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ying was gone from arcturus' sight, but not his mind. he prowled ahead, the crunch of snow underfoot announcing his presence to just about every living thing within a mile radius. finding a swath of bare earth several hundred feet from the tree line, arcturus hunkered down and listened.

he heard a crash in the distance, but did not connect it with ying and her failed expedition. just as he was about to move on, a soft trilling sounded between the pines, followed by the cautionary head-poke of a grouse disturbed from its roost. arcturus watched with stilled breath as it darted across the trail, followed by not one, but four flockmates. there was no time to question his luck -- when he felt the time was right he burst from cover like a bristle-backed wrecking ball, his eyes on the closest bird to his fangs.

already they were bolting, attempting to run fast enough so they might become airborne. arcturus snapped at the first and it veered with a squawk, crashing into a startled flock-mate in a flutter of furs. he pounced upon it with a snap of his jaws and flung it aside, catching sight of the third streaking by his flank. with a grunt arcturus bounded after, knowing his time was short. the bird sprung into the air in a series of panicked clucks, only to be plucked to the dirt by arcturus' teeth around one of its tail feathers. arcturus held it as it struggled and beat against him, shaking roughly with his head until its movements ceased.

collecting both in his jaws, the mountaineer turned back to the dark-backed she-wolf, expecting that when he arrived she would have her three birds patiently lined in a row.