Noctisardor Bypass cryptic shot

Days were swiftly shortening, signalling the seasons shifting. The daylight was already almost up. She was feeling awfully aware of it. It was only further insult on the chilliest nights, but those still came and went, what with a solid freeze not having set in yet. However, that wouldn't last much longer. Time would pass and winter would come.

She had already mentioned to Soleon that she intended to make for a route towards the mountains, but something in her lately had her tempted to go further--not that there was a great need or anything, but she had an inkling. Her distant plans had been largely untouched, and sometimes, she wondered if it was pointless to even consider at all. Surely, long enough had gone by; wolves died by now and some messages may have nowhere to go in the grand scheme. Even contact with the homeland seemed like a faraway concept now, where her days were woven neatly into this Teekon routine--where enough things happened here to keep her busy, and grounded enough to live.

Ah, she tried not to dwell on it too badly. On her way out towards the edges of the Bypass' territory, she thought she picked up a fresh trail on both of the leaders, but she did not follow it. Her meander went south, not yet committed to one task in full.

Haunt sought her father today, hoping he could spare some time to train her in one aspect another in the art of hunting. Yet none of his trails were particularly fresh and the most recent one led out of the bypass entirely. She was tempted to follow him, just like he'd trailed her not so long ago. Instead, Haunt frowned and turned, skulking like a ghost around the fringes of the territory.

All at once, a powerful odor distracted and lured her. It smelled like meat, only there was a rancidness to it. Haunt tipped her nose into the air, studying the pungent scent, and began to search out its source. Long before she found it, she spotted another wolf in the distance. She paused again, blinking quietly at the stranger, torn between approaching and pursuing the stench of rotten meat.

Jomyo wasn't about to claim that she was following it, but turned out, that trail that had first caught her interest had fizzled out--aged more than she had thought at first glance, or weathered on. It sent her on further with a huff, feeling like she was drifting today, and apparently that was leading to dwelling while she worked up an earnest appetite. Maybe a little more moving around would help jump start that. There was a strange smell beginning to sneak in too, making her curious, but not quite speaking to her appeals just yet. Jomyo did meander after that one though, not with any rush.

She knew she should touch base with Arbiter, duty-wise, but had nothing remarkable to report even in light of more interesting topics brewing south of here, so didn't feel like mustering that energy. She also missed the relative ease of Kaertok's simple presence. Honestly, besides work, she had kept distance to let them raise their pups and figure out their arrangement in recent months, but it was probably high time to say otherwise on that. There was also Soleon she could probably stand the company of to pass the time, and that new dark-furred wolf. All the yearlings, too..

A pale figure in her periphery reminded her that the pups were finally starting to approach an age of interest as well.

It was something. So, almost casual, with a soft sway to her tail, she walked over closer to gauge them. Hey, she said, not about to claim she knew precisely what to call this one--that peculiar Dokuga name shifting and all--but it didn't change her relatively friendly approach any.

Before she could arrive at a decision, the stranger made it for her. "Hey," she offered as she walked over to the pale youngster, her body language casually amiable. Haunt's own tail twitched as she took a moment to study the adult, eyes taking in her appearance: slim build, standard markings and eyes the color of the sky. At the same time, her nose drew in and cataloged her individual scent.

Taking care not to look directly into her elder's eyes, Haunt eventually murmured, "Hello." She wasn't one for small talk, so she paused a beat before wondering, "Do you smell that?" The young huntress didn't wait for an answer, yellowed eyes sweeping past the Aquilifer's face once more as she swiveled. A quick walk smoothly sped into a brisk lope as the odor of dead and rotting bighorn sheep hooked her by the nose.

With her distance gone, she kept her expectations open and posture simple enough to convey what she needed to say. Jomyo was left to appreciate the ease of it so far--but neither was she going to demand anything of Arbiter and Kaertok's whelps here and now except for them to be halfway sensible, and maybe just an ounce of their parents to go with it. Jomyo could tolerate both of them so far, and had no reasons to turn her nose at their kids yet. Yeah, ripe. she replied, the Eizokusei nodding such towards the pale-furred youth.

Then in the next moment, was darting off to follow her, plenty willing to let her lead the way towards what promised to be the source--if the stink was saying anything. Jomyo was curious to see it pan out, and let her exercise her nose in full. She needed the exposure waay more than she did, after all. After a few bursting strides, she kept up well, just a couple lengths behind Haunt.

That was the perfect word to describe the stench. It grew so ripe in Haunt's nose, it made her eyes water. Undeterred, she proceeded until she made out a shape ahead. She hadn't seen many large carcasses yet, though she immediately wondered if it might be a dead deer. But it didn't have antlers, it had horns. She didn't actually know the word for the large, curling bones protruding from the bighorn's rotting skull, though she stopped and stared at them in fascination.

Despite the lateness of the season, there was a thick cloud of flies hovering about the carcass. And the smell was downright horrific. Yet Haunt couldn't help but note all the meat still stuck to the ram's decaying bones. Perhaps some of it was still edible. Remembering that there was a presumably more experienced adult at hand, Haunt glanced over her shoulder, eyes seeking—well, Haunt realized they hadn't bothered exchanging names.

The smell grew stronger and stronger. There was no denying that they were getting close to something big, and something potentially nasty. It made her wonder how it had got here.. if it had started to rot a little prematurely somehow. Either way, had it really been that warm out lately? Evidently..

Turns out, it was a sizable carcass and up close, the odor was mighty. The scout squinted at it but would have to get used to this reek fast. The curling horns were the big identifier to her though, so that was something. I've heard them called Bighorn before. Obvious reasons, she mentioned when she caught the younger one focusing too on the banded horns. Jomyo moved around to the carcass' other side, inspecting the lengths of it further. There might be some salvageable pieces in here to cache if we dig but.. I don't know. S'pretty nasty at a glance. she crinkled her nose. She knew her own digestive tract's preferences and well, she also didn't want to meet this smell on the other end any. Unless it was hiding something good... How hungry are you? she asked, curious.

Her lips parted to query after the woman's name, though they pressed together again when she beat Haunt to the punch and offered up the name of the dead and rotting beast. Haunt's eyes flitted over those peculiar growths sprouting from the deceased animal's skull, then skipped rapidly back to her company when she said the word "cache."

"I want to cache whatever we can. Will you show me which parts are—salvageable?" There was a slight hesitation as she tried out the Aquilifer's word, new to her. "I'm training to be a hunter," she explained in the next breath before finally remembering to introduce, "I'm Haunt. What's your name?"

Jomyo was agreeable to whatever the white-furred youth wanted to do, more so once she heard she was training to be a hunter. All the more reason to not stifle her in learning more. Yeah--it can be a matter of just seeing what's still here, and in good shape. No bugs, no obvious rots, she detailed. Basically, a follow your nose thing. Some pieces do go south first. Usually the good organs are long gone by now, she went on to say as she went to nose at the corpse's underbelly. What was left of it.

I'm Jomyo, she said, before she took a deep breath and moved the carcass a bit for a better look. Once she resurfaced, she turned her sights back towards the haunches next. For caches, I personally like meaty bits of leg if the scavengers haven't ruined it. Or ribs.. flanks. Bones help, she waved her tail and moved a bit more to grab a hind leg with her teeth to test and see how well this thing would come apart. She didn't have to sink in much, and already, she felt it giving way and the leg separating--a good portion of the rest of the body shifting with it too, but this way, they could rummage around in what was left better.

Haunt listened in astute silence as Jomyo introduced herself and offered several choice bits of advice about scavenging. The pup remained quiet and still as the adult approached the carcass and eventually applied her nose, then her teeth, to it. The flies' buzzing grew louder, causing the youngster's ears to sweep back a little distastefully. They pricked forward again as she carefully watched how Jomyo handled the rotting remains.

Padding closer herself, Haunt put her nose right up against the creature's decaying throat, her eyes watering as the scent burned in her nose. She didn't linger, sniffing down to the chest, toward the place where the forelimb joined the body. There was quite a bit of flesh here, all of it smelling rather rancid, though beneath the putrefaction, Haunt detected the more familiar and palatable odor of meat.

Several minutes later, she backpedaled away from the corpse, a hunk of stringy flesh clenched in her teeth. She dropped it to inspect it, figuring it was—what was the word Jomyo had used?—salvageable. But Haunt didn't want to take chances if it meant the possibility of herself or others consuming meat well past its expiration. She could only imagine what sort of havoc that might wreak on a wolf's insides.

"Is this worth caching?" Haunt queried, looking to Jomyo.

As she investigated the remains, Jomyo was no stranger to the stench of decay, though it wasn't exactly appealing as she nosed around, moving to see certain bits better--and riling up all sorts of fresh odors in doing so. She'd scavenged worse things in harder times, but at least here, she felt like they could be choosy; Arbiter ran a tight enough show here that they weren't pressed for resource, especially with only her litter to feed and the rest of the pack pretty functional. It wasn't like they were coming off the heels of a famine, either. Hence why she felt like she was sitting pretty.

But, it was good process for Haunt, she believed. While not a gentle, or thorough, teacher, she hoped to lead by example as well--if her mentions weren't enough. When prompted, she drew away from the carcass enough to look towards what the youth pointed out. Hmm, maybe if I was planning to eat it soon. Like soon soon, she said with a hint of emphasis. Times weren't desperate enough for much more than that though. Herds were plentiful this year so I think we can afford to be a little picky, she said.This piece is about the same. she pulled aside a sliver that wasn't too rancid before she went on. Pair with a rib bone, that's not too bad of a snack to save for later I guess, she supposed and gave the ribs a tug, to which they answered with a crack as she sectioned one off, scraps attached worth a second look.

Before finishing the work, rather, while in the middle of it, she stopped to say: A lot of this is pretty funky, honestly. I'd have to be awfully hungry... so I dunno, she said, looking the rest of it over before returning again. A few bites of meat, maybe half a leg, a rib or two with some attached left was her total, give or take... It wasn't the most thorough of investigations but she'd leave some space for Haunt to find something if she felt like it. The more they took, the less there would be to invite scavengers and all, but she was fine to go stash what they had here already. It was something, so that worked for her honestly.

Jomyo told her to eat it soon, which Haunt decided meant it wasn't worth caching. She abandoned the strip of flesh in favor of listening to the adult as she delved further into the nuances of salvaging carrion. Haunt's takeaway, in the end, was that much of the meat might not be worth the risk, particularly since they weren't hurting for food otherwise. However, the bones were a different story altogether. Surely she could break off some the smaller bits and bury them for later use.

She sort of fancied one of those massive horns, though when Haunt moved forward to inspect one, she realized it was much too embedded in the skull to attempt to detach. And she didn't think she could possibly transport the entire head, much less bury it. Instead, she turned her attention to the animal's ribs. They were pretty large, so her eyes kept roving for something a little more manageable.

The pup wound up separating one of the shinbones from the heap of rotting flesh, which was good enough for her. Wincing at the taste of rot in her mouth, she dropped it and said to Jomyo, "I'm going to go store this. Thanks for your help." She snatched up her prize and turned, trotting away to find the perfect spot for burial.

It could just be because she had been betrayed by a sour meat more than enough times to know better, or her tendency for pessimism showing big-time, but she was not hard-pressed to settle. She left the rest up to Haunt though, and even with her pickiness, she did still find a few bits and pieces of her own to stash away for later.

Agreeable to this conclusion, she nodded to the pale youth and gathered her own finds. There, they parted ways as Haunt jogged off. Jomyo went in an opposite direction shortly after.