Silvertip Mountain Food for thought

Fast rounds this time - hopefully everyone can post, don't forget this can go towards a gamekeeper trade! Next round begins Friday, August 7 @Bindi @Zhavvi @Chaska @Ryuu @Issun

The storm had settled long enough for FitzDutiful to feel comfortable leaving his children alone in the cave. They were wandering around more and more by themselves, but he still tried to keep an eye on at least one of them - it was impossible for him to keep an eye on both unless they were together. Today he had left them bright and early and decided to find game.

As he walked he realised that all the usual prey were still gone, deciding that it was in the pack's interest to help he lifted his muzzle and called out to them all, letting them know that he was wanting help in finding - and possibly hunting - herds within their lands.

Then FitzDutiful began the task of sniffing out where the herds had gone during the storm, wondering if anyone would find any signs of where they might be.

Ryuu wasn't far when FitzDutiful's call went up. It seemed he was calling to them a lot since the storm broke. She trotted to him, sitting not far from Fitz when she entered the clearing. Staying quiet she waited for him to speak first. It would be rude to demand of him what he had called her for. Ryuu looked down at her paws, wondering who else would answer. The last time there had only been a few. That made her wonder if any of the pack had not survived the storm. Her ears folded back in worry. Was this going to be a search party? It would make sense. She was sure Fitz would want to go looking for his missing wolves. Unless he knew that everyone was safe and she just hadn't seen everyone yet.

Shadow posted! Haha!

Technically Zhavvi wasn't too far off when the Alphas howled for her, and the others. But probably mostly her. The slender girl got to her feet and trotted towards the male as quick as she could. Hopefully there would be something involving food because she was rather hungry. She didn't have much fat to reply on, and hunting on her own hadn't been very... fruitful as of this moment.

She thought she was quick enough to catch a damn rabbit but they were very difficult to get apparently. Oh well, first she would see what the Alphas Fitz needed from her. She came trotting towards him and looked at him curiously. "Hellow, Alphas Fitz," she spoke in greeting. She then saw another female she hadn't seen before. Her green eyes went over her, was she new? Zhavvi didn't know. For now she was more orientated towards Alphas Fitz.

A call was carried to Chaska's ears. He recognized what it meant. Fitz's was asking for everyone to come, and the rest of the message was clear. It was soon time to hunt. He trotted, eager to join in. He could not remember the last time he went on a pack hunt. In fact, there probably wasn't a time at all when he had.

He approached where it had come from and found Fitz, Zhavvi and Ryuu. For some odd reason, he felt like he was in a playful mood, and crept up behind Ryuu. She was the closest friend he had here, and despite his own rule of not getting attached, it was the least he could do after helping her. She always seemed like she needed a friend anyway. Once right behind her, he prepared himself.

"Hello, Ryuu" he said casually. He then leapt to the side quickly to avoid being hit if she was to turn around.

Next round starts Tuesday, August 11. @Zhavvi @Chaska no post order and feel free to locate prey in your post if you want to. Ryuu's on absence for this round so assuming she would accept looking after the pups. @Bindi @Issun feel free to hop in.

FitzDutiful noted the arrivals, Ryuu, Zhavvi and Chaska. His loyal pack came whenever they called and it made him smile. Issun had yet to attend anything since the storm, but the white wolf had seen him once at the borders. He was safe at least. As for Bindi, she had been neither seen nor heard from since the storm's occurrence. That concerned him.

When he was satisfied that there was enough of them there - four was plenty - he turned to Ryuu. "We need to hunt down some prey herds. Will you go to the caves and look after Mason and June for me?" He relied upon her much to look after his cubs and, after she presumably accepted and headed off that way, FitzDutiful turned to the other two.

"We hunt." he said, looking particularly at Zhavvi to make sure his pack's warrior understood. "First off we need to find them. Have you seen any signs of prey around? The usual herds have gone." he asked this more towards Chaska, allowing himself the chance to have a full sentence. Zhavvi hopefully understood that hunting required the locating of prey.

Not waiting for an explicit answer from Chaska, FitzDutiful began to search the area looking for any sign, smell, hint of a prey herd around.

Zhavvi sat next to the alpha, she was used to that at her previous pack and in this pack the alpha had never corrected her so Zhavvi was more than pleased about that. She studied how Alphas Fitz was talking to the other lady and then she left. Okay weird. Maybe she wasn't allowed to do this with them. Her ears perked up. Hunt. Oh yes. Her stomach dropped a bit because she had to eat deer and Bison was so much more tasty. She pouted gently but then nodded.

She followed the Alpha, being more like his body guard shadow than really looking with him for possible prey. The strong little female had to learn that she needed deer. Or other types of prey. She was okay with rabbit though. But now with the pack hunt they would probably need something big. Zhavvi was just sticking to the alpha.

He was filled with excitement, his tail wagging. Chaska would have tried to gain control, but it was too much. Finally, a large contribution to the pack. Though sadly, Ryuu would not be joining. But someone had to watch the pups, so it was reasonable. He went in the opposite direction of his alpha and began his search.

He spotted movement, and felt another burst of excitement...which soon disappeared as he realized it was a fluffy bunny. There was no possible way such a small creature would feed so many mouths. One, perhaps. Or maybe both of the pups. So he instead went on, his nose to the ground.

Next round starts Friday 14th

It was FitzDutiful that found the lead, with Zhavvi close to his side. "Look" he said to her. "Tracks!" With that, he called Chaska over and began to follow the tracks. It was a long and winding route, taking the trio out of the pack lands and into Neverwinter Forest. Eventually the sounds of a herd began to come to them and the trail split in two. One set of tracks head straight on whereas another track of broken leaves suggested something had headed off to the left.

"Chaska, scout ahead and see what state they're in." he told his Epsilon, "I'll take Zhavvi and we'll check this direction. Meet back here." With that he set off into the undergrowth, with a short yip to Zhavvi, hoping she'd understand to follow him.

He made his way slowly, investigating the scents. He presumed that the main force of the herd had gone in way Chaska was heading and there may be some weak options there, but there was a chance that an injured creature had headed off this way. He couldn't find the tracks to it, but maybe Zhavvi was having more luck?

Zhavvi followed her leader even if he hadn't communicated that with her she would probably have followed him. The girl kept her nose close to the ground and her tail wagging behind her. These solve didn't even know where their prey was, they had to search for it. In her previous Khalas they would always know where the bison was. They would protect the bison, always. There would always be a group of wolves protecting them.

Zhavvi relied more on scent than on tracks, she wasn't too focus on her eyesight. So when Alpha Fitz couldn't find the tracks Zhavvi kept on trotted further through the foliage. Her tail going up once she found a scent and trailed after it. Her light footing making no noise as she walked. Not soon after a clearing opened up where there was a mother with a newborn calf. It couldn't be more than a few days old. Zhavvi instantly hunched down, disappearing in the undergrowth. She studied the mother deer. Mother deers were though. So they would probably have to take both down.

Chaska heard the calling, and trailed back to find Zhavvi and Fitzdutiful. The orders given were simple: to follow the tracks. So he did as instructed, and shot away. After only a few seconds, he slowed himself down to be he did not lose himself or stray from the tracks. He was sure he was on the right trail when he heard the loud stamping not too far. The grey wolf stopped himself at the edge of a clearing to find a small herd of deer. There were a few young, and maybe a couple of old. But to take them on now would be near suicide. He would have to alert the others of the herd and bring them back.

"Lucky me" he said to himself. There were a few young, and maybe a couple of old. But to take them on now would be near suicide. He would have to alert the others of the herd and bring them back. But instead of calling for the others, he went back, thinking the howl would alert the deer to his presence. He made his way along the other trail, and hopefully to find the other two.

Small pp, lemme know if you want me to change! Next round starts Monday 17th

Zhavvi seemed to have picked up on something he missed, and he followed her taking care to tread as lightly as she did. His eyes widened at seeing the mother and calf, it would make for a good catch. Still, he wanted to know his options and motioned for Zhavvi to stay and wait while he crept back. He met Chaska on his return.

Chaska informed him of the situation there and FitzDutiful made a judgement call, keeping his voice low. "There's a mother and calf this way. I think our chances are best away from the herd." he lead the way back to Zhavvi, checking on the situation with her.

"Zhavvi mother, Chaska take the calf down, I'll help Zhavvi with the mother. Once you've got the calf down, come and help us." It was important this was done quickly, the longer it took them to get the mother down, the more chance the rest of the herd would come. They needed the stench of death to keep the herd away.

He waited for his team to be ready and then lead the charge, snapping at the mother's heels, trying to turn her away from the calf so Chaska had an easier time of getting his kill. It was a situation fraught with tension but the hunt enthused him with energy and he gave himself to the blood-lust.

Zhavvi kept her eyes on the mother and calf. She was in the hunting zone and wasn't going to leave her prey like that. She had her eyes on the big one because she was hungry. She followed alpha Fitz in the attack. Zhavvi was slender and quick, very quick. She sped from under the bushes like an arrow from a drawn bow. While the alpha went for the legs Zhavvi made sure the mother wouldn't run and blocked her path. She jumped up to the throat of the animal. Her jaws locking around the neck, but she was too light weighted to break the neck at once. She was thrown off by the mother. She made a huge wound on her neck though. Zhavvi jumped up again and tried to clamp her jaws back around the female's neck.

The blood loss made the mother tumble and Zhavvi had to let go again if she didn't want to be crushed under the deer's body. She was panting heavily but at least she tired the deer enough that Alphas Fitz could kill the mother. Zhavvi just hadn't enough strength to finish the job.

Chaska shot forward, his eyes on his target. The calf. The female wolf went for the mother, and out of fear, the calf leaped up from the safety of it's mother. This was his chance. He wanted to make it quick, and went straight for the neck, but for a calf it was quite strong. The first attempt failed as he fell off, but it too fell over on it's side. Before it had a chance to get up, the grey wolf recovered and darted forward, teeth bared. In a few seconds, it was over as it stopped kicking. He removed his jaw from the neck, looking at his kill. Then, he looked to the other's, licking his lips as he did.

"It's done." With that, he began to drag the deer by one of it's rear legs.

Whoop! Last round, I'll archive it on Friday 21 (or sooner if everyone replies by then)

Things went well, too well. The Mountaineer's might be suffering on numbers but they were doing well on food. Small but stable, that was their current state and he was proud to have loyal members. Chaska and Ryuu were ever loyal, Zhavvi seemed to be loyal to them too and that made him smile when he thought on it, but right now he had a job to do.

Zhavvi had done well, tiring out the mother, and FitzDutiful could hear the sounds of the calf being taken down and death started to flit around them scaring the mother. Now the last kill. He waited for the opening that Zhavvi presented and went for the jugular, ensuring that the life seeped slowing. He made a few more shakes to ensure it departed quickly.

He didn't say any words, just panted, letting the blood-rage dissipate. And then feasted. They would eat now, regaining their energy before taking the beasts back to the pack. His pups would feast well and the gamekeepers in training would portion the rest for cache's.

Ah yes, a good day indeed.

Zhavvi made way for the alpha to make the kill it was the same in her pack. It was expected to have the alpha do the kill, at least in Dorthan customs. The female was hungry but didn't feel like eating much of the deer. She let the alpha eat first, normally she would eat with her father but this pale ghost wasn't her father. She was probably not allowed to eat with him. Zhavvi laid down, having the wound on her neck and not have her father controlling her she felt... much better. She joined this pack to survive and learn the common tongue. It got her brain so busy there was no room for bad thoughts. Maybe she had been spoiled after all, maybe she had been a brat. Oh well. She was glad to be away from them.

The girl laid down, crossing her front paws and placing her head on it as she waited for her signal to eat. Slowly her body got back to a normal temperature. When she was allowed to eat she walked up to it, almost being suspicious about it for a moment, though the alpha ate from it so she started to nibble on the fresh meat. She wasn't wolfing it down like her growling stomach indicated her hunger. She took a few chunks before trotted to Alphas Fitz and offered to lick the red blood from the places he couldn't reach.

Chaska waited for the other two to finish eating before taking some meat for himself. He wasn't very hungry, so didn't take too much of the deer, taking only a bit from the deer's rump. But it was enough to keep his energy up for the journey back, with the carcasses with them. He relished every bit of it, his tongue picking up all the tastes. Soon, his hunger was satisfied and he withdrew from the corpse, showing he was done with it.

In his head, he thought about how well he did, or at least how well he believed he did. He felt the urge to ask Fitz, but he decided to save it for another time. For now, they would bring back their catches and the pack would have a feast. He was glad to have made a contribution to the hunt. His first hunt.