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@Astraeus, gonna also tag @Buzzard @Vulture <3
little PP here to get this set up, lmk if you need any changes! we'll be (attempting to) steal from npcs so feel free to set parts of the scene up however you want, otherwise i will introduce things in my next post!
condor's plan had seemed so perfect in the moment, but he was just running into snag after snag. the latest one: even assuming there was a pack that wanted this thing, in order to trade the child back to his home he had to be alive. so they had to feed him, which meant condor was being forced to do even more work for the nebulous promise of a future windfall. it was all thoroughly infuriating. he was not one for delayed gratification.
but he'd made his mistakes, and much as he loathed it, condor was stuck with the little brat for the foreseeable future. so the least he could do was make himself of use.
if there was one thing condor knew about wolves, it was that they fell all over themselves for sad-looking children. thus the plan. this one in particular had so little going on in his head condor almost felt bad for him, so surely it would garner a little pity from someone also missing their common sense. someone like buzzard, for instance. at the very least, they'd be too busy laughing to pay the proper scavengers any attention.
and luckily, these mountains were just packed full of idiots waiting to be robbed. he'd crossed nearly a dozen scent trails in the past few days alone, which was all for the better; if someone didn't fall for their tricks, it would be no trouble to pick out another target.
in pursuit of both a meal and perhaps making the child less insufferable, condor set out, keeping an eye on the boy in case now was the time a neuron might finally fire and send him fleeing over the ridge. a plunge to the valley floor below might spare him the headache, but while condor was quite fond of the delightful coyote reputation for eating children, in practice, it didn't hold up to the ideal. too bony for his liking, and this spindly little thing still growing into its proper size wasn't about to change that.
"i hope you can surprise me here, darling," condor said. "this is very delicate work. luckily for you, the only thing you have to do is keep your mouth shut and look pathetic." he shot a quick glance over his shoulder. "see, you're just about there already."
astraeus going into the life of crime
Pathetic?
Any other epithets would have sufficed, but the triple trio of doom only tell how they see it. Their makeshift murder of fowl simper and cackle not unlike that of the manner of hyenas, all ghastly and perturbing. Bleary and gauzy-eyed; the boy rises that morn and complies with whatever the scavengers' have him to do;
today, it was reconnaissance — wait, no, it was something borish like being a provided smokescreen for their criminal agenda. “I facking hade it here!” boyish tongue still apparent (and out of breath), he coninues to gripe, “Take me home, stupid!”
sorry for the delay!! wanted to give vulture & buzzard a chance to hop in but moving right along
had he not just told the boy to keep his mouth shut? he'd even been polite about it, and this was where it had gotten him. why did he even bother.
rounding on him, condor snapped his teeth just short of the boy's muzzle, meeting his eyes for several long moments. "do shut up, please," he said, turning around to the ridge with a toss of his head. "you know, i think i liked you better when none of this had registered. how about we pretend that's still the case."
he got barely another step along before the child spoke up again; noting the movement in the valley beneath, condor turned back around, redpink gaze thin and sharp.
"i'll make it simple for you," he singsonged as he grew closer. "i'm sure you like to eat, yes?" he didn't wait for the answer. "of course you do. now, darling, the problem is finding food takes work. and if you aren't inclined to help, then perhaps i'll make a meal of you instead." condor smiled, making sure every tooth was on display. the boy was so dense he had serious doubts even this would work, but it did make him feel better. yes, perhaps scaring children was a cheap thrill, but it was nonetheless one he enjoyed.
"i'm certain you'll be much less difficult dead." a heavy sigh. "it's just a shame children are so bony."
he let that linger for a good few moments, tongue curling up over the dark edge of a lip, and then he swiveled his muzzle down to the carpet of green below, where a pair of unmistakable canine figures shadowed just what he'd been hoping for – an unidentifiable tangle of raw meat and bone.
"or you could take my suggestion," which was absolutely not a suggestion, "and perhaps i'll be willing to let you partake of whatever it is we steal." reluctantly, of course.
condor could hardly say the lesson went well. wolves just weren't meant to scavenge – frankly, it was quite painful to watch them try, even if they weren't this little brat – but they were learning their own lesson. and the lesson was not to bother with any kidnapping anymore. better to just eat the kid, and much more fun for their reputation.
theft abandoned, they began the tedious process of returning the kid to buzzard and vulture. no doubt he'd complain all the way back. perhaps he would be tempted after all to push him from the ledge and be done with it.