It was a strange bit of land, the bifrost. On the southern side, bitter winds whipped and ice lined the sand northwards. On just the other side, warmth and sunshine abounded. She could see it from here. Unfortunately, the clashing of the cool wind from the south with the warmer weather of the north did leave the area quite volatile. Even now, dark and angry storm clouds edged with green roiled overheat. The atmosphere was charged, the mingled scent of electricity and petrichor heavy in the wind that blew into her face. The combination called for hail, and while she wouldn't let worry mar her pretty face, she did frown rather sternly. She wasn't going to let a little rain spoil her hunt.

Heavy tracks had led her north and now the herd of bearded pigs were in sight, in search of fruit on the other side of the land bridge. They couldn't seem to wait to escape to warmer climes before they had started to root around in the sand in search of shellfish. Sand flew in all directions, their grunting and snorting filling the air between the peals of thunder. At least the sound and scent were working in her favour, for now. But was she wily enough to take one down on her own? In that regard, she wasn't so sure, so she kept her prey in sight for the moment. Mochi would wait and see who else might come along.

"speech"

-244/1500-

Kat had followed the scent of one of his sisters towards the narrow strait that connected the two continents. This season was proving volatile and his breath misted before him, even though they should have had a few months yet of cooler, temperate weather. Winter already held Auster firmly in her grasp. It was making for good hunting, though, which he couldn't deny. Animals native to Auster were bunkering down or searching desperately for places to hide for the winter much earlier than they intended. Some of them were positively frantic, making them easy prey. Nothing like the sharpness of fear to hasten mistakes. Nevertheless, he still felt a pang when he dealt the killing blow, but he treated his prey with the honor it deserved. He did his best to use every part of the animal and saved some of their bones in his den. He'd amassed quite the collection over the last year.

Mochi had stopped to inspect the crowd of boar stampeding across the bifrost. They were churning up the sand that had been uncovered further from shore and some of the heavier boars were struggling to move quickly through it once they had made it that far. Apart from the land locked ones, smaller female wild pigs had crashed through the melted ice at the outskirts of the land bridge. The currents were choppy and unpredictable. Kat watched with a flat gaze as a few of them slipping below the surface, then crested the waves again. He doubted all of them would make it. It was the nature of their migration.

"Preference?" he said gruffly, gesturing towards the smaller females that struggled to swim or the larger males that were stifled by their own weight in the sand. Either choice had its merits, but he'd rather leave the choice to his sister. He would spend too long weighing the options and by then all that would be left were hoof prints.

wc: 325
total wc: 569/1500

The tip upward of a black spotted brow would be the only sign of surprise she would allow at her brother's appearance. While their siblings didn't seem to have missed a beat with their mother's absence, Mochi hadn't missed the way Kat had seemed to retreat into himself, just the way that she had.

His question was met with a considering glance at the two options laid out before them, a furtive glance thrown to the dark, billowing clouds overhead, the ominous crack and flash of lightning promising a deluge sooner or later. On one paw, the sows that didn't make it back to land might wash up further down the shore if they weren't claimed by sharks or other ocean dwelling beasts, but there was no such opportunity for a free feed with the heavier boars.

Finally, she flicked her gaze to the heavier males with a tip of her chin. A significant challenge with the two of them, but neither of them were particularly small. "We can see what washes up further along the shore when we are done." Perhaps they would go home with more than they had bargained for? Perhaps they would go home with nothing. It was just the nature of their craft.

They would need to keep their prey foundering in the loose sand at the middle of the bifost. If they made it to the compact edges, they might outrun the yearling pair... unless they drove them into the frigid depths and tried to use the resistance of the water to aid them? She dragged a paw across the sand and voiced her thoughts to her brother. "Keep them in the middle, or into the water?" She would leave the method up to him.

"speech"

-860/1500-

He nodded decisively at Mochi's response. It was a good, calculated estimation of their situation. Kat had a deep respect for each of his sibling's skills. Their father had honed them into respectable creatures, that was most certain. He liked the rote responsibility of their role and the towering fortress of bamboo. In fact, he found it hard to imagine any other life. Kat weighed the options his sister had proposed before hedging his own reply:"Keep them in the middle. The tides are unpredictable during this time... it could get ugly if we're caught out unawares." The bifrost was melting and the edges of the central sand bar now dropped off suddenly and abruptly into deep, frigid waters. Not worth the risk, especially when she was right - those sows might make an excellent addition to their bounty without much effort otherwise. "I'll drive them forward, tire them out, see what I can pick off of them - you deal the killing blow?" Without waiting for a response, Katsurō surged forward on his long legs and gave chase to one of the older, weightier boars. He bobbed and weaved around its rear to keep it in the center of the deeper sands. The plan worked like a charm, and soon the beast was laboring on its stubby legs. Kat snaked his head in towards the boar's neck, trying to keep outside of range of its tusks, and grazed his teeth along its side until they caught in the thick shoulder muscle and he hung on tight, wrenching down. If he could tilt it to one side and upset its balance, it would make for an easy takedown. "speech"

wc: 1,147/1500

Most of Mochi's hunting had been done solo, but she understood when a target was too big to bring down on her own. She wouldn't risk the boars if her brother wasn't here to help her.

Nodding her agreement as he set off towards the heavy beasts, her sharp eyes spotted the flailing beast just as her bother moved in to catch it by the shoulder. She held back for just a little longer, conserving her energy, but also running interference as one of the one that had gotten away turned to see what the wolves were doing. She growled and snapped her teeth in warning, she wasn't opposed to taking down two of them if it wanted to get involved.

Thankfully, the swine seemed to think better of its odds and kept fleeing across the storm whipped sandbar. She turned her attention back to the exhausting boar her brother was weighing down. Closing the distance with paws spread to offset the shifting sands, she tried to ignore the sting of icy water falling from the sky. The heavens would open any moment now, and if the first fat drops were anything to go off, there would be hail any minute now.

The tusks made an approach from the front foolish, that and the short, thick neck covered with leathery hide was a poor target without a blade. Seeing the way her brother tried to upset the boars balance, she threw her own weight into the movement, toppling the creature into the sand. The mixed peals of thunder and pig squealing had her hair standing on end, or maybe that was the static from the storm overhead?

As if in response, a fork of lightning split the sky and the heavens opened.

If she couldn't go for the throat, she'd have to make do with the thick artery that ran down the hind leg of the beast, teeth clamping over the softer skin of its underside. Blood coated her tongue as she held on as though her life depended on it, despite the way it flailed to try and dislodge her.

Quickly, it's lifeblood flowed away, and with it, any fight the pig might have offered against the two young wolves. Finally releasing her hold, she looked to the flashing sky once more. "We should find some cover," she voiced, grabbing onto one of the pigs short legs and starting to drag it back towards Auster. They would need to find some cover before ice chunks started falling from the sky.

"speech"

-1568/1500-