Thicket of Secrets One little thing

Full pelt, would be the word for it, Hollow was moving as fast as he could streaking down the border, stretching his legs. As if pulled by some unseen force the black streak disappeared into the thicket, yet inside of the thickets all that could be heard were rustling leaves. The young black wolf had become very at home in the increasingly thick vegetation, when he had first come here he had no business here other than to run from the world, even then if they heard the noise he had been making they could have followed. Yet now, he could move at an astonishingly fast pace, in near silence for a wolf of his size, merely by knowing the terrain, If the world were to follow him here now he would disappear with the sound of nothing more than wind in the trees.

He weaved in and out of trees, lightly leaping fallen ones, passing around the one that had fallen a short time ago it smelled heavily of Iopah but he continued on for he had no business with the she wolf today. On he ran ever nearing the opposite border at least until a wall of russet fur suddenly blocked his path any attempt to stop was futile seeing as he hit open ground and gave to great lopes which brought him less than an inch from who or whatever was in front of him. The next thing the yearling felt were all four paws leaving the ground seemingly of their own volition, his view began to change in a very peculiar way, now that he was above the wolf he recognized it as just that, a wolf, and a big one too. Hollow continued on his journey over whomever he had just ran into he realized that this could only end one way and braced. Seemingly an instant after it had started the journey was over as he met the harsh ground and opened his eyes only to find himself nose to nose with his alpha. He couldn't help but let a youthful grin play upon his face as if to say oh hey there Sloane.

Sloane was taking a break from traveling the borders, merely standing just outside the edge of a section of thickets and observing the domain that would soon not be his. It seemed that the time had simply flown by and he was mere weeks from having Narime' by his side. It was a bitter-sweet thing though as he'd come to care deeply for the Thicket wolves that he would soon leave behind and he was saddened at the prospect of another taking his place. But he could not have it both ways and Koda would surely be here soon for Nina. He would take his place by her side as naturally as Sloane would take his rightful place by Narime's side.

His melancholy thoughts were interrupted by footfalls rapidly approaching, seemingly out of nowhere. The alpha turned his head just in time to see the dark pelted form of Hollow mere milliseconds before it plowed into his large sturdy side. For a moment, it seemed that his immense mass would keep him upright, but Hollow's velocity was simply too much and his long legs were swiped out from under him at the same time as his breath left his chest in a great wooosshh!!" and he landed heavily on his side. When the stars stopped dancing before his eyes and he could draw oxygen back into his abused lungs, he tipped his russet head towards Hollow. The young male was on his back, grinning at him innocently and Sloane couldn't help bursting out laughing at the two great Guardians sprawled on the snow and leaf-riddled ground.

Knight of Honor

For a split second Hollow felt a prickle of worry, as he seemed to have dazed the big male, but he soon recovered and turned his head towards the younger wolf, at that both of them began laughing. Sloane's laughter spurred Hollows own voice to life with mirth and as soon as he could contain himself the dark male moved into a sitting position and shook some of the leaves and snow from his pelt. Now he would have to groom himself later, but that didn't matter much to the young wolf at this point he was just glad he could laugh about what had just happened. A moments space in his thought brought in a brief flicker of sadness to the boy for he knew he would not be running into Sloane at full pelt soon. Another would take the place of leader and Sloane would go to his own mate and create a pack.

However it was short lived for Hollow had four strong legs that could certainly travel to see his friend and current leader sometimes of that he was sure. His breath still coming out in short huffs, he let himself relax a moment before dipping his head to Sloane. "Sorry about that, I was on my way to the border, trying to see how quickly I could here and make as little noise as possible, but clearly, that seems to have gone out of my favor." Hollow spoke with a grin still laughing inwardly at himself for running clear into his leader, and even more so for flipping clear over him, he was certainly moving fast judging by the way he felt along his neck and back but silent, well that would be for someone else's decision. Instead he merely continued to catch his breath and wait for his leader to speak

As they laughed together, Sloane grinned and stood up himself, shaking his own russet pelt as Hollow tried to explain what he'd been up to. He rolled his shoulder to stretch out the now-sore muscle and smiled at Hollow. "Well, I'd say your speed was top notch by the twinges in my shoulder. You were far from silent, but taking speed into account, not bad at all!" He definitely spoke the truth since by the time he'd heard and then seen Hollow, he'd had no time to react at all! Occasionally the over-sized wolf wished for more speed, but he would never trade his raw power for it, so everything was as it should be. He leaned down, stretching his back and shoulders to get them back to normal after the unexpected collision and then she shook once more, before tipping his head at the smaller male.

"Well, since you are of a mind to accomplish a goal and I have inadvertently run interference with your original one, what do you think of a hunt with me young Hollow? It seems an appropriate use of your boundless energy, don't you think?' he said with a knowing laugh. It would provide the young man an outlet and hopefully together they might come up with some significant bounty to offer the pack's caches. They were far enough from the den that their chances would be better, although he heartily hoped that they turned up more than a few rabbits! His golden amber eyes looked at Hollow, wondering if the idea appealed to him as much as he thought that it might. His russet plume waved high above his back expectantly.

Knight of Honor

Hollow was quite proud to hear that his speed was good, he knew it would forever be useless on open ground but here in the thickets, knowledge lent him more speed than even the fastest open land wolves. For here in this part of the wilderness one could only move with any speed or stealth by knowing the land. Hollow being the size he was still wasn't completely silent, but given his size that wasn't much of an issue, he felt satisfied that he had been able to move with speed. More silence would have been better but he would not complain, as his size truly didn't allow for it and unless he wished to be the size of Ecco before she joined the pack he would never be silent. Hollow didn't mind for he was quite happy to sacrifice some stealth for his strength.

The prospect of a hunt brightened Hollow tremendously, a good way to test his newly developing skill with navigating the dense forest. Of course he would let Sloane take the lead, the yearling quickly began to scent the air, albeit a little loudly in his excitement and with his tongue lolling out on one side of his mouth. After a period of twisting his head several different ways eventually his glands locked on to the very faint scent of deer, it was nearly stale so the deer could be a good distance off. He retracted his tongue and turned to Sloane "I smell deer, they are probably a ways away but maybe we could track them?" At this the boy became silent as the forest around him, he had once again regained control over his energy and was prepared to use it a little more carefully.

The excitement that radiated of of the dark furred wolf was quite obvious. He was all in for a hunt and Sloane was pleased. Although he looked at Sloane expectantly, the young man's nose immediately went to work in perfect sinc with his own shiny black nose and came up with the same results. It might be a waste of time as stale at the trail was, but maybe not. There was only one way to find out though and he nodded his agreement of Hollow's assessment. "Yes, they are likely far off by now, but perhaps today will be our lucky day and they won't be," he said hopefully.

He lead the way with a flick of his tail, instinctively crouching low, even though the prey was nowhere near them at the moment. Another animal might take fright at their presence and alert the deer so the precaution was well worth it. He didn't waste his time going too slowly since he felt sure that their quarry was a good ways off. As the trail steadily got fresher he realized that there was three, maybe four deer traveling loosely together, likely doe and their young. Better odds than an adult buck, even a lone one.

When the trail finally became quite fresh and a branch snapped ahead of them, Sloane quickly crouched as low to the ground as his bulk would allow, instantly tensed for action. Creeping forward with eery silence, feeling Hollow close on his flank, the over-sized male soon saw their quarry through the brush. Two does with last spring's half-grown young. They were all somewhat thin with the tolls of winter, but one stood apart from the others. The three all reared up on their hind legs, reaching for the few remaining dried leaves on the trees and the bark from the trunks to sustain themselves.

The forth stood apart with one hind leg barely touching the ground. Even from this distance he could see the swelling in the young male's ankle. He could put no weight on it to harvest the bare nutrition high above as the others did. His dull eyes, sharp hips and starkly outlined ribs were proof of his woes. This unfortunate young buck would be their target. He shifted to the side to allow Hollow better access to the sight before him, before he laid out his plan.

Knight of Honor

Hollow followed Sloane along the trail of stale scent for a period until the scent rushed in upon him and there before both wolves stood a small group of deer. He looked on silently as Sloane shifted so that he may see the one they would take, injured, easy prey for two slower wolves, although the other two were tantalizingly larger. Hollow knew he would need to stick with his leader on this otherwise they would leave with empty bellies. That was not a feeling the yearling missed from his days spent as a loner. Hollow began to think over ways to take the injured buck down.

Possibilities swirled in his head as he thought, they could both take it from the side or he could skirt the edge of the group and they could close it off from the others. Peel it away so that it would panic and freeze or stumble if it tried to run. Hollow was pleased that even though it was small it would surely feed Sloane and he, and afterwards they could even drag it back to the den so that the pack may pick it clean. Hollow tilted his head towards Sloane keeping his eyes on the deer and spoke in a very soft whisper so as not to be heard. "Shall I go around?" Though in the end It would inevitably be Sloane's decision Hollow thought he had a pretty good idea. If Sloane were thinking the same then they would attack it from both sides, the young wolf began to search with eyes and nose for the most shadowed path around the prey. Picking out multiple ones for any plan Sloane may have. Preparedness would forever be something that would make or break a hunt.

Hollow took in the situation and although Sloane saw him look longingly at the healthier adults, he left his gaze on the injured young buck after perusing the area silently. Sloane felt sure that they had come up with the same basic plan as it was fairly logical, but just so there were no misunderstandings he lowered his voice and conveyed his plan. "We shall take down the injured buck. You swing around and carefully get between him and the pack. His dam should not be too protective over him at this stage and she will likely flee with the others. Once he is separated, chase him towards me, but take care of his legs. Injured or not, he can still do some damage!"

Once he was sure that the young wolf understood the plan he himself moved to a clump of underbrush that he could hide behind fairly well that still had a small opening to herd the young buck through. He then watched Hollow move off to take his position. He could no longer see the dark wolf, but he had faith in him to get the job done and Sloane lay in wait, ready to ambush the young deer and end his suffering while providing for the pack. It was the way of the world. The never-ending circle of life. His muscles bunched tightly as the wind shifted slightly. Not quite enough to give away his position to their quarry, but enough to make it a bigger possibility. Another direction change and he might be exposed too soon.

Knight of Honor

Hollow nodded as Sloane disappeared into the brush, the dark make then slunk around the edge of the small cluster of deer, slowly, weaving his way through dense vegetation. His head on a swivel he would check his, Sloane's and the deer's position at all times. As he had first stepped into the undergrowth the deer had been of to the right slightly, about the length of six wolves away, and now he was less than two of his length away from them. He stopped abruptly as he heard one step on a small twig his fur prickling uncomfortably, if they saw him here they could easily trample him. While Hollow didn't think it would kill him, he was very sure it would hurt. Seconds passed, minutes he did not know, until the two healthy ones flicked their ears and went back to their leaves.

The young dark yearling continued on his stealthy journey, once he finally rounded the edge of the small group they were now off lo his left, with the injured young buck directly at his front. Hollow took one breath and time seemed to stop as he rose up from where he lay hiding and leaped at the deer. A snarl escaped him merely just to instill enough fear for him to be sure the buck would run. However Sloane had been slightly mistaken as the dam turned towards the young wolf leaping at her young and began to run at Hollow from his left. She got near enough and he turned his head to snap at her causing her to think better of saving this one and leaped away. When Hollow turned his head back and saw that they had strayed of course slightly. That didn't put him off though, he leaped to the side of the animal and snapped at it just far enough out of the way of the weakly kicking legs. Once righted he let his pace slack, they were headed right for the opening next to Sloane, this would soon be over.

From his hiding point, he had to put all of his faith in his young follower to get the job done, but he had faith in him. After long moments he heard Hollow's first sounds coming to him. A snarl, followed by rapid footfalls that sounded too heavy for the three legged buck. An audible snap preceded the sound of many hooves bounding away. Taking the chance he peeked around the edges of the brush he was hiding behind to see the retreating forms of the two adults and healthy young and to see Hollow expertly redirecting their victim in his direction.

The injured one was heading his way with remarkable speed considering his ankle being useless, but his gait was strange to say the least. he almost zig zagged as he moved, lacking the control that two legs would have provided him upon push off. Sloane ducked his head back in since he didn't want the young buck to realize his mistake too soon. His russet ears swiveled gauging the distance and speed of the approaching pair as best he could without seeing them. When the time seemed right, his tightly coiled body lunged forward with jaws open wide to slash at their prey.

Unfortunately, it was right at that moment that the creature zigged, rather than zagged and this saved him from the full force of Sloane's attack. The buck's neck was now too far away for Sloane to get a purchase on, but his lethal fangs still did a good amount of damage. They raked down the deer's side and flank, gashing into soft flesh until they reached the buck's hind leg. Here, Sloane managed to clamp down with force, severing the tendon of the already injured hind leg and rendering it completely useless.

The deer barreled past him, it's momentum carrying it on a bit further. It realized that it could run no more and whipped around facing it's attackers. It's back leg hung useless and flesh hung from the long gashes on it's side which were bleeding profusely and it's breath came in hard pants from bony ribs. Yet it's head was lowered, brandishing it's small, but dangerous rack of antlers, despite the trembling in his weakened body. The young buck was valiantly ready to fight to it's last breath.

Knight of Honor