Duchess was trying her best to bring back enough meals for the band. After having the pups, she was given a little bit of leeway but so much time had passed that it was only a matter of time before she was confronted about everything she wasn't doing. She wouldn't deny it, but she wasn't so much a pushover or at least not anymore.

Using vines she plucked from the weeping trees above her, she laid out about ten and started twisting and tying them into loops to use for snares. She had a few small pegs she brought along on her journey too. At least she had a good opportunity to bring home a good amount of meat for camp.

"Duchess"

She kind of enjoyed the cool shade the willows brought during the warmer days. Feeling the light breeze whistling through the leaves, Celeste lay about lazily daydreaming. It was unusual of her to be lazy out in the open, but her mind wandered to things that clouded her mind. As she watched her Maine Coon play with a field mouse it had caught, her attention was drawn toward a dragging sound nearby. Lifting her head, she spotted a larger girl swathed in purple. Curious and perhaps a bit hungry, she stood her petite body up with a quick shake to rid of any dirt. Trotting over slowly as she examined how the girl twisted the vines together, Celeste was slightly impressed. "Looks like a lot of work for one wolf," she mentions as her aquamarine continues to eye the snares. "Mind if I help? I've made a few of these before," her ivory lips turn up into a smile as she waits for permission before assisting.

Duchess didn't startle as the wolf approached her, looking up gently and back down at the snares as the girl mentioned. She was less friendly or at least social these days. But she wasn't going to turn down the help. "Sure, I'm hoping to make use of all ten of these." She supposed since the young woman had noted making the snares before, she wouldn't have to explain. She pulled a few of the vines in her direction and pointed out the pegs, "I brought these to set them in place after the loops are tied." But they would worry about that after they had the loops on each side tied. One for the snare, and one for the peg.

"Duchess"

The company of another wolf was nice during her lonely times. Back home, she would have preferred the confines of her room. At least, for what she could remember. Now that she was out here, in this strange land, she looked forward to the conversation. "Ten shouldn't be too much work," the petite wolf commented as she eyed the vines and pegs laid out before the other girl. Trying to keep her distance, but also close enough to grab the vines, Celeste went to work grabbing one and beginning to carefully twist them together into a loop. It was a struggle at first, considering she merely had paws, but it wouldn't take long for her to get used to it.

Duchess worked quietly alongside the girl's company. And looked over to make sure all ten of the snares were completed. She stood lightly and grabbed half of them to start placing out. "We should keep them all in the same area, but just spread them out a bit." She suggested. They would bring a small herd of something through here, and hopefully all the snares would come of use to them.  Taking the pegs, she stuck them into the ground to keep the snares anchored, and pulled the loops of the snares into position over the grasses. She hoped they wouldn't fail at least. Her mind wasn't exactly present during these moments.

"Duchess"

Silence fell over them during their work as they twisted the vines into loops. Celeste's browed furrowed into concentration as she worked diligently. Anything she did had to be done to one hundred percent satisfaction or she wouldn't be pleased. As they finished up their work with the loops, she glanced over to Duchess. Nodding in agreement to her words, she stood up from where she sat and grabbed a few of the loops. "Do you enjoy doing this sort of stuff?" She asked curiously as she set out nearby to play a few of the pegs. Sometimes, the silence was too much and hopefully, the other girl wouldn't mind a little conversation.

As they put the snares into place, Celeste had tried to kindle a little conversation. Duchess was not, and had never been very talkative but she wouldn't have just blatantly ignored a question in conversation. But the question she had asked actually hurt Duchess which would have been totally unexpected from the other side. Once upon a time, Duchess would hunt and cook and provide and care for the band. They were a family before she had destroyed them all. She knew it was her own fault, she knew they all hated her. It took her quite some time to answer, "Not anymore." She spoke rather bluntly, finishing up her work and then turning to go find their hunt. "Come on." She offered more flatly this time, hopefully she hadn't scared the girl off but she supposed she had already done her part of the job. There was a colony of little dik-diks around, and those would be their target.

"Duchess"

An awkward silence settled between them as Duchess took her time to answer. Celeste glanced at her a few times as her ears slowly fell backward. Finishing up their job attaching the snares to pegs and then driving them into the ground, her fur bristled at the snippy answer. To anyone, what she had asked had been harmless. She wasn't sure why she was receiving such flat replies but figured it was best to stay focused on the task at hand. Letting her lashes flutter slightly in a sassy way, Celeste only curtly nodded in agreement as she began to follow Duchess out toward where some prey would linger. Keeping pace with the girl, her nose began to twitch at the scent of dik-diks.

She moved forward in silence alongside the girl and that was fine with her. Though Duchess wasn't exactly keen on her senses while they stalked around the woods. She was nearly snapped back from her thoughts when the scent of the herd came across her, and she diverted towards their location.

Approaching the heard of dik-diks, she peered from the bushes and flashed a look to her hunting partner. She was ready to pursue their targets and hopefully get as many of them as she was expecting. The loner girl would get her fill and the band would have something to fall back on. She waited for her partner to start the chase.

"Duchess"

Their paws were quiet as they made their way through the forest. It wouldn't take long until their target could be seen grazing in a small clearing. The scent of the small deer made her nose wiggle in excitement as they drew nearer. Eyes lit up as they approached and Celeste let her gaze wander over to the girl. Once they met, she would nod and be ready to start their hunt. Veering off to her own side to make her way around to the back of the group, her horned crown lifted slightly to keep an eye on the purple girl. Picking up her pace, Celeste lunged from the shadows that they lurked to begin spooking the herd of dik-diks. Off they took with the pair close on their heels. Nipping at a few to keep them in line, she began herding them toward where they'd placed out the snares hidden beneath the brush.

Moving forward she huffed from her lack of exercise lately, and herding the number of dik-diks was a little more difficult than just a single prey. She seemed to manage enough until they made it to the clearing with the snares.

She continued to chase the dik-diks as they ran through the snares and she could hear the snaps and snags catching them through the wooded clearing. After she was sure they had run through all the available snares, she turned around and started to take care of the dik-diks that were caught. They had snatched eight which she quickly counted over the tiny deer heads. "How does three sound?" She asked as an offering for the girl's help. Duchess may not have come off as very friendly, but she wouldn't have turned the girl away from a reward or fought her over it.

"Duchess"

They had had a bit of trouble wrangling the dik-diks toward the clearing. Keeping in time with Duchess as her breath flowed easily through her, Celeste's eyes widened as the small animals made their way toward the snares. Out of the ten or so they had run off, eight were managed to get snagged. As the noise of vines wrapping around small legs sounded off, Celeste slowed her pace. Approaching the ones that had fallen quickly, she made sure not to step in the ones that hadn't gone off. Quickly helping to end the lives of the ones caught, Celeste surveyed their catch. Glancing over to Duchess, she nodded. "Three will be more than enough," she comments as she looks at the ones laying in the grass around them. "Thank you for letting me help," she added on with a courteous smile as her paws made to work dragging her three into a pile. How she was going to get these out of the clearing, she hadn't decided yet, but that was for future Celeste to worry about.