Morningside Cuesta fallen sun

Hunting for pheasants! Come join me. :D

She sleeps well after filling her belly. The slumber is like that of the dead; she does not move, and her breathing is at such a slow and steady interval that on more than one occasion, ravens flock to where she lays. The stench of the doe upon her body is somewhat discombobulating, and the smarter of the birds departs with a shriek. Damascus does not stir.

Not until a violent shout erupts upon the wind. This jerks her in to a wakeful state - and she is up on her paws, stretching, scoping the landscape, and shaking the sleep from her bones. After a moment to yawn she makes sure to keep quiet, and then listens - but whatever made the noise must have quieted. Or perhaps she had imagined it? No matter.

The girl begins to explore the territory more thoroughly, then. Something to pass the time and acclimatise her to the new surroundings. Sunspot has given her a little tour, but Damascus still doesn't know everything. She keeps herself within the limits of the cuesta and investigates the smells and sights of summer - eager to find something to chase, or maybe even fight.

Damascus was not the only one to be startled by the shout; Sunspot had been happily rolling around in some deer faeces when her brother awoke from his slumber, and had jumped up right as a quartet of pheasants had burst out of the tall, dry grasses several hundred yards away. The huntress stared after them until they landed, and then set off in that direction at a brisk trot.

Halfway there, her path crossed with a familiar faces.

"Hey," she chirped, tail wagging as she drew nearer to the other female. "Whatchya up to?"

And like magic, Damascus got her wish.
The birds burst out of the undergrowth with an array of flapping wings, clucks, gutteral squawks, and absolutely no sense of direction. She seized up as soon as the wave of fowl crested the hillside, turning her attention from them straight to the wolfish figure beyond; when Sunspot was nearer (a mere second or two later) Damascus' tail was up and wagging. Her ears were turned to wherever the birds had gone off to, although she remained attentive to her friend.

Exploring, mostly. You spooked me coming out from nowhere - but that was mostly the birds, and a few of them had already escaped to somewhere safe and wolf-free. But now that you're here, wanna help me take down a few of these dumb things? To be honest, Damascus had never hunted for small things like this before; the larger-than-life woman needed lots of meat to stay in fighting shape, so hares and small critters were off the menu unless she was incredibly desperate.

The birds were small, quick, and mindless. It wasn't a deer, but surely Sunspot had some tricks up her proverbial sleeve that she could share?

Sunspot did an energetic dance. "Duh," she laughed, starting forward once more. "Where'd you think I was going? Anywhere you can find a nice pile of feathers, you can find me!"

She was practically salivating just thinking about all those feathers. There was something about the taste and smell and feel of them that just sent her into a frenzy - a few minutes around feathers and she was a puppy again. She could still remember taking down that first turkey with Grayday and Shale - they'd left the meat and had simply romped in the feathers for hours. Must be something in our genes, 'cause mom just joined in when she found us, the woman mused, tail wagging as she thought back on that happy time.

She slowed to a silent slink as they drew nearer to the Landing Zone. Her eyes sparkled as they darted toward Damascus. How do you want to do this? they seemed to ask.

sorry for the delay! been working too hard x_x

Her ears splayed backwards initially, but when she took in to account the jovial tone of her friend, she relaxed. The birds held her attention far more anyways, and she was shifting her eyes from the motion of the fleeing birds to Sunpot's dancing silhouette, then back again. Pacing towards them while her friend spoke, she showed an eagerness to her gait and raise of tail which hinted that they should quit the yappin' and start the chasin'.

One look from Sunspot - caught in her periphery just in time - and Damascus shot away from her; yes, her steps were lumbering and bear-like, but they served to startle the birds again. This time they scattered, for the large woman went vaulting in to the heart of the flock. Their voices were a chorus of awkward chuckling as they scattered - some towards the waiting Sunspot, some trying to fly with those too-big wings, others just careening in to one another like the dumb things they were.

Sunspot cheered when Damascus scared the pheasants, causing them to all take flight once more. From there, it was a mad, confusing dash. The huntress giggled around a mouthful of bird, only to drop it like a hot potato as soon as another one flitted past her face.

When there were no more feathers flying, she glanced around and did a quick tally.

"That four for me," she bragged, gathering them all up into a pile. "How'd you do?"

She was looking around again already, wondering how difficult it would be to track down those that'd gotten away. It wasn't very sporting of them, nor was it very good for the pheasant population, but where there were feathers, there was Sunspot.