Porcupine Ridge munchiez

hunting thread? (: Or if you need a trade thread I'll happily help out <3 Anyone is welcome to join in!

The sun disappointed as usual today. Jhala decided she was sick and tired of sleeping in such a make-shift creation. It was well past time, she decided, that she started to dig a serious den. The ground was frozen and snowed over and the dark girl was struggling to make a dent in the surface. She knew, however, that once she broke through it would probably get a bit easier... she at least hoped. For now she had began to dig from the inside of her tree-den, making the entrance a bit more secluded. She had managed to get a decently sized hole, although she knew it would not do just yet.

In her slight frustration (and somehow success), Jhala decided it was time for a break and further discovered she was actually rather hungry. The girl gazed around curiously for any signs of prey, and then raised her nose to sniff out anything near. She soon found (after a bit of walking) that there were a couple of rabbits not too far off. The girl wagged her tail happily, lowering her head to follow the trail and setting off. 

like jhala, vuk had also found a den for herself and ilea. she had continued to return and use various objects to strengthen the sides of the shelter, lest a storm rage across the ridge. hunger gnawed at her as she returned from one such trip -- vuk began to cast her proverbial net for a scent, ranging through the drifts.

what she found was jhala, whom she had not met, though she had heard the other speak at the pack meeting. giving a low chuff, vuk greeted her packmate with proper deference.

The white girl interrupted Jhala's focus, although it was not a serious matter. She raised her head (and body) at her approach but let her tail wag in a relaxed manner- she was going to hunt, not to show her dominance over the lower ranks. She recognized her, vaguely, and although she knew the names of most of the wolves in the pack, this was not one she knew. Perhaps she'd seen her at the pack meeting Taggarik held, although she did not hear her speak. Truthfully, Jhala reminded herself that she was pretty much the only one who did speak and let the topic drop from her head.

"Afternoon," she greeted curiously, her head tilting. "I'm Jhala," she introduced, although did not ask for a name in return. It was pretty common courtesy to introduce yourself to your packmates; she assumed that the white girl would as well.

"Care to join me? I've picked up the scents of some rabbits."

jhala -- vuk already knew the other's title, having been given it by taggarik. nevertheless, she gave a low woof, tail waving in a friendly way. "i ... vuk," she rejoined. in her spare and private moments, the pale girl had been speaking aloud to herself, attempting to improve what little speech could muster. her pride was evident in the dart of her eyes briefly to jhala's own, and she sidled to the other's side with a nod.

rabbits she could catch -- she was rather fast, though unaware of such, and modest of her own abilities. awaiting jhala's lead, she took the scent of the small, furred creatures into her nares, anticipation building.

The girl spoke with little words, and Jhala found herself in the same situation she was with their tawny beta. It was fascinating! It seemed that Vuk understood speech though, and that made communication a lot easier- even if she didn't return much of the conversation. "It's a pleasure, Vuk," she replied to the quiet girl, her tail flicking a bit.

There was a brief exchange of direct contact, and the pupils of amber pair of eyes shrunk significantly. She almost growled, but the contact was so minuscule she let it slip. Instead her tail rose a bit and she further ignored the comment. Something of the girl seemed proud, and although Jhala was not one to care so heavily about ranks- she preferred not to feel disrespected. Regardless, she moved on, turning back towards her hunt and motioning for the girl to follow, and follow she did.

The pair sniffed along, and Jhala occasionally would stop and raise her head to look around, ears raised. The scent grew closer, but she could not see them just yet. She would lower it back towards the trail close to the ground and continue on, looking to Vuk to see if the pale girl had seen anything she hadn't.

it seemed she had angered the other with her pride regarding her ability to speak more than she had previously, and the girl visibly wilted as she followed jhala. she would not speak again, her minute confidence flagged into the ground. the girl began to cast about for scents, berating herself for looking into the eyes of a wolf higher-ranked than herself. 

so distracted was vuk that she found nothing, and so glanced toward jhala apologetically, though her gaze immediately fell to the earth, as not to annoy the other again. in that moment, a foolish rabbit chose that time to dash across the path of the wolves, and the eta gave chase unthinkingly.

Somehow Vuk seemed offended that she had offended her... or maybe just sad... Jhala couldn't tell and maybe she didn't really care that much- she didn't know the girl and quite frankly had no means of cheering her up. The dark girl had no idea that Auk was so proud of her ability to speak (or what little she could), and especially not that she had practiced so hard on her own. She just hoped it'd settle to normal again. Focusing back on the hunt, the girl moved forward with confidence - two wolves was better than one. 

The rabbits flashed by, and before Jhala had a chance to quickly give out a game plan Vuk had ran. The next one leapt quickly behind, darting to the left rather than following behind. The black and white beta took that one, leaving the pale girl to hopefully know what she was doing.

the little thing was quick by nature, and made faster still, but vuk had faith in her abilities. her thin form made for a streamlined dynamic, and with a flurry of snow and a cut-off scream, the wolfess surfaced from a drift with the hapless leveret still kicking weakly in her grasp. 

vuk turned back to her hunting-partner, wondering if jhala had succeeded also, and felt the tug of the snow at her ankles as she trotted back toward the girl. her eyes had come alight again; if she remembered to be more deferential, perhaps she would avoid again offending the other wolfess.

Vuk had succeeded, and the dark beta knew it from the deathly scream of the dying creature. Jhala pushed hard off the snowy ground, a light growl escaping her throat as she did so. The two leapt over branches and bushes until finally the larger had caught up. With a powerful snap of light jaws and perfect chompers, the girl bit hard upon the things behind- crushing it's hips and dropping the now-handicapped creature to finish off the job with a quick shake of it's neck. 

Jhala returned to Vuk, tail wagging, happy to see that the two had both caught their prey. "Aaaye!" she exclaimed, her ears perking. "Thank GOD too. I'm fuckin' starving," the girl then exclaimed, perhaps too loudly for the silent girl- but really she didn't really care. "Wanna join?" she then asked, sitting.

vuk wagged her tail also, joining jhala at the killsite. the other was a robust and loud creature, but the pale girl didn't mind -- she enjoyed spending time with her packmates, noting the differences between them. so she bit into her rabbit smilingly, and thumped her tail against the snow as she ate. the wolves of the ridge were well-fed; even when hunts were missed, the caches were full. vuk suspected that their good eating had much to do with taggarik's personal work in ensuring there was an abundance of all-weather prey here before settling. 

she wanted to joke, to gossip about who it was their handsome alpha male would take as a mate this year, if not capriccio, but sadly, she hadn't the words.

Jhala was pleased to see the girl join her, and her tail thumped against the ground. Almost subconsciously, the dark beta made sure to stuff the dead creature in her mouth before Vuk did- it was a sign of dominance, regardless of how graceless it was. Munching happily on the limp thing, the girl found herself watching the pale wolf with curiosity. "You're quiet," she commented, but her tail wagged behind her and her amber eyes showed nothing but the warmth they usually held. "I kinda like it. The other Beta is quiet too- but I don't think he even understands anyone," she began. Surely this wolf wanted to hold a conversation right? Maybe she just didn't have the means to- or the confidence.

With a quick tilt of her head. "Whaddya think of him? I think he's pretty handsome," she revealed. Her question wasn't one that requested a true answer- if the girl could speak then Jhala would listen, but if not a simple head motion would do.

the beta. vuk recalled the fight against terich-mir, and how the other had graciously conceded. taggarik had supported the ascension also. the agouti man had romped with her and anwyl prior to the rank challenge -- she had gotten a good sense of his attitude then, and though silent, he spoke many tomes with the movements of his body. 

at jhala's contention that the man was handsome, vuk flushed beneath her pale fur and nodded vigorously, grinning. the silence of the beta male only compounded his attractiveness -- she wondered, not for the first time, if he would be allowed to mate in the spring, and if so, who he would choose to be the mother of his children. 

for that matter, would capriccio, so stung by taggarik's behaviour, allow another female to bear young if she herself was chosen by the alpha male? it was all so convoluted.

Auk seemed to have a lot of opinions on the situation, and Jhala only laughed at her eagerness to agree. "You think so too?" she offered playfully, tongue lolling as her tail beat against the ground. "What about Tagg?" she asked curiously, her head tilting as she waited for another reaction. "He's like- dark and quiet and stuff, but also formal and like, reserved," she added, still smiling happily as she conversed with her new and silent friend. 

again, vuk flushed. taggarik was also very handsome, but beneath the fierce stare of his alpha female. tilting her head to one side, the scarred wolfess decided to attempt conversation with jhala. "cap ... ri?" she intoned, hoping that the other would take her meaning.

the pair of them, among others, might admire the beauty of their male leader all they wished, but it was clear that a mate would perhaps not be tolerated at this time, if ever. vuk smirked mischievously at her comrade. "you? who..?"

Jhala nodded, pleased to hear the girl speak and believing she understood the language quite well. "Oh I don't think Taggarik would chose any of us over her," she told the girl bitterly, although logically the other thought the same. "I mean, power breeds power right?" she teased, tail wagging. "Besides, I don't think the rest of us are even allowed to breed, he told me himself," she continued, thinking back somewhat bitterly to the conversation she had with the alpha. Not that she wanted pups right now, or even could right now, but she had always kind of liked the idea of having a family. She disliked that that wasn't within her power.

"Me?" she then responded, a little shocked. "Well.. have you met Anwyl? He said he liked me," she revealed somewhat pridefully, a bit of blush warming her cheeks. "But I dunno how that's gonna play out, ya know? It's not like we be anything serious here or whatever," she added, a little sadly. Jhala spoke a lot more than Vuk, but she was now just trying to speak to answer any questions she felt the other might have. She seemed to have a lot to say, and little means to express it. "What about you?" she the asked, veering the conversation away from her own worries. "You got a man?" her eyebrows waggling mischievously. 

vuk, though she did not wish for children presently, heard the tones of jhala's voice, and reached to nuzzle her friend sympathetically. to be withheld the chance for a family -- vuk did not understand such, though capriccio could be quite cold. but taggarik -- to say such. vuk felt keenly jhala's plight, and sought the girl's eyes with a look of empathy in her own.

anwyl. vuk nodded, arching a brow, pleased to move to happier conversation. she gave a smile as jhala described the slow courtship, but shook her head firmly when the other wolfess inquired into her own love-life. "no," she answered, laughing gently.

"You don't?!" Jhala exclaimed (somewhat dramatically in the fun of the conversation) "I don't believe it, Vuk!" the girl continued, rolling onto her side in faux exasperation. "Now really share the hot goss," she teased her still, rolling back onto her stomach but rester her head on her paws, looking up at the white fae with a silly expression. 

"I'm jus playing," she finally stated, still smiling with amusement at herself and looking to her feet. "I wouldn't be surprised if some hot babe came in lookin for you any minute now!" Jhala winked, her tail wagging playfully. She appreciated the other's empathy for her, even though she couldn't tell if she really felt the same- it's not like she said it. Vuk was pretty- but to a girl who thought everyone but herself so that wasn't saying much- and she seemed sweet. It was unbelievable to Jhala that she hadn't already found a mate- if that was even allowed, she still couldn't decide what was allowed other than no pups.

vuk would have been appalled to hear jhala's opinion of herself was so low; she was curved and honeyed in all the correct places, whilst vuk herself was a bundle of angles and bones barely having reached maturity. still she laughed with her friend, flopping theatrically into the snow as well. if she had to choose, it would be their nameless leader, and so presently vuk pretended to look around them for eavesdroppers, then leant close.

"beta," she muttered, flushing. "i like." curse her shattered speech.

Jhala leaned in, half expecting to hear something or another of some random subordinate- unfortunately she'd been slacking in meeting the newest of the Porcupine crew- and was shocked to hear that it was in fact her co-rank. The girl's ears perked, and she pulled her head back with a smile. "No kiddin'," she replied kindly, but was ultimately bothered by the fact that she had picked such a primal man to fall in love with. Granted, Vuk didn't talk much herself- but the Beta couldn't even understand language. What could he offer her besides the gross love stuff that adults did? And could he even do that? 

She couldn't say much, she and Anwyl could never really be anything that important- he was a lower rank and she had no permission to breed. 

"You're pretty ambitious," Jhala finally said, her tail thumping on the ground. She meant no harm by her words, but she hoped her silent, white friend understood. 

ambitious. for a second vuk did not understand; then her eyes widened and she shook her muzzle animatedly. "no, no, no!" she exclaimed, ears folding back against her head. "not ... want ... she had no designs on her friend's rank; she had honestly forgotten that jhala shared it with the nameless wolf. hoping she had not upset the other wolf again, vuk was silent for a moment.

but jhala liked someone from a lower rank -- she didn't have any intentions for the beta. in vuk's mind, the ranks and mateship were not related, but she herself had no aspiration to lead the ridge. and, as jhala had said, taggarik was not granting the right to breed.

The other didn't understand what she'd meant, and so Jhala shrugged. "I didn't think you did," she responded quietly, giving her a smile in hopes to calm her nerves a bit. As a strong breeze blew by, the girl found herself quieted and calmed. She stared into the territory for a minute before he tailed began to beat against the ground. "I think I'm gonna do some patrolling," she told Vuk, smiling and standing. "You can come if you wanna," she added, and then turned to leave, leaving the invitation open.

last post for me! phew this has been open for a while

their conversation had ended, but vuk was left with the sensation that she had overlooked something in their discussion. yet she nodded gently at jhala, before she turned and padded after the beta, pleased to be in the other's company.