Now that winter was here he had to be far more intentional about how often he was hunting and targeting more and more larger prey. The smaller prey had all mostly gone into hibernation which left larger prey like caribou and elk as their main sources of food up here in the frozen north. Why his uncle and now his brother insisted on keeping the pack up here he would never know, but that wasn't necessarily his choice to make. He was just here to be with his family and he'd do whatever it took to take care of his mate and children. Yurei had become a pretty frequent fixture in his hunts during their time together. She didn't often engage in the hunts herself, but she was always helpful with getting the prey back to the pack once he brought it down and it gave her a chance to hunt for some herbs outside of the pack lands. He'd rather go out with her anyway so she wouldn't need to be by herself so it worked out well for the two of them. He smiled as he walked beside Yurei, leaning over to press a kiss to her cheek with a gentle swish of his tail. He was about to say something as they passed through the edges of the mile high woods, but before the words could leave his mouth he spotted a heard of elk in the distance at the base of the mountains that loomed to the west of the pack. His ears perked and he slowed his steps, watching them for a moment and trying to decide if there were any calfs he could manage to bring down on his own. It didn't look like there was, but there was a cow that was a bit on the smaller side and perhaps a bit sick or suffering from malnutrition at the very least. That he could probably handle with a little bit of help. He glanced at Yurei, saying quietly, "See that cow there? I think if you run in and get the herd moving I can probably trip her up and bring her down pretty easily. Would you be okay with that?" "Casso" | Think | "Boris"

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"Yurei's Speech" | Accompanying him to his hunts had become a routine now, doing so while she at the same time aimed to collect the medicinal plants she was finding in the same trip. And today with the snow under her paws she stuck close to her mate, like a shadow. And sometimes she even helped in the hunt too. As both walked through, she felt his lips pressing against her cheek to which she returned affectionally. "See that cow there? I think if you run in and get the herd moving I can probably trip her up and bring her down pretty easily. Would you be okay with that?" Was what Casso told her to do as both caught the image of a solitary elk cow. Well she could try helping this time. "I will help you..." She said with almost not time between her response and his question. She wasnt that of a capable hunter like Casso but she could count with her instincts, being a wolf afterall. She approached the herd and when she felt like she was at a nice distance she began to run, to run after the group to try causing panic to spread. And as expected they started to run in panic, and with ease the female wolf was getting the cow to start going separated of the group. But then in the heat of the hunt, she by the corner of the eye saw a male cougar growl and then dart toward her with claws now around her neck, and soon she felt its jaws reaching her throat. A yelp erupted from her chords as pain started to numb her senses.

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Casso gave Yurei an encouraging smile as she agreed to help with his plan. It was a pretty straight forward plan and there wasn't much chance of one of the elk running toward her instead of away. Even if she was just one wolf, she was still a wolf and he couldn't imagine the elk wanting to confront her so he felt that she'd be safe in that part of the hunt. He gave her another quick kiss on the cheek and then left her to it so he could begin moving around the herd to get into position for his portion of their hunt. He wanted to try and prep a couple fallen branches or rocks in the path he expected the cow would go to cause a bit of an obstacle. If he could at least get it to stumble that would make his job of bringing it down much easier. Just as he finished his prep he heard the pounding of hooves begin and he ducked out of the way behind one of the trees, watching from a distance as Yurei got the elk running and got the cow separated from the rest of the herd. A little proud smile pulled across his lips as he watched her. She wasn't a hunter, but she was always so willing to help and she had begun to develop her own skill and confidence in it as well. He waited for the cow to get close enough for him to strike, but his two toned eyes shifted when he caught a movement near Yurei and the smile dropped from his face when he saw the cougar making a beeline right for his mate. They clearly weren't the only ones hunting this cow and the cougar very clearly didn't take kindly to Yurei's presence near it's potential prey. "Yurei!" he yelled as he jumped up from his hiding place, but it was too late. He started running toward her and the cougar landed on her with sharp claws and teeth on her neck, panic filling him as he watched his mate's blood spill across the snow before he could reach her. The elk she had been chasing was completely forgotten which ended up being his downfall. He darted out in front of the elk's path in his mad dash to get to Yurei and that landed himself under the elk's heavy hooves. It knocked him to the ground and all at once the world was spinning around him as he was kicked and rolled across the ground. One of its hooves connected with his side, sending pain lancing through him as it broke his ribs, making him gasp and snarl in pain. The elk ran off, leaving him in the snow, and the adrenaline helped him stagger back to his paws as he rushed to help Yurei, every breath painful from the damage the elk caused. He pushed through the pain and latched his teeth onto the cougar's neck, biting down hard through the back of its neck as he yanked the big cat off of Yurei and gave a hard shake to tear his teeth through the muscle and bone of its neck. The cat yowled in pain and as he wrestled with it and forced it to the ground he managed to snap the vertebrae between his jaws, quickly killing the cat so he could toss it to the side. In the struggle and fight with the cat he worsened the wounds he got from the elk, each breath causing a sharp stab in his side and the wheeze they caused telling him one of those broken ribs probably punctured a lung. He turned to face Yurei and his heart dropped to his stomach with dread. With painful, struggling steps he walked over to her and tried to ignore how dire her wounds looked and sank down to the ground beside her as the metallic tang of his own blood started to fill his mouth. Trembling paws pulled her into his chest and he gently licked the top of her head. There wasn't a way for either of them to call for help. He could barely draw in a breath, much less howl, and by the time he sent one of their companions all the way back to the pack to get someone he knew one or both of them would already be gone. He thought about their children and that pulled tears to his eyes. "I'm sorry," he managed in a soft, raspy voice as he kissed the top of his mate's head again. Sorry to her for getting her in this situation, sorry to their children for not being able to keep his promise of protecting them, sorry to his brother for not being able to stand with him like he said he would. "I love you," were the last words he was able to get out before his lungs fully betrayed him, the world going foggy and blurry in front of his eyes as he began to suffocate, seeing the snow beginning to fall and feeling the cold creeping into his bones right before there was suddenly dark, peace, and nothingness. "Casso" | Think | "Boris"

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"Yurei's Speech" | "Casso's Speech" Pain rushed as she felt it's fangs sink in deep, slowly reaching a dangerous part of her neck where all the vital veins and arteries were found. She also felt it's claws sinking in her back and blood began to spill like fountains, draining her life slowly but certainly. But soon she heard steps rushing, it was Casso. Ears pinned. "Run... dont come..." She said before hearing his yell from something she didnt know, but then she felt her jugular rupturing. She was scared, scared of dying and leaving Casso and her children behind. Luckily Casso managed to kill the cat but it was too late for him...for both of them as she collapsed into the ground, seeing him kiss her on last time, she did too as she was now swiming in a pool of both of their bloods. And now he was lifeless there, her eyes went went. But she knew she would catch up with him soon as the blood loss was making it's effect and in a last breath she said. "Well...meet again..." And like that her head went down, and she was here no more. -Exit via death-

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