Redhawk Caldera white knuckles

maybe someone Eljay hasn't met yet? @Aduin @Currawong @Allure ? :) but all welcome!

Eljay was thinking about his encounter the other day with Nightjar. He knew that Nightjar didn't like him, and though he hadn't openly admitted to knowing this, it was clear as day that Nightjar didn't like him at all. When thinking of his youth, Eljay mostly remembered Wifi and Raven being there, and never Nightjar. He wondered why Nightjar didn't like him, and considered efforts to try and mend whatever was broken between them, unaware that it was unlikely it was anything he could fix. Bringing flowers was a thought, but Eljay didn't think that Nightjar liked flowers as much as Eljay did. And it wasn't like he could hunt anything by himself yet to show Nightjar that he was a helpful member of the pack, and offer him something to eat... It was a pickle of a situation that Eljay wasn't sure how to bite through.

At the age of eight months, Eljay had started to explore a little bit more on his own, but he still didn't enjoy the thought of being anywhere without mommy or daddy. Still, he knew that they wanted him to be more on his own and so he did on-his-own-things, even if it wasn't what he wanted to do. It was what mommy and daddy wanted and therefore it was important to him, too.

Today Eljay shuffled around the territory, trying to think of things he could do to impress Nightjar somehow. He wasn't even sure why he wanted Nightjar to like him so badly. It was probably because Eljay really hated the thought that someone didn't like him, and he was a natural pleaser. While lost in thoughts, Eljay suddenly saw a flash of grey. With a gasp he realised that it was a squirrel right ahead and he lowered his rump to the side, butt awkwardly swaying in the air, while he prepared for the chase. The squirrel had noticed him, but just sat and nibbled on something on the ground, seemingly aware that Eljay would be of little threat to it.

Zicorro was softly padding through the forest, alert and ready for any dangers. She caught a glimpse of something grey and furry. A squirrel! Maybe she could impress the pack by catching one (she had never caught anything before) She got ready, flopping into a sloppy stance that her dog friend had taught her, licking her fangs at the thought of her pack's impressed faces.

thanks for joining! :)

Eljay's tongue poked from his mouth while he tried to focus, eyes squinted into little slits. I'm gonna make you proud, mommy, and daddy, and uncle P, he thought to himself, even though he had no clue on how to approach. When he noticed the squirrel twitch suddenly, Eljay let out a little gasp and he came into motion instantly. He didn't want a repeat of the rabbit debacle, even though he did pretty much exactly the same as he did then. The squirrel noticed him and started to dash off. Eljay started to chase it, but it was headed straight for a tree and he wasn't sure he would be able to catch it in time if nothing happened to change his odds...

Zicorro was about to pounce, but all of a sudden, the squirrel started running right at her. She was startled, but she quickly slammed a paw down on the squirrels head, cracking its neck. She quickly bit is neck, to finish it off. Zicorro laid the squirrel down, and silently thanked it for letting her take its life. Wait. She sniffed. A stranger. She softly growled "Who's there?".

Eljay quickened his pace, but just as he thought he was making a chance of catching the squirrel, another wolf intercepted. "Oh, hamburgers, " Eljay muttered to himself, feeling frustrated that he didn't catch the prey -- again. He looked at the female in front of him as she snapped the squirrel's neck, making off with his food.

Licking his lips, Eljay approached further when the female asked who was there. "Me. I was gonna catch that..." He looked down at the squirrel the female caught, wishing that it was him who had. Then he could have victoriously carried it to mommy and daddy and made them proud.

Zicorro smiled. It was the cute young wolf she had seen in camp. "Oh. You can have it......  Wait, whats your name? She flicked her ears forward, gesturing for him to take the dead prey. "Wait. Do you smell that?" "It smells like...... INURED DEER!" Zicorro smiled, and tossed the squierrl to him. "Come on! Lets go bring that Elk back to camp together!" 

Eljay was completely taken aback by how forward the female that had taken the squirrel was. She was all over the place, and his ears flattened while he tried to cope with it. She did smell of the leaders of the pack, so Eljay was sure she was a legit member of the pack, at least. "Uhm," he mumbled, but before he could actually give her his name she moved onto other subjects. She offered the squirrel, and Eljay considered the idea of pretending like he had caught it to impress mommy and daddy.

Before Eljay could decide, the female said that she picked up the scent of an injured deer. He sniffed the air, and though he smelled blood, he didn't think the two of them stood any chance at all. Especially since he was rubbish. "I don't, um... I'm not good at hunting at all. And it's just the two of us. We should call others, maybe someone is near?" Eljay carefully laid down the suggestion, hoping that she would pick up on it. Things could only go wrong if he tried to hunt himself, emphasised by the churning feeling in his gut.

Zicorro could see the confused expression on his face. Oh no. She did it again. Whenever she gets happy, she can get a little bit too happy. She instantly laid back her ears, and focused on the ground. But then she hard a distinct moaning of a dying deer. She turned in the direction of which the sound was coming from, her shame instantly forgotten. There. The brown body of a buck was slumped by a bush, shaking and moving. She knew there was a deer near by. The deer appeared to have its leg stuck in a crevice. Look. she gestured to the buck. Come on, this will be an easy kill. She looked at the wolf, waiting for a response.

Eljay hesitantly followed the other wolf when she moved closer to the sound of the deer, but everything in his mind screamed at him that it was a trap, that they would get hurt, that deer hooves could hurt real hard. He'd seen the elk rattle around Pan at that one hunt. It just couldn't go well! "No!" he called out, his voice rising to a pitched squeak. "We can't! We'll get hurt! I don't wanna die!" Eljay would feel ridiculous for the last one later, no doubt, but at that moment his panic was speaking and he wasn't about to risk his hide for a deer that, while stuck, still looked very much like it could kick his butt with the remaining three hooves.

Zicorro shook her head, smiling. If you won't do it, then I will.  Before the little wolf could do any thing, Zicorro scampered off towards the deer.

---

I'm sorry that my posts are so short. I am studying for an important test.

It should've relieved Eljay that he no longer had to help the female, but he knew that life wasn't that easy. Even if the deer was stuck, one adult alone was likely to get hurt if there was no one to help. Eljay felt panic rise and he had difficulty breathing when the female said that he no longer needed to come because she would do it alone.

He followed her as she went, his breathing still shallow and not one hair on his body considering getting within kicking distance of the prey. "Please just call someone else to help! A pack's gotta help each other! This is stupid, you're gonna get hurt if you try it alone!" Eljay choked out, his words broken up with little emotional sobs that indicated how seriously bothered he was by this. He felt really dumb for being so emotional over a potential situation that hadn't even happened yet, but couldn't help himself as he fretted over this unknown pack mate's life and health.

Zicorro winced at the wolf's words. She could do this! She sneaked up close to the deer, and then she jumped on it's back, digging her claws into it's flesh. The buck resisted, whipping his head back and forth, and struggling under Zicorro's strong grip. The more it struggled, the weaker is got. She bit it's neck, digging her teeth deep into it's flesh. With a last mighty heave, the buck threw off Zicorro, her body slamming down 5 feet away. The buck collapsed into a gigantic heap of blood and fur. Zicorro wasn't moving.

As the female walked off alone, Eljay didn't know what to do. He rose his head and called panickedly for whichever adult was near, particularly hoping that day @Elwood or mommy @Finley , or maybe aunt and uncle @Peregrine or @Fox were nearby to either stop this from happening or help the female so that she wouldn't get hurt.

Eljay flattened his body to the ground with tears threatening to spill from his eyes. From behind a couple of loose rocks he watched the scene unfold, and halfway through when the female slammed against the ground he tightly closed his eyes while letting out an audible yelp. All the muscles in Eljay's body were tensed and he stayed in place, tightly keeping his eyes closed while he breathed rapidly and shallowly. He didn't even realise that it was over yet and that the other wolf needed his help, so withdrawn was he into his own psyche.

There was panic in Eljay's voice when he called for an adult, so Elwood wasted no time in responding. He galloped down the slope, hitting the flatlands running. At first, he didn't see Eljay anywhere -- but a yelp drew his attention and he looked to the left, where he spotted the youth cowering behind an outcropping of rocks. Confusion flickered across Elwood's face as he quickly appraised his son; he didn't seem to be hurt.

He stepped towards Eljay, then became aware of the others nearby. When he turned, he saw two figures lying still on the ground -- an elk and a reddish wolf. His heart leapt into his throat; he immediately assumed it was Fox's prone form he was gazing at. But the white stockings on the female's legs revealed that she was not the Alpha female after all, but Zicorro. He was relieved, at least for the moment.

"Eljay, what happened?" he called over his shoulder as he moved cautiously towards Zicorro. The elk was still alive, but wasn't in good shape. She was, too; there was no evidence of outward injury, so it appeared that she was simply unconscious. He nudged her gently, wishing that the pack had a medic to assess the situation. "I think she'll be okay. She must've hit her head," he said, looking back to see if Eljay had come out of his hiding spot.

Daddy! Eljay's heart skipped a beat as daddy swooped in to save the day. Daddy soon found Eljay, and Eljay nipped daddy's chin submissively, ears folded back, while his tail whirred happily in relief. "Daddy! I told her not to, but she wouldn't listen! " he squeaked. He looked at the girl whose name he never got, who didn't look very good. Eljay didn't know anything about taking care of anyone else, either. He wished that there was something that he could do for her, even though he'd told her not to go

Eljay squeezed his face against daddy's chest, burrowing his face in his fur, and murmured: "Wanna go home! hoping that daddy would take him home now. He wasn't sure they even could, though, because there was still the elk and even if she came to soon he wasn't sure they could leave the girl to her own devices either.

i guess we can pp zicorro coming to and running off maybe, as it would be the easiest way to pp her as little as possible? Thanks for salvaging this thread! <3

:)

Eljay moved to close the gap between himself and his father, and as Elwood watched him approach, Zicorro suddenly came to. Abruptly, while the Beta wasn't paying attention, she took to her feet and stole away -- so when he turned back, the elk was alone. He blinked in confusion, though his gaze fell on her receding red figure long enough to draw his brows together.

"Huh. She must be alright, then," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. What a bizarre turn of events. In any case, there was a dying animal to tend to. There was no way he was going to leave the buck for scavengers to pick apart. Deftly and without feeling, he ended its life with an unceremonious snap of his teeth, then issued instructions to Eljay.

"Can you help me take some of this meat to storage?" he asked, even as he seized its lower leg joint and yanked. With the bone in his mouth, he cast one last glance in the direction that Zicorro had gone, then shuffled towards the nearest cache.

Eljay hoped that daddy would say that everything was okay and that he had done the right thing, but instead daddy focused on the situation at hand rather than his son's distress. Eljay quietly followed daddy to the corpse when requested to help, and he started to follow his father's instructions so they could bring the meat to storage.

my last post :3 feel free to post again or archive as is ^^