Although Rye still had concerns about the buck, he knew deer were much more likely to run than fight. At some point in his youth Rye witnessed a female deer leave her fawn behind in order to escape. A harrowing sight, it opened his eyes to just how brutal the world can be. "If there is one, it will probably run like the others, too focused on survival than his females. We can't not alert him, I don't know a wolf out there that could quietly lead a single deer away. " He said. For a moment Rye gave in to the thought of fighting back against the buck but that was the lack of sleep and hunger speaking on behalf of the brain. "We should get moving before the herd wonders away too far."

Knots twisted in his stomach for the hunt they'd soon begin. Rye knew he didn't have the energy for it, the only thing that would be his save and grace was adrenaline. However that could only last for so long, his steam would run out just as quickly as it formed. Rye took lead without a word in advance to Effie, he was too consumed with the possibilities and outcomes of the hunt to remember the hunting lesson. He switched between contemplating about the hunt and tracking; his nose often dipping down to pick up scents before moving on without a word. 

It wasn't long before the scents became stronger and calls from the deer could be heard in detail. The deer were grazing and wondering while the fawns played in the mix of the adults, a peaceful sight ready for chaos to erupt. Rye got down low and scanned the herd, looking for the eye catching antlers atop a deers head, and there it was. Two thick beams with multiple tines protruding out of it at odd angles, they looked nightmarish. Yet, so soft? Rye inwardly questioned the sight before him and took a moment to correct his weary brain. His head slowly bobbing up, down and side to side, trying to get better angles. There was no way that buck had fur on its anlters. With a little bit more looking/straining with his eyes. No, yeah that was fuzzy antlers.

His tail began to wag, the revelation was brilliant and soothed most of his worries. "That deer has fur on his antlers so, his threat level goes down a few notches. Hopefully at least." A shread of doubt still wormed its way through. He wasn't entirely sure if the antlers would be less deadly but he wanted to believe it. "We should still be wary of him but the new odds are probably in our favor." He explained with suppressed excitement in his hushed voice. 

Now was the precursor to the main event, they needed to find a female that was easy to take down. After looking through the lot Rye liked the look of the doe in the back. Thinner, slower looking and duller in color than the bright browns next to it. "You see that one towards the back? Its coat is darker than the rest." Rye gave Effie a moment to find it before quietly speakin again. "I believe that one's older, I'm not sure but that looks like our best target. What do you think?"

Rye shifted his paws under him, widening his stance snd alleviating the growing static in his leg. His ears flickered between Effie and the herd as he listened for sounds from both. Occasionally his eyes would join the indecisive movements as well, he remembered what his father always told him, 'look at someone when they're talking to you' and for the most part, it always stuck with him.

Getting the jist of Effie question, Rye was drawn back to some of his earliest hunts on his own. A few times he would see male deer with shredded and bloody antlers walk past him, with pieces of flesh hanging off his head, some even had tines that were broken in half. Rye wrote it off as an exploitable weakness but never bothered to test his assumptions. "They're weakend when they got that fuzzy stuff on them. They can break in half too." He explained.

Rye understood Effie was inexperienced but he wanted her to feel involved nonetheless, her opinion matter to him, regardless if it was about the hunt or not. Plus, he wanted a little reassurance he was chosing right and Effie delivered perfectly. Rye smiled and felt the pressure relief, knowing Effie trusted him was a confidence booster and got him to trust himself a little more. "Thank you for trusting me, it l means a lot" He said sincerely. "As for what I need you to do, well, the female we want is at the back, so I'll want you directly behind her but at a distance. I'll be directly to her left pushing her towards the right. If she tries to turn around and run back, the sight of you will change her mind. Don't worry if she bolts away from me, thats what we want since I'll be the buffer between her and the herd." The herd was grazing north, while the female was grazing a tad north east. Rye wanted her to run that direction once the chaos exploded, away from the herd and into thicker forest. "Once she's away from the herd, catch up to her and go for the neck, I'll be right behind and I can get her back leg. That will be sufficient enough to bring her to the ground. After that, the deer is ours. Any questions?" His heart had been racing as he explained the plan, as if he was already running for the deer. The anxiety was kicking into top gear, Rye knew how much they needed this food and failing could spell serious trouble for them.

"Effie I'm sure you're worried about this but I trust you, I know you'll be able to do this. Also, when you finally bite down thrash around, it will help slow the deer down." Despite him worrying for her, he gave his best reassuring smile. " Dont forget I'll be right there with you. You aren't alone." Rye gently nestled his muzzle into the fur of her neck and for a moment, he held it there but soon moved it back. 

Rye nodded at her appreciation and followed it up with a smile of his own before looking back at the herd. Although Effies reassuring words soothed the immediate worry, it did little for the impending doom and gloom feeling the hunt would bring. Uncertainty was rife and thick in the air and his paws felt stuck in place, unwilling to move as more tension built. Now or never, so he looked back at Effie and gestured towards the herd, it was time to make their move. Slowly, painfully slowly, Rye snaked his way closer, weaving through dead leaves, fallen sticks and patches of unstable small rock. His ears cupped towards the unsuspecting herd, eyes keen on the dark female but then -- crunch! 

Rye felt his heart dive into his stomach, his once careful movements was completely negated by thin twigs he didn't notice. The herd reacted quicky, not wasting any time investigating sound origin and ran. Rye chased after but the distance was almost enough to unerve him but giving up wasn't an option. Regardless of the distance Rye was pushing himself, forcing his legs, lungs, and heart to work harder, faster and stronger. The distance was slowly closing but his body was beginning to run out of fuel. Rye needed to get that doe away from the herd before muscle failure kicked in.

The doe remained close to the herd, almost bumping into the female running beside her a few times. Rye knew getting into that mix of frightened deer could be disastrous and potentially fatal. Despite the risks, the reward of knowing Effie could sleep with a full stomach was his motivator. He took on the challenge and inched his way in-between the females, finally pushing the dark doe away from the herd. 

He was close, on the cusp of winning the battle but the doe was old for a reason. She was wise and fought to stick with the herd. Rye, already exhausted and weak, would have given in, resigned himself to another loss but he wasn't alone, there was something to uphold for Effie. Rye pushed himself hard, his legs reaching their absolute limits and his muscles kneaded rougher than before. Pain wasn't close to describing the ache his body felt, it was more cloee to bolts of white hot agony being etched down his muscles with every stride.

Rye detested the pain, the exhaustion and the hunger that didn't cease reverberating the same messages. To say the least, he was getting annoyed, not to mention fed up with the doe's lack of compliance. Rye pushed towards her but the female kept her nerve and the male was more than willing to test how much nerve that doe had. This time Rye was abundantly more aggressive, growls, snarls and barks alike came out to show and tell. Finally the female relented, taking a sharp right turn from the herd at record pace. A pace Rye couldn't keep up with, he was out of steam, he couldn't push no more but would instead ensure the doe didn't come back towards the herd.

Rye looked to Effie, she needed to make up the difference he couldn't. He glanced back at her, his head giving a cue with a random assortment of movements. The male didn't think it prudent to pick only one, his brain was a cache of meat, dusty, long dead and rotting. That was it, he was fried. There was no telling what else he would screw up.