The mud beside the riverbank was thick and churned, lined with strange footprints unlike any Hattori had ever seen. The mystery creature had hooves, probably, but somehow it's tracks switched between having three to four toes, all splayed out and facing different directions. Judging from the size of the prints he imagined the creature was fairly large, big enough to warrant tracking anyway. He bent down and took a sniff at the tracks, he suspected that they were fairly recent and the freshness of the scent soon confirmed his suspicions. Taking an educated guess it seemed as though the creature had wandered down by the river to drink and had headed back into the safety of the briar. All he needed to do was follow the tracks and he'd stumble upon the beast soon enough, or at least that was the quick plan he had formed. Given the situation there wasn't a need to come up with anything overly complex. It wasn't as if he was fighting a pair of lions or anything.

Úlfr wandered farther south in his efforts to find more interesting prey animals to hunt. He'd recovered well from his encounter with he lions and now he sought to get back into hunting. Ideally he wouldn't run into any more defensive predators. Úlfr first sought out water. All living things needed water and so he felt it was a good place to try and find signs of prey. He soon came across unusual foot prints. Bending his head to sniff at them he caught some unfamiliar scents and he realized he could not conclude what they were. He simply had no idea. He followed along when he suddenly noticed a familiar color scheme of black and orange. It was the horned man he'd fought the lions with and had occasionally hunted with. Úlfr approached and gently cleared his throat to alert the other to his presence.

Hattori followed the trail as it wove through the forest, eventually slowing when he saw the beast grazing up ahead. The front end of the creatures body was black and the back was black, as though two separate coloured animals were just smushed together. Even upon seeing it no name came to mind, reminding Hattori that the ecosystem of Boreas was nothing like that of Nippon. The creature had found a small opening in the forest where the briars were at their thinnest and was grazing with it's back turned to Hattori.

He'd been considering his next move when his ears caught the sound of approaching pawsteps. He turned and sure enough was greeted by the sight of a familiar face, the young pup he'd both hunted and fought with. Nodding, Hattori flicked his nose to gesture to the tapir, then pressed a paw to the earth on which they stood; as though to say stay here. And then he pointed ahead, just beyond an old tree that was sagging beneath the weight of it's branches. His plan was simple and a routine they'd gone through before, one would lay in wait and the other would drive the prey towards them. Given the nature of the Briar Hattori didn't want the tapir to run into the safety of the surrounding thorns, they wouldn't be able to follow or at least not quickly enough to keep pace. Once convinced that Ulfr knew what to do, he silently slunk through the brush, skirting around so he could wait beside the tree without alerting their prey.

Úlfr returned Hattori's greeting and watched carefully as the older man laid out a hunting plan. He was grateful for the man's wisdom. Úlfr had never seen a tapir before. He didn't know what the creature was called let alone how to hunt it or even if it was actually food. He nodded at the instructions he was given and he crouched down in the brush to lay in wait for the tapir. He felt safe assuming he'd need to get ahold of the throat. That was a weak spot for the vast majority of prey. Though the neck on these creatures looked pretty thick and substantial. It might take awhile to suffocate one so he'd have to be careful of its… hooves? He squinted ahead trying to figure out just what was going on with this animals feet. It had toes more than it did hooves. Hopefully it tasted good and would be worth the risk and effort.

The plan should have worked out perfectly, were it not for the fact their prey was spooked by a distant bird taking flight. It whipped around, eyes wide with panic as it's little trunk flicked high to sniff at the air. Whether it caught wind of the wolves didn't matter as it stepped forward, ready to vanish into the brambles at a moments notice. Hattori tsked in frustration as he cut their plan short and leapt into action, he charged out from his hiding place, cutting the tapir off as he reared up and grabbed a hold of the tapir's face, talons dragging down it's snout. It squealed-it didn't sound as piggy as Hattori thought it would- and attempted to side step him only for the looming dire wolf to shoulder check it back. If it wanted to flee it'd need to get through him, which just wasn't going to happen.

With mouth agape, he grabbed a hold of it's snout and twisted his head with such force it make his neck hurt. Holding on was hard but once Úlfr caught up it was as good as dead.

Úlfr's legs coiled beneath him as he waited for he right moment to strike. However, just as they were preparing to put their plan into motion a bird took of into the air, startling their prey. Hattori sprang in for the attack and Úlfr to charged forward to assist. As Hattori grabbed it and rotated its head Úlfr dove right in for the creature's throat. It made an odd squealing noise and Úlfr bit down even harder and thrashed his head as the creature twisted and flailed. It was muscular for its size and strong but with Hattori's help he was able to keep the tapir from wiggling loose. The struggle continued for a few minutes more before the tapir began to weaken. With each moment that passed by it grew weaker and weaker until it passed and the wolves were left with a warm meal. Úlfr let go and stretched his jaw.