Heron Lake Plateau It's never been the lens that I see through

Wee hunt, for giggles. Open to a max of 3 more wuffs, just t keep it moving quickly; will go for next round onnnnn the 30th or when 3 others have replied, whichever comes first. Will do a dice roll then to see if it's successful or nay.

While Niamh was a capable hunter, a deer wasn't something she could bring down on her own. She sent up a high pitched call when she noticed the tracks of a small herd, freshly dimpling the snow along the borders, with the intention of instigating a hunt. She was hungry- she was almost always hungry- and a rabbit wasn't going to cut it that morning. No, she wanted something much more substantial, and she didn't care if she had to forget her recent antisocial behavior and call upon others in order to get it. Hunt didn't generally involve personal talk, and if she could simply gather a few packmates together, bring down a good meal, eat and ditch- she'd be happy. 

The tracks led South, so she simply assumed that the small herd- she thought she could make out the tracks of 6 or 7 deer- was still in the plateau. She chose to wait to gather the others together, though, before tracking them down- lest one of the younger members want to join, and in their inexperience, spook the herd and drive them out of their pack's territories. She figured this was a safe place to gather, before they began to track the deer down. They weren't far away- and they likely would have heard her call, but she intended to approach them from an angle they wouldn't suspect- thereby using her howl as a means of spooking them right into her direction, if they could surpass the herd.

Although he wasn't quite one hundred percent, Phox couldn't exactly resist the call for a hunt. Especially when that hunt indicated there were deer. And even more especially when that call came from Niamh. He hadn't hunted for himself much since the fight with Camilla's captor, but he shoved the thought of her aside for now. Perhaps the hunt would take his mind off of things for a little while. He arrived and waved his tail at Niamh, awaiting to hear what kind of plan she had in mind.

Clover arrived with pep in her step; it had been a long time since she had hunted with a party. Although Phox and his injury didn't go unacknowledged, she offered him a nod, she focused on Niamh.

"-Let's take these fuckers down-," Clover signed, unsure of what was on the menu.

H'okay. So the three of them are all adults, and two of them have the hunter trade. I've decided to use their experience (or lack thereof, had a younger wolf joined the thread) to assign points to sway the outcome of the hunt. Say the hut is out of 15 points, and each immature wolf automatically gets 1 point for presence, each adult gets 2 points...So the more wolves, the higher the liklihood of them getting one. Plus one point per wolf with the hunting trade. So with them having 8 points, that means 1-8 is a success, 9-15 is a failure. And the roll is....(In tabletop in discord)

2! Success!

Niamh waited quietly, roving this way and that over the small herd's tracks, picking up as much information from the amount of hoofprints as she could. She couldn't wait too long- so as soon as she had two friends join her- both the reliable Phox and the vivacious Clover, she nodded, smirking at Clover's comment, and licked her lips. -Deer's on the menu tonight,- She signed, grateful that this method of communication existed- as it would definitely make for easier, quieter communication for before a hunt. 

She gestured off down the trail the herd had taken. -Let's flank them first, in a V pattern.- She volunteered, as a plan. -Then we can make our choise, and the two of us at the flanks can head the herd back toward the other at the apex. Sound okay?- She asked.

Phox hadn't hung out with Clover since he had gotten back, but he remembered the youth from when she was a very, very small thing. He smiled at her, gave her a returning nod, then focused his attention back on Niamh. She explained the situation, and Phox "listened" as she declared they would be hunting deer.

The Redhawk nodded when she asked if it all sounded okay, then he glanced at Clover, wanting to make sure they were all on the same page before anybody made a move.

Deer—Clover's favorite. "-Oh, fuck yeah,-" she signed in reply. "-It's been ages since I've had fresh deer,-" she elaborated. It was Clover's first time hunting deer but, she'd never let the others know that. She was just as capable as Phox and Niamh, as far as she was concerned. 

Clover watched carefully as Niamh revealed their plan, and nodded once the Gamma sought their approval. "-Yeah, sounds good,-" she confirmed with a smile.

Both wolves agreed with her, so she caught their eyes for a moment, just long enough to signal their positions. She and Clover- the lighter of the three- would be the ones to flank the herd, while Phox would hang back. She would have to rely on him to be the brute strength among them, but she didn't feel as though she'd be disappointed. She felt like she could trust him. 

Unlike her decision to try running a deer off the sharp edges of the plateau- something she would still want to try another day just to see if it worked better with a herd- her hunting tactics for this particular hunt were fairly standard and had been proved, over time, to be functional. She moved forward, arcing away from Clover as she caught sight of the deer in the distance. She moved toward the right side of the herd and gestured for Clover to take the other flank. All they would need to do then would be to wait until PHox was ready, and then circle past the herd and drive them back toward him.

Clover, eloquent as always, expressed her enthusiasm for hunting deer. Phox quirked a brow, but he didn't comment on her colorful language. He then watched as she and Niamh skulked forward toward the deer, looping around so that one would be driven toward him. Eager for the thrill of the hunt, Phox lowered himself further to the ground to conceal his exact whereabouts. It was likely the deer would still sense him, but if it couldn't see him, they had a better chance. Now all he had to do was wait.

Clover understood Niamh's directions—they'd steer the herd towards Phox, who was their most substantial member. She was confident that he could take down a deer. Without another word to the group, Clover did as she had been instructed. Looping left, she flanked the unsuspecting group carefully. When she was close enough to the group, Clover crouched down and looked in Niamh's direction and waited for the next command.

Once she caught sight of a wisp of silver beyond the herd, she knew that Clover had moved into place. They'd looped just past the herd of deer, with Phox holding his position back where the plans had been made. She surveyed the herd, looking for weaknesses- but given that there were three of them, they wouldn't necessarily have to settle for a smaller deer; they could go for a healthy doe, and there were several of those. 

She moved forward, slinking at first, but then transitioned into a trot and then into a gallop as she surged toward the herd, aiming toward the front of the group to spook them into motion toward Phox, with Clover on the other side to keep them from slipping away. So far, things looked promising- and one stray doe had bolted slightly later than the others, so she pushed herself forward, running within the herd, to force her to split away from the others. She would count on Clover to harass the rest of the herd to get away from the selected doe, while Niamh did her best to chase it directly toward Phox.

When the time came, Clover pulled herself forward in tandem with Niamh. She matched her pace, pulling herself from her lowered position to a full-on gallop. Clover continuously glanced between Niamh and the herd, and only began to fully focus on the herd when their target had been found.

"Yah! Keep it movin'!" she bellowed, attempting to separate the herd from the doe that Niamh had selected. Clover kept close to the rear of the group, pacing in a half-circle formation and nipping at the heels of whoever got out of line. She kept her attention undividedly on the herd, trusting Niamh and Phox to do the rest.

Clover's enthusiastic shouts helped to spur the rest of the herd away from the doe that Niamh had singled out, and though it wanted desparately to rejoin them, there was a streak of blonde fur at its flank that continued to snap at its fleeing hocks every time it made to swerve. She could see panic in the whites of its soft brown eyes, and it encouraged her. It was watching her with its peripheral vision, which was perfect- considering that she had it headed almost straight for where she'd left Phox hiding in wait.

/me sneaks back into thread

Phox continued to lay in wait, burnt sienna eyes tracking the herd and eventually spotting the one who was singled out from amongst them. When the time was right, Phox launched himself from the ground and toward the beast, feet slamming hard on the earth below. The doe was beginning to tire, Phox could see that, and he still had plenty of energy stored up. Niamh and Clover had made the job easy for him, and when he finally fell into position, it was easy to jump and grab the throat of the deer.

His jaws clamped down hard, and Phox tasted blood. Death came quickly to the doe, and the pack would feast tonight.

Clover only pursued the herd until she was certain that they wouldn't disrupt Phox and Niamh's work. As they galloped off, presumably taking themselves far from the Redhawk's territory, she skipped to a halt, and bid them farewell with a loud, cheeky, "Buh-BYE!" 

After watching after their retreat for a moment longer, Clover turned to find their success—the doe laid limp, it's neck clamped between Phox's jaws. "Oh, fuck yeah!" she cheered as she pranced towards her packmates, "That was AWESOME!"

Sorry about the wait b'ys- been stupid busy lately, heh.

Niamh didn't see Phox at first, but she saw the deer's reaction. It was surprised by the sudden appearance of another wolf, one larger than the two others who was able to confront it and make an expert grab on it, bringing it to the ground. Niamh snapped at the doe's hocks when it tried to wheel and kick the wolf who had a hold on its throat, but its energy waned quickly, and it sank down, falling prey to their scheme. 

Clover was certainly pleased, and Niamh growled in chorus with her packmate, and nodded. "Yeeee," She said, still practically vibrating from the thrill of the chase. She nodded to Phox and Clover "Good one, guys, we tanked it," She said.

Last one from me!

With their food caught and the three of them lording over the doe, Phox tilted his chin up and called for the rest of the pack to feast. Those who were around to hear it would come running—he was certain of that—and hopefully somebody was thoughtful enough to grab Towhee in the mix as well. Working with Clover and Niamh had been a pleasant experience, and he was happy to dive into the meat as quickly as he could. Whatever was left (if anything at all remained) when the pack was finished would be carefully stored away in a nearby cache.

The Redhawks would not go hungry tonight—they feasted to their heart's content. As Clover chowed down, she couldn't help but feel proud of the work that she, Niamh, and Phox had done.

When the pack was done feasting, Clover helped Phox stock the leftovers in the nearest cache, and eventually parted ways with him once the job was done.