He had never stepped foot in these lands before since they had been previously owned by Fireside. But since Fireside's unfortunate disbandment, the lands were a free for all now. Luckily for him, too. He had his eyes set on a young bison calf that had been born a little too early, though he was having some trouble getting it separated from the small herd. He tracked them from the edge of the knolls to closer to the center. He had backed off a bit to allow them some time to settle down and let them think he had given up, but he was still on them...he just had to play a bit of the waiting game. Maybe once the bison had their guard down or the calf decided to wander, he'd make his move. Even if it meant waiting until nightfall to get his chance. "Ignis"||"Blödhgarm"

Corbie had thought there was a pack here last she had passed by it, but the border markings had faded to almost nothing. She wouldn't have expected such a strong pack to have fallen, but perhaps they had just moved. Either way, the lands were open now, and she eagerly took the opportunity to explore them. She had heard a commotion among the bison earlier so she had avoided that area to let them settle so she didn't spook them further, but now that they were calm again she made her way closer to observe them. As she did, her attention was caught by a bright red shape against the snow, and she was surprised to see it was a wolf, rather than a cardinal. She sidled closer, careful not to catch the attention of the buffalo, and saw the red wolf observing them avariciously as well. "You seem like you could use another hunter for this," she murmured quietly in his ear, keeping the sound between them so the bison would have no reason to be nervous.

"Talk" Walk "You seem like you could use another hunter for this," His ear flicked at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, but who was he to deny help to bring down some food? It would be stupid of him to turn whoever it was away, especially considering he was trying to pick off one of the bison babies and it was winter...not to mention he would definitely need an extra paw if he wanted to get close to his target. Finally, after a few moments of deciding, he nodded and turned to her. She was a monochrome beauty. Ash and charcoal, as if she were born from the remnants of a fire. Hmm...how fitting that she be his hunting partner. She was younger than him, of course. And he swore it wasn't that long ago that he had been her age. But oh, how time liked to pass them by. "I have my sights set on that bison calf there," He pointed to its general location with his muzzle. Crimson gaze flicked up to the black-feathered bird that hovered over the herd. Good. The cockatoo was already doing what he usually did best and analyzing the situation from above. Ignis turned to the stranger, a small smile on his lips. "Name's Ignis. Since you're my hunting partner for the day, I suppose we ought to come up with a good plan to separate it from the herd...unless we pick a different target?" He was curious about her input, but he didn't care one way or another what they went after as long as he got the chance to eat after.

"A pleasure to meet you, Ignis. I am Corbie." She dipped her head in greeting, then shifted her gaze to study the herd where he had pointed out his quarry. A new calf would not provide much in the way of extra food split between the two of them, even a buffalo calf, but she couldn't carry much with her anyway. "A calf born this early in the year is unlikely to survive for long," she observed. "It would be a mercy to take it now before it suffers. I've no objection to that one. As for a plan, hm." She considered them. "It will not be able to keep up with the herd at a gallop, especially with the snow. If we get them panicked and running, it will drop behind. We would need deal only with the mother, then, and if you can keep the mother distracted I can cut off the calf. Once it is dead she will leave."

Corbie huh? Interesting name. He listened to her thoughts on the matter and nodded. Not a bad plan at all. "I can handle that," He winked as he softly called for his wolverine companion. "We'll get things going. Shit starting is my specialty," He grinned and winked before slipping away down the hill. He made sure his cloak covered as much of his crimson fur as possible as he kept low to the ground. He made his way towards the herd and got as close as he could before they started to notice.

Once they started turning their attention towards him, he jumped up and lunged at the nearest nose, snapping teeth and devilish snarls startling the small herd and causing them to panic. His wolverine weaved among them, snapping at legs and causing more of a ruckus while the black cockatoo swooped in and dive-bombed the mother and calf. The small herd started moving, surging ahead and practically forgetting all about their young charge as it started to quickly fall behind. Looked like she was right...Now all he had to do was get between the mother and calf. And that was exactly what he did while his companions worked to keep the herd moving.

"Speech"

Ignis and his companions made quick work of startling the bison herd into a stampede - having a giant bright red wolf, a vicious wolverine, and a big black bird all popping up out of nowhere to scream in your face would have that effect, for sure. Corbie, who had crept in close with them in a more camouflaged manner, was a little startled herself, but she recovered quickly and loped at the rear of the herd as the little calf fell further and further behind. Corbie nudged in between it and the herd, guiding it further away. She kept cutting in between in and the mother when she could, starting to get the cow's attention away from the calf while Ignis kept the herd stampeding. When he was able to turn his own attention to distracting the mother, she would stop playing tag with it and focus on the calf. Ignis was able to come back sooner than she'd expected, with his companions to keep up the stampede, and Corbie slipped aside to let him give the cow the runaround. Instead she - with surprising gentleness, because she didn't want the calf bawling to its mother - herded the calf further and further away, until she was satisfied that the cow wouldn't be able to charge and trample her if her attention wavered from Ignis. Then she lunged. Her jaws closed on the calf's throat, squeezing til the blood and oxygen was cut off. With the pressure the calf could only make tiny bleating noises, not enough to attract the cow's attention, until finally the struggles eased and the calf went limp. Corbie held the grip for a few minutes longer to be certain, then released it and sprang away, yipping for Ignis to get clear. Let the cow see the calf, she would leave the body, and they would be free to eat. All in all, a very successful hunt.

He practically ran circles around the cow, keeping her attention on him the best he could while keeping her cut off. From the corner of his eye, he saw Corbie herding the calf away, and anytime the cow made to try and follow, Ignis would distract her by way of dancing in and out to keep her focus on him. His companions did a pretty good job at causing the herd to pretty much leave the pair behind, and eventually, they returned to him to help him keep the cow's focus away from Corbie and the calf. It wasn't until he heard Corbie that he looked to see what she was up to, and noted that she had successfully taken down the calf. The cow charged him for the last time, but the crimson male jumped out of the way and made his way towards the fresh meal. The cow bellowed, but seemingly upon noticing that the calf was down, she didn't try to follow. Approaching Corbie, he shook out his coat and looked over the fallen calf. "We make quite the team, hm?" "Ignis

Corbie gave a slight nod as Ignis joined her. The bison cow bellowed at them, but Corbie merely watched her quietly until the bison, already wavering between her dead calf and the still stampeding herd growing smaller in the distance, finally turned to follow the others. Instinct told her she would need to survive to bear another calf next year by rejoining the group, rather than risk her life fighting for a calf who was already gone.

She smiled at Ignis' words. "Yes, we do. Hunting is rarely so easy and clean as this was. It was... good." She nodded to herself, then turned her attention outward again to Ignis, eyes studying him thoughtfully as she waited for the cow to retreat to a distance they knew it was safe to assume she wasn't coming back. "You know, I was surprised when I first saw you. I thought you might have been a child of my guardian's brother, from your coloring, but you don't hold yourself like someone who might have been raised an Adravendi." This was a gentle probe to learn more about him, who so resembled the older brother Tornach had spoken of, but it was true too. Ignis held himself and conducted himself far differently from Aurielle and Ardyn. Ignis had... an air of cocky arrogance about him that would surely have been disapproved of, though she didn't judge him for it. It was different than what she was used to, having known so few other wolves in her life, and new, and she was intrigued by it.

"Talk" Walk He nodded in agreement. It was rare to come across someone he actually enjoyed these kinds of activities with. Though in the back of his mind, he was surprised that his...other side had yet to show itself. Perhaps because this hunt had been so tame compared to past hunts, but what about the next time? It was a welcome relief though. He had a hard time even trying to fight off his internal demons, but...he had also chosen to accept them into his life. Still, he hated when he didn't know when that shift would happen. It often left him on edge most of the time, constantly having to be on the lookout for an invisible enemy. He turned to look and see if the cow had decided to come after her dead calf, but it seemed she decided to rejoin the herd as they all retreated over the hills. His companions were likely to return soon now that the job was done. "You know, I was surprised when I first saw you. I thought you might have been a child of my guardian's brother, from your coloring, but you don't hold yourself like someone who might have been raised an Adravendi." His ears perked, crimson gaze studying her for a moment. Did he hear that right? Was she related to the Adravendi's in some way? "I know who you're talking about, though I must admit, I've never met the guy." He sat down then, rolling his shoulders after his running around with the bison. "That would likely be my uncle. His sister, Zuriel Adravendi, was my mother. But she and my sire are long dead." Honestly, he couldn't really recall meeting anyone from his mother's side...and if he had, he might've been too young to remember.

Corbie nodded at his explanation. "That makes sense. I couldn't imagine that a coat your color was such a common thing here, but I hadn't done much travelling until now so I wasn't certain. Tornach was already old when he found me, so we didn't do much travelling then, for his health. And he had so much to teach me in so little time, that we did not want to spend wastefully. He... passed during the Long Night." While she had been expecting him to pass anyway, and he had gone off alone with the intention of sparing her that, his death from the disease that had stalked the Long Night, rather than the disease that had already ravaged him, had been something of a shock.