Noctisardor Bypass We can fight gravity with our legs

It had taken her a little longer than usual to arrive, since she might have taken Arbiter's dutiful scouting as a chance to go push a boundary or two of her own, without momma's watchful eye hovering over her. A hunt, though, a real hunt! That was not to be missed.

Her excitement soon dwindled however as Arbiter quite naturally set in with another of her lectures. Brouhaha manfully held back the weary sigh rising in her chest as her tail started to droop and her ears swiveled out flatter in disgruntlement. Help chase, don't attack unless it's down, blah blah blah, fine right whatever. Couldn't Mom see how big and mature she was? Practically a grownup already, but here she was still being treated like a baby! Even after she'd made it to the new territory on her own four paws and everything, it was just as bad as if she'd had to be carried all the way there, for all the ways her mother was acting. Life just wasn't fair. But hey, at least she was being allowed to participate...sort of...and at least they had spotted some deer. Brou started salivating a little as the scent wafted towards her; it felt like forever since she'd tasted venison. Though hopefully if what Arbiter said was true, there would be more opportunities for that here soon, very soon, and next time Brou might finally actually get considered a real hunter for a change! Though Brou had to gloomily wonder when that chance was going to arrive, and if Arbiter might change her mind in the already-looming-too-long-for-Brou's-tastes interim. Ugh. So unfair.

So it was not entirely with good grace that Brou hung back and wove fretfully to and fro mostly about the rear of the small gathering crowd. Her ears flicked up and down and up again in indecision and building excitement, however, and her spirits couldn't be held down too far for too long. She was even almost able to brush off the look Arbiter threw back in their direction. Almost. As Brou put on her own jittery burst of speed she spied her brother moving up toward the other female, uh, "Jomyo" Brou thought she vaguely recalled hearing. Determinedly the black youngster dug in her paws; no way any stinkin' brother of hers was going to beat her to the chase! Brou moved up, haste making her a bit clumsy as she opted for speed over style, nearly tripping right into Pike as she tried to cut in line. The young bitch scrambled along and heard the littler deer bawling intermittent cries of distress ahead of them as, wild-eyed, it arced out away from them, then darted indecisively closer, then several strides away once more. It saw the danger, but didn't understand why its mother wasn't helping it escape.

Brou hesitated half a second before charging in in wild-eyed excitement of her own. She remembered before she lunged forward to sink her teeth in that she was supposed to wait until the kicking and flailing beasts were actually down before joining in, damn it all!—and with difficulty arresting her forward momentum, obediently she opted to smack her outthrust paws forward towards the poofy white male's nearest side instead of the encumbered but still-up-and-moving doe. Hurry hurry take it dooowwn already! she urged in shrill excitement, hurling her overexcited squeals in the vicinity of the white dog-wolf's handiest ear before she herself darted off toward the indecisive fawn. Its shrieks added to the cacophony of her own, and its mother's, as it saw her coming and bounded back off into the bushes with Brou in hot pursuit. The young wolf managed most of her not-terribly-well-thought-out goal, as she managed to pull even with the uneven-gaited little deer's side; the young ungulate squealed again and turned, crashing back through the underbrush mostly toward its mother, but only at an awkward angle which would send it shooting past the other wolves if none of them were paying attention. Brou didn't want to let it get away, but did sullenly hold that line in her mind: I'm not touching it Mother, see?! NOT touching it! which dumb instructions had sure better not let it escape. Surely one of the other wolves would, like, catch it though, as it came bleating past on its panicky stick-legs? Brou could only hope but really, they all seemed to be taking far too long about it already, if you asked her, and surely if they just put her in charge of the next hunt this would all have played out oh so much better—