Redtail Rise Þief

pack hunt - this is mandatory.* get at least one post in; once everyone tagged has posted, posting will commence with no order and new rounds beginning every 48 hours. 

* for everyone except a pregnant @Sunday Morning. @Atreus & @Ancelin not expected to hunt but to watch and learn.

the dog star is high in the sky at night, the days still long and hot. Tulimaq has some time, still, to fulfill her orders—but that window is closing. 

soon, the leaves will fall, winter's chill at their doorstep, and they will need a new Ulfhedinn.

for now, Avicus serves in that role, as well as Wealda, as well as Mother—and she wears all three crowns proudly, standing atop a rocky outcrop on the Rise's flatlands. she is not much past two years, but for all her scars and the look of eagles, she looks and feels much older.

there's a small band of elk roaming here—she sees them below, unaware of her presence here. the game is slowly, slowly returning to the northlands. she tips her nose back and howls, urgency in her call, for her hunters—@Prophet, @Augur, @Aventus, @Ashlar—yes, even him, with all his dithering—as well as for her young.

@Masquerade, @Relic and @Redd have grown strong and steady, nearly three moons; it's time for them to join the hunt.

she awaits their arrival, and it best be in haste.

from the corner of her eye, the elk stir, and stiffen, but do not move much beyond their grazing spot.

He stirred.

Something unsettled in his gut, his heart, his soul. He spoke nothing of it. It did not impair his ability as Berserkr. If anything, it seemed to amplify it.

So when Wealda called, he answered swiftly. His eyes already fixed upon the elk. Only briefly did he let them travel to look towards Avicus. Something warm and longing in his gaze, quickly squashed in favor of being the strong figure he had been crowned as.

Ashlar was not a titled hunter but that had no bearing on his willingness to participate. He was never the one to lead the effort, but he was as always an eager harrier when it came to bringing the prey in line. Smaller game was the only thing he ever took the initiative of bringing down on his own.

When she called Ashlar came, but instead of drawing near, he lingered behind the three pups. It would be their first hunt. He didn't know if such a thing would make them nervous, but Ashlar imagined his own and gave them an encouraging smile. He had been terrified to the point of stomachache the first time he'd participated in this kind of event. But he was sure they'd do even better than he had.

Redd is ready.

She ignores the soft one's smile and has eyes only for the herd.  She imagines what it will be like to chase and to taste them.  There is danger there, she knows, but she is excited in spite of it.  Today she will spill blood.

They all will.  She does not need to be first, or even to claim the kill.  She only knows that, during the hunt, she will have some portion of the violence.

Masquerade obediently heeded the summons, trailing quietly after her sister. When they arrived, Masque paused to ascertain the gathering, wondering what they were meant to do. Her inquisitive gaze shifted from Avicus to Prophet to Ashlar, then back to the Wealda. She padded to join her mother, the picture of subservience.

When she came to stand at her dam’s flank, she spotted the elk grazing below. Masque stared at them, fascinated, for a long moment. Then she peered at her pack mates again, before her eyes returned to Avicus. Her body tensed as she realized her mother had gathered the pack to hunt.

Unlike her sister, she did not feel remotely ready to hunt large game with the pack. She hadn’t so much as killed a mouse on her own yet. She gulped, torn between her swiftly mounting apprehension and her unwillingness to disobey Avicus’s will.

Aventus, too, thought it was too early for Avicus' pups to join the hunt.

Yet he held his tongue as he arrived with @Atreus and @Ancelin in tow and spotted two of his nieces milling with the crowd. It was not his decision to make. At least if Masquerade and Redd were with the adults, there would be no opportunity for Atreus to attack either of them.

He brought his gaze down to his sons with a mixture of apprehension and discontent in his gut. He was worried about the possibility of them being harmed, even just observing, and he was equally worried that they would misbehave and bring the pack's wrath upon their family. He saw more and more of his father in them each passing day, and little of his mother, whose violence was at least always sensible, and little of himself as well. Perhaps that was why he felt he had no handle on them.

It disgusted him.

Stay. Watch only, he commanded with a clipped growl to punctuate his point. If either one of them stepped out of line and disobeyed him in front of their pack, there would be hell to pay for it.

Atreus paid little heed to the urgent howl, at least until Aventus urged Ancelin and himself to follow. He briefly considered refusing to obey, simply because he wasn’t currently interested in going anywhere. But he exchanged a look with Ancelin and quietly relented, padding alongside his litter mate in their father’s wake.

When they arrived at their destination, Atreus immediately saw Masquerade and halted in his tracks, glaring at her. The other one, Redd, was here too. The smaller Bearn grumbled under his breath, though it cut off into silence when Aventus distracted him with a sharp command to, “Stay. Watch only.”

Atreus’s ear twitched but he did not look at his father, still boring holes in his attacker with his eyes. He didn’t even know what any of them were doing here. He wanted nothing to do with his aunt and cousins, nor did he have much interest in the others.

He huffed out a breath and eventually turned to try catching the eye of the only wolf he genuinely liked: Ancelin.

today was a moment to bid for tall man's former place.

red woman had her brother here now. the clawan's eyes lingered on shadow man as he brought his sons to watch.

he shook his ruff and turned toward the horizon. blood eyes was given a low rumble of respect, and he sought red woman's chin with a lick. 

blacktail was given an affectionate look. he glanced at the pups: snowcap (relic), warbler (masquerade), and now the last (redd). his child, though this was unknown to any of them. 

like her mother she was crimson. and her eyes were sharp as those of the eagle soul which red woman carried her. blood star, he decided. 

the boys were granted a cursory look. one bore a black muzzle and a hard look for warbler. augur switched his tail. the second boy was quieter, but his look was still wild out of a mask running pale. 

dark tooth. cloud eyes. 

augur did not think new snow would come. the hunt was not for her, not now. it would be again. 

he stepped to stand below red woman's perch, waiting.

ancelin exchanged a long look with his brother.
unlike atreus, he had responded eagerly to his aunt's call, even bouncing around impatiently as aventus gathered them together.
papa's voice was more than stern. ancelin was immediately reminded of the punishment that their father had doled out to his sibling. he never wanted to be on the receiving end of that.
his small ears quivered as he took in the rest of the pack. atreus had a grudge against masquerade that ancelin did not share. he looked plainly at her and then the gigantic grey wolf by aunt avicus, followed by a look snuck in the direction of leadership as well.

there's an aging female with the group, standing near the younger members of her sex. she wonders if it's the bull's mother, too old now for children. he may or may not be protective of her; more likely, he'd be keen on fending off challenges from other males should they lurk nearby.

her indigo gaze sweeps across her pack, then she turns and nods toward the decrepit cow. weak, she notes, swiping a tongue along her jowls.

Avicus looks to the swiftness of her brother and Ashlar, singling them both out. herdh her away, she commands them. she then addresses her children—just two present. perhaps @Relic is only late to her summons, not absent entirely. he'd better be. we will follow. don' geh' far from me. keep away from 'hheir hoovehh'.

Redd is eager; Masquerade a little scared. she hasn't been the same since the incident with Aventus's pups, little devils be damned. perhaps the hunt will bring savagery out of her once more.

you waihh' here, she tells Prophet and Augur. we bring her over.

finally, in clipped tones, to the young boys: keep back. only wahh'ch.

the plan thus settled, she gives a low bark in command to Aventus and Ashlar, and when they move forward, she will too, a flick of her tail signaling for her daughters to follow.

next round begins around noon ET on Friday. I forgot to tag @Arielle - feel free to jump in if you see this tag & want to be reactivated/added

Masquerade looked around rather desperately as her mother began issuing instructions. Her eyes lingered on Ashlar’s face, silently begging for help. Even if she used her voice, Masque knew she could never actually raise it against Avicus. The Wealda’s word was law.

What choice did she have but to slink along after the woman? It was more of a creep than anything, Masque unable to hide her stark terror as her overly long tail tucked between her legs. It brushed against her belly as she followed Avicus in nervous fits and starts, heart pounding in her chest.

Ashlar was given a job and would complete it! The better they split the target from the herd, the easier it would be for the pups to participate without surrounding danger or fear of unexpected interference. One elk was easier to avoid than a herd.

He caught Masquerade's look and saw her fear. He felt for her, but he tried to look as encouraging as he could in response. The pack would not allow anything to happen, he was sure, and Avicus wanted them to learn. He would do his best to ensure they learned safely. Even if it meant, when the time came, putting himself between the hooves and a child.

Ashlar looked to Aventus then, ensuring they had a cooperation between them before he went. They would each take a side and, in tandem, drive her from her herd. They could split her off and then bar her in, forcing her towards the waiting pack.

He would defer to Aventus' decisions, backing the man up and doing his own part to keep her divided and in place.

Relic was uncharacteristically late to answer the summons of Avicus. When he at last gathered himself up, the disheveled boy hurried to the congregation in earnest. There would be a hunt. A feast. The first spill of true blood. The prospect revved him up. Vivid images from past occasions of glistening fresh meat and dark red blood had his instincts pricked.

He slipped into sight, quick to brush alongside Redd, close at the heels of his mother. Though his ears were flat, the alertness in his eyes conveyed he had heard the tail end of the game plan. Save for the quick look of deference to his Wealda, he wasted no time in doing as instructed. With an encouraging bump to Redd's shoulder, he ran ahead, locked onto the target of the elderly Elk doe.

an old elk cow. she would provide a good deal of meat to the pack. but with so many mouths it would not last long.

he must devise a way to kill more.

for today his focus was the cow. he too looked toward the deadly antlers of the bull. 

augur placed himself between the watching pups and the not-so distant herd. there were many eyes on them already. he wanted only to enforce that they should stay back. 

blacktail and shadow man would run the elk closer. red woman and her daughters would strike. blood eyes and himself would move to crush. 

he waited.

despite her insistence on their joining, Avicus would not completely hang her children out to dry. she gave an aggravated chuff toward Relic at his lateness but hurried him along with the others, keeping them to her flank opposite the herd. 

and she'd keep them as far from pounding hooves and frightful antlers as she could, her own hide be damned. into the frying pan, but not necessarily the fire. not yet.

the fleet-footed adults and the trio of children lope down the hill, approaching the herd in a sharp formation to try and cut the cow from her family. Avicus knows Aventus is courageous, Ashlar less so—at least in the hunt.

but she'd seen how the healer has looked at her children.

keep 'em 'hhhafe, she tells Ashlar, pitching her voice over the wind whistling past their ears, with a jerk of her head toward the youths. 

order thus given, she'll move as one with Aventus to strike first blood.

I'll give this round until Monday evening!

Sorry for lagging behind, I don't have the time or mental energy right now to keep up with short rounds, so feel free to PP Aventus if I don't make it in on time!

He was disappointed to be paired with Ashlar, but there was no indication of it on Aventus' smooth, expressionless face. He met the healer's eyes for a moment — perhaps there was a flash of severity and disdain in his gaze, if one looked close enough — and then they were off.

The herd began to run the moment the pack pounded down the hill. Aventus let his whole body flow into a seamless gallop. It was easy to empty his mind with the wind rushing by. One elk nearly stomped on his paw in its haste to veer away, but Aventus was so focused on the target, he hardly noticed it.

He split from Ashlar's side when they drew close, seeking to cut the cow off from the left side so she could not turn with the rest of the herd. His snapping teeth made no effort to strike flesh; they were only a show of force to make the cow nervous and frighten her the other way.

When Avicus joined them, Aventus knew they had succeeded in separating her from the rest. This time, when he snapped at her, his teeth sought to puncture the cow's flank.

The adults disembarked, taking the elder pups with them. Atreus watched them go with a sour look on his face, remembering his father’s instruction to stay put and watch. His lip curled. He hadn’t wanted to come in the first place. He wanted nothing to do with these wolves.

Once the hunters were well underway, Atreus exchanged another look with Ancelin and left to go find their mother.

When Ashlar split from Aventus, his eyes immediately shifted to track where the pups trailed behind. While the others struck, he would keep them back.

He was not sure if it was what Avicus wanted, but seeing the elk as it moved and thrashed, he intercepted. One, Redd, rushed forward first to try and snap. He blocked with a firm growl and watched the others, seeing if they would understand.

Not yet. He wished to see it brought to the ground first.

Redd could hardly contain herself when the chase began. The closer the elk got, the more she anticipated drawing blood and working as part to deliver it. She was tense at her mother's side, and as they ran to begin, she lunged to take her part.

Something came between them. Redd met the soft one's gaze indignantly. He had no right to command her - he'd never done so before. She nearly began to growl but was beaten to it.

She did not want to wait. She wanted to rise to his challenge and push past, but something in the way he stood gave her pause. Fine. She would wait.

augur watched blacktail and shadow man move toward the elk.

their cutting was smooth. he tensed in interest. to his estimation the pups were not too young. but augur was not a man who had been a father before.

shadow man cut blood star back. the clawan approved of this. a child could be trampled in moments. better that they lived to learn.

when @Atreus turned and began to move away, the grey man's head lifted. he let out a long, angered growl. the pack was here. it was where the boy needed to be. 

he looked at blood eyes, wondering if he should move to bring the child back. until ordered, he would not move from his post and compromise their hunt. let new snow or the songbird woman look after him. 

it was a dazzling dance. his father was magnificent and lethal. ancelin watched, open-mouthed, as aventus ran alongside ashlar. 
he raised up on his little legs, unable to control himself. his tail waved; he almost barked but he stifled the sound. ancelin was filled with delight and looked over at atreus.
his brother's face was bitter. his eyes were hard. in defiance of their father he turned and walked off. 
ancelin stared after him. he looked back at the hunt, then at the big silver man who loudly sounded; his ears folded. the boy huddled against the ground. his focus was back on the wolves and the elk, but he felt emptier now. lonely.

if she'd known Atreus had departed the scene, she'd have throttled the little shit—okay, perhaps not, but she'd let her brother deal out whatever punishment he felt necessary. despite throttling at the forefront of her mind. . .

and it is, but, thankfully, now geared toward the elk. Aventus and Avicus are night and day as they surge toward the elk, evening shadow tearing at the withered haunch while the bright sun of her pelt ripples through the air to worry the opposite shoulder.

eyes rip away, briefly, looking for her children. Ashlar keeping them at bay.

the cow is flanked, now, by two sibling-wolves, and they begin the process of driving her up the slope toward the waiting hunters. all the while, she braces for retribution from the herd—

but perhaps it will not come.

the old cow is weak, after all.

why would they risk their flesh to save her aging bones?

She could not entirely suppress the trembling that wracked her as they neared the elk, though she went very still when she saw Redd rushing to join the chase. Ashlar blocked her and the girl didn’t put up a fuss, though Masque sensed her sister’s impatience. She marveled at her sibling’s readiness in the face of such an intimidating task as this.

Her wide eyes shifted to watch as Avicus and Aventus singled out their chosen quarry, then began to drive it back toward the others, Masque among them. The pup felt herself gripped with panic. As much as she aspired to hone her hunting skills, she simply wasn’t prepared for any of this. She could hardly capture grasshoppers or frogs. An ungulate of this size was incomprehensible.

She made to slink closer to Ashlar, though the thunder of hooves made her freeze suddenly, every muscle in her body locking.

the hunter watched as the cow was herded along.

he stayed himself until she was close.

and then the powerful haunches propelled him forward. augur's size meant that his first snap was crucial: if he missed the muzzle of the animal, the pack might lose its chance to hold it for the kill.

his teeth flashed. his strike depended on the rest of redtail.

so much happened.
the grey man growled.
his red aunt and his cousins swept after the cow. ancelin was stiff-legged and trembling; he had all but forgotten atreus' wrong-doing now, and paced restlessly along the grass a safe distance away.
a howl of excitement was beginning to form in his throat.