Viper had spent a lot of time gathering and breaking limbs for her and Chimera's next trip out on the hunt. She remembered his thought on fish the last time they had went out hunting, so she had something a little different in mind. This time, they'd be going after some kind of bird or chicken. And for a flock, she wanted to build a corral to herd them in to. It seemed Meg would catch on to her preparing which seemed to be normal at this rate, she wouldn't even need to go to the island to fetch Chimera today as his mastiff sensed that Viper was setting up for a trip. She rolled the branches into four nets, ready for hauling with the four canines. She would wait for Chimera at the shrine for him to join her and set up the dogs and themselves before moving onward to Lover's Mangrove. They could start unloading and building when they found an area of level ground. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Meg came to collect Gem and Chimera. It seemed that Viper had another hunt in mind. Chi had just finished putting the final touches on a device that he'd traded the Armada for and it would be the perfect opportunity to try it out. He'd left the cart on the mainland since it would be a bitch to drag over the rope and barrel bridge. It was a small platform and had two large, round wheels. Two arms protruded from the front with a harness stretched in between. The black and white brute had been adding a wooden rail so that whatever they put on the cart didn't slide off. Sliding into the harness, Chimera began to pull the cart, testing to see how awkward it might be. To his surprise, it rolled smoothly. He'd been told that the Armada's former healer had crafted the device. They'd done a good job. Meeting up with Viper, Chi loaded her supplies into the cart. He couldn't tell at all what they were going to do with the items that she'd collected, but he would soon find out. Before sliding back into the harness, a moment of fancy took him and he placed a lick upon the small woman's forehead. Once back in the harness, he allowed Viper to lead the way. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Chimera’s tongue coming to meet Viper’s head was hardly surprising due to other things they had done. But Viper would still look up at him with a gentle smile and a wag of her tail before moving on. Chimera’s cart came in handy, but she only wished she was able to help him pull it. It may not have made much of a difference but it would have made Viper feel like she was being useful for Chimera, not that she wasn’t all together. She started piling the branches between tree trunks, making a wall to each one and creating a small circle where they would trap the feathery friends. It would probably be a lot more labor than it was worth but at least they could always come back and use it again. They would still need to make the chute as well. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Viper led the way and Chi followed dutifully with the cart. Once they arrived at her destination, the brute unloaded the cart, tossing the poles on the ground. He was more than a little confused when the woman began shoving the stakes in the ground around other trees. It wasn't until she began filling in the gaps that he realized just what she was doing. With a shrug, he followed along, shoving poles into the sandy ground. If he was doing it wrong, she would surely tell him. Or at least gesture or something. Like always, he didn't know what they were going to try and catch. So far all of their hunts had been a success. Some more so than others, but they'd never gone home with nothing to show for their efforts. He hoped that today would follow that trend. There was no way that Ashen would go hungry this winter, but it was nice to bring home the goods all the same. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Like always, Chimera followed what Viper tasked as she did visa versa with him. It seemed they had logical plans at least, ones that didn't leave the other questioning for very long if at all. Chimera continued Viper's steps until they had a moderate sized loop, ready for the chute. She ventured to the opening, motioning for Chimera to start on the other side. She wanted to make the chute curve, and then fan open on the ends so it would be easier to herd the flock of chicken into the chute and then into the corral. She looked around really quick for something to cover the top with so the birds couldn't climb up the fence and escape. Looking at the cloth tarps she had originally wound up the branches in, that seemed to do. She would wait for Chimera to finish his side before wanting his help covering the corral, and then they would have to move his cart out of view. Though chickens seemed to be pretty dumb in general. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

The pair of wolves continued placing their poles between the mangroves. They were creating a cage of sorts to hem in... whatever they pushed this way. The enclosure was small so they couldn't be hunting anything large. Maybe little deer or rabbits. Fowl of some sort? He knew that there were strange birds in the mangroves. Birds that liked to be on the ground. Once the stakes were planted, Viper gave him a pointed look. Rather than ask him to help her with something, she just stared at him and waited for him to figure it out. Since she was standing next to an old tarp, he assumed she wanted him to help her put it atop the enclosure, which he did. Birds. They were definitely hunting birds. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

With the tarps pulled over the corral, Viper would move back to Chimera's empty cart, pushing it with her back paws not so smoothly off to the side, just out of the way of their path was good enough. Before they would run off to find their prey, Viper put a paw onto the walls of their makeshift corral, making sure they were sturdy. The chickens wouldn't be strong enough themselves to knock it over unless they made on of the walls very poorly, but she wanted to make sure their craftsmanship was pretty good so they could come back and use the corral in the future. Nothing hurt reusing their resources. It did take her a lot of time to collect all the sticks and branches before the crafting after all. She joined Chimera preparing to track their feathery dinners. The terrain of the mangrove could have been difficult to sprint through had the winter turned to spring with the waterways that ran through. The only thing they'd really have to worry about was slipping on ice or stepping through an ice surface and cutting up their leg. They should have been more careful than that though. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

With Viper deciding that their makeshift enclosure was good enough, Chimera followed her through the mangroves. The pair carefully picked their way across the frozen landscape. Ice cracked beneath his bulk, but it rarely gave way. Only when the ice was thin did his paws sink through, but then the ice was so thin that it wouldn't slice his pads or anything else. He tried to be quiet, but it was difficult when you were walking through a normally waterfilled land. There was ice everywhere and he was rather heavy. Up ahead, Chi could hear the gentle clucks and bawks of poultry. The man's spotted nose wiggled a bit as he scented the air, picking out their exact location by wind direction alone. Nudging his small companion's shoulder lightly, he directed her to move to the right. They could come in from both sides and herd the birds towards the cage from either side. Birds were idiots. They would go straight ahead down the path that looked clearest. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Viper was keen to catch on to the the birds as Chimera was, their sounds and scent were unmistakable to her. She much rather preferred red meat, but if they needed to bring something else in, this would do. They approached warily, though it wasn’t exactly easy with the ice beneath their paws. That was fine though, because they were ready to push on. Viper did as she always did, hanged on the left side typically with Meg, and they would push the little chickens forward into their trap. It took a lot for her not to just leap forward and kill one. Their clucking squeals were annoying, but they needed the flock to take back to Ashen. All they had to do was keep them on track. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

The four canines settled into their positions and soon they were on their way. They were like a well oiled machine by now. They hemmed the squawking, panicked birds in on either side and pushed them towards the enclosure that they'd created. It was much easier than building the damn enclosure, that was for sure. The wild chickens were stupid. They fled in a straight line, one following the next and so one. Rushing ahead down the path between the mangroves, they all ran into the trap. Every single one. Once inside, they bounced about, slamming themselves against the bars and sending feathers flying, but they didn't try to rush back out, nor did they try to push away the tarp to escape. Birds. Stupid. Looking to Viper, Chi snorted and gave his head a shake. At least they'd be able to kill them now. If they culled the entire flock, it would be a nice haul to take back to Ashen. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Herding the birds seemed to be much easier than their other kills. They might have had a little more of a struggle getting their paws on them to kill them but it wasn’t something they couldn’t manage together. They led the feathery creatures into the corral, Viper entered first to start their kills, breaking more necks than biting into them. It was a little cramped in here but Chimera was welcome, the killing was the best part after all, right? Once they killed all the chickens they could, the only thing they had to do was load them up on Chimera’s cart and head off. The corral could stay here for another time. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Viper dove into the enclosure and began killing the birds one after the other. The space would have been too small for both of them, so he let her have her fun. Instead, he stayed on the outside, catching the few stray birds that were pushed out. The squawking and squealing was annoying and he was quite glad when it was over with. Fucking birds... Once the flock was decimated and silence took over again, Chi counted the bodies. They had close to twenty birds. A nice bunch of meat to take back to Ashen for the picky bitches that were tired of red meat. Feathers fell around the pair like snow and Chi thought it was rather amusing to see Viper covered in feathers. Rising from his place, he moved forward and blew a feather off of the tiny woman's muzzle. No doubt amusement glittered in his mismatched eyes. Without another word he began loading the cart with the tarp and the dead bodies. It wouldn't do to get his cart all bloody if he could help it. Not because he cared about the blood, but because the blood sinking into the wood would leave a stench that would make the cart difficult to hide when they took it out. Once loaded, he began moving back towards Ashen. "Chimera" -- "Viper"