Ricin had gone off to do whatever Ricin was doing.  Chade had noticed his brother getting less shy about other wolves for the last season.  So his assumption was that he’d gone off to play with someone else.  The dark-blue wolf considered going to seek him out but with a bit of hesitation instead left to go hunting.  The more he could hunt on his own and supply them the better the odds they wouldn’t be a hindrance.  It was a way to assist the band and thus hopefully they would be seen as useful and kept around longer.

There was plenty of food here that Chade saw no reason to need to leave the grove and soon enough found a different sort of creature that he hadn’t seen before.  The takin was an older male with no others around that Chade could see.  It was a pretty large size for Chade by himself, actually, it was a rather intimidating animal for Chade to try alone but it definitely seemed older and when it took a step forward Chade was fairly certain one of the legs had a small limp to it.

This was a creature he normally avoided.  However, if he failed he would still probably get food and he could sleep at night without so much risk of someone wanting to eat them.  He didn’t want to risk failing too often but how great would it look if he could take down the Tapir?

The boy could smell a pack border not too far away so if he let the Tapir run too far he’d lose it.  There were lots of bushes around and slowly Chade crept forward aiming to stay out of sight or scent.  He’d want to be close and he’d want to get lucky!

"Speech"

Now that he was back in The Hallows, he set his focus on stockpiling the food stores again now that the long night was over and there wasn't the constant problem of prey being covered in mushrooms and crystals. It felt good to get settled back into his home, be back with Syanna, and get back to his normal routines. He couldn't help but shake his head at his younger self when he thought about how much he had loathed the idea of becoming exactly what he was now—settled in a pack with responsibilities and a single steady relationship. He had tried so hard to be different from his father and in the end he had followed a pretty similar path. At least he could learn from his father's mistakes and avoid some of the craziness and heartbreak that had happened to his father.

He followed the scent of an animal out toward the wild berry grove, keeping an eye out for bears and the like as he went. He knew this place was always crawling with predators so he was always pretty careful when he came out here, but it always attracted a good amount of prey animals too so it was usually worth the risk. He crouched down and crept through the bushes and eventually his ice blue gaze landed on the creature that looked like an over grown goat with shaggy fur. The takin had clearly gotten separated from its herd at some point and had wandered here on its own—perhaps because of the limp he saw in its gate. While he was deciding the best way to take it down he spotted a flash of blue across the clearing and he focused in on the movement till he saw the young wolf also hunkered down in the bushes, obviously tracking this thing as well.

Thinking quickly, he lifted a paw and gave a little wave to get the boy's attention and then started quietly creeping his way around the clearing toward where the boy was hiding out, keeping an eye on the takin all the while. With how it was limping it probably wouldn't go far and it looked like it was wandering toward Hallows land anyway so even if it moved toward the plains it still wouldn't be a problem. He gave the younger wolf a nod as he got close, hunkering down in the bushes beside him. "Do you want to help with this? I'll split it with you," he offered. He knew he could probably take it down on his own, but he remembered being a young hunter like him trying to figure things out so he certainly didn't mind the company.

Ezra Adravendi

Chade paused when he spotted the adult wolf.  His muscles tensed and watched warily at first in case this wolf was less keen on kids.  It went both ways he’d learned with time.  Some adults were kind and sharing but there was no doubt the heartless sort who would surely be fine with killing a child.  Chade slowly relaxed as the stranger approached with a demeanor that showed no sign of aggression.

Help in the hunt was offered!  He wouldn’t get to take him as much meat but there should still be enough to share and that would be good, right?  The dark blue wolf nodded his head, “Sure,” the boy agreed softly.  This wolf smelled like the land beyond, “You’re part of that pack right?  I wanted to stop it from going there so I didn’t lose it.”

Chade knew how he hunted and was aware it might not be the best way.  He had learned from trial and error of what worked for him hunting alone but other than Ricin’s attempts to help Chade had never hunted with another truly skilled wolf.  Maybe this one knew better ways?  Instead of offering up his own plans he humbly asked instead, “What should I do? You can lead if you want.”

"Speech"

Ezra grinned when the boy agreed, giving him a nod in return. He glanced up through the trees briefly toward the pack lands when the boy asked him about if he was in the pack or not and he nodded again. "Don't worry, if it does I'll be with you so you can cross the border for it. It shouldn't get that far though," he replied with a sure grin. While he wouldn't necessarily claim to be the most proficient of hunters, he had certainly learned a lot and a fairly easy hunt like this wouldn't be a problem. The takin wasn't super large, at least not compared to some other things he had hunted, but it was just him and a young boy instead of the more seasoned hunters he usually hunted with so he'd have to take that into consideration.

"We'll keep it simple," he replied quietly when the blue-hued wolf asked what he should do and offered for him to take the lead. "I can probably take it down if I can get close enough. I'll go hide over there on the other side of where its standing and you run at it and chase it toward me. You might have to herd it a bit to keep it going in the right direction. When its close enough I'll ambush it." With the quick but effective plan in place he started to silently work his way around the clearing, moving from bush to bush so he wouldn't be seen until he was around to the other side. The takin was grazing as it slowly moved through the grove, only occasionally lifting its head to look at its surroundings. With the limp it had he probably could have caught it on his own, but he wanted the boy to be included as well.

Ezra Adravendi

Chade kept his red-eyed gaze on Ezra as he spoke, soaking in every detail and nodding as he explained it.  “Ok, that makes sense.”  The older was clearly stronger than Chade and he imagined far more experienced.  Still, Chade should be able to herd the animal to Ezra.  Chade would never have thought failing was a good way to learn but he had a pretty good idea of what a deer was likely to do depending on where he moved.

Chade was relieved that he finally was getting to hunt with someone who would know more than him.  The mantle of leading was on someone else and Chade could trust in them to set up the board correctly.  The blue pup waited until Ezra was in position, then gave him another moment in case he needed to get focused or whatever.

Chade ran out towards the tarkin, starting a tiny bit towards its left but then heading to the right then a bit to the left.  He tried to make it difficult for the tarkin to flee anywhere but directly straight at head.  This wouldn’t work long before the maneuverable deer-creature-thing turned faster than Chade but that didn’t matter at the moment.  For the short run he had it lined up to where he imagined Ezra should be able to get it.  Hopefully, this worked.

"Speech"

Once he was settled in his new hiding spot in the path of the oversized goat, he hunkered down with his legs coiled under him to wait for his new hunting partner to kick off the hunt in earnest. He peeked over the tops of the bushes and watched as Chade pushed the takin forward, hearing the uneven sound of hooves hitting the ground as it loped away from him with a limp. It didn't take long before their prey was within his reach and just before it tried to dart off in another direction he leaped out from his hiding spot, catching it's neck between his serrated teeth. The animal made a pained, panicked sound as he used his weight to muscle it to the ground and turned so that he could pin it down by its shoulder to keep it on its side. He bit hard into the side of its neck and gave a quick shake and twist of his head to tear away at its throat, quickly doing more than enough damage to kill it. After several moments when he was sure it was at least too weak to get up again, he let go and stepped off of their prey, making sure it fell still before he looked at the blue-hued with a triumphant grin. "Well done! I'm Ezra, by the way. Nice to meet you."

Ezra Adravendi