On the Warpath (Bear Hunt)

Midnight gave a shallow nod inhaling a deep breath she moved off in a slow trot. The scent was quiet faint as she followed the smell down the nearby creek moving steadily towards the great lake then began to circle back around moving back towards the mountains deeper into Glacciem territory and closer to the pack den. Time had dulled the beasts odour but patches stood strong here was fur caught on a branch, here the beast had relieved itself and there... she froze for a moment right in the middle of the path if any wolf was following close they could easily run up her back end but she couldn't move, the bear had made a kill, a large male moose lay broken and torn in the snow, she knew the danger moose presented they could easily kill a lone wolf but this one had been savaged to within an inch of recognition, its once proud form reduced to little more then a pile of meat.

A nursery rhyme, a game taught to her by the pups born of her first teacher came unbidden to her mind, 'I'm going on a bear hunt going to catch a big one' it had been a game then one pup would hide the others would seek him out chanting over and over ?I'm not scarred? she muttered it so quietly that only the closest wolf could possibly have heard, in the game the 'bear' pup would leap out at the last minute growling and laughing and chase them back to mother, but there was no running now no shelter under the protective eye of mother and no guarantee that the attack would end in good humour. She steeled herself again and moved closer to the kill, it was still quiet fresh and the scent here was stronger, and she frowned slightly why would a bear still be hunting this late in winter it should have been asleep shouldn't it.

She looked over her shoulder at the others, she had to focus but now this close to there goal and with a bear possibly still awake she was hesitant, if it leaped out whilst she had her attention focused on tracking signs she could be dead before she even knew she was under attack... but she had to trust them they trusted her to find this creature after all. She offered them a half smile, ?where close,? was all she said before turning forward once more and moving off more slowly now her nose to the ground eyes fixed to the earth.

It was only a minute or two before the cave came into sight it was large sat in the side of a mountain the climb up to its mouth was steep and made of loose stone the only sure way up was the path which ran from the left just wide enough for two wolves to stand side by side on the path. The cave entrance was formed by two large slabs of rock which had landed against each other and become jammed, there was no way to tell from where they stood how deep the cave was, or even if the bear was inside, and the scent covered the area, Midnight did not know where from, but the cave looked dark and forbidding a gaping mouth waiting to swallow them whole.

Midnight turned to the males standing so she could keep half an eye on the cave entrance, ?that?s it,? it was not lost on her how close they where to the pack den which lay on the other side of the mountain pass, she shivered as she thought of it encountering one of the pups or even another adult next spring, she flexed her shoulder feeling the pull of the scar tissue, she knew the damage he could do. She turned her gaze to Gargoyal, taking a deep breath, ?what?s the plan chief,?