Let's Kill Stuff, Boys!

Now that he was half way through his first year he really thought he would have been done growing by now, but just when he thought he had finally maxed out those growing pains just kept coming and he kept creeping upward. Finally it seemed like he had maxed out what he figured was possible, leaving him matching his uncle in height. It was funny to him since he remembered being a pup and feeling like there was absolutely no way he could ever be as tall as Indigo, and yet here he was, matching him and the other huge dire wolves that populated this north eastern pack. His mane also continued to grow in more thick and plush as he got older as well, his golden fur making him look more and more lion-like by the day. The sudden growth spurts were causing him to have to relearn and practice some things when it came to his hunting and fighting considering most of the things he learned were really only applicable to his smaller frame that he had for the first half of his life. That drew him to spending more time with his uncle and some of the other massive males in Elysium to try and pick up some tips and tricks from them as he readapted how he did things to this new challenge.

When the opportunity came up to go on a hunt with Merrick and Saracyn he couldn't say no. Manea's brother and son both matched him in height and he couldn't imagine them not being pretty knowledgeable and skilled in hunting and fighting. He had at least seen Saracyn's fighting in action during the Elysium festival melee fight and saw him "hunting" during the fishing tournament that they had both participated in as well. Besides, he was trying to make an active effort out of being a part of this pack while he was here and finding opportunities to put himself out of his comfort zone to be around other wolves more often. He had spent so much of his life so far isolating himself from others and now he felt like he was catching up for lost time, forcing himself to move on and put the past behind him. He knew it would make his mother and sister happy to see him not moping around the den all day and the more he thought about his father and what he would have wanted for him he knew it would have made his father proud to see him focusing on his skills and bettering himself too.

Arcturus followed behind Merrick and the sled he was pulling, a couple of small bags of basic supplies and tools slung across his back. He didn't know how much they would be doing as far as field dressing whatever it was they ended up bringing down, but he didn't think it would hurt to have things like a couple of knives, some strips of leather for tying things off, and some rags for cleaning blood off of the pelts. Plus he carried some easy to carry food stuffs like jerky just to hold them over either until they found something to hunt or till they got back in case they didn't want to tear into their kill just yet and decided to bring it back home whole. It was probably a bit of over kill on his part, but they barely weighed anything so it wasn't like they were hindering him or weighing him down at all and he didn't mind carrying them. He'd rather have the supplies and not need them than not have them and end up wishing he had brought them.

This was most definitely the farthest north he had ever been and the barren, snowy tundra wasn't exactly his preferred kind of terrain. He could at least be happy that his mane kept his neck and chest very warm, but the rest of him wasn't as pleased. It would make sense that a open area like this with just some sporadic pine trees to breakup the landscape would be a good place for the prey they were looking for though. This would be far more hospitable than the mountainous areas he had hunted in before for something like elk or bison which he was pretty sure was their target. for the trip. Once Merrick stopped and slid off the sleigh he was towing, Arcturus slipped out of the bags he was carrying and dropped them on the sled as well, leaving them behind so they wouldn't accidentally cause any issues during the hunt. Once the older male motioned for them to follow, he cast a glance toward Saracyn to give the fellow yearling a quick grin before turning to follow after Merrick dutifully.

Arcturus walked quietly through the pines with his hunting partners of the moment, keeping his eyes peeled for any tracks or signs of potential targets. The scent of them was getting thicker as they went though so he at least knew they were moving in the right direction. They made their way through the pine forest that got slightly more dense as they went, but not by much, until Merrick had them stop and he slipped up silently beside him to take a look at the herd of bison they had found. It wasn't a huge herd, but the animals themselves were massive so even one felt like an impressive kill in his book. He had already started to pick out potential targets when Merrick pointed one out to them—a large cow that obviously had encountered some find of predator before already. He nodded in agreement and once Merrick began to back out he did the same, making extra sure to move quietly and carefully so that they wouldn't disturb the herd before they even began.

Once they had moved around to the back of the herd and were all in position he waited for Merrick to give the signal and then they were off. He bounded forward with long strides, kicking up crunching snow as he went. He headed straight for the cow that was their target, but he also kept an eye out for the other stampeding animals just in case one of them in their wild race to get away from the attacking wolves accidentally cut into their path or kicked out at them as well. He didn't want to get too tunnel visioned on one particular bison and miss something dangerous going on around them. They kept up with the slow cow pretty easily, especially as they continued to run it and its old wounds took their toil in slowing her down more. He had to dodge those strong, kicking legs a couple of times, but luckily he was able to dodge them each time as he kept a bit of distance between him and their prey. Merrick ended up making the first blow once they got it separated a bit from the others and the moment he saw his violet and black form lunge forward to bite into the bison's hindquarters Arc drove hard to get up along side the bison and leapt up to sink his saber fangs into the thick curve over the top of the bison's neck. He bit down hard and used his weight to drag the bison off of its feet as well, only letting go and skittering out of the way as it began to fall so that he wouldn't get crushed under its weight.

The moment it was down he was on top of it, keeping it held down with his weight along with the others. He got a quick bite in at its throat, letting his long fangs puncture its wind pipe to speed up the process of killing it before he got out of the way to let Saracyn and Merrick finish the kill while he focused his energy on keeping the cow from getting up or throwing them off. Eventually he finally felt the bison fall still and he was able to climb off of it, staggering back a step before falling back onto his haunches with a grin, giving Merrick a nod as a bit of thanks to the compliment he was given like he panted to catch his breath. This would definitely be an impressive kill to bring back to the pack!

Just as he was about to get up and offer to go back for the sled while the other two stayed to guard their kill, the scent of a bear caught his attention and his sapphire gaze turned toward the scent just as a low, rumbling sounds of a grizzly reached them. His gray ear flicked as a frown pulled at his lips. Well, it seemed like they'd need to defend their kill sooner rather than later. He got to his paws, giving himself a shake. "I guess the commotion attracted some company..." he muttered, moving around the bison's corpse to stand between where it was laying and where he heard the sounds coming from. A few moments later the massive, shaggy bear came lumbering out from the surrounding trees, crunching and shuffling through the lower hanging branches as it went. Once it was in the clearing across from them it slowed, eyeing each of them with a huff that made a cloud of steam form around the end of its muzzle.

He hoped that maybe seeing three wolves as big as they were might deter the poacher, but it must have been really hungry or really stupid or perhaps some of both because after a moment of consideration it kept coming toward them and eventually reared up on its back legs. He glanced to Saracyn and quickly told him, "I'll keep it's attention, you get around the back." He charged forward then, growling and snarling as he made himself as big as possible with his scruff and mane puffed out. That made the bear hesitate slightly and that was all the opening Arc needed. He leapt up, biting into he bear's front leg near its ankle and used the momentum of that leap and his own weight to pull the bear back down onto the ground, his fangs stabbing through the limb to cause more damage at the same time. He let go as soon as the bear hit the ground, landing on its shoulder with a roar of pain, and Arc jumped back before it could swing its other foreleg at him with those long, deadly claws. He hoped that had bought Saracyn enough time to get behind the attacking bear to get his own blows in so they could get this over with quickly.

WC: 1785
Total: 2885/3500

"Arcturus Indarra"