Panther Park You and whose army?

For @Rannoch <3

The evening at last arrived. Nara had been waiting at the foot of the Sunspire for the sun to hang low. She had caught an unfamiliar scent and she wanted to see what kind of animal it was. Of course, stalking it in broad daylight would be a rookie hunter mistake, so she had waited patiently until the sky had turned dark. Not long thereafter, she and Rannoch had crossed paths at the borders and she had asked him if he wanted to accompany her. Now, the scent led them into a vast coniferous forest. The air was damp, and various scents intermingled, which made tracking harder. The canopy got denser as they went deeper into the woods. 

A sound of a branch snapping made Nara freeze. Her eyes peered into the darkness, ears forward, body unmoving. She stood there for a few moments until she heard a strange grunting noise and a moment later a wild boar appeared in front of them. It had its mouth open and the grunting had changed into a low growling. Then it charged at her and she quickly jumped aside, but its sharp tusks already dug into her flank. Nara yelped and stumbled, then scrambled up. The animal must have been afraid, because it didn't attack Rannoch and ran off afterwards.

The boar now out of sight (but not out of mind), she inspected her flank, but no real damage was done. Irritated, Nara let out a growl. Now I kind of want to ga after it she told Rannoch, but waited to see what he thought.

Rannoch was relieved to observe that Nara had been left unscathed; although Sunspire was established, they couldn't afford Nara getting hurt. He pulled back from his inspection of Nara's shoulder and fixed her with a sympathetic frown. "I don't blame you," Rannoch replied, "I'm feeling the same way, and I didn't even get attacked."

The Alpha then turned his attention to where the boar had escaped, and he contemplated the logistics of pursuing the beast for a moment before he spoke again. "Do you have any experience hunting boar?" Rannoch asked; not being the most skillful in hunting, Rannoch would have to rely on Nara's expertise to bring the creature down.

If they're anything like goats, then yes, she said, but her face fell when she recalled the whole ordeal with the goats. But if Nara had learned anything from that day, it was that you shouldn't get in the fight head-on. First observe and strike when they least expect it.

What happened to Wraen wouldn't happen today. I won't put Rannoch in danger by being bold, Nara told herself. This time she would do it right. We can follow its trail and find out if he has any friends nearby. But if he's alone, I think we can take him. Or her, I'm not sure. she told Rannoch. 

Although Nara's statement didn't put Rannoch entirely at ease, he trusted her to lead the hunt. "Sounds like a plan to me," Rannoch replied, and turned to Nara with a smile. "It couldn't have gotten too far away from us, either," he added. 

"Lead the way?" Rannoch then prompted, as he figured that time was now of the essence; they had ground to make up on to catch up to the boar.

Nara nodded and put her nose to the ground, following its scent. She was happy that Rannoch didn't question her abilities, though he may have sounded a bit unsure. They threaded through the thick underbrush with silent steps. The creature's scent was easy to follow, but they had to spot it before it discovered that they were close.

When its hoofprints became less discernible, she stopped. The boar probably quit running somewhere around here, thinking it was safe. I think we're close she whispered and put her nose to the air. I don't smell other scents, so it must be alone. and just a breath later she saw movement. It was the boar - alone, and it didn't seem to notice that they were near.

We can roll to see how it goes next?

There were indications that the boar was near; Rannoch took extra care as they navigated through the wooded territory. As Nara spoke, he turned to her and nodded in reply. 

"Yeah, I think it's alone," he answered after he had taken a moment to sniff at the ground. Although it was alone, Rannoch was concerned about the task of hunting the hog in the woods. Would it make things more difficult for them? Or would it work in their favor? He was unsure. Despite his trepidation on the matter, he remained silent.

The boar was making noises again, shuffling leaves with its nose. Nara thought for a moment about how they should handle things. There were a lot of extra-crunchy leaves all around the forest floor and ferns and long-dead branches. If they went for it now, it would most definitely hear them and chasing it would be difficult because of the underbrush. 

We need to get closer first, she said and her eyes scanned the forest for a path that would conceal them enough and still be traversable. The forest floor at the right side of the creature was slanted downwards and there were ferns that could conceal them. We could creep up to it there she said and nodded to the slope. 

They needed a path that would bring them closer to their game. Rannoch surveyed the territory before them and settled on the slope as Nara pointed it out. The hill was the best option that he could see— especially with all of the leaf litter around them. 

He nodded. "I don't see where else we could go without making a ton of noise," his eyes drifted to where the boar rummaged; his stomach gurgled quietly. "Let's go," he advised then, as he looked to Nara and drew his tongue over his jowls. "It seems occupied, and I'm getting hungry." 

She snickered at his remark before making her way towards the slope. Nara was crouched down a little, but she made sure that her pelt or her belly didn't touch the leaves below. She placed her paws very carefully. Step by step, she crept closer. Occasionally shooting a glance at the boar between the branches of the surrounding ferns, to see if it was still oblivious to them. One time it lifted its head to watch its surroundings, Nara froze, ducked her head and held her breath and then resumed her creeping when the boar focused its attention on the ground again. They were almost at the hill.

Something had caused the boar to lift its head in alarm and study the surrounding foliage, and Rannoch froze. He watched the beast with wide eyes and bated breath until it resumed sifting its nose through the forest's debris. 

Rannoch breathed a sigh of relief and continued their climb. When they reached the top, Rannoch pulled alongside Nara and regarded her with a tilt of his head— a silent inquiry that questioned their next move.

At the top of the hill she waited for Rannoch. The boar had its back turned to them and its tail swished frantically. He watched her expectantly. So here's the plan, she started, Do you think you could go around and wait behind that bush? she asked, it was located right in front of the creature. Then on my mark you try to distract it while I'll attack it from behind she said. Once it's trapped between the both of us, we'll try to go for its throat she concluded and observed him to see wether everything was clear.

Rannoch nodded once spotted the mentioned bush; her plan seemed simple enough, and he naively assumed that nothing would backfire on them. "I'll wait for your signal," he said, and without another word, he turned and stalked towards his position.

Once Rannoch was situated behind the bush, he looked up at Nara and nodded once more to affirm his preparedness.

Nara waited for Rannoch to reach the bush. So far everything was still going according to plan. The boar had already smelled them, since it lifted his head more often than before, but locating them appeared to be difficult for the creature. 

There were two ways this could go. The animal would fight back which meant that they had to end its life quickly, or it would manage to escape and they wouldn't be able to sneak up on it a second time. Nara waited until the boar lowered its head again before signaling Rannoch with a short nod. 

We could roll for what happens next (:

When Rannoch revealed his presence, the hog acted accordingly. After a minuscule moment of it being visibly caught off-guard, it recovered by launching into action; the pig hastily turned from Rannoch and set off to escape further into the wooded territory. 

Knowing that this scenario wasn't going according to their plan, Rannoch sought Nara with a hurried glance, as if to ask, "what do we do?" Although everything within him urged him to chase after the beast, Rannoch knew his place in this hunt. It wasn't his command to lead this time, it was Nara's.

(Roll) Seems like we have some luck after all (: light pp, tell me if you want me to change it <3

Nara jumped out from the shadows, just as a flash of brown bolted past her - she quickly extended a paw, trying to strike it with her claws but the boar was just out of reach. She watched how the animal disappeared. She wanted to go after it, but running trough the undergrowth wasn't a good idea, she already got her skin torn open once before. She turned to Rannoch We'll follow its scent for a while she said a little disappointed, not in Rannoch but in herself, she should have been faster. who knows, maybe we'll find something else she continued and gave him a little smile.

They set out after the boar. Treading through the thick underbrush was tiring, and Nara almost wanted to call off the hunt before she saw it. It had gotten stuck in some vines. Like this, the boar was an easy target, but something about attacking an animal that couldn't defend itself felt wrong to her. I'll cut it loose first, but this time we'll be so close, it won't be able to escape. When she came closer, the boar started moving frantically. With a few slashes of her claws, it managed to struggle itself free and not a breath later it charged at Rannoch.

We do! The results of my roll can be found here.

Rannoch appreciated Nara's positivity, even though the events of their hunt hadn't happened in their favor. "I don't want to return home empty-pawed," Rannoch agreed; he had no qualms about following the boar further into the park. And even if they didn't find the boar, Rannoch knew that this territory was occupied with more potential quarry for them to bring home to Sunspire. 

The pair of wolves kept to the scent trail that the hog had left. Rannoch occasionally paused to sniff at any other prey-smells that caught his attention; nothing captivated the Alpha as the boar did. 

Their prize stood at the end of their trail; the boar's mobility had been compromised by vines that had tangled around its legs. Nara suggested freeing it, and Rannoch accepted the idea— he too couldn't slay the animal with the unfair advantage they had over it. 

When the hog was freed, it quickly revolted. The boar charged headfirst towards Rannoch with only a moment's notice. Without dwelling on the situation, he instinctively lept out of the way at just the right time and snapped at the creature's flank. Hopefully, his inflicted bites would slow it.

 

(Roll)

When the boar charged at Rannoch he jumped to the side quickly and avoided its sharp tusks. He also managed to sink his teeth into the boar's thick skin for a brief moment. Nara saw how the blood seeped from the bite marks, leaving behind streaks of red. A strong coppery smell filled the air around them and made her heart beat faster. She didn't wait long before lunging at the weakened animal - teeth perforated its throat as she bit down hard. Stunned by its pain, the boar swung its head around aimlessly, fighting her grip. Eventually, it stopped flailing and then it stopped moving altogether. She let its lifeless body slip from her jaws and cleaned her muzzle with a quick swipe of her tongue. Turning back to Rannoch, she said with a smile Looks like we got our friend here after all.

Nara's killing of the boar was awe-inspiring, and although Rannoch longed to help, it seemed as though she had things under control. "Nice work, Nara!" Rannoch praised once the animal had been slain; it hadn't taken her long to kill the beast. "This'll last us a few days." Sunspire would sleep tonight with full bellies.  

"Are you hungry?" he asked after a moment of examining the carcass from afar, "I think there's still enough sunlight left in the day for us to fit in a quick meal and still get back to Sunspire before sundown."  

Hey you did good too! Once you wounded it, I could get to its throat more quickly and then it was an easy kill Nara said, I couldn't have done it without you she added with a smile. She watched the dead animal for a moment, contemplating about how they were going to drag it back home - it looked heavy. Definitely she responded, and we really need it now, with Seabreeze and Olive being pregnant and all...suddenly realizing that this might be a sensitive subject for her leader, she quickly drifted off into silence after that. She wanted to say I'm sorry, but instead she just watched her friend, hoping that her words hadn't caused him any pain.

Sure, we'll need the energy for the journey back home Nara responded, glad about the change of subject. She lowered her head and gave him a little nod that said you eat first. He was the alpha after all.

Although the subject of both Olive and Seabreeze's pregnancies were sensitive subjects, Rannoch did not fault Nara for bringing it up. He nodded, and acknowledged her sentiment; the food was needed, especially since both women were now eating for more than themselves. "The pack will appreciate it," he agreed with a smile. 

Rannoch then took a step towards the slain animal and dissected his portion. Although he was hungry, he was mindful not to take more he should. Once he had dragged his piece a distance from where the hog laid, Rannoch looked at Nara and nodded to indicate that she was allowed to take what she needed. 

The two wolves relished their meal, and when they were done, they worked as a team to drag the pig back to Sunspire. Although the journey back was laborious, and it took some time, it was well worth it in the end.