Manea made her way up the cliffs with Saracyn, taking the remainder of the day after she finished her usual rounds to do some hunting with her son. It had been a while since she had the time to have a fun hunt and almost as long since she got to spend some time alone with her ruby and onyx firefly. All of the work that had gone into the festival and then the planning and preparation to claim their new territory had claimed a lot of her attention and now that those things were all said and done she was free to spend her time more freely on what she desired to spend it on and today what she wanted was to have some fun with her son.

As they moved up into the mountains in the search of one of the herds of mountain goats that populated their island, she noticed the dark clouds that began to accumulate on the horizon and start moving toward the island as the wind steadily began to pick up. Since the season shifted into spring the weather had become far more turbulent with much more frequent storms than they had experienced here this time last year. It was an odd shift in the weather and certainly not what she had hoped for after a cold winter, but there was nothing they could do about it. It did make their hunting trip a bit more rushed and concerning however. She didn't want to get caught in the storms, but they had already come all the way up here so it would be a shame to come back down empty handed.

While keeping the approaching storm in her peripheral, she continued tracking the mountain goats until eventually a cluster of them perched on the cliffs finally came into view. She signaled for Saracyn to slow and the two of them crouched behind a rock to observe them for a moment. She pointed out one of the goats near the fringes of the group that was on a slightly more wide and stable looking part of the cliffs. "That one seems like a good place to start," she whispered to him, glancing toward her son for a moment. "Would you like to take the lead?" she offered with a little grin. She was still so proud of how her twins had grown and she always loved seeing their flourishing skills in action so if her daring son wanted to make the first move she was more than happy to let him take it.

WC: 428
Total: 428 / 1500

"Manea Mendacium"

Saracyn loved to hunt. He loved the thrill of stalking his prey, of tracking their tracks and scent, lurking just out of sight, knowing they were mere moments away from gruesome death while being so blissfully unaware. There was an energy to a hunt that brought him a high unlike any other activity in the world, save for maybe a good bloody fight, but it was a toss up. So when Manea had taken some time out of her day to invite him out to do some goat hunting up in the mountains of their home, there was no way he was going to turn down that opportunity. He had not had a proper hunt with his mother since the group hunt he had partaken in with his parents and Uncle Poe—and no, he did not count the failed snake hunt they had gone on. There had been no challenge to it, no attempt to kill his quarry, just bitter failure and disappointment. This time, however, things would be different. Saracyn would kill a goat one way or another, and nothing was going to stop him from succeeding this time, especially not in front of his alpha mother!

Stalking up the winding mountain paths, Saracyn felt the temperate wind rip across the land in powerful gusts, cutting through his fur and tousling it about. The air felt electrified and overhead dark storm clouds roiled about in the atmosphere. There was a storm coming, of that there was no doubt. Saracyn did not care. The yearling actually liked the rain, and if anything, it would just add another element of challenge to their hunt—and a cover for a surprise ambush. An excited grin was peeled across his lips while he followed along and slightly behind Manea, cobalt blue eyes scanning their rocky environment for any signs of the many goat herds that resided in the mountain range. Soon enough, the pair of predators came across a herd near a rocky ledge, grazing on stray bits of dried grasses that grew between the rock. Sara felt his nerves tense, his energy spiking along with the feel of rain on the humid air. It was time.

The ruby and obsidian yearling followed his violet mother's silent directions and crouched low, skulking along the mountainside toward a large boulder to spy on their prey. Saracyn studied the goats' movements, watching the one that wandered away from the rest of the herd at the same time Manea noticed it and pointed it out, the two wolves clearly on the same train of thought. Manea offered him the initial strike and Sara would be loathe to pass on that opportunity. "Absolutely," he replied quietly, already scouting out the best way to approach the kill. There was not much in the way of cover between them and the goats, so they would either have to blitz the approach or work their way around the back side of the mountain to circle back on the goats. A low rumble of thunder overhead followed by a few heavy drops of rain made up his mind for him. He was not about to start backtracking through the rain when their prey was right there! Saracyn glanced over to his mother, shooting her a devilish grin of his serrated teeth with a wild gleam in his eyes that betrayed his intentions, and then at the next clap of thunder, he leapt out of cover and charged the herd.

Saracyn snarled as loud as the thunder as he rushed the goats, large paws pounding over the rocky ground. The yearling flew like a crimson missile towards the goats, which noticed the charging wolf and immediately went into bleating fits of terror, scrambling to try and get away for their lives. The isolated goat they'd selected had been the furthest away and got a head start on trying to flee, giving the gleeful red wolf the chase he so desperately desired just as the rain began to fall heavier and faster, preluding an absolute downpour about to open up from the heavens.

WC: 679
Total: 1107 / 1500

"Saracyn Mendacium"

The wind from the approaching storm continued to build as they prepared to launch into their hunt, tossing their fur one way and another. If anything it was going to do a good job of covering the sound of their approach and would make it difficult for the goats to notice their scent's but it did make her slightly nervous about being in such heavy winds while standing so close to rocky cliffs. Still, when she glanced over at her son and saw the excitement etched on his features she couldn't help but get excited as well. She didn't often get a chance to just unwind and enjoy a hunt purely for the fun of it and she was especially happy to be doing it with Saracyn.

She grinned and nodded as Saracyn readily agreed to taking point on the hunt. Her children had quickly shown their talents as they grew with Avacyn excelling in all sorts of crafting and diplomacy and Saracyn very much taking after herself and Alastor in his love of hunting. They both excelled in fighting which make her very happy and eased her worries about them being out in the world on their own. She was eager to watch Saracyn in action as he took on this stormy goat hunt, forever and always proud of her firefly.

As the thunder began to roll overhead and heavy drops of rain began to fall here and there around them, she saw the look that Saracyn gave her that reminded her so vividly of Alastor with the wild look in his cerulean eyes and the wicked grin he gave her. She chuckled and braced herself to join him on his undoubtedly reckless hunt, her legs coiled and ready to run forward as soon as he made the first move. With the thunder booming around them to cover the sound of their movements, Saracyn took off after one of the goats and she followed closely behind.

He had locked on to the goat that had been separated from the herd as they made their plans so she took on the role of keeping the rest of the herd at bay while he focused on taking down the goat. Since the one they had singled out had been at the far edge of the herd, she ran forward and positioned herself between the stragglers and the bulk of he heard, chasing the large majority of them off down the cliffs of the mountains to keep the one they wanted from rejoining its group. The rain was falling more heavily now, causing her to have to blink the water from her eyes and making it more difficult for her to maneuver through the coming storm, but they were in the thick of it now and she certainly wasn't going to back down.

WC: 471
Total: 1578 / 1500

"Manea Mendacium"

Though no formal plan had been made nor any tactical details discussed, the two wolves seemed to work in perfect tandem together as mother and son divided and conquered. While Saracyn launched himself like a crimson missile straight for the isolated goat, Manea worked to keep the rest of the herd from coming to its aid, further singling it out and sealing its doom. Saracyn didn't notice though; he was far too focused on taking down his quarry. The heavy rain whipped into his eyes aided by the gale force winds, making it tricky to see, but not impossible. Under the darkness of the stormy sky that turned day into perpetual twilight, Sara ran down the goat, the poor stupid creature far too slow in its movements to hope to get away. It took under a minute for Saracyn to be upon it, and then it was all over.

With a vicious snarl that growled out above the rumble of thunder, Saracyn launched himself at the goat, powerful hind legs kicking off the rocky ground to propel himself straight into the hapless prey animal. The goat bleated when it felt Saracyn's paws and sharp claws dig into its fleshy sides, the wolf securing his hold on his smaller victim while powerful jaws parted, aimed for the back of the goat's neck. He secured his hold with one brutal bite, feeling the goat crumple under his weight and the bones in its vertebrae snap and shift with one strong crunch. And just like that, the hunt was over. The goat's body spasmed as it died instantaneously, the brain cut off from the rest of the body in one fell swoop. The predator had won his meal.

Unfortunately for Saracyn, though the hunt had ended, the challenge had not. He'd propelled himself with such force, and the goat had been a very lightweight impact, and Newton's laws were still in motion, meaning the red-furred yearling continued to hurdle forward after he had tackled the goat, sending both predator and prey sailing through the air to hit the edge of the cliff. With his motion and the slick rain-covered surface of the smooth rock, Saracyn didn't stop on impact. Instead, he slid and rolled, plummeting right off the edge of the cliff. All the adolescent wolf knew though was that one moment he was in the air, the next his shoulder was hitting the ground, and then he was in the air again, falling. He felt the lurch of his guts as he fell, unable to even yelp or cry out in surprise with the goat in his jaws, leaving Saracyn to fall off the ledge and out of sight virtually silently as a clap of thunder dramatically punctuated his fall out of sight and into oblivion.

Saracyn fell for maybe a few seconds, but to him it felt like an eternity, watching the world pass by in slow motion while he was weightless in the air. His brain scrambled to try to think of ways to save himself, but came up empty. The next thing he felt was his back meeting hard rock, smacking into another ledge a few yards down and continuing to tumble. He grunted with each impact he took, tumbling down the near sheer drop a few dozen more feet before hitting another small ledge that crumbled under the impact of his body, sending him falling again. Sara clutched the goat in his arms, using it like an airbag to try and absorb some of the impact to his squishy underbelly. His back and sides took the brunt of the fall, tumbling and rolling down the rocky ledges as they angled out until he hit the ground and came to rest on a plateau about 40 feet down from where he fell. His whole body ached, his muscles felt stiff and sore, and he had several new lacerations and bruises, but he was alive. Lying sprawled out and still on the rocky ground, being pelted by the rain, but alive. For a while, Saracyn didn't move, simply lying there, gasping for the breath that had been knocked out of his lungs and trying to get his head to stop spinning.

"Saracyn Mendacium"

Between the heavy rain and the numerous goats she was trying to herd away from the one they had made a target, she hadn't been watching Saracyn and his progress closely. She knew how talented her son was in a hunt and trusted him to hold his own without her assistance. It wasn't until she glanced back to check on his progress that she realized he was no longer there. She did a quick double take with confusion, blinking past the heavy, biting rain and looking around for him on the mountain side. "Saracyn?" she called over the wind, abandoning the goats she was chasing off and turning back to where she had last seen her son. Worry started to creep over her like a cold chill when he didn't answer back right away and she went searching for him with a bit of panic starting to grip at her chest. Disbelief kept her from looking over the edge for a few seconds, but eventually she had to face her fear and as she stood at the edge of the cliff and looked down her aqua gaze settled on his ruby and black form where it had landed at the bottom of a long drop. The rain and thunder of the storm had kept her from hearing his fall and very quickly she was able to piece together what happened. Dread and fear gripped her, unable to even get enough air into her lungs to call down to him again. From this distance she couldn't tell if he was breathing or not, she could only see him laying there in the rain on the rocky outcrop, and for a second it felt like her whole world had come screeching to a halt.

She forced herself to move, scrambling to carefully pick her way down down the side of the mountain to where he had landed while fighting against the wind that was buffeting her from seemingly all sides. She was cursing herself for not stopping the hunt in its tracks when the storm picked up, she was cursing Saracyn for being as reckless as his father, and more than anything she was hoping and praying that he was okay. Before she became a mother she had always felt that if passed before their time then she had simply failed to make the right choice from her litter, but now her perspective on so many things had changed. Now her children were her world and as she continued to glance over to where Saracyn was laying during her rush to get to him all she could feel was this deep, gut wrenching dread and guilt that she had never felt before.

It wasn't until she had managed to get close enough to see the rise and fall of his sides with his breathing that she was able to take a breath with a trembling sigh, the at least momentary relief nearly knocking her over. She slid to a stop at his side, gently checking him for any noticeable major injuries or broken bones, panting from her sprint to get down to him. "Saracyn! Don't move, stay still. Gods, are you alright?" she gasped between breaths, using what little knowledge she had of anything related to healing to lightly check his ribs and legs, trying to see if it was going to be possible to get him out of here on her own or if she was going to need to call for help.

"Manea Mendacium"

Everything hurt. All of Saracyn’s body felt like it had been hit by a train and then another train even without him moving. The adrenaline of the hunt had kept that initial surge of pain and shock at bay, but now that it was fading from his bloodstream, the yearling’s nervous system was beginning to catch up to his battered and damaged body. He could feel a sharp pain in his side every time he drew in a shallow breath, but thankfully he didn't find any difficulty in filling his lungs. His entire body felt paralyzed, tingling and numb while his head spun and his ears rung so loud it deafened out everything around him, like his head had been dunked underwater. How long had he been lying here? A minute, two minutes? Time seemed to stand still around him, only the constant rhythmic falling of the rain letting him know things were still happening.

Then came the muted cries of his mother's voice. She sounded distant and muffled, her frantic sounds barely coming through and none of them coherent to the stunned yearling. His paws twitched gently against the hard stone ground, testing to make sure they were still working and he could still feel them. The marking on the side of his face continued to glow in time with his heartbeat—rapid and frenetic instead of its usual steady glow. Then came his mother's touch to his sides around his ribs, and soft whines of pain came from the wolf. Every part of him Manea touched felt sore and painful, especially around one of his ribs, which was likely fractured or at the very least severely bruised. Saracyn couldn't speak at first, only able to communicate through pained whines and the occasional shift of his legs, his eyes gazing around as if in a daze. Where had that fucking goat gone to? He had gotten it, right? He hadn't failed his hunt and gotten himself hurt at the same time, had he?

"Mom..." the Mendacium lad managed to rasp out after a few moments of recovery, trying to turn his head to look around for her. "Did I get it...?"

"Saracyn Mendacium"