Corbie seemed to be getting into the habit of finding unusual prey creatures in unexpected places this year. First the elephant, then Ignis had found the giraffe, and now she found herself staring in puzzlement at the fat, odd looking creature lumbering through water barely deep enough to touch its rotund middle. The hippo - though she didn't know what it was, that was indeed its species - wasn't able to support its weight as easily on land as it did in water, but this water wasn't deep enough for it to do so as it usually did. Instead all of its weight was on its feet, and it moved more slowly than it should have as it munched on the mangroves. She found herself intrigued at the idea of hunting it, though it wasn't at all practical since she was alone. Something that big surely had a great layer of fat that could come in handy for winter stores, when the prey was all lean and another source of fat was needed. It was only spring so winter was still quite a ways away, but it was never too early to start setting aside stores for the bad months. Well, it was too bad she wouldn't be able to get this one. Maybe she would settle for hunting beaver for the fatty tail, instead. But this was so many beavers worth...

Asmodeus had been in search of his next great conquest, this time his wandering had taken him to the far east. Each new hunt built his confident for the next, soon he would be satisfied with his accomplishments and show of skill and could return to his uncle proud, and ready to request an ambitious new rank within his pack.

He saw the familiar face before the lumbering behemoth of a prey animal drew his notice at all, and loped up to her side with a smile on his maw. "Corbie, funny running into you again." The woman had proved a font of knowledge, a decent conversationalist, and a genuinely good wolf to share time with. He looked past to what she had been observing - half expecting to find a nest of snares, or more trees she had intended to strip for firewood - and saw the hippo for the first time. It was... fat. Deus couldn't really focus on anything but it's unique and perplexing weight. "That guy could feed a pack for a month." He breathed.

Mitros was thoroughly enjoying his freedom as a loner, but the more time that passed since the dissolving of his family home, the lonelier he grew. Rather then stew over the negativity, the bright blue yearling had set his sights upon filling that empty void with success upon success, hard-earned chunks of meat, and trophies of horn, scale, and tooth. He saw the distant hippo as simply his next takedown, spotting it across the mangrove and then, the two wolves who observed it from the other side.

He made his way to the forming group, recognizing one of the individuals as he grew near, a woman he had shared multiple other hunts with over the spring. "Could you use a third? I've been eyeing that guy for a while." Settling in beside the group, he shifted his gaze out toward the hippo as it munched it's dinner in peace. "Can't be any harder then the giraffe was, right?" At least this one had vitals they could reach.

Lotus wasn’t about to let Mitros out of his sight anytime soon. Keeping close to the blue wolf, he eyed the funny fat thing they’d been keeping an eye on. Too big for them to hunt it themselves, but it seemed as if they were going to have a bit of luck. A group of wolves had come to admire the fat creature as well. He didn’t recognise the wolves, but Mitros seemed comfortable with them. He trusted his brother's judgement.

“What do you think it tastes like?” He asked, leaning closer to Mitros as he spoke. Would it be tough and leathery like its hide looked?


"Speech"

Ara somehow wasn’t surprised to see a couple familiar faces dotted in among those that had come to gawk at the giant mass of creatures. The hipp (although she didn’t know its name) looked something like a walking boulder. She just hoped its hide was easier to poke than a rock, or they were going to be in some trouble.

It's tusking and mouth that unhinged when it ate would be no walk in the park either. “Howdy folk. Corbie, Mitros” she said, nodding her head to the wolves she recognised. “Anyone got a game plan? I assume you're hunting this thing” She grinned as she looked among them. Naturally assuming they wouldn’t mind an extra pair of jaws.


"Naráca Mendacium"

Red's ears perked in interest, first at hippo that had somehow found its way there, and then at the group clearly gathering to... gawk? Hunt it? He hoped the latter, as the ivory would make for great trade items and if he got in on the hunt maybe he could negotiate for some of it. He made his way over to them. "Hello," he said quietly. "Are you considering hunting this thing? Would you mind if I joined you?" He recognized only one of the other wolves, that one being from the neighboring pack and a friend of his daughter's. He gave the young man a friendly nod of acknowledgement.

Corbie's mouth quirked in a grin as a familiar group was quick to gather around her. Only one did she not recognize, but he seemed to know Deus and like the others showed interest. "If you're all interested in a hunt, I'm game. I'm not sure how to hunt something like this - all that blubber seems like it would be hard to get through to do any real damage. We might need to..." She paused a moment in thought, then said to her kinkajou companion, "Ayer, can you sharpen some good solid poles on both sides real quick?" At the kinkajou's nod, she turned back to the group. "It seems like the best way to get at it is going to be the eyes, or through the mouth. If we have sharpened spears we can shove them in its mouth, I think, or brace them on the ground and let it run into them, like hunting a bear, or both. Unless anyone else has any ideas?" She glanced around at them - she'd welcome any ideas since when it came down to it, her plan was going to be rather dangerous. They'd be risking getting crushed by its jaws pushing spears in its mouth, or under its bulk letting it run up on poles. Just in case, Ayer hoped up into a tree and away to cut some spears.

Corbie had a good mind for unique ways to take down difficult prey animals and this fat thing was no exception. He did hesitate at her suggestion, though it was sound, and voiced his own opinion as she asked for further suggestions. "I don't have much faith in myself wielding a spear, I've never tried to fight anything without tooth and claw." He admitted, imagining how different the technique must be when one had a long object in their mouth to stab with.

"Perhaps a mix of both? If we drove Ayer's spears into the ground and tried to harass it into them, while the wolves who can wield the weapon can try and figure out a way to pierce through all that fat." He trotted over to the tree where the kinkajou was quickly working, beginning to retrieve sharpened branches as they were thrown down, and beginning to work a few into the ground at an angle, shaped into a semi-circle, so they'd have somewhere to run the hippo into.

Mitros quite enjoyed the idea of trying his paw at weaponry, watching eagerly as the cinkajou scurried away to craft them some makeshift spears. His brother directed a question to him, and he turned his gaze back to the hippo and grimaced. "Bet it tastes like fat." He did not seem pleased by the idea. "But only one way to find out!" After all, he was more here for the experience and the thrill of the hunt then out of some need to taste the weird, lumbering blubber beast.

"I'll take a spear!" Mitros offered as the white and gold man expressed hesitance in wielding one. He hadn't ever held one either, but he would be damned if he turned down an opportunity to learn yet another new skill. How dangerous could the fat thing really be, anyways? Dragging his brother along with him, he ran to pick up his own carved spear, and then moved to assist Deus in jamming others into the dirt.

Lotus huffed a soft laugh at his brother's comment. “Maybe our right” He agreed. But he was certainly game to find out! When Mitros volunteered to take on a spear, it seemed he volunteered on behalf of his brother, as well. Lotus wasn’t about to protest, handling a spear sounded like fun!

He chased after Mitros to grab one, and helped also to jam it into the dirt. It seemed like this would be the game plan, and really Lotus didn’t have any better ideas. He just wanted to be a part of the hunt and have some fun. He’d never taken out anything like this before!


"Speech"

Ara listened as the small wolf offered up some decent advice. Something that would give them length and leverage against the very meaty creature they sought to hunt. Her companion was already getting started on the construct of spears, and it seemed the rest of the group were ready to give it a go. “I’ll help harass it onto the spears. I’m not afraid to give it a good kick on the rump” she said with a smile that displayed her fangs.

She also might have some advantage with reach because of her antlers - at least in the right situation. But were her horns spikey enough to really get its attention? She’d grab a spare and use her horns for back up as needed.


"Naráca Mendacium"

Red listened with interest at all the comments from the strangers. They seemed to all know each other, and trusted in the young green-eyed woman to lead them in a hunt for such an unusual prey animal. He was curious and intrigued by the idea, and inclined to go along with it as she spoke her plan. With his fangs he didn't think he'd be as able to hold a spear steady without risking one breaking if the spear twisted, but maybe... He tilted his head to the side, watching the woman's kinkajou making spears, as a thought came to him. "Could you perhaps make a shorter spear, about so big?" he requested of the small creature as he made a measuring gesture with his paws. "If I can get it upright into its mouth, it would bite down on it." At worst, it would keep it from using that formidable looking muzzle to crush one of them. At best, the force of its bite would drive the spear into its brain from below. Well... at worst worst, it would catch him as he set the spear, but all hunting was a risk. Accepting the shortened spear from the kinkajou, he stepped back with it between his teeth, glancing to the hunt's nominal leader to begin.

Corbie was warmed by the confidence these wolves showed in her despite the unusual nature of the circumstances. She'd never really led anyone before that season, except sheep and her companions, so these hunts had been something of a revelation for her in skills she'd never known she possessed. The other wolves didn't hesitate to add their own ideas, either, to make for a better plan, and she nodded with an encouraging smile at Asmodeus as he braced a spear, and the brindle stranger who took a smaller spear from Ayer. She was glad they were all comfortable enough with her to speak up and modify her plan, and not feel the need to go along with it precisely just because she had spoken up first and therefore got to keep tyrannical control over the hunt. She accepted her own spear from the kinkajou, but set it down on her paws to be able to speak. "All right, this is it. We'll drive it towards the braced spears, and if we're lucky it will run itself right on them." A nod to them all, a quickly added "good luck", and she picked up her spear clamped firmly in her teeth to circle around the hippo. She was careful to try to stay a distance from it and out of its sight with the mangroves between them, until she was at the point where it was between her and Deus' team, then she leaped from the foliage to jab the sharpened spear at its beady eyes. Without deep water to buoy its bulk and aid it in moving, it was even odds whether it would stand and fight anyway or try to make a break for it in the hopes of finding the water that would give it the advantage.

The plan had been decided, the spears carefully carved, and every gathered wolf appeared to be on the same page. Deus still maintained his position that his inexperience with using a spear would be more dangerous then it would prove useful, but Corbie and the others did not seem to be bothered by his refusal to wield one. The yearlings each gathered weapons of their own, and the red latecomer grabbed a specially modified one to try and make the hippo bite down upon. With the hunting party ready, they set off to circle and surprise the hippo.

The closer Deus got, the larger the beast appeared. It may not have rivalled the giraffe, but he could see why this was a prey animal that took more then a handful of wolves to down. He began to harass it, barking loudly and snapping his teeth to drive it in the direction of their spear trap, moving light on his feet to ensure he could cut it towards where he wanted it to go as well as keep out of range of it's massive and dangerous bite. The hippo began to flee as the wolves circled it, but not at any speed high enough to conveniently impale itself upon the trap. Deus continued his harassment, pushing it in further toward the spears until it was enclosed in a sharp semi-circle, allowing the spear-wielders to press in and pressure it further without it being able to flee.

While the adults talked strategy, Mitros and his brother had finished setting up the spear trap in the ground and he began to busy himself by thwacking his stick against Lotus'. They did not get to mock battle long before the hunt began, and Mitros moved on alongside Corbie with confidence that as long as he followed her movements, it'd all turn out okay. The stick in his mouth was weird and uncomfortable, but the range in which it provided made him more daring and bold. He jabbed out with the spear as best as he could as the wolves harassed the hippo inward, landing a sharp blow against it's tough fat that felt like it had recoiled back into his throat. Not comfortable.

Regardless of is ineptitude, the yearling pressed on with enthusiasm. Bleeding the beast with the spear felt like success, even if there was no blood to be found upon his own tooth and claw. More than once he considered that he should probably be intimidated by the prey animal's weight and might, but on the back of other successful hunts beneath Corbie, Mitros looked at the hippo no differently then he'd look at a deer. Very quickly had his head swollen with ego - there was not a creature in the world he could not kill, and this hunt would prove it.

The beast was tiring quickly with the wolves upon it, and the latecomer who was firey red with his unique short stick advanced. Mitros did not understand what he was doing until it had already happened, but jamming that sharpened stick into the hippo's splayed jaw was probably one of the bravest things he'd ever seen. And coolest. And bloodiest. The thing collapsed and Mitros was forced to jump to the side to avoid the weight of it's bulk. With awe in his wide eyes, he watched it succumb to the fatal impalement Red had imposed upon it.

[Note: Checked with Tea on future actions to PP the kill for skill claim purposes!]