Kai had never seen a heron before. Until now, of course. The truth was that he'd never been a bit fan of water.. nor of birds, so to see a bird hanging around in the water was a bit of a strange sight. He'd heard stories of some of his family preferring to spend time near water, rarely actually in it but often close enough to it; but he'd never been as superstitious as he reckoned some of his family might be and tended to stray away from the water before long. A slight frown touched his lips after a long while, his ashy nose wrinkling as he watched the bird from a distance, peering from behind a pillar of black and red lava rock. The beach was a lovely sight, tonight at least, a palette of orange and purple that painted the horizon and cast a brilliant reflection on the water. Dawn was one of his favorite times of the day, the strange and brief period that lingered between day and night - a peaceful time where the world was coated with lovely colors. Hunting was easy at this time, helping him to hide in the dim light, but at the same time letting him still navigate with relative ease. But the scenery wasn't his biggest interest presently. He watched the bird carefully, noting that the heron was larger than any bird he'd ever encountered, tall and lanky with freakishly long legs and a long beak. At least its body seemed meaty enough to make a decent meal, far more substantial than most of the birds he'd seen in his life, and he decided right then and there that this guy would make a dinner. He seemed preoccupied with his own meal, his beak twisting and turning and dipping into the frigid ocean water, obviously searching for something. Kai crouched down slightly on the sand, watching and waiting for his opportunity, blissfully unaware of much around him save for this scrumptious looking bird.

(come do a quick heron hunt with Kai? Just need one more <3)

The waves rolled in an even tempo, forever constant in its sound as the first rays of morning shimered in a intricate display of colors. With the waves came another sound, one much softer as the young female hummed a tune, matching the ocean in her song. Her rust fur stood starkly from the black sand as she gazed at the horizon. A trail of white paw prints flowed behind her where she had walkes the very edge of the tide line and sat. Rani was at peace as she hummed a soft tune. She wasn't really thinking of anything she was enjoying the serenity of her surroundings. At least she was until something strange caught her eye. 

Looking to her right she saw another figure in the sand. This one much more blending in due to the dark fur but still noticeable. Rani smelled the wind but it was blowing toward the other wolf so she couldnt really get a scent to even tell her if the new form was male or female. She watched the dark mass and waited for it to notice or smell her, but she notice the other wolf looked quite focused on something else. Following the wolf's line of vision she saw a simple heron out in the gentle rolling waves seeming to be looking for its breakfast. Rani tipped her head to one side wondering why the other wolf was watching it so intently. Then the strange wolf crouched down, and Rani wondered if the other wolf was trying to hunt the heron. Getting excited at the prospect of seeing if this other wolf could catch it or not she wagged her large tail and crouched down as well. She tried to creep closer wondering if the other wolf missed if she could help.

For a long while, Kai was focused - his gaze zeroed in on the bird as it waded through the water. Though it was an odd creature, it seemed serene enough to warrant a long moment of reflection before fully committing to a course of action. The brute had been so lost in his thoughts that he hardly noticed someone nearby, the briny scent of the ocean concealing the tracks of whatever wolf - or wolves - might be nearby. He hadn't expected company, so when he saw a glimpse of brown fur out of the corner of his eyes, he jerked slightly in surprise. Certainly not in fear - he wasn't the nervous type, not in the slightest - but noticeably caught off guard. A grin tugged at his lips, his expression friendly, and his posture slackening slightly as his focus shifted to the stranger before him. Even from the slightest distance that lay between them he could tell she was smaller, and more lightly built - though it was rare he met strangers that stood as tall as he did. It seemed the wolves here were overall smaller than his family tended to be. "Hey!" Kai called out, attempted to keep his voice low in a pseudo-whisper so as to not disturb the bird. Briefly he glanced over at it, making sure it wasn't bothered by them; if it was, it made no show of it. "Were you out looking for something for breakfast too?" His silver gaze was bright and curious as he regarded her, stretching out his limbs and straightening slightly from his crouched position.

Rani saw when the other wolf noticed her and was relieved to see a friendly face. Although she made it a rule to be genuinely nice to others some made that hard with blunt meanness. So she reciprocated the expression and felt the sand below her tail shift as she happily wagged it. He asked if she was out looking for breakfast and she paused before replying. Because no she hadn't been originally, she just came for the peace and scenery of the place. However now she felt the thrill of the hunt and it made her stomach hunger for just a bit of fresh meat. Her green gaze met his silver, "No, not necessarily looking but it seems to have found me if you don't mind a bit of help" she whispered back, humor glinting in her eyes. She mirrored his motions coming slightly out of the crouch and she was able to observe him a bit more. He was defiantly larger than herself and he seemed to have rather distinctive markings on his face.

She glanced at the heron making sure it didn't startle. oh before I forget my name is Rani she said figuring the wolf might as well know her name if they were going to hunt the bird. She saw how is waded through the water and wondered how cold it would be if they were to go in and catch it?

Kai wasn't the type to necessarily be mean - being friendly came easily to him, because that simply made life so much more enjoyable. He'd been taught to live for himself and his own pleasures, and being mean generally just received the same attitude back.. so what was the fun in that? He made no effort to conceal his friendliness as she approached, his grin growing at her words.  "I won't say no to help!" He admitted, his voice a touch louder than he'd anticipated. A brief glance to the heron showed that the bird had paused, twisting his long neck around as though searching for them, but its attention was diverted back to the water before long. There were few activities that he liked to do alone - most things were usually fun with a companion, at least for a short while. Hunting and exploring were two of those things. Of course, introductions made sense before they got started.  "Nice to meetcha, Rani. I'm Kai." He watched her for a minute, assessing her size and build. She was a fair bit smaller than him, though was far from the smallest wolf he'd ever met, but was definitely slighter than he was.  "I'm wondering if you could veer out in the water, a bit away from the bird, then try to circle towards it and scare it towards me?" Kai offered the suggestion lightly. If they tried to run straight for it, he figured it'd just swim out further.. and hunting wasn't easy when you were wading in the cold ocean.  "Never really tried to take down a bird like this, but I'm willing to give it a shot. I'll try to ambush it when you send it running toward me." He shrugged a bit, wondering what she thought of his idea. At least it was worth a try!

Rani almost burst out of her pelt when she saw how open and friendly the other wolf was. She loved making new friends and acquaintances and she happily returned his grin for a wolfish smile of her own. She creeped a little closer after he spoke a little loudly making the heron look up. Also it was kinda hard to hear him with the light waves rolling in the background. She hoped he didn't mind and she kept her posture friendly.

Kai is a nice name she thought. Before she could go into her endless thoughts on what his name could mean she perked her ears when she heard him speak again. Go in the ocean? she thought and looked at the water doubtfully. She knew what Kai said was a good idea, as she couldn't see them just running straight at the bird and actually catching it. She had never thought to learn how to swim but judging by where the water came at on the birds legs she should just be able to wade through it. The more she thought on the plan the better it sounded and turned back to Kai. Okay lets do that then she said in her usual cheerful tone. 

Deciding to just get the show on the road Rani turned and started to stalk around the bird making sure to give it a wide enough berth as to not startle it. She glanced at Kai when she finally made it to a spot to enter the water. Pushing her second thoughts away she took two calm and fearless strides in the water and came to an abrupt halt. She almost wailed she couldn't feel her paws! Swallowing the sudden urge to jump out of the water and make a scean she watched the heron to see if it noticed her. So far so good it was still watching the waves. Slowly making her way further out she felt the small, frigid waves graze her underbelly and decided to start circling back to the heron. The stupid bird still didn't see her. Rani guessed that the bird probably didn't expect any danger to come from behind it where there was nothing but water, but still! What was she supposed to do now? She looked back at the beach and saw his large dark shape. She knew she had to get the bird to move somehow, so before she could regret it she stood up on her hind legs and brought her front ones down hard to make a large enough splash to scare the bird.... And got completely wet in the process.

Kai was glad the heron hadn't been too startled by his exclamation - he was just excited to see a friendly face, but he didn't want to foolishly ruin their hunt before it had even started. The male watched as she listened and assessed his plan, turning to the water before looking back at him. He usually wasn't a big fan of eating birds - he liked prey who generally stayed on the ground most of the time, rather than ones with wings, but he'd make an exception for this strange creature. He grinned a bit wider at her agreement, his tail wagging gleefully behind him.  "Now that's the spirit!" He whispered this time, doing his best to keep his voice down now that a hunt had been decided upon. Kai crouched down slightly, slipping back behind the pillar of volcanic rock as she made her way away from him and the bird and slipped into the water a good distance from them both. He was hardly aware of how cold the water might be at this time of year, but watched carefully as Rani made her move, circling in the water toward the back of the heron.. and when she got close enough, he watched her rear up and slap her front paws down in the water, which elicited a soft chuckle from him. If the heron noticed him, it was more terrified of the sound behind it than anything it might be running toward. It made a weird sort of squawk as it rushed forward toward the beach, sneaking a glance behind it and realizing the danger that lay there. Kai lay in wait for a moment, crouched with his butt wiggling comically behind him as he waited to pounce. He waited impatiently for the bird to get a bit closer, and by the time it noticed him there it was too late. He kicked off with his long back legs and rushed toward the heron, which spun in a circle, trying to decide which way to go. The brief moment of hesitation gave him the opportunity to tackle the lanky creature, his jaws crushing its neck in one easy motion as he wrestled it to the ground, tail pinned triumphantly above his back.