Golden Glade Restless

Feeling restless, Phox had left @Towhee with the kids for the day, sure that they would be in good hands paws. He had been growing restless the past few days, and he knew he needed to get his hunt on. Nothing dangerous, of course, but his tracking eventually led him outside their claimed territory. Once outside the border he felt... a sense of freedom. He didn't feel freedom from Raven, Towhee, or the kids, but from every other member of the pack. Perhaps if Camilla had still been alive, things would have been different. He just didn't have any attachment to anybody else there.

Raven was busy with Quixote, running the pack, and her family, so they rarely got to hang out anyway. When they did, her bratty kids were usually around.

Fig and Fennec were still much too young to move, but a thought crossed his mind as he began trekking a little further south: it wasn't too early to start scouting out the location for their next chapter. Not only that, but he didn't have to announce it to the world. He could simply say he was out hunting. Maybe tracking the herd patterns. Not today, of course. He would need to return before nightfall (hopefully with a few rabbits to show for it), but maybe he could talk Towhee into watching the kids for a longer trip.

Phox moved forward, eyes and ears alert for any prey movement.

Wildfire had suggested that Wraen left the confines of the copse and did some networking, in order to work towards her goal of having a family this time next year. It had been a while, since she had got up from the figurative couch and got out of the door, and it was not easy either. For few days she had prepared herself to go and always something had come up, which made her postpone (gladly, though she would not admit this) her plans. But on the morning, when there was nothing standing in her way, she sighed and left her home behind.

At first she was a little wary of her surroundings, but on the next half an hour she grew used to the fact that she was no longer shielded by the presence of her packmates and Firebirds' claim. She even chuckled at herself for the silly notions about looming danger inside her head, because traveling had always been a part of her life. She crossed the driest part of the bog and made a brief stop at a forest nearby, where she let her gaze wander: seemingly overnight the yellowish brown and grey hues of winter had changed to lush green, the birds were singing, the first flowers were blooming and the air was fresh and crisp, rich with the scent of earth and water. Beautiful and rejuvenating. 

The sound of quiet footfalls nearby caught Wraen's attention and she located the source soon. A man not much younger than her, clad in dark gray pelt was on the prowl of something and, since she felt inclined to find out, whether this "something" was a beast they could hunt in a pair, she approached the fellow. "Anything good?" she asked him.

Somebody approached, and Phox bristled for a brief moment before deciding she wasn't a threat. Not only that, but she smelled like Wildfire, which meant she was likely part of the Firebirds. That made him feel quite a bit more at ease. She asked if there was anything good, which he could only assume she meant for hunting. -Not yet,- he signed, then remembered that she probably didn't "speak" ptero. Not yet, he repeated, this time in regular ol' verbal language.

I'm Phox. My sister, Wildfire, leads the Firebirds. That's where you're from, right? He certainly could have been mistaken, but he was about ninety-nine percent sure he was correct in that assumption. Still, better to ask than to make assumptions, no matter how sure he was about them.

Wraen was unfamiliar with ptero, therefore she interpreted his initial "silent" response as a prolonged pause. Strangely from the moment Phox spoke, she felt at ease with him. Likely due to the fact that he had recognized her as a friendly party from a sister-pack, therefore saving them both awkward formalities.

"Yes, indeed," she nodded in affirmative. "My name's Wraen and - if Wildfire is your sister - then that makes us cousins," she added. "Your father Peregrine was my uncle." Then she was ready to go on with the hunting. "Anyway... Firebirds have many mouths to feed, I believe that Redhawks as well, which leads us to strive for something bigger? And we are lucky, we share it evenly?"

She confirmed that she was with the Firebirds, and furthermore that they were related. Phox blinked at that, having not heard his father's name in quite some time. Not only that, but it had never occurred to him that his mother and father had siblings (even though that made a lot of sense). His parents had always been a mystery to him, and he wanted to know so much about them, but seeing as Wraen changed the topic to hunting, he didn't press it further. Perhaps after the hunt he could bring it up again.

Sounds like a plan, he replied. I think there may be a small herd of deer somewhere around here. He didn't know exactly where, but he'd spotted them yesterday, so they couldn't have gone too far.

"Sounds good to me - let's see, what we can do about it," Wraen liked the idea and, since she had no clue, which way she should go in regards of the deer Phox had spotted, she waited for him to take the lead. She did not reveal the fact that her last deer-hunt had not gone very well, but her paws were healthy and in working order now. Which meant that she had feasible grounds to be optimistic.

"You seem younger than Wildfire," she noted. "I guess you are not from the same litter?"

He knew they wouldn't be able to catch anything super large (not with just the two of them), but if she was a decent hunter, they might be able to take down a younger, smaller, more sickly deer. Hopefully one of those was part of the herd he'd spotted. He took the lead, considering he had been the one to spot the herd, and he assumed Wraen was following close behind.

She asked about his relation to Wildfire, and the Redhawk nodded. She's got a couple of years on me, he said. How is she doing, by the way? I know she came by to see Raven recently about a sore throat. Little did Phox know it would be less than a week before his sister drifted off into the aether.

"She has been better," Wraen replied, having noticed Wildfire's sickness, but not realizing, how serious it truly was. She suspected that Firebirds' alpha was going through some post-pregnancy weakness and that good food and warm weather would do the trick for her. Also she did not know, how much she was at liberty to tell Phox. Even though he was her brother and Redhawks were considered friends... they were rivals as well. 

"And is everyone fine at your home?" she asked, wondering, if there were any news the man would wish for her to bring home and share.

That was good to hear. Phox wasn't particularly close with Wildfire, but she was family, and he did care about her. To her question, he nodded. All hunky dory. Okay, not exactly, but close enough. Nothing was ever one hundred percent okay at the Redhawks, but something told him that wasn't really what Wraen was talking about. In any case, they weren't here for small talk. At least, that's not why Phox was out here.

Up ahead, he said in a lower tone, motioning to the herd of about five deer hanging out. There was a single smaller deer in the herd, and he glanced at Wraen, wondering if she saw it, too.

It had been a while, since Wraen had looked up at anything bigger than a hare during her outings in hunting, therefore she had forgotten that the fawning season of the year had begun. And though the young were well-hidden and keenly guarded by their mothers' and later on herd-members, it was not unheard-of to stumble upon a baby in the grass. And it was an easy prize from there.

The smaller deer Phox had pointed out to, however, was no baby. Perhaps a young animal, who had not fared well during the winter months. The winter this year had been very long and had refused to loosen it's grip on the wilds. Which was a plausible explanation, why this specimen was smaller and weaker looking than the rest. "Plan?" she turned to her companion, since it was his hunt and he was the ringleader.

I rolled a 9/10 for this post, so I'm gonna call it a success on Phox's end!

She asked (in a single word) if he had a plan. Or what his plan was. Either way, he shrugged. He rarely planned these things out too much, preferring to let instinct take over, but he gestured her to the right. Wait here, and I'll try and herd it toward you. That would give Wraen the opportunity to land the final blow, and hopefully it would succeed.

Stalking their prey, he managed to find a moment when the sickly looking deer separated from the herd, and he took that opportunity to swoop in silent and low to the ground, despite his size. By the time the herd noticed him, he was between their target and the rest of the herd. Scattering like cats from water, the one he'd had his eye on was running straight for the spot where he'd left Wraen. Now it was her turn to shine.

Phox was not much of a talker but a doer. Wraen had little time to prepare, when he had succesfully separated their intended prey from the rest of the group. The next moment it was coming in her direction. Feeling a little startled, she retreated few steps, raking her brain for the best choice of action. Odds in any case weren't good for her - she was of small build and even for an injured deer she was not much of a weight that could pull it down.

Still - she did not want to appear bad in front of her cousin, therefore she positioned herself and jumped, aiming to grab the deer's muzzle. She missed it by an inch, her teeth barely grazed it and she had just so much time to jump sideways and not get trampled. She ran after the deer to keep it going in hopes that sooner or later the deer's energy would drain.

Dicerolls are not in Wraen's favour. Phox's call.

Phox could only watch as Wraen went for (and missed) the kill, but if she expected him to be upset at her, she'd be wrong. Blast! he said, though none of his frustration was directed toward her. Phox's energy was already spent, and even though he made a feeble attempt to go after it, he couldn't keep up the pace. He watched as Wraen continued after it, but he was ready to give up on this one. Couldn't win 'em all!

Wraen followed the deer more out of duty than an actual hope of having a second go at it. Once she sensed that Phox had already given up, she stopped the chase too, watching, how the weak one kept on moving on, until it disappeared in the trees. She made a mental note of telling this to her packmates and arranging a larger group for the hunt later. 

"All is fine?" she asked, when she had returned to, where her cousin was waiting. "I figure - that fellow won't get anywhere far anyway. Might have a go at it few days from now."

Although a bit flustered, Phox certainly wasn't upset. Yeah, just a bit bummed, he replied with a smile and a shrug. It was unreasonable to think he could get one hundred percent of his targets, but that didn't make it any less disappointing when he missed what felt like a golden opportunity. He too would make note of their approximate current location and try to bring a few others back with him when the time was right. For now, he wrote today's hunt off as a loss.

I'd better be heading back, he said then, swishing his tail back and forth a few times. Can't leave the kids for too long. Fig and Fennec were his world (along with Towhee), and they needed him more than that deer did right now.

"See you around, I guess," Wraen bid her farewells, waited for Phox to return the courtesy and then hurried back home. She had important news to relay to her superiors and she thought to herself selfishly that she might be able to get there before her cousin had reached Redhawks. Venison was at stake, after all.