Round Stone Crest Testing out my teeth

OOC: Rae hunting 5/6

She was distantly aware that Calanthe and her quarry had to be making it up the embankment opposite her by now; just by the way the splashes quickened and the falling water grew more quiet. A single ear kept flicking back to assure her of this as she plunged down again and again behind her own target. It had scrambled for the bank just as planned; with a few ferocious snaps of her pearly teeth whenever the critter tried to step out if line. Teeth here, teeth there, keep moving, she goaded, a permanent snarl on her face as the water grew shallower still. Finally the rodent's feet dug into sand and mud and they were just barely upon dry shores. In the next instant she was forced to redirect her attention to her fellow hunter. The shriek shattered her concentration and she froze; legs splayed as she watched the pale form of Calanthe whirl and charge after the wayward beaver – straight back into the water. Her leg was already red in a very distinct spot; telling the older woman all she needed to know. Her friend had been bitten. Why did it always seem that her partners were the ones who drew so much rage from their prey? A snap decision was needed. Calanthe might loose the food into the dam or the water if she didn't offer her help. Her beaver was still trying to make it up the bank when Raela next glimpsed its fat brown form. Likely panic had consumed the animal's thought process by now. Growling roughly she resumed her pursuit; making more racket than she had all day in an attempt to scare it as far into the foliage as she could manage. In another second it was moving fast enough for the predator to peel off; splashing back into the river at speed.  Her paws streaked out as far as they could manage in the deeper water, and she kept up her enraged display as long as it took. She would turn this fugitive around; and right into Calanthe's jaws. She'd only a moment before the other one figured out she was absent, and that the dam would be easy to flee into while the wolves were busy. A single ear twitched back; trying to catch anything it could to alert the hunter to the little vermin's movement. C'mon c'mon... she pleaded with the tenacious one. This would be over soon, but with one beaver or two?  Image © Chris Smith Photography Manipulation © Jenandra

            

ooc: Cal hunting post 5/6.

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The cold water bit into her leg like white fire where it landed against the marks the beaver's teeth had left in her leg. Calanthe ignored it, ignored the water that splashed up into her face and the loose rocks and silt that shifted beneath her feet as she charged through the water after the great brown streak of aggravation she was after. Only the splashing ahead of the beaver was enough to alert Calanthe to Raela's assistance, and with a grin the younger woman redoubled her chase, not at all about to let this fuzzy little demon get away from her again. Now she had a chance to catch this little mongrel. Now she had the opening she needed to nab this one - and it had to be before its partner had the chance to get away from them. “There's a river on the run!” she shouted after it, snapping her teeth again as she began to catch up. “And there's gonna be hell to pay!” Words wasted on a creature likely far too stupid to understand a single sound, but Calanthe was far beyond the point of caring. Her leg bled still, her muscles ached down to her very bones with the frigid cold, and this ridiculously stubborn beaver was officially beginning to push her buttons. She pushed her legs harder and faster through the water, scrambling around to get between it and the dam as the beaver panicked in the face of two pursuers. It wasn't long before she began to do exactly that, and soon she had successfully wedged herself between the beaver and its best chance of escape. The stupid creature didn't have the clarity of mind anymore to turn itself around again this time, and Calanthe wasn't going to give it the time to sort itself around. The pale woman was down on top of it before it had gotten more than side-to-side with her, pinning it down with her paws for as long as she possibly could while she shouted to Raela, “Get after the other one!” She didn't add more; she didn't have the time enough to do so. Her own beaver slipped free just as she finished her first and only sentence, and then Calanthe was too busy wrestling her prey to pay any more attention to what her hunting partner was up to. It could bite and scratch and claw all it bloody wanted to - this little pest was dying today. Inch by inch, hunter and prey began to thrash closer and closer to the bank again, each snap of teeth and swipe of claws bringing their bodies farther from the beaver's would-be stronghold and closer to its demise. There was nothing but water and growls and the occasional white-hot lance of pain across her legs as the beaver's claws managed to find a target out of luck. Nothing else mattered but killing the squirming thing that kept trying to dance out from under her thrashing forelimbs, not until one of them came out on top.

OOC: Rae hunting 6/6 - Take us home!

By some stroke of luck the stupid animal thought better of continuing its dash for the deep water when faced with a new pair of gnashing teeth. Calanthe landed squarely on its fat little body and barked an order in the blink of a honeyed eye. There was only a moment of hesitation on her part before Raela turned; bounding wordlessly back across the river and splashing the frigid liquid all over herself once more. Behind her the sounds of struggle continued on, and ahead of her the vermin streaked by. With a growl of frustration and a vow to get her teeth in its hide, the woman lurched ahead. It was making for the dam; and perhaps its best chance of escape. Nonono... Her mind spat as she struck out at a diagonal in an attempt to cut the renegade off.  The water held her legs back in the most irritating of ways; and it was all too relieving to break its hold and race onto the rock and sand with a blinding flurry of droplets. To an onlooker it might have seemed as though the river itself had sprayed up onto the beach and charged into battle with the wayward beaver; but it was only a determined hunter not about to let her meal escape so easily. The satisfaction of puncturing its skin with her fangs drove the woman on as the animal thrashed. The head, the head! She'd rather not have to kill the thing via blood loss and trauma. One paw came to sit on its back, giving her just the split second she needed to aim and strike again at its neck. The prey shrieked; unable to turn its teeth and claws back at her; something Raela learned to be essential when dealing with whistlepigs and giant rodents alike.  With one last vicious clenching of her jaw; she broke through the muscle and bone; severing the smaller animal's spinal cord and rendering it limp in the shallow water; just inches from sanctuary. The saporific blood leeched out and stained her teeth and tongue. When the wolf's tensed mandibles parted at last she was panting. Barely a breath or two had passed before Raela turned to search for Calanthe; remembering the difficulty the woman had appeared to have experienced before. Her assistance might be needed at this very moment. Image © Chris Smith Photography Manipulation © Jenandra

            

ooc: Cal hunting thread 6/6. Wewt!

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White water foamed around them, tinged here and there with pink. The beaver was on its back now, not a great position for either it or Calanthe to be in at the moment - but Calanthe was a hell of a lot angrier and a hell of a lot better able to kick her opponent as necessary. She had the thing back on its feet in a few more moments, and by then they were on dry land again. Victory was hers. It took another few moments to pin the stupid thing down, one paw squarely on its back as she struggled to keep the beast from wriggling free again (where did it hide so much strength in such a small frame?) Once she had she made short work of dispatching it; feeling its spine snap in her teeth sent a thrill of satisfaction through her that she had not felt since she had been out alone in the wilds. She had done it. She'd fought this oversized water rat and been made to bleed by its teeth and claws - and she had still come out on top of it, in every way that counted. She lifted her head and shook herself with a happy snort - and then stumbled a little bit as the adrenalin drained away from her, leaving her suddenly far more aware of every gouge and gash that had been left in her forelegs. The fur there was stained red and pink, and the newest marks still bled actively, but none of them felt or looked too deep... She laid down next to the beaver's carcass and licked at one leg, trying to clean it as best she could. It still irritated her to have to taste her own blood at the end of a successful hunt, but now her focus was less on revenge and more on making sure she didn't wind up lame because of shoddy primary care. That was not the way to end this day.