Silverlight Terrace Rain or Shine (I)

Her beau was the first to strike a scent. Wildfire's head lifted and she looked at him inquisitively when he declared he'd found the trail of some deer that had passed by recently. She trotted closer to him, then sniffed. He was right (not that she'd doubted him). But were the two of them ready for prey that size? The still relatively inexperienced Wildfire gave him a dubious look.

"We should practice our strategy," she thought aloud, wondering if they could do so with the deer. "I have an idea," she declared in the next breath, not even giving Floki a chance to react. "We locate the deer, select a target, then split up and run to either side of it. Then we zoom in at the same time, so that there's twice as good a chance we'll nab it. I'm not sure we should actually hunt it," she admitted, "but it can't hurt to spook it and see if my idea works?"

Truth be told, Floki was somewhat relieved when Wildfire suggested that they essentially just simulate a hunt. Had they decided on a smaller prey animal, he would have been on board -- but in his distracted mental state, he did not trust his own ability to be a successful partner with bigger game involved. "Great plan," he praised with a twitch of his tail, then his snout brushed the grass once more as he located the scent.

"This way," he urged, gesturing with a tilt of his head even as he broke into a trot. After just a few strides, the odor became fresher, indicating that they were drawing nearer to the deer's location. Luckily, the trail did not lead them towards the rain; rather, they traveled parallel to it, continuing across the open expanse.

Soon enough, he spotted a small cluster of deer and halted, his senses tingling. Kaylan was far from his mind as he shifted his gaze to Wildfire. "Which one?" he asked as he studied their options.

He concurred with her plan, then the two of them proceeded, hot on the trail. As they closed in on their prey, Wildfire continued pondering her proposed strategy. How would she and Floki know when to make their strike? They would have to time it perfectly, to be sure they attacked from either side at exactly the same time. Otherwise, their quarry would have an open opportunity to escape. She knew it would take lots of practice to perfect it. They would probably goof this first try completely. That was okay, though, since they didn't actually hope to take down anything.

Soon the herd was in sight. Wildfire instinctively paused and crouched low to the ground as she surveyed them. It was a small herd of mule deer, probably a smaller branch of the larger herds that often bypassed the shores of Lake Rodney. She could see the stag—his head and antlers stood out quite obviously—and she counted several does. There were no young present, save for subtle roundness in some of the does' flanks. They would drop their fawns in the spring.

"That one," the would-be huntress muttered, indicating the smallest doe with a little jerk of her snout. She was one of the grown fawns from the previous spring, all grown up but still obviously younger than most of her brethren. "How do we single her out?" Wildfire wondered out loud. She had entirely forgotten about that part but it was necessary to execute their plan.

Obediently, Floki shifted his gaze in the direction that Wildfire indicated. With her snout, she pointed out the smallest female deer in the group. Floki nodded; he would have made the same decision. Wildfire then posed a question that gave him pause. How were they going to split her from the rest of the herd?

The inexperienced hunter nibbled on his lower lip as he considered the possibilities. "We want to get her away from the stag," he mused, eyeing the male deer's impressive rack of antlers. "What if we both surprise her from behind? I think the group will scatter anyway, but we can drive her away if we stay hot on her heels," he suggested, glancing at Wildfire for input.

Floki pointed out that their priority should be separating the smallest doe from the stag. But the other does could easily gum up their plan too. And the strategy he suggested was entirely different from Wildfire's original plan to strike from either side. For several moments, the youth said nothing, turning everything over in her head as she tried to figure out the best approach to their tandem hunting endeavor.

"Maybe this is why wolves hunt in packs, not pairs," she quipped quietly at length, exchanging a fleeting smile with Floki. "I don't think we can try my original idea because it requires total surprise. It would only work on a more singular target. But we can try yours, just try to chase her outright and see if we can't single her out." Since they didn't intend to actually capture her, the next steps didn't matter much. Wildfire's goal here was to practice their strategy.

"If you're down, I'm ready when you are," she whispered, the tip of her smudged snout indicating that Floki should give the signal for their attack. She would be right behind him.

Their plan had changed in just a few short minutes, influenced by the group of deer they had their eyes on. The youths talked through their options quietly; Floki liked the collaboration between them despite their inexperienced uncertainty. This was the best way for them to learn, and even if they weren't ready to actually attempt to bring down their target, he hoped that they could at least separate her from the herd without sustaining any injuries.

His ear flicked as Wildfire contemplated softly, then he nodded when she announced that she was ready. "Here goes nothing," he breathed, and then he gave a kick with his hind legs and propelled himself forward. The lanky adolescent raced towards the deer, eyes bright and ears erect as he watched their reactions. As predicted, the leggy animals were startled by the sudden appearance of the wolves and bolted, initially moving in all different directions. There was a moment of confusion in which Floki dropped back, having lost sight of their doe, but as the deer regrouped he spotted her again near the left side of the crowd.

He veered towards her, approaching her from behind. The proximity of her hooves and the hooves of her comrades was a little unnerving, but Floki snapped at her ankles anyway, hoping to eventually drive her away from the herd. He was acutely aware of the sound of his own heart thrumming and the pounding of Wildfire's paws on the ground nearby.

In the blink of an eye, silent static gave way to movement and sound as the pair of young wolves burst upon the herd and set it into motion. Like her cohort, Wildfire momentarily lost their target in the deer's initial panic. She planted her feet and squinted, amber eyes roving from moving target to moving target. There! she thought when she spotted the doe, nearly simultaneously with Floki. She saw him lunge toward her and Wildfire did the same.

Soon, they were right behind her, Floki snapping openly at the fleeing doe's ankles. Wildfire warily eyed another, larger doe to the immediate right of their target. It dawned on her that rather than focusing all her attention upon their chosen quarry, she could do her part to separate her by going after the others, such as this one. With a loud bark, the young she-wolf sprang toward the other doe, who responded by kicking into a higher gear. Ground opened up behind her, between her and their chosen prey.

It's working! Wildfire thought even as another ungulate suddenly cut across her path, causing her to rear and pivot just to avoid a dangerous impact. She yapped in surprise and the deer did an about face, leaping back in the direction it had come. The youth took a moment to recover from the startle, then galloped after Floki and their target again, her heart practically flying out of her chest when she saw that they had succeeded in singling her out from the others.

With a bark, Wildfire expertly chased away a nearby doe that could have muddled their plans. Floki watched out of the corner of his eye as she helped to put distance between their target and the rest of the herd. He kept running, emitting sharp yips and flashing his teeth at the deer's ankles as she moved farther and farther from the group.

There was some commotion as another deer lunged into Wildfire's path, but by the time Floki glanced back at her, she was already recovering and catching up with him. "We did it!" he yelped breathlessly. Knowing that their plan had been to let the deer go all along, he was ready to back off whenever Wildfire agreed, although his mouth was salivating freely.

She would remember this feeling of pure elation a long time to come. It was like a sign that she was on the right path, dropping her former trades to pick up hunting. Even as Wildfire's heart soared, she dug her heels into the ground, braking from a gallop to a lope to a trot and then strolling to a stop. Her tongue lolled from her smudged muzzle as she exchanged a glorious, victorious look with her comrade.

"We make a good team," she said when she could speak, her tongue laving the froth from the corners of her mouth as she finally caught her breath. "Next time, I think we should actually go for it," she added, closing the space between them and pressing her nose against Floki's shoulder. "We kicked ass!" she exclaimed in a stage whisper, eyes glowing and tail waving as the adrenaline continued to pump through her veins.

Slowly, she began to wind down from the natural and exhilarating high. "Wanna head back?" she asked him, giving another nudge and glancing sideways to observe aloud, "Hey, look, it's gone." The curtain of rain had vanished, the ugly clouds have dissipated to leave a mostly sunny sky behind.

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As soon as Wildfire decelerated, Floki did the same. He came to a halt, watching as the wayward doe bounded back towards the other deer. He grinned at Wildfire's words; they really had kicked ass, hadn't they? This had been a great experience and it would only serve to broaden the youths' skills and deepen their interest in hunting.

"Wanna head back?" Wildfire asked and Floki nodded. "Yeah," he agreed, and as he turned back, he also noticed that the rainy phenomenon had disappeared. They hadn't even paid attention to the transformation of the sky since they had been so involved in their pursuit of the deer.

Although they had just been running full tilt, Floki was still full of energy. "Race ya," he offered, and then took off without waiting for an answer.

His invitation caught her by surprise, prompting Wildfire to yell, "Hey!" and then, "You're a cheater!" after Floki's retreating hindquarters. Nonetheless, she laughed and sprang after him, her little paws drumming a staccato beat between her beau's louder footfalls. She was too busy trying to avoid tripping and falling to catch up to him outright, though eventually he must have slowed because they ran shoulder-to-shoulder, tails lifted in tandem like streaming banners, as they crossed back into their homeland.