Sagacity teamed herself with Iopah, as the two of them probably had the smallest amount of weight to sling around but possibly the majority of the speed would come from them too. Their job, as it had been in many hunts, was to herd the foe and worry them while the other larger, stronger wolves went in for the kill. It was the elk who made the first bold move, and after rearing up, it swung its sharpened antlers toward one of the larger, surly males- but in an act of sacrifice, the other shoved him out of the way. Now struggling with his footing and still in the elk's path, he was in immediate danger. Iopah had lunged at the elk's hindquarters, and Sagacity would as well, closing the distance like a fleet silver dart and while Iopah targeted one haunch, she leapt at the other. If he'd made an aim to kick at Iopah, she could only hope that her added weight and snapping teeth would knock his balance off so he could not aim properly. But like Iopah, she could not bite on for long- little more than a snap- if she wanted to dodge a retaliation.

Her movement mirroried Iopah's, and she too lunged back after her attempt at distracting the elk, and she gave the other female a meaningful look; they were in this together. [/dohtml]

His actions resulted in a flurry of motion from the crowd of wolves as they scrambled for positions. Orken felt his heart beating faster. But just in the nick of time, the wolf he had been aiming for was shoved out of the way by some other wolf that wished to come to his defense. Ah, this one is a martyr. Though there were only seconds remaining before Orken's antlers and all his weight impaled the black dog, Orken found that its heroism reflected his own values. He found himself pulling his head away from the wolf as if to spare him just this once. It would be a boon between two heroes, whether or not the wolf had enough intelligence to understand it. He planted his forelegs in front of him, applying the breaks and reining himself in. Awkwardly, he grunted at the black wolf, hoping to bridge the gap of understanding between their two worlds. "Bravery never goes unrewarded."

In the moments he wasted trying to speak to the beasts, though, the wolves had found the time to enact some sort of strategy. They were now upon him, leaping at his hindquarters. He felt teeth sink in and scrape his flesh on his right, his left, all around him, two for each side. A normal bull elk might have bucked and kicked at them, but Orken was a very strange bull for his kind and he was renown for his unorthodox fighting style. With a wild smile stretched across his face, Orken rolled to his left side where @Sagacity and @Evann were, hoping to crush them under his bulk of nearly 1,200 lbs (544kg). If somehow they managed to get out of the way, he'd already be rolling right back onto his feet, no longer surrounded by the wolves.

With Evann at her side and Koda and Iopah on the elk's other side, they had him surrounded. She hadn't been paying attention to the black male who'd shoved Koda out of the way- but when the elk spoke, she found herself surprised- and somewhat distracted. And when the bulk of elk began to descend upon her, she had hardly enough time to get out of the way. While he was large, he was fast, and his weight dropped as though something had clubbed him over the head and dropped him dead to the ground. Sage shouldered the thinner Evann in her own effort to get out of the bull elk's way and as a result, one of the elk's hind hooves caught her shoulder. She grunted and staggered, but in the very least she hadn't been elk-rolled.

With all four of them- Sagacity, Iopah, Koda and Evann- so long as she didn't suffer the demise of being flattened- on one side of the elk as he stood, there was a chance for him to get away, though Miccah still created at least somewhat of a barricade to keep him from charging forward...Or in the very least, discourage him. Sagacity's shoulder smarted but her appetite begged her to continue- she could smell the elk's blood and wanted to taste it once again. With a savage snarl and a renewed determination, she lunged once again at the elk's vulnerable, soft flank, just between his haunch and his belly. It was a sensitive place and she hoped it would do some damage in revenge.

Good, they were working together. Gent was pleased as Sagacity & Chulyin's mild indecision was slighted by the other pack's representatives' blunt appeal. This would give him hope that the thin bonds he'd strove to create earlier in the winter would be strengthened rather than broken. If they could earn themselves an ally, perhaps it would make up for pissing off Cut Rock River. Or maybe Naira would resent this approach just as much, the boy could never tell what her mood would decide. As it was, he believe thoroughly that cooperation was the right choice. He followed behind the others, allowing the two secondaries to take the lead. Gent had nodded to Evann, the stuttering wolf who he was fond of, before locking his glacial gaze onto the elk ahead. In what felt like no time at all, they were upon the prey, and the action was instant. Given his delay, Gent hit the ring just as the beast threw itself to the ground, and just as he'd been lunging forward the yearling sprung out his legs before him to quickly bounce back, alarmed and caught off guard by the flailing of knobby hoofed legs and sharpened tines. He let out a hiss of a growl, angered by the gall of this animal to fight back and attempt to harm his pack mates, rather than showing proper fear as prey should. There was an instant where the thrashing was paused as the mammoth rolled its legs under itself to stand, leaving the only threat as its swaying, antler-adorned head, and this was an opportunity Gent was ready to take. Launching from the opposite side of Sagacity, Gent went for the same vulnerable spot, looking to tear as deeply as possible before it started kicking again.

Though Orken had managed to escape the wolves, it was only for the moment. Already some of them were closing in on him again, and the bull was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake when he had chosen not to run. Subtly, he began to turn and shift is weight to his hindquarters so that he might spring away when a wolf he hadn't previously noticed manifested on his left. Fear began to sink in. Where had that one come from? Orken's attempt to escape the black beast's parted jaws was feeble: he awkwardly reared pack and swiveled back to his right, only to find several wolves waiting there for him.

Then they were embedded in his stomach. Okren looked down at the two of them hanging from his underbelly in shock.

One of them tugged again and suddenly his entrails were spilling out.

His eyes were awash with fading curiosity as his intestine dangled from his torso and more wolves piled on him. He looked up, he could see the wolf he had spared barking something. To him? To the others? Orken couldn't tell. With the weight of four wolves on him, the bull could no longer stand, and he crashed to the ground, hoping vaguely that he would crush one of those stupid wolves underneath in his last act as Third privateer. Somewhere he could hear the sound of another bull bugling.

everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Karpos was so lost and confused as he gazed at what was happening. He was trying to figure out how to jump in without messing something up and just as he had made it to the elk to help take down, it had fallen. Karpos was going to leap at it's back to drag it down but it was done. The elk was dead and it had fallen. He backed up and watched for the adults to eat. He couldn't possibly eat because he did nothing to aid in the take down. Guilt filled Karp and he looked at his paws in shame. Damn it Karp, you failed. He had failed in what he promised to do. It appeared {at leas to him} that he had just shown up for the food.

To himself, he looked like a major slacker.

Karpos wanted to ask permission then and there to leave and start a search for Aponi and Mercy, which he should have gone out to look for them long ago, because he felt like he needed to do it. He felt like he was the one who had to bring Aponi home. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe, resisting the urge to take a giant bite out of the elk. He turned his head and sat back by the bushes and away from the crown. Pitiful Karpos, just pitiful. His conscience snapped at him as he offered a small and almost unheard growl in response. He laid in the snow and watched.