The Heartwood I'm at One

Dark scarred body moved through the trees. Their broken boughs and ashy image leaving a strange taste in his mouth. Eyes of crimson and rose darted from one high to the other, while his breath came from his lips in whispery smoke. He licked along a canine, nose to the ground.

He had been filling caches like crazy, today he was on the hunt for a pronghorn. It was foolish to hunt one by himself, this he knew. But the simple fact was. He was the largest of them, other than Heph, and he doubted she would assist him. She was not his greatest fan, and he was not hers. Granted his feelings were mostly neutral. The only things he held was a loyalty to Khasni and a large dose of affection for Atka.

Beastly head swung to and fro and he hummed a sad and bloody ballad beneath his throat as he walked. There were no pronghorn here, it would take time and leave of the borders to get one.

After the little meeting, Heph had lingered. Partly this was because of Atka. Seeing the other wolf again she had wished to be in her presence a moment longer. But perhaps more largely she wished to see what the pack would decide to do and maybe some small cowardly part of her did not wish to return to the Heartwood (hopefully brimming with some sort of usable information) only to find it empty and abandoned and her own paws having a ways left to travel towards unfamiliar lands.

She hunted idly, more to fill the stretches of time where she returned from shorter ventures and filled caches at a lackadaisical and unpredictable pace. But when she heard the low thrum of a song hummed she found herself turning her head to catch the direction. It was Dreven. With a quirk of her lips she quickly changed direction - not because she was particularly fond of his presence, but she was curious and curiosity often trumped sense when there was intrigue to be had.

If her own efforts had been uniform and haphazard then Dreven's could only be listed as bordering obsessive. She guessed that he had been hunting, or was at the very least tracking down his next quarry though she thought he was probably scaring the smaller game away. "Care for a second?" Her tone was airy and light as she skirted the edges of his periphery, only half-approaching him. Hunting with Atka had once more accustomed her to hunting in pairs and she found herself missing it though she would not give up the often-solitude of freedom for much anything. She was comfortable following his lead on the hunt, although she supposed he might meet her with a growl to leave him be in which case she was just pondering whether she would be be on her way or engage him for some other entertainment.

Heph's scent was lingering in the heartwood, and though he wasn't entirely thrilled about it. What made Atka happy was to have the other she wolf within easy range, so like a bespotted man and crushing boy, he did as she wanted. Because he liked happy snow, not unhappy snow. And part of him found, he wasn't as jealous of their possible affection as he could be or had been. He could share his little femme, with this one.

He lifted his gaze to her, hearty smirk drawing upon his features. Red eyes staring into her darker eyes. Then turned back to the hunt at hand. Depends on what you want to be a second for? Though in most cases i'm willing and up for most anything.

As always his lack of decorum would be his undoing, and the way with which he comported himself was lacking, but he was far too old to change now. Instead he nodded.

I am on a hunt for Pronghorn. The caches need filled before winter. And i'm not about to let Atka starve.

Heph laughed, lightly at the suggestion in his words. It was true he was a handsome specimen and she was not opposed to having her fun though that was hardly why she had lingered in the Heartwood. She saw a flash of his red eyes before his attention turned but she responded easily, a thread of humor infusing her tone. "Handsome though you are I'm not sure I'd like to be quite that close to Atka." Edging closer so she was walking near enough to use an easy volume to allow conversation to pass between them she regarded their surroundings with a general sweep of her gaze.

Nodding her head she was unsurprised at his pragmatic attitude. Certainly, wolves starved in the winter, but Heph had never truly worried about it. Perhaps it was because she had previously been part of a pack where all the worrying was done for her by someone else, or perhaps it was simple naivete. But it made sense to her that Dreven was concerned and she had no particular problems with being prepared though it would not have crossed her own mind. "Pronghorn I can help with if you think the two of us are enough." Still facing off against beasts with antlers recalled something for her, and she knew they were intimidating, but she would hardly be the reckless endangerment her sister had called her if she let such thoughts linger on her mind.

Dreven chuckled, deep and heavy. You are a pretty thing yourself.

He shook his head, his red eyes laughing for a moment, enjoying their verbal spar, and just for a moment he understood why Atka liked the she wolf. Perhaps some day they could be friends, not simple acquaintances with a shared interest in one wolf.

Dreven grinned, darkly. We are more than enough for it. I assure you. A brief flash of his white teeth and he continued onward.

And if we can't. What's life without a little bit of danger?

His entire life had been dangerous, from the time he had been born. It had curled upon him and stayed there. It had been his bedfellow, his heartache, his love all of it. Danger was what made him who he was. Why he wore the scars he did.

Heph enjoyed the compliment, but her attention had already flitted over to the hunt and their surroundings. "Certainly not worth living." She responded, already stalking forward with her teeth bared into a flash of a smile, her tone with just enough levity not to cut. Content to allow him to lead the hunt she kept the corner of her gaze at his shoulders and head so that she could follow him and match his pace as she scanned the environment. While there were no herds immediately in sight she had no doubt that they would find some sort of trail soon even if it was old.

Her pack and her parents might have assumed Heph's love of adrenaline and adventure came from an ignorance of the potential consequences, but she liked to think that it was something interwoven into her - the bloodlust during a fight that would let a wolf hang onto the throat of another even as their enemy scored deep wounds of their own.

Dreven smirked. Exactly.

Dreven smelled the herd, their musky odor, that only came from them a little ways off, and with a soft huff, he sped up a touch and trotted towards them. Coming to a stop upon their herd. He stood at the edge of their borders watching, for one to take down. Wondering if Heph would see one before him to go after.

Dreven knew bloodlust well, and violence. So with careful gaze he spoke. Kill shot or herding, which would you prefer to do? and which one takes your fancy?

Heph was pleasantly surprised to find them in agreement and followed, picking up the scent of the herd shortly after they started following in earnest. They were clumped together, but not uniformly and it offered her a view of the ones who found themselves in the thinner portions of the distribution - the ones that would be easiest to cut off from the rest of the herd. Most of them did not look promising, not old enough to be frail, or those in their prime in the rut. However, she thought she spotted a fawn that would have been dropped late and an elderly doe as well as a buck that may have been nearing the end of his prime. She would have to wait to see how they moved.

She turned her rapt attention towards Dreven when she realized he spoke and then looked back at the herd, a smile too wide and showing too many teeth to be considered friendly flashed over her face. "Herding, I'd prefer to sow a bit of panic and see how they run and then who would be easiest to cut from the herd, but I'll apply myself at either." Heph turned her attention back towards the other dark wolf and waited to see what he would prefer. She was perfectly comfortable lying in wait further up and fixing her jaws around the neck of whoever he selected, they had never hunted together before and there was no point in playing to their weaknesses.

Dreven eyed the creatures below them. His own red eyes gleaming. Catching out the smaller fawn. He quickly disregarded that one, too small to feed them all. Then his eyes zoomed towards the elderly doe and the buck late in his age. He would do well to feed the whole pack, but could they fell him was the question. His antlers sharp and gleaming in the sunlight.

Dreven gave a soft chuckle and nodded. I don't mind giving them their death. Very well. You cut. I'll kill.

He shifted and waited for her movements and what she wanted. He would follow her lead in this as she was herding.

Heph saw Dreven's gaze follow hers down to the herd and glance over lingering on the older buck the longest. She could see the appeal in the amount of meat he would provide for their caches - between the two of them the doe or the overlarge fawn would be the safest bet, but as he had pointed out safety was for wolves with lives not worth fighting for. Still, she had to wait to see how they would scatter. As Dreven readied she did not wait a moment longer than his own agreement and shifting of his bulk before crouching and shooting towards the herd.

She gave them only a moment to realize that she was on the outer edges of their grouping and shooting towards their midst before erupting into a sonorous howl tapering into a growl that gave them no doubt as to her intentions. Her maw open to let herself gasp in lungfuls of air she was already turning her attention towards the ones she had subconsciously marked, only paying attention to the rest enough to ensure there were no noticeable stragglers. It seemed the doe had more fight or perhaps more wisdom in her years than anticipated, and the fawn was a skittish thing that cut too far off from the rest of the herd and would have her completely abandoning any other chances. 


The buck though was too slow in lifting his head, his antlers weighing down his head as much a weapon as a burden and he lagged behind the fleeing figures. She bunched her hindquarters her muscles screaming as she forced them into a turn towards his direction unfurling herself in his direction and rushing to scare him away from any allies he might find.

Dreven was in tandem with her. His own bulk pushed into a screaming run towards he creature they had chosen. Silently, but together. It would work out well for the two of them he hoped.

Dreven Followed her lead. Her large body easily cutting teh crowd, and forcing the male elsewhere. Each bite, blood welled from the creature, and though it swung it's horns, it was easy enough to miss if watching.

Dreven bunched his legs and leapt, digging teeth and claws into the side, hoping like hell that Heph was out of the way. As he used his momentum and his weight to knock it down. Teeth digging into the fleshy part of the throat, and ripping upwards and forwards. The tine of an antler catching him in the shoulder, but it would heal.

Heph instantly felt the shift in the buck from panic to desperation as he realized that he had been subtly shifted from the herd and was now well and fully severed from any potential safety that they might offer him. He swung his antlers around, sending tufts of fur flying and what would most likely be an impressive bruise beneath her pelt on her shoulder but nothing dire. It only served to heighten the feeling of adrenaline coursing through her as she snapped at him to keep him distracted and on course.

She was almost too intoxicated to notice Dreven tearing into the buck but she forced her weight to hit back on her extended forelegs, throwing her body out of the way as he went in for the kill. He ripped open the throat of the animal in a swift clean kill and she finally mustered the energy to turn around and begin a trot toward him. "Fun and fruitful." Her normally blaise air was tainted by the blood on her muzzle and the disheveled state of her fur, the light in her eyes belying the fact that she had in fact found pleasure in the hunt.

Dreven saw the buck glance a blow to Heph, but he ignored it. Felt that she wouldn't like it much he stopped the hunt to check on her, and frankly put. it wasn't his style. If she got hurt, then it was her own fault wasn't it? Though he doubted very much that his mate would think the same way as he. She very possibly might strip his hide.

Dreven reached across and smoothe down some of her fur with a smirk. I'd say so. This will fill our caches well. We make a good team. He nodded.

Then went to move the buck, eyeing it and figuring out teh best way to break it down. THough he offered his nose down towards it.

Ladies first, though i'd like to save the pelt.

Heph nodded her head. They had been rather efficient and she appreciated that in a hunting team. Besides at least he was not griping about her technique or the blow she'd received. Perhaps if she had been more cautious, less enthralled in the hunt she might have avoided it, but really she had enjoyed every second. "That we do." She was a bit surprised at the offer, but nodded her head with a sharp grin and tipped her head at his sentiments. Heph was hardly one to turn down a proferred meal and while most of it would go to the caches she thought she could afford to take a few bites. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." She pulled her head back and then used her teeth to make a long clean rip along the flanks of the dead caribou. It exposed meat and intestines - more than enough to eat, but beyond the rip they should be able to carve out most of the meat to leave the pelts intact. The she-wolf shoved her muzzle in the opening and tore out a healthy sized piece of meat "gentlemen second then?" There was a glimmer in her eyes but she backed up to let Dreven divy up the rest of the carcass as she took more manageable bites out of the piece she had taken.

Dreven wasn't one to dodder on like a nanny. The femme beside him was an adult who could make her own choices and reap the consequences or the rewards. She was one got hurt, well unless it was his fault, which it wasn't he owed her nothing about it.

She took a large chunk of meat, and only after she offered did Dreven move forward with an efficiency born to separate and maim. he would make short work of this, but he did carve out a large foreleg after separating pelt from meat and tossed it towards Heph.

Put that in a cache only you know about for either when you travel again, or to eat while traveling. Whichever you prefer.

She had helped to fell the deer, and Atka liked her. That was enough for him.

Heph nodded her head. "I suppose I'll see you around then." She took the foreleg and left Dreven to do what he wished with the pelt and the meat. There was no reason for her to be curious about the caches for the winter beyond her own when she planned to be gone for such a time. It had been a good hunt and she trotted as jauntily as she could also managing the leg before finding a place that she thought looked suitable and committed it to memory. As long as she had the general area she was fairly certain she would be able to find it again. Although if she was gone a sufficient time it was possible that someone else would find it first.

I'm good with archiving it here if you are?