken to her yes on two separate occasions first time we didn't do much talking but rather some hunting we were able to dispatch a doe and her fawn and then the other day I took her some hares with the intent upon talkign to Njal but he was off somewhere so she and I had a conversation and her Ferdie and I played keep away the other day with an apple. She's very nice. He smiled at her kindly.

"She is," Bazi agreed, chewing on one of the severed legs as she listened to Jace recount his dealings with the Njal and his fiery wife. A thought struck her, and she dropped the sinewy limb in order to give the Creek's swarthy Eta her full attention.

"Jace," she began, crinkling her brow into an expression of mixed curiosity and concern. "Where were you before? You're so sweet, and kind, but you're very distant at the same time. So is Ferdie. I think I know him, and then he'll brood on some dark matter for hours - or refuse to eat. And you sleep outside and alone, like you're punishing yourself for something. It's like you've got something on your mind. It's not that bloodlust thing, is it? Have you told Fox yet?"

Assuming it was OK to mention now that we know the resolution of that thread. :D

Jace smiled as he thought of Tuwawi. She was a good wolf to know and she was indeed kind she had even managed to make a slight scold seem not so bad to the black wolf.

Jace tilted his head and placed the meat he had been pulling off on the ground and turned blue eyed gaze to her as he pondered how to answer her question. He didn't really know how he had always been distant even as a child preferring his own company to others to afraid to hurt someone as he had hurt his sister all those years ago, but at the same time fearing the darkness would leak from his soul and any friend he made would see the monster that lay dormant underneath his downy black pelt.

I am from a place called Chinook I was born on the Seqouia coast my parents are Wildheart Shadowsinger and Zenzi. He smiled at her words. My mother and father raised me very mannerly. I guess yes I am afraid to let you or anyone really see that part of me. I have a darkness that hides underneath and a monster that lays dormant there. I am also afraid to hurt others, I would never forgive myself if I were to hurt one of you so it is easier to stay by myself. I am also a bit of a loner because my father kept me away from others for a few months while he taught me how to handle this. I guess I never grew out of it. I can't tell you about Ferdie, his soul has more blemishes than mine as of yet. He sighed and shook his head, NO I haven't told Fox yet I don't know how.

Blemishes? Bazi made big eyes at that, but managed to keep her curiosity from brimming over into more questions. It wasn't her place, and Fox did not condone gossip, but she was desperate to know. Perhaps it would be easier to ask Ferdie outright.

"But you control it now," she said, recalling the coyote confrontation. "When you fought those trespassers; you were in control. You killed the miscreants, and you stopped - and that was that. I think you're more alright than you give yourself credit for," the girl punctuated with a firm nod - as if this made it more true. "When was the last time you hurt someone?" she probed.

Jace saw her wide eyes and gave her a half smile ornery and boyish with a little flare. he hadn't meant to stoke the fires of curiosity he should have known that he would though. He chuckled softly and tilted his head.

He sighed "It was hard Bazi. I wanted to kill them all. A bleak look came then from his eyes to his muzzle as he remembered. "I was about 6 months old and Vienna made me so angry I don't even know what it was that she did but I blacked out. I bit her shoulder so deep it took months to heal and the only reason it was just her shoulder was because my father managed to get me off of her. I could have killed her Bazi killed my sister. and she is nothing but sweet. He cocked a shoulder. Soon after that his father had taken him away for a couple months and explained everything and how to try and control it. Though he told him. Son listen to me. You are never going to be able to completely control it. This it doesn't work like this. And god knows I wish you didn't have to deal with the curse laid upon me by the gods for the atrocities i have done.

Last reply from me.

Bazi had not expected that. Given Jace's age, she hadn't thought there would be much of a back-story beyond the fact that his father had suffered from uncontrollable rage, and these things ran in the family.

"Oh," the girl replied, barely above a whisper. She imagined harming her own siblings - Mari's sweet face swam into view for the first time in months, but time had dulled the memory of his features. "Right, well.. well done, then. For restraining yourself." Suddenly she felt awkward. If Jace had been capable of murder at six months, what would he be like at two years, when testosterone joined the party?

The pale wolf lowered her head back towards the carcass, grabbing hold of the tattered neck. "Let's cut this into pieces," Bazi grumbled around a mouthful of fresh meat, curiosity gone, eager now for a change of subject or even just silence. She wanted time to ponder this new information. It wasn't worth telling Fox - not without permission. Jace would never trust her again, and the way he described his hair-trigger rage made it sound a lot closer than she had previously thought - bubbling behind those friendly, placid eyes like a black soup.

They worked in silence after that.

Jace saw the curiosity leave her eyes and something else take it's place. he had told her she hadn't believed him. He was no angel and it was best for him to stay away from everyone. He would handle what he could he would love those he could but at a distance. He was a demon child a fallen angel his father had told him one of the damned. He grasped the deer in his large jaws and began to tear it up in the silence that lay heavy like a blanket all that could be heard was the tearing of flesh and bone as they separated the pieces.