An explosion of noise suddenly disrupted the quiet November afternoon. On the grasslands between Silvertip Mountain to the west and Blacktail Deer Plateau to the east, a large lynx struck down a young moose traipsing away from Whitefish River. As soon as the wildcat made her kill, she settled down to feed.
Within moments, another large cat appeared, drawn by the noise and the scent of blood. Fueled by a sense of invincibility, the yearling cougar launched an attack on the lynx. A loud and bloody battle ensued. Despite the puma's natural advantages, the lynx managed to land a fatal blow to the other cat's neck. He slumped nearby, dead.
The lynx did not return to her kill. Instead, she attempted to lick a large wound on her belly. Soon after, however, she succumbed to her injuries and slumped to the ground, leaving two dead and one half-dead bodies lying there on the plain smack dab between two wolf packs.
Zaria didn't like to sit around and do nothing even with an injured shoulder. The slender female was on the side of the mountain that looked over the grasslands and the river. In the far distance she could see the plateau. Her keen green eyes looked over the plains before her. She felt like a bird looking down on the plains from the edge of the mountain side. She never went too high since she disliked how heavy breathing got. She stayed on the lower ranges but it still gave her quite the view.
She watched the fight from a distance, sitting down in the process as she watched the cat fight. Though, they were more like moving dots. Zaria watched the dots stop moving and leaned forward in questioning. It would be interesting to take a look but she was still injured. She didn't want to go all the way down the mountain, so she would sit this one out and keep her guard over the STM grounds. Maybe one of her packmates would be interested to inspect the ordeal.
"This is hopeless." She muttered. "I'm hopeless." With a defeated sigh she sat down on her rump in the damp grass. Her ears had fallen to her skull and she stared down at her paws. Cold air seemed to whisk past her guard hairs without effort to chill her skin. "I want my bowl," she lamented. "I want my bed." Living the 'wild life' for a week had been enough for her, but the days she mourned for were over. Her well-meaning rescuers had sentenced her to a life she was not prepared for.
The wind drifted the scent of blood past her nose. Her stomach rumbled, and she winced at the unfamiliar burn of hunger. She rose to her paws and followed the smell, certain that something seemed familiar about it, but what she found horrified her. Two cats, a cougar and a lynx lay dead (or so she thought). The moose off to the side she barely took notice of. "Oh no!" She squeaked. "Oh no no..." She urged, and could not stop herself from throwing up.
She was unaware of the wolf who watched from afar.
he watched, aghast, from where he had paused in his patrol his visit to the maplewood pack had been uneventful, and the return trip thus so, as well. some time after he had come back, dante had called a meeting to inform the blacktail wolves of their intent to depart.
when that had met its natural end, taltos had sought the comfort of the outlying borders to breathe and to think of their next step. it would begin to snow soon -- he wished to be moved before the drift grew too deep to facilitate travel.
the scream of wildcats drew him swiftly; he danced on quiet feet toward the sound, wondering if they sought the plateau. but when he arrived, the lynx was in its last throes, and some small pathetic creature threw its meal into the brush -- the acrid scent reached him eventually.
but the pile of meat to the side of the dead predators would make a fine addition to their caches; he tossed back his head to summon the plateau wolves and began to down the incline, where he tensely approached the dead animal and began to fill his belly and tear apart pieces to carry home.
Dante happened to be nearby when Lasher called, for he had been tracking prey himself. The news was delivered and a discussion had ensued, but that did not mean they could be complacent. Winter was coming.
Lasher's summons heralded an easy kill, however, so Dante left his current course to attend to the soon to be alpha. Picking up his pace, he ran at a rolling gallop, attempting to close the distance quickly. Scavenged kills rarely set unimposed for long. As he ran, he joined his call to Lasher's, hoping it would further the range. Come, fresh food awaits. Perhaps more would hear and partake.
Cas heard, and turned aside from where he had literally been kicking rocks down the side of the plateau. slipping into an easy run and meeting Dante's pace with his own. the pair arrived at the side of the kill, where his father lifted a bloodstained face and nodded at the boy. heartened, Cas glanced at the silver alpha -- that's what he still was, right? -- and began to tear at the carcass, eyes hunting around them for the sight of any other wolves, predators, or zombies.
She lifted her head from her pile of puke, only to see a pack of wolves coming her way, howls taking over the relative silence of nature. She froze in fear, her back arched and her tail puffed out behind her. But the wolves seemed not to notice her, or were atleast unconcerned by her presence as they marched toward the moose. She watched, bristled still, as they started to tear into the carcass.
She felt disgusted as the display, but her attention was soon stolen as the lynx, whom she thought dead, moved. "Oh gosh!" she exclaimed, moving to its side. "Hold o—HEY!" With its last bit of strength the feral cat swiped a clawed paw at her as she bent to sniff at it, scratching her muzzle. She was shocked, stunned, and stared dumbfoundly. With one last irritated twitch of its tail, and a low gurgling rumble, the lynx passed on. Kit's tongue flicked out to taste her own blood, and her eyes went wide.
She was not used to this. She looked back toward the feeding wolves, and slowly put some distance between her and them, but not so far that she could not watch from the safety and concealment of a bush.
were we waiting on me FUDGE
he growled as the cat roused itself to slash at the smallest of their kind -- she departed their far field of vision, and the beta filled his belly until he could no longer stomach the meat. tearing off a great swathe of flesh, the man began the slow trek toward home, casting glances over his shoulder after his son and his leader.
he glutted himself and then turned to waddle after his father, giving the little idiot wolf no second glance. dante would follow safely, casmir assured himself, and so turned toward the business of returning home quickly, to deposit his own hunk of preyflesh into the nearest cache and turn in for a nap.
sorry :X
double edit - archiving this! ^^
After eating his fill, Dante too dragged a good portion with, following father and son. He kept furtively aware, knowing other competition wouldn't be far behind. Already at least one other wolf hovered, but did not concern the alpha, for he knew she could do little against three. The rest others could have - they took what they could for the pack.