Nocturne Summit None more black

She barely spent any time at the caldera before heading out again, hoping to scratch an irresistible itch in her paws that had nothing to do with pine needles. Beneath a cloudy sky, Wildfire loped northwest around Lake Rodney, passing near the outskirts of the thick brush of Bramblepoint. The young Outrider tightened her course again, sticking close to the shore of the northernmost stream emptying into the great lake. She walked against the current, of course, heading toward the towering mountains. When she reached the foot of the shortest one, she paused a moment, looked around and then began to climb.

By the time she reached one of the upper plateaus, she was breathing hard. Although the temperature wasn't bad, the air was thick, even at this altitude. Wildfire flopped onto her belly on the cool stone, then craned her her head and wriggled her nose as she studied her surroundings. This place was gloomy but in a cozy sort of way, the taller peaks casting pleasant shadows over everything. Once she caught her breath, she would have to get up again and have a good look around.

When she left her charge in the hands of his packmates, Roz didn't get far before finding a place to sleep off the long travel.  And man did she sleep hard.  When she'd awoken it was in a haze, confused both in where  she was and why she was there.  Then she remembered - yes.  "Shit," she cursed softly, feeling the familiar clench of hunger in her gut.  Why the hell hadn't she asked for a finder's fee?  Everyone knows you always tip the courier and Pan had even opened the offer.  Sure she'd been too tired and irritable to pursue it, but now she was rested.  And now she could kick herself for that little misjudgment.

While she tried to rustle up some grub.

Something slow, please something slow, she implored silently as she left the Bramblepoint behind and took to the mountains.  It had already been too long since her last meal and her head had that airy feel to it that didn't bode terribly well.  Being a loner was no cakewalk and with freedom came this - the inability to prepare or plan ahead for these things.  Maybe she should find her own little holdfast where she could stow away some food.  It wouldn't be well protected but it would be something.

She spotted something ginger laying ahead and her heart leapt.  Red?  If it was her lover, perhaps the woman would assist in return for the usual.  Post meal of course.  

She crept closer only to note that, while Red was no giant, the wolf before her was too small and slight to be her.  Welp, there was always scavenging.

Letting out a disappointed huff, she continued around, taking scents carefully as she did.  She wondered if perhaps the stranger had eaten recently.  If so, maybe there was a kill around she could nab.

The sky began to clear, transitioning from just plain cloudy to only mostly cloudy. Here on the summit, however, everything remained draped in a dreary, comfy false twilight. Wildfire enjoyed the cool, murky air as she scoped out the surrounding plateau, then began to climb higher. Maybe she could reach the top and check out the views. Although the surrounding peaks towered on either side, this one she could scale with relative ease, especially considering she lived on a similar slope.

When she reached a rock shelf near the flattened mountaintop, Wildfire pressed her faded belly to the cool stone again and found herself looking down at a creature below, climbing upward. At first, she mistook it for a small ungulate of some sort because of the fur color. Then she realized she was looking at a fellow wolf. The Outrider remained crouched, watching the stranger's progress. A puff of wind brought to her the unfamiliar wolf's scent, identifying her as a female.

Remembering how much she disliked the feeling of being watched, Wildfire eventually pressed herself upright and announced her presence with a bark of, "Hey!" Her voice was not loud but it echoed dimly off the surrounding rocks before the quiet mountain air swallowed it.

Slinking didn't do much good on a mountain full of vantages, so despite her efforts to slide by she soon heard a call of 'hey' echo off the stones.  She started slightly at the noise and inclined her head to look upward, narrowing her eyes against the glare so that she could see the observing silhouette.  The wolf from before? Who had apparently relocated to higher ground.  

"Hey yourself." She called back, lips twitching upward.  Just then her stomach let loose a low growl, displeased with the distraction from her goal.  "You don't happen to see anything to eat from up there, do ya?"  Fat chance, but worth a shot.

Speaking of fat.... she'd once had the pleasure of taking part in a wild hog brought down by a group of wolves.  Remembering made her mouth water and brought another gurgle.  What she wouldn't give for a haunch of that.  Or, y'know, anything edible.  Since eating small red outriders seemed kinda extreme for today.

She shook her head no, then froze suddenly. What were the chances that the instant the stranger asked that question, a mountain goat would appear across the way? The youngster's lips parted as she watched it moving further down the mountain, to the right of her position (and the stranger's). It did not seem to be aware of the wolves within visual range. They were somehow downwind too, despite being uphill.

Motioning for the other female to wait, Wildfire did her best to carefully pick her way down to where the other stood. "Mountain goat, that way," she muttered under her breath. "Do you think we'd have a chance? I'm no Gamekeeper and I'm kind of a klutz..." But maybe it was worth a try? And though her father (and possibly mother) would have balked at the idea of hunting with a stranger, Wildfire had no such qualms.

she caught the gesture and cocked her head, curious as to why she didn't simply call down.  Opening her mouth to ask, she paused, luckily shutting it again when she decided to simply wait and see.  

She watched younger red climb down and join her, the whispered words she delivered when she'd arrived making Roz very glad she hadn't blurted anything out. Silently she bit her lip lightly, worrying her teeth upon it as she glanced upward. That sounded like a hell of a chance and a lot of work, but she wasn't really in the position to be turning down even the slightest possibility of success.

"Guess we'll find out." She grinned, hopping up on a low ledge and looking about. What was the best way to do this? Trickery would be great. Even better if they could force a fall. Goats were sure footed and such a thing would be a feat in itself but even a minor tumble might lame or shock it enough for them to have an easier go. "Any ideas?"

It seemed her acquaintance didn't either. She grinned at Wildfire, then began looking at their surroundings as she presumably tried to think of a strategy. Meanwhile, she wanted to know if the pup had any ideas. Wildfire's lips parted but she said nothing at first as she mentally scrambled. She was not a hunter by trade, so after a moment she was forced to shrug and admit, "I mean, not really."

She let out a low breath, then asked, "What about you? Just tell me what to do and I'll do it." She was pretty good at following orders. She just wasn't a leader, particularly when it came to a joint hunting effort. "I'm Wildfire, by the way," she added in a whisper, then waited to see if the other she-wolf would supply her own name.

"Hmm."  She took a moment to size up the incline and the positioning, wondering at it.  It would be optimal if they could surprise it from above, but to do so would definitely risk injury as the goat would not come quietly regardless.  "Maybe one could chase it down, the other intercept?  If it doesn't decide to go sideways that is."  She frowned at the agile and damnably well-evolved food.  Why did it have to be so hard to catch?

"We could always shoot for it and see what happens."  She shrugged.  Likely her own hunger was many times worse than her young associate's but the risk was part of the job.  Even with a pack, a kill was never sure.  With the two of them they would need even more than luck to pull it off.  Maybe the thing would be stupid enough to lie down so they could eat it.  Wouldn't that be fantastic?  Right.  "And, Roz.  My name, that is."  In case that wasn't clear with the random interjection.

Roz, as she introduced herself, didn't seem particularly bothered by Wildfire's lack of ideas. She contemplated a moment, then proposed a somewhat half-baked plan. Seeing as she was no expert, the youth replied, "I'm down for whatever you think will work. I'm not very experienced at making kills, so maybe I'll do the chasing, if you don't mind?" she added. She wasn't very confident in her abilities to do that, either, especially considering she was such a klutz. Out of the two roles, though, she felt she would do better with that one.

"Just, uh..." she continued a bit awkwardly, "tell me exactly where to go and what to do. I'm only six months, so my experience is really limited." She knew she was repeating herself but she wanted to emphasize the fact that she would probably not be very good at this, just so Roz didn't go into this joint venture with high expectations.

This is never going to work, spoke the traitor in her mind, but she shhd it firmly and ignored any ghost of a protest.  She had this.  And if she didn't, well... There was always the long slow slide to starvation.  Cheery thoughts!  "Ok.  Just try to send it down here."  She supposed she should feel bad, letting the kid charge down a dangerous cliff face so that she could get a bite to eat, but she wasn't the parent here. And hey, she offered.

"If you just approach it it should be enough to set it running. But you might have to snap at it to get it to go down." Maybe she'd be able to do a little herding before it got too steep for her to follow. "And don't fall off?" With the last she gave a sardonic smile, then moved to jump up a bit, careful to keep rock between her and the prey but wanting to get a little closer. She'd get into a position she deemed safely close enough and wait, hoping the goat would be scared in a path close enough for her to make up the difference. Before she did, she hesitated for any last questions the girl may ask. The instructions had been a little vague, but that was when one improvised, right?

Feel free to control the (weird) goat, heheh.

Roz clarified her task and Wildfire nodded. She understood what to do, now it was just a matter of actually doing it. Taking a steadying breath, she glanced downward and tried to figure out the best route down the mountain. She didn't want to spook the mountain goat too early and she wanted to position herself in such a way to simultaneously increase the chances of success and minimize the chances of tumbling down the mountain to her death.

Smiling grimly, the young she-wolf began her descent, picking her way carefully. She didn't want to turn even a single stone, lest she alert the goat to their presence. The whole thing took a whole lot longer than she might have anticipated, though finally Wildfire leveled the playing field a bit. She was still slightly above the goat and off to the side, yet if she executed her approach just right, she could shepherd it further down the cliff side, toward Roz's (hopefully) ready jaws.

"Here goes nothing," Wildfire muttered under her breath just moments before exploding into view with a loud, nonsensical shout of, "Rah!" The mountain goat jumped as if startled, yet did not budge. In fact, it turned its eyes upon her almost owlishly—Wildfire noticed its square pupils, which she found incredibly creepy—and simultaneously released a long, loud bleat and an even louder fart.

wow I got behind with her! >< we can wrap whenever you wish lol

She was ready.  But it seemed no goat was forthcoming.  She gazed up for a couple of moments quizzically, wondering if maybe her hunting partner fell off.  That'd be unfortunate. From this vantage point she couldn't see the girl or their prey.  Had it gone up instead of down?

Deciding to risk it, she called up.  "Everything ship-shape up there?"  It hadn't been a particularly brilliant plan, true, but she had held some hope maybe they would get lucky. Seemed fate had other ideas.  She usually did, the fickle witch.  Why couldn't anything be simple?

"Gross," Wildfire muttered under her breath, shooting the goat a slightly bewildered look. It had square eyes, bad gas and evidently no fear. Louder, she shouted, "You're gross!" The mountain goat uttered a low "baaah" and then began chewing slowly, returning her stare blankly.

"Everything ship-shape up there?" came a voice further down the mountain. "Uh," Wildfire said, then raised her voice as much as she could to call back, "Not... really? He won't—" Her voice cut off when the mountain goat abruptly pivoted and leaped up the mountain, clearly cleverer than it looked.

"Dang it," the juvenile said, ears folding back as she watched the mountain goat climb until it disappeared. Wildfire then turned and plodded downward, searching for Roz as she called out again, this time to say, "He got away," in an apologetic tone.

Something was definitely happening up there.  She couldn't see it, but snatches reached her when they weren't caught up in the wind and carried away.  Wildfire's curse cut through loud and clear, and Roz's ears flipped back when she heard it.  That didn't bode well for dinner.

She stared up and waited while Wildfire made her way down, her breath hissing out when she heard the bad news.  "Damn things must be smarter than they look," she replied with a somewhat woebegone tone, her mood dampened at the thought of all that choice meat frolicking away unenjoyed.  What a waste.  "I guess it wasn't meant to be."  Her stomach heavily disagreed with that sort of talk, however, and made it's displeasure known with an angry lurch.  "Yeah yeah," she muttered darkly.  At least she'd keep her girlish figure.

"Probably would've tasted rotten anyway."  She finished without a lot of conviction.  They should've just charged it together and tried to push it off the ledge.

I think this'll be my final post! :)

Although Roz didn't seem to blame her or be angry with her, her remarks made Wildfire feel rather sheepish. "Sorry I screwed it up," she murmured, looking at her feet before her eyes lifted and she added, "although I will say I'm sure it would have tasted rotten. It was up there farting and generally being really weird." She laughed lightly, though it was a bit hollow, not unlike the wolves' bellies.

"Well," she said after a moment, "I think I'm going to explore this place a bit more. You're welcome to join me, though no obligation, of course." The young wolf twitched her long black tail, tossed Roz a fleeting smile, then began to scout further up the mountain again to see what she could see.

Rosalyn wasn't overly sure why Wildfire was apologizing yet didn't bother arguing.  "Next time," she said with a shrug and a light return of the laugh. It was a careless gesture. If she let a missed hunt bother her too much it'd be a hard life alone. She missed quite often.

Her ears flicked at the offer and she paused, considering it a moment. "No, but thanks. I think I'll go try to snag myself something a bit more edible." She cast one final glance up, then looked back at her. "See you around, maybe." One last wry grin and she turned as well, setting off in a different direction from the one Wildfire presumably took. Exploration wasn't in her priorities at the moment. That growling in her gut made it a bit hard to focus on any other requirements or wants.