Viper had become Chimera's unofficial hunt partner. Neither of them spoke unless it was absolutely necessary. He liked that quite a bit. For a woman, Viper wasn't half bad. At least she wasn't the yammering sort. Some bitches couldn't keep their mouths shut to save their lives. It was terribly annoying and if Chimera didn't have a promise to uphold, he very well may have torn a few of them to shreds. Not Viper though. He didn't have to worry about her mouth going a mile a minute. He didn't have to worry about much when it came to her. While they were hunting, he simply had to check on her periodically to make sure that she hadn't been mauled or trampled. Easy stuff. Today, they were doing something different. Chimera had a coil of thickly braided rope around his neck. He intended to build a tripwire so that they might bring down something a little larger. With the unrelenting winter, larger winter animals had come further south. There were musk oxen in the orchard, of all places and Chimera wanted one. Creeping close so as not to spook the herd, the pair of wolves moved ahead of them. Giving one end of the rope to Viper, Chi motioned with a point of his nose at a far off tree. They could each secure their end to the trees and they would run the oxen into the wire. If they broke their legs, great. If not, the pair of wolves would be on the prone beasts and rip their throats out. Win-win situation, he thought. "Speech"

It wasn’t necessarily that Viper preferred to be silent, well at least overall. Just this time last year she was causing all kinds of shenanigans with her childish and irritable attitude. But maybe that’s what made her how she was today. It seemed like anytime she opened her big mouth something bad was to follow. Losing Jupiter, maimed by Noir, being prisoned in Fireside. These weren’t things she found shame in, but it had definitely altered her behavior. Now along side Ashen she learned and strived to do her best every day. When going out on hunting trips she would leave her armor behind. Hers particularly wasn’t loud but there was always a slim chance and she didn’t want to scare their target off. Besides, her chain mail was cold as the winter brushed over it. So her maim and scars were always exposed when she went out on hunting parties. Her and Hattori had just set up the same kind of trap not too long ago, though with different supplies. So when Chimera handed her off the other end, she easily went to wrap the rope around the second tree. Securing it was a little more difficult to Hattori’s wire. She fiddled with it a bit but looked over at Chimera to see what he was doing to see if she could steal his plan. Walk "Talk" Think

As Viper meandered off to tie her end, Chimera went to tie his own. With his new, sharp teeth, the young man bit through some of the weaker branches at the bottom of the tree so make a cleaner space for the rope to be affixed. This was some sort of fruit tree. As he bit through the branches the sap smelled a little sweet. It tasted sweet on his tongue as well though it wasn't a flavor that he would seek out. Chimera was a blood and bones kind of wolf. Siren had tried to make him eat fruit a few times but he never liked it. Taking his end of the rope, the tri-toned dire wrapped it about the tree. It took him a few loops around, then he would wait until Viper had her end tied off before he would make sure that the whole line was tight and taut. When he looked over to her, however... she was looking at him. Chimera furrowed his brow an a little...something tickled in his stomach. Why was she staring at him like that? "Speech"

Chimera looking at her looking at him wouldn’t embarrass her or anything, like it would some others. She was after all peaking to see what he was doing so she could mimic the same. She wouldn’t linger though, not really making eye contact with him in the passing. Her mouth grabbed around the small branches of her tree, the bark was prickly and rough against her face. Breaking the limbs was a little more difficult than Chimera given her size. But she managed well with each snap. She pulled the rope tight around the trunk, a little off level to chimera’s that he could have fixed if he chose to. Or she would if he instructed. Circling the rope around and tucking it in to itself. Walk "Talk" Think

Viper didn't look at him for long. Chimera was surprised to find that it sort of annoyed him. Why didn't she want to look? Wasn't he worth looking at? He pushed his moment of egotistical annoyance away and focused on the task at hand. After securing his rope firmly to the tree, the giant brute moved to where Viper stood and inspected her own knotwork. He adjusted it a bit, pulling hard so that the rope line was extra tight. There was a possibility that it might snap, but the wire coil that he'd found was covered in rust and had been rather brittle. This would have to do. Chi nodded to Viper and looked to his dogs. The pair of obsidian ladies were both ready and waiting for his command. They would have to circle back to where they started and run the group of oxen into the tripwire. Chimera had strategically chosen a place where there was a large chute between the rows of old, overgrown trees. The path of least resistance. Stupid hoofed things loved being lazy. "Speech"

She looked up to Chimera as he inspected her own work, observing him as he adjusted the rope. After he tested the pull, viper would too just as a learning process for her. While he had to settle with the braided rope opposed to the wire, she may have to do the same one day. She looked to the three of them briefly before starting the course on their target. Chimera’s dogs helping as much as any normal wolf could. Still unspoken, it seemed the task at hand came naturally to the both of them, perhaps more naturally with each hunt they successfully took. Viper’s senses keen on the herd as they drew near, she would veer off to one side so she could take then at one angle when they drove them to the trip wire. Walk "Talk" Think

Four sets of paws made their way back to the starting point. Viper veered off to one side and Chi sent Gem with her, the giant black dog trailing behind the smaller wolf. Meg stayed with him. Chi waited until he could see the tiny form of Viper settle into place, then he nodded again. They were ready. The herd wasn't terribly large. A group of six. There seemed to be five females and one male, not that Chimera cared. They all fell the same. To put some fear into the hoofed beasts, the dire wolf raised his muzzle and howled long and low. The sextet raised their heads from the snow where they'd been eating frozen fruit. Depending on how much they'd eaten, this could also work to the wolves advantage. Ungulates were fans of eating fermented fruit, decaying under the snow. It became alcoholic. If they ingested enough, they'd get drunk. It was time to see if these furry bastards had eaten enough. Chi and Meg flew forward and the herd began to flee. "Speech"

Chimera’s mastiff sent behind her she wouldn’t question, the extra help on her end was appreciated whether she spoke so or not. Her paws carried her a far distance from Chimera, her vision pointing to him as he made a nod of readiness and proceeded to get the herd moving. Viper would close in on them as they ran, keeping an even distance so she could still control them but not let one slip out. It was more likely if one slipped out of the herd, they would come trample either her or chimera to stick together. The risks. She paid less attention to her companion now and instead on the oxen and the ground in front of her. Keeping them in line was easy enough even for her smaller frame. She just had to keep up all the way to the trip wire. Walk "Talk" Think

The oxen ran and the canines were at their heels. The sheer obsidian of the mastiffs and the thick pelts that they had made them appear larger. Something about the dogs spooked the oxen more than the wolves. Good thing there was one on either side of them. As they came in closer, Chimeras teeth snapped at the heels of the shaggy beasts. One of the others shifted and tried to gore the wolf, but he slammed on the brakes which was something that the musk oxen were unable to do. The wolves and their dogs pushed their prey into the natural chute. Chi, despite his limited vision, could see the tripwire up ahead. Just a little farther and they would smash right into it. Chi hoped that their efforts would pay off. "Speech"

Driving the herd into their trap, Chimera's mastiff proved to be good help on her side, but she wouldn't stop to admire the brains of the creature. As they neared the trip wire, Viper would start snapping at the heels and hip of her closest prey, getting it distracted from what was about to come of it. Just as they came up to the wire, Viper slowed to move around the tree she tied and the first two oxen blew right into the trip wire. The others while alarmed starting picking up their legs in a leap, coming back down and trampling their herd members that took the biggest blow. Viper waited as the large creatures stumbled across the bodies of the two that lead the herd into their demise. It seemed they would get lucky today with a healthy sized kill for the stores. Walk "Talk" Think

Things worked out a little better than planned. Two of the oxen were caught on the tripwire and they were then trampled by the rest of their herd in their desperate attempt to escape. That worked just fine for Chimera. The two that fell had received broken bones and other injuries, it seemed. They were lowing and thrashing, but that would soon be ended. Leaping forward, the dire wolf sank rows of serrated teeth into the throat of one oxen. The already frightened beast barely felt it in it's shocked state. After a bit of struggling, the motion in the beast finally ceased. One down. Gem and Meg had leaped upon the other fallen ungulate, holding it down so that their masters could deliver the killing blows. They had learned that, whenever able, the wolves liked to be the ones to do the killing. Chimera's mismatched ears perked and he looked to Viper in case she would like to be the one to dispatch their second victim. "Speech"

The rest of the herd would move on, certainly not looking back for their lost companions. But at least they would be at ease knowing they weren't anyone's dinner tonight. Viper was quick to go over the oxen closest to her, the dogs jumping on as well which she didn't mind. Chimera easily broke through the prey's hide to reveal blood as it spilled out and the creature bled to death. Viper was after the same though she wasn't as strong as Chimera. Her paws planted on the oxen's throat she grabbed hold in between and pulled with a low grunt until she was successful. Chimera wouldn't even need to ask if she did or didn't want to take her share of the kill, it was already being done as he laid eyes on her. She licked the blood from her lips as she examined the beast, starting to position it's legs to get it ready for transporting. She may have seemed less interested in Chimera and his pets, but they didn't bother her either. She was starting to get used to Chimera's company as they continued to go on hunting parties. But she wasn't any more comfortable with him than any other pack members she had met. Walk "Talk" Think