Blacktail Deer Plateau the witching hour

for anyone, but preferably someone lasher hasn't met yet! <3

dante had risen into the pack's leadership, and taltos smiled at the balance that had been restored among the leaders now. two men, two women — it was a good equilibrium. it had occurred to him that perhaps the willow would take an interest in dante, or vice versa, and he laughed openly at his mind's matchmaking tendencies. it was for the healer's happiness, taltos mused to himself, a thing she deserved greatly.

the last pack hunts had not been successful; lasher himself had only found small prey with which to stock the caches. he set out at dawnlight for the borders and the flatlands, to see what he would find — perhaps he would pick up the trail of junior's scent.

Shall I suffice? o:

Dante's rise to leadership was a happy occasion in the eyes of the silver mockingbird. She liked the man well, even though she had nearly gotten him killed when they first met. But that could be said of many of Finley's first encounters, so she looked back on it with only a fond chuckle at how silly the misunderstanding had been. She hadn't had the opportunity to congratulate him herself, and unfortunately, that happy occasion was probably still a few days in the works for there was something far more pressing on the Blackthorn's mind.

She was frickin' hungry.

Their latest failed hunt had put Fin in a rather sour mood. Hunger and weariness were the two things that were ever sure to make her a less than chipper version of herself. And as she trudged doggedly across the Plateau, there could be no other way to describe the overall impression she gave besides grumpy, grumpy, grumpy.

It was in this mood that she came upon Lasher. She spotted him a ways off as she wandered aimlessly, hoping to come across something small and alive that she could kill. Part of her knew it was probably better to avoid him, considering her current mood. But her curiosity overtook her good sense and she approached him, unable to deny her interest in spending some time with this fellow.

"Hey," she barked as she sidled up alongside him, "Can I eat you?" A small smile flickered across her muzzle to let him know she was only kidding. She assumed he had to have some sense of humor similar to Peregrine's, considering all then gay sex and whatnot.

uh duh <3 u more than suffice!

he had scarcely departed the borders when he was approached by a perfect small amalgam of varied hues and dancing eyes; the words that fell from her tongue were unexpected, and yet delightful, and lasher paused to regard her with a fond and humoured look. i assure you, i will not be found wanting for taste. 'twas a playful quip, though the woman was welcome to take it as innuendo if she so pleased. such was taltos' nature.

i was stepping out to hunt, the gamma murmured to his new comrade, eyes flicking to her own, briefly, as not to warrant her undue submission. would you like to come with me? his own eyes glittered at the prospect; lasher was a gregarious creature that did not fare well in solitude.

As she suspected, Lasher returned her quip with a taste of his own wit causing a grin to slip across the Blackthorn's lips. "I have no doubt," she assured him. He was a rather tasty-looking male, although a little skinny for her taste. She liked her men big and meaty, like Finn. Wait, what? The sudden popping up of the silver man in her head took her by surprise, and she brushed it away almost as quickly as it had come up although her mind still echoed dully with curiosity as to how in the heck he had gotten up in her brain in the first place.

Lasher certainly assisted with her attempts at forgetting when he brought up something much, much more important than boys--FOOOOD. "Oh my god yes please," she responded, "I feel like I could eat the entire fucking world." If appearance was supposed to be any indication of personality, Fin would have thrown that concept for a loop. She was a picture of grace and femininity--sweet doe eyes and daintily built. And then she spoke. And it was like a bag of rotten meat spewing out of a garbage disposal. I exaggerate, but hyperbole ftw bitches. I'm in a weird mood.

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he laughed as finley spoke, enjoying her expansive humour, and together they crossed the borders into the flatlands closest to the plateau. here he lifted his muzzle to scent the air; rabbits had turned themselves out in full force, and his keen gaze caught sight of their hopping dances presently. but he wished for something more substantial, and so he pressed onward.

what do you hunger for? he asked of his pretty companion, turning his gentle gaze upon her at length to gauge the lines of her face, as well as her response.

Fin watched the rabbits as they bounced innocently across the plains, somehow seeing them only as headless, skinless sacks of meat on legs. She was sorely tempted by them--they were better than nothing after all--but with Lasher at her side, she knew there was no reason to go after such small game. She could catch a rabbit on her own. With a companion to hunt with, their energies were much better spent on something with far more meat on its bones.

"The way our luck has been going, I vote for anything but squirrels," Fin replied with a grim smile. She paused her response with a thoughtful tilt of her head, gaze drifting a bit more to the West. "I caught the scent of some goats the other day off in that direction, probably come down from the mountains with the colder weather setting in. You and I could probably pick one off pretty easily, if we can find them." She turned back to Lasher, studying his face for his opinion.

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he nodded, lengthening his stride in the direction finley had indicated. yes, he agreed. osprey junior and i hunted on the cliffs a while back, and brought down a kid. i am sure the young there have grown since then, however. the prospect was delightfully challenging, and he was eager to start their hunt.

he hung back somewhat, allowing the girl to lead him to the place her heart desired, but drew alongside her as they neared the area. nares flared, and his tongue swept his lips, gentle gaze sweeping the land keenly for a glimpse of the goats.

Fin trotted happily along, enjoying the calm, good-natured, well-humored wolf in her company. He had an unintrusive quality about it that made him easy to be around. For once, she wasn't compelled to try and see just what crazy shenanigans she could get into with this new friend--something about him just said.... don't do that.

It wouldn't be the first time she had read someone wrong, if that was indeed the case.

"Well hell, if a midget can do it..." Fin teased. Even at her young age, she was not too far smaller than Fin. At least, she wasn't the last time she had seen her. Maybe. When had she seen her last? Finley found herself distracted by trying to remember--a thought process that lasted only as long as it took her to realize it didn't really matter all that much. What really mattered was the fact that the faint scent of prey was touching the grounds that the pair had just stepped upon.

Fin slowed to sniff at the grasses that brushed against her sides, intrigued. They had been there, but not recently enough to get her too excited. She turned her eyes to Lasher, wondering if he had caught a whiff of anything more enticing where he stood. "Anything?" she asked after a moment of observation.

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i suck at everything

had lasher known what sort of escapades finley was fond of, he would have demurred to be invited on such adventures. he was not a judgmental creature, but such exertions were beyond him. giving a snort of laughter at the girl's description of young osprey as a 'midget,' taltos lifted his muzzle to scent the air.

keen eyes sliding along the horizon, he was at length rewarded with the small movement of half grown kids in the distance, and dropped into an instinctive crouch. "midget sheep," he whispered to finley, amused already by what her response would be.

Soooooo not true <3 I have all the patience in the world for your beautiful posts!

It was only moments before Lasher proved to have been a good partner for Finley to hunt beside. She had a keen nose, and ears that missed very little (it was often her brain that didn't pay attention), but her eyes were not as sharp as they could have been compared to many of those who shared her species. What she lacked, the umber swathed male apparently excelled in, for it was his eyes that snatched the first sign of their prey.

Fin dropped down barely a second after Lasher, pushing her sight to the limit as it swept across to try and make out what it was her companion had already seen. Perhaps it was the shortcomings of her sight, or the "midget sheep" had quit moving, but it seemed Lasher was the only one to be able to pinpoint their presence in the distance fields. Fin gave him a mischievious grin and motioned with her muzzle, urging him to lead the way while she followed. She'd catch hold with her own senses eventually, but for now, she was perfectly content to let her new friend take the reigns.

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<3

he returned her enthusiasm with a low chuckle, then began a slow stalk toward the young goats he had spotted. they were guarded of course by an older member of their species, an ewe with a sour expression, and their wooled odor caused hunger to rear in his gut.

he motioned to finley -- they would move in a pincer movement to catch the smaller of the kids, a spotted coat pelting it -- and hopefully avoid the butting poll of the old ewe.

silently, he awaited the proper moment.

When finally the distance between the wolves and their prey closed enough that Finley was able to lock her eyes upon them, the silver mockingbird's heart was nearly pounding out of her chest with anticipation. Her gaze flickered to Lasher in the same instant he motioned to her, and she gave him a grin in response. With as much stealth as she could muster with her every nerve tingling, she crept along to opposite side to attack from two fronts.

Once she was in place, it only took a few more minutes of patience before the time came for them to break. The old ewe moved away from her charge to graze upon another patch of grass. Fin knew Lasher would see the opportunity just as she had, so she broke free and tore across the plains towards their quarry, no doubt in her mind that Lasher had done the same.

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when the amusing girl lashed toward their quarry, taltos was hot upon her heels. he too had seen the foolish way the ewe had moved away from the kids, and bore down upon the spotted one swiftly. its counterpart brayed an alarm, and lunged desperately away from the attacking pair, and the ewe, spooked, followed suit. however, lasher knew that she would not run for long before she veered to attempt a rescue of her charge.

nares flaring, paws pounding the earth, the man snapped for its straining haunch, but it was an almost playful gesture; he would leave first blood to finley.

The two predators swept across the plains with impressive speed towards their quarry. Finley could feel the thrill of the hunt trilling through her veins as she ran, crescendoing as she sensed her partner bearing down on their target. She felt her teeth clench in a wolfish grin at the sight of him teasing the panicked creature, the idea of turning this into a game flashing through her mind. But a snarl of hunger made its way then out of her throat, and she narrowed her eyes to focus and force her legs to work harder.

Fin sprang when the time was right, directing her jaws towards a back leg as it flailed towards her face. Contact was made, and the Blackthorn snapped down with her teeth as hard as she could. She felt the bones break as a stream of blood began to flow over her tongue and teeth, but before she could stop and pull the lamb down, she felt a sudden crash into her side. Fin barked out in pain as she tumbled to the ground from the force of the charging ewe, releasing the prey's leg for it to continue its escape. The girl found her paws quickly and whirled with a furious roar to glare at the form of the retreating old goat that had foiled her plan. She was quick to turn again to continue the chase, though even as she did so, she knew the chances were decent that Lasher had been able to take the young beast down in her stead.

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he drew back as finley caught a thrashing leg, and smelled the blood from the mortal wound. but the girl's cry motivated him to veer away, worry filling his gaze. however, the kill must be finished; the wolf bared his teeth to the threatening ewe and snapped his teeth into the kid's haunch, bearing down. the animal cried out but was borne to the earth beneath his weight, and lasher grabbed for its throat quickly, wanting to spare the beast any undue suffering.

finley was given an appraising glance as taltos let the head of the kid slide limply to the loam; he cupped his ears toward her, nares flared as he searched for the scent of blood. "are you all right?" he hoped she had not bruised beneath the butting poll of the old ewe, who stood at a distance, bleating faintly for her dead charge.

As expected, Lasher was quick to take down their quarry after Finley had left the race. A growl of pleasure rumbled free from her chest at the sight, and she gave the interfering ewe a haughty flash of her teeth before going to join the lanky male. She winced slightly as she walked, but shook her head to let him know it was nothing. She was pretty confident this would lead to one hell of a bruise and that her ribs would be aching for a few days, but that was nothing new. The feisty Blackthorn had suffered plenty worse.

"You want heart or liver?" Fin asked as she licked her lips. She had no problem with Lasher choosing his share first. This wasn't a rank battle, and no matter where they were on the totem pole, in her mind they were on equal footing. Besides, he was the one who'd made the kill and so it was only right that he enjoy that first bite of victory.

he grinned at her cheeky nature; he had seen her wince, but did not comment upon it, not wanting to shame finley. at her inquiry, he tilted his head in surprise. while he had flushed the game and brought it down, lasher was a modest beast — he did not think of himself as more deserving based on his efforts.

"i will let you choose first," he said smilingly to his companion, hoping she would not demur, and accept his offer. standing back from the kill, he inclined his muzzle toward it, indicating that finley should take what she desired.

Last post for me ILUSOMUCH

When Lasher declined to be the first to enjoy the kill, Fin only shrugged. "Suit yourself!" she replied before turning to the beast and leaning down to begin tearing hungrily into the tender flesh between its neck and shoulder. Likely her actions would make it obvious to the tall male that it was the heart that she was after. That or he would conclude that she had no idea where the liver was, but she liked to think his faith in her intelligence was a little higher than that.

Once her hunger was satisfied, she would pull back to look upon him with a face full of gore and smiles. The rest of the kill they could take back to the Plateau, though for now, Fin was perfectly content to gorge herself upon the tender flesh.

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