With nowhere to go and with lands open to roam, Cloud had gotten used to being a loner again. While he missed his brother and the pack life, this was just another obstacle to overcome. He had just turned two, and with the season came good hunting opportunities. The boy loved to hunt, and that was exactly what he aimed to do today. Bi-colored gaze watched a small herd of Bison, some of the cows had young calves with them and he licked his maw at the prospect of hunting one down. The only problem was, he couldn't hunt one of them on his own. He needed help, but he didn't know anyone to ask. Instead, he sat there and watched them, tilting his head back to howl for anyone nearby to hear. Other loners perhaps? If others came by, perhaps they'd be willing to help him out and in return, they'd all get a good meal out of it! OOC//looking for 3 other participants for this hunt! Feel free to hop in :) Walk, "Talk" Think

Aerndis eyed the herd of bison from her perch on one of the higher knolls. Her eyes flitted from cows to calves and she huffed at the unfairness of it all. She didn't know what these animals were but they sure looked tasty. However, they were way to big for her to hunt solo. She really needed a pack! One of these days she was going to start her own pack and they could go on adventures and hunt all the things! She slipped down the knoll, wanting to get a closer look. Thank goodness most prey animals were colorblind and couldn't make out red hues or her coat would make her one of the worst hunters ever. As she moved closer she noticed a young man not far off. He seemed to be eyeing the herd to… grinning she skittered toward him. "Hey, psst! Are you gonna hunt those things? Can I help?" "Talk" "You" Think

She had traveled out of the pack territory today she was looking to do some hunting. She didn't know where or what exactly she wanted to hunt, but at least traveling gave her some options to her menu. The range was a few territories from home, but she knew it was a good area to start. She hadn't really thought that a herd of bison would be there today, nor was she expecting who was hovering close to the herd wanting to hunt. She had just hit the edge of the territory when the call rang out inviting others to hunt. She was used to hearing it from Brandr, but this definitely wasn't him. It was still from a male though and at first she was hesitant, but her drive to hunt was stronger then her worries of approaching. She moved in sinking low to the ground the closer she got. Popping up over a knoll she spotted the man who called and at first she felt that her eyes deceived her. She blinked a few times but his form didn't disappear. 'Cloud!' her mind screamed out, though she tried to contain her relief and happiness to see her brother. It had been what felt like ages since she had seen him and yet here he was. Her tail wagged and she remained back for a few moments to calm herself down, not wanting to scare the prey. Her eyes then turned to the colorful younger girl nearby. Perhaps she wanted to hunt to. She quietly moved forward coming up along Cloud's left side, gold eyes gleaming as she looked to him and the other girl as she spoke. "If so I'm down to help take one of them down," she added, her tail still wagging. "Talk" "You" Think

Gryphon had spent some time wandering since the challenge. It was the first time in his life that he'd ever really been on his own. Always, as long as he could remember, they had had a pack to fall back on. His first memories were of Imperium, then Ivalice, then Talis. Never had he not had a home he could have gone back to. Now, because of that damned Abraxas family, he was alone. He wanted to simply blame the yearling who had challenged, but he couldn't lay it all on the boy - he had to admit to himself that they'd put up a bright, tempting target by having a blind alpha without a capable secondary to fight when needed. They'd prided themselves on being warriors, but they'd allowed themselves a weakness too easily exploited, and the Abraxas had been smart enough to exploit it. The challenge had scattered Talis, til he no longer knew who was where. It left a bitter taste in Gryphon's mouth.

He'd wandered north when others of his family did, but had gotten separated from them. He knew he wouldn't be staying up here long - his thin desert-wolf coat had never been suited to northern winters. No, if he stayed anywhere up here it would need to be in the west, and he rather doubted he'd be welcomed hanging around anywhere near the one pack who made their home so close to the deserts. Celestial, after all, had plenty of reason to mistrust a wolf who'd been part of Talis, and he was doubly damned as the brother of the wolf who'd led Talis against them.

He found himself in one of Imperium's old territories, wondering idly if Valentine still lived there, and if any of his old caches of treasures were still hidden anywhere. He'd been too young to carry off many of them when the family had left, but they'd probably been ransacked by jackdaws and packrats and the like in the years since then.

A nearby howl caught his attention, though he hesitated for a moment in natural wariness. He couldn't afford to pass up the chance though, for a loner in unfamiliar territory was unlikely to eat well on his own. So he loped along in the direction the call drew him, where three figures already mingled. The black-and-white male and similarly-marked female were alike enough to be siblings, and maybe were. The third though, a young female pup, was nothing like either of them. She was as brightly colored as Iskra and that trespassing pup of hers - he could only hope her personality leaned a bit more towards the responsible than either of them.

"I would assist you in exchange for a fair share of the prize," he offered to the group as a whole, though he looked askance to the girl, and tilted his head towards her. "Aren't you a little young to join a hunt for something as dangerous as a bison, though?"

It didn't take too long for someone to show up. He turned to find a somewhat familiar face, and he racked his brain to put a name to her face. If he recalled, she was one of the children of the blue wolf that had been a part of Dauntless, and it took him a moment until at last, he remembered. "Aerndis! I haven't seen you in ages, of course you can help!" He offered a warm smile, "I don't know if you remember me, we lived in Dauntless together. I'm Cloud, Ty's brother." His tail beat the ground a few times before suddenly holding still. Another voice. When he looked to see who it was, his eyes grew wide with surprise to see that his sister had come to join them. He nodded, at a loss for words. He felt bad for leaving her without a word, but at the time he didn't know how to feel. He supposed Ty's influence had gotten to him, but his brother was gone now. And Cloud had been left alone. Lastly, a male larger than he was showed up, older than him too. He offered to help in exchange for a share of their catch, and of course he nodded to him too. "Of course! It's only fair we each get a share. Besides, I don't think I'd be able to eat one by myself anyway," He chuckled, gaze returning to the herd to watch them for a moment. Ears flicked at males question towards Aerndis, and he wondered too. Of course, he also didn't want to leave her out if she wanted to really hunt. "I'm sure we can work her into something, if anything maybe a learning experience?" His gaze found Gryphon, almost as if he were looking to him for any ideas. "Speak"

art by Risketch

The man turned to her and Aerndis stared as recognition set in. "I know you! You're…" Her brow furrowed and she stared up at him dismayed. "I don't remember your name!" The man obliged though and stated his name was Cloud, Ty's brother. Oh! She nodded eagerly. "Have you seen my momma? We got separated and I haven't been able to find them. I've looked everywhere." Her ears flicked back and Aerndis turned to see a woman approaching them who kind of looked like the man she was bugging. The woman offered to help to and Aerndis nodded eagerly. Not long after another man showed up and her tail lashed back and forth in excitement. Ok, now they were getting somewhere. This looked like a hunting party if she'd ever seen one. She puffed up as he mentioned that she was a bit young to hunt for something as dangerous as a bison. "I'm fast and I'm a quick learner and I'm really, reeaaallly hungry!" She turned to Cloud with a pleading look on her face. Surely he'd let her join. Cloud didn't disappoint and as he spoke she nodded. "Yea, I'll stay out of the way, maybe I can help make them run but I won't bite it or nothing I promise!" She was content to cheer them on just as long as she got to help and definitely got to eat. "Talk" "You" Think

Corentine's golden gaze looked to the last participant to arrive another male that would surely be a big help to bring one of these down. She then looked to the younger girl looking her over. She was spunky and more then willing to get into the middle of hunting. She was just as willing as herself at that age and though Corentine never went against bison at that age, the girl had to start somewhere. Her gold eyes looked to the herd again. It was tricky, but the girl could help to get the herd pushed into running. Corentine could help her along with cutting out a slow bison from the herd for the boys to take on. She looked back to the boys again remembering her hunt with Abaven on these guys. "It's gonna be tricky to get them moving, I've hunted them before. They will huddle up and it will take several of us picking at their lines before they break to run." she commented. "They are not afraid to fight us." So what was the safest way to incorporate the young girl that would leave her unharmed. Corentine was a healer, but she didn't want the girl to get any broken bones or head injury from this hunt. So they needed a plan. She looked to the male's for their thoughts. "Talk" "You" Think

Gryphon's muzzle twitched into an involuntary smile at the colorful girl's enthusiasm. Ok, so not so much like the glowing runt Iskra had found. He couldn't help but think wistfully back to when he and his own littermates were as innocent and enthusiastic, before everything had changed. Would they have stayed like this if they'd just stayed in Imperium where that enthusiasm could have been nurtured? Lykos had found a friend and mentor there, while Gryphon and Kharnage had been too sick to participate in pack life, and it had changed him. Having to leave that had turned him into something... angry, cold. Mercy may have been a poor friend to have, but what if that had been tempered by Valentine's influence rather than left to fester alone and tear the family apart? What if they'd never had to deal with their mother's relationship with Vereux, with being replaced by the love-litter she had with the fugitive? Would he be a better parent than his own had been? He'd never know.

The other female - he really needed to know their names, if only to keep them straight in his own head - offered up some advice based on her own previous experience with the bison. Gryphon had no personal experience with the beasts - he'd grown up around them, but never hunted them. They didn't look much different than some of the creatures in the south that he'd observed though. Water buffalo and gaur and the like. Hm. He didn't much fancy the odds of trying to break them out of a huddle with only one of the three adults having any experience with them. But what if... what if they didn't hunt like wolves? What if they hunted like a pride of lionesses instead?

"What if..." he started out thoughtfully, his green eyes focused on the distant grazing beasts. "What if we don't give them a chance to bunch up? If we creep up through the grass from downwind we might be able to get close enough to ambush one of the spring calves, grab one by the nose and keep it immobilized away from the rest of the herd while they are still getting themselves huddled. Maybe the pup - I'm sorry, I don't know your name - can run back and forth between us and the herd barking at them to keep them focused on her and not on what we're doing so none of them gets it in their head to stomp on us and save their baby. We'd have to time it right, though, you'd have to start chasing the herd as soon as we get hold of the bison so they don't have a chance to notice it's missing. Would you be able to do that?"

OOC - sorry it took so long, I'm awful.

ooc//I'm trash for taking so long, I'm sorry T^T

He had to admit, he was pretty excited to hunt as a group. Normally, he hunted by himself. But this, this he could get used to. He was among those he knew...well, two of them at least. Okay, maybe just one. Sort of. Corentine was his sister and all, but he didn't know anymore about her than he did the brown male or Aerndis. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and she seemed really eager to learn. Though he was sure that hunger attributed to that as well. He grew thoughtful as he tried to figure out what role she would be able to play in this hunt, but then Corentine spoke up about her experience hunting Bison. Suddenly, trying to figure out what Aerndis could do got a little more complicated. That is, until the brown male spoke up. He listened intently, making sure he heard every word to it. Though Cloud had done plenty of hunting in his life so far, this male sounded like he knew what he was doing. Had he hunted animals like this before? Been in group hunts maybe? Corentine sounded like she had experience too, so he decided then he would let them two take the lead. "Sounds like a good plan to me!" Bi-colored gaze looked to each in turn, then decided it would probably be much easier if everyone knew each other's names, that way they could help each other become more coordinated throughout the hunt. He already knew the other two, he just needed to learn the brown males name. "By the way, I'm Cloud. This is my sister Corentine, and this is Aerndis," He nodded to each in turn before turning his attention to the brown male, "And you?" Once introductions were out of the way, and everyone agreed on Gryphon's plan, they could get started on their hunt! His body tingled with excitement at the prospect of a good hunt and meal! "Speak"

art by Risketch

Aerndis listened as Corentine spoke about the bison trying to huddle up. Whoa, that was weird. Whenever she'd hunted little creatures they ran. She couldn't quite picture how you would hunt something that wasn't running from you. Aerndis settled down, her active physical energy shifting to an intense focus on what the older wolves were saying as they discussed strategy. She gazed at the earth-colored male who laid out a potential strategy including an actual role for her. Aerndis was thrilled to get the chance to participate rather than just watching. She gazed at the man with a determined face and nodded sharply. "Yes, I can do it!" She was anxious to get started. "Talk" "You" Think

She was uncertain about the plan, knowing bison mother's were extremely protective. The younger wolf would provide distraction to the herd and in the worse case the boys should easily be able to handle the calf if momma figured out what was going on. She nodded as her brother agreed on the plan. Her gold eyes looked to Cloud as he introduced himself, then introduced her as his sister, and finally the pup which he must know of too. She wanted to ask if this pup and Cloud had been apart of Ty's pack, but now was not the time. Her eyes then looked the the male who had yet to state their name, eager to get this hunt started. Although she did agree that it would be good to know names in case they would have to get each other's attention during this hunt. Eyes looked back to the herd briefly as she waited. Her eyes scanned over every bison, trying to find the bull and looking over each mother and each calf. She was hoping this would be a lucky and quick. She hoped that no one would get hurt and that they would get a nice meal out of it. "Talk" "You" Think