Broken Boulder and all that doin' takes energy

backdated to 4/26 (yesterday) bc I'm bad
PACK HUNT THO
rounds will last 4 days, one post per round, no posting order will be enforced
@Lily @Korei Julia @Horosk @Semira @Arrluk @Ioa @Xahi @Lanawyn

Alarian dragged himself tiredly from his den at the buttcrack of dawn, disheveled and slightly puffy-eyed. Sleep didn't like him so much lately, and it showed. The boy made his way slowly to the creek, coming to the edge and staring over it for just a moment before lurching into it. Even he couldn't tell if it had been on purpose, but the cold water roused him enough to feel alive, so he didn't regret it.
The young Governor sighed, letting himself soak for a few beats before he pulled himself back out. A few shakes of his fur saw him upgraded from sodden to very damp— he'd take it. Another beat passed as he gathered himself. Ali lifted his head, then, and howled for his packmates; he made his message clear. Time for a hunt.
With that, he started to move towards the edges of the territory, seeking a trail; the herds that passed through the valley nearby sometimes left stragglers. Just the night before he had heard the call of a deer, and perhaps it was only wishful thinking, but he thought it sounded hurt. It would be an easy kill, if they could find it now.

Lily enjoyed the simple things in life, like snoozing away the mornings. She was very much displeased, then, to be roused when the sun was barely over the horizon, the faint light of dawn touching her den. With a gaping yawn, she slipped from the rocks and began to pad toward from where Ali had called, her charcoal fur disheveled and sticking straight up, in some places.

She'd had a fitful sleep, as well. Her dreams had been horrifyingly vivid, scenes of chaos and blood. She'd seen her family members die in front of her, and was powerless to do anything. But then the visions had turned positive. . .watching stars with Korei, laughing with Lana--

Then she'd heard Ali's howl, and had been ripped from the world of dreams until the next night's arrival.

Blinking sleepily, she came across Alarian, who looked as if he were deep in concentration. "Hey," Lily yawned, giving him a faint smile. "Hunt?" She wasn't good for more than monosyllables, so soon after being woken up, but she thought she'd caught the message in the call. Trepidation gave her a little more energy. This would be her first pack hunt--the first test of her skills.

Korei listened and heard. A hunt was to begin, and this got much excitement out of her. She had been laying sprawled about in the open, in a field of flowers. She left a trail of fallen flowers in her wake as she zoomed off in excitement. On the way she spotted Xahi as well.

Once arrived, Korei smiled at both Lily and Alarian. The former looking rather tired. She gave one look of worry before going back to her smiling self. "What we huntin'?!"

As dawn meandered its way through the undaunted darkness of night, Semira slept soundly in her den. Her breath came in lengthly drawls, her torso rising and falling with ease. It was perhaps one of her deepest slumbers since she arrived in the pack, after finally growing comfortable around the wolves. 

In the quiet of the rising sun, with not even the sweet song of the birds to slowly wake her, a call filtered through the air.

The fae's amber optics slammed open, glittering with excitement as the drowsiness cleared. In a few bounds, she was on her way. Adrenaline laced her veins, powering her forwards until she reached the murmering waters of the creek. There stood three wolves, two of which she knew. "Good morning!" Semira called out brightly, an early-riser as it was. "What's on the menu?" She drawled out with a curve of her maw.

lanawyn often rose with the sunrise.  there was something about the early morning air that was crisp and refreshing and, well, the view wasn't half bad either.  the sunrises and sunsets in the sanctuary were something artistic; had she believed in god, she would've said they were painted by the heavenly father himself.  but she didn't.  so they were just.. pretty.

her brother's call rang out and she took the time to stretch her legs.  it didn't sound urgent but it did sound excited, so she arrived late and kept to the back while everyone clambered over what was going on.

Have a shit post

Ioa was very nervous and felt horrible for showing up so late after being called by her new Alpha. And she hated that there were so many other wolves around. Her natal pack had not been this large, and she didn’t really know anyone yet. She picked her way forward with her tail tucked between her legs, dipping her head at anyone she passed and avoiding eye contact at all costs. Then she waited without speaking, like a good subordinate. She was no good at hunting and she knew that, but she was so nervous that she couldn’t seem to open her mouth to tell Alarian this. Instead she just kept quiet and prayed to every God she knew that she wouldn’t mess this up…

Lily was the first to arrive, and Ali greeted her with a smile, nodding to her question. When Korei arrived, he paused— it was only for a moment, though. Then he wagged his tail and started to answer— but was promptly interrupted by Semira's arrival. It was welcome, though, and he tried to disguise his relief as excitement to meet his packmate. He had heard of her, of course, from Lanawyn; with everything going on (in his own head, anyway, oops), he hadn't found time for a proper introduction.
Deer, I hope! He answered lightly, gaze flitting from Korei to Semira. I'm Alarian— you must be Semira. Nice to meet you.
As he spoke, three more of his packmates slipped in quietly— Xahi, Lanawyn, and Ioa. The Governor was pleased to see they had arrived, though he worried at their distance. He noted the absence of Arrluk and Horosk— perhaps they were busy. It didn't worry him, anyway; enough of the pack had arrived for a successful hunt. The boy gestured for his packmates to follow him, and turned with his nose to the ground. The deer's trail was near, and at least an hour old— but blood dotted the ground, and he was hopeful that it was still near.
Once he was sure of where he was going, Alarian took up a faster pace. The trail became more fresh, leading into the field just outside their territory. There— the source of the calls he had heard in the hours before dawn. Some other predator had tried and failed here already; he could tell the bulky male had been proud, once. Now it ran clumsily on a severely wounded back leg after several beats of terrified pause— the boy knew this would be over soon. He picked up in speed, bolting in an arc around the deer to cut off its attempted escape. Of course, it was much larger than he was— when he inevitably slammed himself into its chest, the effect was mostly stunning and slowing the hurt creature.
Alarian was only dazed for a moment before he darted away to avoid backlash, moving to bite at the uninjured hind leg.

Deer. Goodness. She didn't really know how to hunt deer! But, as she'd learned in family hunts in the past. . .it was easy to blend in, hang near the back. Chase the deer, instead of trying to take it down. She just hoped she wouldn't come off too cowardly or inept in the process.

Lily gave everyone who arrived after her a beaming smile, raising an eyebrow at Korei's worried look but saying nothing. Then they were off, and Lily kept toward the back, a dark shadow in the line of wolves. They followed the blood, picking up the pace as they drew nearer--and suddenly, their quarry was in sight, and Alarian had taken off.

With a muted growl in her throat, the girl surged forward, lunging at the deer but keeping away from its powerful hind legs. Once, on a hunt, Daddy had gotten clipped by one of those hooves, and the wound had taken ages to heal--there had been so much blood! It wouldn't do to be so injured, and so Lily galloped, barking like mad, hoping to run the wounded creature into the ground.

Korei wagged her tail happily. They were going for a deer now? That got her rather excited knowing that they would be going for such a thing, that she would be able to show her hunting skills to the fullest. The skills taught by Wraen and Alarian. "Oooh, a deer! This is going to be so much fun!" she said aloud, full of excitement.

They started off and she began to follow. Then they were off. She surged forward, full of excitement as she began to give chase, barking at the deer they all chased.

The fae was filled with hapiness, excited at the proposition of a hunt. Her joy was topped off by the friendly greeting from their leader. She had imagined meeting him more formally, but perhaps this would be an indication of how familiar these wolves would become to her. She could only hope. 

He seemed friendly enough, smiling as he spoke. Her own maw cracked a grin, "You too." She managed not to bounce on her paws at the lightheartedness of her packmates - whom were starting to gather around them. 

Then it was down to business, Alarian leading the way. Semira needn't bother with tracking, the stains in the worn ground were as bright as a blue jay's feathers. Mira's pace mirrored his, staying a wolfs length behind him as they went. As if from the wind itself, the creature they sought appeared, gangly and mishappen as it was. Easy prey. 

The fae paused breifly, watching Alarian dart to confront the buck and the others to its sides. Her job was naturally to take the brunt of the force in hunts, due to her large size. She nearly nodded to herself, looking to their slender-formed leader and bolting to his side.  He was nearly a boy, which showed as he slammed into the beast. She reached them as Alarian backed away in a rush - her massive jaws opened in to a snarl. It was enough to force the scared creature to a stop - its hooves skidding in the dirt. She lunged and snapped at the creature, never getting into the range of his outstretched hooves. She was constantly looking for any opening to his trachea, but one kick could knock her out.

Lanawyn was kind of a shit hunter.

But when everyone darted in and started barking at the damn deer, she knew she would have to step in and bite, despite her diminutive stature.  She moved in from behind, lunging at the rear haunch of the leg that was injured while the deer was halted.  Even though she wouldn't do much, it was better than nothing, and the distraction side was covered.

have this second shit post sorry I didn't know what to write cos Ioa doesn't... really know how to hunt lmao

Ioa had no idea what was happening so she just tried to keep pace with her new packmates. But her strength still wasn’t great, so she kind of lagged behind and generally sucked, and loud barking wasn’t really her forte either. So yeah. Good job, Ioa. You’re not really accomplishing anything here but oh well. She wondered then if Alarian would notice later and kick her out of the pack for not helping. She frowned then but didn’t really have time to tuck her tail between her legs because she was too busy trying not trip as she ran after the deer.

so sorry for the wait on this, these last couple weeks of school have been murdering me
pping lana a bit with permission; this is the last round! I'll wrap this up with another post in about a week <3

His attention was torn between keeping track of the others— he'd feel terrible if any of them were hurt— and attempting to... lead the hunt, however that works. That was his job, anyway, he thought; it occurred to him then that perhaps he should visit Morningside and subtly inquire about how real packs work. Alarian had never actually been in one until this group. He wondered sometimes if it worked like a pack should.
But now was not the place or the time for such thoughts. The Governor's teeth connected with flesh; moments later, he noticed Lanawyn's lunge towards the deer's wounded side. He clamped down hard on the fleshy back leg he held, and pulled, hoping she would do the same. The deer cried out, twisting and struggling as the siblings forced its back end down and tore at both legs. Ali didn't release his grip until the exhausted creature's struggling started to slow, giving his packmates time to add to the effort.
He didn't hesitate after he let go; immediately he moved around the deer, towards the Danger Zone™. Wary of lashing front hooves, the slim boy darted at the first opening he found. Alarian hadn't actually expected to make contact as well as he did— and, oh god, he regretted it. The flesh was soft, too soft, between his teeth; his mouth flooded with warm blood, and the urge to vomit rose quickly in his throat. He bit back the urge to gag, renewing the force behind his bite and twisting the flesh even as he felt something hard connect with his flank. A flailing hoof, no doubt. The impact left him breathless, and ached fiercely, but he didn't let go until he thought he might choke on deer blood.
The Governor came away with a blood-soaked face, and more of it falling from his mouth. He turned his face from his packmates, gesturing for them to eat while he got over his disgust. It's just blood, Ali told himself half-heartedly, kind of wanting to be a diva about it anyway. It was gross.

Once the Keil siblings had taken hold of the deer's back end, Lily felt confident enough to surge forward, nipping at the creature's left flank. Small as she was, she couldn't find purchase, and bobbed up and down, desperately futile, like a child trying to swim on their own for the first time. Finally, though, she gave a mighty leap upwards and latched on, claws raking the animal's belly.

Her teeth gripped the fleshy bulge of abdomen, and gravity pulled her down, taking a chunk of deer with her. The prey bleated in pain, and blood oozed over her muzzle; she swallowed the chunk without a second thought and continued her assault, eyes squeezed shut to protect them from any fluids.

Unknown to her, Ali delivered the death blow, and the deer came crashing down, Lily skittering backward to avoid it falling on top of her. Her muzzle and ruff were matted with wet, hot blood, and she felt breathless and dazed, her body shuddering from the adrenaline still coursing through her. Her eyes flashed like fire, fur bristling.

Without a second thought, Lily dove into the carcass, picking up where she left off and taking huge gulps of meat, barely chewing. Suddenly, she was ravenous.

Korei Julia kept up the pace of knipping and barking. She was getting excitement out of this, the rush. Then, the thing came crashing down. It was down and dead, the deed was done. She glanced over at Alarian, then began to dig in at what she could, but only took a little as she didn't want ot get in anyone's bubble.

Ioa hung back after it was dead, knowing that she had not really done anything to help. She felt she did not deserve any of the meat. She sat down a ways away, not looking at the others and the fact that they were eating. She would maybe get something from one of the caches later. And maybe… maybe she would try hunting smaller game to make up for it? Fill the caches before she took something? Just so she wouldn’t feel so awful… She sighed and looked out on the horizon. This new life in this pack was not going well. She just didn’t feel like she fit in, or was helping the pack in any way. She was useless, just as she’d been useless while she watched her baby siblings die. Maybe it would be best if she just went away… stopped bothering other wolves.

archiving <3

He recovered quickly, then turned to watch his packmates for a moment; when everyone was finished, he thought, he would pull Lanawyn and Lily aside to help him pull apart and drag the remains to the caches. The Governor frowned slightly when he spotted Ioa hanging back, chuffing to her with a flick of his ears as if to ask if she was okay. Whether she joined in the meal or not, he moved to eat his own fill of the freshly-dead creature. There was something more satisfying about hunting as a group— but, with the memory of being soaked in warm blood still fresh in his mind, Alarian wasn't likely to repeat this too soon. Because, honestly, ugh.