Bitterroot Valley ut alii vivant

For @Snacha, @Lucani, @Eli, @Smoke Kehman-Abrhen. I don't think I'll put any time limit for rounds as long as everyone is on top of it. It's a good time to impress Thuringwethil though! <3

Thuringwethil called them together once she'd found them. The small herd of deer swept back around to the eastern side of the mountain that faces Kildeer Rest. Once she deterred the pack wolf from the trail, she took it upon herself to follow what tracks he'd been following. When it came to the survival of her own wolves, she’d choose them over the others every time. Shorting his pack of a potential meal wouldn’t weight heavily on her shoulders when she sees her own filling their bellies. 

She remains back across the clearing where she watches the deer mingle through the tree line and minding their own business. Ducking behind a dense thicket, waiting for her own to come. Quickly, quietly, she urged in her call and while they begin to show up, one by one, she studies each one to see those who’d shine their hunter skills for the good of their new makeshift family.

Smoke was on the borders when he heard the call, patrolling. There was an urgency to it, but it was also unusually dulled. There was one of two possibilities, either his new found leader was in some sort of danger, or there was a hunt a-foot. Both of which filled him with excited, but he obviously hoped it was the latter of the two as he stomach grumbled at the thought. It had been a long time since he had company enough to bring down any kind of hoofed animal. The largest meal he had recently was fish he caught from the stream and that was few and far between as his fishing skills left much to be desired. 

Running of rocks, snow and the occasion patch of snow-less moss he approached as quietly as he could manage trotting with light feet on the ground. In the distance he saw the dark female and the tracks and smiled, it was a hunt! His tongue lolled out of his mouth for a second but he quickly recoiled it back into jaws and made himself presentable for his leader. He said nothing as he approached in the interest of not scaring prey away, he simply tipped his head in respect and awaited his instructions.

Lucani was almost at the midway point of the mountain called Sleeping Dragon when she heard the howl. She'd been following the dim but distinctive smell of a herb known to alleviate nausea. But she could always pick up the scent again later – her Alpha had need of the pack, and Lucani was one of its first packmates. So she turned and set a fast pace, first following the direction from which the howl resonated, then following the scents of Thuringwethil and Smoke, then, finally, seeing them both beneath the cover of some tangle thickets.

She quietly noted that the leader's leg seemed to be in good condition – it appeared that Lucani's remedy had not failed her.

Slightly out of breath, but elegant and in good shape for a bit of hunting, Lucani slunk towards the Alpha's other side, her stance submissive but quietly amicable, raring to go.

Snacha was a ghost, a shadow of Thuringwethil these days, silent but deadly when needed. The youth was ever present, ghosting through the pines and rocky outcrops of the sleeping dragon territory at will, combing and learning the territory by heart, committing it to memory in order to serve the heda more appropriately.  So when Thuring called forth the wolves to hunt and feast, Snacha was nearby and arrived beside her quietly, her brown eyes dark and distant.

She studied the others as well, noting the ones who arrived first, the way in which they each looked upon Thuring (friendly, hostile, indifferent, excited, etc), cataloging each with the bearer of such emotion in her mind. Each would be stored away for future use. For now, Snacha waited with the heda for the others to form and a hunt to begin. For her own sake, Snacha would remain with Thuring, for her own hunting skills were poor, especially when it came to larger game. She was small and willowy, especially after her weeks of lonesome travel. It would do no good to break herself upon a deer now.

Sorry for the wait!

The call of his commander reached Eili miles away on the western border, where the Sleeping Dragon intermingled with Frostfire Ridge.  It was difficult to distinguish were the territory actually began and where it ended,  but Eli put no complex thought into the matter and took a paint by numbers strategy, so to speak, with his urine. He followed already preestiblished makers and only aimed to strengthen the claim of the pack; it wasn't his place to extend their reach.  

He dropped his duties as soon as he heard the call and took off in a lope towards it's source, his commander.

He ran at a heavy and plodding pace, bearing witness to his size.  By the time he arrived he was already short of breath.  It seemed he had been the last to arrive and Eli waited in silence for his next orders, hoping to not deley the hunt any further.

No posting order.

They show up rather quickly at first, Eli trailing along behind them, scanning across her group before cutting sharp to the male. Thuringwethil does not linger on him long and instead moves to present to her the prey ahead. They’d been able to pick up on it before now, unable to hide what is in the distance, but their purpose is clear: food. It had been some time since she’d been able to indulge in big game, warmth surrounding her rather than small bones poking at her and fur getting in the way. 

None of them speak up first, leaving her to dish out instructions. She slowly turns her gaze away and moves to an opening in the thicket. The deer ahead picked through the brush in their tree line but two meanders away further into the opening. Thuringwethil turns to Snacha and urges her around. 

“I will come from here, startling them into Snacha and Lucani. They will be between them and their herd, shooting them back toward me and,” she tells the two women before turning toward Eli and Smoke and jerks her nose the way they’d come. “You two will come from that way, cutting off their passage. We’ll get whichever is easiest,” she adds. Whichever of the two breaks away to the most wolves would be their target.

Lucani gave a swift nod of obedience and understanding to Thuringwethil, then turned her gaze to Snacha. She didn't know the youngster, but she'd met her and she seemed to be under the guidance of Snacha — which of course meant that she'd insist upon holding her own. But no matter how capable Snacha turned out to be, there was no escaping the fact that she was an inexperienced hunter. For this reason, Lucani silently promised to look out for the girl throughout their first pack hunt.

Snacha nodded, understanding her place among this group hunt. Her brown eyes turned toward Lucani and she nodded a greeting, stepping closer toward her, but not far from Thuringwethil. She would not stray from the heda until the hunt truly began. It was not in her nature to venture far from the heda, but she knew that as time wore on and the pack grew, so would her duties as second. Perhaps that would be a good thing, but seeing as she was very young and didn't know these others yet, she would trust few wolves around the commander until they proved themselves trustworthy.

Smoke took a quick look at Eli, then back to his Alpha and nodded. Then he cast his silver eyes yonder at the delectable meal grazing in the distance. He smiled to himself, savouring the moment, the sheer thrill and adrenaline rush of a hunt. Normally Smoke was a gentle creature, but in every wolf stirred a predator at the time of the hunt, something primal started to awake within him and unfurl it's violent wings. He scratched the ground lightly beneath his paws and closed his eyes as he felt it shift and move and he imagined himself at one with everything.

The young leader urges everyone off to their spots, encouraging Snacha to go with Lucani so they can keep the two split, and Eli and Smoke takes off back the way they’d come a little to break them up when they push. Thuringwethil stands there for a few moments as her attention turns away from her wolves and out, instead, to the herd they sought to break up. With a swish of her tail, she hunkers down a few minutes.

When all the movement stops, Thuringwethil launches forward, making a wide circle to open up the expanse toward Smoke and Eli. The deer caught up to the sudden attack and scrambled back, pivoting back toward their herd where the dark wolf hopes the two females had taken their destinations.

Please reply by Saturday, February 6th. :) @Lucani, @Snacha, @Smoke, @Eli. Hopefully we can close this in 2-3 more rounds.

Lucani was keen to speak to Snacha one day and have a proper conversation with the young thing, but now was certainly not the time. She devoted some extra concentration to keeping an eye on Snacha as they took their places, but relaxed as it seemed the girl was quite capable.

Poised and still, she awaited her part in the action — and then it came to them, the deer heading straight for them. Coarse fur bristling, Lucani made her move forward, snapping and savage in a bid to get the deer to fly towards its ultimate fate as planned.

I'm gonna wrap it up here since the interest died down. :)

It happened quickly. The deer ran back toward the heard but she saw Lucani intercept them and expected Snacha to be somewhere nearby. She doesn’t have time to look for the rest of the group because the deer pivoted back and dart the opposite direction, stuck somewhere between the leader and her wolves. Eventually one deviates enough that she’s able to chase it into the snapping jaws of the two males, wearing it down and taking the prey down. Thuringwethil comes up on the rump, helping keep the creature down while the final blow is taken, the body lifeless on the ground.

Thuringwethil gets her fill above the others, leaving it to the rest of them to who is next in the informal hierarchy of the group. She watches them and smiles, before she returns to the mountain with whatever is left to store in their caches.