Firestone Hot Springs Stilton

Time: Noon—12:25 pm
        Weather: 31࿀F — Slightly Cloudy— Windy
            Location/Setting: Southeast of  Firestone Hot Springs.
                  Tagging: N/A
Finding an Elk carcass

—♛—

Ugh...

As much as she liked the warmth of the place, the steam and bubbling pools of warm water; the place was awful to the nose, smelling like a dud egg a Mother Bird would toss out of the nest and leave to rot.  Yet, Aliana bit back her distaste to scope out the area, it was close to Kaistleoki, too close for her liking. One could just cross the river and they’d be right in their claim so she decided to stake out the place for a bit, just to make sure no unsavory wolves were skulking about. Like those Saints wolves, she had yet to meet, or the Ursine wolves, she doubts they’d leave their little hamlet in the Valley and travel all the way here but the world is full of surprises. Good and bad.

Aliana paused in her patrol and let out a yawn, eyes scanned the steamy horizon for a moment till she spotted something a distance away. What looked like a large brown lump laid on the ground, but what solidified her suspicions was that she could see crows, eagles, and carrion birds pecking at it.

Nice, food!

That was one of many things she was taught by her Grandmother— If your stomach starts to grumble; look to the skies. Follow the crows, they’ll lead you to food. It was that saying coupled with her growing experience as a Hunter that helped her survive so long out there on her own. And now, she possibly found a free carcass to bring back to Kaistleoki. Well, try to bring it back. It looks big. An elk?...Maybe a Moose? She doubts it’d be a Bison since they usually stick together. 

She moved quickly but cautiously towards the carcass, she didn’t know if it had died from natural means or was killed by something else that could come back to pick at it some more and the last thing she wanted was to be ambushed. The closer she got, the more she could make out the carcass. Definitely an elk, a stag to be exact by the antlers. It didn’t look or smell rotten so it must have been killed only a day or two ago. Aliana analyzed the carcass, spotting the deep scratched along the flanks and shoulders, as well as bite marks on the throat that didn’t look canine. She sneered slightly. Cougar. Possible a bear maybe. 

Just wasn’t your day huh? She kept her nose low, sniffing around, taking in the scents of the creatures that had passed through, smelling scavengers mostly. That’s when she noticed its limp hind leg. 
And that leg didn’t help either.

There was a fair amount of meat on it she could scavenge off it, though most of the good bits had been eaten. Whatever killed it must have had its fill if it didn’t come back for it or it could have just forgotten. Either way, it was free carcass till stated otherwise. She smirked before placing a paw on the elk carcass, head held high, tail wagging, ❝  I claim this carcass in the name of Kaistleoki! Hehe!  ❞ She joked.

Now, how to go at this... She pondered, looking at the carcass.

tags for reference

Lilitu had been naughty again. Despite her best efforts to remain behaved under @Ibis's watchful eye, she wandered, somewhat. And today she wandered a little more than somewhat, forging the shallows of the icy river that cradled the plateau and heading toward steam in the distance.

Brrrr. She was a little soaked, legs and paws and belly sodden with water. But this place seemed just what the doctor ordered. She nearly plummeted into the first small pool, stopping just in time as the steam hit her face. It was like someone breathing on her. A lot.

It felt really good.

She dipped a toe into the warmth, eyes creasing blissfully. It seemed a little deep for swimming (and she wasn't totally good at that yet, anyway) but it was nice just being at the edge. Slowly, Lilitu thawed—and then she noticed the other wolf, who'd exclaimed something she couldn't quite hear, perched upon a. . .

Rock? Little hill? She meandered toward the woman, though keeping a wary distance, and exclaimed, Hey, what are you doing? What's that?

Lilitu, your mouth is gonna get you killed some day.