Rhyme looked up at Imperia from the carcass he was scavenging. Deer didn’t often die when they got into fights during rut, but this old timer had been unlucky. His antlers were massive, they didn’t seem to have receded yet, but there was a more impressive buck out there that had ended him. All was well in Rhyme’s eyes though. Imperia perched on his antlers, picking at the shoulders of the once magnificent animal as Rhyme enjoyed some of its more delicate organs. The old deer was tough, but Rhyme had plenty of meat to fill himself. He might call out to some pack members to join him as well. He doubted he’d be able to drag the whole thing to their community kill site after gorging himself. He say back, blood staining his lips all the way down to his chest and his front legs. He was messy, but he was also more than content. He burped, disturbing Imperia. She flapped her wings at him and hopped to the creatures useless ribs to feed on what Rhyme couldn’t finish. He sighed contentedly, and with the Autumn sun on his back called out to any of his pack mates who wished to join in his bounty. "”

Sour was... a mild way to describe her attitude as of late. Cael was harboring a rage she probably needed to deal with, but she was too busy trying to decide how best she could improve to stop being so useless and powerless in the face of life in general. Her runs were longer than ever, and she usually preferred to venture outside the pack for them these days to access more varied terrain since she knew Abaven like the back of her paw at this point.

As she was making her way out to the border, a little later than usual after a lengthy morning nap, a call made her pause and turn. Autumn leaves were floating towards the ground around her as Cael cocked her head and considered whether or not to answer that call. It didn't sound super important but... why not? Not like she ever socialized these days.

Stalking towards the call, paws crunching on dried leaves and mismatched eyes scanning ahead, the girl heaved a sigh. She always felt... tense, as of late. Her tension did not ease up even as she arrived and cast a curious glance at the man she remembered to be... Rhyme. Right? Yeah. Looked like he just ate his fill of a pretty big kill. "Whatchya need?" she asked after a bit of hesitation.

He put his teeth to the tender heart, not even feeling guilty about enjoying one of the more tender parts of the carcass. As he lifted his head and licked his lips at the prize he’d spot the young Caelestis appear. He rose to his front legs and watched as she drew close enough to call out to him. After pausing for a long moment she asked what he called her for. He found a crooked smile before answering her. "I thought I’d see if anyone was hungry,” Rhyme motioned to the plentiful remains. "However, if you aren’t hungry I could also do with some help bringing it to a more central location.” He added, not quite as an afterthought as he looked at the young Abaven member. "”

OOC: oops, def had a post written for this but apparently it got lost e.e


"I thought I’d see if anyone was hungry,” Rhyme replied. Hm. Cael didn't really have much of an appetite lately, so she was more inclined to help with transport than take a bite. Part of it was probably that she never much liked eating with others if she was being honest. "Not hungry, but I am happy to help you move it to wherever it needs to go," she said after a beat.

Cael wasn't really sure where the place they needed to take the food was - she spent way too much time going in and out of the territory to worry about familiarizing herself with where prey piles were. Stepping closer, she awaited some sort of directions from the older male. It wasn't the most thrilling first one-on-one, but she supposed it could be worse.

He really had expected her to say she would eat with him, he hoped she was thinking about the cold winter ahead. Rhyme didn’t regret adding a little to his girth during the colder months. He wouldn’t interfere yet though, and shrugged off the desire to push her to eat. "If you’re sure.” He had probably eaten enough of the old beast. Rhyme stood and repositioned himself at the hind feet. He turned his features back towards Caelestis. "If you grab the other leg we can drag it back. I guess imagine it like endurance training.” He offered, remembering her performance at fight training. He bent down to pick up his own leg, feeling the carcass move as Imperia leapt from the antlers. "”

Nodding quickly she'd reiterate, "Quite sure, not hungry, thanks for the offer though." Hopefully her brisk reply didn't come off as rude or anything.

Trotting over closer, Cael nodded as Rhyme instructed her on what he wanted her to do. She hoped they could make relatively quick work of moving the carcass. It'd be nice to do at least one somewhat impressive thing today. Okay, that sounded like she was looking for validation or something, which she most definitely wasn't thank you very much. "Got it," she replied, taking hold of the other hind leg and angling herself so she could see where they were going while dragging the deer along.

There probably wouldn't be a whole lot of chatter as long as they had their mouths full... that was fine with Cael though. It was nice just to be helpful for a minute. Once she was sure they were both ready she began walking, making sure she kept pace with Rhyme so she didn't have to speed up or slow down for her. Hmm... maybe dragging things around would be another thing to incorporate into her fitness regime.

He tried not to worry about the young member of Abaven and her lack of appetite so close to the start of winter, but he had decided not to push her. For all he knew she had enjoyed a large breakfast. She was quick to deny his second offer and he dropped it. She was willing to help him move the carcass, so she would know where to find it if she found herself with hunger pangs. She picked up quickly on what he had instructed her to do and got into position with no complaint. As she did as he bid Rhyme mirrored her actions and took the opposite hind leg in his mouth and began to drag the massive creature where the kill pile usually resided. This would be a welcome addition to their stores. Likely all of the more hindered of their members would partake. He’d probably have to make Tana igest some red meat instead of the fish that usually made up her diet. Epitaph would also do well with some of their bounty. Silently he dragged the kill, ignoring the slight pain in his back as a result of his position and focused on the effort his muscles made. The labor could do nothing but good. font-size:11px;">"”

Pulling the carcass alongside the alpha was pretty boring work in all honesty. It wasn't that difficult, really, but it sure wasn't entertaining either. Cael supposed it was good she'd come along to help though since no one had appeared as they began their trip across the territory. Rhyme could have been bored and alone.

Most of it was smooth sailing, but eventually there was a pretty good sized fallen log in the way. They were getting close to their destination by this point and Cael didn't really want to waste the time it'd take to go around, so she kept tugging on the deer, trying to pull it close as possible before she hopped up onto the log. Unfortunately she couldn't quiiiiite reach the leg of the animal, even as she stretched out and hung precariously off the edge of the large fallen tree. Huffing, she sat there with disappointment etched on her face until she remembered Rhyme and turned to give him a sweet smile, "Little help?"

Rhyme didn’t dislike the silence that settled between them, they were faced with a heavy load but she didn’t seem to mind that either. He was indeed thankful for the help, though not so much because he was ‘bored’ (because he was never bored) but because the going was much faster. Until they reached the log. He dropped the leg in his own mouth as Caelestis vaulted the fallen tree. He stifled a good natured chuckle as she reached for her side of the leg and eventually looked back at him asking for help with a sugary smile. Rhyme moved to offer his help, but as he bent down his head movement caught his eye. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of a bear barreling towards them. "Look out!” He shouted as he jumped into a defensive stance. Rhyme wasn’t about to give up this kill. He growled deeply as he tucked his chin and bared his teeth. Evenly distributing his weight his hackles would rise over his back and he snapped his teeth at the charging beast. It didn’t diminish its charge, but Rhyme maneuvered further to his right. The creature’s right hand flashed out, aiming to score Rhyme with its long talon like claws. The alpha managed to stay out of its way, but he couldn’t find an opening. "”

One moment things were relatively peaceful. She was as content as she was able to be without stirring up trouble or investigating far away lands. All was well. Then, quite suddenly, the peace was shattered as Rhyme whirled around before he could move the deer within her reach. A loud crack of a dry branch snapping hit her ears right before she turned and saw the massive creature that was hurtling towards them. Rhyme only just managed to dodge out of the way of it's first attack. "Holy shit."

After standing there with her eyes wide and mouth agape for a moment, Cael would shake off the instinctual fear that the bear's overwhelming musky scent brought on, looking for a way to help the alpha out. Deciding to just go for broke, she saw its eyes were solely on Rhyme and in an instant she'd sprung onto it's back and was trying to sink her fangs into it's fatty, thick hide. She did her best to try and bite down over it's spine where there was slightly less flesh beneath the hide, landing several bites and shaking her head violently each time she got a hold. The bear was understandably pissed, and reared up onto it's hind feet, forcing Cael to jump onto the ground.

Not one to be intimidated even when she really should be, she shot forward and began trying to tear at the bear's right hind leg. Coppery blood filled her mouth as she sawed at the limb with her sharp teeth and tried to damage a tendon before the enraged beast could turn and retaliate.

He barely spared a thought about the bear problem Abaven was experiencing, why had their population suddenly seemed to explode here in the east? Sparrow had been killed by one, he and Shaye had fought one, and now here was another encroaching on their territory. He was ashamed of himself for not noticing it earlier, and he redoubled his resolve to do more patrols. He barely managed to dodge the creature’s attack, and had they been anywhere but deep within Abaven territory he might have allowed the beast to take their kill and be gone. However, with its current location it could never be allowed peace within his home. Rhyme growled deeply as the creature regrouped and his pack mate jumped into the fray. Suddenly Cael was on their opponent’s back. Rhyme bared his teeth and tried to keep its attention as she buried her teeth into the back of its neck. Of course with such a nuisance it did not keep focus on Rhyme. It reared up, and Cael was forced back onto the ground. As she went for it’s hind leg Rhyme would take its front. The more dangerous position, but he couldn’t let Caelestis be hurt. He managed to take a quick bit out of its opposing paw, drawing its rage back to himself. The bear returned to all fours before swiping at him again, mostly distracted from Cael’s work on its hind foot. "”

Thankfully Rhyme was doing a good job of keeping the bear's attention while she sawed at it's leg. Once she began to do real damage it tried to turn it's attention towards her a few times, once kicking out wit the hind leg and managing to nail her in the chest, pushing her backwards a foot or two and knocking the breath from her lungs for a moment. Only a couple beats later Cael was back at it though, determined to do her best to help either bring down the beast or cause it to lose interest in fighting the two large wolves.

Her teeth finally found and severed one of the tendons in the back of the animal's leg, causing it to roar in anger. It had begun to noticeably favor that limb. Good. She was quick to dive in closer and bite at the bear's flanks before darting backwards, narrowly avoiding some claws to the face. Another few bites caused it to turn towards her, swiping again and this time it's claws grazed the side of her face and Cael felt blood trickling from the small wound as she skittered backwards.

Rhyme did his best to keep the large creature’s attention, but the task was difficult with Caelestis doing so much damage. He had to focus on keeping his own skin safe, but he was sure he saw her get kicked as the beast lashed out. Rhyme barked in the bears face, determined to keep its attentions. He kept himself slightly to the left, unwilling to step in the most dangerous place right in front. Eventually the she wolf made her mark which caused an enraged roar to be heard from the potential thief. Rhyme couldn’t keep its attention this time, and as the beast turned around towards Cael, Rhyme took up her previous job. He darted in quickly to tear more at its heavily bleeding wound. He wanted both to do damage and take its attention back. It works, and after the bear swiped again at Caelestis, catching her flesh with its claws, it rounded on Rhyme again. The slate alpha roared back, trying to encourage it to leave. He had to rid Abaven of the nuisance. "”

Her face hurt a little bit but it was easily ignored as the adrenaline that the fight brought pumped through her veins. Rhyme took her place, taking the bear's attention back as he went for the wounded leg and earned another roar from the bleeding animal. Cael was quick to hop back into action, jumping up and springing off the log again so she could land on the bear's haunches and deliver a few solid bites to it's back and hips, shaking her head hard and tearing free a small chunk of flesh, blood painting her muzzle red.

The coordinated attack finally had the bear taking a couple steps away from the deer, and Cael smiled inwardly as she saw the progress they were making in dissuading the hungry beast. It tried to hop up onto it's hind legs while also aiming a swipe at Rhyme, but she bit down hard again, causing it to land on all fours again and try to twist around to bite her.

The bear remained focused on Rhyme for a long few moments after his attack. His partner Caelestis was quick to take to the air again, and grab hold of their foe’s haunches. Rhyme tried not to let his focus remain too heavily upon her, but it seemed her recently acquired wound wasn’t fatal. Of course Rhyme couldn’t keep his focus while Cael was dealing out impressive blows. The creature was more heavily debating its course of action. Already it had sidestepped away from the prize carcass they were protecting. It twisted and turned, taking turns trying to hit himself and the she wolf he fought with. Rhyme continued his barking, though the effect was less and less with every vocalization. As the bear turned back to its wounded hindquarters Rhyme took his chance to attack again. He’d aim for the beast’s fuzzy right ear. His attack landed, and with purpose Rhyme ripped the cartilaginous appendage from the thief’s head. This garnered him all of the creatures attention once more. "”