The Sunspire Moosecraft

Round 4 - final round, let's wrap this up! :) Being vague of @Nara and @Cassiopea .

 

That things do not always go according to the plan is a general knowledge, but even with this truth embedded in the brain-cells the human (or wolf) part of us often hope that this won't prove true in this particular occasion. Things began to go wrong the moment Maia was hit unconscious - something Wraen had not anticipated, therefore with an urgent bark for both @Seabreeze and @Coelho to attend the fallen and after making sure that her sister was still breathing, went ahead to help and drive the moose further away. 

Treason had got a good spot to hold on, @Witchbaby, though on the smaller scale, contributed to the cause by latching herself at another place. @Rannoch was not so lucky and @Bernard went to tend for Wraen's sister. Things were happening fast around them, therefore she had no time to see, where and what Nara and Cassiopea were doing, because @Hyacinth proved herself to be more than just a pretty face. The moment she grasped the beast by the neck, it stumbled and fell to sternal recumbency. Wraen saw an opportunity there and attacked moose's head, by grabbing a firm hold of it's muzzle, thus helping to hold it down. 

Despite the grim turn of events for the wounded animal, it still struggled to break free, so more paws and jaws would be needed to finish it off.

rolled an 8/10

As Rannoch came forward she held fast, feeling a thrill of hope that this would be it and the hunt would end. Unfortunately he was made to move off and once again it was just her dangling from the neck of a beast four times her size. Just as Wraen came to her aid her jaws began to slip and try as she did when the beast began to shake, it broke free and she dropped to the ground.

Taking a few quick breaths she paced for a moment, but saw that their prey was focused on Wraen. Blood flowed from its neck and now from it's nostrils where she and Wraen had bitten it rather well. The scent itself gave her energy and she darted in, underneath the belly and grabbed the animal just below the hock, slicing and tearing  into the tendons and muscles. The leg gave way and she yelped as the elk's chest came down on her as it was forced to take a knee. Her front end was out and so she wriggled and squirmed till she got free, a bit sore and shaken but not injured.

Hyacinth's bite inflicted substantial damage to the moose and created an ideal opportunity—but, this did not happen without injury. The medic scrambled under the weight of the large mammal, and Rannoch watched her with concern; feeding Sunspire's ranks was important but, Hyacinth's safety was vital. "@Coelho. @Bernard. Make sure Hyacinth gets away safely. @Seabreeze, take care of @Maia."

With his marching orders given, Rannoch acted to take advantage of the mammal's injury and preoccupation. He threw himself forward with a splash and aimed for the moose's neck. Thankfully, as the animal's posture was askew, Rannoch did not have to jump high. 

Rannoch struck gold red. 

Contact was made, and the moose let out an anguished wail. With a growl, Rannoch tightened his hold on the creature as it attempted to wriggle free.

the waif had no idea of the carnage being inflicted, both by hoof and fang; it was not until her name was called twice did she look up, and draw her reluctant gaze to the inferno of whirling wolves and one pissed off, staggering moose. it caused her great alarm to see a packmate struggling under the massive creature; as rannoch bayed his orders and then flung into the fray, coelho darted towards hyacinth like a little weasel.

fearful, but seized by the imperial command rannoch imbued in her, coelho sought to grab whatever part of the she-wolf she could and, potentially drag her to safety.

She was out for a few minutes, but came to groggily as the hunt was reaching a close.  She rolled onto her belly with a groan, wincing at the pain the movement sent lancing through her bruised side, shoulder, and head.  She might have cracked a rib slightly, but for the most part, it was only heavy bruising.

"Wha?"  She looked at Bernard in confusion, then in the direction of the hunt.  Her senses would come around in a minute or two, but by then, the hunt would be over.  And she'd be left with just the disappointment of having screwed up on her first ever group outing.

12, so not really a change from last post I guess. :P

She didn't let go.  There was no reason to once she wasn't the only one hanging on to some piece of the creature's hide.  Growling through her clenched jaws, she slightly shook her head to confirm that she wasn't going to lose hold any time soon.  Treason threw her sizeable-for-a-yearling weight downward, hoping that with at least three of them attached to the creature they'd be able to bring it to a position that was less dangerous for them all -- not to mention would pretty much signal the moose's doom.  She could smell the metallic tang of blood spilling from elsewhere, and though there was only a smear of it on her tongue, she was pretty sure that was the dinner bell ringing.

Rolled 9 out of 10, aw ye. B^)

Bernard released a sigh of relief to see Maia coming to, but when he looked up, he saw Hyacinth get crushed beneath the beast's weight. Another wave of panic overcame him, though she was able to wriggle free and seemed fine. His ears perked at the sound of his name coming from Rannoch's maw. Seabreeze was instructed to take care of Maia, so he leapt back into the fray as commanded.

Coelho went directly to Hyacinth's aid, so he focused on ensuring the bull did not get too close to them. What better way to do that than to be its focus? A gutteral bay bubbled up from deep within his chest as he rushed in towards the now bleeding bull. Rannoch had one side of its neck under control, so he took on the other side. Bernard leapt up to snag onto its bleeding throat in his powerful jaws, clamping down mercilessly. The combination of his hefty body and Rannoch's weighed the struggling beast down considerably, rendering it unable to lift its head and forcing it to stay in a kneeling position.

The bull's struggles were fading as more and more blood seeped out of its body and three hungry bodies weighed it down. While still a dangerous behemoth, things were shifting in the wolves' favor. Bernard kept his grip firm and tugged on the flesh in his jaws to cause further lacerations. He was very confident they could do this.

She was still wiggling when Rannoch's command to get her help reached her ears. She wanted to say no, that she didn't need help, that she was doing so good for once and just wanted to continue to help bring down the bull. But then the bull's weight was pulled downward and it squeezed the air from her lungs again and she made a sort of strangled honk of pain just as Coelho grabbed hold and tugged. With the extra help she popped from under the Bull and allowed herself to be dazedly dragged away from the hunt, but when she heard Maia's weakened voice she shook off the female. "Thank you, I'll go tend to Maia" she panted and limped off. Her body hurt, she felt like she had been crushed. Then she realized she had been crushed and made note to check up on herself later.


Running to Maia's side she lowered her nose  "Maia, Where does it hurt?" she asked in a worried voice. "Don't move. They'll bring it down" she warned, seeing her eyeball the hunt.

 

First paragraph is what happened behind the scenes last round (because of my absence) and second paragraph is round 4

After Hyacinth successfully got the moose to the shore, Nara was making her way there too. But their struggle with the moose had made the lake bottom uneven and she was struggling with finding solid ground. Nara was soaked and tired and if she wanted to follow the moose to shore, she needed to cross the deepest part of the lake - her tiny body would be fully submerged. No, she had to go around. Nara safely made it to the other side of the lake and started toward the moose and the rest of the pack, although the reeds made it a slow journey.

Once she arrived, many teeth had perforated the beast's skin and the smell of blood hit her in an instant. She could see how Coelho dragged Hyacinth to safety. Bernard and Rannoch were pulling at the moose from the same side Nara was coming from. She broke into a sprint and leaped at the animal. With her jaws open wide she sank her teeth in its flank, just between Rannoch and Bernard.

Wrapping up and archiving - thank you all for joining and playing along!

It took a while longer for the moose to fully succumb to the defeat and inevitable death, but under the pressure of shared efforts of many wolves, it's attempts to fight grew more feeble by every passing moment and eventually they ceased altogether. 

Whoever it was to bring the business to the end, did not matter, when the whole hunting team emerged victorious over a mass of meat that would sustain them for at least two coming weeks. "Good job, everyone," was all that was needed at that moment and, while the rest began the feast, Wraen went over to see, how the injured were doing. 

Their first hunt had been a great success - no doubt about it.