Chinook Coulee everything is technicolor

Soon, both her mother and brother appeared – and one of their agemates, too! She might have gravitated over to the alpha first, had not Mako appeared at her side with a jab that probably wasn’t quite as playful as it sounded. The girl frowned for a moment, her pink tongue flashing out as she shook her head. “Nah uh. Don’t forget the otters, @Mako,” she replied, one brow raising in a small smirk. These weren’t fish they were gonna hunt. You couldn’t hunt fish, you had to…fish…fish.

Marina’s thought process trailed off, brows furrowed until Aponi spoke back up. She didn’t know the wolf well, only that she was Lila’s mother and-- Well. That was it.

All the same, the alpha’s child perked her ears, golden eyes glistening with excitement as she waited for whatever wonderful thing was to come next. Lesson, she said, and the girl’s fervor dropped considerably, brows furrowing as she glanced over at her brother. That-- That did not sound fun. Even if she didn’t particularly know how to do this, the Coho girl reckoned she could have figured it out.

Eyes sought out @Speiden, and she huffed quietly as she maneuvered closer to the dark female. “Mam,” she complained softly. “What are we doing? Where are we gonna? Are we gonna do anything, mam? Mam?”

Sorry for the hold up guys. I think to keep this thread moving, we shouldn't worry about sticking to a particular post order so long as it makes sense.

Nodding his head, Serach decided that Aponi probably had the right approach to the matter when it came to deciding where the pups should go. He had watched them all grow from fuzzy balls of fluff to more mobile furballs, but he couldn't honestly say he knew any of the Bend progeny all that well, nevermind their comfort level when it came to hunting big game. But as the minutes ticked by and less familiar faces joined their circle than he would have liked, it seemed apparent that the younger wolves were going to have to take on a more active role if the hunt was going to be successful. He was grateful for their enthusiasm though, and he grinned at Marina as she approached them. "Yes we did! Thanks for coming."

He was even more relieved when Spieden and Leotie joined them. Leotie was still young, but she was reliable and she was a quick learner. Ruenna joined them too, and Serach smiled her in turn, giving her a reassuring wag of his tail as the group set off. This one will be better, he determined, falling into step beside Aponi until it was time for the different groups to split up. "Spieden, do you want Marina or Mako to come with us? How about you, Rue?" he asked, his voice quiet. The scent was strong in his nose - they were getting close and any unnecessary noise could hurt their chances for success. He looked to Aponi and Leotie, quietly signaling that they would follow their lead. No matter which deer they decided to chase their way, Serach and Spieden would be there with open jaws to take the first bites.

Despite the worry she felt about the hunt Leotie knew the pack needed this hunt, they needed to be able to add one of the deer to their cache. She tried to not let her nerves get the better of her while she waited for the other pack members to arrive. The agouti female knew she was very capable of successfully helping in a pack hunt since she had done it before. All she had to do was follow the lead and do as she was told but she did understand that things could go very badly very quickly. That was the part that worried her most, she didn't want another one of her pack mates to get hurt. Unfortunately while waiting for the others the only place her mind wanted to go was to all of the bad things that could go wrong.

This was why she was glad for something else to think about as a few other members arrived for the hunt. She listened as they spoke about where and what the pups would be doing. Part of her thought chasing would be good to help them learn so that they could see what the adults did and what parts they should take in the future. On the other paw though she knew first hand that it could be hard to see what the others were doing while being focused on the chase. At Serach’s indication Leotie fell into follow his lead as the grew closer to the herd. She took deep breaths to calm and ready herself for what was ahead.

(This post was last modified: Dec 03, 2016, 05:03 AM by Leotie.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you

At Serach's question Spieden mulled over it for a few moments. She was very much invested in her brood both learning from the experience, but also keeping them safely out of harm's way. "Hmm, they'll stay with the runners." She decided. At Marina's persistent questions she turned to the girl, catching Mako's attention with a chuff before she spoke to the pair.


"Yes, we're going to go find a deer, and if all goes well, kill it and eat it." She explained patiently. "Us adults will show you how it's done... When we find something, the pack will chase it, keep it moving. When it's time, we'll catch if off guard." Spieden elaborated the basics of it. Like learning how to dance, it seemed something that had to be seen and tried, rather than explained. "You two will stay in the back. Your job is to watch, understand? Chase, bark, whatever, but stay behind them, far from their hooves." She emphasized, knowing Marina would get the message but worried that Mako would try something anyways. "Got it?" She asked with her silver brows raised. 

Once the last of the plans were hashed out among the pack, Spieden started on the trail with the rest of them towards the coulee. 

Holy sorry to let this sit for so long, but again no post order.

Runners: @Ruenna, Aponi, @Leotie, @Marina, @Mako, @Lila

Ambushers: @Serach, @Spieden unless Rue prefers to be an ambusher

let me know if any of the pps aren't okay, this round is just them falling into position/Rue and Mako beginning to run, the next round will be the full run and beginning of takedown and then we'll have one final round finishing the ambush and calling the others.

Thankfully more of the pack appeared before the got too close into the coulee for any of them to speak. Last but not least being Lila, who was greeted with a stern look for being late before the silver mother gestured her over to be closer. Hushing her voice since they were much closer now than they had been before the woman ran through the plan briefly, "Me, Ruenna, Leotie and the pups will be the runners who will chase one of the elk in towards where Spieden and Serach are hidden to ambush them." This part was for the benefit of the children who had never been involved in a hunt before as this was fairly standard procedure for the adults.

Looking over the members that she had Aponi nodded, this plan would word. "Lila and I will go around the far side of the clearing, Ruenna and Mako will chase from the top and Leotie and Marina will chase from this side of the area. Once we separate the weakest member of the herd we will do our best to drive it towards the ambush at the bottom of the coulee but if we can't we'll have to run it over the edge and let the fall do our job." Glancing at them all she made sure they all understood the plan before they separated.

With her daughter at her side they made their way around to fall into position, Serach and Spieden leaving the group immediately to go around the other way. Slowly they broke off after that until it was just Lila and Aponi moving through the trees, blue grey eyes watching the herd from the slight gaps between the boughs. They fell into their spot and the mother whispered on how to scan the herd for weaknesses as they waited for Ruenna and Mako to move. Once they started the fun would really begin.

@Serach's reassuring gesture made her stomach do a little flip-flop before she swallowed it down in order to maintain her brave face. In a lot of ways, this felt like a last chance, mostly for her own benefit; if she could do this, then maybe she could make it work, right? Ignore all the feelings of wrong-ness and just put up with it? Everything got better with time, yeah? She could do this.

Just so long as she didn't get anyone else nearly killed, that was essential.

Coming to stand with the group, trying to look comfortable, she heard Serach say her name, but even as she was turning to look at him, @Spieden was talking, and the young Tainn clicked her mouth shut again. But that left the question directed at her unanswered until @Aponi began to speak, and once more her name was spoken, and mercifully in the shape of an order. The girl nodded at her grey superior in silent consent to the given role, promising them all that she wouldn't mess up again. It was just running. She could do running. Just don't talk to anyone in the middle of it or lose your nerve.


That she was being paired with Mako made her have to swallow her nerves all over again, but this was okay, this was okay, she wouldn't dare risk any mistakes with him beside her. And that probably meant that they had one of the safer parts, anyway. Hopping over to the young shark, Rue nudged his shoulder with a grin and gestured with her snout for them to get going, her acting flawless. With orders given, the hunting party got moving, and Rue kept the optimistic smile on her face as each group got into position. Once separated, Rue and Mako made their way to the high spot that Aponi had described, from where there was a great and open view of the herd, and Rue looked between the long, elegant faces and horns and hooves and didn't envy those who were supposed to be identifying the weak ones. As far as Rue was concerned, she just saw a wall of potential death.

"Ready?" she asked the young Coho, knowing that they were meant to be kicking things off, and even though she didn't feel ready at all, she reminded herself: fake it til you make it, and with that slipped from their hiding spot and into the open, loping forwards in order to make sure the herd knew she was there, and they began to murmur and turn away. Why on earth they would flee from just her she had no idea, but hey, it was working. @Leotie and @Marina would appear from those trees at any moment, she knew, she trusted, and held her breath.