Moonspear teeth-grinder

o:

Her late-afternoon border patrol was readily abandoned the second she got whiff of it. A haphazard trail of blood had brought her this far, and above her opened a more sparse stretch of the mountain which only served to frame the focus here -- an adult male bighorn sheep.

Beside the distinct curve of his impressive horns (to which her knee-jerk response was along the lines of 'I want it..'), she noticed his limp and the ugly wound staining his shoulder instantly. He was impressive, but on the backend of his prime. She saw the muscle wasting, the bumps of his ribs, and the old scars stretched thin as he picked his way across a spell of loosened gravel. While life had humored him for so long, he was a testament to the trials of the season, and had come out a loser at the end of their rut's height.

Ame did not recognize him in particular .. not that she could claim to know all the sheep personally on a mountain she had just laid claim to. He may have been fleeing from elsewhere, or it may not have been his own kind to deal the blows he bore.

Instinct coiled at the sight and feeling wily, she tracked after him immediately despite being no threat by herself -- well, unless his injuries dropped him dead alone. Soon, she raised her nose in a short, soft howl to see who else may be in the area to address this with her. In response, he picked up the pace some. She carefully lurked along from the bottom of the nearest slope to keep him in her sights.. just in case.

Leaving the tracking of the bears for now, Charon diverged from the trail he was following to respond to Ame's howl. He was not particularly near, but near enough to hear and near enough to grow curious of what she had found. It was much to his surprise that when he arrived there, no one else had followed on her call yet. She stood there lurking alone, and he immediately saw what she was eyeing. Although his horns were still formidable, that was about all that was left of the bighorn; he looked like he had lived a full life, and now it was time for his body to return to the earth.

Charon chuffed lowly to announce his presence to Ame while he joined not far from her, trying to approach the bighorn sheep from a different angle. Ears perked upward as he noted it was trying to flee, and he would follow, awaiting Ame's signal to engage it.

He was a prize himself. Her mouth slathered at the thought, but she was not that close for her to taste him yet. Obstacles remained, of course, and moments ticked by between just the two of them. She found a pathway that let her creep a little closer but it didn't seem to perturb him yet. This, she decided, was good news. Maybe his senses were dulled, somehow. But that still didn't make his hooves and horns any softer.

Feeling very secured on his trail, she realized Charon's company at the sound of his chuff. She looked to him with a quick nod, then peered past him. So far, it seemed he was the only one. She was chomping at the bit to engage the prey already, and a quick flash of her teeth hinted at his as she swallowed her impatience. This would only last so much longer. The presence of even one more was better already and she held out a little while longer, only lurking closer bit by bit.

She heard gravel crumble and the sound of a bad step -- probably a stretch of loose footing, or his own body giving out on him. Before she even finished the thought, she'd sprung at him with a frustrated growl. The falter would cost him and she'd make sure of it, aiming jaws-first at his rump. It may have been a motion that felt a little premature -- just two against one large ungulate was iffy, but she banked on their strengths and his weaknesses.

He'd gathered his haunches beneath him and begun to flee. Because of this, she was not yet close enough to get a hold of him but the chase was on. She tried to fall into position coming at him from a slightly higher vantage point. There were angled pathways ahead, and she'd need to establish any advantages possible sooner rather than later to keep this quick.

The crumbling of rocks of some sort was heard and Ame sprang into action right away. Charon followed suit, trying to stay on the flanking side of their prey, although it was hard considering the trail it followed. Ame missed, but the chase was on with her attack, and the bighorn sheep fled with surprising speed considering all the weakness it had shown only moments before.

Charon kept his eyes on he road ahead as he ran; Ame tried getting higher up, while he stayed a little lower than the sheep, staying at its flank. Noticing the angles up ahead, which could provide dangerous for all, Charon looked at Ame before he quickened his pace and caught up with the sheep. Charon moved in to snap at its side, hoping to distract the bighorn sheep while Amekaze could get a shot at dealing some damage. Distract it he did; hooves were kicked in his direction and Charon narrowly avoided them, hoping that it would give Ame the opportunity to strike.

She gained ground on him. His initial burst had been impressive, but it seemed he was plateauing for now -- not that the chance of a second wind wasn't a possibility here, especially with adrenaline flowing and predators brething down his neck. She'd seen prey pull some ridiculous getaways, after all. For now, she'd take what she could get, and closed in with every surge forward.

With Charon assailing the prey from the other side, Amekaze took advantage where she could. When he got close, she did too and dug her teeth into his flank as soon as she got near enough. He faltered accordingly and tried to avoid her some, only to be pushed towards Charon. She pulled away, then repeated after a few strides, aiming towards his shoulder.

She hit a mark and he tried to buck away from her grip, then finished with a swing of his horned head her way. She was forced back by that this time, and struggled for good footing herself before she could prepare a retaliation.

His tactic seemed to work, though it was hard to tell from his side whether Ame managed to get a good grip on the bighorn sheep. Charon narrowly avoided a couple of bucks and saw the sheep lunge its head in Ame's direction.

Hearing nothing to indicate Ame getting hurt, Charon continued to assault the sheep from his side. At the time the magnificent horns lunged for Ame, Charon was quick to leap at its side and dig his teeth into its neck. The sheep's speed went down considerably, even though it was still on its feet, and Charon hoped it'd give Ame time and space for a good hit.

With a deep breath, she gathered herself and worked to regain her full stride. Once she got into range, she assaulted the prey's haunches again and tried to dig in even further this time. The sheep retaliated, fighting against the pain she gave him, bucking and kicking and trying to keep himself away from the wolves -- and it was then that she realized Charon got the chance to go for the neck. Encouraged, and made more vicious by the beast's slowing, she was able to sink her teeth into its soft underbelly, and twisted to damage all she could.

The sheep continued to fight, although now with a worsening struggle that seemed to be bogging it down more and more by the second. When she thought he may be nearing his end, a sudden kick grazed her side and rattled her lungs at the contact that pushed her back again (and far more forcibly than her earlier dodge). But, being too pumped from the adrenaline of the almost-kill, she didn't relent and kept attacking until it finally crumbled to its knees, bloodied and gasping for its last breaths.

She panted and winced at the ache in her side but was doing her best to regroup quickly. Charon could be at a better vantage point to give the beast swifter mercy, if he saw fit. Amekaze was slower to finish it off herself. She looked it over, noticing how thinned and impressively worn-looking he was up close, and moved towards his neck -- unless he died off before she got there.

random roll for how bad the kick is out of 10 (which i'll reference better next post): 5

Charon managed to get a grip on the sheep's neck, but nearly let go in reflex when he saw Ame get hit. His body and heart screamed for him to let go and check to make sure she was okay, but the adrenaline pumping through his veins kept him going, especially when he swiftly saw Ame get to her feet again and join the fray once more. The kick had looked pretty painful, but it was probably the same adrenaline that pushed her on, too.

While Ame assaulted its other side, Charon tightened his grip on the sheep's neck. He'd obviously missed the most important vein, but the sheep was wearing down anyway and eventually sank to the ground. When the beast fell to its knees, Charon jumped off to make sure he wouldn't get stuck between the ground and the beast. He allowed Ame space to finish off the sheep, for after the pain it had doubtlessly caused her, she deserved it.

On the edge of her focus, it did register that Charon had moved back. At the same time, she saw the prey still lived. Barely. Ame could only smell his blood and heard it gurgle when she tore at its throat.

Satisfied with the damage done, she let go it watched it fall limp with an unceremonious thud, dead as could be. She exhaled a big, shuddering breath that evidently, she'd held onto. Her ribs stung in the meantime but she was feeling quite alright still, cruising nicely on the high of the hunt and the resulting success.

She drifted back towards the sheep's belly, stiffening her tail and walking gingerly as she moved to rip at the already torn flesh. Amekaze didn't have plans of eating a lot, necessarily, but she did seek the richest parts for herself. The rest could be cached, whatever Charon didn't want, that was, and she'd stash away any other pieces she fancied for herself. She shot him a look, then looked past him just to check on things. The scavengers hadn't gotten wind of this yet and neither had anyone else in the pack, so here, this was between only them. 

She didn't even know of his full interest in all of this, if it was hunger or opportunity alone that had spurred him into joining her, but she still wasn't feeling very wordy when she returned her teeth to digging out the organs she wanted. Instead, she expressed her satisfaction with a wave of her lifted tail.

Amekaze caught the hint and took the last hit at the sheep's neck. The impressive bighorn gurgled out its last breath, and once the deed was done Amekaze was quick to dig into his meat. Charon joined her, equal in rank and deserving. Ame went for its stomach, seeking organs there, and Charon tore the flesh around the ribcage, going straight for the heart. While blood cloaked his muzzle Charon didn't really have a clue why he was going for the heart in particular, except that somehow it seemed pretty cool, and befitting of a Jarl of his standing to eat the hearts of his enemies. Or, y'know, prey, whatever.

Charon looked at Ame while he searched for the sheep's heart, almost like he wanted to make sure that she considered it equally cool, or it'd be all for nothing. (Feeling cool by yourself didn't really make you cool, after all)

She knew exactly what she wanted, and dug out the sheep's liver first, only halfway watching Charon as she searched for her treasure. It seemed the heart, or maybe the lungs, was his choice judging by his aim, but Ame was largely preoccupied with her own tender meal. Once she pulled it away from the rest of the ram (and saw that it was indeed the heart he chose), she gave her head a mischievous shake -- probably smattering the immediate area, perhaps Charon included, then ate her choice cut with contented growls.

Ame scraped around for a few other bits and pieces as needed and slowly began to feel the bruise on her side more and more. While her appetite was not vicious, she still basked in the satisfaction of a meal and appropriate company paired with knowing that with this, their caches would be well-off for a bit, so only when she was done with her fill of the carcass, she gingerly stepped aside. A bit of rest would be in order before she felt motivated to work on caching this away, so until then, she'd probably just watch over the leftovers.

She settled nearby to groom a bit, although one eye was curiously on Charon, and the other on the surroundings should any others get wind of the meal. She was sore, tired, and full now, so she was far more tempered than earlier when bloodlust had spurred her into the chase. It had all worked out in her favor, though, so she was not complaining.

The heart didn't even taste that super special. While he ate the thing, Charon was considering how Ame had better appreciate the coolness of his move. And this was just a bighorn sheep, not even like, his actual enemy. It seemed kind of pointless, and in hindsight Charon wished he had picked a better tasting bit of the sheep, but by the time he was done with the heart, the young Alpha didn't really feel like eating any more. He hadn't been that hungry to begin with. His face was splattered in specks of blood; some from the chase, some from Ame shaking the blood in her face out onto his.

Charon licked his lips as he settled himself by the carcass. They'd be able to stash the rest, and it made him feel comfortable for the winter that had suddenly gone from approaching to being here. They were a strong pack, proven once more by this most recent feat. "You okay?" Charon asked, suddenly remembering Ame's tangle with the sheep. It seemed like the gentleman thing to ask about it, even though Charon casually figured she was fine, anyway. She was alive and all, after all.

we can fade this out whenever (or continue), idc!

She watched the horizon but angled an ear towards him. "Mhm. Will probably be more sore tomorrow," she guessed and shifted her weight to test the extent of the ache. Troublesome, but she'd live, and it would be gone within a handful of days anyway. She'd gotten into worse situations, anyway. "And you?" she asked, although had not seem him suffer any harm in any way. But, in the tangle of the hunt, it was easy for things to be missed. Still.. she doubted it and wondered how much he cared to linger and converse in the afterglow of the hunt. "It is good you came when you did," she smirked, pausing in her grooming for a beat. An opportunity like that could not go to waste.

Though he didn't get kicked and so a returned question wasn't really necessary, Charon answered with an amicable enough "Yeah, I'm fine," glad to have been there to help bring down this beast. It'd been a good opportunity and even moreso because they had managed to bring down the beast in the end. Charon smiled at Ame and then continued to tear into the heart, which didn't taste as epic as 'ripping out someone's heart' had made Charon think it would -- but what the heck, it was food. After they'd bring the rest to the caches for safekeeping, and maybe the impressive horns could be put somewhere as a reminder of their success this day.