The Name of the Game (is pronghorn)
The trio needed something larger to fill their guts with than the hares and fish she’d been catching. Sure, it would make do, but the Archer men were...well...men, and she was quite a large wolf. It wasn’t something she could do often, she knew this because she’d scouted the area around where they were staying and had found only one area to the west of their camp that held larger prey species, a nice little gully with plenty of deer nibbling away, fattening up just for her.
It was about a two day trek to this hotspot, further than she would have liked from the last place she’d seen Scully, but it was a necessity so she pushed her worry to the side. It wouldn’t do them any good if they weren’t well fed anyways. So, they’d made the journey. Elle was pleased to see that the herds hadn’t migrated since her last scouting mission, still munching away on the surprisingly green grass. Judas and Ramiel had wanted to do some more exploring and she’d consented with a sigh. She’d taken down prey on the small side of medium before, perhaps she’d get lucky and could get herself a meal for the evening.
Settling behind a nearby bush downwind from a small herd of pronghorns, her persian gaze scanned them one by one to try and distinguish the weakest link.
"Speech"
With winter fast approaching Hattori had been doing a lot of hunting as of late. With his and his companions combined efforts the stores were as full as he'd ever seen them, stocked with a variety of dried meats and furs, ready to keep bellies full and bodies warm. Not that he expected it to get too cold around her, for autumn the weather was rather mild and he suspected the same to ring true for winter. But it never hurt to be prepared, did it? With this in mind he closely followed the tracks that weaved in front of him, from the spacing he assumed their pace was slow and meandering, leisurely as the herd of pronghorn picked their way across the Gulley. As he neared he sensed something was amiss, as though he wasn't the only predator on the prowl. Hattori paused on the spot as he scented the air once more, the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, but his sharp eyesight did the trick as his gaze soon landed upon a pale rump that- from where he stood at least- wasn't hidden by the bush.
Ah. Not only a familiar face- or rather ass- and a fellow hunter. Ellery, wasn't it?
Stepping close, Hattori cut to the chase. From the looks of it she'd been watching the herd for quite some time, it seemed only natural that she lead this hunt.
"I will follow your command."
Ellery could hear the parting of foliage behind her and her nose wriggled, scenting the air as she turned to look over her shoulder, quick to make sure she wasn’t being ambushed by a creature wanting to take her pickings. But, instead of a predator wanting to ambush her, she was greeted by the monstrous, horned man from the island. Her brows rose in surprise and she offered him a nod of greeting and acknowledgement at his sentence. It was appreciated on her behalf. Then, she turned back to the one she’d spotted.
”That one, the female in the rear by the marigold bushes. It’s been favoring its back leg. A simple separate and round up should suffice. I’ll split it from the herd and lead it to you for the take down,” she announced in a low voice, careful to not spook the nearby animals. Her persian gaze glided to him, waiting for his cue that he understood. Once he gave his silent nod they parted ways, each making their way to a designated area. She made sure to keep his direction in her peripheral. After all, it would be unfortunate and embarrassing if she corralled the pronghorn in the wrong direction and ruined the hunt.
"Speech"
Her instructions were quick, concise and easy to follow. Just how Hattori liked it. With a curt nod, he turned, scanning the area for the best ambush point, somewhere he could wait in hiding till it was time to spring the trap. This was a tried and tested method, given his strength and bulk it made sense as to why he was often delegated the role. Rolling his shoulder's, Hattori nodded before he set off to find his waiting position. Given the nature of the Gulley there wasn't much foliage or shrubbery to hide behind, but there were plenty of blind corners and slopes and he took full advantage of that fact. Offering one last not to Ellery so he knew she was read, he crouched in position, out of sight and downwind, ready to play his part.
Once Ellery saw the man get into position, she waited a moment longer for the others in the herd closest to the female to drift a little further in their grazing before she lurched forward, her powerful haunches shooting her off like a piston. Her long legs ate away at the ground leading her toward the cow in question, but she didn’t go directly to her. Instead, she made a beeline between the targeted pronghorn and the nearest herd member. She let loose a deep, resounding bark and a snarl, the pronghorns letting out frightened and startled bleats. They whirled, taking off down the slope and Ellery was quick to make sure she put herself between them and the female.
Once they were off in a panic, she turned her attention to the injured pronghorn. They were making a staggering run in the same direction their herd was moving, but they were falling behind quickly. Elle surged forward and cut her off, baring her teeth and whipping her tail causing their prey to veer sharply to the right. The Hervok woman was quick to keep on her, running alongside and occasionally lunging to nip at the pronghorn’s ankles or butt to get her moving in the direction she wanted to go, which was right toward Hattori who was poised and ready for the take down.
"Speech"
Waiting patiently in position, Hattori's breathing was slow and steady as he gathered his strength. Whilst he knew the pair of them were more than capable of brining down their quarry there was still a lot that could go wrong, he knew that things often went awry as a result of overconfidence. His ears tipped forward to listen to thudding of hooves, the herd parted, splintering off in different directions as Ellery focused in on the target, snarling and snapping to keep it panicked and thoughtless. He tensed as he saw the shadow looming before him and lunged forth with talons extended, with an almighty crash he collided with the pronghorn and the pair were sent crashing to the floor. The pronghorn let out a startled wheeze as the air was knocked from it's lungs and kicked as though to struggle to it's hooves, but Hattori was faster and his teeth clamped down on it's throat. Blood spilled across the grass and the pronghorn soon succumbed to asphyxiation, it's eyes glassy and lifeless as the pair of wolves began to tuck in to take their share.