dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Silence wrapped the young warrior in mist as dawn lingered on the horizon. Before him stretched the dark shapes of a foreign land dotted with a few sparse pine trees. Éldi's breath spilled from his mouth in a fine fog. Spring had not yet reached the chill grip of the northern lands but even so he felt it in his bones and in his blood. The stars turned as they always did and would mark him a year old. It was high time he committed himself to seeking new adventures, to engaging in great battles.

Éldi felt the cool of the dark morning around him, the fog blurring the terrain only served to fill him with excitement of the unknown. However, he had other matters to attend to than just exploration and conquest. No viking warrior would think of beginning his day without a hearty meal. Yet, what could be found here? Was it still to early for elk? Deftly ducking his head Éldi sniffed at a scratched up area of snow, his fire-flecked eyes gazing intently as he dissolved into his task.

Valkyrie sat on a knoll above Eldi. She was staring across the expanse at a nearby pack. It was the first pack she'd come across since arriving in Boreas. She hadn't scouted it out yet, but it was on her to do list. While it was just her and Eldi it made sense to learn as much as much as possible about the Boreas packs. She would start with this one; doing little more than observing and being careful not to encroach about the pack's territory. A bolder approach would be taken later once she got her numbers up. Until then, her presence around the packs would be feather light. After awhile she rose and padded down the knoll towards Eldi. Her friend had busied himself with something but she couldn't see what. She smirked and eyed his rump. One little bite while he was bent over would instigate a fight. It might be fun after all the traveling they'd done, but they were just close enough to the pack that she was afraid a lot of noise might draw unwanted attention. With a soft huff Valkyrie stopped eyeballing Eldi. She would resist the temptation - this time. "Add a couple clucks and you'll be the spitting image of chicken, scratching around in the dirt like that."

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

The scent was reasonably fresh and seemed to belong to a flock of turkeys. Now which way were they headed? He continued to sniff about on the ground, so focused on what he was doing that he didn't even hear Valkyrie approach until the teasing lilt of her voice cut through the fog. He froze and then grinned. Spreading his tail behind him he did his best to imitate the clucking of chickens as he scratched at the ground with his hind paws. Éldi lifted his head to crow but it quickly shifted into a howl then sputtered to a stop.  He turned around to face his friend. "I'd be the finest chicken you ever saw!  You see anything of note from the knoll?" He wasn't sure there was much that could be seen with this fog but if it could be seen then Valkyrie would be the one to catch it.

"I've caught the scent of some turkeys around these parts. The scents maybe a day old but we might be able to catch them still roosting. You game?"

She grinned at Eldi's antics, but the amused look disappeared the moment he started to howl. Valkyrie shot a glance in the pack's direction. Hopefully they hadn't heard that. "There you go, you big rooster, draw attention to us." It was too early to be drawing attention to themselves. But, she told herself, they were unknowns in this land. Should anyone come to investigate they would be believable if they said they were only travelers. In response to his first question, she said, "Just a pack. They live in some kind of metal cave system." That was about all she could gather from this distance. To his second, she said, "I'm always up for a hunt." The prospect of a hunt appealed to her. Their journey had been long; they could use a good meal to celebrate their arrival. The ghost of a teasing smile lifted the corners of Valkyrie's mouth as she shot a sly look her friend's way. "I know it will be difficult, but do you think you can contain yourself for one measly little hunt?" For all she knew he might be tempted to crow at the turkeys and spoil whatever advantage their sneaking provided them.

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi chuckled but swiftly quieted down as he noticed Valkyrie's worried glance to the horizon. The reason soon became apparent as she spoke of a pack that lived in a strange, metal cave system. "Metal?" He found his own gaze turning in the direction she'd been looking, even though he couldn't see anything through the fog. "Hmmm… that is definitely strange. Sounds like it would be worth a closer look but perhaps on fuller bellies." Éldi was always up for an adventure but he was adamant about starting one without a good and proper breakfast.

I know it will be difficult, but do you think you can contain yourself for one measly little hunt?

He grinned back at Valkyrie. "I make no promises, but I'll see what I can do. C'mon, this way." He moved swiftly across the terrain, his gait low and even to avoid making to much noise. As they got closer to the source of the scent he crouched lower and began to stalk forward, gesturing toward a tree crowded with turkeys. They were bunched together on the lower branches of the tree. Every so often one would stir and ruffle it's feathers before settling back down into slumber.

He wasn't entirely sure he could leap that high but that wasn't the point. They needed to get the birds to take off and scatter then snap up a straggle.  Éldi licked his lips, glanced at Valkyrie and then raced forward, taking a flying leap at the lowest branch while howling at the top of his lungs. The birds scattered in an explosion of feathers and alarmed squawking.

She followed Eldi dutifully, if a bit skeptically. Whether or not he could indeed contain himself had yet to be seen and she wasn't convinced they'd get a meal out of this turkey hunt, but it was worth a try. Although, if he crowed before a bird was down she would have to give up on him entirely. Well, lo and behold. He hadn't been pulling her leg. A gaggle of sleeping turkeys cluttered the branches of a big tree. Valkyrie followed Eldi's lead as he raced forward. She was a few beats behind him to give him time to stir them up so she could knock a few down when the time game. The birds exploded off the tree in a panic. In their haste they beat each other with their wings and several smaller members were nearly beaten out of the air as their companions used the bodies of their neighbors to propel them higher. These individuals were swatted down low enough for Valkyrie to take a swing at them. She jumped and succeeded in knocking one down but before she could go after it, movement in the tree drew her attention away. Valkyrie squinted and then slipped into a low crouch as a pair of feline eyes fixed her with a challenging stare. Apparently Eldi wasn't the only one wit thoughts of a turkey dinner. The snow leopard slunk to the base of the tree and then jumped down. Its sides were thin, its face hollow, and Valkyrie got the feeling hunger was behind the normally shy cat's bold approach. Without taking her eyes off the cat, she called to Eldi, "Eldi, get your turkey. I've got the cat." With her tail held high over her back and her hackles raised, she squared off with the leopard. She bared her teeth at it to give it a chance to back down. The size difference was comical; it didn't stand a chance. Surely it knew that.

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi was focused on the task of hunting, he almost didn't notice the presence of the snow leopard until Valkyrie said something. He nodded and quickly resumed his task, feeling almost bad for the reclusive feline. It had to be desperate to attack them for food but it was survival of the fittest and guilt wasn't enough to make him pass up a meal. He and Val needed their strength for the journey ahead.

The turkeys were surprisingly agile for their size, but Éldi zeroed in on an old tom that wasn't quite as quick as his female companions. With a snarl he darted after the top turkey, nearly tripping over one of the hens as he gave chase. It skittered over a log then took off into the air in a flurry of rushing air just as Éldi leapt.

Valkyrie frowned at the snow leopard. At first she'd been content to chalk its bravado up to hunger, but now she was wondering if sickness played a role in its behavior. The thought chilled her. Illness was a frightening adversary. Against it she was powerless. Give her a fight and she'd jump into it without so much as a second thought, but pit her against sickness and she'd have second thoughts. Illness was a powerful and invisible enemy, and she didn't know the first thing about fighting it. She was going to have to be careful with this cat, then. It was, perhaps, an overly cautious approach to the assumption of sickness, but Valkyrie loathed the idea of coming this far only to be laid low by an invisible enemy. "Here kitty kitty," she sang to reclaim the cat's attention from Eldi and the turkeys. When it didn't return to her immediately she sprang at it with a snarl and then retreated before it could claw her. The cat wisely, if reluctantly, fixed its attention on her. Its tail lashed the ground as it crouched down. She could see its claws digging into the ground and knew out of instinct that it wasn't going to content with simply letting them walk away with the bird it had been after.

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

The turkey's fateful leap put it right in line with Éldi's jaws. He seized hold of the birds neck and bit down as hard as he could. In a flurry of beating feathers and thrashing fangs Éldi struggled with the bird, its claws raking his chest until finally he managed to snap the birds neck. It soon fell limp, the other turkeys scattering off in the distance. Éldi was left standing there, breathing heavily through his nose before he set the turkey down. Inhaling sharply he turned to look for Valkyrie but she was to far away to see. He'd covered quite a bit of distance giving chase even if it hadn't seemed like that much.

Éldi picked up the turkey in his mouth and started journeying back toward where he'd last seen his friend but then he hesitated and set the turkey down. He didn't want to take the hard earned kill right to the leopard and he didn't want to just leave it here in the hopes it would be left alone until he got back. Éldi let out a howl to let Valkyrie know he had the bird. Then he settled down to begin removing feathers. He could at least get the prep work done. Despite the appearance of lazy feather picking Éldi was on high alert, his ears swiveled searching for any sounds of distress. If Valkyrie had any trouble with the cat he'd say to hell with breakfast and be at her side in a minute.

They squared off for several seconds as neither were willing to give up ground. The cat's gaze was angry and unblinking, and it met her cool stare with an fearlessness that was rare among its kind. While she found its brazen attitude a bit unnerving, Valkyrie refused to give up ground. After several beats of stony silence the cat seemed to back down. It began to slink to its left and was for all intents and purposes going to leave when it sprang at her suddenly. Caught off guard, Valkyrie sprang back a beat too late and felt the cat's claws rake down her nose. The deep scratches stung angrily and blood immediately began to drip from her nose. Well, that did it. No more playing nice. With en enraged snarl Valkyrie leaped after the retreating snow leopard. It seemed to realize its mistake and this time retreated for real; running as if its life depended on it. Together the pair zipped through the snowy forest. When the cat zigged, Valkyrie zigged and when it zagged, she zagged. Little by little she gained on it and when the moment was right she reached out and swatted at its hind legs. The cat went rolling and Valkyrie was on it in an instant. She raked her claws across its nose - payback, sucker! - and then sunk her teeth into its scruff and began to shake it. She hadn't decided if she was going to kill it or not, but for the time being she was content to let it think it was about to meet its maker.

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi worked dutifully on removing the turkey's feathers until he had a clear shot toward the creatures breast which he ripped into hungrily. Blood smeared over his muzzle as he ate, his ears still swiveling, search for any signs of distress. He could hear the yowling of the cat and the growls that he knew were Valkyrie but so far nothing to terribly concerning. He worked his way through his half of the kill, eating quicker than he normally would. He didn't want to attract any more predators than they had already for one and for another he kind of wanted to see the end of this fight. Licking swiftly at the blood on his muzzle he carefully seized the turkey and carefully carried the rest of the carcass back where he'd come. He had a feeling he knew who would be on top when he arrived but he couldn't wait to see the score regardless.

The cat yowled and began to flail wildly in response to her assault. Its claws raked through her fur and swiped at the air around her as it frantically tried to land a blow anywhere and everywhere. Valkyrie was unperturbed. She continued to throttle it. If it walked away today she was going to ensure it never forgot this little tussle. With one final shake and an annoyed growl for good measure, Valkyrie released the dizzy leopard and stepped back. It reeled away from her and tumbled to the ground before rolling shakily to its paws. It spun to face her, the very picture of a frazzled feral cat. The snow leopard's eyes were wide and its fur mussed. "Served you right, you little bastard. Lucky to be walking away with your life," Valkyrie sniped as she wiped the blood off her nose. Now, where was Eldi? Hopefully he'd found success while she was tussling with the cat, who incidentally had yet to run away. Valkyrie made a point to watch it out of the corner of her eye as she looked around for Eldi.

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi arrived just in time to see Valkyrie step back from a clearly shaken snow leopard. He carefully set the bird down, licking a little at his lips. "Oh boy, dinner and a show? You know how to treat a man, Valkyrie." He chuckled. "Don't worry, I saved you the good parts." He didn't even bother to ask if she wanted his help. He was pretty certain he knew what the answer would be and besides, someone needed to guard the kill. He had no idea if the leopard might make a go at him and so he stood dominantly over the kill, his fur on end and his ears pinned to his head. Fate favored the prepared.