Redhawk Caldera Take out the targets

For @Somnia! Set right after this thread.

Elwood led the way, kind of glad to leave Peregrine's stench behind. Eventually, the smell dissipated and he took a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh, cold air. He looked back at Somnia, the tip of his tail wiggling as he addressed her. "Phew, he really stunk, didn't he? I hope it wears off sooner rather than later," he said with a chuckle. Go figure that their Alpha would wind up getting himself skunked.

As they meandered deeper into the forested area of the territory, he dropped his nose to the ground and began to sniff, searching for a trail that they could follow. "Do you have anything specific in mind?" he asked, willing to let Somnia take over if she knew of any good prey locations off the top of her head.

Somnia had let Elwood lead the way. The air over this way didn't have the scent of Peregrine's skunk cologne, unlike before. "Yeah, but his loss is our gain. Even if the lesson of staying away from skunks is bestowed upon Perry with that stench, I know that I don't want to have a run-in with a skunk anytime soon." Who ever said that a life lesson had to be directed at you for you to learn it?

As Elwood started to sniff, Somnia did likewise. "Not really. I was hoping we could find some prey around here. If all else fails, we could try scaring some rabbits out of their warrens and ambush them." The idea of them running out of their safe spot was a bit confusing, as why would they run out into the open where they could be killed? But if you dig at one of the entrances, chances are they'll flee from their home if you get far enough in.

Feel free to make up/describe the rabbit warren in your next post! :)

"Oh yeah, I'll definitely be avoiding any skunks I see from here on out," Elwood replied over his shoulder. He hadn't ever encountered one personally, but even before smelling Peregrine he had known what they could do. He would just make sure to be more vigilant and hope to never come across one of the little black-and-white stinkers.

Somnia suggested that they stick to the vicinity, and Elwood nodded. He wasn't up for a large-scale hunt; the thought of flushing a couple of rabbits out of their burrow was appealing to him, actually. It required a different kind of technique than large prey, and the two of them could make a tag team effort. "I know of some bunnies that should be hanging out nearby -- let's do that," he suggested, and once he had Somnia's approval, he turned and trotted in that direction.

Okay. ^.^

Elwood seemed to like her idea of flushing rabbits out of warrens, and even had knowledge of a nearby warren. Somnia approved of the idea, and followed Elwood as he led them to the site. Led in the right direction by Elwood, the rabbit warren wasn't hard to find. It seemed to be a big one by the strong scent of rabbit staining the area. Of course, Somnia could only assume it was big, as only one entrance and the scent gave it away.

"Well, there's one of many entrances. They live in an underground maze with a bunch of their kind. Sort of like how we live in a pack, except they reproduce much quicker, so they've got a lot more until we eat them... Back on topic, they have many different entrances and exits, and the warren can span a large area. We'd have to find and cave in some of those entrances so that there's less escape routes. It would be near impossible to close off all of them except for the two we need for our plan, but the more we close off, the more likely quite a few rabbits will flee from the exit with our ambush. We'd just have to be careful enough to not disturb the entrances too much besides caving them in, so we don't accidentally flush all the rabbits out before we're ready." Whew... Those were a lot of words. Did Elwood comprehend all of that?

It didn't take long for them to locate one of the entrances to the rabbits' burrow. Elwood listened attentively as Somnia explained, though he already knew most of what she said. It was nice to hunt with someone as organized and driven as she was; she was able to lay out a plan and visualize their tactics, making sure that they would have the highest probability of success.

He bobbed his head agreeably. "I'll head around this way, if you go that way," he said, gesturing to his right and then to her left. "Should we keep this entrance as our main point of attack?" Since they already knew its location, it would theoretically be easy to return once they had filled in some of the other holes.

Once he had Somnia's approval, he began to move through the snow, his muzzle inches from the ground as he searched for the warren's other exits. He found one quickly, after only a few steps, and pushed a mixture of snow and dirt into it with his paws. He patted it, making sure that the cover was firm, then moved on to find the next one.

Elwood actually listened to all her explanations! It was quite obvious to her that Finley and Fox often zoned out when she started explaining things that didn't interest them, or it just got entirely too long. Elwood, faced with both of these downfalls, listened patiently, his full attention on her.... To all of it!

Elwood then furthered the plan of action. Somnia nodded in agreement to going opposite ways to find burrows to fill. "One of them. We'll need another. One to dig at and create a ruckus, another for them to flee out of, into our ambush." She clarified, just in case he somehow didn't understand. Somnia suspected that he knew, and just saw one part as the 'main point' of the attack, but clarifying just in case couldn't hurt.... Unlike how taking things too literally could at times.

When Elwood went to find and seal entrances, Somnia did likewise. A few could be spotted within a semi-large area that she considered to be in her 'half' of the area search. Those she sealed with no problem. When they proved to be harder to spot then those unlucky few in plain sight, she resorted to her nose. The entrances had to smell stronger of rabbit than the rest of the area because the rabbits had to go in and out of them, right?

After filling in the first hole that he came across, Elwood moved on, snuffling through the snow until the found the next one. It was a bit more hidden, but he was able to follow the scent of the rabbits right to the opening. A scraggly snow-covered bush halfway blocked the entrance, so he was careful to avoid brushing up against the leaves as he scooped dirt into it. He wanted to make as little noise as possible, so as not to alert the hares to their presence.

He continued with his task, managing to find two more openings for a total of four. On his way back to where they had started, he came across a fifth; this one, he left open. Its proximity to the first hole would be helpful, he hoped, as Somnia had mentioned that they should have at least two clear exits. Ideally, it would be easy for them to man those holes and be prepared should any rabbits come shooting out of them.

Pleased with his work, he glanced over at Somnia, chuffing softly through his nostrils to nonverbally ask if she was done. As soon as she indicated that she was, they could proceed with the next step of their plan.

Somnia managed to find one more hole with her scenting strategy, and was in the middle of filling it up when Elwood chuffed. She glanced up before continuing on, her tail lashing to and fro as a sign that she wasn't ready. With Elwood already done, it encouraged her to work faster, and she quickly completed the task. She chuffed back at him to share her completion.

Somnia then walked up to Elwood. Her voice a low whisper, so that the rabbits wouldn't be alerted by it, she asked, "You want to destroy, or ambush?" Personally, Som wanted to destroy the one entrance. But, she wouldn't throw a tantrum if Elwood chose that. It should result in food, no matter who destroyed and who ambushed.

He wasn't left waiting for long, as Somnia finished filling in her holes and returned to his side. Elwood's tail waved behind him in excitement; he could already feel the adrenaline flowing through his veins at the prospect of a hunt. She asked which role he would like to take in order to finish the job, and while he didn't really have a preference, he made a quick decision.

"I'll ambush," he said, unknowingly fulfilling Somnia's hopes of being the destroyer. So he positioned himself near one of the open exits, crouching low with his muscles tensed in preparation. Once Somnia began to wreak havoc on her end, he would need to be ready to strike.

Somnia's tail waved happily as she got the wanted position. The two wolves then set themselves up silently at the two holes. There were bound to be a few others that they missed, but they managed to seal off a great deal of them. Now, the fun began!

Somnia began digging at one of the entrances. Her paws acted like mini shovels, flinging dirt behind her while her legs pumped. She also let out a few sharp barks for effect. All the rabbits had to know she was destroying their home! A shower of dirt fell on anything behind her as she dug it deep enough to squirm about an inch in before continuing to dig deeper. Any rabbits that remained inside would get killed and eaten if she was allowed to dig far enough in.

Elwood watched out of the corner of his eye as Somnia began to dig at her designated hole. She emitted a few high-pitched barks, too -- all of the commotion was sure to start a flurry of activity within the warren. Sure enough, Elwood began to hear the thumping of little paws underground, and he kneaded his paws against the snowy earth eagerly.

There were a few long seconds before any of the rabbits emerged; he assumed that they were navigating the tunnels and finding some of their exits blocked. He did see one rabbit racing away in his peripheral vision, having escaped through one of the holes that they had failed to fill. But they would still be successful -- suddenly, two hares shot out of the opening in front of him, their eyes glassy with fear as they tried to make their escape.

One of the lapins veered towards Somnia, while the other took off in the opposite direction. Elwood began to pursue it, his long strides allowing him to overtake the much smaller animal quickly. He used a paw to knock it off its feet, then seized its body in his jaws, effectively snapping its spine with little effort. He spun quickly, darting back to the burrow and dropping the carcass at his feet as he waited to see if more rabbits would flee.

Somnia completely missed the fact that the one rabbit ran behind her, but at least attacked it with a shower of dirt without knowing. She was completely absorbed in her task of causing havoc, and didn't notice much of anything. The scrabbling sound had been covered by the sound of the dirt shower behind her. At last, probably long after all the rabbits had left, Somnia stopped digging. The was a sizable hole where the entrance to the warren had been.

Somnia gave herself a shake, sending some of the dirt flying off. However, most of it stubbornly clung to her underside and legs. Oh well, she could give herself a tongue-bath, like a cat, later. "How many did you get?" She asked as she walked towards Elwood. Her legs and stomach were tinted brown from the dirt, but she didn't mind.

As Elwood approached the place where he had previously been positioned, he focused his attention on the ground in front of him. His ears pricked forward and he stared at the entrance to the rabbit warren. There had to be a few left in there, right? He crouched, and was soon rewarded for his patience.

Three more rabbits exited in rapid succession. Luckily, two of them went in the same direction, so he targeted them. Again, he was able to quickly end their lives, and soon was carrying the limp bodies back to where Somnia was waiting.

It seemed that their hunt was finished, for there were no more signs of life emerging from the burrow. Elwood dropped the two carcasses next to the first, looking up as Somnia asked how he had fared. "I nabbed three," he said; it wasn't a lot, but he was still pleased with their effort.

Somnia looked at the three carcasses. "Nice job. Shall we do some more hunting, or are you sick of it already?" A slightly teasing tone crept into her voice. She should've been satisfied with the three rabbits, as they managed to get three in the time it would've took to grab one. But food was food, and you could never get enough of that. There could've been a whole herd of elk slaughtered in a day, but the Gamma still would've kept hunting to pass the time.

Another option was to break into another kingdom roleplay game where she was an evil queen, but that got boring after doing it two times. Maybe in a year it would be fun again. Just lounging around somewhere, randomly reminiscing about the past and remembering that. Thoughts of the future also brought other thoughts and questions. What would Somnia be like in the future? Would she still be in Redhawk Caldera in a year's time? Would she even be alive then?

Somnia gave her head a small shake to clear her thoughts. She then redirected her attention back to Elwood.

This is my last post -- I've got a lot of active threads, but I'm gonna hop in your caretaker task thread!

"Never sick of it," Elwood quipped with a grin. It was a good thing, too, since he was a gamekeeper. There were a handful of them in the pack now, which meant that he didn't have to work quite as hard to keep the caches full, but he still enjoyed it just the same. "I need to get going, though. I'm going to do a quick patrol of the borders, if you want to join me?" he offered. His relatively new position as Beta required more responsibilities, though he didn't mind that, either.

"Patrolling is boring alone," he added with a pleading expression, hoping that Somnia would accompany him. He gathered two of the rabbit carcasses in his mouth, then waited for her to do the same; if she agreed, they could store the spoils of their hard work and then head towards the outskirts.

I feel you. I have 14 active threads, albeit a little less than half of them are inactive/already finished by me. Whenever I got one finished up, someone would tag me in another. :P

Instead of hunting, a border patrol was proposed. "That's fine by me." Warden had been one of her top choices for a trade, but Peregrine's need for Caretakers had pushed it aside. If it were possible, there were five trades that Somnia would've pursued. They were Gamekeeper, Counselor, Naturalist, Warden, and Caretaker, in that specific order too. Most of them were easy to get, except for Counselor and Caretaker. There weren't any pups in the pack yet, and nobody seemed to have any problems. At least if they did, they didn't come to her.

Somnia picked up the rabbit carcass, and she followed Elwood. The boredom of patrols were still unknown to her, but depending on how it went, she could learn that really soon.