Tuktu Weir and these three men made a solemn vow

there were deer on the edges of the lake, close to where it vanished into the trees. normally, he thought they'd stay closer to the open land; it was easier to outrun predators there than in the forest. but the vast, thick layer of snow bogged them down—at least there was ground to run upon in the woods.

really, they were doomed either way. . .although to make a meal of them, aditya would have to catch them first.

he watched from the other side of the weir, scanning each individual. dawn had been good at this: identifying the weak link in a group of deer or elk and then pursuing that to great success. grayday and his family had all been good hunters, and they'd taught him much.

aditya missed grayday, but he hoped that in the afterlife, he never saw the man. adi's treatment of his daughters was irreconcilable; they could never be friends again.

he pushed his ex-father-in-law from his mind, focusing instead on the deer, on his daughter, on surviving this bloody winter.

backdated to the 22nd

The large white brute was familiarizing himself with the landing surrounding his new pack. As he moved his eye caught the subtle movement of another. He wolf watched a moment his breath catching at the sight of the collar about his neck his eyes widened he could not help the rumble that left his chest. He decided if those two-legs want to kill they would be doing so, this one must mean the two-legs had a vested interest in these lands and therefore would not attack. This wolf needed to be protected then, or perhaps killed for the threat of of the two legs. He'd have to consult the gods on this later....

For now he decided he wanted to meet this wolf, he watched a bit longer noticing that the wolf was watching the deer longingly and though Vein had no intention of exerting extra energy hunting he moved closer and called out so as to not startle the other wolf. He voice was deep and rich "Hello, I'm Vein... Would you value company?" He drew closer to the male and lowered his head a little so as to not tower over the male.

another friendly wolf—though he wouldn't turn down a hunting partner. particularly one that was that large; brute strength was on his side, even if speed was not. aditya nodded wordlessly, and allowed the man to do whatever he chose, whether that was hunkering down beside him or remaining on his paws.

aditya, he remarked, lifting his golden gaze toward the white behemoth. care for a bite to eat? i could use the help. 

and this one, he thought, would benefit from bringing meat back to his pack. he was clearly a pack wolf, scents of others along his snowy pelt. hell, if they brought down a deer today, he'd let the man have the lion's share of the meat. adi and brook only needed so much between the two of them.

he stared out toward the small herd, eyes shifting between each of them in turn. are you a hunter? which one is our target, then?

The hefty white male chuckled, at the other's enthusiasm, but then realized lone wolves had it much harder then pack wolves and quickly spoke up “I am always hungry, but I am not much of a hunter, though if you drive something to me I can certainly help bring it down.” In other words he was a lazy ass that didn’t want to do more work then necessary.

“We could get as close as we dare, I’ll hide upwind, You can drive any which one you want toward me. I will latch on.” At this he shook himself fluffing his freshly cleaned white pelt and making himself appear even larger then he was and he was already far to large

“I’m not good at stalking but I am good hiding in winter and at holding something down, then you could take your time going for a killing hold”

He wondered if the other would agree to that. It put far more work on the other male but he’d take the brunt of the fleeing animals ire, he didn’t much care for his own safety he had the herbs to heal any wounds. Or at least he thought that highly of his own healing skills. 

“Is that ok? or do you have another idea?” Vein asked easily enough. He’d eat every morsel The other male left to him not bothering to bring any to the pack, truthfully it wouldn’t even cross his mind to bring it back to the pack, in favour of his own belly. “I’ll only eat what you don’t want” he offered feeling his mouth water now at the thought of more food.


His sun golden gaze moving back to the herd while his ear tipped to hear the response

he nodded, the corner of his mouth twitching in a smile at the joke. your strength will only be of help to us, aditya replied. you have a pack—i can smell it on you. it's only myself and my daughter; we won't be able to take much with us on our travels. we'll eat what we can, and the rest you can take to your wolves.

if they were in agreement, aditya would rise, continuing to case the herd. maybe. . . there were a couple of older does, but he feared they might be pregnant. killing one of them would be counterproductive; it meant less deer for the future.

but one was truly decrepit, and he wondered whether her time had passed altogether. thinking grimly of his own likely impotence, adi gave a brief nod at their target and a glance at the man (if he hadn't already positioned himself upwind). then, he lowered himself, beginning to edge toward the herd, trying not to arouse suspicion.

one misstep, one breath too loud, and the whole plan would be spoiled. winter was no time to make foolish mistakes.

Vein almost laughed out loud at the thought of bringing food back to the pack. He'd never let one scrap of food before him go uneaten if he could help it. He'd eat the whole deer until he needed to vomit wait an hour and eat more. Not many wolves were as overweight as he, and he worked hard on keeping himself fed with the least amount of effort possible, he felt he was conning this one but he'd not give up the opportunity either and so he did as they had planned.

The large brute followed the male then moved very carefully into the wind, after a quick nod to Aditya to affirm the direction in which he'd have to herd the deer. Vein hunkered down into the snow, wiggling very carefully and quietly to spread the snow around and over him without making to much noise, then lowered his eye lids as he stared toward the herd. He pinned his ears back and tucked his tail to complete his deception he was practically invisible in the snow covered hillside despite his size.

He waited for the deer, making sure his paws were under his bulk for a quick and accurate lunge.

the game was afoot. aditya caught the man's signal, gave him a little soft smile of his own, and then set off toward the old doe at a brisk trot. the other deer gave cries of alarm at the sight of him, and she, too, pivoted to follow. but she was slower than the rest of the group, and adi was able to nip at her heels, guide her elsewhere.

like a sheepdog, he herded her closer to his newfound hunting partner, running with his nose just shy of her right rear flank. any closer and he risked concussion from one of those sharp hooves.

she was struggling, though; she could not gain much purchase on the deep snow. it bogged her down, and just as aditya caught the flash of the other wolf's eyes nearby, she stumbled, sending ice flying. he lunged forward, hoping to seize a foreleg and drag her further down.

now, adi commanded, though he likely didn't have to—any hunter with half a brain knew the deer's time was up.

Vein never thought hunting with another would be so easy, He loved it when prey came to him. He’d often lay for hours in the same position waiting for prey to come to him, today he’d not wait so long, he fear as the deer drew closer that she’d scent him and dart into another direction but snow hampered her.

He heard the call of the other wolf, not prepared to be yelled at, he flinched and it distracted him, combined with the weight of the snow he’d hidden under, it threw his aim and his teeth grabbed the thick meat of her neck just before the deer’s shoulder not a fatal grab by any means.

But Vein held fast sinking his teeth in deep latching on like a leech and dropped his legs out from under himself, holding on for all he was worth and becoming dead weight. The deer bleated in panic and surged forward hitting him with her legs as she tried to run faster.

The brute did not let go despite the pummelling he was receiving though her hooves could not connect with him so he was only receiving bruises.

The deer grew tried and slowed unable to continue a headlong charge with a 200+ pound passenger. The other wolf would have to come in deliver a killing blow as Vein was doing nothing but holding fast and not allowing for escape.

aditya couldn't help but marvel at the man's dexterity; it nearly brought him to a startled halt, seeing how well the pale giant held on. as it was, he knew the end of the hunt was near—and his muscles were beginning to burn with fatigue. not as much stamina as i used to have, he thought ruefully, then lunged for the deer's throat.

blood spurted from the large vein that ran down the doe's delicate neck, spattering adi's muzzle and cheeks. he released nearly immediately, feeling the tear of flesh from fang. the doe took a few more staggering steps and then fell to her knees, with the other man hopefully getting off in time and not going 'down with the ship,' as it were.

shabash, he praised, aiming a crimson-stained grin at his hunting partner. well done, yaar. don't think an old man like me would have eaten today if not for you.

he stepped toward the deer, whose body was beginning to give out, the last twitches fading into nothing. shall we? aditya asked, eyes mischievous, preparing to carve up the kill.

Vein allowed the other to do the dirty work and all he did was held on until the deer until the animal fell to the ground he managed to keep himself out from under the body as it collapsed below him. The large white brute was loathe to let his hold go on the deer, then grinned and decided to toss his head back and forth, pulled and tore. Finally coming up with a huge chunk of flesh he grinned to his hunting companion, just as excited.

He watched the male as he ate what he had in his maw, sloppily spreading blood upon his white pelt without second thoughts. “Take what you need, I”ll take what’s left. If you want the liver I’ll take the heart”  He offered his male the choicest nutrient rich meat.

“I’ll be fine to wait a day while you eat your heart desires.” The white brute then went back to the neck and pulled another chunk free then moved off to the side and lay on the ground, allowing the wolf to take what he wanted while he waited patiently; not in any rush to eat his next mouthful nor to rush the male in taking his share.

He was content to show the other wolf he was not going to crowd the other for the food, and his desire to wait until the male got as much as he wanted was along the line of bringing the rest back to a pack though he did intend to eat every scrap that was left.

He realized the other might want to carry meat away, especially if the other had another to cozy up to, and Vein smiled up at him “Or we can break the spine and tear the muscles by the ribs, then tug the two halfs apart so you can take away what you want. I'm fine either way company is always nice but time is precious and shouldn't be squandered if we can make shorter work of things.”

adi lifted his shoulders in a gentle shrug, fine with any option presented. we'll eat, first, then split up what's left, he decided. the scavengers would even dine well, he thought, although he hoped brook would take more than her share. she needed the meat more than he did.

proverbially, he wolfed his portion down, the two of them munching in amiable silence for the time being. once he felt as though his distended belly might burst, he lifted his head, licking his chops and giving the man a friendly—if slightly gruesome, due to the blood upon his teeth—smile.

it was nice to hunt with you today, vein, he said. his eyes were already scanning the corpse, wondering just how much he wanted to lug back to his daughter. where does your pack reside? i smell others on you, he explained, blinking somewhat sheepishly. 

perhaps it might not be a bad idea to join forces. with large, skilled hunters like vein, that group should be in fine fettle.

Vein chewed on his portion of meat and answered the question easily enough. "I have a feeling my pack is protective of it's location given the wolf, bear and Coyote skulls and Bones that are displayed along our border" He turned the meat over beneath his paw and worked another edge pulling little bits of gristle off "I won't divulge information that is not truly mine to give, my position in the pack is new and tenuous as all new addition's are. but that doesn't mean I won't answer any other questions if I can. Just know I'm not to far from the place I now call 'home' " He smiled up to his dinner companion before returning his attention to the meat

"I fancy myself a great healer, especially in comparison to the field medic's that seem to populate these parts. Should you need any help, Howl for me, I offer my skills to all whom need it despite their allegiance to packs or gods" He snapped up and swallowed the last piece of his meat then grinned as he got up to retrieve another fleshy hunk of neck meat.

"It was rather nice to have such an efficient hunting partner, is there some info about you that you could offer me? If not for any other reason but to offer more conversation?" He returned to his shady spot not to far from the deer and began to pull tiny bits of meat from his hunk, partaking in his meal with a slow measured pace.

he raised a brow at this rather macabre description, but alas, some packs liked to show their strength like that. vein didn't give him much, but at least he wasn't stand-offish about it. aditya figured that the skulls and bones along the border would be enough to identify them in case he and brook stumbled across those borders.

a healer, adi repeated, chewing slowly, thoughtfully. i knew a great healer once—pema. one of my greatest friends. he hoped that the woman was okay, wherever she was. or. . .god, she might be dead by now. she wasn't much younger than he had been, right? and many others had perished along the way—

he nodded, swallowing. there's not much to know, he joked, grinning. i'm a wanderer, traveling with my daughter. we're on our way to the coast to hopefully make a home there. that's. . .that's it, really.

once upon a time, he had a more compelling story. but those were more turbulent times; just because every moment was suffused with drama didn't mean he liked it. looking back, aditya preferred this more peaceful existence of vagrancy. it was simpler this way. better.

Vein nodded, “The ocean is a nice place to live in the summer months but to cold in the winter even for my taste if you were to change your mind and consider a pack more inland I’d bring you to our borders and vouch for you and your daughter, though I have yet to meet her.” He picked at his morsel; intending to eat only as long as the other ate, planing on transporting the meat after they parted ways only a little way off and finishing the rest in one go.

“If you find this Pema or another like them, I’d love to meet them, Healer’s can learn a lot from each other.” Then he glanced at the male more as he wanted to gauge the other reaction “Perhaps it was the gods will we were to meet today. And this is a sign of good things to come”

he murmured nothing but agreement, now preoccupied with sawing away at meat to take back to brook. once his jaws were free, he smiled, giving vein a solemn nod. i think you must be right, aditya said. though sometimes i think everything is predestined in one way or another. it was good to hunt with you today.

belly fuller than he thought it would be today, he left the scene with food to spare, excited to tell his daughter about the success out on the plains. perhaps they all would hunt in one pack, some day. it wasn't in aditya's plans as of now, but if push came to shove. . .

ah. long time to ponder that, yet.

Vein watched Aditya take his share and did not comment, He did not guard his food. "To the future," e rumbled and nodded solemnly at Aditya as the other took his leave. for Vein's part he moved closer to the carcass and continued to eat slowly until there was not a scrap left.