Chade was once again out hunting in the berry grove.  He had definitely picked up his speed and strength in the last few days.  He felt like there was nothing he could do in a hunt! Maybe he was taking a risk but when he spotted the gaur he didn’t seek out easier prey.  For most of his solo hunts, it had been to stay alive, then the last few hunts had been wanting to prove his usefulness to the band but this hunt would be different.  This time Chade wanted to prove something to himself.  

Admittedly, the last few hunts he ended up working with Ezra.  A part of him hoped to find the other wolf again.  Hunting with help wouldn’t stop satisfaction in a good kill.  That could explain why he was hunting at the same time as the prior trips.

The takin had been old and with a limp, the pig-thing had been so different he didn’t know how to rate it but this appeared to be in good condition and its stride as it grazed spoke of confidence.  Mostly its horns looked pretty impressive.  Chade wouldn’t want to get gored by those.  

"Speech"

Typically he would switch up the areas that he was hunting in from day to day, but the grove had been pretty fruitful as of late and it had the added benefit of having Chade around to help. He could probably find something to hunt on his own or maybe bring Kane or Rudy out with him, but it was nice to switch it up and have a different hunting partner from time to time. He went out to the grove, quickly finding Chade's trail and following it till he found the dark blue boy watching a guar as it grazed. He slipped in beside the young hunter quietly, giving him a glance with a raised brow. "Ambitious today, huh?" he said quietly with a smirk. Looking back toward the ox-like animal he considered it for a moment. It looked healthy, but it was on the younger side—just old enough to have a nice set of horns. Maybe they would be able to take advantage of the guar not being as experienced with evading predators. "We'll have to be careful around this one. Don't want a horn to to the gut," he mused. "Perhaps we can trip it up on something. If we're lucky maybe we can get those horns stuck on something to keep it from being able to charge us."

Ezra Adravendi

Chade’s tail flagged in greeting at Ezra though he had to keep it low for sake of their prey.  “I really want to try it.” It was ok to take risks in a failed attempt now and this had gone from a life and death matter to consider and a challenge to be excited about.  Of course, Ezra was right about those horns being a serious detail.

“Normally,” Chade piped up humbly, “I would bite a leg first to injure the game before I tried to kill it,” a bit more hesitation, “it, you know, sometimes worked.”  He had never thought about trying to get the horns stuck in something and that sounded great.  “What if we chase it towards that tree?” Chade just jerked his head in the direction of a thicker one.  I could try to get a leg when it gets close so it stumbles and maybe that would help it slam into the tree and you could kill it?”

Was that putting a lot on Ezra? It was supposed to be a hunt he proved himself.  Ezra had a point about those horns and Chade wasn’t sure if his plan would work for getting the horns stuck in a tree.  Or did he mean like could it get stuck in bushes?   “but, I know I found it, but I don’t really know the best method so if my idea doesn’t work we should do it your way.”  If he was wrong it was alright, trial and error would help make him a better hunter in the future and he’d learn what he should be doing.

"Speech"

Ezra's head tipped with thought while Chade brought up going for the legs and pointed out a tree they could run it toward. It was as sound a plan as any and he was glad to see the dark blue boy taking a bit of initiative in setting up a plan this time. He was about to reply when Chade started second guessing a bit and Ezra looked at him with a measuring grin. "No no, we can make that work! Just keep your eyes up and get out of the way if it tries going for you, okay? Don't want you getting hurt on my watch!" With that decided they started moving toward their prey. He nodded for Chade to head toward the side of the guar that was farthest from the tree they would be running it toward and he started moving toward the opposite side so if it did hit the tree he'd be there to capitalize on it.

He waited till they were both in position and then they started their hunt, running toward the guar with snarls and barks. That got it running and he got in its path as it tried to dart the other way, nipping at its legs and rump to keep it moving and guiding it back toward their intended path. It was pretty clumsy with its heavy head of horns and was slower than he might have anticipated, but he didn't let his guard down. A swing of those horns could go badly pretty quickly. He nipped at its front leg as they neared the tree to get its attention onto him, giving Chade the opening to get a bigger bite on the animal's leg and hopefully send it toppling into the tree.

Ezra Adravendi

An adult wolf had agreed that his plan would work and that was so awesome!  Chade knew he could hunt successfully but that didn’t mean it wasn’t awesome to hear an actual adult to agree with his plans.  He nodded quickly at Ezra’s warning about not getting injured.  “I’ll be careful,” no matter how excited, Chade was always careful.  It was a good truth to remind himself of though.  He was growing more confident and that could cause carelessness.

Chade moved forward and at Ezra’s motion to move to the further side of the guar, eyes filled with hope.  They took off running and it felt great, keeping an eye on the horned beast knowing this is what they would be taking down.   They were getting closer to the tree and he watched Ezra turn the gaur’s attention onto him.  Chade hadn’t thought of that and was relieved to see it would now be safer for him to get a shot in.  Chade eyed the tree closing in then pivoted to push himself right next to the leg, sinking his teeth in, blood pooling out and the boy had to veer out of the way as the gaur did indeed stumble down right near the tree.  Chade’s eyes widened in hope, it was going to work!

"Speech"

As he had hoped Chade was able to bite into the gar's leg and that made the animal stumble enough to knock it off balance, it's head going straight for the tree. Ezra watched one of it's pointed horns jab into the wood and get stuck, causing the animal that was still running to essentially trip itself and fall to the ground with its head held up by the tree. Ezra was quick to dive in and take advantage of this, jumping to pin it down and bite into it's neck and end the hunt quickly before it managed to free its self. It struggled under him a bit and nearly threw him off, but at this point even if it did then it would still die eventually from the wounds he left with his sharp, serrated teeth. Luckily he managed to hold on long enough for him to cut off its airflow and kill it fairly quickly. Even though he enjoyed hunting he still didn't try to make his prey suffer or anything like that. He just wanted it over and done with. When it was he got off of the gar and gave Chade a bloodied, victorious grin. "Good job! And well done coming up with the plan too!"

Ezra Adravendi