As soon as Taiga laid eyes on the rolling plains of the ridge, she knew just what she wanted to do here. There were many half-dug pits laying about with bones sticking out of them. The hulking feline decided to dig one of the pits deeper and use the bones as spikes upon which she might impale some hapless prey animal. During her travels here, she'd seen some antelope. That would be an easy catch.

The cave lioness chose a sandy pit that was just on the opposite side of one hill. Wide, snowshoe paws pulled the earth away with ease. This was much more simple than digging a hole in the frozen terrain up north. The black and white giantess would make short work of this, then the fun could start. Her stomach growled in agreement.

"Taiga"

"Speech"

Carefully the dark brown male crested a familiar hill to take in the ridges rich with bones and fossils. His stomach growled subtly for him as he spied a few prey a couple ridges over. Then he saw something peculiar.

Eltrys carefully approached a rather monstrous cave lion digging in the dirt instead of stalking the nearby prey. They seemed open for another set of paws to join them.

"Pardon the intrusion, I'm Eltrys, Could you teach me this technique?" He asked quietly, then made quick work to help the massive cat endeavor. He wondered what prey he had in mind.

Rounded ears swiveled at the sound of approaching paws and the feline brought raspberry colored eyes upwards to see an earthen colored wolf drawing near. His words sounded as he introduced himself, then set to work beside her once she confirmed that she could use his assistance. "I'm Taiga," she replied in kind, then motioned to the pit with one huge paw. "The plan is to dig this pit, use some of the sharper rib bones as pikes, then run the herd of antelope towards the ridge."

The feline's paws continued to pull great piles of sandy loam away from the hole and the wolf did the same. "If we can get a few antelope to impale themselves, we'll have a relatively easy meal." This was something that Taiga had done many times and would likely do many more.

"Taiga"

"Speech"

He had never thought of other techniques to hunt! Of course! His upbringing had stunted his hunting creativity, making him believe ritualistic chasing and ambushing was the only true way to hunt. He was glad to leave it behind, what new ways to feed the pack had he been missing?

He grabbed one of the rib bones, massive in size already broken at a sharp angle, and placed it nearby, ready to be put in the pit.

He helped the massive cat, Taiga, move the displaced dirt out of the way so it didn't refill their pit. "Fascinating!" He mentioned as he worked, grateful he had this opportunity.

A low chuckle spilled from the giant cat and she grinned, flashing horribly long canines. It was nice to have an eager student complete with manners. "It's a decent strategy, especially in warmer climates. It's much harder to dig in the north where the ground is frozen," she informed him.

Once the hole was finished, Eltrys and Taiga both set about collecting pointed, shattered bone. With her great bulk and strength, the lioness could easily push the spikes into the earth. She packed soil around each spike, making sure to angle each rib so that it pointed towards the rise of the ridge.

"Next, we'll locate the herd of antelope. You'll be on one side. I'll be on the other and we'll herd them this way. At least one is sure to drop into the pit on the other side since they can't see it." Not until it was too late, anyway.

"Taiga"

"Speech"

He nodded, that was something he had some experience in, having been raised close to the great taiga forest the cat seemed to have been named after. The ground was perpetually frozen beyond the forest, where one would typically hunt his favorite meal, caribou.

As Eltrys gathered some of the bones, he noted to himself how some of them were fresher than others, and the largest ones seemed to be closer to stone in material than actual bone. Interesting how he had been here so often that he had missed this feature. He watched as she easily pushed the bones into the earth and packed the solid around each spike. He tried the trick himself but found that he had to make a hole for the bone first and then pack it in. He admired the cat for her strength.

She mentioned finding the herd,
"Before I saw you I noticed a small herd over the other ridge there." He pointed with a dusty dark paw in their direction. Stalking silently was his specialty among his wolven brothers, but he had a feeling she would have him down pat in that department as well.

He started off in that direction, taking her cues.

Eltrys had seen the herd of antelope as well and, when he pointed this out to the lioness, she nodded in agreement. They moved out onto the plain together, splitting up once they neared the herd. The antelope were, so far, unaware of their approach. Taiga wanted to keep it that way until the last minute.

One might think that a beast so large would be loud and clunky in their movements, but Taiga cut through the grass like a knife. She stuck to the shadowy places, utilizing the various bones and towering ribcages for cover. Once she was in a suitable position, the feline looked to the other side of the herd, searching for Eltrys to make sure that he was ready to begin. It took her a moment to locate him, his cover being so good. The lioness gave a faint nod and then it was time.

"Taiga"

"Speech"

Splitting from his new feline companion he slunk into the grasses himself. He quietly crept nearly on his belly weaving through the bones and bushes. He froze as one antelope adjusted her grazing spot. He moved after a moment knowing it was settled in to it's graze. He could see nor tell any sign of the woman, her smell hidden down wind even. He adjusted his trajectory to take the gentle wind into consideration.

He slipped to a good spot and peered through the blades toward where he thought the great cat might be. Catching her red eye, she nodded at him.

He leaped from his hiding place with a growl, sending the ungulates away from him, toward the cat and toward the trap.

The ridge erupted into a flurry of motion and sound. Eltrys leaped from cover and the antelope balked, heading towards Taiga. When the lioness did the same, the herd began to barrel towards the natural dip in the land. That trail would take them right over the ridge and into the pit. Hopefully, at least.

The antelope were quick, but Taiga was large and her bounds covered a lot of ground. She couldn't spare a glance for Eltrys to see how he was doing, trusting the wolf to hold up his side of the chase. Claret colored eyes were intent upon the fleeing ungulates. As they began to sway away from the path, Taiga brought them back front and center with a loud chuff and a swipe of a massive paw. Right down the funnel they went and the pair of predators were almost ready to have a nice, fresh dinner.

"Taiga"

Eltrys pushed the herd forward with Taiga. His dark paws hit the earth with an easy rhythm. He was trailing a few bounds behind her, when a few of the antelope were veering away. He pushed his paws to go faster to head them off and back into the funnel toward the trap. He lost one as it bounced beyond his reach, nearly giving a few others a false hope to follow it. The Ranger was close enough to nip at the heels of those who dared to break formation.

He fell back behind the herd once more as the funnaling started to do its work. He headed off any that though to back track was a good idea and urged them forward again.

He saw the head of the first victim disappear into the ground over the pit! Would any more follow?

The pair ran the herd together quite well despite one or two antelope escaping. The hill came closer and closer. Already those at the head of the group were leaping over. Eltrys, being more lightweight, was ahead of her. Taiga, though strong, didn't have the stamina of a wolf. It was good to have him here alongside her in this regard.

Squeals and bellows of pain reached the cats ears as she neared the edge of the ridge. Two antelope had fallen victim to the spike pit which worked out perfectly. As the rest of the herd scattered, disappearing and out of mind, the lioness moved forward to put one of the antelope out of its misery. She assumed that Eltrys would dispatch the other.

Once their dinner was well and dead, The black and white lioness stretched out on her belly in the shade of a gigantic skull. Her mouth hung open as she panted, relieving herself of some of the built up heat from the run. It took a lot of energy for a beast like herself to move so quickly and that energy burn made her overheat easily. "Well done," she complimented the brute with a nod of thanks.

"Taiga"

"Speech"

As he heard the squeals of pain, he bellowed a victory call in his excitement. Ignoring the rest of the herd he quickly shot forward to the antelope in the pit and sank his teeth under its flailing throat to end its misery.

Quietly he whispered thanks to the beast itself and the spirits for its sustaining nourishment. Then Eltrys pulled it up from the pit and took his hunter's portion to enjoy, leaving most of it untouched for him to carry back to the pack.

His maw stained red still he nodded in appreciation as he licked his lips from finishing his meal. The blood rush may have overcome his fatigue.

"To you as well! I will remember this fantastic trick you've taught, me Thank you Taiga." He said, before hefting the rest of the fresh corpse over his back. "Enjoy the rest of your day, I am to feed a few more mouths than my own." He said with a dip of his chocolate noggin and began to make his way back to the falls.