Whitewater Gorge XXXII

aw, any redtail wolves esp! maybe @Lilia? tagging @Avicus & @Prophet <3

off again. this time the illness had begun to touch around augur as well.

but he ignored it, ignored the growing slickness of his nose.

he loped down into the flatlands, following water.

The sustained travel, as well as whatever bug it was that ran through the group, was starting to take its toll on Lilia. She felt less and less interested in hunting down the white woman, now that she felt the shivers of fever creeping through her veins and into her bones. 

She was hungry and she was tired. She felt moody and if it hadn’t been for her packmates being so refrained, she likely would have begun complaining. But she would’ve been the only one. She wanted to vent, and go back to her home.

Maybe she wanted to go back and see what it was about that Dreadfather man that made her stomach burn. But that would make her a traitor…And princesses weren’t traitors.

She sneezed a few times and grumbled to herself. What kind of shape would the group be in if they even found the murderer when they were all sick?

augur had not seen the way that wolverine looked at the plateau man.

he was focused wholly upon the hunt.

and after that, the spring, where he would be with new snow again. then he could think of such things himself.

he loped after her, sneezing once. 

a rabbit broke from cover across her path.

She flicked her tongue across her muzzle, and flicked an ear back when she heard another sneeze from behind her. A minimal glance revealed that it was Augur, fallen ill with the sickness as well. She cringed, and would have simply moved away, wanting to avoid anyone else who was sick not for their sake, but for hers. She didn't want to get double sick, if that was possible. 

She snapped to attention, however, when the sound flushed a rabbit. Hungrily, she tore toward it, uttering a soft, possessive growl. It was in her path now- and was now her quarry. Selfish and starving, Lilia dashed after the rabbit, hoping she could catch it before Augur did, though the man had a great deal of size and experience on her. Where the rabbit swerved, she went wide, scrambling for purchase in the snow.

she rounded hard.

augur stepped to corral the rabbit. wolverine hunted now for her life it seemed.

two snaps of weighty jaws drove the terrified animal back to the girl who had killed a bobcat.

he would see that she was strong.

Her teeth were bared as her breath heaved with each stride. She scrambled and pushed herself, though every time she gained any momentum, the rabbit swerved and she cruised past it. She was beginning to get frustrated, when the rabbit's luck ran out. Like snow tumbling down the mountainside, Augur rushed the rabbit and sent it veering the opposite direction- and when it realized its error, it was already too late. 

Lilia trapped it beneath her paws, and nicked her toe with her tooth when she went in for the kill so hastily. Snow smothered its final breath. 

There was a rattle to her breath when she lifted her head. The adrenaline had fuelled the chase, but she felt herself sapped of energy now that she was out of breath. She didn't even want to think of how they'd divide the creature up- she sank down into the snow, and gave herself some time to breathe. She'd need to catch her breath, and cough up some of the mucus before she could think properly.

the quick speed had his own sides heaving.

augur lay down in the snow, foreleg crooked. his yellow eyes moved to her and then to the rabbit, and then to the direction of the rise.

he was homesick, and presently sent a forlorn howl up into the sky, a single note.

She fought back the nausea, as she caught her breath. Augur remained with her, solemn and quiet, until his woeful tune rose. She sighed softly. She understood the feeling. She looked past her shoulder, knowing that their home lay that way. And they still had miles to go before they even found the murderer, and whoever else she denned up with. 

She flattened her ears. She didn't like being obedient, but she was at least glad that she was not the only one who wanted to just turn back and go home. She pulled the rabbit toward herself with her paws, and tore it in two as well as she could, and tossed the other half to Augur; as if to say cheers to that.

augur ate only when wolverine did.

grateful for the sustenance, when he rose he offered a rough hunter's nudge to her shoulder.

the large man stretched and scanned the landscape once more. a wolf's hunt was eternal.

I'm OK to fade here. always grateful for the threads we have <3

Lilia wolfed back her meal, eating every last bit- bones and all, knowing that she could not be picky. She did not strip the rabbit of its pelt, knowing that that too would at least leave her feeling a bit more full for a little while. She began licking the droplets of blood out of the snow at her feet, and began cleaning herself up as well when Augur passed by, and touched her shoulder. 

She thumped her tail against the ground, and uttered a soft growl. 

She liked hunting with the adults. They made her feel both useful and important.