Enough time had passed that the girls were ready to take their first steps towards becoming fully-fledged members. By shedding their titles as Hatchlings and becoming Deshi, a mark in their lives to signify their growth was made. Asterr, wishing to celebrate the momentous occasion, lifted her muzzle to the sky in order to summon the tribe, her body lingering near to the entrance. She had caught wind of some pronghorns and, after realizing that they’d entered the lair, wished to prevent them from escaping; whilst she could not do so alone, she would at least be present to witness it should they leave, and then better direct her followers. It was a shame that neither Airi nor Kaori could be there to partake in the hunt, but she was glad to see Shiori’s face, at least. Her sorrow lingered for no longer than a few moments, replaced by joy over the idea of a hunt and, should they be successful, a feast.

Once the members had appeared, Asterr began speaking. “Our winter was harsh, but we have been released from it and are ready to begin anew,” she explained. “Pronghorns have wandered into our home—a special treat, perhaps even a gift from Draco. We will track them, we will take a life, and then we shall feast.” Hunting large game had never been an easy task for her, but she trusted her tribe mates and their individual skills. She was confident that, should they work together, they would sleep that night with full stomachs.

The summons roused the silver scout from his rest. Once up, he began to lurk towards the entrance alone and since he was rarely far from it, he arrived quickly without trying. Proper deference was shown towards Asterr for a few strides before he settled delicately in to a place on the edge of the gathering's scene — mainly for sake of his own comfort. When he was officially situated, and fairly certain that all packmates he could account for were here, his senses were settled onto the chieftess for the explanation to come.

With that, it was revealed that they would hunt.

He listened and blinked slowly, still feeling the residual cloudiness of sleep evidently. He straightened his posture and knew he had to get ready for this, especially since he did not know where his skills would align with the rest of the pack or where he would fit in this greater picture of a hopefully successful hunt.

Members may still join if they’d like. ^^ Next round will begin on March 29th.

A total of two arrived, both taking their place before the watchful Chieftess. She waited several moments, wondering if others might soon appear. Before long, she decided that, should there be others wishing to answer the call, they could join them during the hunt itself; what they hoped to accomplish would be obvious, should anyone see them. With a small smile that flashed briefly across her lips, she nodded towards each man whilst saying, “Let us work well together.” With that, she proceeded to move forward, stopping again as she neared Inari. “I do not know how well you are at tracking, but perhaps you could use what you have learned as a Sukauto to locate the pronghorns?” she said, presenting it as a question. Should he feel confident doing so, then she would gladly follow after him, relying on his skills to lead them to their prey. Should he not, then she would trail after the scents of the animals, leading her tribe mates towards them.

He fully intended to make for a mild presence, especially with the hunters gathered so far making this for an intimate event between so few. Inari supposed it was a good enough time to understand his chieftess and packmate better..

When her attention landed on him, he perked subtly, at attention and funneling his energy into a focus. He had to here, especially as she reminded him of his official title here in the cavern, Sukauto. Unfamiliar as the notion was for the sterling-coated Rikudou, he knew it demanded some worth of him and he hoped he could meet these standards. Not intending to let them down without an attempt, Inari nodded. "I can see what I can find," he said with a soft hush on his note. He was not used to taking the lead in many circumstances, so he did so here with a measure of hesitance. His ears stayed flat as he stepped past their chieftess in deference, but a few strides later, he began to shift as the role of tracker dictated—with his nose searching the winds and the earth alike, picking out whatever he could find to help.

While not his strongest aspect, especially not pursuing something as mighty as pronghorn (unless already dead for scavenging of course), but his instincts worked well enough as any. He took a thoughtful moment to discern his chosen direction deeper into their depths, then turned towards the two comrades with a small wave of his tail. "This way," he suggested gently, hoping some motion could bring them into a warming trail. This was just where he would have to start.

Next round begins on April 5th. Casually trying to push this along so everyone can have a reason to post. ^^

The were joined by two more, the first questioning their actions whilst the other apologized. The answer was given before she could speak, and so Asterr merely nodded at the both of them, glad to have them on board. With three, their chances had been slim, but with five she felt confident in their success rate. Turning back towards Inari, she trailed after him, trusting him to lead them towards the pronghorns. Her ears were perked atop her head, listening for any kind of movement. She was sure that they hadn’t escaped the lair, the entrance at their backs still too close for them to have slipped by. Still, she glanced back once or twice, curious, but otherwise attentive of the hunt itself. And when she heard the crunch of the earth underfoot in the distance, she found herself wondering once again.

With eager steps, the dragoness drifted ahead, moving parallel to the group. The scout’s nose had not failed them, several bodies of tan being spotted through the trees. They were few in number, but appeared healthy, which was both wonderful and worrisome. Looping back around, she found her way back to the group where she fell into step with them. “They are not far from us,” she voiced, knowing that they were even closer now given the wolves’ movements. “Shikoba, move with me. We will break off into two groups and catch them by surprise.” She would wait for signs of confirmation before breaking off from the group, hopefully with the other woman in tow.

When the pronghorns would be sighted once again, she would conceal herself behind the lair’s flora, careful to keep downwind. There she would watch from, waiting until the others could be spotted opposite of her.

More joined them, not many, but enough. They were more than he had ever run alongside like this, their odds went up substantially. The pressure was on to succeed, and the sterling Rikudou said a mental prayer to hope his nose would not fail him today. Steadily, ground was covered, trails warmed up gradually, and they could get their visual confirmation soon, so Inari faded to a more observant role then. Their prize awaited. Just a few to choose from, yet.. far more than he had ever dared to overtake by himself.

Inari's tail waved small, but happily, while watching the other wolves so keenly when not eyeballing the pronghorns. It felt like all he could do to understand everything he needed to about how they could potentially bring one down to their dinner table. Then, their empress spoke up, prompting his ears forward, and he watched her go move to her group's position. That left the trio of males to mirror it elsewhere so he nodded subtly to each of his fellows to see that they were all on about the same page here.

 Inari hoped to see someone of greater group hunt experience take the more defined lead, which he would gladly follow to their spot without question. All the while, he kept glancing to the prey, then to where he thought the other group was. It was all relative, and a delicate matter keeping undetected, but thankfully, that was a strong suit of his still—unlike the actual takedown of sizable beasts and team strategies. He hoped it all would just flow.

Next round begins on April 18th. According to the die, someone from Group 2 (the guys) will get to deliver the killing blow. You guys may decide amongst yourselves which character gets it, or turn it into a group effort—your call!

With each group having seemingly settled into their respective positions, Asterr turned her full attention towards the pronghorns. They were large, sturdy beasts, but every great giant possessed a weakness. She sought to locate theirs, her eyes drifting from one animal to the next as she sought out an appropriate target. Even as they moved here and there to find new patches of greenery to munch on, she could find nothing that resembled a limp or injury in general. With a frown, she shifted her gaze towards what she believed to be a female, for its size was not the most impressive to be seen; it still offered them plenty of meat to pick from, but with fewer risks. She flickered an ear and threw her muzzle in the doe’s direction, singling it out first to Shikoba and then the males. Whilst large hunts were not something that she often partook in, the instincts that were so deeply embedded in her subconscious shoved their way towards the forefront of her mind, dictating her actions.

There was a flick of her tail, followed by the forward shoving of her ears before the Chieftess set off. Hopeful that the males had been able to see her, too, she moved towards the doe with the intent to herd it away from its family. Several times had she glanced towards Shikoba, watchful of her partner whilst also ensuring that they were on the same page; never did her eyes dart back to see the second group, relying instead on her ears to pick up on the sound of their footfalls. With yet another flick of her tail and a few low barks, she encouraged them to get closer, deciding that they might be better suited for the actual takedown. Asterr, never having been one to twirl with the mundane dance of dominance and submission, lacked the desire to take the beast’s life herself. She valued her life, her safety, far more that glory, and understood the risk that arose anytime she was around a being larger than herself.

He was quite relieved when Hadraniel slid into a more leading role among their group. It suited him far better than it did the silvery scout, and since he trusted him to move them effectively enough, Inari readily followed his guidance where necessary. Paired with the cues provided to them all from their chieftess, he found them well on their way to success. The time-old motions of this dance played out, then soon, the cogs of the hunt turned forward yet again. The prey was engaged in the seconds to follow, then quartered off away from the rest of its fellows, and his senses were keened for the next moves to come. So much, so fast, and they were descending on the quarry in earnest next, rallying it to its end.

Inari was not one to be forwardly placed enough to make for the first strikes or the most killing of blows, but he would be there to support them just after however needed. His teeth were poised and ready if necessary, for they had come this far--they could not let this opportunity slip by yet, and soon after, they would have their feast.