Ghastly Woods Never give up on life

Naira
a lady might be afraid but I am not...

Sorry for the delay - vaccinations = cranky clingy baby.

She had been marking borders herself when Sagacity’s call went up and immediately her task was abandoned. Turning on her tail she trekked back the way she had come, picking up her second’s scent and following the already laid furrows that would no doubt quickly become a highway with the rest of the pack hopefully on their tail also. A familiar, sickly scent had her hackles on edge as her pace increased - their follower had decided to keep on their tail after the final descent - it was a decision that could very well cost the girl her life.

It would seem however that the injured wolf was in luck, having instead been driven from the area by Sagacity. Naira’s golden eyes scanned the small gathering, Mapplethorpe was met with an affectionate butting of her forehead against his jaw while a wag of her tail was offered to Mercy and a nudge of nose to the silver lady’s muzzle. Cracking was clearly heard a short distance away and heart began to thunder, adrenalin pushing her exhaustion aside. They would need @Veronika, @Crowe and @Faol here if they hoped to bring down more than one - @Gent too, and it was well past time for Nova and Aponi to join the hunt. Those that didn’t join in would go hungry. She would see to it herself.

Ears sat high atop her head as she waited for the rest of the pack to join them. This was a rare opportunity, and those that chose to miss it could very well find themselves without a pack for the remainder of the winter. There was no room here for those who would not pull their weight.

ooc: sorry, for some reason i never got the first tag. Gent had done what he could when the pack's new homestead had finally been decided upon. Spreading out along with the rest of his comrades, he took up a dominating posture and searched for both unwelcome company and any trace of prey. Little time was given for his search before Sagacity beat him to the punch, however. There had been mild hope within his chest that he would be the first to track down food; like anything with the boy, he wanted to be number one, no matter whether the situation be judged by timeliness or ability. However, he was more so glad that such a discovery had come so quickly, and opportunity still existed for him to not waste the day without personal accomplishment. Within a short amount of time he joined those that were gathering, all now familiar faces to him even though he did not know every name with which to pair them. This would be remedied soon enough, as he planned to swiftly acquaint himself with each pack mate once the territory was established and secured, and they were all fed and rested. As he closed in to their proximity, the sounds of starving herbivores entered his ears and caused him to salivate in anticipation. Surely, even with their strength so drained, they would be enough in numbers to catch a meal large enough to satisfy each of their neglected stomachs. Gent had thrown away his aggressive demeanor and instead donned humility, taking his place as lowest on the totem pole with the display of keeping his head low and his tail tucked as he approached. His senses all focused on the herd nearby, blue eyes scanning the distance as he awaited Naira's lead.

Everyone was bearing the scars of their trip form the mountain, however no one could show it. There were more important things to worry about than one's selfish exhaustion. If losing sleep meant betterment of the pack, then by all means Veronika would work herself to death.

Ears orbiting like satellites, awaiting the sound of any intruders picked up something off. Closing in on the sound she was hit with the scent of a heard, and a stranger. It was enough to make her mouth water, and with the pack's precarious hunger situation she immediately went on the defensive. This stranger had crossed into the wrong territory at the wrong time. The harsh reactions of her pack mates did not surprise her, and were in fact well justified. The female was lucky to get away with her life, as just her presence was a threat to the well being of the young ones.

With the threat now gone, as the silver woman had without a doubt made sure of, it was time to think of more important matters. It was not the first time she had hunted with their alpha female, therefore this time should prove to be easier. Lowering her posture in a clear indication of her position, she moved behind their lead female. Hunger could turn even the lightest of gestures into an all out war, and no one had the strength for that, not when food was so close.

(yeah, also missed that first tag ><)

On the far side of their lands, Chulyin was doing his fair share of marking. The scent was already strong enough where he stood, but to be so new in such an unfamiliar land, a little overkill never hurt anyone. He'd nearly rubbed his cheeks raw, though thankfully there was still fur clinging to the skin. It felt far worse than it looked. His paws were still chapped from their journey, giving the man a bit of a limp, not at all helped by his sore shoulders from the bulldozing he'd done. It didn't feel as bad as it had upon their arrival here, but he was certainly still sore, and could not bear scraping his pads across trees or earth. He bit passive into a mound of snow after he'd marked the last tree, letting the startlingly cold substance quench his thirst and sooth his aching insides. He couldn't quite bring himself to bring his face to the snow, letting the snow sooth his raw skin in a more direct way.

Another mouthful, and his head lifted quickly, ears perked. His fellow second, Sagacity, had called out. Was that an ounce of aggression he sensed there? Chulyin quietly wondered if he'd taken up marking in the wrong place. Shaking his head of this thought, for it was probably just as likely that a strange could have wandered their way in from this end, he bounded through the snow. When his muscles protested, he slowed his movements. He would need his strength to hunt and refused to sap it all on the journey there. The man showed no sign of shame or embarrassment when he prowled among the Hollowheart wolves, finding a place near his sister, prepared for her command, whatever it should be.

His nose tested the air, catching the clear scent of deer. His eyes searched ahead, spotting the blotches of fawn fur among the white. This was a godsend, certainly, whoever sent it must've approved of their decision to settle here. Even if it was not a gift from a higher power, Chulyin saw this as hardly a coincidence. <b style="color:#a51919">

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention

The nosy pup had decided on a few things after Sagacity left to check the borders; he wanted to go too and since Sagacity brought Mercy, then surely he was allowed to go. He had followed the trail left by the two nomads from a distance. It was not until other arrived [Mapplethorpe, Gent and Naira] that the former Pitch Pine Prince made himself known. He gave a dip of his head out of respect for the adults and other pup there. His tail curled underneath him, against his stomach. His eyes full of curiosity, he could smell the food. Karpos waited there for the others, including Princess Aponi and her sister. A small smile on his muzzle and he was ready for the hunt. He had never been directly involved in a pack hunt before, he had observed one though.

Karp had somewhat failed to see the other one there, Chulyin was there as well, arriving slightly before Karpos had. The boy was quickly learning how to behave when someone he wasn't related to was running the show around where he was. A small smile pursed his muzzle when he had heard of a hunt. The boy was mighty hungry and eager to start. "Mrs. Naira." He offered up the greeting out of respect in a quiet and quick voice. "Mr. Aponi's father." He offered again, in a quiet and quick voice, to the other alpha, Aponi's father whom he had heard so much about. His brown eyes couldn't hide the excitement.

NOMADS Pass

TEMPLATE © NDA OF RCR & RPG-D

FINALLY (sorry evryone)

Crowe moved much more slowly than he intended to towards the call. The new territory not quite mapped out by his paws, caused quite a hindrance. But still the massive white wolf moved through the snow towards the sound arriving to very strange scene. His tail and head were made level and neutral as he approached. The quickly fading scent of some wolf he knew, but couldn't quite place masked by the scent of Deer and his own pack. Crowe remained silent with a questioning tilt to his head. It would seem that something strange had happened, Mercy looked to almost be fearful and Mapplethorpe had a very hard look set upon his face. Crowe knew something had transpired. What he did not know, but there had been a hunters call.

So he pinpointed the direction of the scent and turned towards Naira and Mapplethorpe. "What would you have me do?." Showtime. Crowe was beginning to feel his blood heat with the thrill of the hunt and the pulse of adrenaline. Also he looked forward to seeing how Mercy would do as long as he was allowed to try and chase the animals down. With the pride of a father he looked upon the boy while awaiting orders from Naira and Mapplethorpe. He would deal with the foreign scent after the hunt. Crowe knew it from somewhere but for now he would just focus on this hunt, after all the pack needed to be fed. The she wolf's scent was not of the pack, therefore. She's not one of us.

In the instant that the twig had snapped everything seemed to fall into place. One of the does in the group showed her wary head but her gaze had gone in the other direction - away from the pack of wolves that were assembling nearby. It was clear by now that the wounded woman who had followed them from the heights of their previous home had made herself scarce. Though he thought of tracking her down, for the sake of keeping secret the haven he and Naira had yet to establish, his stomach had the best of him; there was no time for delay, error, or being sidetracked. His pack, first and foremost, would have to feed if they wanted to survive the first leg of the bitter winter. One of Mapplethorpe's ears swiveled to the side and his icy nose twitched as their voices sounded out to him one by one, as though they were coming to him from the thick of the winter fog.

"Mrs. Naira. Mr. Aponi's father."

"What would you have me do?"

The voice that lifted from his chest and suppressed by his throat was followed by a harsh whisper and the softest click of his teeth, "SHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The faint sound made the other doe in the small family stop herself from grazing on a branch just within her reach; she gazed about and Mapplethorpe turned around. If the timid thing was as young as she looked and smelled, she could have easily mistaken them for a pack of coyotes, a syndicate of tricksters that were not worth an ounce of her curiosity or judgement.

"Tace," he breathed, staring particularly at Karpos with the curling of his bristled tail and forward-turned ears. "If you want to eat you will all listen, and listen well..." His golden glare went to Sagacity, a nod of his head gesturing that she start to position the deer family - two does and a young buck, it seemed, though Mapplethorpe couldn't be sure from where he stood - for optimal striking range. To Crowe and Chulyin, he tilted his head, wordlessly suggesting that they would be waiting somewhere near a cluster of snow-covered hawthorn hedges. "You two," he partially hissed, hoping Gent and Veronika were paying close attention. "Go with them. At Sagacity's signal, you will corral, surround, and target one or two of the does. Aim for the throat."

His lips pressed together briefly as he hastily brainstormed, figuring Naira would take her place wherever and however she wished. Though he longed to present his Queen and equal with his usual oeillade, he decided to save it for when they were ready to allow the most dominant of the party to eat first. "SsssSSSTTT," he hissed, calling particularly to his daughter's boyfriend, "With me, Slayer. Let's go." As his eyes swept over the gathered pack members once more, he glanced to the Scout before striding silently through the snow drifts angled away from her and the path she would make around and toward the deer's blindsides. Between him, her, the party waiting to ambush their prey, and the trees that served as blinds and obstacles, they were easily set up to at least take down one hoofed creature. They had to. Even ensnaring one could and would promise their survival; food into energy, energy into the capacity to hunt more and remake their caches.

THROWS REPLIES UP ALL OVER THE PLACE BEFORE WE LOSE POWER FOR -ANOTHER- WEEK
Augh.
Hah, sorry for the sucky tag-job- I'd tagged people while editing my post, so that's probably why it didn't work. Lesson learned :)

With the others, who slowly trickled in, Sagacity waited, eyes and ears on the alert for both any sign of quick movements from the deer or the return of the female who'd been since marked for killing. Fortunately, it seemed as though she'd quietly crept off, hopefully never to bother them again. She kept her mention of Crowe's name in the back of her mind, but with the prospect of a hunt looming in front of her, it drifted from her memory bit by bit every minute. She paid attention to those who joined, not surprised by who showed up- Naira, Mapplethorpe, the new one- Gent-, Veronika, Chulyin, the new pup and Crowe. The only ones who were missing were Taima, Aponi and Faol, but she knew not everyone could simply abandon what they were doing and join in the hunt. Their borders still needed to be tended to.

Once they were all gathered, Mapplethorpe hushed those who'd spoken into silence, for which Sage was grateful. She didn't want anything standing in the way between herself and a full meal, and she was concentrating too much on the deer to be distracted by the task of hushing the wolves. Mapplethorpe came up with a plan which had her as the one to start the chase; a task she silently accepted without even needing to nod- her gaze was still fixed ahead, narrowed as she concentrated mostly on her sense of smell and hearing. With the small gesture from Mapplethorpe as her direction, she moved off without a word, moving with practiced ease toward the herd and away from the group until she could see neither.

She stayed far enough from the herd to avoid being detected, though she could tell they were nervous. It was a part of their disposition, to fear, even without having a reason to do so. She moved so that she was on the far side of the herd, which was much smaller than what she'd hoped, with very few options- two does, both decent in size, and a buck whose antlers had already dropped. He looked young, but if he'd won these two does in the Fall rut, he hadn't done bad- this hinted, to Sage, that he might be a fighter. He might be dangerous- but they wouldn't know until the deer were in motion. The does looked sound- though one had a line of white fur along one shoulder- a healed scar. She hoped it belonged to an injury which would slow it down when it was forced into a run.

She thought she saw a flash of light-coloured fur off to one side, which signalled to her that the others had moved into position. There'd be no other way for her to tell, but to trust in her packmates- she drew in a breath, and moved from her position, purposefully moving into the pack's line of sight for just a moment- a flash of silver and glimpse of two bright amber eyes- to tell them she was ready- and with a bark, she surged forward, a pewter streak dashing through the snow and sending all three deer off in different directions. , purposefully driving herself directly toward them to separate them further so as to make it easier for her packmates to single them out.

Avatars by Arla!

<b style="font-family:georgia; color:#8182A3;">Karpos was content in listening to what was being said by Mr. Aponi's father. He shushed them and Karpos kept his muzzle shut. His eyes filled with a rather unease. How would he do? Would he be a good hunter, or at least beneficial to the pack in the hunt? Surely he would, he had to. When the man said something that Karpos didn't understand, he was about to ask what it meant, but he thought about it and judging by how Mr. Aponi's father had shushed him earlier, he shouldn't say anything at all. Two of the wolves were sent off and then there was an order given specifically to him. He was to follow Aponi's father. It wasn't until then that Karpos realized Aponi wasn't there. He was about to say something about it when Mapplethorpe headed off and he knew better to keep his mouth shut. He pursued him through the snow banks, which compared to the mountains they had escaped from, weren't too deep. As he awaited further commands and followed Mr. Aponi's father, he began to wonder what had happened to the princess of the pass.... or was it princess of the keep now? It was princess of the keep. Calm down Karp, you can do this. Just follow your orders and try to copy what was done at that one hunt for Pitch Pine Trail. Your not alone. Your not the only pup who is hunting. You can do this, you can do this. Truthfully he had been scared at the thought of being in a hunt, but he was really just syked out about nothing. It took Karpos a little while to realize what they were doing. They were in heading towards the blind spots that belong to the deer, and the trees gave them further camouflage. Yea you can do this. He told himself once more. Then the signal was given and it was pure instinct from there. He rushed forward, he went after one of the does and attempted to get it near where he knew two wolves were waiting.

(This post was last modified: Dec 30, 2013, 12:51 AM by Karpos.)

With each arrival, Mercy became more and more optimistic about the prospect of their hunt being a successful one. They had a good group gathered- with his mother, Naira and Mapplethorpe alone they would have had a good chance, but they had gathered more than that- Chulyin and Crowe had come as well, along with Veronika and Gent who would certainly help them in number. The new guy- Karpos- showed up too. A hasty glare was given to the dark pup when he showed up. He'd been quiet, but didn't he know that you weren't supposed to talk unless it was necessary? Mapplethorpe saw to the task of quieting the group, and Mercy remained quiet, even though it was a struggle keeping himself from whining. Nova and Aponi hadn't come- but he knew they'd be fed. He did feel some concern for Faol, as he hadn't shown- and Taima. But he supposed they could get whatever leftovers there were, though he doubted there'd be much.

Mapplethorpe gave a few instructions, but didn't mention him in his plans. He didn't make eye contact or any gestures, which left the boy grappling for answers. But given that Sagacity had gone to spook the herd, and Veronika, Chulyin, Crowe and Gent were split up, he figured it would be best to go with Mapplethorpe, and would make further movements based on what the others did. He kept Karpos in his line of sight so that he could avoid having the boy in his path, if he decided to make a sudden turn to herd the deer. Young and proud, and the aspiring hunter of the pack, Mercy assumed he was more experienced than Karpos, and thus, did not give him much credit, even though he was perfectly willing to work with him. Once they had moved into position, he gave another glance to the boy- one which finally revealed Mercy's excitement. He gave a short nod to Karpos, a gesture of good-will to wish him luck, and focused his eyes on the task at hand, and it was in that moment that he caught a glimpse of silver, only moments before his mother set the herd into motion.

The signal from his mother had come just soon enough- the deer hadn't seen her at first, but Mercy did, and as she moved forward the deer split up. Mercy's reaction was lightning-quick, and he knew instantly what his task was to do. He was too young and small to go at the deer, but even his presence would send them off in another direction. So, having moved only a fraction of a second later than his mother, he bolted forward, heading directly toward her and the deer, aiming himself not at the gap between the two does and the buck, but at one of the does who had gone in the direction of Crowe, who he assumed was laying in wait. As long as he could put himself between her and the other two deer, he would accomplish his task; to help separate one deer from the herd so that the others could move in for the kill.

(This post was last modified: Dec 30, 2013, 12:36 AM by Mercy.)