Buffalo Exchange

The day was young and the clouds floated intermittently overhead, some darker than others as they rolled in from the west. He watched the weather overhead for some time to see if a storm would come all morning, but so far, there seemed to be no threat just yet. While the weather remained good, he decided to trek out to the prairie to track down a potential meal. Today, he planned on doing something to potentially get the pack involved. Or at least, what members remained in the hopes of building the pack bond that should have been there, to begin with. He knew things might be tense within the pack borders what with his brother's victory and Hannibal's loss, but despite that, he still had his duties to tend to and one of them was to continue working for the pack and gauge the abilities of those who remained. He wanted to promote his sister knowing she was working hard and hunting with him on some occasions. Today, however, he just wanted to gather some friendly face and leave the tension behind. Whether it be pack member or not, they'd celebrate a victory in the form of a picnic.

A screech from his companion overhead alerted him to a nearby herd of bison. Interested, Cloud tracked them down with cautious steps. He knew the beasts could be dangerous, so he made sure to keep a safe distance as he climbed a small hill that overlooked their position. It was a herd of maybe twenty individuals. Some bulls and a few cows with calves at their side. He crawled onto his belly and watched them, eyes scanning the herd as he tried to decide which one he wanted to pick out. He uttered a soft bark, beckoning his companion to him so he could glean some information from the one with a bird's eye view.

Within moments, his companion landed at his side and Cloud turned to him. "What do you think?" He murmured while he continued to observe them. "There's an old bull on the other side of the herd. He seems to stray a little more than the others, I think he'd make a good target. I'd still be wary, however. He may be old but he looks like he might have plenty of fight in him, I hope you get a good team out here," Cloud nodded as he searched for the bull, and soon enough spotted the shaggy-coated bull grazing several yards from the main herd. It looked like he moved slower than the others, but he was large and even from this distance looked imposing. Cloud figured he must have lived quite a long time to grow to that size, but the bulls days would come to an end perhaps come winter. Even from this distance, he could see that the bull was too old to make it till then, especially if summer proved to be difficult, and who knew what fall and winter would bring. Taking a deep breath, he turned and slipped down the hill where he had just come from while his companion took flight again to keep an eye on the herd.

Tilting his head back, he let loose a loud and drawn out howl to call together any who might want to join him.

Word count: 554

"SPEAK"