Expansion. The next step for Ashen. As the ranks began to fill and pups started to grow, there was a need for more space. Thankfully, just north of their territory, an abundant river she was familiar with hadn't been claimed by anyone yet. After her promotion, the petite girl was excited about this development. If they were successful in hunting at the Rio Grande, she would be proving not only to herself but to the other hunters within the pack. Moving swiftly from Ashen's lands with her group in tow, Celeste tossed a look back at who Venom had gathered for her. Knowing they were all capable of what she had in mind, she smiled and continued forward in silence. No sense in revealing her surprise ahead of time. Rain had recently fallen, leaving the ground muddy beneath her paws. Coating her white-gloved paws brown, she made sure not to slip as the river came into view. Slowing to a stop at the river's edge that ebbed and flowed, she turned to her larger companions. Having to glance up at everyone sure made her neck sore at times. "Our goal here is to catch a somewhat rare fish," Celeste started as she looked at each individual. "It's called the Arapaima and can grow up to ten feet in length. They're mostly black and green in color with red tails and ugly faces. We can either try to find a big one altogether or break up into two groups, what say you guys?" She wanted their opinion, didn't want to seem too much of a dictator, you know? But if they wanted it to be her decision, she would make one. OOC: Posting rotation is requested at 3 days each. Let me or Kat know if you can't participate <3

Ike still felt a little nervousness in her belly as she realized Ashen’s growing numbers were in part some of her fault. She invited Remus to live in the pack when they were creeping up in number. So she thought it fully appropriate when Venom named her and her siblings as the wolves needed to go with their Renja to see if these chosen lands would be able to support them.

Since bringing Remus into Ashen Ike had been training hard to hone her hunting skills. The princess didn’t see it, after a lifetime of clumsy actions and ungraceful movement, but all of her hard work was beginning to pay off. Now that she had entered full adulthood the way she moved and acted changed. Each step of her mismatched paws was done with a hard won grace. Battling against her body grew the young woman into complete control of every tiny muscle. Ever present paranoia built her a perfect stance, all the princess was missing now was confidence. She didn’t believe in herself, and that was the most obvious in the way she carried herself.

Princess Kiyohime sent up a silent prayer when they finally came to a halt before the wide river, Celeste easily caught her attention when she began to speak. Ike had been fishing for her entire life, to the point she didn’t even consider it hunting; it came so naturally to the island born girl. All of a sudden the weight she felt was lifted from her shoulders, she could fish. "We should bring home the biggest one in the river.” Ike spoke up with a grin on her features, finally loosening up at the prospects ahead of them.

"Speech"

Returning back to the Grande, Kuroki spied the river with pale, squinty eyes. There was plenty to eat in these parts, lots of prey flocked to fresh running water, but of course Cel would wanna fish. Something big too. Moving closer to the assembling group, his ears perked forward to listen to the girls' conversation. He was a little late but he hadn't missed much. "So what I'm hearing, Cel, is that you want us to do the heavy lifting?" He stepped up beside Ike and gave her a good-natured shoulder nudge. Being tall and strong was all they were good for as dires, right? "You're lucky you're hot, or I'd throw you in the river too." His grin was wide and easy, showing full well he was just tugging her tail. Falling into old habits. Rolling his shoulders he figured he ought to get to work, scoping out the water to see if their prey was about. "Since what we're lookin' for is so big, why don't we try and drive it up one of the tributaries?" That way it would have trouble moving about and would in turn make it easier to reach.

Ashen’s ranks were quickly growing to near bursting. So much so, that it was beginning to be a concern as to whether or not their lands could efficiently feed them all. So, the Ashen matriarch had directed Takeshi, Shuriken, Kuroki and Celeste to scout out the nearby lands to see what their prey levels looked like. Thus, they arrived at the Rio Grande. It was nice to hang out with 2 of his remaining 3 siblings in the pack. Most of their youth had been spent with them being thick as thieves, now their duties left them greeting each other mostly in passing. They’d spent most of the walk joking as they used to, except this time Takeshi could join in. It was still odd to him to be able to speak. It had only been a few months since the Firefly God had granted him a voice, and he was so used to being silent that he still rarely used it.

The 4 wolves stopped on the bank, Oki’s fuc—er, friend, Celeste being the first to speak, suggesting they look for a big fish. Ike’s reply was her normal sweet self, earning an affection nudge to her cheek, but Oki was a bit more crass. Still, it got a small grin from the Ashen Dragon. “To find it, we should probably split up into teams. We’ll cover more ground that way. Then, when one of us finds one, we can just howl to let the others know and drive it into one of the tributaries like Oki said,” the scaled man suggested, glowing red eyes looking between the wolves present.

Speech

Celeste looks at each dire as they turn their attention to her. Meeting Ike's gaze, she smiles with a nod. "The bigger, the better, if I do say so myself," the petite girl muses as she winks in Ike's direction. She was glad that another girl and someone who could tolerate Kuroki's shenanigans had come along. Speaking of the man himself, Oki spoke next as he sidled up beside his sister. Celeste could feel her cheeks grow warm at Oki's words before she was able to clear her throat for a response. "Exactly and that's why I'm the leader so I can show the big muscles where to go," she shot a kissy face in his direction with a soft chuckle before looking over to Take. She listened intently to Take's advice with a few nods in agreement. Venom had indeed raised capable and smart children. "Great idea," Celeste hums quietly as she looks between the three dire siblings. Now, who to pair with who? She didn't want to seem too obvious with who her pairings would be. Didn't want to give the other two any ideas, now did she? "How about we have... Ike and Oki pair up to go upriver and Take, you can come with me downriver," she lets her gaze linger on the dragon prince before turning to head into the river. There would be no time to waste if they were going to find the river monster before nightfall. Wading into the chilly river helped calm her nerves as she began to swim with some amount of grace and determination. "Arapaima usually linger around the surface of rivers so if there's a massive one, we should be able to see it," she mentions to Take over her shoulder as she continues to search for their intended target.

Celeste seemed to think his idea was the most sound out of the rest that were given, and he jokingly stuck his tongue out at his brother and sister. His tongue was stuck in a surprised blep, however, when the woman announced the groupings, looking at her with raised brows. He’d fully expected her to go with Oki for some mischief, but apparently she was all business this day. Takeshi offered a consenting nod, glancing at his brother and sister once more before following after her.

He watched as the Renja waded into the waters, swimming with a surprising strength against the current for her petite size. “You swim along out there, I’ll follow along the shore. If you see something, yell at me and we can try and herd it with my net while Oki and Ike get here,” he relayed, paws trodding along the dirt shore as he kept pace with her drifting form. His glowing red gaze surveyed the surface of the water carefully, looking for any indicators of a form to the description his mottled packmate had given.

Speech

Kuroki stuck out his tongue, completely laid back surrounded by some of his most favourite people. This was what family was meant to be in his mind, free and easy, void of stuffy Asheny things like propriety and customs. More than willing to work with his little sister-not that she was little any more, none of them were-he flicked the end of his snout and gestured for her to follow him up river. Wading into the water, where his feet only just touched the bottom he surveyed the territory. This monster fish liked to swim near the surface, noted. "Is that it?" He asked after a little while of searching. There was a dark shape in the water, floating near the top, long and thick and- it wasn't really moving, he couldn't see the flicking of fins."Or it's a log. Hm."

Ike had second thoughts about splitting into groups but not so much that she would offer any disagreement. There just wasn’t enough confidence in her breast to speak up past her brother. It kind of made his teasing tongue sticking hurt more than it should have. He didn’t know what was flashing through her mind as Celeste gave them her instructions on pairing off. She took heart that the shorter girl had faith in her, as was evidenced by her playful wink earlier. Maybe that and being another girl in their group.

Upriver with her brother. Ike looked to Oki, feeling the pang of loss in her heart as she missed Iki as the three of them stood together just a moment. Things were so different now from when they were kids. She shook off the feeling and followed after Oki as he gestured and led them up. Her mismatched paws fell in with his pace easily as her dual toned eyes scanned the water’s surface.

Her koi brother spoke up then, calling her attention to a dark shape in the water. Before she could even really see what he was looking at he dismissed it. Ike continued to look closer, veering off the path slightly to get a better look. "Oki wait, it is a fish!” The young woman waded out into the waters slightly, confirming what she saw before she tilted her head back to call for the other two.

"Speech"

She used the current to help guide her through the waters as she turned an ear in Take's direction. Compared to his siblings, Celeste found him awfully confident. Not in a way that Oki was, but more sure of himself and it reminded her of Venom. Without relaying a wordy response back to him, Celeste nodded in his direction as she glanced at him walking along the shore. Maybe she would take a page from his book from time to time as she realized how calculative and thoughtful he was to their approach. Before they could find their own river monster, a call from Ike made Celeste look over her shoulder. They had found it already? A smile spread across her features as she swam to the opposite shore of Takeshi. "Lets meet up with them to drive it into the tributary as Oki suggested and then you can toss me the net to this side so we can catch it," her words were firm as she picked up her pace to where Oki and Ike were already beginning to corral the large scaled beast.

The princess lifted her head and called for the other two as she was already wading through the water. The massive fish had sensed her presence by now and was slowly moving away. Not feeling threatened yet, but fully cautious. Ike looked up towards her brother, expecting him to follow her in to help direct the fish towards the tributary. Shuriken didn’t want to act too quickly and lose their chance.

Mismatched ears swiveled and her eyes followed to see Celeste coming to back them up. Shuriken began to move carefully, working with the other wolves to help corral the massive fish without letting it escape before the net could be brought up behind it within the tributary. Ike for a moment forgot about her doubts and lack of confidence. She just was, the girl acted on instinct and worked with her siblings and peer to reach their end goal and return with proof this land could provide for them and the pack.

"Speech"

Kuroki couldn't say he liked this style of hunting, moving all slow and cautious, allowing the trap to be fully set before springing into action. He understood though and was willing enough to follow his sister up the river, being careful not to slosh about too much as he pressed closer. Waiting for the others to catch up. Except they were taking their sweet ass time about it...and the tributary branch was just there. "Fuck it." Dashing into motion, Kuroki rushed at the fish, causing it to panic and dart up the smaller, shallower stream to its left. With him right on its tail it had nowhere to go but forward. All they needed now was the net.

Suddenly, Ike’s call rang into the air, calling Celeste and Takeshi to action. His glowing gaze flicked to his partner, who was already hauling herself out of the drink and moving that way. He nodded to her instructions, taking off at a lope instead of a sprint. With his massive size, when he ran it wasn’t subtle. He didn’t want to scare the prey off. Still, his long strides got him there before long to see Oki and Ike already corralling their target into a tributary. The man turned his head and pulled the net he carried from his shoulders, giving it a shake to spread it out and untangle it. He waited for Celeste to get into position, his auds forward and attentive. When she was ready, he tossed half of the net across as far he could manage. It landed just ahead of the fish, and Takeshi quickly gathered the other edge of his side of the net before beginning to pull back, dragging it through the water with Celeste’s help to encase it around their target, effectively trapping it.

Speech