Erminetto of a man! Scaramoose! Do the Fanganjo!

The summers of Auster were a lot warmer than Eltrys had experienced before. A lot was on his mind of late. The humid nights offered little relief to his questing mind and rumbling heart. The crashing waves on the beach of the Swallet Ring offered a chance to clear his mind for a hunt. The call of birds overhead shrilled against his dark brown ears and reminded him of his old home against the northern cliffs of the mainland, far and away from Boreas and Auster. How his life had changed from back then was nothing short of a miracle.

He lifted his nose to scent the air, the tropical plants surrounded him with a heavy dew on each leaf. The rich loamy smell of the small coastal jungle reached his nose with traces of chicken, pig, and many other scents he had yet to familiarize himself with, something akin to deer was also among these plants but he couldn't quite place it.

The scent of the chicken was slightly different than the ones they had at his new home, and it reminded him of her and her warm green eyes. She loved chickens. Perhaps he could catch a few of these birds for her and bring them home. How would he bring them home though? He stalked through the thick underbrush, tracking the chicken scent and lingering in the shadows. He heard the faint clucking and tiny cheeping of the chicks clustered around their mothers. He crawled forward through the underbrush to see if he could get a good look at them.

The undergrowth parted around Eltrys as he peered through the grasses and monsteras to spy a large flock of colorful chickens, Some of them were white and brown but many of them were sparsely speckled in various shades of reds, greys, creams, and even rich flashy blacks. Haydee would love these, he nearly growled with delight at the prospect of adding them to the flock of Ethne... er Polaris.

Now... to carefully herd some of them back to Lazuli Falls... He was not a master of Chickens by any means, and he probably should have spent more time with the clucking things before settling on this idea. Alas, the heart wants what it wants, and the image of her face when she finds out about them made the beat of his own heart quicken at the thought. He observed several roosters stalking about, preening some of their ladies and tending to their needs. He noticed that when one of the roosters made a certain sound after scratching at the ground, the nearest hens would flock to him to investigate. Eltrys wondered if he could mimic this soft short clucking sound in a way to entice some of the hens to follow him.... Maybe as a last resort.

He wondered if he could herd them as a group back to the Falls... It was a long journey, and they didn't look very enduring but he admitted looks could be deceiving. He stalked his way around them and broke cover to try and push the flock toward the land bridge of the ring. With an explosion of feathers and startled crowing and clucking the birds scattered in every direction but the direction he wanted them to go.

Then suddenly the clearing was completely empty and devoid of birds. Ah... He didn't count on their short flying to find roosts in the trees.

What if he grabbed one of the chicks... would the hens follow him then? Probably not, prey animals didn't attach themselves as closely to their young as his kind did. Would they follow a rooster? When he had observed the flock several groups of hens clustered around a rooster... so maybe he was on to something there.

He padded back into hiding, hopefully, when they realized he didn't hurt any of them they might trust him? He'd never tried capturing live prey before. He settled down into the moist shade to allow the flocks to come out of hiding and gather again on the beach. It was an hour before he saw the red crown of one of the soft calico roosters peer about and scope for any signs of danger. He seemed to be the boldest. What if Eltrys found a wandering chick and presented it safely to the flock? Would that garner their attention and trust? It was certainly an uncommon approach to hunting, but hopefully, it'll help feed and provide the pack further.

Quietly he got up as the chickens slowly came back out of hiding and he circled the rim of their beach as soundlessly as he could. Little clucks, cheeps and chirps started to sound around the foliage again.

While he walked he kept his ears turning and swiveling around trying to catch the tiniest peep of a lost chick who might have gotten separated from the flock when he had startled them earlier.

On the other side of the jungle, far enough away from the flock, he came across a smokey little ball of fluff softly cheeping in fear. Without trying to coax it or alert it to his presence he quickly snatched it up in his mouth, It frantically flapped and screamed within his jaws but he was careful not to crush it and just held it softly within as he quickly trotted back to the flock. He couldn't help the saliva dripping from his jowls.

He picked out the same first rooster he saw poke his head out before and slowly tried to deposit the chick near him.
The hens all darted behind the rooster and the crowned king of the flock crowed his warning at Eltrys before the chick was released. Once the chick darted back to its family the rooster looked at the wolf askew. Bobbing his head this way and that trying to understand. Eltrys then laid down and pretended not to notice all the chickens around as they continued to come forth from the underbrush and explore.

The rooster came closer and closer, curiosity and boldness bringing it further. Good, he wanted chickens that weren't afraid of him. Chickens that could trust him and his pack to take care of them. He eventually let the chickens hop around and on top of him. Until the rooster came within grasping distance. Eltrys then grabbed him in his mouth and let the rooster and his hens freak out for a minute as Eltrys held him gently around the back, holding him down firmly but carefully not harming him. When the Rooster relaxed and decided all was well, Eltrys released him unharmed.

The king chicken then turned on Eltrys and tried to attack him with fierce rear barbs on his back legs but the wolf grabbed the chicken's leg as he flapped about, used his paw to flip him around, and then held him down again. When he relaxed, the hunter sat with the rooster between his front legs as the hens chittered about. He released his hold on the Rooster for a moment and then grabbed it again gently on its back, this time getting up and making his way toward the Falls, The Rooster unharmed and gentle. He looked back to see four hens and several broods of chicks hesitantly follow him at a distance.

He would bring these birds carefully in this way through Auster toward the falls. As long as he was slow and methodical he could walk among them with the hens gathering courage and trust.

.
.
.
Throughout the journey, he lost six chicks but only two hens. He tried his best to protect them over the journey but one of the hens got lost, and a few chicks were picked off by hawks and eagles and the like. Fortunately, the time he returned to the Falls, the Rooster was sitting comfortably on his back and the small flock followed along beside Eltrys. One erminette rooster, two erminette hens, and five chicks.