Nothing quite rankled the Archer-Lyall like the stink of cat piss in the morning. She knew it wasn’t Natha, the Lieutenant was far too respectable for that sort of carry on. This was an ammonia laden slap in the face for the wolves of the Armada and she was sleep deprived and sore enough still, to take personal offence. Of course she wasn’t going to be completely foolish about it. Even without the scabbed over flesh on her shoulder and across her right eye, she knew she’d never quite be quick enough to take on a cat alone, (mountain lion if her nose wasn’t making a fool of her). Scary things they were, or would be, if she wasn’t in such a foul mood to start. She howled long and low for any that might want to join her, daring to hope it might be Asla that answered her call. There was a cat nearby, and she meant to flush it out.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

There was a call, and Magnus was certain to answer it. It was the voice of the women he met the other day, just at the edge of the woods when he'd brought the raccoon back. Eager to further his knowledge of the other Armada wolves, Magnus was quick to respond and help the woman take down the cat she'd alerted the pack to. Magnus was ready. Armed with his bearskin draped across his back and his bracers on and loaded with his knife, he was prepared to take this cat down. His companions lurked in case help on their end was needed, but he assured them that they'd probably be fine without their help, but to stay close just in case. They could probably use some help in getting the carcass back, at least.

Magnus approached at a smooth trot, offering a simple nod to the woman. "I'm here to help." He smiled, hoping the woman would be just as ready as he to take down this cocky cat.

It wasn’t Asla that answered her call but she wasn’t disappointed. Her scowl morphed briefly into a wry smile, taking in the bear skin and bracers, and the two companions that lingered back. Her tail waved to show them she meant no harm as she moved in close to bump shoulders with the man in greeting, a quick click of her teeth thrown to the air beside his ear before rounding back in the direction the scent was coming from. If she was more certain of how he might react, the action would have been closer to a tackle, laced with growls and nips, but wolves here were strange, and not so touchy feely as the Archer-Lyall was used to. Best to play it safe for now, even if she did want to show just how amped up for this she was.

"Might need yer advise on some kit when we’re done," She said with a smirk, motioning towards his skin and bracers, it was about time she found herself something similar. No point staying naked on principal alone. The discussion was quickly cut off as a nearby scream split the morning. She recognised it as her companion, and charged into the trees without another word. Her opossum Otis was scrambling through the grass and leaf litter, straight at her, and she dipped to lower her shoulder enough for him to grab hold in passing, skidding through the leaves that littered the ground beneath her paws. Cats were quieter than wolves, and there were more places you had to look for them, but the stink of it was thick in the air as her battle buddy trembled on her back.

A flash of tawny fur ahead was all the warning she had as the cat charged forward, the slippery footing allowing her to leap to the right just in time, her companion hissing on her back.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

The scent of the cougar was rancid and his nostrils flared as it lingered, his distaste for the scent quite obviously written on his face. It was when Sedna approached and brushed against his shoulder and nipped at his ear that he smiled and returned the gesture and loosely wagged his tail a bit at the greeting. It was nice being around someone that seemed to come from the same background as he, where the wolves were relatively normal. Of course, he himself was wearing clothes and tamed some companions like the rest of them, and even brandished a weapon strapped to his forelimb. When all the wolves around did the same, and were much larger, one had to evolve a bit to keep up. Somehow he had managed to grow a few inches while he was gone, but that wasn't anything like the giants that roamed Boreas.

"Of course," He offered a small nod, thinking that maybe they could turn this cougar pelt into something for her if she wanted. He wasn't the best at crafting things, but he was getting better and maybe he could teach Sedna a thing or two that he had learned. Of course, his bearskin was made for him while he was healing, but the bracers were his own project made from the bear cub skin that Azure had brought him. If she wanted something like his bracers, he was certainly able to give a few pointers at least.

His rigid ears perked at the sound of the scream, his eyes looking frantically for the source as he saw a opossum running and leaping onto Sedna in fear. He was shocked at first, but realized a moment later that it must be a companion of hers. Where there was a screaming, running opossum there had to be a mountain lion and not a moment later did one appear and charge towards Sedna and her friend. Magnus snarled, his fur bristling under the protective layer of his bearskin as he positioned himself to lunge at the side of the cougar, reaching for it's exposed side in an attempt to distract it from the girl and her companion.

Almost too late she remembered the small blade Otis had found for her that she had taken to wearing concealed in the long fur at the tip of her tail, taking a lesson from her bee friends in the garden. Her tail flicked up to slice at the shoulder of the cougar opposite to Magnus who had bought her a moment to turn. Hopefully it would distract the cougar enough to allow him to find his mark. Sedna knew the back end of the cat was just as dangerous as the front with those sharp claws but maybe they could simply overwhelm it and have it run off? As her teeth sunk into the back leg of the cat, much like it would if she was trying to bring down a deer by bleeding it out with a femoral tear, she realised the cat had no intention of backing down. Its other leg struck back, kicking her in the chest, the movement opening up the existing tear in her shoulder and adding a few new small nicks to the mix. The backward motion tore the flesh where the Archer-Lyall held tight. She tasted blood on her tongue.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

His lunge towards the cat had made purchase, but he was hardly able to hold on for longer than a moment when it moved to kick at Sedna. He could smell blood, he was sure, but whether it was the woman's or the cat's was unknown to him. Wherever it was coming from though worked him up and egged him on even further. As he landed back on his paws from the initial lunge, he went for it again and this time for the shoulder. Of course he could use the blade fixed to his wrist, but he preferred to keep things natural if possible. It was a backup, if anything, not something he wanted to use at the start of a fight.

Unfortunately, his lunge for the cats shoulder was abruptly stopped by a swipe of a heavy paw, slashing across his face and leaving a few minor scratches across his cheek. It stung, but was of the least of his concern. Hissing, he went back in for a repeat of his last move, an attempt at latching onto the cougars shoulder. This time his teeth would land and he would use his body weight to tear at the flesh as his head shook, caring little that he was within reach of the cougars sharp fangs.

Sedna couldn’t really see what was going on ahead, but through all the rocking and rolling, Otis managed to stand on her back. His low growl told her she should let go, barely having time to register the leaving of his weight from her shoulders as he leapt onto the hellcats back. Her eyes widened, jaw loosening on the leg she held, time seeming to move in slow motion as the cat turned away from the wolf at its front and spun towards the opossum on it’s back. She pushed forward, hoping to catch the cat by the throat but landing on its cheek instead. Fuck that was stupid. She could feel a clawed paw swatting at her chest and shoulder but at least with a face full of wolf, Otis wasn’t in danger anymore. Jaws snapped by her cheek and she thought she might have been a bit quick in her assessment that she wasn’t going to lose her eye. Adrenalin was pumping through her veins and she managed a half crazed laugh around the fur in her mouth. Stupid, stupid girl.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

Magnus could tell that things weren't going so well for the woman. Her opossum had jumped to the back of the cougar and she had gone for it's face, but things weren't looking good. His grip on the cougars shoulder had barely seemed to cause the animal much pain as Sedna went for the cat's face, only getting her own face got in return. Releasing his hold from the cougar's shoulder, he reached quickly for his knife and gripped it tightly between his jaws perpendicular to his body. This would be over soon, hopefully without much damage to Sedna. He wasn't aware of her healing wounds, but just the ones she was sustaining from this fight would hurt, not to mention the ones that were reopened.

With the knife gripped tightly, he rose up onto his rear paws and tilted his head towards the cougar to point the blade of the knife down towards it's shoulder and back area. Bringing his weight down towards the big cat, he rammed the knife into them however with the moving of everyone, his aim was slightly off. Instead of piercing the cat in the back like he had hoped, the knife found it's place deep in the shoulder blade. Hopefully that would distract the cat enough to get it off of Sedna's face.

The scent of blood hung thickly in the air. The cat seemed to be struggling to bare weight on the leg Sedna had opened, blood soaking its paws and staining the earth beneath. It should start losing strength soon she would hope. Side teeth pulled at the thick fur on her cheek, small cuts opening on her own face as it pressed closer and she growled, not wanting to give it another inch to change its angle. Pressed shoulder to shoulder, she couldn’t see what Magnus was up to, except to know whatever it was must have been effective, the cat ripping its face clear of her jaws as her tail whipped under to try and slice at it’s belly with her small concealed blade. There wouldn’t be enough pressure to disembowel the cat, the knife was so small and her tail really lacked the musculature, but it would hopefully distract it enough that the Archer-Lyall could snake under to grab it by the throat and cut off its air supply. She would have to grit her teeth through the inevitable grab of paws around her shoulders (although one barely held on at all). It was time to end this.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

This battle was starting to go on too long and it was beginning to get on his nerves. The longer they fought to take this cat down, the weaker they would get. Gripping his knife within his teeth, he removed the blade from the cats shoulder and caused it another hiss in pain as the cat struggled to fight the both of them off. After a few moments, Sedna had her teeth wrapped around the cougar's neck in an attempt to cut off it's air and Magnus saw it as his chance to get a more effective attack with his knife. With the cat being distracted, Magnus re-positioned himself and shoved his knife deep into the ribs of the predator, and with a quick twist of the blade he removed it. It wouldn't take long with a punctured long and restricted airflow for the cat to fall, ending the battle for good.

He took a step back once his blade was removed, panting around it and looking towards Sedna as she finished it off.

The Archer-Lyall could feel the fight slowly leaving the cat, hastened with the second blow of Magnus’s blade. There was a deep sadness in the pit of her gut, despite her wounds and earlier frustrations. The cat had put up a good fight, and if it had been anywhere further from the borders she probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but they were both stubborn and had chosen this hill to die on. The only difference was that Sedna had called for back up.

As the heavy body hit the ground, she maintained her grip. She had seen others overconfident walk away with scars for their inexperience and she wasn’t going to be that wolf. Not today. Only when a hard stare showed dilated pupils and the flow of blood from the cats wounds had slowed, no longer pushed by a beating heart did she let go, the tension leaving her shoulders, head hanging limply towards the ground. Her tail gave a small wave before she gave a shake, flinging any remaining tension back into the universe. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears but it was done with. Lopsided grin on her face she moved to bump her uninjured (well, less injured) shoulder with Magnus in silent celebration. The fight had taken more out of her than she had thought it would.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

The fight with the big cat was finally over and soon it slumped to the ground in defeat. Magnus felt the same, exhausted and ready for a good nap after this fight. Even with the help of another, it was tiring and as the woman came over to him and bumped shoulders, he offered a lopsided, panting smile. Unfortunately, now was a terrible time for a nap. With the blood of the cougar fresh and the threat of other predators nearby, they would need to process this kill and move what they intended on keeping.

"Would you like to learn how to skin?" He offered, grabbing his knife. It was much easier to skin with a knife than ones own teeth and claws, though he was sure it was even easier for those that had cat claws like Aslatiel. He wondered what else was easier for her and the others that shared mutations. Frankly, the fangs on most of the Fatalis children seemed more hindering than helpful, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be happy with his own pair.

Magnus’s offer was a surprise, but waste not, want not, and she was sure there would be plenty of uses for what they could harvest from such a large predator. Breathlessly she nodded and Otis moved to unfasten the tiny blade from her tail and she took it between her jaws, pushing her nose to the opossums forehead in thanks. She turned to watch the more experienced wolf, head tilting attentively as he began to work. She wasn’t even sure if her blade would be needed this time, or if this would purely be demonstrative, but she wanted to be ready just in case it was paws on learning.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

When she seemed eager to learn and the opossum handed her the knife hidden in her tail, Magnus got to work. Rolling the large cat over onto its back so it's legs splayed out on either side, he placed his knife down to speak. Hopefully he would do a fair enough job at teaching. "So before you start, you want to roll the animal onto it's back and let it's legs so loose on either side of it. Then, right above their feet you'll want to make a thin cut through the skin all the way around." He picked his knife back up and started cutting on one of the front legs before moving to the back leg on the same side, showing her how it was done before prompting her to do it on the other side.

"You try on that side." He motioned towards the opposite legs and waited for her to get settled and start. He'd be watching in case she had any questions before moving on to the next part, that way he didn't have to think about one thing and be doing something else at the same time. This way, he could keep an eye on what she was doing in case he needed to give some pointers.

She watched carefully, and yet it was still a little daunting. The Archer-Lyall didn’t want to ruin the pelt after all their hard work, and yet here he was trusting her to work on the other side of the cat. It was a good thing the blade wasn’t longer, Sedna wasn’t sure what sort of pressure she would need to apply to slice through the skin and her first slice cut a little too deep. She hid her grimace by readjusting her knife to move more carefully until both feet matched those on the other side of the cat. Stepping back to look at her handy work her lines were a little wobbly, but that would improve with practice, she was sure.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

Magnus watched as she made her cuts, though he hardly had anything to correct. She had applied too much pressure at first, but besides a little bleeding there wasn't much to worry about. They would have to tan the hide to make it of any use, otherwise the skin would fester and rot, and that process alone would wash any blood away from the pelt that would be stained by blood. When she had finished with the cuts, Magnus nodded once and offered a small smile.

"Good, now that that's done, we cut through the center of the skin without puncturing into the body cavity. You'll cut from the anus to the end of the jaw bone. If you want to keep the skin on the head, then you'll cut up to the bottom lip." For this, he would demonstrate so that there wasn't an accidental puncture to the body cavity. Leaking internal juices and acids would damage the pelt more than a little blood would. Gripping the knife between his teeth, he was careful to position himself at the lower lip of the animal and start cutting downwards as straight as he could towards the animals rear. Once that job was done, he placed the knife back down. "Now, I'm gonna let you cut into the legs from the cuts we made around the ankles to the cut I just made down the center. Be careful not to press too hard once your get to the body, we don't want to puncture the body cavity." He smiled and took a step back, letting her take the easier job while he watched.

Sedna carefully watched the way he angled his knife down the cougars stomach, noting the way the skin lifted and pulled itself down on the blade with the angle, making sure the knife stayed clear of the cavity that contained what would be the tasty bits of a deer. She wasn’t sure how she would feel about eating cougar... Maybe if she was starving.

She adjusted her grip on the knife to slip it into the pockets they had created around the cougars feet, allowing gravity and the pull of the still attached skin to part a seam down each leg, taking particular care as she got closer to the seam Magnus had created. She thought she could see how the skin would peel off, like taking the husk off a seed pod. It was all fascinating.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

"Very good," He smiled as she finished, keeping an eye on her while she had worked. Now all that was left was pulling the skin from the animal and tanning it, which was a process all in it's own, and not really something for the faint of heart either. "Now we just need to pull the skin off and take it to some water to soak it. It'll need to soak for a few minutes, but we need a few things first." He grabbed at the skin with his teeth as gently as he could and began to pull the skin away from the carcass. After a few moments of gentle pulling, the skin was removed and carefully placed to the side.

"Before we can soak the skin, we need to collect the brain." That was a difficult task all on it's own and required breaking open the skull and collecting it. Today, however, Magnus planned on saving the cougars skull so it would be a little easier to move the brain without getting it everywhere. Assuming Sedna would want the skull as a keepsake with whatever she would do with the skin, it was a no brainer. Taking his knife, he worked carefully to sever the head. They would need this near them when they would soak the hide, so carrying the head by his teeth, he motioned for Sedna to grab the skin. Once she had it, he began to head off towards the Armada, where there were stores of freshwater.

Under other circumstances, another wolf might find the way the skin peeled back from the carcass, leaving bare muscle and fat exposed to the air to be off-putting, maybe even inducing some squeamishness, but the Archer-Lyall was no shrinking violet and far more used to eating her meals fresh from the kill. Failed hunts sometimes resulted in similar injuries to prey and while that was usually just an open wound on a leg, where the skin was left to hang, she couldn’t say that she wasn’t fascinated with the way a creature looked when it had it’s whole hide removed.

She had to wonder why Magnus wanted the brain, but she supposed she would find out soon enough. Moving to pick up the skin once the head had been removed, she followed the larger man back towards the Armada, curious as to what would happen next.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed