The time Mikkal had spent in Boreas had been spent largely alone, which might have bothered a more socially needy sort of creature. But even with his love for family, even with his enjoyment of others, all Mikkal had ever really needed were the caribou.

Even with his help though, his herd had a rough winter the year before, and their numbers were still suffering. The weak, old, and injured had been already fallen, and the young and healthy were all needed to bolster the falling numbers so he didn't feel comfortable taking any from the herd for his own use. Getting ready to go into winter, though, he needed to be thinking about putting on fat stores and preserving more meat for the lean times which meant something larger and richer than snowshoe hares or ptarmigan.


He left the caribou herd to continue their slow southward migration on their own. He had noticed some time back that as this herd became more tamed, much like his family's herds back home, they tended to remain together more and longer than the wilder herds. With him to guide them to richer feeding grounds they had less need to disperse after the fall rut, though eventually in the deep winter when lichen was too scarce even for his keen nose and experience to find in large amounts, they would spread out too far for him to keep track of every individual alone. That was when he would lose the most of the year's casualties. The rut was coming soon for them as well, and for that couple weeks the bulls would be in danger not only from each other but from opportunistic predators. For now though he didn't need to worry as much about leaving them. They would stay together on the migration path, while he put up supplies elsewhere.

Lifting his nose to the wind, he breathed deeply. It was the moose rutting season, which put them high on the list of possible hunting, but while the rut made the bull moose vulnerable it also made them dangerous. Moose were dangerous at the best of times, let alone when they were maddened by the scent of cows in estrus, and at close to a thousand pounds or more they had a lot of bulk to back up their belligerence.

It didn't take long for him to catch the scent of a wounded bull. The blood wasn't as fresh smelling as from a new injury. Maybe a couple days old injury that was still weeping, which was all to the better as far as he was concerned. A fresh wound meant a freshly wounded bull, which while it could mean a bull tired from battle, it could also very well mean an angry adrenaline fueled monster. But one that had been this badly injured days ago was a bull whose injured body had had time to stiffen up, who'd been losing blood off and on for days, with infection setting in and deteriorating condition. It would be the ideal prey, if he could take it down safely.

But when he caught up to the bull, he saw with some dismay that weakened or not the bull was an impressively sized specimen of his species. Easily a thousand pounds and pushing a couple hundred extra, he was well over the size Mikkal thought he could manage a way to take down alone. Maybe if he had one of these handy cliffs to run it over, but even then, faced with just one wolf the bull might just turn and fight. That would need two or more wolves working in concert to harass it until it broke and ran, or they infuriated it to the point of getting it to chase them towards a crevasse and dodged at the last minute.

Mikkal sighed sadly. It was a shame to let the opportunity go to waste. As badly wounded as it was - clearly despite its size it had bad luck in a recent battle - it would die anyway, but he didn't have time to waste waiting for it to die on its own. He'd have to hope he found another injured moose that he could more reasonably take down alone, somehow. Unless... unless he could find another wolf willing to hunt with him for a share in the reward. It wouldn't hurt to try.

Lifting his red-streaked face, he howled, letting his voice carry across the land in the hopes of reaching another hunter, inviting them to the hunt.

Word Count So Far: 754

Kai had decided to take a long overdue trek up north. While he'd spent the majority of the last few seasons in the eastern parts of Boreas, he had decided that the return of  colder weather meant a trip to the more inhospital lands. Carefully Kai Jarvela began his trek north, navigating carefully through the dangerous mountain pass and through the thickly wooded forests that seemed more colossal than any forests he'd encountered before. This was where he felt most alive, despite enjoying the lands he'd been exploring previously. Kai wasn't sure how long he traveled through the forests, but before long he'd found his way to a massive gorge surrounded by spruce trees. Though he doubted this area had any good hunting, it was an interesting visit and Kai was already pleased with his choice of direction. As the westward wind brought something new to his nose, his interest was immediately piqued. He recognized the faint scent of caribou, a scent he had been taught by his father at a young age, though he'd never had the honor of truly encountering a herd - let alone hunting from one. Though he wanted badly to experience it, wanting to follow in the pawsteps of his family, he also wanted it to be a worthwhile experience. He couldn't take down one on his own, and he also didn't want to waste the hunt with someone who wouldn't view it in a similar light as he would. That was why another scent that followed caught his interest even more: it was the scent of an injured bull. An injured animal would be far easier to take down on his own, and if it was small enough he might manage it on his own. It was a better choice than deciding how to deal with his first reindeer hunt, and potentially mulling over whether it was done properly or in acceptable company. Weirdly enough for Kai, tracking and taking down a moose wouldn't stir up quite the same feelings of uncertainty in him. With the thought of perhaps initiating a hunt in his mind, he set off across the vast tundra. Despite the fact that it was still fall here, the drab landscape was already capped with snow for as far as the eye could see. Kai found himself periodically squinting against the brightness of the terrain, noting the way the light reflected harshly off the snow and rendered proper observation of the land around him quite difficult. He kept his head low, sniffing at the air, only lifting it when the sound of a familiar cry touched his ears. He'd only met Mikkal once, but it was no surprise to find him in these lands again. The Jarvela family was not a terribly unpredictable bunch, despite their independent and often chaotic spirits - they were drawn to the north, to their beloved reindeer, and to a life more treacherous than most wolves in this world were used to. His pace increased, as much as it could through the layer of snow that coated the earth here, as he sought to close the distance between himself and Mikkal. The scent of the wounded bull only grew stronger as he traveled, not overly surprised at the time it took to reach Mikkal. Minutes might've turned to hours, for all he knew, but he briefly tipped back his head to return the call and announce his impending arrival. By the time he found his cousin he was already panting from the journey, but the burning in his limbs stemmed from adrenaline rather than sheer exhaustion. A hunt had been promised, and Kai was determined to see it through. The young male wore a friendly grin as he drew closer, eager to see what Mikkal had found. All he could tell from the scent alone was that it belonged to an injured bull, though he supposed his cousin had scoped out the target properly by now. "Nälkäinen, serkku?" Kai drawled once he was within earshot of the older wolf, his expression softening into a more focused look as he scanned the landscape for their target. Words so far: 1,445 "TALK" "YOU" THINK

Having sent out his call, Mikkal settled in to observe the injured bull moose while he waited. The moose walked with a heavy limp, and after a time he turned far enough for Mikkal to see what the injury was - a bad fracture of his foreleg that had pierced the skin. The constant movement of the bone wasn't allowing the wound to close properly, which was why it was still bleeding. If the moose wasn't killed now, he'd waste away from infection until he died, and he'd be hardly worth eating by then. What a shame.

His ears perked up at the sound of a voice, and he turned on the speaker with a boyish grin. "Kai! On hyvä nähdä sinut uudelleen!" His cousin's question turned his grin to an amused grimace. "Se on syksy. Aika raskaaksi, ei nälkä. He gestured with his muzzle at the moose that was trying to make its way along the cracked ground. "Mutta minulla on hieman hirveä ongelma," he complained jokingly. "Ei ole väliä kuinka hieno kysyn häneltä, tämä hirvi kieltäytyy tekemästä asioista helppoa minulle ja yksinkertaisesti asettamaan ja kuolemaan!" He sighed and shook his head as though bemoaning the rudeness of moose. "Mutta meidän molempien kanssa emme ehkä tarvitse pyytää hänen lupaa." He grinned again at Kai, then turned his attention back to the moose.

"Ajattelin, että voisimme kyellä häntä etsimään luodaan, mutta olisi vaikeaa vetää häntä takaisin ulos, ja en voi pysyä kaukana karibuillani liian kauan. He alkavat pian reitinsä ja tiedät kuinka vaarallinen heille on. Sitä paitsi hän ei ehkä halua käydä meiltä jalkansa rikki. Ehkä voimme riistää häntä tarpeeksi pakottamaan hänen painonsa siihen jalkaan, kunnes se antaa sen alle. Kun hän on alas, voimme leikata hänen kurkkunsa ja pysyä turvallisesti, kun hän vuotaa ulos." Mikkal's voice stayed upbeat and friendly despite the somewhat gruesome words he spoke so casually, but there was no hint of disrespect towards the moose he spoke of in that manner. On the contrary, Mikkal had been raised with a sense of respect and gratitude towards the natural world that allowed his life to continue. But speaking in euphemisms and hedging his words didn't change what was going to happen to the moose, and the lack of clarity would merely make it that much more dangerous for the two hunters, so he spoke in stark terms. Tilting his red-marked head toward his younger cousin, he added, "Mitä mieltä olet, Kai?"

Post word count: 405
Total word count: 1850

As he closed the distance between himself and his cousin, he zeroed in on the moose from the far distance that Mikkal had been scoping out. The injury was obvious even from such a distance, and choosing that particular moose to take down was as much a merciful choice for the moose as it was a profitable choice for the two of them. Furrowing his brows in thought, he finally turned to properly greet Mikkal, warmth spreading across his face like wildfire.  "On hyvä nähdä sinut myös, Mikkal," he spoke more cautiously than the older Jarvela, his family's tongue less familiar on his tongue than he wished it was. It'd been a long while since he'd spoken it, and though he was grateful for the practice he was also highly aware of the fact that it was not second nature as it had once been. He'd have to find a way to make use of it more often. Kai found himself chuckling lightly at Mikkal's sentiment, though he nodded in agreement.  "Oli jo jonkin aikaa, koska olen ottanut kaiken tämän kokoiseksi. Olen valmis syömään." Of course, nothing truly rewarding was easily gained, and their hunt would take significant effort even with the moose in this condition. Kai knew that even prey animals often had wills to live as strong as any wolf, sometimes even stronger, especially when facing death square in the face. Mikkal jested about the moose refusing to simply lie down and die, but even in his playful words there was clearly a high respect for the creatures they intended to hunt. They were no less important than wolves in the cycle of things, and that mindset had been ingrained in him from an early age. He listened carefully as Mikkal explained what he'd been thinking. As a hunter far more skilled than he was, and as family as well, Kai was willing to forget anything he'd been thinking and listen to Mikkal's train of thought. Though he could be quite hot-headed he knew his older cousin knew more than him about such matters and he had no trouble letting him take the lead. He mentioned not being away from his caribou for too long - he made a mental note to ask him about that later. He'd decided to spend most of the winter in the north and hoped he could tag along with Mikkal and learn a thing or too, things his father had taught him but hadn't been able to actually do with him.  "Me häiritsemme häntä, kunnes hänen jalkansa antaa," Kai agreed simply, his voice full of certainty, tripping over the words he hadn't used much before but sure that Mikkal would understand him better this way than if they tried to communicate in the language spoken most commonly here. Something about speaking the latter seemed strange when he was on the verge of such a hunt with his kin, anyway. "Kuulostaa suunnitelmalta." There was no need to discuss anything further, and with that the two of them would set off to track down the limping beast. There would be time to talk once they'd eaten their shares and tried to harvest what they could from the creature's body. There was no need to follow his scent with him being so close, but it was important they make sure there were no other territorial bulls around to cause problems for them. Kai was cautious as they made their way closer, sniffing at the intermittent gusts of wind every so often. "Otan puolen, ja sinä takaisin?" Kai questioned Mikkal softly, not wanting to disturb their prey before they began. Already it seemed the moose could sense something was amiss, as he'd begun to limp in the opposite direction of them, even if he hadn't yet turned to see either of them. Post word count: 636 Total word count: 2,486 "TALK" "YOU" THINK