Duck Lake I haven't always been the King

Please allow @Rannoch to post first. I have no idea when this takes place.

It'd been sort of dumb of him to hunt alone, but the buck had been old. Decrepit.  He'd figured - if I could just get one good bite in, I can herd it toward the cuesta and let it die on it's own. Easy meal.

But with age came a certain wiliness that Grayday could only hope that he would someday develop. And oh, he'd gotten his bite in, but the buck was resisting all attempts to be herded, and had, in fact, gone further from the cuesta than Grayday had in months. Several times, the male had considered giving it up as a bad job, but he didn't want to just let the thing run off and die on it's own. He'd never been wasteful before, and he didn't want to start now.

So he'd stopped chasing the buck, and had begun following at a distance, simply waiting for it to die. I'll have a snack and then run to the nearest pack, and tell them where it is, he decided as he watched the buck drink from the lake up ahead. Day laid down with a heavy sigh, a bored, grumpy expression on his face.

Thanks for starting! <3

Since scouting the general vicinity of what laid directly next to the Vale, Rannoch felt himself wanting to branch out in his wandering to see what else lay beyond what he knew. These excursions would not take long, as he was always eager to return home. 

Rannoch's current adventure had brought him further than he had ventured previously. Having scouted for quite some time, and feeling the effects of the Summertime sun, Rannoch presently sought water to alleviate his thirst. The scent of water was evident in the air, and it helped him track down just where the lake laid. 

By the time that Rannoch had arrived in the lake-centered territory, the male's tongue lolled, and his breath was labored. The heat was taking a toll on him, and he was glad that his quest for a drink was nearly over. As he drew closer, the Alpha recognized that there was one final hurdle that he would have to clear. Standing not too far from his position was a buck whose old age was evident and a wolf not too far from it. Not wanting to disrupt anything, Rannoch turned his attention towards the wolf and chuffed gently as his head tilted in an attempt to question the other's intentions. To make himself appear all the more approachable, the yearling waved his tail as he looked in the general vicinity of where Greyday reclined.

Cloudy amber eyes tracked the movement of the younger male, interested but unconcerned. He thought about getting up to greet the other, but he was tired, and the sun beat down on him like a physical weight. Instead, he merely beat his tail against the ground when the other caught his eye, and leaned back on an elbow to advertize his relaxed atittude toward strangers. A friendly boof punctuated the motion. What are you waiting for?

Hopefully, this young male was from a nearby pack, and could take the stubborn, dying buck off of Grayday's paws. At this point, he didn't even care if he got a meal out of it, but by the looks of his quarry, he might yet see the end. The buck was lowering himself to the ground, unwilling or unable to stand any longer. Again, Day thought about standing, but there was still a steely glint in the buck's eyes. Better not to risk it.

His gaze shifted back to the wolf - a yearling, by the looks of him.

Rannoch interpreted Grayday's call as an invitation, and in reaction to this assumption, the Alpha crept towards the resting man with a grin. Even with his presumption, he kept a comfortable distance between them when he decided where to sit. 

Once settled, Rannoch offered a remark that hopefully would blossom into a conversation. "Is this buck yours?" He was not in the business of stealing potential prey and would be respectful if the older man had laid a claim on the dying animal. As he waited for an answer, Rannoch realized that the scent that the other carried was somehow familiar and though he couldn't necessarily pinpoint just where he had scented the other's pack-oriented odor before, Rannoch kept this conservation at the forefront of his mind.

When the other male halted a few feet away, Day lumbered to his paws and closed the distance, stopping just short of rude to take in the other's scent. He was young, and seemed to be around a lot of others his age. Grayday couldn't decide whether to be amused or worried, and ended up somewhere between the two.

"Why? Ya hungry?" he wondered, peering off in the direction the other had come from. Was his pack very far? "It's gonna keel over pretty soon. I was trying to get it for my own pack, but they're long behind me, now. If you want it, it's yours."

He almost offered to help herd it closer to the younger male's territory, but looking over at the buck, Grayday quickly determined that it wasn't going anywhere. He scoffed at it. Oh, now you wanna die, huh?

The buck stared back, stubborn and angry.

With any personal space between them gone, Rannoch seized the opportunity to investigate the aroma that the other male carried. Upon further searching, it appeared as though his initial suspicions were accurate: this wolf's smell was one that he had smelled before. 

"A little," he admitted to Day's inquiry, drawing his tongue over his lips once he had replied. "But, it'd be mostly for my pack." 

With the offer given, Rannoch dipped his head graciously towards the other. "Thank you, I appreciate it," he said, his gaze momentarily finding the nearby buck. Even with the two preadors lurking, it's biggest threat was time. Rannoch knew this and, for the time being, would wait out it's eventual demise. He sat at this decision, making himself comfortable for the long haul. 

"Where are you from?" asked the Alpha after as his attention returned to the Leader as he voiced his curiosity. "You smell familiar." 

Day smiled. "No problem. I'm not gettin' any use out of him," he assured. At the male's next question, however, he frowned in thought. The boy's scent was completely unfamiliar to him - but, he supposed the other could've come across his trail at one point or another. "I'm from a lot of places," he said distractedly, still wracking his memory for the boy's scent or face. "I can't say I find your scent as familiar. I don't think we've met before, but I've been around a while. Lately, I've been staying in the hills over that way," he went on, tilting his head toward the cuesta.

He looked back at the boy, curious about what he'd make of this. Maybe they did know each other, and Grayday was just getting old. "I'm Grayday, by the way."

Nodding to the other male's words, Rannoch attempted to figure out where he had smelled Day's scent. After a brief pause in deliberation, the Alpha found his moment of eureka. "Yeah, we haven't crossed paths, but I'm pretty sure that I've met somebody from your pack," he recalled as he reflected on the short interaction that he had had with Dawn. "I think her name was Dawn? She smelled like you do. Sweet girl, regardless. She was younger than me for sure. She was down South near my range." His eyes shone with a new light as he looked to his fellow leader. 

"I'm Rannoch," he replied once the other had introduced himself. "It's nice to meet you, Grayday." 

"My daughter," Grayday acknowledged, eyes narrowing slightly. He knew his daughter had a wanderer's heart, but to hear about her encounters with set the male's teeth on edge. How many times have we talked about stranger danger? he thought sulkily - but at least Rannoch seemed like alright company. At least it wasn't another Kelina, though there was no telling who else Dawn had run into on her journeys.

Grayday cracked a grin when the male spoke of being older than Dawn. To Grayday, they were age-mates. Then again, Adeline was closer in age to this male, and Grayday had begun to consider her an adult, even if his dreams still said otherwise.

"Nice to meet you, too," said Grayday. "I'm glad Dawn's running into good folk as well as the clinically insane, these days."

Rannoch was surprised to learn that it had been the other wolf's daughter that he had crossed paths with and despite the sharp nip of this surprise, his expression did not waver until he remarked on what had been said. "It's really a small world, isn't it?" he mused softly as he shook his head and smiled. 

Grayday went on to elaborate, and soon enough, Rannoch found himself concerned. "Clinically insane?" He repeated, his brows lifting in tandem of his slowly spoken words.

Grayday huffed in tired laughter. "It's a long story. Maybe you can ask Dawn, if you see her again," he suggested, not wanting to get into the whole Kelina story again. The female hadn't been spotted in months, and Grayday couldn't warn every wolf. Rannoch would just have to deal with it, if the dark shewolf happened to look his way.

Movement at the corner of his eye caught Day's attention. The buck was lumbering to his hooves, apparently rested enough to move on. "Damnit! This thing just doesn't quit," he sighed, glancing back toward Rannoch. "I think we're gonna have to take it down. Is your land nearby? We should try to take it down as close as we can."

Rannoch nodded, accepting the fact that he would learn nothing of the lunatic in this exchange. Though the thought of this threat set him on edge, he would do his best to keep an eye out for anybody who was acting up. 

Despite being momentarily lost in thought, as he mulled over the threat f the insane-minded wolf, Rannoch was brought back quickly to the conversation as Grayday spoke. "It's to the East of here, not more than an hour or so," he said. "I don't have much experience with hunting deer, so I'll do whatever you say." Despite Rannoch and the Vale reaping the benefits, this was still very much Grayday's hunt.

Grayday shot the younger male a smile. "It's not too difficult. The problem is - you gotta take out the legs while also avoiding them. One good kick and put a wolf down for life. You're fast, right?"

He began trotting toward the buck, who was side-eyeing them as it drank from the lake. Day swung wide around it, wanting to encourage it in the direction of Rannoch's pack. "We're gonna keep it moving toward your pack. That's enough to worry about for now. When we get a bit closer to your land, we'll start thinkin' about taking it down. If we can break a leg or tear a big vein, he'll go down all on his own."

The buck finally turned toward him, but the combined threat of Grayday and Rannoch helped to get it moving in the other direction.

Rannoch returned Grayday's smile, though it faded with the context of his reply. "I'm not the fastest, but, I can go for a while," he said, hoping that his skill-set would suffice. "I can pack a punch, though," he assured. 

He followed after Morningside's leader as they swung 'round the aged buck, keeping his eyes on the piece of prey as they stalked. "That sound like a plan to me," he replied, casting a quick glance to Grayday before turning his attention back to the deer. 

He had never hunted deer before and was happy to oblige with whatever 'Day instructed. With his attention divided, Rannoch continued along at an eased pace and waited for any further word.

Together, Grayday and Rannoch worked to herd the buck closer to the younger male's territory. Between the two of them, they injured the beast enough that, only a few miles from Northstar Vale, the buck finally drew its last breath.

"It was nice to meet you," said Grayday as he turned to leave, having eaten a small portion of the buck to tide him over for the rest of the journey. "Take care!"

And then he was gone, bounding back toward Morningside with his children on his mind.