His nephew recently returned to Elysium and with that Deimos decided it was a good opportunity to take the aspiring hunter out on a hunt to see how he did. The pack was full of young wolves–some of them his own children–so he was trying to help where he could do give them opportunities to learn and prepare to take over some of the more important roles in the pack. From what Manea was telling him Malico was shaping up to be a quite skilled hunter, but he had no doubt that Manea would speak highly of her children so he would rather see it for himself. Given the fact that it was winter it did mean that their choices for prey were more limited, but that just meant they would need to get creative with their hunt.

He brought Malico out past the Firefly Lake to the dense thicket on the other side since he knew that this place was always teeming with birds and small prey alike. Sure, it was always a challenge to bring down a large animal like a buffalo or elk, but there was a lot of strategy and difficulty in going to the opposite end of the spectrum as well. This hunt felt more like a challenge or a hunt for sport than it did a trip to bring back large amounts of food, but this kind of hunt had its own kind of value in his eyes. Sharp skills and minds were just as valuable in the right applications. They reached the edge of the thicket and he glanced toward his nephew, saying, "I can hear the chips of the birds already... Any ideas for how to approach this or how to catch them?" He had his own ideas, of course, but he wanted to see what Malico would have in mind first.

"Deimos Mendacium"

With his return to Elysium, Malico had been seeking opportunities to learn and grow his natural interest in hunting. So, when he had been approached by his uncle, Deimos, to go to a neighboring land and catch some birds for the food stores, of course the young man had jumped at the chance. Winter time means snow and fewer prey animals all around but there were still bellies that need to be filled within Elysium which means that the hunters have to switch up the animals that they catch.

Hence the birds.

While many birds may not be plump enough to consume, there are a few worthy contestants to be found in the Rustling Thicket. The natural cover that the tall grass and even taller bushes offer is a perfect paradise for a variety of birds but there is only one specific species that Malico wants to hunt today. Had the purple man done some scouting before he had left for this hunting trip with Deimos? Of course! Knowledge is power; or, that is what Mariah is always telling him.

The purple males make their out past Firefly Lake, to the land teeming with birds and small prey where they will be hunting for the day. Eyes scan the tall grasses as they come to a stop at the edge of the territory and he spies the soft rustling of blades that signals movement underneath. Eyes move up to catch the words that his ears might miss as his uncle speaks and Malico cocks his head in an effort to catch the subtle sounds of a very particular bird that he seeks to hunt today.

A grin splits his maw as he hears it and he rights his head while saying, “Well, I hear some quail hiding in there. If you go in and spook them, they will take flight to try and find a better place to hide. Instead, I will be waiting for them.” Brows lift as he silently questions if this idea is suitable for Deimos, knowing that the birds may be small but that they also cannot fly well. If his uncle rushes through the brush and kicks up the quails, they take to the air in a short but explosive flight to try and find new cover. All he will have to do is intercept and bring down as many as he can before they land.

After that, they should be able to rinse and repeat the process until they have felled enough of the birds to satisfy Deimos.




WC: 424
Total WC: 736 / 1500



"Malico Mendacium"

Deimos watched as Malico listened for a moment as if he was confirming something for himself and then Malico presented the idea of chasing out the quail he heard hiding in the brush. Considering that Malico was going to be more agile and nimble than himself the roles in this hunting plan did feel pretty well assigned. He was heavier in build and taller than his nephew so charging through the dense brush would not be a problem for him, but trying to leap up and catch fleeing birds probably would be. If probably would have been wise for them to bring a net or some other form of trap with them to make this more efficient, but since they did not this would have to do. "That seems like as good a plan as any," he agreed with a nod, turning his attention back toward the section of brush ahead of them for a moment.

There were certain sections of it that seemed more dense and potentially harder to get through than others, but he had no doubt that those sections would be the ones where the quail would be more likely to hide. He would need to find a good balance of both to disrupt the birds enough to get them to fly out of their hiding places without getting himself stuck in the process. "I'll circle around to the other side so that I'm on the back side of this stand of brush. That way I can chase them out toward you instead of away," he said with a nod before turning to walk around this section of the thicket they were standing in front of.

It took him a bit of time to find a good sized gap in the brush once he was far enough around to come from the back of where it sounded like the quail were nesting, but eventually he found a way in and started creeping carefully through the underbrush. That was certainly easier said than done for a man his size, but he was a seasoned hunter and his large paws helped dampen his steps a bit as he crept toward his target. A couple of times he had to pause to make sure he had not alerted the local wildlife too soon as he crunched through small branches and twigs. Eventually, Deimos made his way to a spot where he could see the violet of Malico's fur peeking through the grasses and brush so he knew he was across from his nephew. He stood and listened quietly for a bit so he could pick up the particular calls of the quails they were looking for to be sure he was aiming for the right spots.

Once he pin pointed a couple of places he was certain the birds were hiding, he coiled his legs beneath himself and launched forward with the stored energy in his legs. He leapt over smaller bushes and crashed through patches of thick grasses, growling and snarling as he went to make as much noise and fuss as he could. Immediately he heard the flutter of wings that sounded like they were trying to get away from where he was as quickly as they could with their occasional calls suddenly much more frequent and panicked. A few more crashing leaps and after almost being tangled up in some vines a couple of times Deimos felt like he had done a pretty sufficient job of flushing out the quail from the thicket. He had been about to turn and head back out toward where Malico was hopefully snagging a few of the plump birds for them to take back with them when he suddenly noticed the flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. Acting fast, he managed to swing around and snag a fleeing quail by one of its wings, causing it to flail around and smack his face with its other wing and claw at his muzzle with its talons. It was easy enough to pin it to the ground under one of his paws and end its life with a quick bite down on its neck. Well, at the very least they'd have one quail to show for their efforts.

Deimos picked up his kill and began to pick his way through the now distinctly more quiet section of thicket he had pretty throughly cleared out. There was still more bird song and rustling he could hear behind him even deeper into the thicket so if Malico did not manage to catch more quail they did have an opportunity to keep going, but he was hopeful that would not be necessary and they could call this an easy hunting day. That did in fact seem to be the case, much to his delight. He spotted a small pile of quail that Malico was currently adding another bird to when stepped out into the open. With the one he caught and the several that Malico had snagged they could make a fairly decent addition to a dinner once they got home. It certainly was not enough to feed a pack, but in the winter any little bit helped. "Good job," he said with an approving grin before he went to pick up a few of the birds to carry back. "Lets get these back to the food stores. There might be enough daylight left to go out again if we're quick enough."

WC: 910
Total: 1646 / 1500

"Deimos Mendacium"