Phoenix Maplewood Meleagris gallopavo

It wasn't quite cold enough to scare them off, not yet anyway. Not even the presence of a wolf pack could dissuade the flock of thirty-so wild turkeys from feasting; and feast they did, gobbling (no pun intended) on clovers and goldenrod wherever they could find them. The females moved as one unit, pecking at the ground and weaving between the trees without hesitation. It was the boisterous males which were more timid - striding slowly after the gaggle of girls, making eyes at them or shrieking at their fellow males if they came in to view. 

As they swarmed the edge of the Maplewood, the biggest of the turkeys gave a great holler and spun upon a rival, puffing his body up in an attempt at intimidation. This spooked the smaller females, who scattered deeper in to the forest - and before the males could follow, it was as if an avian war had broken out. Two younger males seized the opportunity to assault the big king turkey; pecking, grabbing, bumping with their inflated chests. It was enough of an uproar to alert the entire forest to their presence.

Happy Turkey Day from @Tavi !

Note to self: I edited my post so it isn't directly after her encounter with Ukko, in case he wants to join in.

Having been abandoned by her new friend (and scoffing as the idea slips in to her mind), Tavi storms off from their meeting place and makes her way through the forest. She finds a place to settle (a nook in the trees, somewhat of a shelter) and glumly reflects on the past few hours - drifting in to a brief slumber as her mind settles. But when she wakes, it is midday. The grogginess of sleep confuses her for a few minutes, but as she adjusts, she remembers where she is - and who she's mad at. It is a brisk day and her blood is boiling, so she doesn't notice the biting wind trying to penetrate the walls of forestry around her. She does notice a bizarre ruckus though - and spurred on by this, gets to her feet. The noise is enough to wake the dead. Her curiosity is peaked, so she shakes off her sleep, stretches her legs, and heads towards the chaotic sounds - it was like listening to a fleet of whoopie cushions in a mosh pit - and was surprised when she caught sight of the big ass birds through the trees. Not knowing what else to do, Tavi hunkered down and just... Watched.

Ukko is startled by the sounds of loud calls and gobbles.  There isn’t anything in particular he’s doing so changing his direction doesn’t cause a hindrance.  The screams concern him though and he looks around him to see if anyone had heard the same thing he had.  Perhaps he should call for them but he doesn’t want to scare the birds away in the distance.  

He picks up his speed, coming across fleeing turkeys.  One heads toward him but turns a corner and he’s much too slow to respond.  Ahead, however, there’s two ganging up on another.  The black wolf watches for a moment before he licks his chops and, without clearing his surroundings, charges the three turkeys.

In panic, the three break apart and take off in different directions.  Ukko chases the biggest one.

There wasn't a lot that she could do from her vantage point, aside from watch. There wasn't much she wanted to do; Tavi hadn't seen birds like this before. They didn't seem that interested in anything but one another. Maybe it was a mating display? Maybe they're all gay. Yes, Tavi, all turkeys are gay and they sound like farts.

Her thoughts didn't get far though - because someone came barreling out from the forest, a dark streak with teeth flashing and jaw snapping. She was so surprised by his arrival that, initially, Tavi didn't recognize him. Her eyes were directed to the flurry of activity next, promptly forgetting that she was hiding, and she was up and running after him - overtaken by the urge to chase.

Feathers flew, clutched by the sharp beak of each bird. Bits of flesh came with some of the feathers, and the main bird - the big kahuna - was bleeding from multiple points, like tiny stab wounds, by the time the first wolf came charging out of the Maplewood. The birds were suddenly at peace with one another, scattering as quickly as their portly bodies would allow. The largest bird - and the target for Ukko - refused to budge. It raised its big wings, fanned its tail feathers, and screamed indignantly. Hardly a thank-you for being saved from two pesky teenagers.

/roll1d3 if you want one of these options:

1 - The screech scares you off.
2 - You go in for the kill.
3 - You trip and the bird gets a shot in.

( Posted by @Tavi )

Who wants to come see Ukko came a fool of himself?

(Dice roll)

To his surprise, the biggest bird didn’t give into the chase.  The two smaller ones flee immediately but—not too badly off from the first attack—the turkey isn’t taking it anymore.  His wings fan outward, making himself look bigger than Ukko is anticipating and he skids to a stop but he isn’t upright for long.  He propels forward into the ground.  

The large wolf tries to use what remains of his dignity to take the prey down with him but it does little and he’s soon covered in feathers and a beak that’s much stronger than it looks, getting a few marked hits in before he's able to get back on his feet.

Anyone else from PHX wanna join in?

She isn't fast enough, and the fight goes from bird-on-bird to bird-on- "Ukko?!" Recognition finally dawns upon her, but there isn't time. The boy is going down - maybe because of her outburst, but probably because he is staunchly outmatched by the fat bird. Tavi dives in just as the turkey is striking at Ukko, snapping at the fanned feathers and trying to dissuade the thing from attacking further.

Okay, maybe he should have thought this out before he ran right for the biggest bird possible.  It didn’t compare in size but the confidence in the turkey didn’t shake and that’s where he’d been outmatched.  Ukko rolls on the ground, legs kicking into the air before he gets to his other side and back on his feet.  When he finally notices Tavi, he staggers back a few steps.  The world spins and the bird takes several steps back as the large female goes for the turkey.

Rolling a 1d3 to choose between variables:
1 - Chase the bird away.
2 - Stalemate.
3 - Bird attacks Tavi.


ROLL: 3

While Ukko was busy flailing against the onslaught of a small beak, Tavi ran a counterattack. She charged for the bird and snapped at it, trying to startle it away from the dark boy's kicking limbs. She manages to grab its tail feathers - the bird is trying to run away - but as soon as she rips them free from their moorings, the turkey shrieks in pain and is turning back. Clearly this thing wasn't going down without a fight. It seemed to be more pissed off now that it was experiencing actual pain (although it could've been the stealing of its prized feathers which really go under it's skin). Either way, when the bird turned and saw Tavi standing with her mouth full of bloody butt feathers, it went crazy. Shrieking, chasing, pecking, puffing up with its wings out, the whole she-bang. And suddenly it was Tavi being outmatched.

Based on this roll, Ukko saves the day!

Before he knows it, the bird is finally off him.  His beak penetrated one or two holes through his thick fur that Ukko didn’t have time to investigate.  While the turkey is not on him, during it’s retreat, Tavi continued to egg it on so that it turned back around.  At this point, he’s just ready to throw in the towel and admit defeat but turning back without his pack mate would be far from ideal.  Especially since she’s only the in pack because of him in the first place.  

The bird’s chasing his friend and Ukko quickly scrambles to his feet to charge, closing the growing distance in a matter of seconds.  The black wolf launches himself into the air, barreling through the wall the turkey creates with his long wingspan.  His feet burst through the feathers, sending them flying, until his entire weight is on the fowl.  Ukko’s powerful jaws snap down at the base of the neck, severing the tie with more ease than he’d thought there would be, waiting until the creature goes limp beneath him.

Thank god.

For the first few minutes after the assault on the turkey's bottom, Tavi tried to retreat. Not an all-out retreat, more of... It looked like she was playing "keep away" with the bird's tail feathers. The turkey would lunge and chase her, she would side-step and try to be fast, maneuvering around it as much as possible, hoping it would become too tired to fight. But one wrong step (and a stupid twist of her ankle), and Tavi was down. She hissed a curse from between her teeth as she fell, quickly being overtaken by the angry bird. Its pecks were frenzied; she felt chunks of fur being torn out of her shoulder, her belly, her toes being grabbed, and the girl turtled. She tried to protect her head with raised paws, growling intensely with every nip or stab of that damn beak.

Was this onslaught ever going to end?!

Apparently all the turkey needed was a punching bag to distract it. Right as Tavi felt like the world was ending, the bird gave a sudden, strange call. Its attacks stopped - so gradually, Tavi popped her head out from behind her raised arms. They were bloody from the attacks, but not too badly damaged. The sight of the turkey thrust in to the dirt (its head raised by Ukko the puppeteer) made her grin stupidly as she unfurled herself, getting to her paws. "You did it!" her voice chimed, suddenly quite cheery, lauding Ukko for the win. "I - I totally had him," That was a lie, but a playful one. It had been Ukko who went down first. "Just another few minutes and I would'a unleashed my uh, my secret moves!"

The bird twitches a little beneath him and there’s a long, deep breath before it goes still. His left wing expands and finally, Ukko lets him go and steps over him as Tavi straightens herself up and babbles on about having had a plan for the whole thing.  His ears swivel forward and he cants his head to look at her, a smile forming on his features as she boosts her skills she didn’t get to use.  The male remains stoic for a few moments and tries to release his tense muscles, feeling one puncture on his shoulder blade and another on his right leg. 

“You’ll have to show me sometime,” he playfully replies and swishes his tail a few times but settles it a beat later.  He noses at the bird, taking a few deep breaths for any signs of obvious disease or why the other two birds might have been attacking it in the first place.  Hierarchy, he concludes, and tugs at the feathers.  “Care to join me for lunch?” he asks through a mouthful of feathers, spitting them out on the ground.  There would be enough to satisfy his hunger, and hers, and perhaps a little left over to save for a cache or perhaps return to Saena.

He humors her, and before long is distracted by the dead bird. It is no longer attacking either of them, and would be a nice addition to the caches - or maybe it could be a gift for Saena. Tavi doesn't have a chance to inspect it herself before Ukko is tearing in to it, crumpling the feathers with his teeth and pulling them asunder. "Hey - wait -" Bracing against the ground, Tavi steps boldly closer, looming over the carcass with her fur spiking a little. "Don't ruin the feathers!" They were pretty, even when attached to a crazy old bird. "Save some of the bigger ones for me." And maybe Saena would appreciate the gesture. Some were big and brown with darker bands, but there were others with white and ruddy brown on them too, just like the curiously colored Alpha.

It takes him a moment to hear her and by then she’s stepped over the bird that stops him from tearing into the flesh.  A little blood tips the edges of his lips and down feathers at the corners of his mouth.  He spits out the remaining in his mouth and lifts his head as she makes her demands.  “Okay, okay,” he tells her and sits back on his haunches, waving a paw off at the bird for her to take her pick. “Hurry before it gets cold,” is his only request. Ukko much prefers his birds fresh off the rotisserie.  

The fight with the bird left her hungry, no doubt. But she was keen on getting some feathers for later; so when given the go-ahead, Tavi dove face-first at the turkey's butt and began yanking out the biggest feathers, or the most ornately patterned, and when she was done she slunk backwards. "There." She breathed, working her tongue against her teeth to get some of the feathering out from between them. Very attractive, very ladylike. "I'm going to go hide these somewhere -- you can, I dunno, eat or take the bird --" she was too distracted to finish her string of comments, jumbled as they were, and promptly began to gather the pile of feathers again. Before @Ukko could say anything, she was dashing off to find somewhere to store them.