Marrow

Marrow settled in the prairie, watching all sorts of animals wander about the grasslands. Today the bison caught her attention. They trudged through the soggy, autumn mud, steam rising from their nostrils. An ice storm had blown in the night before, leaving crystal casings over the grass. It was beautiful… but Marrow wanted to see it stained red. She slinked behind the herd, eyes searching for any sign of weakness, knowing full well she wouldn't be able to slay one herself but that wasn't entirely the point. She wanted to practice. Keen eyes scanned the herd, noting a older male that seemed to constantly be at the back. A potential target?

Wendigo had spotted the white-pelted yearling Marrow where she'd settled to watch the buffalo herd. He tilted his head to the side, intrigued - was she planning on chasing them or just watching? She couldn't hunt them alone - hell, they couldn't hunt one just the two of them together, either, but saliva pooled on his tongue at the thought of the rich buffalo meat. Maybe... maybe they could find a way. Chase them off a cliff or something. Well, no cliffs here so they might be shit out of luck unless they could miraculously pull more hunters out of the grass like a rabbit from a magician's hat. The shadow-striped Saxe crept up next to Marrow, watching the bison hungrily himself. "A sparrow for your thoughts?" he murmured to her. He liked the way the young wolf thought - she might just be clever enough to pull those hunters out of thin air after all.

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn meandered down to Algoma prairie. It was one of the most prey rich areas in the south and up until last night it had been a nice and warm area. The sudden ice storm was unexpected and Jynn decided it was time to consider moving into Auster for the season. For now though she needed breakfast.

Sliding out of her den, Jynn headed down toward the stream where she'd seen some ducks the day before only to catch the scent of two wolves watching a herd of bison. Her large ears perked up. Perhaps they would share for some aid? That would be a fantastic meal to start out her day. Jynn crept forward but not too quietly. She wanted to alert the others to her presence without startling the buffalo. They were probably used to seeing her around by now but better safe than sorry. "Psst, you two hunting? I'd gladly assist for a share of the meat."

Wanderlust was Havoc's middle name (though not actually) so though she'd only just settled into a new pack she was already out and about without even having taken the time to meet anyone but Medusa. It was the battlefield she was aiming for, but she'd not quite made it when she was distracted by a familiar scent. Holy shit, Wendigo was back. With a cackle she was bounding along the track, zoom zoom, and following it into the knolls. Her brother wasn't alone as it turned out though, and she eyed up both the strangers in interest. They all seemed to be watching the bison herd, so maybe there was some action in the works she could get in on. "Hey dumb fuck, where you been?" she laughed, slamming her shoulder into Wendigo's. "We killing something here or are you all just planning on standing around until one of them falls over from old age?" She grinned snidely at them, obviously inviting herself into the group - and the kill - without a qualm.

Marrow

Marrow's ears twitched at the sound of paw steps and she turned to see Wendigo join her. She grinned at his presence. He asked for her thoughts and she sighed. "Just looking. I'd like to hunt one but I know it's not feasible with us, at least not without some sort of trap. You have any ideas?" She looked at him hopefully. If anyone had an idea of how to catch a bison with just two wolves she assumed it would be Wendigo.

Her ears swiveled at something else moving through the brush and she looked over to see Jynn. Oh hey, maybe they didn't need to figure out a trap, maybe the three of them could take a bison? Marrow nodded. "Yes, you're welcome to join." She answered softly. Soon after a fourth wolf joined though she was not one Marrow knew. Apparently Wendigo did? She smirked at the strange woman. "We were waiting on you. Let's get started. I say we start running the herd and see who falls behind."

Wendigo was amused to find that, apparently, others really were just waiting for a group to start forming organically, because suddenly another figure popped up to hiss at them, asking about a hunt. He glanced over at her and did a double take. Oh, it was the odd canine from the boneyard! His amused half-smile stretched to a welcoming grin. She'd been aces at fighting, he had no doubt she'd be just as capable on a hunt. But the grin slipped into a wince when another canine - an actual wolf this time - slammed into him to heckle him. Oh. Havoc." His voice distinctly lacked enthusiasm to see the most annoying of his littermates, but Marrow was quick to welcome her into the group as well. She would. Well, at least he knew Havoc was handy in a hunt. If she could keep her mouth shut, he'd tolerate her for the sake of a bison. If he had to. He added some watts to his grin as he turned it back on Marrow. "Sounds like a plan to me," he said, bunching his muscles in anticipation, rising into a crouch. "Maybe you can annoy one to death, Havoc. Try to keep up?

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn glanced over at the ginger marked woman who joined the group and shot a jab at the male whom she clearly knew. Jynn didn't weight in on the conversation, instead just waiting for the plan so they could get this show on the road thought it seemed the new woman was also eager. The pale woman stated to just start running the herd which worked for her. Jynn wasn't always the best at complicated hunting plans. "Sounds good, let's do this."

Uninterested in waiting further, Jynn slunk off through the prairie. She slipped through the grasses, gaining some ground before she bolted forward and let loose the roar bark of her kind. It was an odd noise, clearly foreign to the bison that dwelled here for they startled and bolted forward. Only a few bulls paused, looking around for the source of the sound. At that point Jynn was already diving for the nearest cow, her jaws snapping.

Havoc just grinned toothily at her brother's words, though she gave the white stranger a wink. "Shit yes. Let's fucking go!" With a sassy flick of her white tipped tail in their general direction, she bounded off at a sprint after Jynn, adding a howling whoop to the racket the maned wolf was already raising. Even the most confused bulls couldn't withstand the flight-inducing qualities they brought to the table, and the last of the herd turned tail and fled with the rest of the stampede. Havoc ran easily, Wendigo's teasing about keeping up notwithstanding, continuing to whoop at the top of her lungs and chase the herd to see who fell behind. She'd let the brains decide that, she was having too much fun just chasing to be picking out their prey.

Marrow

Marrow chuckled as Wendigo stated that Havoc could try to annoy one to death. That was a thought… if Marrow had the patience. She was hungry now and could almost taste the blood flowing along her tongue as she eyed their prey. It seemed the long-legged wolf was of the same mindset for she immediately started stalking forward. Marrow did not want to be left behind and swiftly followed. As soon as the maned wolf bolted forward she kicked off hard with a snarl.

Marrow shot like an arrow toward the center of the herd, twisting her head and snapping as the bison scattered. It took only moments for a stampede to form as the great beasts thundered across the prairie. Marrow kept hot on their heels, noting an old bull starting to fall behind. It's movements were awkward, arthritic joints struggling with the sudden demands being placed on them. That worked for her! Marrow did not mind tougher, chewy game.

Kicking off hard she twisted in at an angle toward the bull's left hind leg. Her fangs lashed out snagging the outside of the knee. She bit down hard but couldn't quite gain a hold for the powerful creature pulled its hind leg right out of her jaws. Her teeth tearing flesh as the limb was jerked away from her grasp. The motion, however, caused the bull to stumble forward, front legs folding awkwardly.

Wendigo joined the drive, running easily and raising his thunderous voice to theirs. Despite his usual carefree playfulness, there was a part of Wendigo 's brain that was constantly keeping track of his wolves - and not-wolves - as they moved through the herd. Even those that weren't his were, temporarily, his-ish and Wendigo's old deep dragon-brain kept obsessive possessive track of his hoard even now. So when the old bull Morrow was chasing went down on his knees, Wendi was right there to grab the beast's big bovine nose and use the combination of his weight and the bison's momentum to drag the heavy head to the side, the bison's own weight slamming it over heavily onto its shoulder.

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn was thin but fast and she kept up easily with the bison as even the hold outs turned to run. Her long limbs ate up the distance as she searched hungrily for a target. There! Just off to her left Jynn noted Marrow zeroing in on an old bull that was swiftly falling behind. She shifted her course and shot toward it. Dodging a few other bison that had fallen behind she caught up just as the bull stumbled forward. As Wendigo grabbed the bulls nose, and twisted the head to the side, Jynn saw her opening and sank her fangs into the bull's throat, just below the jawline where it was more vulnerable. The bull struggled to get up, kicking out as it tried to no avail. Jynn scrunched her body in close to the underside of the bison's neck to limit risk of injury until at last the bison died.

Havoc gleefully continued to chase the buffalo herd further away as the rest of the hunting group fell back to take on one of the buffalo who had fallen behind. They had the kill well-handled with the three of them, even if the not-a-wolf was a bit leggy and scrawny, so Havoc worked at keeping the herd back. Buffalo were notoriously bad tempered and dangerous to turn your back on, so she kept them running rather than letting them stop and maybe start to think about stomping on a wolf or two just because they could. When she finally turned back, the herd having stampeded far enough away to not be trouble, the elderly bull bison was down and not moving anymore. No blood on her teeth, but oh well! Chasing the herd was its own fun, and now they could feast.