I'm Tired of Looking for Answers

Birna skirted carefully around the edges of a wolf pack's territory and southward into a thriving, wild orchard. Her raven had found a long piece of cording and together the two had decided to set up a share to see if they could catch a deer. While Birna prided herself on being an ambush predator she was built for sprinting through rough, rocky terrain more so than a forest. The deer of these lands would outmaneuver her almost every time. A snare could by her more time to dispatch of the animal and secure a meal for herself.

Her golden cat companion had gone ahead of them, scouting out the deer trails and locating not only where they seemed to be bedding down but also the entrances and exits which would need to be trapped. The smaller cat was less likely to raise alarm. With a plan in motion it was time to craft.

Birna laid the cord to the side and began hunting for a stick to use as the trigger.

Speech

Vanille spent most of her days just surviving since she lost her mother a couple seasons ago. The Long Night made it hard for her to make it from meal to meal, and her body had suffered the consequences of the sick and dying prey. She was skinny, but not emaciated and was starting to tone up her body slowly as the sun came back and allowed the prey to flourish again.

She was walking along the orchid when she spotted a leopard searching along the grounds. She was very skeptical at first, ready to turn tail and run but she saw the raven nearby messing with the string she would be using for her trap. Cautiously she approached the woman, "Are you... going for a hunt? Do you have another string or vine? I'd be happy to help." Her eyes searched along the grounds and tree trunks for more sticks to use for the snare. She wanted to give them a few options.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

I'm Tired of Looking for Answers

Stretching up a nearby tree she reached out her paws and let her weight settle on a smaller branch until it snapped. They'd need to make two snares to secure the escape routes. She intended to wait at the third and if the deer opted to head her way she'd have a far better chance of catching it if it willing walked into her waiting claws.

Her ears twitched at the sound of movement and she paused in her work, looking up to see a small, thin wolf. Birna was growing used to wolf scents and pack scents. This one seemed to be a loner which might explain her thinner state. Birna looked to the sky, tracing the sun for a moment before looking back to the wolf. Yes, it would be to here advantage to share the meal in return for some help. The sooner both snares were laid the sooner the better. She nodded. "I am setting snares for deer. I am willing to share the kill for some help making a second snare." She looked to her raven who hopped along the cord, head tilting side to side as it measured the cord before snipping it in two and flying near the other wolf to lay the cord at her feet.

Birna snapped the branch she had in two, tossing a piece to the wolf. "My name is Birna. I'm working on a trigger now. Are you familiar with this process?" She took her own piece and began working on making a notch with her claws.

Speech

The leopard offered her part of the kill for her help, which Vanille may have expected but would have never felt hurt if the woman denied her or was greedy. She wasn't one for confrontation. "That's nice of you." She nodded with a smile. Vanille watched as the raven divided the cord in half and then gave her the second piece. "My name is Vanille."

She had set the few sticks she collected to the side, laying down to start working on the cord that was given to her. She started to twist her line into a loop for the snare, but looked up to the woman when she asked, "Is it similar to hare snares?" She grabbed the stick that the leopard had tossed her way, just in case she needed this one specifically compared to the small pile she had accumulated.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

I'm Tired of Looking for Answers

The wolf introduced herself as Vanille and took to working on her sticks and cord. Birna finished creating a notch in her stick as her raven made a loop and nodded their section of cord. "The loop is similar, yes. I have not used a trigger on my hare snares but if you have I imagine its similar. We just want to have a bit of spring so that when the deer goes through and detaches the trigger the pull back will loop it quickly." The ideal situation would be to get it around the neck. Too slow and they could catch the deer around the middle. That still might work but they'd have less time to make the kill and the deer could snap the cord. As it was a rare human artifact she'd hate for it to break for she could not make her own.

Birna got to her feet with what she'd made. The snare was crafted, now it was time to set for the hunt. "I can show you where we intend to place them. There are three main trails to their bedding area. I plan to set a snare at two then lay in wait by the third."

Speech

Stopped in her tracks while she listened to what the woman had to say, she started working again after the clarification and looking over at her own snare just to make sure she had everything mimicked correctly. The trigger made sense, especially with the deer being much larger than hare.

She made sure the loops were adjusted properly before standing along with the leopard, nodding her head again with another smile, "Lead the way." She followed quietly through the orchid while Birna showed the way to where they would set the snares. Once they arrived she waited for more instruction before setting hers up. She was good at tying knots, building corrals, but she was always willing to learn something new.

Setting up her snare where Birna suggested, she turned and waited for what the next plan would be. She wasn't sure if Birna wanted her to move on to the herd and drive them over, but she was ready to help in anyway she could.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

I'm Tired of Looking for Answers

Birna led the way, quietly slipping through the underbrush and being careful not to leave too much scent on the trails. She had some advantage in that her scent would not be familiar to the creatures here but she did not know if there were similar feline predators they could drawn inferences from. With the help of her raven Birna set up her snare, letting the loop hang down after she pulled the branch downward and set up her trigger into the notch of a lower branch where the sides had been smoothed. She stepped back cautiously, making sure everything was going to stay put before looking over at the wolf. She had hers set up.

"I'm almost ready. I want to adjust the foilage to better funnel our prey toward the snare." She carefully fluffed out nearby trees and added sticks to edges that a nervous deer might surge through rather than the path. Once that was done she slinked into the brush near the third entrance to lay in wait.

Speech

Vanille moved to help Birna with funneling the brush around the snares to help drive the deer into their trap. It was easy enough, something Vanille had done many times.

Afterwards, Birna moved into hiding and Vanille had questioned if she should join her or not. She didn't want them to be waiting here all day, so on that thought she carefully drove around the snares and foliage and made a wide turn to where the deer were resting nearby. She stalked herself, just looking to see the best route to take towards their snares which was relatively straight forward. Birna and her companions knew what they were doing.

She didn't jump out in a rush, instead shuffled around in her cover causing the deer to catch her attention testing out their senses to the danger that was coming. Finally she drove out, spooking the deer and getting them leaping towards their trap. Once she was sure they would be moving straight into the tunnel, she moved around the foliage so that she could catch a second deer along with Birna where she waited.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

I'm Tired of Looking for Answers

Birna smiled softly as she watched the wolf slink off. It did not surprise her. This was simply the difference in hunting between an ambush predator and an active hunter like a wolf. Birna was fine with resting and conserving her energy, just settling into existence until it was time for action, but this was not the way of the wolf. Wolves would often chase down their prey, driving them for miles with their powerful endurance.

Birna opted to remain where she was. She was a sprinter and did not want to burn herself out to quickly. While the snare would slow and snag the deer it was unlikely to strangle one and as the deer would not be able to flee it would fight. She could risk the cord and wait for it to tire out but she preferred to get her paws dirty as quickly as possible to give the duo more time to eat before more predators were attracted to the sound of struggle.

She heard the movement of deer and her limbs coiled beneath her in preparation. The deer approached slowly near the first snare. Their nostrils flared, ears rapidly shifting as the searched for signs of not only what made the noise but what might be here. Birna's raven suddenly swooped down behind the deer and the startled animals surged forward. An older doe went headfirst into the first snare. It bleated as it got caught. Birna sprang toward it, leaving Vanielle to either join her or try to snag or herd another into a snare if she wished.


Speech

Just as Birna was getting her own kill, Vanille came around the shrubbery and watched as the second deer went to swerve away from it's crying herd mate but still found itself caught in the snare. Vanille was just as quick as Birna, jumping forward to take care of the deer quickly and not let it thrash and hurt itself anymore. It's feet flew wildly, Vanille twitching backwards as it moved around and tried to escape the coil viciously. Finally Vanille leapt over it's rump to pin it down best she could before going for the quick kill. It didn't need to suffer, but she did need to eat. She huffed as she tried to catch her breath, energy was hard for her to muster up and the run over was pushing her limits.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature

I'm Tired of Looking for Answers

Birna opted to leap upon the struggling deer to avoid the flailing hooves that could cause her injury as well as to use her weight to hamper her prey's efforts to escape. Working her way up she managed to latch her jaws onto the doe's throat. It bleated and struggled more violently but between the snare and the weight of the larger cat the deer ultimately succumbed. The sudden drop in weight from the dead deer as well as Birna herself snapped the branch she'd had the cord tied to but thankfully had not snapped the cord itself. Excellent. She could use this again. She turned to see how Vanille had done as was pleased to see the femme had landed a kill as well. "Excellent, work. It was a pleasure working with you."


Speech

It had taken her longer to take care of her deer than her temporary cat companion had with her own. It was mostly just because she was weak, she was actually well experienced along with her young age. By the time she was done dealing with her flailing deer, Birna was commenting on the good work they had done. Stepping back from the kill, Vanille nodded "Thanks, you too." With a small but genuine smile. She removed the cord Birna had let her use and returned it to her. And then she would move the deer around to prepare a good position to haul back to her den where she could skin and cut it.

"Vanille"
Base By WatermelonCreature