The locusts took everything away. The lands were stripped bare and the herds had moved on. It wasn't looking good for any wolf. Prey would be extra hard to search for now that there was no food to provide them.
Mikasi went through the woods with determination. There had to be something. Anything. They needed food. Lucky for him there was something, but it wasn't grand. A unsuspecting mouse. It was small, but it was still food.
The male snuck towards it, ears pulled back and body low. However, he wasn't aware of a bare branch in his way and it snapped under his paws. As the mouse went running, he did as well. It was all in vain. The little thing had a head start which overall made it survive.
Mikasi growled clenching his teeth with anger. "Fuck!", he growled, pacing away. Just great. Even a measly meal was out of his grasp.
Burke was also looking for food, but it was very scarce. The large male could do with less food, especially after his bloat incident he had been eating less, but now with the lack of food he was really starting to feel the real hunger he had not felt in a long time. The male heard the curse and perked up his ears to meet Mikasi. He could understand the frustration.
"Mikasi," he greeted, sounding a bit solemnly. The male nodded quietly. "Maybe those bugs itself are tasty," he spoke, which was actually not a bad idea. There were plenty of them, so why not try it. Burke did not have to do a lot of effort to snatch one from the air, leaving him chewing on a crunchy mini snack.
As he paced away, he happened to come across Burke, who greeted him in a solemn way. Mikasi returned the greeting with a quick nod of his head.
He looked onto the bugs and couldn't help but glare at them. Who knew such tiny creatures can cause such chaos? Still, his anger did not stop him from crunching on the insects himself. It was a strange taste, but it was still food. Wasn't as good as meat, but a snack non the less.
After he finished munching, a sigh escaped him. "I wonder how long it will be until the plants grow back."
Burke looked at Mikasi when the asked that question. He wouldn't have a clue, he did not know how long it took for plants to grow. The dark male had grown worried. Maybe he could ask his daughter. Maybe she could nurse the plants back to health. He was not sure if that was how things worked. "I would not know. You would have to ask my daughter," he spoke to Mikasi.
Burke thought about those little bugs, and how one would not have been a big deal but this one would have. "Curious how these things can eat all our plants. It only proves that a pack in numbers is stronger than one loner," he spoke his thoughts out loud.
He would have to see Kendra about it then. She was the only wolf that knew of plant life, at least that's what he believed. Mikasi could not think of any other who had the same knowledge off the top of his head.
The male nodded. The bugs were so small, why and how would they need to strip the land bare. There had to be something, anything they could have left behind. "I wonder how a loner could be coping in such conditions," he added.
Burke looked in the direction of their borders when Mikasi mentioned the loners. "They don't," he spoke, hence why they needed to be very careful with leeches that would take their food and once it was plentiful again then leave.
"You should not worry about them, if a loner is stupid to be a loner and dies, it only means more food for us," he spoke, Burke was really open in those kind of things. Especially when he was hungry.