Sunset Valley bear that keeps to his own line

intended for both @Ayovi and @Asha *wiggles brows*

the frost-laden air bit at his nostrils as faust prowled through the underbrush, each step deliberate, his heavy pawsteps muffled by the fresh snow. the days of stillness had passed, his body no longer confined by the weight of injury and fatigue. his strength had returned, coiled within his muscles like a serpent ready to strike.

the scent of ox hung in the air, musky and rich, carried on the biting wind. faust’s green eyes narrowed as he followed the trail, his breath a steady plume against the cold. these creatures were formidable, their bulk an imposing fortress of muscle and bone, but faust knew their weakness lay in their reliance on the herd. all it would take was to isolate one.

his pace quickened as he approached the edge of a clearing. through the sparse trees, he caught sight of them—a small herd grazing beneath the skeletal branches of snow-draped trees. their dark forms moved slowly, unaware of the predator watching from the shadows.

<3

The peak was not home, yet her heart ached to leave its beauty. Guilt she carried too for Skorpa’s efforts and the hunt on the mount she’d stolen from him. His healing was the work of hours in this stiff weather but it would be some days before his strength would return in earnest. Thus Ayovi felt it was her responsibility to hunt while he was at rest, not only out of obligation— but gratitude.
Eastward her unwearied course runs, the cold no longer oppressive but welcomed. She advances her tread towards the prey-scent from frozen hillocks, slithering into a hunter’s stalk to stare through the calm and misty dell. A crowd of wild oxen steam their breaths, growling in deep sprawling bays as they graze. Alone she could not quell the beast, but she was intent on tracking them.
Her tail flicks eagerly, body disappearing through the slopes to pull out ahead of the hooded briers, unknowing yet of wolven presence; unwitting that she had divulged her position to any nearby.
The indigo eyes dance hungrily ahead.

the glacier loomed behind them, along with all the other rises and ridges of the taiga.

all the while they had take a course down into a valley. she was a tall shadow that trailed behind his prowling form. her steps like a bobcat's — hushed from giant paws that carried her weight evenly. the snow dusted over her shadowy figure and muffled the world around them.

for all the silence of the world, though, they were not alone.

prey gathered in a small herd.

something else moved, lurked around the herd as well.

wordless communication is used when she drew herself along his side. a gesture of her chin forward. towards the arctic figure. familiarity tickling at her senses.

asha moved closer, her presence a steady shadow beside him. her silent gesture caught his attention, and his gaze followed the subtle tilt of her chin. it landed on the pale figure slipping through the mist—a form of ice and snow, woven into the world like she had always belonged.

ayovi.

his jaw tightened briefly, his focus faltering before he forced himself to look away, back to the herd. but the image lingered, the recognition burning just beneath his stoic exterior. he flicked his gaze to asha, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.

we hunt first, he murmured, his voice low, laced with something unreadable. then he shifted his weight forward, his attention snapping back to the prey ahead, forcing himself to push aside the ghostly figure that had appeared in the corner of his vision.

She was crouching some yards off, settling in for a chilly half hour of observation. She’d seen a bull with a broken horn lumbering, once a vision of power, who likely sired many calves. Now he was grizzled with jerky strides and health in steep decline. This would be her kill—
But the herd quickly erupts into wild uproar and confusion! Blowing, grunting, circling around until pushed into countless directions! Ayovi finds herself shooting to her paws, looking out over the drifts in heaving exasperation!
There, controlling the herd were two darker silhouettes, neither she could discern at such a distance.
But the hunt was on, and the huntress could not lose track of this band. To the northward pursuit her swift race does run, lengthening strides to cover more ground, streaming tail acting as her silver rudder. She bears down upon the hunters, weaving from snowbanks, flying into the fray.
Closer now... close enough—