Fall skills year 21

The leaves were falling all around him. Littering the ground with various shades of yellow, orange, and red. Alaric's black nostrils flared as the scent of a fawn entered his nose. The fawn smelt ill, it smelt...alone. No mothering doe scent accompanied it. Perfect for hunting. Alaric turned to the two large cane Corso's who followed him. "Shhh. Go elsewhere, away from here. I will hunt this alone." He told them in a hushed tone, watching as the two large dogs reluctantly backed away and trotted away from Alaric.

His muscles flexed underneath his white coat as he began to follow the trail of the fawn. There was only one thing that stood out to him, the crunching of the leaves beneath his black paws. It was loud and noticeable. He stopped in his tracks, thinking to himself. How would get traverse these leaves and not alert the fawn of his presence? Alaric inhaled deeply and sighed.

Just then, a gust of wind blew across the lands. Carrying his scent away with it and the rustling of leaves. A light bulb went off in Alaric's mind. Patiently he waited for the next gust of wind and when it came, he walked while the wind rustled the leaves. His steps were light and calculated. Perfect, the wind was covering the noise he was making from moving.

He would pause as the wind died down. He was closer to the fawn now. His plan was working. Patiently he would wait for the wind to kick up once again, rustling the shuffling leaves. He took more steps, hastening himself to cover more ground. The wind died down once again and he had no choice but to stop where he was.

The scent of the fawn was stronger now, yet the fawn wasn't in sight just yet. Another gust of wind, and more ground was covered. Alaric found himself growing bored of waiting for the wind to pick up, but he didn't risk alerting the fawn of his presence either. Another gust of wind, longer than usual, and Alaric took advance to cover more ground.

Finally, the fans was within sight. It was curled up in a ball, it's spotted pelt amongst the leaves made it look camouflaged quite well to the untrained eye. Yet Alaric saw it and locked on. He waited, flickering an ear as he waited for the wind to pick up. Once it did, he advanced closer on the unsuspecting prey.

Alaric held his breath now as he was very close to the fawn. He counted silently in his head to the number three. One….two…three. He charged forwards at the fawn. The fawn scrambled to its feet and began to flee, best of terror escaping it's mouth. Alaric's paws worked to churn over both dirt and leaves alike as he closed the gaps between himself and the fawn.

The fawn darted to the left, its body swerving just out of Alaric's grasp. Alaric turned his body to match the fleeing fawn, his massive paws worked to throw himself towards the fawn. His maws parted and he sought the hind of the fawn. Yet his mouth clasped on fur and air, barely taking a tuft of fur as the fawn ran. The fawn kept running and jumped over a fall branch. Alaric hurled himself over the branch in pursuit of his prey, his four paws landing perfectly back on the earth as he came back down from the brief taking of air.

The fawn was heading towards bushes for shelter, anything to escape the hungry wolf coming for it. Alaric watched as the fawn vanished into a clump of bushes. He let out a growl of frustration as he came to a halt in his tracks. He glanced over to Maul and Cinder.

“Maul, Cinder.” He called out to the two cane corsos. The two immediately perked up and trotted over, their tails wagging. “Stay on either side of the bushes. Trap the fawn as I pull it out.” He asked the two, to which they obliged. Alaric watched at Maul took cover behind the bushes and Cinder took to the front.

Alaric wasted no time in charging in after the fawn. His white bodice made a ruckus as he entered the bushes, his orange gaze searching for the fawn. The fans saw Alaric and immediately went to run out of the bushes, but once it saw Cinder, it backed away immediately. Alaric's maws clamped on the hind of the fawn and loud bleats were heard as he pulled it out of the bush.

Within seconds, Alaric had slain the troublesome fawn. Blood stained his maws and white chest as he panted, standing over the small body of his kill. He motioned Cinder and Maul to join in on the feast before them. It wasn't much but it would hold the trio over until larger prey could be taken down. Together, the wolf and his dogs consumed the fawn until there was nothing but bones left among the leaves.