Stone Circle Meal preppin'

The pressure was on. Not only did the main hunter of Easthollow had to provide meals for Althaia's pups but with the recent joining of Amber they also had to feed a pregnant woman. Valette was becoming a bit tired with providing small game catches. Before she would set out for a mini mission of herself she wanted to take down one big meal so she wouldn't be missed. She let a howl rang though their territory, hoping that at least @Grayday would respond to it. Other than that more were welcome to help her out. Perhaps even the new girl @Mirabelle would help her out.

Valette stood by the Stone Circle, waiting for the others. She already picked a target. After studying the herd with Keoni she had gained some more information. Along with last time's try she knew that a deer would be easier to take down, instead of those damn bison. They would need to take down one of the deer. As it happened one had been slow and stumbling when Valette gave them a chase herself, just to see better which one was injured.

Belle was quick to the call, though it hadn't registered who exactly made it. Once her paws made their last few steps against the cold ground, she looked Valette over to try and pick out what exactly she wanted. It wasn't that she disliked the woman, but she was an obstacle that Belle would have to see past in whatever way possible. That being said, she still held respect for her superior (regardless of whether or not she liked thinking of her that way). 
Valette, she greeted, her voice firm and confident. Her tail swished behind her though her ears remained just low enough to accommodate basic courtesy. You called? Hopefully it was something that could be solved quickly or had the potential to make up for the nap she'd been working on back at her den.

I'm not sure if I read that post correctly or not; let me know if I should change anything.

He hadn't had a lot of time to himself since getting back from from the Longest Trip Ever. With Althalia's murder and Amber's increasing size weighing so heavily on his mind, Day hadn't given himself much time for anything except excessive border patrol and carefully guarding his mate. To the stalwart male, it still felt like he was shirking his duities - he hadn't put a single kill into the caches since his return. Some nights, he could hardly close his eyes, too busy worrying that Steady or Valette would notice his laziness and turn him away. Could he convince them to allow Amber to stay, or would his family be kicked out, too? Would any of his children survive being born on the road? Could Dagfinn be tracked down and convinced to help them?

The worries were endless and the hours in the day were not. More and more, he found himself staying up late into the night to try and catch up on the things he considered to be his duty. If his eyes hadn't been so damaged, it might even have helped - but he could barely see the grass in front of him past dusk, let alone any prey he tried to hunt.

So when Valette called out in a hungry howl, Day (nervously) abandoned the border and trotted quickly toward the young woman's voice, only to find her already in mid-hunt. With a quiet chuff to alert the other of his presence, Day ran at her flank, waiting for direciton.

Ah it is fine! I will work with it! <3

It didn't take long for Maribelle to arrive. Valette greeted her with a dip of her muzzle. She hoped that Grayday would join them, but she wasn't really going to wait on him. Perhaps he was busy with Amber or was doing something else for the pack. The dark coated female let out a bark so Mirabelle knew she had to follow her. She trotted down the hill, low to the ground. The deer were still alert from her chase. Valette had rather riles them up.

Just when she was about to talk Grayday arrived. She smiled at him. "Day! Good you joined. Alright, there is one female that is slower and I feel like she is ill. I already riled up the herd before and marked her with a bite mark on her right hind leg.'[b] Valette was not as stupid to go after a deer alone, she needed her packmates help to take it down. [b]"Split her from the herd and give her more wounds around her legs and belly. Let's go."

Did she enjoy being bossed around by Valette. Well, no. But Belle knew how to behave when a superior was in the mix. Once she had the plan locked in her mind and her Valette's final confirmation -- Let's go. -- Belle gave an affirming nod. Immediately, she began to circle the herd in an attempt to pick out which one the Beta had marked.
Truth be told, it couldn't have been easier.
The mark was present on the weak doe's quarters. She moved at a slow limp, and yet it seemed that she was constantly aware of where they stood. Writing it off as just her nature -- Deer are always skittish, but the hunt has to go on. -- Belle gave one more nod to Valette and Gray before slowly moving in.
She was built for speed, not for strength. So her role was obvious: reinforcements. She would be an active part of the chase, but she wouldn't attack until one of her counterparts had. It would have to be her job to reign in the deer should she get a bit to antsy and attempt an escape.

Val was quick to give him the run-down, something which Day apprecaited very much. There was a little aprehension in him - he still remembered last time's miscommunication - but he had confidence in both Valette and himself as hunters, and he assumed that Mirabelle would have some sort of experience, as well, if she'd survived this long. They would get this done.

"You got it," said Day, picking up speed as his nose zeroed in on the animal she spoke of. Where Mirabelle was lacking in strength, Day himself was not, and he had no trouble carrying out Valette's commands. He drew closer to the deer he thought had been marked only to find that it was not the one emitting the smell of blood. Chargrined, Day moved one deer to the left and finally found the proper target. It had been a quick mistake, and one he hoped neither of his companions had noticed.

Having found his target, Day was quick to begin his assult. Powerful jaws only nipped at first before drawing quickly away, testing the deer's reactions. When he thought he'd found the proper rhythm to bite down without being kicked in the face, the male gave her uninjured leg a savage snap, tearing a small chunk away. The deer faltered, but did not slow down immediately. Day pushed himself harder as he tried to catch up once more.

Valette let out a howl when he hunt started, also to notify the others of the pack that a hunt was being performed right now. Valette ran a bit to the side to watch how Mirabelle and Gray would take on the deer. Valette also liked to be part of the chase but instead of going after the one she marked she yowled and barked loudly at the others of the deer to chase them away in the other direction. She briefly saw that Gray had the wrong one but luckily he corrected himself. Valette ran after the herd to chase them off before making a U turn and coming back at breakneck speed, running low to the ground.

The female was really into hunting and she as the leader of the hunt would now have to make the kill. The young female wanted that deerstalker speciality, and her eyes were lit up with ambition. She approached from the side, watching how Grayday was tiring out the female at least. Valette made slight curve so she would approach from the front, a new technique she was recently trying out. The deer seeing her run towards her made her break and slow down in shock, which was perfect for Valette to jump up and grab her throat. The charcoal girl was not letting go.

Seeing that the doe was in a position to where she couldn't escape, Belle decided to make her move. Valette kept a hold on the deer's throat whilst Day attacked from the back, so Belle took the liberty of taking out its footing. She quickly moved forward and went at the deer's shoulder, sinking her teeth into the target's flesh.
Feeling the doe struggle against her grip brought her a feeling of joy, pride, control, so Belle held on as tight as she could with disregard to whatever plan they'd had previously set in place. She wanted the doe and the doe is what she would have.

He did end up getting kicked in the chest, which left him a little winded but otherwise unharmed. It would ache the next morning, but Day wasn't too worried about that right then. With Valette clinging to the deer's throat and Mirabelle on its side, their prey was fading fast. Pride welled up within the male's chest - it'd been a good, clean hunt so far. If they could dispatch the deer quickly, maybe they could get through this without anyone getting hurt.

Briefly, Day released the deer's hamstring to move down to its ankle. His teeth snapped down like a beartrap over the deer's leg and Day gave a mighty wrench, yanking a foot out from under it and letting go before he could be dragged down with it. Momentum sent the creature crashing to the ground - hopefully, Valette would get out of the way in time. It didn't worry the male too much; Val was smart and quick.

And the deer, despite its wounded state, was quick as well. Already, it was attempting to scramble back to its hooves.

Day grabbed its leg again and gave it a few, vicious shakes, hoping to break the bone and cripple it beyond salvation. Hopefully the other two were doing their part to finish it off while it was on the ground, because Day couldn't keep it down forever.

Valette could always count on Day's strength to take down the deer. The young female continued to hold on to the deer's neck, even when it fell down, and almost fell on top of her. Luckily she could twist her body in such a way that it would not be hit by the deer's body. Valette moved her body over the deer now she was laying down and pressed her more into the ground under her. She was not going to let the deer escape, even though she wanted to get up again Valette wouldn't let her.

The young female was getting more power from the hunt and only wanted to catch this meal even more badly. Finally the doe seemed to give up and go more limp. Probably had something to do with the gaping wound on her shoulder and Grayday tugging on her legs. The deer breathed out her last breath and Valette slowly let the deer go. She instantly let out a howl in victory and to tell everyone dinner was ready. "Good job you guys!," she grinned. She was glad she kept an eye in the deer herds, it really helped when looking for a meal.

Belle stepped away from the dying doe and took a moment to compose herself. The blood lining her lips had pulled her way into a trance of euphoria, thus it took a moment for hee to process Valette's praise. Y-yes, Belle said, her voice a shaky breath, this was a great hunt. We make a good team, I suppose. Confused and taken aback by her own words, Belle grimaced slightly but quickly shook away the dismay. 
I imagine we'll have to do a few more rounds before winter really sets in, yes? Maybe not now, but in the next few weeks they would have to do a bit more work. Not only were there several adults within the ranks, but the infants here and developing would surely need extra nourishment once the temperatures dropped.

"You, too," he replied to Valette's excited praise. He'd forgotten how good it felt to hunt with his pack - finding food with Dagfinn had been all kinds of trouble, and Amber's presence had done little to change that fact. Day had come to think that they might've gotten along a lot better without her - but he was glad she'd been there all the same.

"Call anytime," he said to Valette, agreeing with Mirabelle. "Do you mind if I take mine to go? I don't want Amber coming out this far, if I can help it," he explained, setting his paw on the flank he'd injured.

Valette turned to Mirabelle and nodded. "I'm on it, I keep a daily track on the deer herds, and especially in winter they will be weaker seeing they don't have enough to eat," she explained. Now Valette hoped that they would at least stay in to the valley and would not move to different grounds. She did expect them to move more towards their forest instead of the fields but that wouldn't be a problem seeing that those woods also belonged to them.

Then Grayday complimented her and she nodded her head with a smile. "Ofcourse you can. Wish Amber well for me," she spoke with a warm voice. Then the beta herself moved towards the deer's belly and started feasting on the juicy organs. She was the beta, the main provider and the one who was feeing the young. The other part of the organs could go to Steady and possibly also to the two pups when they would throw up the meat for them. Valette made it quickly sure with one look to Mirabelle that she would claim this part.

Belle didn't mind that Valette chose the ripest area to dig into -- she was the lead hunter and one of the superiors after all -- but she did mind the (in her mind) snark look that Valette shot to her. Instead of fighting about it (Belle preferred a more silent approach, anyway) she moved to the hind area and forced her teeth into the tender flesh.
As she dug in, she released a series of short, pleasure filled rumbles. It had been quite some time since she last had the warmth of another's life drifting down her throat. Once she took a fair hunk of meat out of the carcass, Belle stood and stretched her joints before nodding to her party and making her leave. It was a pleasure.

Day worked a hauch free, expecting that he and Amber might eat most of it - the rest would go into the cache, of course. And maybe they would be the ones to pick it clean later on, but hoarding food or keeping personal caches was not something that Day would ever do to this pack. A part of him felt pressured to make this clear to his companions - he'd been so anxious about proving his loyalty and worth, lately - but Day refrained. Valette was his friend, and Mirabelle... well, she could think what she would.

"Thanks for the hunt," he said simply before heading on his way, careful to keep the haunch balanced so that nothing dragged on the floor.

Day out. Tagging @Amber for reference so that she know she's been fed.

Valette watched each member leave. She could eat in peace and that was what she did. The female ate as much until she could no more. She would have to feed those young after all. But before she did that she started dragging the carcass closer to a cache. It was quite the struggle to move so she decided this would be a new cache. Ravens and crows gathered, along with one coyote. Valette was reluctant to have them eat from the deer, but since no other pack mate showed up for the feast she let it be and returned to the density with the two pups.

[end]