Phoenix Maplewood wabbit season! duck season! ...turkey season?
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Ooc — mercury
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#1
All Welcome 
AW but tagging @Easy and @Sunny and anyone else who wants to work on a hunting trade

He had entered the forest to the musical sound of turkeys gobbling.

Shale had spent a brief time up near Bracken Sanctuary before returning south, meandering around the glacier-mountain before finding himself back in the Maplewood. He knew this was Aditya's favored place, and that Dawn and Easy spent a lot of time here, too, but this was a special forest to him as well. He'd found Murdock here, and that had made it possible to find the rest of his family.

He owed a lot to the Maplewood, and he was glad they had claimed it.

Now his stomach rumbled slightly as he caught the scent of the plump birds, pecking about in the brush. Licking his lips, he slipped through the trees a silver shadow, keeping his pawsteps light. Turkey was good meat, full of fat, and would make a good meal for Catori, if he could take a couple birds down. Granted, he was much better at hunting big game, but turkeys seemed an easy quarry, for now.
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Ooc — Jay
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#2
Sunny thought he had caught the scent of Turkey around the Maplewood but he was busy patrolling when he had first smelled it. After he was finished he returned to the area, spotting Shale slipping toward the delicious scent. He followed from the opposite side, letting out a very faint chuff to signal his presence but not to scare the birds. Then he focused ahead of him until the sound of gobbling and clucking made his ears perk. 


As soon as they were in sight he paused and looked for Shale, assuming a plan to take down several would be better then rushing in and scattering them senselessly. Turkey were harder than pheasants and bigger too, their beaks hurt and could take out flesh and a smack from their wings could stun if hit hard enough.
Birdcatcher: 4/10
 
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#3
was gonna wait and see if easy wanted to jump in, so I'll go ahead and reply now!

A smile lit his face as his nephew appeared among the brush, peering at the turkeys. Their eyes met, and Shale nodded to Sunny, slinking over to stand by his side. "We have the element of surprise," he murmured, "and we're downwind. Our coats stick out just a little--but only barely." Their gray-toned pelts were slightly different than the colors of the maplewood, brown with a hint of spring green, but he doubted the turkeys had good enough eyesight to tell, anyway.

"We should wait until the last possible second to strike," Shale reasoned softly, copper eyes sliding toward the birds. There were three or four of them, striding placidly around the clearing. "We don't want them going on the defensive. If you or I sneak around to the other side. . .we could trap them." He looked at his nephew, wanting his input. The boy had a talent for birdcatching, he'd noticed.
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As Shale approached and came to his side, Sunny kept his gaze on the small flock of Turkeys. They weren't in a right group but they were close enough together that if he and Shale came in from opposite ends they'd run toward each other if they came at them properly. "We can come in from opposite sides. Keep a wide enough berth and herd them into a tight group. Circle them in together but not getting to close. Our distance keeps them from escaping. Once they're  in a right group  we could probably make kills of three out of four." ah...there was his usual problem. When he had a plan he could picture  it in his mind but when putting it into words? That was much harder to do. Still though he thought he did an adequate job and looked to Shale for his opinion.
Birdcatcher: 4/10
 
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#5
One more nod was all Shale gave his nephew, then the older man slunk away, a silver shadow through the trees. All the while, he kept an eye on the birds: they seemed content enough, but now Shale was moving upwind of them. Once he was in position, they would have to act fast. Sunny's confidence that they could nab a majority of the turkeys buzzed through him, adrenaline standing the hairs of his pelt on end.

When he was on the opposite edge of the clearing, he settled low into a crouch, waiting for Sunny's signal. He was careful of every move he made; one snap of a branch, one breath too loud, and it would be chaos. Bird hunting required a bit more finesse than the wild deer chases he was accustomed to, and Shale was more than happy to let his young nephew take command in this situation.

Shale blinked through the brush at Sunny, lying in wait.
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Sunny nodded and kept his place, watching for shale to get into position. When Shale was there Sunny nodded and leaped into action, giving a loud and ferocious snarl to send them scattering. Just as he thought, the birds broke off into pairs, two each going in separate directions. Sunny went for the ones closest to him and used his body to stop their escape. Unfortunately the other pair ran off away from shale, whether he wanted to go for them or not was up to him. 


Sunny kept his focus on his two prey and chased them back toward shale, sideways leaps back and forth and snapping jaws keeping them running together in pairs toward the hiding place. He began to close the distance in case he needed to go for a kill.
Birdcatcher: 4/10
 
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#7
rolled in Disco

In pairs did the turkeys scatter, and the two Morningsiders were able to surround two of them, lips lifted in snarls. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the birds was closer than the others, and did a quick calculation in his mind--could he risk stepping away for a brief moment, to herd this third bird into the fold?

No, he decided, returning to the birds they'd already cornered--there was too much risk of this pair taking advantage of the gap his retreat left, and two birds were better than one. "Forget the other two--for now," Shale directed, casting the briefest of glances at Sunny. "Let's take these two down."

Without another thought, he leapt toward the bird nearest him, striking snakelike, low to the ground, trying to seize the turkey's neck between his teeth. He winced in pain as the talons raked him across the shoulder but managed to knock the creature over with brute strength, seizing it after a brief struggle. One powerful bite, and he heard the crunch-snap of his fangs ripping through flesh and muscle and severing the spinal cord.

He looked up, hoping that Sunny had managed to take down the other bird. If not, he'd rush to help--and perhaps they could take another, too.
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Sunny wasn't disappointed in the slightest that they had lost the other two birds, the two he had cornered were good enough to feed the mouths of the pack.  With a nod of agreement he lunged just as Shale did, using his forelegs to pin the birds wings to it's side and grab it's skinny, leathery neck. He shook from left to right, his fangs slicing through flesh but instead of severing the veins a sharp snapping sound could be heard as he broke it's neck.

Dropping the bird he stood over it and looked to Shale, noticing the scratch and having an idea. "I know just who can heal that" he said with a grin, thinking of Rae. She was under Pema's teaching and her first test could be preventing infection of Shale's wounds. "We can take these back. Unless you wanna go hardcore and hunt down the other two?" he asked jokingly.
Birdcatcher: 4/10
 
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#9
To his satisfaction--but not, of course, his surprise--Sunny took the other bird down, and the two Sameth men stood, grinning and panting, glancing down at their handiwork before his nephew approached. Sunny remarked on his cut, and Shale shook his head in an emphatic refusal, believing the boy spoke of Pema.

He had yet to approach the woman after he'd blown up at her; he didn't want to come limping back in these circumstances.

"I'm fine," he said, a little sharply. "It's not deep. I'll make sure to keep it clean." Shale knew how it worked. He'd seen enough wounds tended to in his life to fend for himself, especially with a cut this shallow. But he did crack a smile at Sunny's joke, shaking his head in a much lighter fashion. "Let's bring these back to the caches," he agreed.
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#10
Sunny gave a quick nod, disappointed though that he couldn't aid in giving Rae one of her first tasks in Morningside. Not frowning for too long though he nodded and picked up his bird, moving forward to give Shale a playful bump to the shoulder and heading back toward the pack. He would place it in the cache, tear off a piece for Cat and for himself and go eat, maybe even take a good rest for once. 


Sorry for sucky reply. Last sunny post. I'm trying to wrap up old threads
Birdcatcher: 4/10
 
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#11
He was glad Sunny let it go so easily, and returned his nudge with one of his own, a cheeky smile aimed his way. Seizing the bird where its neck met its shoulders, Shale powered through the maplewood just behind sunny, their mouths--thankfully--full enough to avoid any further conversation.

It wasn't as if he didn't want to talk to Sunny. He just really didn't want to talk about Pema.