ooc: Due Date May 11, I plan to do Ashiel's posts Saturday morning before I hit the road.

Watch Me Take That Flicker To Flame

Ashiel howled for those wishing to participate in the hunt to join him. Griff had spied a small herd of Takin up in the Starlit Plains and Ashiel hoped that he could gather enough participants to take down one of the beasts so that they might feast upon it. What was a festival without some good food? He had to admit he was a bit nervous. Hunting was not necessarily his skill set and he saw his role more as gathering the others to him. When he saw who arrived he planned to hand over the hunting strategy to one of the members who was an actively training hunter.

The moonlight spilled across the plains where the grass waved like a silvery see in the gentle breeze. Some nights Ashiel felt he could be swallowed by the beauty of creation. Like he could stand and watch and be perfectly content in the watching. A rumble in his stomach would pull him out of his reverie. That's right, there was blood to be spilled this night.

Once things got going a fair number of participants would arrive. Less than hoped for, at least in his opinion, but enough to make for an interesting festival. His golden eyes had surveyed those gathered with interest, especially those from the Risen Empire who he was less familiar with. It would be good to remember who they were in case he bumped into them again on a different day. Wouldn't do to chase off someone who had legitimate business with the pack, after all.

When the group split it was easy to pick his path; he was a hunter, and so with the hunters he would go. He followed after Ashiel at a slow trot, seeking to meet the call in timely fashion. When he reached the plains the large man would pause to take in the scenery. It was admittedly quite lovely here, even he would be hard pressed to say otherwise. Maybe it would also be a good place to hunt more regularly. He filed that idea away for later and continued walking after his alpha.

"Couldn't ask for a better time for a hunt," he mused. There was little in the way of wind to carry their scents, the temperature would be tolerable for the hunters, and there were presumably enough gathered to have a reasonable chance of success.

She had been one of the last wolves to arrive to the festival and though she was embarrassed, she had been hunting clear on the other side of bent canyon. It had been a long travel, but the young female could handle it. She had arrived just before Ash had spoke and the crowd dispersed. Weaving through the others she quickly fallowed Ash and Czern towards the hunting grounds. She wasn’t a fighter nor did she accel in healing, but hunting was always something she was up for. The small female fallowed the towering giants, her teal eyes taking in the territory around her. Ears alert as she looked for signs of predators nearby looking to do some hunting as well. You could never be to careful she knew that well from when she was a pup. The males ahead of her would easily be able to defend themselves, but she didn’t have much confidence in her smaller form. She did her best to keep up with thier long strides and as they came to a stop she quickly caught up. Again her eyes looked around taking things in, nose twitching as she took in the scents she could. She was anxious to see how her first hunt with her new pack would go and glanced behind her to see who else would join. She then took a few moments to really take in the territory around them and found she was in love with the scenery. It was truly a beautiful place and she would make it a point to come back here when she wasn’t doing her duties. Her ears twitched as she heard Czern’s words and was quick to nod her head in agreement. She only hoped they could be successful and bring down prey to feed everyone. She then took a seat for a hopefully short wait on the others before they could get this hunt started. She wondered what exactly was on the menu for tonight's hunt, her experience with the more exotic large game around here was vary little to none. It would be interesting to see what they were aiming for. "Speech" & 'Think'

Following after all three of the strangers, Agria would stretch beside them with a wide yawn before rising and taking a seat with her tail curled close to her. She would look to each of the members and then to the eclipse emperor with a somewhat questioning look, "What do you have in mind?" wondering what they would be taking down. Oddly with her "charismatic" skills she wasn't all that social unless she wanted to be. Being here without Kaine was hard for sure, and she couldn't help but wish he were. It was good for her to get the know the Abraxas especially on her own. And she even wanted to but she would have rather stayed back at home and wait for him to come to their den so they could sleep. It was pretty late after all or so she thought. That could have just been her attitude of being here, but she wouldn't burden anyone with her thoughts. Walk "Talk" Think

ooc: Next Round due June 1

Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Ashiel grinned and nodded to Czernobog. "It is indeed. I think fate is smiling upon us tonight." He was followed by Zinnia and a member of Risen that he was not yet acquainted with. He waited patiently to see if any others would show and when it seemed the did not he turned his attention back to the group. This was a sizable hunting party. "Thank you all for coming. Tonight we'll be hunting Takin. For those unfamiliar with them they are similar to big horn sheep in build but they are about the size of oxen. Typically they'd be in the higher, rockier terras this time of year." Perhaps the silly creatures had considered the rocky terrain of Amron's Castle to be good enough. "However, Griff spied a small group nestled near the eastern side of Amron's castle. It is possible they are on the move and bedded down for the night there. Either way, this is truly fortuitous! Come, let's get started."

He took off toward where the heard had been found, his companion Griff soared above them as a scout while he relayed his plans. "They are extremely nimble despite their size so I'd like to keep them from bolting into the ruins of the castle if possible. Zinnia, miss… ?" He glanced at Agria for her name. "You two will approach the herd from the east. Czernobog and I shall slip through the ruins and approach from the west. From there we'll select a target." He strode across the field and Griff let out a cry. The Takin were difficult to see at first, bedded down in the grasses but once he spied them he saw that there were about five animals. One male, three females, and one calf about a season old. He nodded his head toward the calf. While a larger animal would feed more of them and be more suitable for a 'feast' the calf was good size and would be easier to drag back to the garden.

With the target selected he shifted off into the ruins. Climbing nimbly over the rocks until he felt he was in a good position. He then waited for the others to ready themselves. He wasn't particular about who took the killing bite. Whoever was there when the opportunity presented itself was good enough for him.

"Talk"

He'd nod absently, though inwardly the brute still wasn't sure where he settled on the concept of fate. Who knew though, perhaps time with the Abraxas would change some of his thoughts on more than one topic. Only time would tell.

Once two more joined them - Zinnia from the Eclipse and a pink woman he'd only glimpsed in meetings - it was time to get down to business, and Ashiel would dutifully lay out what the plan was. Czern had never heard of Takin, but he was intrigued and more than ready to try hunting something new. Once they had their directions the man would follow after his alpha in the direction he'd suggested, keeping himself low in the grass as he moved with soft steps that were further dulled by the soft grass beneath his paws.

He fanned out, moving further past Ashiel to a position well covered by the rocks, following the younger man's gaze. The calf was the obvious target. Glancing out across the plain, he decided to wait until the two woman were ready before making a move. Large as he was, Czern wasn't as suited to startling and herding prey as a smaller wolf might be, since he didn't have the stamina to sprint as fast for as long. But he'd happily lie in wait, muscles coiled and prepared to race out from the cover and start landing blows as soon as the target was reasonably close.

"Agria." She would only glance around at the other wolves before looking to the ground, not tying to make a big entrance or introduction or anything. She was here behalf of Kaine after all, and not really because she truly wanted to. Her gaze would rise as the man explained the plans and would go into more strategy once they got a closer look. Agria would wait to see the first to move before going into her own position as well. She seemed to be in the lead of the woman who was paired with her, and in the back of her mind she hoped that she wouldn't drag her, or them down. Just the usual thoughts of the mad magic woman. It would be hard to slip in behind the prey, her pelt wasn't particularly blendy in the dead of the night. So as she could hear the stir of the sleeping devils, she slowed down much more than her travel to the post, crouching down and eyeing as she noticed Czernobog joining Ashiel. She saw as the emperor nodded to the young calf, but wouldn't go to make a move until a cue. Walk "Talk" Think

ooc: Next Round due June 14

Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Ashiel's keen eyes took in the movements of his hunting partners as they maneuvered into position. When he felt confident that everyone was in position, he looked up, waiting until he was able to meet Griff's gaze. He nodded sharply and the bird let out a cry. Ashiel's powerful limbs coiled beneath him as he sprang down the ruins, nimbly scaling them toward where the takin lay sleeping. The call of the night bird had gone mostly unnoticed by the younger taking but the older, and wiser animals, sensed something amiss. Soon they were on their feet and scrambling in every direction. Some of the larger animals made for the ruins, one of them scaling up the rocky terrain and out of site. Another, spying the wolves, decided not to risk it and instead turned to head east.

Gaze fixed on the calf he saw the mother and the calf angling north, running along the base of the ruins. he shifted course, diving down right in front of them, trying to scare the east. He saw them stumble back and hoped Czern was in a position to prevent the duo from escaping. Ideally they'd want to separate the calf from the mother but they'd need the women's help to do so.

"Talk"