Though the beast was great and mighty, the combined weight of the wolves was too much for him. She felt her teeth sink through Orken's dense, coarse coat and find their mark embedded into his skin. Under Orken's belly she could see cream legs- and knew that Iopah had resumed her attack on the flank opposite Sagacity. She felt a brush of fur and heard Evann's snarl close at hand, close enough to know that she, too, had had enough of snapping and nipping and had clamped down on Orken's hide. A gut-wrenching sound signalled what would be their inevitable victory; and as fur and skin pulled loose, the beast sank to the ground. Sagacity was a starved, ruthless animal, and she did not waste any time.

She did not care who ate alongside her- any who came too close were snarled at and got a snap from her bloodied teeth, but Sagacity claimed her right to eat fiercely and quickly. Her proximity to the elk as it fell afforded her a good choice of placement, as far as choosing meat was concerned. Like a gluttonous hound she dined on the beast's meat, wolfing down her share which- given the amount of elk there was to eat, was enough to restore a great deal of her health. She wasn't aware of Karpos lingering not far away, or of what Gent, Chulyin or Evann were doing- she wasn't even entire cognizant of the wolves from the other pack. As long as none of them got too close, she was content to enjoy the meal in peace.

Gent felt something in him light on fire as his teeth sunk deep and skin slipped from meat. Steam curled around his maw and danced before his frenzied eyes as the elk was torn open, entrails spilling while heart and other muscles failed him. At last, they had it; a victory. He instantly began sawing off chunks and gulping them down with the others, oblivious as they were, only riled when one leaned too close to him. A snap of his blood-saturated teeth would solve it, before he was back to the meal. In such haste, his stomach filled up quickly, and he continued until it begged him to stop. Dripping now with bodily fluids, his mind slowly began to clear and he was able to think about those other than himself. Deliberately, Gent worked a notable chunk of meat loose from the carcass, and carried it a few paces away from the kill site in the direction toward the familiar foreign pack. Depositing it in the snow, he looked up, hoping to catch @Iopah 's eye but satisfied with merely being heard. "I want you to take this to @Danica for me. From Gent." A request, though he wouldn't state it as such. While they stood on neutral ground, Hollowheart Keep still retained the upper hand in numbers and Gent wished to maintain the visibility of this fact should things turn sour when it came time to divvy up the spoils. Though, so long as Danica got her share, and the gift had his name attached to it, he didn't much care where the rest of the meat went; he'd had his share.

Sagacity was more or less oblivious to the other wolves as they ate. After a while, she didn't mind if someone's elbow touched hers, or if someone shifted their haunches closer to hers, or if someone else was chewing through the sinew attached to the meat she was eating. She was eating and that was the most important thing. She ate until her stomach was full and felt as though it was fit to burst. She felt herself become warmer and more content as she ate, and though her stomach protested at first, it willingly expanded to allow her to consume more. Once she had eaten her fill, she immediately began to gnaw and chew still, but rather than swallowing the meat down, she began sawing through it to separate a hind leg. Iopah had already begun to rip and tear through the muscle and bone of one of the hind legs, so Sagacity lay claim to the other. Haunches had a sizeable portion of meat attached to them, and she simply assumed that it would be agreed that each pack would take one hind leg.

She kept an eye on the others now, though, and bristled slightly. It was fairly clear that she and Iopah were each working away at one of the hind legs. She saw Gent tear off meat and, to her surprise, rather than taking it away as his own, he took it to Iopah. She paused for a second and licked her lips as she listened to his request. She stared at him in disbelief, before she continued to work away at freeing her hind leg, which she'd nearly done. Her jaws ached from chewing, but it was a good ache; and her neck was still strong enough to help her rip and pull. So Gent was a softie- and he had someone he wanted Iopah to take care of. She felt herself smiling slightly, wondering who this wolf was, but the smile was replaced by a grimace as she took hold of the hip bone, gripped it and tugged back and forth until it let go with a popping noise.

All that was left to do was pull through the skin and sinew which wasn't terribly hard to do. Once free, she pulled the leg back and away from the kill, and stood over it protectively. With her hackles bristled and eyes still fierce, she felt she'd asserted herself enough to show that she'd fight anyone off who tried to take this from her. And with her possession claimed, she looked to Iopah who she still considered to be the leader of the group- even if only because she was the only one Sagacity recognized. "Good hunt," She said, though not to anyone in particular, and licked her bloodstained lips. She glanced to Karpos who was skulking off in the distance, and gestured toward the rest of the carcass. If the others would let him feed, then he could feed. She had a meal to deliver to Naira. "I'm Sage," She said, this time directly to Iopah. She still wasn't incredibly willing to give more information than that, but she would no doubt relay information of this hunt and their potential allies to Naira. All she knew was that the female was from a pack near the Thicket- though she knew now she could probably glean more information from Gent. Sage was prepared to take her leave- once she'd received some sort of acknowledgement from Iopah or the other wolves from the other pack.

everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Karpos was unsure as the wolves from other other pack gestured towards the food in encouragement for him to eat. Even when Sagacity told him to he was hesitant. He knew better than to defy the wishes of the Silver Dagger though. He slowly stood up and made his way over to the carcass though he did not touch the prey at all until he was sure the ones who had actually done work to take it down were finished. He took a piece of meat from the elk, tearing off some of the leg meat and sitting down to gnaw on it. Perhaps Sagacity could give him permission to find the other pups if he got an adult to go with him. He was more than capable on his own but if another storm he they would have three lost pups instead of two. It was probably better to take an adult with him.

He turned to the second in command under Mrs. Naira and he gave a slightly curious look to her. It was obvious he had a question, however he did not want to mention Aponi and Mercy missing around the wolves of the other pack. It would expose a weakness. Still, worry had been flooding through him about the two wolves. His friend and his best friend were missing and he could hardly get any productive work done. What was there to do? What could he do if he couldn't concentrate enough to hunt or patrol. He had to pull his weight and he couldn't do that with his mind in another zone. Such a noetic state was dangerous in his mind.

Gent had expected to make his exit, so long as Iopah agreed to fulfill this favor. It shouldn't have been a problem; if she could hunt and share meat with him and his pack mates twice, she could deliver a simple message. But as he took those initial steps toward departure, the look in her eyes stopped him. Ears forward, his brow furrowed, confused at what this could mean. Then she spoke. Missing? How could she be missing? She was still only a kid, who would have let her go? She had seemed to be testing the boundaries of her home that day, and also overly trusting of Gent's easy smile. Had she decided to be brave, and gotten herself lost? Or had she trusted the wrong warm grin? Was she perfectly fine or did she need to be rescued, or was it even too late? It wasn't worry that overtook Gent's features, but calculation. What were the possibilities, and what would be the results of sacrificing scouting time to track her down, if she was still able to be found? Gent was no longer looking at @Iopah , or anything else within the vicinity. His eyes were focused but far away as he bowed his head and latched his teeth back onto the hunk of meat. If it wasn't going to @Danica , they wouldn't have it; he would keep it as his own prize as the others took what they could. Once more he was about to start the trek back home when he was given one last reason to give pause. His eyes swiveled over to @Koda , a man who had not been present at Gent's previous truce with the pack and therefor inconsequential to him. He took a deep breath, registered the faint familiarity between his scent and Danica's. His only answer was to nod his head toward Iopah, directing Koda to question her, before finally turning fully to trot past the kill and back into the blackberry fields toward home; he had business to attend to now.