Prey Bandit -closed-

This was his first visit to the Rock Garden this season, which meant all of his traps needed to be set and tested. He had neglected them last season which meant more work for him this time around, especially if he wanted to stay fit and healthy before the inevitable arrival of winter. This was his birth season, and with it came the turning of his age- he was getting older now, and it had been almost three years since the last time he'd truly succumbed to the likes of his demons. That wasn't to say he didn't still hear them, but they were getting easier to outwit.
He made sure to always stay busy, and over the last three years, he had a lot of intricate trap work laid out across the Garden to show for it. The most common yet possibly the most frustrating to assemble were his tension traps, where his collected bramble thorns got most of their work. They crumbled after they decayed any longer than couple weeks, which meant frequent visits.. and... he had been up for several nights now just replacing those alone.

Each trap was carefully held together with the thinnest willow branches that he could find, their leaves plucked from them to make for a perfectly moldable twine. They were stretched repeatedly, making them versatile and able to withstand the tension needed of them without stretching too much after they were set. At a ninety degree angle and usually hidden beneath the coverage of a small bush or carefully laid out leaves- a separate, thicker branch was deployed, held snug by the twine yet obviously stressed so that if it was disturbed in the slightest, it would quickly work to reform itself to its natural posture. Elias angled wrapped bramble roots with the longest, sharpest of thorns he could find at the end of these stressed branches so that they would be launched toward whatever disturbed the hardly visible willow twines along the grass.

He had just finished his work and decided to lay in the shade of one of the massive stone structures within the garden, though he was within sight of two of his tension traps. When he heard the ram, the brute didn't even budge... finding it odd that a single ram alone was out running around. He figured it must have been running from something, so the colossus simply remained guarded as his ears listened and his ruby gaze watched, shimmering like the lenses of a red-eyed camera.

When the thick brute came into view, Elias was a bit surprised to see him barreling after the sheep alone. He waited, patiently
He waited, patiently as he would attempt to calculate the direction they both were going- and unfortunately, it appeared to be only slightly off from the trajectory needed to get to one of his traps.

Elias was a lean wolf, and although he was not quite as limber as he had been in his early youth, he was still very much fit from vigorous training and well muscled. He was quick to lift himself off of the stone he'd been leaning on and get on his feet, his wide-splayed toes already clutching the earth as he propelled himself off like a heat-seeking rocket locked onto the target of the sheep. He wanted to get its attention, as well as the other male, so a low growl left his chest as his paws continued to assault the ground beneath him.

Limbs worked to pull him forward quickly, his tail fanning out behind him for balance as both it and his thick neck remained aligned with his spine. His ears folded back as his teeth became barred, the meat of his snout wrinkling in a hideous smile as he lunged for the sheep. It immediately turned to get away from him and was sent on course to the north right over a sparse collection of bushes. For a brief moment, he looked to Vale and offered the shortest wink before his eyes flashed right back to their target. He hoped the stranger didn't interrupt his process but instead helped him keep the hooved beast on course.