Moonspear Playing with fire

She sat on the ledge, licking her lips and thinking back on her conversation with Warbone. "She used to set traps for larger prey," he had said of his former mate, explaining that she could capture a deer single-handed. But how could she (Wildfire) bait a deer? She couldn't lure it with meat. Furthermore, how exactly did she plan to get the drop on it, once she got it where she wanted it? Wildfire wished she had pressed him for more details. Although it might be fun to innovate her own strategies.

For now, she decided to shelve the idea and pursue her more typical prey: small game. She threaded down the mountainside, for once not stumbling even once, and began to comb her nose along the forest floor at the foot of the mountain. As she wended through the trees, the sky dimmed and it began to rain lightly. Paying no attention to the turn in the weather, Wildfire kept her nose earthward and was rewarded when she struck the trail of a woodchuck.

Suddenly, a wild Charon appears! it uses rollout!

Charon wasn't doing much in particular when he suddenly caught a familiar glimpse of red swishing through the forest. He'd been lazing around, mostly, giving himself time off for a change. A lot had happened of late, and he needed some time to himself. When he saw the flash of red through the trees, however, Charon couldn't resist going after it. Dhole and he had connected from the beginning, and she had become a good friend in her time here at Moonspear. Becoming his sister-in-law or whatever hadn't changed that one bit.

Instead of going for the 'hi, how are you' method of greeting, Charon decided to try his best to sneak up on Dhole so that he could surprise her. She seemed engulfed in some activity or other, her face scrunched all serious-like while she tracked something, but Charon paid it little attention. He tried to approach as quietly as he could, and when close enough Charon tried to jump from the underbrush and surprise Dhole by pouncing right on top of her in a surprise attack (though without any malicious intent, of course).

She hadn't gone more than a few yards, nose practically glued to the forest floor, when a weight fell upon her from behind without warning or preamble. The petite Gamma buckled beneath it with an undignified cry that choked off into a winded, "Oof!" when she hit the ground. Despite her shortness of breath, she squirmed and struggled valiantly against her assailant, rolling sideways in the hope of getting on her back to kick whoever (or whatever) it was away.

"Charon!" she shouted when she recognized her Alpha and saw the mischievous look in his eye. Wildfire promptly went boneless underneath him, sipping shallow breaths into her tightened chest. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she accused, trying to pass it off as playful even as she grimaced. It was more likely that she'd just gotten the wind knocked out of her, yet all the same it was pretty painful.

Not for one moment Charon had thought about the fact his surprise attack might cause Dhole to feel frightened in any way. He hadn't thought about it much at all, to be honest, just wanting to teach Dhole the lesson to be alert and practise his own fighting skills in the process. Dhole struggled against him but since he'd had the advantage it was hard for her to get his weight off her. She called out his name and only then did he realise just how surprising his surprise attack had been. He laughed in amusement at her surprised reaction.

The grimace went mostly unnoticed, whether because he didn't see it or didn't want to see it; or maybe just didn't care. Charon jumped to his feet and shook the forest debris from his fur. He lowered his front of a play bow and said: "Always be prepared!" Though he didn't attack her again, wanting to see if any part of her mirrored his challenge first now that she had gotten over the initial surprise.

He didn't seem in the least apologetic, although that was really no surprise. Wildfire gave Charon the hairy eyeball as the stitch in her chest slowly eased. She slid out from underneath the Alpha male, righted herself and gave her body a gentle shake. If she were an eighteenth century lady, this would have been when she smoothed her petticoat.

"I was trying to hunt," she told him with a squint. The woodchuck was probably long gone now, especially after the noise they'd made. "Now, if you don't mind, the hunted would like to return to being the hunter. Come with...?" Wildfire shot him a quick smile, to show that she wasn't truly as put out as she might sound. She was a good sport these days, after all.

Dhole's insult was funny as always to Charon, and he shot her a look of mock-apology as she said that she was attempting to hunt. Charon grinned, in a chirpy mood today, and said: "Well, I was trying to hone my warrior-skills." He added some pretend-hurt in it, trying to use the same tone of voice and expression that Dhole had used when she said that she was trying to hunt. "Gotta stay sharp and practise if you want to be strong." He grinned and made a small feinting gesture as though he was going to jump at her again, but of course didn't, because it was obvious that Dhole didn't want to and while he sometimes enjoyed making her do things she didn't want to, Charon wasn't going to today.

She had asked him to join him on the hunt and after a short pause he decided: "Yep, let's go." He considered tossing in a joke about her being so rubbish they'd probably find very little anyway, but decided against it in the last moment, figuring that he'd let her frail ego keep this un' — and anyway, if they would keep bitching back and forth, they wouldn't get anywhere and end up doing nothing useful. And chasing away any potential prey too. He said: "Lead the way!" and awaited her lead, onwards to prey and hunting.

It was a testament to how much more comfortable she felt around Charon these days that Wildfire found herself saying, "Has anybody ever told you you're an ass?" She felt heat shoot across her back as the daring words left her mouth, though she made a point to complement them with a mischievous arch of her brow and a good-natured smirk. Surely Charon could take banter as well as he doled it out.

She faced forward when signaled to take the lead. Wildfire had been working, working hard, to fine-tune her small game skills. She proceeded confidently, ignoring the woodchuck's trail in favor of moving further into the woods to capture a new scent. She took care to move in absolute silence and was happy to observe that Charon more or less did the same. Stealth was paramount here, after all.

She paused between a sweetgum tree and a growth of oleaster, to sniff the air and listen. She detected the smell of a few squirrels, especially near the short tree's base, and could even hear one squalling in the distance. Wildfire didn't move, standing stock-still for a while as she simply observed the prey pool.

It was surprising to hear such bold words from Dhole, and it was hard for Charon to consider a reaction. The only reason he didn't get offended right away was the fact that she was Dhole, and it was like a big thing for her to say something like that. He didn't want to shoot down whatever courage she was showing right off the bat. Another part of him did feel offended, however, and felt like putting her down somehow. Deciding that maybe the day would offer ways to put her down later (it was one of his favourite hobbies, after all) and he sorta owed her one for nearly giving her a heart attack anyway, he snorted and jokingly said: "Nobody that's still alive." Probably best to make light of the situation rather than get entangled in it.

The pair of them went into hunt mode after that and Charon followed suit, his footfalls silent and his ears splayed to try and catch up scents of prey. There was something serene about the forest this way. Since it was the pair of them, Charon wished that they'd find something a little bigger than a squirrel, though. He remembered fondly the time that Amekaze and he had taken down the bighorn sheep. Not that he wanted anything like that now; Ame was a warrior and Charon wasn't sure if he and Dhole would be able to take down anything of that size like he and Ame had.

Bumping himself back to present time, Charon sniffed the air, trying to find something better. Thinking he picked up something of interest, he nosed Dhole and slunk through the forested area, following a narrow trail. The soft footfalls of a doe were heard in the distance, and as Charon rounded up to a clearing he saw the doe opposite the clearing. She stood still, looking alert, glancing about, and she was alone. This was much better than a bunch of lame squirrels.

She ignored Charon's nudge, brushing it off as incidental as she concentrated wholly on her surroundings. Although she couldn't see it for the screen of underbrush, she could tell a squirrel was headed this way. She heard the soft noise of its feet as it bounded across the leaf litter. After each quiet crunch, it would pause and listen right back. But neither wolf made a noise and it kept coming. Maybe it was headed for the sweetgum tree and would unwittingly bounce right into her.

But Wildfire didn't give it that chance. As soon as it came close enough, she struck like a rattlesnake. In seconds flat, the squirrel was hanging limply from her jaws, its neck broken and jugular severed. Blood dripped onto the forest floor and she dropped it, breathing fast from the quick movements and adrenaline. She blinked behind her to make sure Charon had seen her beautiful execution—only to see absolutely no sign of the Alpha anywhere.

"Charon?"

Patiently and silently, Charon waited for Dhole to come up beside him, or sneaking up from the other side. After a minute or so Charon looked over his shoulder. No Dhole. He looked around and whispered, "Dhole! Psst!" But there was no response, and he found no Dhole anywhere. Charon cast the beautiful prospective of food a last glance and then turned back into the underbrush and away from the clearing.

It took retracing his steps to eventually find Dhole again, right where he'd left her. "Dhole, what the fuck, where'd you go?" Or rather, didn't go. "I found the perfect prey! But it looks like you've found some already." A lot less awesome than what Charon would've provided them with, of course. He liked to think big.

He reappeared after a moment and Wildfire felt a jab of disappointment that he hadn't witnessed her expertise in action. Well, at least she had the results to show for her efforts. But Charon barely acknowledged her catch, insisting that he had found the perfect prey. Her interest was piqued, of course, though she also felt a little overlooked. She sighed inwardly, reminding herself that getting proper praise from Charon was a lot like pulling teeth.

"Want this, or should I store it?" she asked casually. "We can keep hunting," she added, not wanting to pass up an opportunity to make a second kill, especially if the Alpha would actually be paying attention this time.

Charon looked at the squirrel, which he considered but a small prize (probably because he hadn't seen Dhole's tactics for catching it and because he felt put off by the fact that she hadn't followed him when he had clearly indicated to her that she needed to) and he didn't really care what happened with it. "Whatever's fine," he said, "I'm not hungry or anything."

He looked in the direction that he'd seen the doe in, but he didn't really think that it was there anymore, anyway. "It's probably long gone, but if you want to, we could look for more after storing this." He looked at the squirrel again and then at Dhole, leaving the decision whether or not to continue hunting up to her entirely.

He said he wasn't hungry, so Wildfire scanned her surroundings for somewhere quick to stash the kill. She would come back later to collect it to add to a proper cache. She spotted a hole perhaps four feet up the smooth, pale trunk of a beech tree. She trotted over to it, reared onto her hind legs and stuffed the body inside. She then resumed all fours and loped back to her Alpha's flank.

"I like to think I'm a good tracker," Wildfire said, "and I'm up for a challenge if you are. So what was this perfect prey? I bet we could track it down."

Dhole seemed eager to pursue his prey and so Charon nodded in agreement. He started leading the way again, making his way back towards the clearing. While they walked, he answered, "There was a doe there, looked to be alone." It was always questionable whether two adults could take on one doe, but Charon liked a challenge and it would polish their hunting skills regardless of what they would or wouldn't catch.

She fell into step with Charon as he led the way, keeping her shoulder just about even with his hip. It surprised her when he mentioned a doe, having expected another woodchuck or something along those lines. That would most definitely be a challenge for the two of them. It made her think back on her earlier brainstorm about traps. But there was no time to lay one, not for this hunt, and Wildfire really hadn't thought too far into that strategy anyway.

But something about that train of thought, coupled with the vision of Charon loping beside her, suddenly made Wildfire think out loud, "I met this wolf who told me his former mate would set traps for large prey. I was hoping to do some experimentation. Maybe if I figure out a good way, we could apply it to that bear too." They had just talked about it the other day and Wildfire knew they intended to hash it out with their respective partners, yet she wanted to put that thought out there in the open before it floated away.

The story about traps seemed a little fantastical to Charon, but now he remembered that Dhole had mentioned them earlier, when she'd told him about 'trapping' the bear. Setting a trap seemed like a difficult thing to do, and he wondered aloud, "How would you set a trap? Like, dig a giant hole or whatever?" That was the only he could imagine. Maybe you could put sticks and leaves over it so that the doe didn't realise that it was actually a hole instead of ground. That sounded like it could work, but it also sounded like it was a lot of work.

Charon sounded dubious but Wildfire knew it was a valid question. "I don't think digging a hole would work. Even with the entire pack helping, we'd never get it deep enough to contain a bear," she answered slowly and thoughtfully. "But this is a mountain; there are crevasses and stuff everywhere. We already talked about running it off a cliff. Either way, we could use bait and... anyway, I'll try to work out more ideas. Then we can discuss them on our double date."

With that, she let the subject rest, cleared her throat and focused on the hunt. So far, she didn't smell any sign of a doe, though she peered around for evidence of ungulates. They often left prints in the soil, as well as little piles of dung. They also tended to strip trees and shrubs just above eye level for a wolf. Wildfire saw all of these signs and figured they must be on the right track, so she kept going deeper into the trees.

There it was: the unmistakable scent trail of a doe. "Wonder what she's doing all alone?" the huntress wondered out loud, exchanging a glance with Charon. She shrugged. "Better for us," she murmured, then began following the scent. It was so fresh, there might as well have been neon signs with arrows pointing the way for them.

Suddenly, she hissed quietly, "There." She stood still as a stone, pointing her smudged muzzle through the trunks of trees and growths of underbrush, motioning at a brown silhouette in the distance. It looked like an older doe, if the light fur around her eyes and mouth was any indication. She alternated between grazing and jerking her head upward to scan her surroundings, clearly vigilant to compensate for her solitariness.

It did seem unplausable to catch a bear by digging a hole to Charon, and he listened to Dhole's rambles while he considered them. A crevice of sorts seemed perfect for their plan, but they were back on the bear now, rather than trapping deer. Anyway, in silence he agreed to drop the subject, for now, and keep it for their double date (fuck romance, anyway, when three out of four — for now — of the participants on a date were leaders of a pack and had these kind of bear issues).

Near the clearing they picked up the scent, and Charon allowed Dhole to lead the way. The doe wandered around, sifting through the forest floor looking for something to eat, no doubt. Charon watched the silhouetted deer from afar as it seemed the wind was on their side, and it'd caught no wind of them of yet. Charon started off to the left to try and approach it from the side, so that it would have less of a head start if it chose to run, and he hoped that Dhole would either pick a different angle or approach it head-on so that it'd have less chance. He felt like actually telling her what to do would possibly make the doe hear them though, so he didn't say anything as he stalked off through the underbrush.

I'm gonna roll. Evens = success, odds = failure. Results in subsequent posts. :)

10

Wordlessly, Charon broke away and began moving to the doe's left. Wildfire's eyes flicked after him, then she began to creep around to the right a bit. She and Floki had hunted like this before and it was a more or less sound tactic, though success was never guaranteed. They were downwind, even as they shifted position, but the deer was clearly on high alert. The chances of taking it totally by surprise slimmed the closer the two of them crept from their respective wings.

Somehow, though, the Gamma came within half a dozen yards without spooking her (and obviously Charon hadn't tripped any wires either). Licking her lips, the she-wolf crouched, trying to locate her partner across the way. She then fixed her gaze on the doe, waiting for the perfect moment to make a strike.

i figured that they could have a failed hunt, but it seems the odds are in their favour :D

Dhole wordlessly picked up on his intentions, which pleased Charon (much better synergy than before, when she'd let him lope off alone, geez). He remained as silent as he could, sneaking through the brush, and he watched as the deer lifted its head, alert. Its ears twitched nervously, though Charon could imagine why; it was without its herd, and in his experience any prey animal that was without its herd was panicked in some way or the other. Charon glanced past the deer, trying to spot Dhole, and finally he saw a brush of ruddy fur through the brush.

When the deer suddenly startled, Charon sprang into motion. He came straight at it, forcing the deer to rethink its running-away tactics. He hoped to chase it right into Dhole's jaws.

Haha, you have been thwarted by the dice!

Their luck ran out and the doe startled abruptly. Luckily, Wildfire was in hair-trigger mode and exploded from the brush to give chase. Almost directly across from her, Charon did the same. In fact, he was slightly ahead of her, so the deer reacted to his presence first. She wheeled away, only to find the little red wolf closing in on her from the other direction. The doe made a low bleating noise and tried to dash in between them, yet the wolves were already upon her.

But this would be nothing but a hard-won kill, if they even managed to take her at all. Wildfire aimed a bite at the doe's haunch, yet despite her apparent advanced age, she moved quickly. The huntress's jaws clicked shut on empty air and she found a hoof swinging at her face. She winced away from it with a hiss, managing to dodge the sharp little projectile, albeit just barely. She felt the air stir where it whizzed right past her cheek.

Recovering from the near blow, Wildfire jumped at the offending leg, trying to sink her teeth into the fine bones and tendons just at the crook of it. She landed her strike and immediately began shaking her head in an effort to essentially pulverize the dainty limb.

Dhole reacted quickly and Charon was impressed with her prowess. Unfortunately the doe was surprisingly fast and she turned around to start running away from the pair of wolves. Charon had no time to worry about Dhole getting hurt by the doe's hoof when it kicked, too engulfed in the chase and too riddled with adrenaline.

They would not let her get away that easily, of course, so Charon and Dhole both started the chase and started running after it. Dhole continued snapping at the doe until she eventually found purchase. At the same time, Charon continued to attack from the other side. He snapped at the doe's leg on the other side, eliciting a kick which he narrowly avoided; he decided to play distraction, for now, so that the doe would be unable to shake Dhole off with kicks or bucks because she was too occupied with him.

Although the leg was slender, it was powerful. The doe kicked it, trying to wrench the she-wolf loose. But Wildfire clung tenaciously, digging her fangs so that they clicked together and bore down, breaking skin and bone. The deer didn't so much bleat as scream this time. Ignoring the sound—not to mention the possibility of being headbutted or bitten—Wildfire shut her eyes and continued to shake her head back and forth, rending as much damage as she could for about ten seconds before suddenly letting go and leaping backward with a noisy gasp.

Charon was still moving around on the doe's other side and, to the animal's credit, she was still standing. But her right hind leg was mauled, dragging behind her now, the white of splintered bone and splashes of red, torn muscle catching Wildfire's hungry eyes. She licked her bloodied lips, knowing there was no way the doe could outrun them now.

Dhole was successful, judging by the deer's screams of pain. Charon sped up as the doe faltered in speed, and he jumped at its shoulder, where he tried to get a good grip with his teeth on her neck to get as close as he could to her throat. The shift in balance caused the deer's balance to falter, however, and Charon felt satisfied when the creature fell down to the ground with a thundering crash.

As it fell, Charon jumped off and then returned to its throat to try and find a good place to finish it off; it wasn't as easy with such large creatures, however. All the while, the doe screamed on.

In fact, she didn't run much further at all. Charon lunged at the doe's throat from the opposite side, knocking her off balance and causing her to crumple with a cry that quickly became a gurgle as the Alpha's jaws locked around her throat. Wildfire sprang back into action then too, maneuvering past the creature's flailing forelegs to sink her teeth into her chest, near the base of her throat. Blood filled her mouth.

It took a while for the doe to stop twitching but, at long last, she lay dead at their feet. The Gamma stared at the carcass, a little amazed at their good fortune. She was a bit on the small side, yet it was still an impressive catch for two wolves. With a faint smirk on her bloodstained lips, Wildfire mused, And Charon even saw it all!

"We make a pretty good team," she commented, black tail swaying. Since the Alpha had mentioned earlier that he wasn't hungry, Wildfire asked, "Should we butcher and cache it then?"