Noctisardor Bypass Well I uh, I didn't really bring any, I mean, my wallet's back in the car.

Warlock didn't typically spend much time at the borders -- or at least not compared to his mother. He might be tall and in the right light kind of impressive looking but he was certainly the least threatening of the older trio. Today, though, he was trotting along at the borders, making sure there weren't any unfamiliar scents along them. Usually not his job.

But Kaertok was gone right now. So he'd totally step up and do what that guy totally ditched on -- namely making sure the borders were protected and being forced to pupsit. Whatever. Warlock wasn't gonna miss him much. There'd been that meeting on the borders a while ago, but Warlock hadn't been to that, but it did put him on edge. Who were they? He wasn't a fan. Still, calm day, maybe it'd end up just being nice and boring.

She revisited the spot where she'd buried some of the carrion, sniffing around it and then squatting to urinate nearby to ward off any thieves. Haunt finished by scratching at the dirt before leaving the area. Perhaps she would revisit the rotted corpse, pick off some more meat and put it in a second stash.

On her way there, she skirted along the borderline, which reminded her of Kaertok's absence. She liked the rest of her family well enough, though Haunt and her father shared a special bond of silent strength. Her nostrils flared as she pondered where he may be and when he might return.

Just like yesterday, she spotted someone as she traced the route to the leftovers. This time, she recognized the wolf. There was still a beat of hesitation, though soon Haunt glided toward her elder brother. Her tail twitched softly and she growled a greeting.

Still not much of one for words, Haunt nevertheless found her voice to ask, "Can we go hunting?" She wouldn't turn her nose up at a decaying cadaver but fresh meat was always the favorite choice.

He'd gotten more confident around his younger siblings as late -- then again, he had been a bit more comfortable in general, relatively speaking. He still wasn't sure what to think of them, but it maybe was just because Kaertok was involved in them that he assumed they'd be like him. Maybe they were. But he was mostly just called in when his mother needed a break and Kaertok wasn't within shouting distance. Otherwise, he came and brought food and stuff. 

Walrock's ear twitched, trying to figure out how best to greet her, settling on a whuff. On the other hand, Haunt was bold. At least she wasn't suggesting they do something super weird, he guessed. Yeah, sure. Rabbit or something, or try for lake bird? The deer are too big now. Maybe if she magically became Pheiros or they invited him along, but fawns were virtually indistinguishable from the adults at this point, so he wasn't going to try that as a virtually solo type of thing -- his risk assessment always tended to lean towards keeping safe. Probably a good thing, Arbiter would probably kill him if he was doing something dangerous around his siblings. Either way, none of those things were here at the borders, so he started walking towards the territory's heart, looking to make sure she was coming along.

In reply, he offered up a menu of potential prey, seemingly leaving the selection up to her. He nixed deer, which left rabbits and lake birds. She looked at him blankly, not really sure what he meant by the latter. But birds were usually rather out of reach. Haunt wasn't picky. She knew her chances of success were slim, regardless. With that said, she wanted to give herself the best possible chances at actually killing something today.

"Rabbit," she replied, tail twitching as she fell into step with Warlock. Although she felt no particular need to fill silences with conversation, it did occur to Haunt to share with her older brother as they walked along, "I found a bighorn carcass and made a cache."

We'll see how the closest warren is doing. If not they could find another, but Haunt definitely seemed like the most terse of his siblings, so messing around probably was gonna end up with him getting bitten. It wouldn't be a particularly awful walk or anything either.

He was, however, glad she said something else because otherwise he'd have been walking along internally feeling like some sort of sweating emoji, feeling very judged, even if in actuality he was being utterly ignored. Look, Warlock just wasn't as intense as a good chunk of his family, and that didn't seem likely to change any time soon. But it sounded like something pretty cool had happened, at least, he did sound a little... Not necessarily impressed but something similar, I'm sure mom will be happy to hear that. Fortune smiles on you. He hadn't had that kind of luck in a while. Were you able to tell what killed it? If it wasn't them, then who? Or what? Hopefully something obvious like it was old or it had a broken leg and they just hadn't found it as a pack before then.

She hadn't really given much thought to how Arbiter might feel, often favoring her father in these matters. Surely both parents would be proud if she told them, though Haunt hadn't bothered. She only mentioned it to her brother because she was particularly terrible at small talk. Fortunately, he carried the conversation well, asking her a question which made the pup fall into a ponderous silence interrupted only by the stealthy sounds of their footsteps.

"No," she admitted. Her eyes squinted as she continued contemplating it. "I don't think anything killed it," she said slowly, "because there was plenty of meat left. It was just rotten. Maybe it got sick and died?" Her yellow gaze hopped sideways to his face, inquisitively. She truly had no idea and maybe there was no telling. "I could show you, if you wanted," she offered after a beat.

It obviously hadn't ended up in a cache he'd checked recently, but everyone had their favorite places that they thought stored stuff best. He'd have to take a look to satisfy his own curiosity even if his sister didn't feel like tagging along whenever he ended up doing so. We can check it out later unless you don't want to hunt now. The warren's right ahead. Either option would probably be at least kinda educational and so Mom Approved. But it hadn't like.. broken a leg or something obvious either? Then again mom said she found a deer once that caught its antlers in a tree. I guess sometimes random stuff does happen that makes stuff die. He didn't want to start thinking too hard about it -- he didn't want to apply it to wolves. Okay, so wolves did kill that deer, but it probably wouldn't have lived if they hadn't found it, at least hearing her tell the tale.

The edge of the pockmarked patch of earth where the warren was could just be beginning to be seen -- no rabbits in that sliver, but that was only a tiny patch. His voice was quieter now, Last chance to pick the other or we're gonna scare the food. And War was ready to go and get to hunting at the drop of a hat.

Haunt offered a perfunctory nod and a murmured, "Later." She didn't bother saying anything else in response to his speculation. In fact, she didn't spare another thought for the dead and decaying bighorn sheep. There was fresh prey on the menu today, close at hand. She could smell them now. Haunt even imagined she could sense them, wriggling there beneath the earth.

Soon, she could see the telltale markers of the warren, the holes tucked away in the grass. She paused and glanced at her brother, wondering how Warlock wanted to proceed. While she waited for his call, she crouched low to the ground, licking her chops. The cool grass tickled her belly as she gathered her haunches, staying put but preparing for any sudden movement that might prove necessary.

My die gave me a 3 outta 20 so saying nothing seen in my post. Feel free to decide in yours or we'll try for my next round. :P

Later it would be! So, about those rabbits... Ok. If one's out, gotta scare it away from all the holes, otherwise wait a minute or two and we'll do plan B. No point in going over the alternate plan if the straightforward one would work.

For now he turned his attention back to what the were going to be hunting, slipping along in the shadows to peer forward at what might be out there, veering off to the side a little just so he could find a better angle. Right now, though... Nothing. Not a singular big ear poking up from anywhere. He looked to Haunt and shook his head, then crouched down in the cover of a thicker patch of weeds to wait as he'd suggested.

But he knew it was a fairly active warren, so there was every chance that one could come bounding out to go nibble on some grass or whatever without a care in the world -- it just wasn't going to be in the next ten seconds. And if not? Well, there were always other options to make a rabbit appear.

An ear twitched toward Warlock to acknowledge his instructions, her whole head turning when he didn't elaborate on this "Plan B." But he wasn't paying her any attention now, sneaking forward to scope out the warren more closely. Hot on his heels, she trailed after him like a ghost.

When he shot her a look and shook his head, she froze in place. When he crouched, she did the same, pressing her belly low to the earth. It was cold enough that her stomach muscles clenched in protest, though she eventually sank down completely to wait.

Patience was key when hunting, Haunt knew, but she was also young, with a short attention span. When nothing happened for a long stretch, she shifted a little restlessly. There was an ache between her shoulder blades and, suddenly, an itch in her nose. With slow, measured movements, she pawed at it, all the while keeping her senses alert for any movements from the warren.

Warlock was about to give up and say they could try digging it out when something shifted in the distance. It was just a tiny crescent reaching beyond the eclipse created from the entrance to the burrow. Warlock tilted forward, ready. It vanished just as fast, then reappeared farther, clearing enough to be actually visible. Head and ears. Not a long enough to be a jackrabbit, but a smaller creature, a normal rabbit of some sort.

It only took a moment, that little flicker of recognition to realize the game was afoot. And like that they shot off after it, kicking up dirt and the like in their wake. Already the rabbit started its veering course to try to escape and find a new place to hide before the hunters closed the distance.

In the end they might not even catch the rabbit, but at least it was good practice for the next time. There was always the cache if things all went south. Zoom!