Kotori and Grimshaw were hunting together again.  Kotori couldn’t say they did anything else together and neither one of them seemed overly interested in talking but that didn’t really matter.  They both hunted, killed, and learned.  If they could act as a team it didn’t really matter if they had any great friendship or not.  Teamwork was being able to work with anyone in the pack.

Kotori had suggested going out farther for a change of scenery, assuring Grimshaw he’d been to the hot springs before and actually found food.  On top of that this wolf liked a challenge and with the pools that could get in the way if not chasing the deer just ride it did indeed make things more interesting.

Once they got there and were stalking about though it was a different sight that greeted them.  A type of hooved animal was there but it was somewhat different than a deer.  The same shape mostly, it had what looked more like horns than antlers though and the frame was still slightly different.  Meat was meat though.  Kotori glanced to Grimshaw.  “Same plan?” the words soft under his breath.  “Just this time let's go for a fast kill, if it gets around the water it's going to be harder to grab.”

"Kotori Fatalis"

Grimshaw wasn't so sure about going to the springs to look for food, but if Kotori was so sure that they would find food there, he held back his tongue and hesitantly agreed. He wasn't about to admit his fear to another punk kid, anyway. Even if they were the same age and had been on countless hunts together now, Grimshaw certainly wasn't about to admit his biggest fear to him. So he just swallowed it down and followed the horned boy to the springs. He had to give him some credit though, it was almost like the pronghorn was just standing there waiting on them to come and hunt it down.

The boy made a point when he said that it would be harder to grab if it made it around the pools, but Grimshaw had no intention of letting it get that far. "I'll go sneak between it and the pools, then chase it towards you here. Good?" He'd rather the horned boy get closer to the pools of water in case the pronghorn decided to run off that way anyway, but he supposed at that point he'd have to run by the water anyway.

"Speech."

Kotori nodded, “sounds like a plan.  I’ll move a little closer,” Kotori turned his head to nod behind a tree that has some brambles in it.  “Chase it to that one, it’s a good position to attack from.”  Kotori didn’t add that it was practically the same plan he had used with his dad recently.  Dad had let Kotori do the planning and it had all worked out.  It had been nice getting to prove his skills to the one he most wanted to be acknowledged by.

After agreeing Kotori slunk away to get to the spot he mentioned.  Once there he’d crouch down and wait.  This would be a fast kill if done right.  The pronghorn should come to him and Kotori would grab for the neck right away and his weight to bring it down.  The horns on the hooved animal looked dangerous but as long as Kotori got it down fast enough it should be fine.  Kotori considered the pronghorn while he wanted on Grim.  The horned boy decided he’d want to get the top of the neck for the most control to keep it from being able to swing its head to jab him.

Kotori Fatalis

 

Grim nodded when Kotori agreed, quickly sneaking off to work his way behind the pronghorn. It was difficult for him to move closer and closer to the hot springs, reminding him of when he had tried this just a few days earlier in an attempt of some kind of immersion therapy. It hadn't worked, but he'd also quickly found Daphne's scent and followed it instead. With a hard swallow, Grim lowered his body to creep behind the bushes to remain as quiet as possible. It took him some time to sneak behind the pronghorn, putting him between a meal and his fear. With his eyes focused on his meal and his brain screaming at him to get away from the water, Grim glanced towards the spot Kotori was hiding briefly before allowing his fear response to take over.

As he broke from the bush that he hid behind, he tore away from the springs at mach speed towards the pronghorn, effectively chasing it in the direction of his partner. As some distance was put between him and the springs, Grim focused harder on the back of the animal and reached to grab at it's ankles. If he was lucky, he would be able to distract the animal well enough for Kotori to get a good attack in without having to worry about the massive horns the pronghorn had.

"Speech."

It really was a pretty easy hunt this way. Admittedly if the animal had tried to flee by jumping into the water or making tight turns around the pools it would be much harder but so long as the pronghorn saw the pools as barriers then it was a nice straight path.  Between the pools and Grim it seemed to be working fine.  

Kotori waited, and waited.  He wanted to spring out early but had learned a lot about patience.  Once they got in close it was only two long strides before Kotori was right there next to them. With the pronghorn caught by surprise, it didn’t have time to react.  Kotori had grabbed its neck from the top, keeping his grip tight so their head couldn’t spin to stab him with those impressive horns.  Kotori put his paws on its shoulders and leaned over to knock it to the ground.  He wasn’t ready to let go yet, the thing still had solid weapons but the way he had it there should be no trouble for the other wolf to end its life.

"Kotori Fatalis"

With the pools getting even farther from him, he easily focused on the hunt at hand and when Kotori broke free from his hiding spot to latch onto the top of the pronghorns neck in an attempt to bring it down without getting gutted by it's horns or rammed, Grimshaw used the opportunity to lay off of it's heels. As the animal was being pulled down, Grimshaw would veer off slightly only to immediately turn his shoulder back towards the animal so that he may launch and tear his sharpened teeth into the belly of the animal, effectively grabbing on and using his own weight to open the wound. The pronghorn would wail, the weight and pain of the two wolves simply too much for it as it would then succumb to it's injuries beneath it's two hunters. With the animal dead, Grimshaw broke his grip on the animals belly and licked his lips clean from the blood that stained his dark face.

"Speech."