As the seasons changed from winter to spring, Viper's heat season came to an end. It wasn't like she didn't feel the difference, more like she ignored the stranger feelings she didn't understand. If anything she was a little more irritable during that time and while she wanted to believe she was in fact never "born", she didn't add the feeling up to her birth season. But with the spring was supposed to come life and warmth, especially after such a harsh winter. And instead the lands of Ardent remained frozen in time it seemed. While the winter gave plenty of snow storms, the spring had put a layer of ice over everything. Viper was accustomed to the cold, not that she was really a fan of it. But it was where she had lived most of her life up until a year or so ago. A young wolf learning to survive in the harshest environment. While she may not have had the brains for most things, she had learned how to do things differently while self taught. Hattori had expected more tracking parties while the prey numbers were scarcer by the day. Teaming up Chimera and herself while they seemed notable for the job. Others were to be paired together and even Viper and Chimera too would probably be paired with someone else in a few days time. Viper wouldn't speak on their patrol and scouting. Barely even seem friendly by staying beside Chimera. It wasn't anything personal while she was starting to believe that her voice would only get her into trouble and now she was using it less and less. Surely Chimera would like the silence, but if for any reason he chose to speak to her she would acknowledge. The Fern Gulley would be in a deplorable condition, though while somehow beautiful over the crystal landscape. Not that Viper was even stopping to smell the dead roses. Any healer who came here for their own purpose was sure to be found in a pit of devastation as the entire herb supply was decimated. While it could have been possible there were remnants of plants hidden deep under the ground, seeing the Gulley like this would make almost anyone believe an apocalypse was among them. While the plains were blanketed in a solid white, it was easy to spot a few of these strange turtle creatures off in the distance, though it didn't seem like they were in a large herd or anything. Just about three of them were spread out in a small radius of each other. Perhaps they were looking for some forage or maybe even smart enough to dig for it not that they would find much that survived under the snow and ice. Viper would only turn to Chimera for a moment before the pursuit, wondering if he would have any ideas. As Viper thought about it they were still a fair distance from the new creatures, so they had to be much bigger than she was anticipating at first glance. And one of them had a spiky ball at the end of it's tail like a weapon. Hunting Seasonal Prompt Total Word Count: 525 Words Word Count Goal: 1500 words Walk "Talk" Think

Chimera wasn't opposed to getting paired up with someone else, but he would definitely display his displeasure if they ended up being a talkative bastard. Even more so if they thought of them as equal to him. No one was. Not even his half sisters new man who now called himself emperor or something. Anyone could call themselves royalty, but Chimera had the blood and living relatives to prove it. Was it really so difficult to believe that he didn't like the man though? Chi didn't like anyone. He barely liked Venom. The only reason that he was even in Ashen again was because they'd made a pact. She had made promises and he'd saved her life. If Siren didn't exist, there was no way that he'd be here. He'd made promises to assure his tiny sisters comfort. She was the only thing that he truly cared about. Together with this stranger... the pair moved silently. For that, he was thankful. He only knew that her name was Viper because the name had been spoke aloud when they were paired. She was significantly smaller than he was which didn't really matter. Small meant fast. Hopefully she could hold her own when they found their prey. Only time would tell. Across the land they moved. Winter forced them farther and farther abroad to find enough food for an entire pack. And with Venom expecting a litter, they were requested to hunt even more. Chimera almost told Hattori that it was his responsibility to look after his woman and his whelps, but he'd made a promise to be whatever Venom needed. And so... he hunted. The gully was different than the last time he'd been here. Ice coated everything. Each paw fall brought an audible crunch into the air. It would be impossible to perform a stealthy hunt, so the pair of wolves would be forced to hunt in the open. Speed and skill would be of the utmost import. Chimera knew nothing of Viper, but he hoped that the silent woman would be able to follow cues. If he had to verbally tell her where to go and what the plan was, he might as well just hunt on his own. Really, he would have preferred to do so. Why had he agreed to hunt in pairs? Because he was being a good little boy... Gross. Cresting a hill within the gully, there was a large dip in the land. Just as Viper saw the trio, Chimera saw them as well. What in the hell were they? Both predators stood there, dumbfounded. Chimera tilted his head slightly, wondering if a different perspective might show him what they were, but that failed as well. The giant boy spared a glance at his companion, wondering if he could catch any recognition in her face. There was nothing there. A low rumble sounded in his chest and both ears tucked back against his skull in frustration. Well, the only way to figure out what in the hell they were would be to get close. For that to happen, they would have to scare the other two creatures away. But which beast to target? From where he stood, the dire boy could see the tails of two out of three. Two on the left had large, spiked tails. The one on the right did not appear to be spiked. That would have to be their target. Less chance of being injured. Looking to Viper, Chimera canted his head towards the rightmost target, indicating that he had chosen. Dropping into a lope, the young wolf crunched across the icy snow in pursuit of their quarry. All three beasts lifted their heads but seemed nonplussed at being hunted. Perhaps they were used to being hunted? Coming in between the spiky ones and the non-spikey once, Chimera realized just how big these things were. They continued to graze, breaking through the ice and snow to scrape their flat teeth across the ground in the hopes of scratching up a bit of old, dead grass. They still paid little mind to the smaller creatures walking around them. They had to get them running. Chimera sank his teeth into the leg of one spiked beast and it grunted, immediately shaking its tail and slamming it into the ground. Chi jumped back out of instinct even though the tail wasn't  coming towards him. Again he moved in to bite the elbow of one creature and slowly it began to waddle off, taking its spiked tailed companion with it. The unspiked one began to move as well, but Chimera placed himself between and snarled and snapped. Unspike turned and began moving in the opposite direction to get away from the sound more than the threat. That's all that the wolves needed for now. The next step? Tip it. "Chimera Quill Klein"

WC-806
Total-1331

Viper's eyes briefly followed as Chimera continued the silent hunt, taking after him as they began their pursuit of the strange creature. As he went to move the two he did not want out of the way, Viper stayed in line with their target so it wouldn't fall too far out of place. They were pretty slow given their size and their turtle like structure. Their legs moved very awkwardly as Chimera got them moving. She too was surprised that they seemed pretty unphased by their upcoming onslaught but it would only make it easier for the two wolves. Chimera turned his attention to the one they separated and Viper would keep a side eye on him as she snapped at it's leg, keeping it in line. She would notice as Chimera would attempt to get it at an angle to roll it on it's back. Extremely clever, something she probably would have never thought of herself. Once flipped it would be simple to kill it in a matter of seconds, rather than trying to find it's weakness while they were moving around it. Viper ran ahead of the creature, coming to the same side as Chimera and then closing in the distance from it. She turned her body around so that she was moving backwards, definitely not easy. But quickly she lowered her head to tuck it under the front of it's shell just where it's leg was. If Chimera was quick to see, he could use his much bigger and stronger body to get up under the shell where Viper had it a little elevated and they could quickly get this over with and they could go back home to Ashen. Hunting Seasonal Prompt Total Word Count: 1614 Words Word Count Goal: 1500 words (Met) Walk "Talk" Think