"Speech"

The Woodsman tossed his head to the younger Alexander to invite him on an evening hunt a few days after Eltrys was welcomed into the pack. The young man's size would be an interesting feature and he wanted to see how they would work as a team.

"I have a mind to hunt the grassland tonight, care to join me, Alex?" He asked with his typical formal speech while he padded toward the Fossil Ridge.

The sun sank over Lazuli Falls at their back, the sky gradually turning pink and eventually deepening to soft purples by the time they reached the ridge. The last time he was here it was a storm of harsh winds and a heavy downpour. He wanted to see what types of prey made this their grazing grounds, knowing that many prey typically come out of hiding just before twilight.

Eltrys sank down to his dark belly and crawled quietly over a ridge of the grassland to peer over it to spy what prey was below. He saw a herd of about 6 pampas deer chewing cud, and a small flock of Rhea nesting among the fossils just beyond another ridge. To the far right, he saw one giant anteater ripping open a large termite mound.

He glanced back at his companion looking him over, "Deer, tall bird, or whatever that thing is?" he asked quietly.

Alexander did not expect to be invited to hunt beside the new Ethne Woodsman so soon, but the young man welcomed the chance to do so. With a quick agreement he would fall into step beside Eltrys and the pair would leave for the direction of Fossil Ridge, a territory that he hadn’t spent a lot of time in himself. But for El this territory was new and Alexander hoped that he would be able to provide some insight to the type of prey that the territory held. He walked with a cheerful pep in his step, gaze fixed on the setting sun as warm hues of orange and pink gave way to soft purples. Evening was upon them… a time when some prey began to feed. It was the perfect time to select a target.

He would follow Eltrys’ lead, slinking down along the earth with his focus on the scents in the air. Ears perked forward as he noticed the small herd, gaze sweeping the horizon to find the flock of birds… and then finally he would see the anteater with a frown. Eltrys would leave the selection of their target to him and Alexander furrowed his brow. “Definitely not the last one. That’s an anteater, and they can get pretty nasty and aggressive if they feel threatened. Their claws are very sharp, able to leave some bad cuts, I say we steer clear of that.” He whispered back to the other male.

“Why not the birds? They seem rather interesting.” He suggested, gaze flicking toward the birds. “Never hunted ones that tall, but the process can’t be too different…” He dug his claws into the soil. “So what is our game plan? A pinsir-like movement? Maybe one of us is acting as a chaser toward the other to lead the prey right into our jaws?” By how he spoke he had the idea of how a group hunt would work, but he hadn’t had much luck putting it into practice yet…

"Speech," 'Thought.'

"Speech"

"Hmm.. excellent insight Alex, thank you," Eltrys commented gratefully. He never would have guessed such a strange-looking animal had that kind of power, it looked slow-moving, had a strange face, and didn't think those claws looked very maneuverable. He was glad Alex warned him.

"The bird, yes. The head looks vulnerable as well." He agreed. "Let's be wary of the legs, they look like they could kick us all the way back to Ethne." He said, trying to smile at his teammate, attempting a joke.

"Pincer is a good move, I think we can use your height and weight to take it down easily. How about we pincer in, I drive it from my direction, into yours, and you leap up and try to grab it somewhere on its neck and weigh it down. I'll aim for its head once it's closer to the ground." Maybe Alex can pick their prize as they get even closer.

Eltrys thankfully took his insight well. Alexander was grateful for that… the one creature could be a real pain if you weren’t careful. The birds looked like they had strong legs but Alex figured it would be much like hunting anything else. Avoid the part that could do damage, keep your wits about you and you would be fine. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the joke that Eltrys made. “Yeah, no kidding! I’d definitely prefer for that not to happen.” He really didn’t want to make more work for his siblings.

His hunting companion seemed to have an idea of how to bring the bird down though. Alexander’s right ear twitched as he listened. A pincer move where Eltrys would drive the bird to him, and he could use his weight to drag it down. If he got a bite on the thinner neck he could prevent it from moving much and then his fellow woodsman could go for the killing blow. Perfact! Alexander gave a nod. “Sounds like a plan to me.” He shifted his attention back to the bird.

“Talk to you when this is done~” He began to sweep outward, moving to the position where he would be on the opposite side of the bird. His tail flicked with anticipation, green gaze shifting to the bird as it seemed to ignore him. That would be it’s last mistake.

"Speech," 'Thought.'

"Speech"

Eltrys swayed his tail from side to side, his new hunter partner was knowledgeable and they both welcomed each other's inputs! He was glad he didn't have to navigate the others ego, they both seemed to have a similar temper.

Eltrys watched him pick out a bird and then moved as they had planned. He slunk to the grassy field and slithered toward their prey. He forgot about the height of the bird and it seemed to spy him coming already. He bolted in the direction he wanted it to go and though he misstepped briefly the bird still ran at Alex.

Eltrys leaped at the bird's head just like they talked about but missed! Without missing a beat he tried again this time encasing the bird's head in his mouth and with a crunch the creature went limp.

When it was obvious it would never get up again he turned to his fellow woodsman.
"Harder than I thought! I misjudged how high they could see and then how fast it could swing its tiny head! Excellent work!" He took a piece for his prize to feed himself after the work they did and would work with Alex to bring the rest of the mighty beast back home.

What a big fucking bird! Alexander was working toward it, body low to the ground as he kept an eye on the large legs. He didn’t know how powerful those legs were but he had no intention of letting them do damage to him. He would bristle as the bird began to charge him but the male would not let that deter him. He faced his opponent head on, lunging for one of the limbs as he opened his jaws wide. Fangs would snap down around the limb, saber fangs slicing through flesh as he clamped down hard as he could. The bird stumbled with the weight of him, head swinging as it made to peck at the wolf that was currently harassing it.

This had the side effect of Eltrys missing it on the first attack and Alexander barely released the bird and dodged before a stomp and beak came in his direction. A snarl bubbled up from his throat as he lunged back for the bird, this time for the other leg, and his friend recollected himself to attack again. The end result was still what they had wanted. The bird went down, body becoming limp as it passed. Alexander released it once more, turning to his packmate as his tail wagged behind him.

“No kidding! As big as this thing is, it’s pretty damn fast! And strong. Going to have a bruise from that beak.” He rolled his shoulder forward. It hurt a bit now, but adrenaline would wear off and it’d hurt more. For now though he took a piece of the bird for himself, tearing into the gamey meat and feathers. Damn, he probably should have plucked it first! With a face he spit out a bunch of feathers. Well, he’d need to try again once he got rid of them!

"Speech," 'Thought.'