Drooping Willows heart of stone, honor of gold

Vami gave the go ahead to do this.. so let's hunt, guys! :D This is round one and will end February 18.

His large limbs moved with a stealth that held purpose; the prowl of his paws on the snowy ground gave the male purpose, and as he wove his way closer to the borders of his home, his muzzle tilted back to release a howl across the winter air. Dusk settled across the horizon, painting the almost clear sky a pale shade of mauve and inky blue, though the grey clouds that scattered throughout the heavens offered a myriad of flurries to fall across the terrain.

His song echoed across Willow Ridge, beckoning those that were able to come to him – they would hunt tonight, and if enough showed, they would feast heartily. If Willow Ridge needed anything, it was this. Narime’s close encounter with the exploited caverns and Koda’s injury weighed heavily on the hearts of the pack – one thing he could say for Willow Ridge was that they were a closely knit unit.. and in turn, they deserved this.

Finally, his cry faded to the oncoming night, and the large male stilled, waiting for any to come to him. His fiery eyes scanned the brush of his home, seeking them out, his mind formulating the plan of their hunt. Elettra had given him approval of such an event, and he was eager to fully hunt with his companions for the first time.

(This post was last modified: Feb 13, 2013, 07:53 PM by Phineas.)

Her ears caught the howl first as the silver she wolf padded along near the border. She had already tested out her leg previously while hunting with a loner. Narimé deemed herself healthy to part-take in a pack activity. She answered Phineas howl with her own and began loping towards him. The willows lazily passed by as she traveled towards her white pack mate. Then his pelt came into view, the whiteness of it catching her blue eyed gaze. The young woman yipped a greeting as she loped closer.

"Good evening Phineas." She slowed to a stop in front of him then rubbed her head under his strong chin and licked his cheek. Backing away with a warm smile Nari waited for others to come. She had failed to scout even a single herd of elk or deer for the pack to hunt on her previous outing alone. Nari had fallen into a hole instead. This time she was going to be of more help. Especially with her time in Willow Ridge dwindling. Narimé wanted to help as much as she could.

Turning the gray wolf stretched herself on the ground. Large paws clawed at the earth while she relieved any tenseness in her upper back. Then Nari stretched her back legs letting her silver banner droop comfortably to the side. Standing up straight again the girl shook her fur and scented the air for willow wolf scent. Tonight she was anxious to get out.

To Rose, the Ridge had always been a serene and florid place to be. As of late, she found herself wanting to escape it more. Its icy terrain and unfriendly temperatures made it have less jubilation as it had in summer or fall. Her yellow orbs traveled over the deceiving white landscape. Where were the damn butterflies and overjoyed hummingbirds? She abruptly halted her journey through the frost in mid pawstep. A familiar grumbling came from her furry ecru underbelly. Her ears fell to her head with annoyance. She was becoming a bloody horrible huntress. Couldn't even feed herself! How was she to help support a pack if her own hunger was a problem? Whatever.

Her nose fell to the ground to search for food, but all Rose could smell was the faint odors left behind by her packmates. She mostly smelled the distinct aroma of Shade in the chexmix of scents littering the ground. She scented back and forth through the area until it got unfortunately boring. This was getting her absolutely nowhere! Frustrated, she huffed and progressed. Her rump settled somewhere between two roots of a willow tree. Using the trunk as a support, the little woman leaned back and let out a sigh. Now what?

A call echoed through the air. Her ears swiveled and her eyes averted to the direction of the howl. She knew the voice. Phineas! Excited, Rosealia gained a sudden burst of energy. Her trotting went to bounding and then to sprinting. She neared the silhouettes of a silvery, small shape that she guessed was Narime and the average build of Phineas. Gracefully, she slowed and licked the yearling's face gladly, in a puppy-like manner. Her tail wagged, but she kept it a little higher than both of theirs. Etiquette of dominance. She didn't want to be seen any less dominant than the little girl.

Rosealia's attention briskly switched to the foamy-cream colored man who made the call. Focusing on his body language and words, she licked the underside of his chin and yipped a greeting. She actually thought quite highly of the man.

WILLOW RIDGE FOREVAH!

His large russet form shadowed the borders, which were already heavily marked, considering the willows large numbers. He had made his home within them and had grown increasingly comfortable, despite the fact of the large number of wolves that had made their home in the willow. Guiness was not a big fan of big crowds and the amount of wolves that surrounding him, sometimes put him off of his game, considering his large size. He was much slower than almost all of the pack, which he was sure of, but if needed, the tank could administer heavy damage to something. He had not had to put anything of his into much use quite yet, and be was hoping that he would be able to do something, besides accordingly mark and watch the borders, as he had done normally. Today seemed to be the day that this would happen.

When the call came, he had been near the borders and when his head craned back towards the call had sounded, his large ears twitched. A hunt was being called...not always the thing that Guiness imagined doing, but something productive none the less. His body moved easily through the drooping trees surrounding him as he made his way towards Phineas, who had made the call to them. He knew his body was not made for speed, not at all, but surely the massive male could bring down some prey with the right help. With a small snort he increased his pace, his form quickly appearing to the gathered who had already answered the call. Narimè was there, and his amber eyes stayed on her for a short time, worry forming in a cloud at the back of his mind. Was she ready to continue hunting so soon after her fall...? He would definitely have to keep an eye on her. Rosealia was also there, a wolf that the guardian had not got to know and had not met properly yet. A proper meeting would be in order for the two. Lowering his head, his eyes then drifted towards Phineas, nodding silently to the man as he waited for more of his pack mates to gather.

Pillar of Strength

Shade heard Phineas' call for a hunt and he had just finished his border patrols So he ran to it, he had missed the first hunt by meting a loner on the borders and the second one ended in a zombie prey that they would not and could not eat. He was determined to make it to this third one. He arrived at the scene to see that Guiness, Phineas, Rosealia and Narime were already there. He had some kind of connection with Rosealia his mate, Narime who was practically his sister and Guiness who was a friend of his. However he barely knew Phineas. His tail was raised above the rest, as expected in the dominance standards.

His ears perked and he stood next to Rosealia, giving her a lick to the ear in greetings. He gave a nod to the males present. He truly was excited to he on this hunt with everyone. He knew this time to shut up. His tail still raised, his eyes were gazing just around the others. "Hello Phineas, Rose and Guiness." He said, his smile flashing his partly yellowed canines. He wondered when Rose was going to call her challenge against Skana, she was no longer sick, but he would not rush her.

He knew the time was coming when he had to stay away from her, as to not be drawn in by her heat scent and mate with her. But he couldn't bare to be away from her. He would just have to restrain himself. He knew in his heart he could not stay away from her for that long. He had to find the will power to restrain himself.

Next round ends February 22.

He did not need to wait long – first to appear before him was Narime, the slender silver girl seeming to emerge from the foliage like a delicate wraith. He was not surprised she was the first to answer his call – Narime seemed to be the first to arrive at any beckon of her pack mates. He greeted her with a smile, bumping her cheek with his cold nose when she came to him and revealed respect for him. He was glad to see her here, healing so well, and softly his eyes flickered from her to the next rustle of bushes.

Rosealia was soon upon them, and at the sight of the she-wolf, the male allowed his muzzle to tuck slightly in her presence, his eyes averting from her own in submission. She was above him in the ranks, and while he might have been the one who had called the hunt, he did not fool himself to believing he held any authority over her. He greeted the she-wolf with a lick to her chin in return, revealing that he respected her rank.

Guiness was next, and Phineas offered the male a nod, though his tail curled slightly higher once more, as he was above the other within the ranks. Still, with what he hoped would be a subtle message, the ivory male gave a light nod in the direction of Narime, hoping the larger male would take notice and gain meaning from this action: keep watch over her.

The moment’s passed, and soon Shade came upon them as well. Phineas emitted a low ‘wuff’ of greeting to the male, prowling forward to give the pack’s Second a nudge beneath his chin, his own figure held lower, despite his size in comparison to Shade.

His bright eyes flickered over the gathering, pleased at the outcome. There were others not with them, but it was not unexpected. The call of the hunt had come on suddenly, and it was likely others were too far to come to his summon, or were already busy. Not willing to wait any longer, Phineas gave a nod in the direction he had come, his paws beginning to lope in the direction of the herd. He was silent for a few moments, his ears swivelling to the silent pawfall’s of his pack mates. Finally, as they walked, the male cleared his throat. “There’s a small mule deer herd not far from here. There are only four of them, but one seems to have experienced a harsher winter than the others. She is the one we will aim for.”

Soon, his steps halted, and his eyes flashed to the small clearing within the willows. There would be no given instructions – Phineas assumed his comrades knew the simplistic instincts of a hunt, and with their target obvious, the male emerged from the foliage, slowly trotting to the deer. Naturally, they stiffened upon his entrance, though did not flee just yet. Testing them, the male slowly loped about the herd in a circle, noting the sickly doe to be the most nervous of his presence. Angling himself to drive her towards his pack mates, the ivory male elicited a sharp snarl before charging her, driving her to the presence of the others, his jaws agape as they clicked shut just behind her back limbs.

(This post was last modified: Feb 19, 2013, 06:03 PM by Phineas.)

It did not take long for his pack mates to take notice of him. Amber golden eyes anticipated the small nod sent in Narime’s direction and in reply the large tank simply gave a flick of his ear. It turned out that not many others would be arriving to gather in their small group and truth be told, he did not mind. The less wolves he had to deal with, would mostly be for the better. The last to arrive would be Shade, and Guiness dipped his head the higher ranking male, her tail flickering beneath him. The russet man was not always happy to be one of the lowest wolves in his pack. It was not that he felt the hunger for power, but more along the lines of not being comfortable in his position. In his former pack, he had been guard to the alpha, second in command when need be and always on stand-by for last minute calls, now he was just there…someone to help benefit the pack but was more of a shadow than anything.

He did not miss the greeting Shade had given to this Rosealia and it caused a spark of suspicious to course through his veins. He had no time to dwell on the thought though, for the group of five were soon off to continue on their pack hunt. On the way there, the large man drifted off to the side, preferring to be slightly away from the rest of them for the time being. His golden amber iris’s did not waver from his brother’s girl’s traveling form. Guiness was ready to jump out at any given cue to defend the female. She was his family now and he knew, even though he did not fully approve of the situation, would have to accept it. This was how the circle of life worked and how the feeling of love worked. He was always curious of the word love. What truly was love? He would address his thoughts with Tempest later, but when the scent of deer got stronger, his body instantly moved back towards the group, ready for the hunt.

Pillar of Strength

The cool wind blew over the large female, gently ruffling her soft russet pelt as she rested after a long day of hunting and catching little more than the occasional rabbit for the caches. Even they were getting rather scarce and scrawny with the ongoing cold season and she longed for spring when she could at least add fish once more to their diet. Many of the smaller streams were frozen over or too small to carry anything worth catching. The larger deeper ones were still iced over on the shorelines, making it too difficult and cold to catch anything. Even the fish were smart enough to stay away from the icy water.

Soon spring would be here though and hunting would be easier with prey more plentiful. As she mused over the changing seasons and what that would mean to her as one of the main pack huntresses, a call rang out from Phineas. A smile lit her face and a thrill coursed through her body at the summons. She now counted Phineas among her friends here at Willow Ridge and there was a promise in his voice of a hunt. The blood pumped in her strong young heart as she sped in the direction of his summons. Although she hurried, she was the last to arrive and just cleared the trees as Phineas spoke of their target. She gave a quick look of greeting to all and spared a smile for her brother, who seemed thoughtful about something or other. He was a rather serious wolf, so it was not uncommon but she resolved to talk with him later and see if she could ease his mind about whatever the matter was.

Coming in last, she fell in behind the others and observed as they did when Phineas led them to the quarry. Their intended target was easy to spot, standing a bit apart from the others and showing considerably more fear and agitation as Phineas circled the herd, deftly cutting the one from the others and wrangling him towards the small waiting group of wolves. With no actual direction given, Tempest looked about trying to figure out what the others would do. She and Guiness were the largest and therefor the slowest. Rose was quite a bit smaller and faster and Narime' fell somewhere in between. It would make sense for she and Guiness to be the take down with the support of the others giving chase and aid in injury. She moved closer to Guiness, but still left enough distance that the mule deer might be driven between the two of them. Satisfied with her position for the moment, she waited, body tense and ready for attack, blazing amber eyes glued to the coming quarry.

The Calm in the Storm

With so many of the pack around Nari knew that this hunt would go well. They had the faster wolves to run in and seperate the injured deer, mid sized wolves around to wear down and further the deer's injuries, then the three larger wolves ready to finish off the deer when the time came. Nari calculated the risk each wolf had of getting injured while doing their seperate tasks. The smaller wolves had the most risk of getting injured by the still healthy fresh deer, but that's where their speed came into play. They could dodge the animals hooves and kicks. The mid sized wolves had to worry about a scared desperate animal while they tired it out. Then the larger wolves would have to worry about getting hit while they finish off the tired creature. Though they had less chance of getting hurt due to the animals fatigued body.

She thought about these things as they traveled in line towards their prey. Perhaps it was luck or just plain old good weather that brought the deer herd back into their territory. However it relieved the young hunter to scent them on the breeze. What made her hopes jump further was the scent of an injured doe.

She watched Phineas head out first while taking her own place along the line of wolves surrounding the herd. Even though Nari was one of the larger wolves she decided to help out her mid sized pack mates and tire the creature out. She danced around out of reach barking and snapping at the deer keeping its attention on her and not her family. She knew that Tempest and Guiness would come in and finish it off when the doe was on its last legs.

Her heart raced as she jumped around watching the doe become more and more tired. Soon it would be time for Tem and Gui to finish the tired animal off.

You can skip her or PP saying she joined in eating or something if I don't post in another day or so.

Round 3 ends March 2.

The group was smaller, but Tempest’s addition only added to their favour of victory over this potential meal. Narime was a silver bullet, jumping in to aid him in directing their meal closer to their waiting group. They danced together, each balking the mule deer further from it’s group and closer to the shaded area of trees to where he could see Guiness and Tempest waiting for the perfect moment to step forward and end the horror for their quarry. Shade and Rosealia were nowhere to be seen, and not able to dwell on such a matter with the task on paw, the ivory male did feel a surge of anger press through him. What was the point of the two joining them if they were going to sit like lumps and do nothing?

He wove now, a snarl ushering past his lips, and when close enough to the two waiting siblings, Phineas finally lunged forward to grasp at the deer’s hind leg, his teeth grazing the flesh and tearing a minor wound to its ankle before it pulled away swiftly, barrelling away from him and closer to the trees. His task was not complete however, and with a careful glance to Narime, who he hoped would not overwork herself given she was still healing, the male once more launched forward, again grasping to the deer, though this time aiming for the flank. He could only hope the distraction of pain he gave the creature would leave a clear opening of its throat to Guiness and Tempest, but he knew within moment’s the beast would be theirs. It was within this calculated assumption that a hoof struck out, catching him in the chest. It rolled from him, not with a full force, but enough to knock the wind from him. A low woosh of air escaped him, followed with a cough before he had to pull back, pain searing through his chest to his ribs.