ooc: aiming to set this post-Norad's fall

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn continued her journey south as the seasons began to change. Fall and cooler weather was moving into boreas, soon to be followed by winter. At that time she wished to be well settled in Auster. She crossed the bifrost, spitting at the pack borders that sought to block loners from making an easy entrance into the southern continent. Well, she was quick and spry and had no trouble working her way around and farther south into the heart of Auster.

It was then she came across a border that was less strong. There had been a pack in this area previously but it seemed to be fading. Was the pack no more? If so that was good news for her. Many of the rivers and water sources had been claimed in these parts and she was eager to try her paw at taking down a tapir. She'd give it a few more days and see. It was getting to the point she was entertaining claiming a pack of her own just for better hunting opportunities. She worked her way west, past yet another blood pack to a little spit of river that would work its way to the Shimmering Shore.

Spring was here, at least on the continent of Auster, and Nami couldn't be happier. The woman truly had nothing to complain about. She'd settled down quite nicely in Tojo-Kai, and she'd even made some friends along the way. The youngest wolves within the pack were finally starting to venture out and see more of the world, and she'd enjoyed helping teach them a thing or two as they grew older. Though initially she'd come here thinking her time in the pack would be temporary, she was beginning to see Tojo-Kai as somewhere she could live much more permanently. Nami didn't really have any grand plans though; she was the type to take her life one day at a time, never afraid of what might come next. She'd figure it all out, she always did!

She hadn't really thought about the permanence of her living arrangements for awhile now. It was only when she caught wind of a familiar scent did the thought hit her, though it was little more than a passing thought. More than anything she was happy at the prospect of reuniting with an old friend. It was Jynn! She couldn't mistake that scent for anyone else. She'd been tolling down the beach, no real goal in mind, but when the wind brought her Jynn's scent she headed her direction without hesitation.

A grin spread across her features as her friend came into view. Tail curling above her back and waving in a wide arc, Nami moved to close the distance between the two of them, too eager to not let out a bark in form of greeting. "Jynn! It's been so long!" She wondered how she'd been faring, and how her search for a group of likeminded wolves had been going, but she tried to hold back from spilling out a million questions all at once.

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Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn scouted along the river bank, testing the air and listening for any sound that would indicate tapirs. She'd never hunted one before and had no idea what she was doing. If she wasn't mistaken there were some up ahead. Just as Jynn was about to duck into a stalking stance she heard a bark of greeting and looked up to see Nami. Grinning wide she bounded over to her friend, tail wagging happily. "Nami! It's so good to see you, how have you been? I was just down this way to try my paw at hunting a tapir." She wasn't sure if Nami had ever tried but she was down for all the help she could get. She did note the pack scent on the woman and pinpointed it to the pack clear in the south of Auster. She'd run into Hattori a long while back and as far as she knew he was still the leader of that pack.

Nami hadn't been thinking much about what prey animals wandered these lands, generally tending toward fish as her main source of food, but she wasn't at all opposed to the idea of hunting land creatures. She knew that was what most wolves preferred anyway when it came to food sources. Her mind wasn't on food quite yet though, instead distracted by the reunion that had suddenly found its way to her. She made no effort to conceal the joy she felt at seeing Jynn again, grinning ear to ear as her friend headed her way.

"I've been well, what about you? Have you had any luck getting that group of treasure hunters together yet?" Nami couldn't help but feel torn on the matter, though she'd reserve her feelings for whatever news Jynn had about things. No need to preemptively get herself worked up at the prospect of leaving Tojo-Kai so soon.

Jynn said she was hoping to hunt some tapir and Nami's interest was piqued, even if satiating her hunger hadn't be the first thing on her mind as she meandered down the shoreline. "Mind if I join you?" Her question was hopeful as she cocked her head, hoping Jynn wouldn't mind the company. After a moment she tilted her head to sniff at the air, catching the scent that Jynn was following not far off.

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Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn's tail continued to wag, delighted to see her friend again. Maybe Nami would be interested in joining the hunt with her despite Jynn's lack of experience in hunting tapirs. She chuckled sheepishly as Nami asked about her group of treasure hunters and she shook her head, her large ears flopping a little as she moved. "No, no luck and I've decided to just let the idea go. I have been working on my hunting skills and… well, I have been toying with the idea of joining a pack on a temporary basis but I haven't made a final decision yet. What about you? If I'm not mistaken you've joined a pack? Is it nice there?"

Jynn was delighted at the prospect of catching up but she had to admit it would be nice to do so over dinner. She nodded eagerly when Nami asked if she could join."Absolutely! I was thinking about asking you. A tapir would be difficult by myself." She followed along the shoreline as they talked, her ears twitching as she picked up the sound of splashing. Up ahead, down in a dip in the river there was a small group of tapis lounging in the water. Jynn whispered to Nami. "What do you think is the best approach with these? Just stalk as close as we can and go for it? That larger one looks pretty old, its not as active as the others."

For a moment she felt like she was holding her breath, waiting for Jynn's answer. She breathed a sigh that felt like relief, though at the same time she felt sad that Jynn's plan hadn't come to fruition. On one paw, she didn't quite feel ready to leave Tojo-Kai (and she wasn't sure when she would, either), but on the other she felt a little sad the plan had fallen through... though if Jynn was disappointed by that, she wasn't showing it well. She just hoped her friend didn't feel as though her dreams had been crushed.

Regardless she seemed to be just fine right now, expressing that she'd been working on her hunting skills, and asking if she'd joined a pack. Nami's grin grew slightly and she nodded. "I have! I've been living in Tojo-Kai for awhile now, The pack that's way down south, in the bamboo forest," she explained. "If you're looking for somewhere to stay, I'm sure you'd be welcome!" Not that it was her place to invite Jynn, but she couldn't help but put the idea in her head, even if she ended up elsewhere.

"Let's try it, then," she agreed, excited at the prospect of a challenge, of hunting something different for a change. She mulled over just ow they ought to do it. It was hard to say, especially not knowing how they'd react to being charged. "I say we just charge that one. I can try to cut it off from the others?" She was no doubt fast enough, and maybe if they could successfully keep it away from the others they'd be less likely to be trampled in the process. With that she set off forward them, crouching down low and moving quietly, waiting for a cue to lunge forward and strike.

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Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn leaned in as Nami spoke, explaining that the pack she'd been living in was called Tojo-Kai and it was located down in the bamboo forest. "Ohhh, that's such a pretty area down there. You know, I might just take you up on that. I've been toying with joining a pack, temporarily of course, but to try and see." It was possible there was a pack in these lands that she could consider a home. Jynn had thought a lot on her future, especially as she was getting older. All her ideas of pack life had been formed from her past. She had no present experiences to draw her understanding from. Ah, well, it was something she'd think on at a later date. They had prey to catch!

After the arrived at the river it was time to focus on hunting. Jynn looked to Nami, eager to hear what her friend would say. Tapir's were strange creatures. They had long, weird noses, and very thick necks which made her wonder how they were going to effectively kill one. Nami spoke of charging the old one and seeing if they could cut it off from the others. Jynn nodded. "Sounds good to me."

Jynn slunk down, stalking forward until she felt she couldn't get any closer. Her legs uncoiled, launching her forward. With a snarl she dove toward the herd. Immediately they began to scatter. Jynn focused on the older one and as soon as a path opened up to it she took off like a rocket in the tapirs direction. Some fled away from the water, some toward the water. She could see the little noses being used as snorkels. Crap! As the older tapir moved toward the water, Jynn leapt in front of it, trying to drive it back to dry land.

The thought of Jynn joining the pack she'd made a home for herself in definitely made Nami's grin grow wider. Even if the pack wasn't ultimately for her, she thought it worth a try, especially given how well Nami had fit in here. It wasn't a future she'd expected for herself really, but she was even happier here than she had been on her own. Especially with how hard things had been a few years ago during the long night, as a loner... she fought away those thoughts with a quick shake of her head as they set off after their prey.

She wasn't familiar with hunting tapir either but she figured they'd play it by ear and see how things shook out. The two moved together, hiding their presence until they couldn't any longer, and then they sprang into action. Nami tried her best to move quickly, lanky legs helping push her forward and through the crowd. She wasn't sure how dangerous these stout beasts might be so she made to dodge away from their limbs as they began to scatter, trying to position herself between the older one and the rest.

Though she managed to help cut it off, it made a beeline for the water. That wasn't the biggest problem, at least when it came to sea creatures, but maybe trying to take down something like these tapir in the water would be much trickier... maybe keeping it on dry land was the best idea after all. Nami reeled back a bit as she forced it to shore, diving in and aiming to snag one of its short legs between her jaws, hoping she could help take it down now that it was separated from the others.

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Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn snapped at the tapir as she pushed herself even faster, fangs grazing its rear and harrying it even more. She quickly slipped to its side to prevent the tapir from trying to join the group and at that moment the tapir suddenly pitched forward. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Nami had successfully tripped it by latching onto one of the shorter legs. Jynn leapt forward as the tapir tried to get back to its feet. Her fangs latched into its throat, just below the jawline where the muscle was thinner. It was not an easy task. She wrapped her arms around the tapirs neck and while her weight helped drag it down the muscular creature continued to try and push forward, shaking her violently back and forth and making it difficult to hang on but hang on she did. She could feel the tapir weakening in her jaws until at last it collapsed…. right on top of her. "Oof! Crap!"

Around Jynn, Nami was always happy to brush away any lingering worries that might be circling her and focus on the present moment. Knowing this hunt might be a tricky one, given that neither of them really knew what to expect, she wanted to put her all into focusing on the tapir she was angling for. It wasn't long before she was diving it, grabbing hold of one of it's legs.

Success! Well... sort of. The stout beast went tumbling when Jynn grabbed onto its throat, falling directly onto her. Oh no! Nami reacted as quickly as she could. hanging onto the tapir's leg as best as she could while it flailed before going still. Releasing it quickly, she thought fast. Moving the heavy beast probably wasn't going to work. Moving around quickly toward Jynn, she wiggled down and grabbed her by her scruff. She couldn't move the creature on her own, but maybe she could help drag her friend out with minimal damage?

"One... two... three... push!" Hopefully a cue, as muffled as it might be, would help Jynn push along with her as she tugged hard on her scruff and tried to untangle her from the downed prey. Though she didn't want to hurt her she was sure it might, albeit less than being crushed under a tapir would, and she wasn't sure she had any other options right now.

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Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn sank into the mud which helped to cushion her body a bit with the tapir's weight pressing down on her. She squirmed, twisting herself around so her paws were beneath her. Nami was quick to help out, racing over and grabbing her scruff. As her friend counted down, Jynn readied herself and on 'push' she pressed hard with her feet, slipping out from underneath her prey and flopping over into the mud. "Phew! Thanks!" Jynn stood and shook her coat out, sending muck and water around the forest floor. "Well, I say we worked hard for this. Let's eat!" Jynn strode over to the tapir and began to tear at the flesh around its gut, seeking to get her meal finished before the kill attracted any competing predators.

The thing about hunting was that everything happened so quickly that you couldn't really anticipate every move you'd make. Prey were unpredictable, and the act of hunting them was just plain dangerous. Acting quickly as she could to extract Jynn from being trapped beneath the prey, Nami narrowly avoided panicking and instead reminded herself to be focused and deliberate. Managing to free her friend and packmate, Nami couldn't help but let out a little cheer in celebration, panting hard as she plopped down finally.

"A well-earned meal," the lanky female proclaimed, grinning proudly at their kill. With that she'd settle in and began to eat, giving Jynn plenty of room to stretch out and eat comfortably too. They were too far from home to manage to bring any of this back but she made a mental note to do a little fishing later to add to Tojo-Kai's stores, to add to the good fortune they'd received on their hunt today.

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