dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi tracked the herd of whitetail to the southeast. Prey had been on the move lately and seemed to be pushing farther south. There could be a number of reasons for this. For one, autumn was moving into Boreas and winter would be right at its heels. For another there seemed to be an increase in the number of large cats in the area and it was no doubt disturbing the preys usual movements. It certainly set Éldi on edge. He didn't like having competition for prey, let alone competition that might fix him into a meal. He hoped to die gloriously on the battlefield, not by going through a big cats digestive system.

Of course, not all cats were bad. He glanced at Kaler, his bobcat companion, who stalked through the mix of lush grasses that were soon to turn gold. Askr was scouting from the sky. He let out a call to signal that the herd had stopped to feed. Éldi hunkered down in the grasses, seeking to observe the herd as he tried to work out a plan of attack. Taking full grown prey by himself was an incredibly difficult task before he'd befriend Kaler. Between the two of them they managed to do alright but he really wished he had another good set of jaws to put to this task.

WC: 224

Things were getting pretty drab in the pack. No raids. Not much fun. He hadn't seen his sister in a while again, but he supposed that was nothing new. So he took off to go find some food to try and cure some boredom. Not that eating cured it, but the hunt itself usually held him off until he got bored again. The Saxe Male traveled towards the southeast where he eventually found the trail of deer, and when he noticed the tracks he decided to follow. He had been practicing his fighting, not so much his tracking. Killing his prey was the easy part, but finding them to bring em down was not quite his forte just yet.

The large Male followed the tracks further across the prairie, and eventually he found he wasn't the only one tracking the herd. He squinted at the ground when he noticed the other wolf tracks, and realizes that they must have been tracking the same herd. Well, he couldn't consider that a bad thing right? Taking down a deer with someone else would be helpful, so he carefully continued on until he heard a screech in the sky up ahead. Pale silver eyes caught sight of a bird flying over the herd, and when he approached he saw the other wolf. He quietly made his way towards him and uttered a low bark to alert him of his approach and to tell him he wasn't about to try a sneak attack or something.

"What's up? You lookin to hunt one of those deer over there?" His voice sounded a little hopeful. Maybe this guy could prove to be useful if he was here to hunt them, too.

WC: 286

"Speech"

ooc: Tealah said to go on without her. She's not sure if she'll be able to jump in yet or not so I said we'll just see how far we get and she can hop in whenever.

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Kaler slinked close to Éldi so the two could converse as they debating about hunting strategy. Askr was out of ear shot but that was fine for now. The raven would be able to keep an eye on the prey and alert them to anything they needed to know. He was talking heatedly with his feline companion when a short, clipped caw from Askr told him someone else was approaching. The wolf wasn't to hard to spot, cloaked in a dazzling pelt of exotic colors and patterns that was difficult for him to describe. His first instinct was that this might be one of the gods but in reality he knew better. He'd run across a few fantastically colored creatures, he could remember a small family of them at the recent pack challenges. This male perhaps was one of them.

Éldi nodded swiftly at the man's question. "Yes, my companion and I were just debating on the best way to take one of them. Would you like to join us? I'm willing to split the kill 50/50." He felt this was fairly generous of him as Kaler and Askr would be eating from his half but in truth half a deer was more than enough for the three of them. They would likely end up leaving plenty for the scavengers. Though Éldi supposed he could work at some of the more interesting bones and bring those back with him. Maybe the pelt to. With winter coming he knew he needed to line his den with something warmer than the leaves and debris he had been using. Not to mention there was the market he was supposed to be preparing goods for.

Askr swooped down to land in front of the two wolves. "I've seen a couple targets. There's an old doe on the east side of the herd. Towards the middle of the herd there's a buck that is limping, I believe it's been injured in the rut. There's another doe that seems to have a bit of a cold but its hard for me to be sure."

WC: 348
Total: 858

The other confirmed what he thought. That was good news! It meant he'd have an easier time getting food without as much hassle this time. Not that he struggled often to get his own food, but having some help never hurt and it made things much, much easier most of the time. "Yeah I'm down to split it with ya," He got closer to get a look at the heard ahead so he could determine which one would be suitable for a meal.

When the man's bird spoke, Ares flicked an ear back to listen. He was always up for a challenge, so the buck was of course, at the top of his list. "How about the buck? Bigger meal, better things to get from it...like that rack of his would be neat to hang in your den or ya know, you could always stab someone with it too." He tried to suppress a smirk before his next words, but failed. "Besides, none of those girls are gonna fuck 'im since it looks like he lost his fight," Was he mature? He could be if he wanted to he supposed. But not today.

He turned and grinned at the other, a big wide, toothy grin. He noticed the males birds, and got to thinking. It would be useful to have birds like that, or something he could probably use to chuck at someone during a fight to distract them. Tail tip flicked in thought, wondering if he could find something useful that he could boss around. While he thought about it, he heard some commotion from the herd they were stalking, and he turned to see that they looked uneasy now. Squinting with a low "hmmm," he knew it wasn't them they were uneasy about. They were downwind of the herd, and a reasonable distance away so as not to scare them. Something else was scaring them, but it seemed to be downwind of the two wolves as well. "Hey uh, you don't happen to have another companion around the herd do you?" He thought he caught movement, but it had come and gone in a flash and he wasn't too sure.

WC: 360

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi was pleased that the other man was down to split the meal with him. Good, he could use a full belly and if the other man didn't mind he hoped to take the pelt as well. Éldi had no idea where the band was going to be settling down next and if they moved up north for the winter then he wanted to make sure he had a good set of pelts to line his den. He hoped to find a way to treat hides to be more water resistant so that he could hang one at the opening of his den to help keep heat inside. It might also help prevent snow from drifting into his den though Éldi always tried to be conscious of the direction the opening of his den was facing, often choosing a more southernly direction in the winter time.

How about the buck?

He nodded at the man's words. "Sounds good to me. When we're done you're welcome to the beasts head but if I could have it's pelt I'd appreciate that. I don't know that I'll be in the south for the winter. Need some hides just in case." He chuckled at the other man's words. It was a fair point. It was helpful for the wolves if herds remained strong and healthy. There was no problem with culling a weaker member. "Alright then, let's go. My name is Éldi by the way. What's yours?" He was just getting ready to move in and set up a plan of attack when the other man asked him if he had another companion near the herd. He shook his head. "Nope, it's just Askr and Kaler…" His eyes were fixed on the herd. He'd picked up on their restlessness and the wariness in the other man's voice. Something else was riling up the herd.

Éldi slowly sank down and crept forward seeking to get a better view and that's when he saw it. Off to his right was a massive grizzly bear that was eyeing the herd from time to time then moving along the east side of them. Crap! The unfortunate thing about autumn was that this was the time that bears went about fattening up for winter. No doubt the bear had smelled the injured buck and was debating about going after him. Éldi wasn't quite sure what to do. They could go ahead and try to hunt with a bear at their backs but if they spent all their energy taking down the buck there would be very little left over to chase off the bear who would, no doubt, be on their kill in a matter of moments. He had no desire to hunt for a bear. "Psst, there. Grizzly." He glanced back at the other man. "What say we give him a little hell, hm?" It was still a risk. There was good chance that a fight breaking out was going to scare the elk off. However, if they were victorious they could always continue to track the elk. With an injury like the bucks it was unlikely he'd be able to get to far away.

Éldi started to creep toward the bear, he moved slowly and carefully as he sought to take the bear by surprise and startle it. It would be tricky for two wolves to chase off a full grown grizzly but he'd done it before and he'd do it again. Sizing up the bear Éldi waited until the bear looked toward the herd and then he sprang forward, fangs seizing hold of the back of the bear's left forearm where it connected to its size. It roared in pain and anger, it's head whipping around to try and bite him but he was in an awkward position and difficult to reach. The beast was powerful though and as it flailed, Éldi lost his grip and went tumbling to the ground. Askr called out an alert and Éldi just avoided getting skewered by the bear's claws. He heard a yowl and looked just in time to see Kaler land on the bears back, claws digging into flesh.

WC: 688
Total: 1906

Ah good, the guy agreed with his choice of prime venison. All he requested was keeping the buck skin and of course, Ares nodded. "Fine by me, I ain't crafty enough for that kinda stuff but the antlers I can use for somethin' I'm sure." Or maybe he could get someone crafty to make something for him. He didn't know if anyone at home was a crafter but he'd be sure to check when he got back. The guy introduced himself as Eldi and Ares for once, had the decency to nod in greeting, a grin splitting his maw. " 'sup Eldi, name's Ares." Tongue swiped over his fangs before his answer about Eldi possibly having a third companion was answered. Aaand that answer was no. Ears stood tall and straight as he tried to get a better look, but having never seen nor smelled a bear, he didn't know what he was looking for until Eldi pointed it out. His gaze turned and searched the herd and around it before he finally saw it. A great big grizzly looking thing lumbering towards the deer, causing Ares to squint at it. What the actual fuck? While he didn't know much about bears, he coulda swore they slept alot. Or...maybe it was during certain times? He couldn't quite remember, he never really cared to pay attention to stuff.

But when he saw that big lumbering beast, he started to feel a twinge of doubt. If they had to chase that off, as big as Ares was, he had a feeling they wouldn't have an easy time of it. "What say we give him a little hell hm?" Now that he could do. While he doubted the pair of them would be able to take it on themselves and outright kill it, if there was one thing he knew he was good at was raising hell. And...well...being annoying. That was two things, but he could definitely do both to hopefully get this bear to leave so they could eat. He wanted the bucks head, dammit! And nothing was going to stop him, grizzly be damned! "Well I'm pretty good at raising, hell. Let's do it!" With a grin, he followed Eldi's lead on this one, not wanting to look like an idiot himself and doing something dumb trying to scare this thing off. Slinking after the other male, he realized how much bigger grizzly bears were, and knew it was going to be a challenge. But hey, maybe it would give up and go away if he annoyed it enough.

For a moment, he did hesitate. But as soon as he saw Eldi go in for a bite, Ares felt the rush of adrenaline as he too, ran into the fray. With a wild grin, the large male ran at the bear from the back, saber fangs glinting in the light as his jaws opened up and he aimed right for its right hind leg. His fangs suck into its flesh and he swore he could feel his longer teeth scrape against bone as he did so. He jerked his head back, seeking to unbalance the bear and drag its leg away. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eldi get thrown away and the fleeting thought of Oh fuck crossed his mind as the bear turned on him. Dagger like claws reached for him as it whirled around, though they barely missed his face as Ares moved with the bear. He tried to pull away, but...his teeth seemed to be stuck. He wrenched his head back, shaking from side to side and causing the bear to roar in in more pain as he was sure he was practically shredding its leg. Woops. He hadn't meant to do that, but..he was stuck. Fucking teeth! Why was I born with these!? How the hell did his dad manage it? The grizzly flailed as it tried to reach him, and as it stepped in a way that twisted Ares' head into an awkward position, he swore he could feel like his neck was about to break with the motions. He started to panic a bit, the Saxe boy losing his cool before he felt a sharp pain in his side and his teeth were suddenly wrenched from the bear.

It had managed to knock him free with a blow to his left side, sending him rolling into the dirt several feet away. Dizzy now, Ares struggled to his feet. His mouth ached and his neck ached as well as where the bear had whacked him, but he was glad he was still intact. Maybe that first attempt had gone completely awkward, so...maybe a second time was the charm? First...he needed a moment to recover before he tried again.

WC: 794

"Speech"

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi stumbled back to his feet, panting as he tested his limbs for a moment. Everything seemed to be in place and nothing was dislocated but he was going to have some impressive bruising. Hopefully everything would heal before Valkyrie wanted to go raiding. Well, if it didn't maybe she could just roll him into their opponents. He quickly set his defenses, locking them down tight as he assessed where the battle was at. He had to say he was impressed with Ares and glad the man was as eager to dive into battle as he was. This earth was no place for cowards, that was for sure.

Ares had seized hold of one of the bears back legs eliciting a bellow of pain from the massive grizzly. Éldi dove forward seeking rip into the side of the bears face as a distraction but he didn't move quite fast enough to help Ares who was quickly knocked aside. However, Ares attacked opened up the bear to Éldi's as it had assumed he'd stay down. Fool. Jaws flung wide as Éldi launched himself at the bears face, upper fangs digging into the bear's left eye, lower fangs sinking into the bears cheek. It roared as Éldi closed his jaws together in a snap, ripping the flesh as he did so and preventing himself from getting a grip. He didn't want to be stuck to the bear where he was most vulnerable. The bear swung at him and Éldi had almost avoided it but not good enough. Claws ripped into his left shoulder and he yowled for a moment, swearing. There would be no sneaking up on the elk now, not when he stank of blood but honestly they'd have heard the predators fighting by now.

Éldi steeled himself for another assault as the bear rubbed weakly at its head, backing up as it did before turning and limping away. It had had enough of these wolves.

WC: 324
Total: 2994