HUNT: You literally couldn't get out of bed

This is the Ouroboros Spine pack hunt you guys wanted. :D It will be led by @Mordecai and the next round will start on July 23. It's technically optional but there will be major brownie points in rank shuffles for participating members, and you get free EXP if you participate in all rounds!

Jinx was woken at dawn by the sound of static. She had never experienced it before, yet the pale Kesuk had responded to it with an expected level of irritation and annoyance. Never did she question its source. She merely dragged herself to her feet, gnawed insistently at the balding spot on her foreleg where the bat had bitten her (the flesh seemed to quiver constantly now, and her hide in other places seemed to twitch unexpectedly at times too), and emerged from beneath the roots of a tall fir.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, watching as shadow owls danced among the tree branches. In recent days she had begun to see things that shouldn't have been there. She'd thought she'd seen a whale a day or two ago, even though the pack was nowhere near the ocean... And occasionally, the spectral wolverine she hadn't seen for months would materialize at the edge of her vision. It wore an unnatural grin.

There were times when she found herself salivating more than normal, as well. She chocked it up to stress and thirst, and never once stopped to consider other possibilities. Illness did not enter her mind, though it should have been the first thing a female mated to a healer thought. Today, thoughts of herself were far beyond her. Though the Alpha had definitely looked better and could have used more sleep, she hadn't forgotten Mordecai's desire to bring the pack together for a hunt. She threw back her head and howled haggardly, summoning the wolves of the Spine to her with a specific call for the aspiring Gamekeeper.

As she waited for them to arrive, she ducked to nibble at her foreleg some more, drooling carelessly on her paw in the process.

*PUTS OUT DEM EXP COOKIES*

There had been something unnerving in the air the last few days, and Mordecai had yet to dissect the reasons as to why. He had hardly had the time to do so either, between nesting of sorts in their new digs to venturing out to scope the lands around them, he had kept himself busy. Tracking the herd of elk that had been coming nearer to their broad-reaching borders had consumed much of that time as well. So when the haggard call of their esteemed leader broke the tension he had been feeling, he had passed off his unnerving feelings for the anticipation. He recognized the summon she gave and had waited for the day that she deemed it time for the hunt.

It seemed like such a perfect way to start off their lives in the Spine, though they had been settled there for a stretch already. Time escaped him, just as it did his father, and perhaps his father before him. It hadn't seemed that long, but already there was much committed to his memory that made it seem more than just an insignificant amount of time. The same went for the trek that he made, this time without caution, towards the source of the summon. A proverbial meeting ground he would hope, for the days to come when they would rally again and again.

He spied Jinx through the crisp foliage, picking once again at the balding, seemingly festering wound at her leg. It concerned him, but he thought little of it; Lecter was probably seeing after it. He gave her a gentle woof, his tail swinging in broad and steady strokes behind him as he closed in some of that distance. But his attention was divvied as well, as Mordecai thought for certain he heard the approach of others through the dense undergrowth.

Tyrande was... uncertain. Upon coming back into the pack, she hadn't struck many points with Jinx. She wondered if she should show her face to the alpha at all. But she knew better. If she wanted to at least try to get on the alpha's good side, it'd be better to go to pack meetings and hunts to show her loyalty to the pack.

Upon arrival, the Nightshade promptly bowed her head and half woofed half whined in hello. She looked at Jinx for the first time since her reunion with the pack, and warily curled her tail underneath her and lay her ears flat. She blinked as she realized the alpha was... drooling. And not just your average amount either.

The toxicologist's face gave a flash of concern. It's probably nothing... If anything, just a normal illness that'll go away in a few days' time. She hasn't told anyone anything, I don't think, so maybe it isn't all bad. Then again, Jinx isn't one to speak her wounds loudly...

Tyrande wasn't one who hasn't seen illnesses. She's been around all sorts. Her brother dying from the illness where his skin practically burned from the inner heat, wolves going insane from her concoctions alone... There was one in particular that Jinx was showing a major sign of, and that thought made the Iota's blood run cold.

No... No, it can't be that. It COULDN'T be that. If that disease spreads, it could be disastrous! No, Jinx is probably just a little sick...

Tyrande didn't know the name of the foaming-mouth disease, but she had heard stories of it. Several, in fact. She had yet to see it happen in front of her eyes. And wouldn't Lecter notice, too?... Maybe I should pay him a visit about it. It's probably nothing...

The thought of seeing the shaman made her stomach turn. On second thought, Jinx should be fine... right?

Sitri heard the howl and he strode towards it with large strides. His brown fur becoming different hues as he walked through the sun and shadows to get to the pack gathering. He gave a gentle woof of hello to the Queen and Mordecai and then he went to stand beside Tyrande, he considered her his friend, and hoped she wouldn't mind him taking a spot next to her. He was anxious to get started, it had been so long since he had been in a pack hunt, he was a little rusty.

He surveyed the queen with trepidation, he was wary around her since she had gone after him, mistaking him for Majesty, but he was okay with it, just wary. She looked ill he wondered at it, but kept the thought to himself, it was surely nothing she was a queen and her mate a healer she would be fine.

Drip,drip drip
Water trickled from her the yearling's snout, creating fine lines of silver that connected the tip of her nose to the ground. Slowly she shook her head,which sent little projectiles flying all around her, then lashing her pink tongue over her nose she enjoyed the mildly refreshing sensation the water left in her mouth. A brief water break before heading to meet her queen's call.

The first days after moving to the Ouroboros, Cara began to realize how much more she liked her life here;the mountains had created a sense of security for the young girl, it was highly unlikely any enemies would take the trouble to invade the rocky passageways of the Ghostrock Network. The treacherous paths could betray even the most experienced hikers and end their lives in a second.

But the Ouroboros was not only breathtaking, but it was also perfectly located. Without pesky neighbors to stir trouble around them --Isle and Plateu wolves ehem--it was heaven. And it was all thanks to Jinx, who had brought them to this wonderful place.

And speaking of Jinx..Cara had began to notice she was a slightly different person since the move. There was something different, something the yearling could not name but still knew it was there.

The pale Epsilon ariived after Tyrande, holding the same worried glint in her eyes she approached Jinx with caution. After giving her leader a soft bark in greeting she stepped back waiting for the rest to appear.

Kaname was annoyed that it was Mordecai leading the hunt, not him. Even more so, he was pissed that Sitri claimed his long held position of Gamma. When he arrived to the pack hunt, that is what first consumed him. Annoyance, anger.... Then he saw his alpha.

He hadn't seen much of her ever since they claimed Ourboros, but now he had the distinct urge to stay far, far away from her. She was eyeing random spots suspiciously and salivating copiously. Even her howl was haggard, not the pure tone he was accustomed to. But he simply stayed away, siding up by Cara, one of his only "friends". If Jinx was suffering what he thought she was, then he would protect the little yearling, as well as the rest of his pack.

This was her first pack hunt in eons. The other packs she situated herself in made her stay in the pack camp, tending to the needs of the sick, collecting herbs, but rarely hunting. She was not the hunting type of wolf. But, she responded to her alpha's unusually ragged call nonetheless, and she would help in anyway she could.

She trotted up to her packmates, eyes sweeping over them all, only knowing a few of them. But then...she saw Jinx. Her hackles went up immediately. She knew that disease. It was the one thing she feared besides her goddess' wrath. The priestess wanted to abdicate immediately, but she stayed, only to warn the others.

Snowstorm was uncertain if she could join her pack after Jinx's unnatural call. She trekked to the source, none the less. Seeing unfamiliar pack mates around made her uncomfortable, until she saw Tyra. Walking up to her, she motioned 'am I old enough to join?'

Snowstorm had recently lost her voice after a rock fell on an important nerve in her tail. She was still a juvenile, but almost old enough to join the ranks. She wanted to prove herself worthy.

Following a terse induction into Ouroboros Spine, Creidne had passed the remainder of her evening charting its borders. Hers was a course that traced close to the perimeter, but not quite on the line -which allowed her to see the most with the least disbursement of effort.

Along the way, she ceremoniously relieved herself where others had -prudent in her aim over any perceived weaknesses. Obscured by the shadows of eventide, she even went so far as to forgo squatting when she felt most certain of her solitude. Procrastinating in these places, she would leave her linear trail in search of a temporary den. Nothing fancy, but at least the two star equivalent of a resting place. Yet none were ever found both uninhabited and move in ready, so she just continued on well into the following morning.

When she finally did rest, it was somewhat involuntary seeing as how she had actually only paused to nibble a troublesome burr from her flank. However once Creidne lost her balance, she just never got around getting up, and fell asleep between the roots of a tree with her teeth still buried in her fur. Needless to say Jinx's trembling call was met first with disoriented acknowledgement, and then graceless adherence. After all, she couldn't skip class on her very first day.

Arriving on the scene in what she assumed was last place, Creidne mustered a somewhat decorous look as she filled in a space closest to -Jinx. Murmuring a blurred hello to the other female, she took her seat thereafter. For a second she could have sworn that the others were watching her somewhat suspiciously, but any concern was resolved with a pissy, let them stare brand attitude. Slanting her muzzle to release a yawn as respectfully as was possible Creidne exhaled what might as well have been a great big -derp.

Vectra came quickly to the call, she was eager to join the hunt. As she wanted to become a gamekeeper among other things. Running quickly but silently she catched up with the pack tail wagging excitedly. Though she was a bit late as she was a small distance away she was just in time before the hunt would begin, it seemed. Hopefully she didn't miss anything important. She slowed down as the pack came into sight, moving closer to them and asking "did I miss anything?" she sure hoped not.




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Next round to end July 30th or so! @Mordecai Take it away! Also I'd appreciate if no one actually says the "rabies" word in this thread—at least not in earshot of Jinx. I don't want her to know what's wrong with her!

The pack came, as she knew they would. They were loyal to her, a fact which made Jinx not only proud, but arrogant as well. Each new member in her ranks swelled her own ego, and while it wasn't always outwardly apparent, the Alpha occasionally paraded and showed off her rank to her comrades. Perhaps they held some loathing for it, but so far the displays had been few and far enough that they may not have noticed. She considered doing it today, but she was too distracted by the tingling in her leg and the way her mouth never seemed to evict all the saliva.

The pack gathered somewhat away from her, which irked the female. They seemed wary, and she supposed she couldn't blame them. She was drooling like an unsophisticated dog, after all. “What,” she said flatly, levelling a gaze on each of them, “never seen a spider bite before?” After all, she hadn't noticed it was a bat that bit her. She had assumed from the symptoms that it was an arachnid, and that she was merely feeling the effects of a mild poison that would in time wear off.

“We are hunting today,” she told them all, glancing sidelong at Creidne, one of the only wolves brave enough to approach her. It wasn't like she was some kind of vampire, but she forced her irritation to the back of her mind. Mordecai had come closer than some of the others as well. It seemed some wolves still knew how to treat their Alpha. “Mordecai,” she addressed him fondly, “what will we be catching?” From here, she took a step back, swallowing thickly (it wasn't enough to drop a dribble of saliva down her chin) and shaking her forelimb while he took the floor.

Sure enough, the others came out of the woods around them. He greeted them happily at first, the wave of his tail not missing a beat. But the expression had begun to wane when he saw that they were looking not so much at him, but rather to Jinx and the looks therein were a mixture of concern and fear. As they settled, much further away than he had expected, he found a note of irritation budding in the forefront of his mind. While there was the one other who had dared to come closer than he had to Jinx, his thoughts were focused on the group before him, and this time his expression had turned to concern for them. Why did they fear her so?

Granted, the chewing of her foreleg and the drooling wasn't exactly screaming I'm friendly, but she was still their leader. His attention wheeled around to Jinx then, who did not hesitate to call them out for their distance. A spider bite, see, that's all that it was. But the uneasiness was thick in the air, and Mordecai had a feeling it would not be enough to put that ease back into their meeting. Nevertheless, it progressed, and he found himself being handed the spotlight while Jinx chose to once more tend (or tear) at her wound. He offered her a smile all the same, and stepped inward to focus on the group.

“In the last few days, there have been a herd of elk lingering in the forests to our north, just beyond our borders. It appears that they're making their way towards the interior of this valley, and right into the waiting jaws of our neighbors. Since they have persisted in this direction, I say we send them with thinner ranks.” He paused briefly, making sure their attention was coming around to him. “That said, this is a perfect opportunity for us to bolster our caches. The herd is largely female, and there are a few late fawns with them as well, so there are plenty of options and opportunities.” And with any luck of those who had gathered, he hoped they would net more than just a couple bodies from the herd.

“My plan is that we split into two groups; one to ambush them and send them running, and the other to cut them off and cull what we can in their confusion. We'll need them to scatter, and to keep them scattered while we single others out.” Scanning through the group, Mordecai spotted Kaname and met his gaze. “Kaname, would you be willing to head up the group ambushing?” He felt comfortable in asking his once-superior, if only for the fact that he had hunted with him more than he had with anyone else. But he wouldn't fault him if he turned it down; Mordecai was also considering who would go with what group.

Tyrande's ears flattened before tentatively stepping closer to the alpha. She wanted to run away, but that option was out of the question. She decided to listen to what Mordecai had to say.

She inwardly groaned. She was about to volunteer for the ambush group, until Kaname came up. She decided to shut her trap and hope that she would by some miracle not be picked to run beside him.

Tyrande glanced down at Snowstorm and smiled. "If it were my, decision, Little One, I would let you come along, as a rite of passage, sort of. But for you to join the hunt is ultimately up to Jinx and Mordecai here. If you do have to stay out, I bet you can watch. I'll save a juicy part for you, 'kay?"

Vectra was happy that she was finally noticing people, especially Ty and Mordecai those two she had hunt with before. That meant they stood even better chances of catching something now. Tail wagged happily as she waited patiently for the hunt to start, she was completely fine being put into any position. As it was just more training for her in the long run.




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Sitri moved closer to Jinx and Mordecai so he could here. He dipped his muzzle to Kaname, briefly wondering which group he would be in, because surely Mordecai would be the one attacking yes? He could and would do either group they just needed to tell him and he would help to the best of his abilities.

Subdued thoughts occupied the DeForge in the time between her arrival and the official commencement of the meeting. Eventually, it began as all of the others had with the superior figure outlining what seemed to be the most clever plan of assault. For her part, Creidne did not react. She was used to acting as the obedient but otherwise nonessential audience member in these sort of things -back home it had actually been something of a preference.

Dark ears parted atop her head as names were called though and she stored them away in her memory. Soon enough she would undoubtedly make use of them in her ascent through the ranks, but for now they were just good to know. Quivering as she held back a second yawn, the lower ranked wolf summarily decided that she would prefer to be a part of the first group. At least that way she could get through the requisite amount of participation as easily as possible.

Jinx called it a spider bite, sure. Kaname suspected more, while he outwardly nodded at Jinx's confirmation. What kind of spider bite would have such effects? He knew most spiders, especially the poisonous ones. To his memory, they did not have such an effect on a wolf, in any dosage. What was really going on with her?

He looked up at his now superior Mordecai at the sound of his name. His gaze was trailing from wolf to wolf, lingering on some and missing others. He raised a hypothetical eyebrow at Mordecai for a moment before nodding his consent. "Certainly." It was an honor to lead a hunt, even if he was demoted for the moment.

Another hunt. Meldresi was slowly becoming accustomed to the art of hunting large creatures. She was used to hunting other wolves, not the fleet-footed unglates most other wolves hunted. But, she would learn, wouldn't she? She had to, if she is to be alpha of a new pack.

One of the wolves, Kaname, was asked to be leader of the ambush group. The dark priestess wondered if she would be placed alongside this one.

i was skipped :p

Members of the pack, new and old gathered around the appointed leader of the hunt. Cara's eyes burned as they pierced Mordecai's face, she was mad it was not her up there --even if such thought was too ambicious. Once Kaname's name was called however the yearling felt herself relax, Kaname was a friend and he deserved recognition. Now her brow raised whilst she looked at Mordecai again. She had gone hunting with him, and it had been a sucessful hunt surely he's have to give her credits for that..

On other thoughts, Jinx's excuse was satisfying for the yearling, she didn't know what rabies was so a spider bite was the most logical explanation for her queen's strange symptoms.

Vectra was quite eager to hunt again. After all she had quite a bit of fun on the last one. Looking to Meldresi and Mordecai she smiled quietly, remembering their hunt of the small herd of deer. It was quite a thrill. Vectra couldn't keep her tail from wagging low behind her back like some yearling, she quickly stopped herself though. She was trying to appear as serious as possible.

Ears were perked as she listened to the conversation, Mordecai was deciding who would lead the hunt. Everyone was agreeing, but what did jinx have to say... she has been acting, a bit strange recently. Though at the current moment in time, Vectra couldn't tell it was rabies, as it was to early on in the process.




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There's no post order. :P Next round will end ~August 5 just to get this moving a bit quicker.

Mordecai laid out his plans for the hunt, and Jinx's eyes remained fixated on him. They flicked briefly to Kaname to gauge his reaction to being chosen as a secondary leader, and she was satisfied that he took the position. Those in her upper echelon were competitive with one another, the queen was well aware of this, but she left them to their devices in that regard. They would have to curry favour with one another to determine where they stood. That was on them, and she was pleased to see Mordecai and Kaname testing one another.

She didn't miss Cara's hard expression, but the Alpha only smiled mysteriously at that. The yearling had ambitions well beyond her years, reminding Jinx of herself in more ways than one. She was distracted from watching the remainder of the pack by the itch in her leg, which she tended to with gnawing once more. Mordecai soon would split the groups. Ordinarily, she would demand a spot in the ambushing team, that she could exercise her right to eat first more readily... But with her leg mangled by her own teeth, it likely would have made more sense for her to chase.

Also short, for the sake of moving this along... and the fact that I'm supposed to be getting ready for work... >___>

He was aware of their expressions, but withheld the urge to dwell on them. Instead he offered Kaname a genuine smile, as he was happy that he had accepted the task. The fruits of their last hunt together had not gone forgotten, and he hoped for a repeat performance. His eyes turned back across the group then, this time finding Sitri and hoping that he would be joined by him soon. His offer of aid with the hunt had also not gone forgotten, nor the efforts of Vectra and Meldresi.

“Now that we have that settled, I'll make this easy for the rest of you. If you're better at ambushing large game, I'd recommend that you go with Kaname. If not, then come with me.” Mordecai didn't know all of them well enough to make the call of who went where, though he would definitely try to figure that out quickly. He knew that the success of this hunt would be up to all of them, and no doubt that they would all be watching each other to make the same decisions.

Once they had divided into appropriate groups, they could go to seek the herd.

Tyrande inwardly groaned again, but repeated the thought in her head: For the sake of the pack, for the sake of the hunt...
She stepped in closer to Kaname's group, and her stomach turned. She did not like what was going on, but ambushing was more her thing...

She said nothing as the groups gathered, waiting for the hunt.

The male nodded, stepping back a bit to allow those who wished to join his ambush party to converge around him. His icy gaze flickered around, wondered who would come close. Those cold eyes narrowed slightly as Tyrande approached. He didn't like her and vice versa. But, he had to put those differences aside for now. They needed to focus on helping the pack, not squabbling pettily.

He only dipped his head slightly towards her. It showed that he acknowledged her presence, but his eyes said that he didn't like it. The assassin hoped she would keep away from him as they ambushed the prey. He didn't need her distracting him.

sitri could do both ambushing and death so he decided with the latter letting the smaller wolves ambush. He did give Tyrande a small nudge to let her know all would be ok before he continued on towards Mordecai. He knew that Kaname and Tyrande didn't like each other but now his paws were tied and he could do nothing if Kaname hurt her because now the assassin was in power.

he dipped muzzle to mordecai I'll go with you Mordecai he then stood waiting for instructions or the rest who would join.