We're A Duo, It's Truuuueee-O

Éldi pranced through the freshly fallen snow. It wasn't a lot, only a few inches but seeing the blanket of white still excited him. He felt like a pup again as he bounced joyfully through the snow. He'd broken away from Valkyrie for awhile to do his own exploring. So far he didn't really have much of a plan beyond sticking his nose where it probably didn't belong and going where ever his little whims told him to go. He was pretty sure he'd run into Valkyrie when he moved back up north for winter. Although, with the weather moving in as it was he probably needed to be heading back to the place where he was going to be making his winter stay. He still had a bunch of preparations to take care of before the worst of winters storm started moving through the area.

The young man leapt onto a large boulder. The morning was clear and cold and in the distance he could hear the sounds of bone hitting bone. The baying of elk could be heard from a number of different locations but he was focused on the sounds of battle close by. His hope was that the fighting would increase in brutality and leave a potentially injured animal vulnerable for him to take down. It was a high hope but he figured if nothing else he'd at least be able to watch a good show.

Éldi leapt off the boulder and when he heard a startled squawk. He scrambled to the side to see a young raven bent over the nearly bare skeleton of a rabbit. The bird ruffled up his feathers. "Oi! Watch it!" He stared at the raven for a moment and grinned sheepishly.  "Hey, sorry about that, I didn't see you there."

"That much is obvious, not like I'm the opposite color of the snow or anything. Can't find a speck of anything to eat, find a skeleton with nothing on it, then almost get flattened by a wolf. The gods are testing me, I know it." The bird hopped to the other side of the skeleton and poked at it but it was pretty obvious the bird wasn't going to get much more in the way of nutrients for it. Éldi had a sudden idea. "Say, how would you like some fresh, warm elk meat?"

The bird cocked his head and looked at Éldi with his clear, dark eyes. "You have my undivided attention." Éldi grinned.  "There's a herd of elk nearby, if you can scout the herd and help me pick out a target I'm willing to give you a cut of the spoils. What do you say?" The bird didn't even hesitate. He hoped forward. "Deal! Deal!" What was a bit of scouting for the bird if the wolf would do most of the dangerous work? Éldi grinned and started trotting back toward the sound of the fighting that had since stilled. The raven took off into the air, bobbing along breeze, just about him.

Éldi crept from rock to rock as he spied a large heard of elk not far ahead. The raven didn't have such limitations and he flew straight over the herd. Éldi scanned them, trying to search for weakness. There were a number of does grazing that seemed perfectly healthy. There were two large bucks that seemed to be sizing each other up but nothing that seemed to be a viable target for a lone wolf. He raced deftly to another rock just as one of the does lifted her head and began scenting the air. Éldi did the same, double checking that he was still downwind. While he was scenting the air he picked up the faintest traces of blood. Slowly he began to track, keeping an eye on the herd and only moving when he was certain they weren't looking. Elk were large and dangerous and one wolf might not be enough of a threat for them to keep their distance. They might seek to drive him away.

The raven, who he would later learn was named Askr, would swoop down and land next to him. The bird hopped forward eagerly.  "There's a wounded male, standing to the west of your position. He seems pretty badly wounded. He's just behind that large boulder there." Éldi looked to where the bird was gesturing and he saw the set of antlers waving above the rock. Perfect!  Slinking closer, Éldi suddenly burst forward. The sudden movement caused the other elk to scatter and that was fine with him. They weren't his target, the wounded male was, and he wanted the elk running so he could assess it with his own eyes.

The buck burst away from the rock, barreling northward, with Éldi hot on its heels. He snarled as viciously as he could, snapping at its heels. Above him soared Askr. The bird kept an eye on him as Éldi worked at playing the long game. He wasn't going to be able to bring down the elk solo, especially if it turned to try and fight him. It was clearly badly wounded from its battle, he could smell the blood on its pelt. Now all he had to do was keep it running until it exhausted itself and collapsed. If there was one thing he excelled at it was endurance. His kind was built for it.

Éldi kept on the elks heels, keeping it going, his teeth raking across its legs every so often just to keep the beast running. Once the elk had turned to fight him but with some help from his new avian friend and his own tenacity he was able to get the elk running again as well as badly injuring its back left leg. The chase continued for nearly a hundred more yards before the elk suddenly collapsed. It's graceful legs folded beneath it as it fell, panting. It tried to stand but fell again and at that point Éldi's jaws were around the creature's throat. There was still a struggle but exhausted and wounded the buck eventually succumbed. Éldi quickly ripped into his meal, his avian friend joining him. He wanted to eat quickly, sure the blood would attract other predators. It was a shame to waste so much of the meat though he suppose it wasn't technically wasted. Other animals would profit from his and the bird's hard work but there wasn't much he could do about it. He did plan to take a chunk of the meat and haul it with him but for now he was just going to enjoy a hot, warm meal.