The hunt was nearing a close. She and Rhysis had accomplished their goal in steering the gray faced caribou towards the other half of the team, who were waiting to strike. And strike they did. Cries of despair came from the frightened animal, which fought to shake Phineas off once he had attacked. It was no use. The aged caribou was up against a formidable, hungry pack of wolves. Wolves who desperately needed to eat, to feed their young and fill their caches, lest they face starvation.

She could almost taste the blood on her tongue, the tear of stringy meat between her teeth, soothing the ever present ache within her belly. So close, so close. Driven by this desire, Zia only fought harder, ran faster, to play her role in bringing the beast down. All of the painful emotion that coursed through her being was set aside. Instead she ran solely on auto pilot, acting on primal instinct alone. Ears turned back, teeth clenched in a tight, silent snarl, she barreled through the snow, closing in on her victim. Mentally, she envisioned the caribou as the mountain. That damned, cursed mountain which had whisked away the life of her best friend. As she surged forth, snow arising into the air to then land in a white peppering on her coat, she would unleash her vengeance.

Nearly colliding against the side of the creature, she extended her forelimbs, digits topped with sharp nails momentarily raking the soft hide. Swiftly darting out of reach to avoid a kick from a rear hoof, the pack wolf swerved around to it's left shoulder. From there she snuck her head under the junction of the limb and the chest, where her teeth snapped at the soft flesh of the underside. By assuming this frontal assault, she could avoid the dangerous kicks of the back legs. And with all of her pack mates contributing, the animal shouldn't put up too much of a fight. Clamping down on tender flesh, she shook her head from side to side, pleased by the metallic taste of blood. With any luck, she'd sever a vein, maybe even a crucial artery, leaving the animal to bleed to death.

Moment by moment things quickly fell into place. Once the beast was separated from the herd, the wolves of the Glen took their goes at keeping their target on track, slowing it down, or bringing it down. Albireo snapped at its limbs, Zia took to a shoulder, Phineas and Borlla to the other, and Caleb headed the animal off, grabbing hold of its neck. She found her place somewhere between Caleb and Zia, where she moved to lash at the caribou's chest with enough caution to avoid an injury from its knobby forelegs as it reared. Their efforts had culminated in a swift, neat kill─one that would fill hungry bellies for days to come. The taste of blood simmered in her mouth, the warm liquid trickling from the corners of her stained lips to pool beneath her tongue.

As her superiors ate their fill she watched with longing eyes, the after-effects of adrenaline still pulsing through her body. Luce was worn down, the last of her dwindling energy spent contributing to a successful hunt, and the excitement of it all was really all that kept her from giving in to the tired feeling she felt in her chest. Distracted as she was by this and the sight of blood and waiting her turn, she had failed to see that Hypatia was no where to be seen. Ears pressed forward as Phineas resigned uneasily from his meal. "Hypatia?" A chill shot down her spine. Her eyes darted to Borlla and back to Phineas as he sniffed out the snow for any sign of the princess.

She was gone.

The Argyris called to Caleb and issued his instructions for the rest of them to haul the kill home. With concern heavy on her heart and apparent in her eyes as they sought Borlla's, the girl took to her friend's side in a silent show of support.