Cricket Creek Bog [BWP P4 Prey Opportunity] vostek

Phase 4 is now live!  Here is one of the large game posts!

it seemed winter had already laid its claim across the bog, which stood relatively silent. the waters were still, the reeds undisturbed -- even the tree line seemed eerily quiet with each bare tree solemn and silent in the windless air.

a dispersed bighorn herd from the nearby nimbus summit had met its end the night prior; what lives hadn't been engulfed in the swallowing earth suffered fractures or maladies too great to survive. the last bighorn male to reach the flatlands lived only four hours before shock from its perforated cecum settled in. there, gone to sepsis, the ram spread out along the calm waters - its flat eyes unblinking and turned forever dull.

With the Asterism Grove wolves trapped inside their claim without anyone from the outside having any knowledge of, whether there were survivors or not, was hard enough on Wraen. After hearing the news she returned home with heavy heart, wondering, why of all times the fate had chosen this particular year to test them again and again, and again. Even for her pragmatic mind that rarely gave to emotions nowadays, it had got too difficult to bear.

The very next day brought no solutions to the strath situation, however life improved slightly from just as dearly needed side. She happened to stroll along the border of the copse that was next to the bog and there - she could not believe her eyes - was one of the bighorns lying. Alive, but only so much. Hungry and curious she drew closer to the animal and gave it a tentative sniff. 

Then without a second thought she tipped her muzzle and howled for the Firebirds wolves. 

@Eljay , @Elwood , @Finley , @Weejay , @Pox , @Bronco , @Niamh , @Avery , @Sugar Glider

Elwood was quick to respond to Wraen's call, turning his paws in the direction of her voice and heading there swiftly. He crossed the copse expertly, weaving among its trees with a practiced step, and while he was slightly winded when he arrived, his spirits lifted immediately at the sight of the bighorn sprawled near the Sovereign.

"What luck," he said as he came to a halt, his gaze sweeping their surroundings to see if there were any others nearby; but this seemed to be the only one.

What luck, Eljay heard his father say just as he approached, heading the call that the Sovereign sent out. Wraen hadn't been very lucky so far, but surely their luck would turn sooner or later -- Eljay just knew it. He had to keep believing in that, especially so soon before winter. He clung on to a thought that got to him -- After bad things happen, there will be good things to balance it out. He clung on to that thought like a life raft on a stormy ocean through these times, even though he feared for the lives of those he loved daily.

Eljay's ears perked forward as he tentatively stepped forward to see if the prey was still alive, or if it was already slain. It seemed dead, but maybe not by Wraen. Was it still safe, Eljay wondered immediately then, but he also knew they might not have the luxury to question that.

To be honest, Wraen was a little disappointed to see so few from the Firebirds, when it had been weeks, since anything big had come across their radar. Finley she could excuse, but, where was Niamh? Where were the rest of the kids? Even between three of them, they would not be able to carry that ram home. It was too big, too heavy and the task therefore too daunting. 

She walked around the animal, who was still breathing, positioned herself so that she had an easy access to it's throat and grabbed it, exerting as much pressure as she could to cut of the air supply. The animal was so exhausted at this point that it did not even give a fight. A fleeting moment, where the whole body of the animal tensed, and then it relaxed and became still. Wraen let go of it, looked from Eljay to Elwood and said: "We better eat as much as we can now - then we can bring the rest to those, who have not come."

Though as she said this, there was a hint of annoyance in her voice. She did not like a gift from heaven being wasted like this. When she dug into the soft underbelly of the animal, tearing it open and letting the innards flow outside, she thought she would not mind them all going hungry. Just to teach them a lesson for being stupid. This was all forgotten, when she began to eat.

Weejay had followed dutifully behind Eljay, but at one point she had been so tired.. She had stopped to camp by the trail and catch her breath. In the summer Weejay had been portly and that was putting it with kindness, but now fall had advanced and she had lost all of it, and looked to be in poor weather.

She stopped by her daddy's flank, looking at Wraen and Elwood with dullness in her eyes. She barely registered the bighorn sheep -- she just knew that she was supposed to be here.. and felt very distant from it all.

Sugar sat pondering the enormous boulder for the nth time when a quavering howl broke through the crisp fall air. It was a summons from the Sovereign. Ever obedient, the youngster shot to her feet, short, slender legs pumping as she dashed across the breadth of the copse. By the time she arrived at the far western border, she was out of breath. She slowed to a trot, veering south now, headed toward the sound of voices in the distant bog.

She arrived still panting, though she drew her tongue back into her mouth and pressed her lips firmly together as her black eyes fell upon the dead ram. Sugar was as hungry as the rest of them, though it wasn't just the promise of a square meal that captured her attention. The carcass was fascinating, particularly the peculiar odor of putrefaction, the strangeness of its clouded, staring eyes and those macabre horns curling from either side of its deadhead.

It didn't take long for a few others to materialize, drawn like Elwood by Wraen's call. Eljay, Weejay, and Sugar Glider all came to survey the scene, and Elwood offered a smile to his son, daughter and granddaughter. He then shifted his attention back to Wraen, who was quick to step forward and dispatch the animal once and for all, ending what was left of its life quickly.

He could hear the slight edge of irritation in her voice as she spoke of those who had not answered the howl for whatever reason. He wasn't sure why Niamh wasn't there, or the other children, and he could understand Wraen's frustration. After she began to feed herself and gave the cue for her companions to join, he stepped up alongside her and did the same. With a mouthful of meat, he turned to meet Sugar's eye and beckoned her forward, having noticed the way she eyed the carcass with an interest that didn't seem to come from hunger alone.

It wasn't easy trying to shove a pre-pubescant young male along when he dug his heels into the ground and wormed this way and that so that he couldn't be shoved. Niamh had been patrolling on the far edge of the pack when Wraen's call had gone up, and she'd taken offense when Bronco merely rolled his eyes and exhaled a sharp breath- and she thought she caught him signing something vulgar, but couldn't make out the sign. The two had had a short, terse argument about the fact that Wraen was calling about food, and that it wasn't like anything was being asked of him. But the boy complained that he wasn't hungry, and refused to go. Niamh had laughed accusingly- as it was probably the first time Bronco ever claimed to be not hungry- and that had irritated the boy further. He snapped at his mother, cleaving a small, fine line across her cheek, and she'd practically flattened him in an instant for his audacity. 

Once she'd let him up, he'd still refused to go. So she'd set into shoving him, and he'd resolved to simply sit, move away, or lay down so that he couldn't be forced to do whatever it was his Mom wanted. Eventually she gave him a gruff bark, scuffed some dirt on him with her back paws- as the child was still laying down on the ground as limp as a wet noodle- and she left him there to simply reap the repercussions of not going to partake in a free meal. He'd regret it later, when his stomach began to rumble, but Niamh was prepared to simply let him go hungry for a bit...Though she did plan to bring him back something, so as to not be a terrible mother. 

Nevertheless, the others had already begun to eat by the time she'd arrived. She still looked ruffled and she'd forgotten all about the cut on her cheek from Bronco's sharp canines as she did her best to put on a facade that implied that she was bummed she'd been too far away to join the group sooner. Bronco's acts had cost her at least 25 minutes of yelling, shoving and bickering, but she simply nodded to Wraen when she had a moment to do so, and tried to put a smile on her face. "Bronco's offered to keep patrolling the far border," She said, doing her best to imply that all was well with the dysfunctional little family. "Leftovers it is for him tonight," She muttered to herself, still trying in vain to cover up the incident, as she too settled in to feast alongside the other adults- leaving, of course, the choice parts for those ranked above her, and minding that none of the youth got too close to her. Niamh could be fairly defensive as she ate, so occasionally she uttered a growl now and then to stake her claim, and fend off any who happened to get too close.

I will sum this up and archive.

Niamh was the last to join them and Wraen acknowledged the resident sergeant-at-arms with a nod. As she scanned around the assembled party, she noted that at least half were missing, which meant that left-overs should be brought back not only to Bronco, who was patrolling, but to Finley, Avery, Crow, Pox and someone else, who she - with her mouth full with innards and chewing - could not quite remember the name off.

However, once she had begun to eat, the hunger felt insatiable. It could carry several kilos of meat at a time and it demanded more and more, and more, therefore, when there truly were left-overs left from the feast, Wraen finally signalled everyone else to stop eating and gather up all the bits and pieces that were left here to bring them back to the Sun Mote Copse. 

Sated and tired she led them back to the nest and, once everything was divided among those, who had not been present, Wraen found a comfy and quiet corner to sleep peacefully until the next day. For the next week all her troubles and worries would feel less grave, because of the miraculous effect full belly and food in general have on one's mind.