word count: 300

A chicken, some sort of jungle fowl from the looks of it, had for some reason decided the Runestones were a good place to perch. Or at least it had realised that most predators couldn't reach it up there. Kaizen was one such predator. He squinted up at the top of the stones, the shining green feathers dangled off the edge, still well out of reach as the bird stayed firmly atop its tall perch. No intentions of coming down anytime soon. The bird couldn't fly like most, but with a few flaps of its wings it had managed to get up there, maybe using one of the shorter stones to hop from one to the other, gaining height till it reached its desired spot?

It didn't matter either way, as Kaizen was intent on getting it down. There was plenty of food in Tojo's stores, no one would have begrudged him if he helped himself- but that wasn't the point. He wanted to catch and kill something himself, to prove that he could and learn from the experience. Slowly work his way up to larger game, something that could prove an actual challenge and not be...tedious, as this jungle fowl seemed intent to be.

Leaning up onto his hind legs, he stood up as tall as he could, extending his front paws as he arched up, trying to see if he could reach the very end of the dangling feathers. He didn't even get remotely close, but that didn't stop the fowl from turning away, drawing its feathers out of sight as it clucked away, fairly confident it was safe. Just the arrogance of the bird annoyed him, he wanted to prove that it ought to take him seriously, that wolves were dangerous and not to be trifled with.

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Jiro followed behind Kaizen at a stealthy distance. Chest and belly lowered to the ground, his butt somewhat up in the air, tail flagged and waving across his haunches. There was no denying that he wasn't being entirely secretive right now, but that was beside the point. Whenever Kaizen would look back, Jiro would drop all the way down to hide in the tall grasses they wandered through. He wasn't sure which way his brother was going, but it appeared to be away from home. What was he doing out here? Meeting a girl? Hunting something? Harassing a predator?

One of Hattori's dogs followed behind Jiro, more concerned about him than his brother. Though the canine was certain the boys wouldn't find any trouble today, there was no telling how many fowl they would fluster. And Jiro sees it too. The chicken look alike that perches atop the rounded stone. Emerald feathers dangling, teasing, asking to be tugged on. With the bird now in his sights instead of Kaizen, Jiro stops a few feet back from his brother to assess the situation. Watching Kaizen get up onto his back paws and press his front ones to the smooth stone, he lets out a chuckle as he sees the bird haughtily whip its tail feathers way and nestle back down in a different direction.

"Ya gon' needta jump!" Jiro calls out, causing the bird to rustle and turn again so that it could watch them better with its beady eyes. Stretching up from his hiding position, he moves over to where those tail feathers dangle so teasingly down toward them. Lowering his body, scrunching his muscles, and taking a deep breath, Jiro launches himself upward. Puppy teeth clack together in open air as his paws smack down on the stone, well out of reach of the chicken.

wc: 306
total: 606

Shinrei dutifully followed his brothers, though a nagging feeling tugged at him as he did so. The pale boy didn't wish to stir trouble, not on purpose anyways - if he was going to do his father proud, he couldn't be wandering off on self-made journeys without so much as a warning. But here he was, no notification given whatsoever as he trekked onwards, far past the borders of the sacred bamboo. Glancing behind his shoulder, he wasn't sure his father's companions were even trailing after the boys to keep an eye on them, but who knows? Maybe they were keeping out of sight to lull them into a sense of independence. Sneaking away from all they'd known.

Approaching the unique set of raised runestones, Shinrei swept his gaze over them, noting the strange carvings marked on each. He wondered what their purpose was..besides being a fancy perch for some birds. Kaizen tried to swipe up at the one strange-colored jungle bird that mocked them out of their reach, simple turning to and fro as it suited its needs. Clearly, it felt it held the high ground - literally. When swiping at its feathers from where they stood held no success, his brother Jiro tried to air snap at the bird, jumping up with teeth clicking together in thin air.

Shinrei watched the two of them, not out of amusement, but not in disdain, either. He just realized that both their methods didn't work. The bird needed to be lower, closer to their heights to be caught. If it couldn't fly, perhaps they had to find a way to chase it downwards. Shinrei searched the grounds around him, until he noticed a decently-sized branch a few feet away. The boy picked it up in his maw, approaching his brothers and quietly sweeping past them as if to say, let me try. He aimed to poke the branch at the jungle fowl's rump, hearing it cluck in alarm as its wings flapped, trying to keep its balance from the jab. Now, all they had to do was wait and see if it would actually fall..

wc: 353
total: 959

word count: 279
total: 1238

Kaizen shot his brother a sour look, but before he could even try to leap up and reach on his own Jiro had done just that. Leaping high into the air, using the rune stone as a lean on as his teeth snapped. And even then it wasn't enough. Rearing up onto his hind legs, Kaizen tried to use his eagle talons to hook onto the side and hoist himself up, but that was a lot easier said than done. He was small and scrawny, hadn't even started to fill out let alone gain enough strength in his limbs to be able to lift himself up like that. Didn't stop him from trying though, not that the jungle fowl seemed all that concerned about it. Safe on high on their perch.

That was at least until Shinrei appeared on the scene with stick in mouth, more than ready to knock the chicken off of its pedestal and then some. Kaizen watched with wide eyes as the chicken got booped off of the rock, its wings flapping as it struggled to slow its descent. Rushing  into action, Kaizen dashed after the chicken, circling one of the smaller rune stones as it ran around the corner, ducking and weaving, turning on a dime and using its smaller size to its full advantage.

Embarrassment flushed through his system, how hard should catching a bird really be? And yet here he was, his paws kicking at the dirt, skittering and slowing as he pursued the creature. Maybe it was more experienced than he'd first assumed, after all it had lived this long without being eaten, that couldn't all be down to luck, right?

服部改善

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Jiro wasn't deterred by the failed attempt at snatching chicken feathers. He simply slid back down onto all fours, awkwardly walking backward as he looked to Kaizen with a shrug. Maybe catching the chicken wasn't meant to be. Taking a moment to catch his breath, eyes turning back to the jungle fowl, Jiro was ready to take a second jump at it. Surely, for his brother, he would help in capturing the bird. One paw in the air, about to step forward, he is surprised when Shinrei sweeps between them, stick in his mouth. His brows furrow, paws planting firmly back onto the ground as he watches.

Well, at least one of them was smart enough to best the chicken! A loud kerfuffle of feathers and clucking lit the air as the chicken fumbled off the top of the stone and onto the ground. Kaizen wasted not a moment before chasing after the thing. Not wanting to let it out of their eyesight, hm? Jiro waits, sure that Shinrei would be quick to follow. Both of his brothers were far more... determined than he was. Ready to sit back and watch his brothers chase the chicken around the stones, Jiro is surprised when the fowl turns the corner and is running right for him. Oh! Lunging forward, Jiro snaps at the chicken, but alas, misses! Sharp talons scrape along his muzzle as the bird uses him as a jumping point to flutter up and over him as he falls flat on the ground, legs splayed out on all sides. Letting out a grumble as he lazily lifts himself up, Jiro turns to try and see where the chicken went off to now.

total: 1520/1500

Shinrei observed as the chicken successfully pushed off from his stick, squawking madly as it descended in an ungraceful flutter of its too-short wings. Kaizen immediately gave chase, albeit without much luck - his swipe and snaps were just barely avoided by the jungle fowl's lightening quick reflexes as it weaved and bobbed just out of his reach. Jiro, on the other hand, attempted to snap at the chicken as it came his way, but ended up falling flat on his belly as the bird used him as a footstool, hopping up and..just out of reach.

Shinrei nearly gave chase with Kaizen until he realized that the bird would only lead them through yet another fruitless endeavor. If they wanted to catch this thing, they had to best it at its own game. The fowl clucked almost proudly as it hopped up on a smaller cleft of runestone, not quite the height it perched at before, and perhaps just within their grasp. Shinrei crept slowly towards it, barely brushing past Jiro as he did so. "It's right there. Just..don't..move." He whispered, head tilted upward as his pale eyes focused on the bird's position. His determination would hopefully win out, because in a lightening strike movement, Shinrei leapt upwards, jaws open, right at the bird's neck.

Would he finally catch the prey?

wc: 221
total: 1741

Kaizen huffed, a little out of breath, his tail bristling in frustration as it curved slightly between his legs. Obviously running after the beast hadn't worked so well, neither had lunging at when it got close enough-so what did Shinrei plan to do? Standing still and leaning his side against one of the runestones he waited with bated breath to see if the pale brother would succeed where the two dark wolves failed.

Kaizen watched, the scene seemed to unfold in slow motion, the rush of movement, the snapping of jaws and then-he caught it! Managed to grab just the tail end of its shiny green feathers! Kicking into motion, Kaizen rushed in to help subdue the fowl beast.

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He turns quickly, but then freezes. His brother's words have his eyes widening as they land on the fowl. Holding his breath, Jiro is impressed with Shinrei's calculated movements that appear proficient beyond his years.

In the next few moments, he watches as Shinrei leaps forward, jaws open, aiming right for the bird's neck. Kaizen next dives in to help subdue the bird. He had to help too! Lunging his own body forward as Shinrei's jaws wrap around the bird's neck, Jiro grabs onto a leg as tightly as he can to help bring it down out of the air. Holding firm, he knew they had it now! This bird was theirs!