silent as the night

The hunt was nearing a close. She and Rhysis had accomplished their goal in steering the gray faced caribou towards the other half of the team, who were waiting to strike. And strike they did. Cries of despair came from the frightened animal, which fought to shake Phineas off once he had attacked. It was no use. The aged caribou was up against a formidable, hungry pack of wolves. Wolves who desperately needed to eat, to feed their young and fill their caches, lest they face starvation.

She could almost taste the blood on her tongue, the tear of stringy meat between her teeth, soothing the ever present ache within her belly. So close, so close. Driven by this desire, Zia only fought harder, ran faster, to play her role in bringing the beast down. All of the painful emotion that coursed through her being was set aside. Instead she ran solely on auto pilot, acting on primal instinct alone. Ears turned back, teeth clenched in a tight, silent snarl, she barreled through the snow, closing in on her victim. Mentally, she envisioned the caribou as the mountain. That damned, cursed mountain which had whisked away the life of her best friend. As she surged forth, snow arising into the air to then land in a white peppering on her coat, she would unleash her vengeance.

Nearly colliding against the side of the creature, she extended her forelimbs, digits topped with sharp nails momentarily raking the soft hide. Swiftly darting out of reach to avoid a kick from a rear hoof, the pack wolf swerved around to it's left shoulder. From there she snuck her head under the junction of the limb and the chest, where her teeth snapped at the soft flesh of the underside. By assuming this frontal assault, she could avoid the dangerous kicks of the back legs. And with all of her pack mates contributing, the animal shouldn't put up too much of a fight. Clamping down on tender flesh, she shook her head from side to side, pleased by the metallic taste of blood. With any luck, she'd sever a vein, maybe even a crucial artery, leaving the animal to bleed to death.

Unexpected events are unexpected!
Everyone should wrap up with a final post now.. Phineas has exited with Rhysis in tow.

The moment the blood touched his lips it was nearly impossible for him to stop – and yet as the beast fell slowly beneath the pressure of the wolves grips and her own death, stop he would have to. His stomach rumble din protest, and only as she sunk lower did the male finally let go, his eyes scouring over his fellow pack mates, pleased at the way they had seamlessly brought the cow down.

His tongue smoothed across his lips, hoping to lick away some of the blood. A low growl escaped him then – a warning to his members that they would not eat before he did, as the hierarchy stated by simple nature. Still, he did not move forward so quickly to begin the feast – his bright eyes shifted from the group to the bushes where they had left @Hypatia. Hopefully she would have learned something from what she had witnessed, and while she could have helped run the beast down, he did not want her energy, or what little of it that was left from this winter, to spend it.

There was a small pause in his mind as he continued to seek her out. Denial was a terrible thing, and at first, he did not notice the scuffle of paw prints, the way a dash of tracks had lead his treasure away from him. And yet she did not come out from the bushes, and worry pressed to him as he disjointedly loped over to where they had last seen her – no tawny fur met his gaze. “Hypatia?” He called out to the quiet winter air – the silence that had fallen after the ruckus the hunt had stirred was almost deafening, and it was only then that his eyes would drift down and begin to piece the puzzle together.

Swallowing, the ivory wolf bent his muzzle down, his nose pressed to the tracks in the snow as fear began to lift off him – he recognized the scent but only faintly. Long gone from his memory was the wolf he had turned away from his borders without a second thought, and while he could not bring forward a face to mind, he recognized that scent. “Hypatia’s gone,” he rumbled darkly to the group, his fear beginning to ebb away to rage now. “That bastard we turned away from the borders was here,” he mused darkly, his eyes seeking out Borlla, knowing the panic she must have felt then. “Caleb, we will follow these tracks and find them. Borlla, lead the others and take the meat home. Try to take it all if you can and travel as slowly as you need to.” There was a small pause as he drew up to his mate’s side. “We will bring her home.” With that, the male turned his eyes falling to Caleb as he gave a nod. Without waiting, the regal was racing after the tracks, hoping they could gain ground on an 8 month old and a psychopath.

Little did they knew, a blizzard was coming their way.

As the creature died within his jaws, he inhaled, absorbing its very last breath into his own body. He released the neck and stepped backwards, allowing the leaders and children to eat first. It was a hard task, every fibre in his body told him to challenge for first share, but he resisted. Life though tricky, was at least stable and he couldn't risk his position here by being greedy. He would wait his turn.

Stepping backwards, he allowed the regal family to dine first. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he plowed what energy he had left into ignoring his rumbling stomach and aching limbs. However it appeared he was going to have to wait even longer for his share of the spoils. As Phineas summoned the young girl forward, she did not appear. The concern was instant on the white males face and instinct kicked into overdrive as he lifted his head, trying to seek out her scent but came up with nothing to pin point her location. What he did find however was a very faint, almost missable trace of someone he had placed a bounty upon.

It seemed Phineas had come to the same conclusion. The male was up and directing orders. Rhysis was to go with him. His stomach rumbled in protest, but he could not disobey now. The sooner they found the child, killed the creep who had left with her, the sooner he could eat a full meal. Besides, being selected from the pack obviously meant he had been doing something right. It appeared no one else was going to travel with them and it made his ego swell. It was something missing from being a leader - you never received praise for your hard work and Rhysis was a sucker for some ego stroking.

"I knew he was trouble." he muttered as he moved to follow Phineas. He didn't bother saying goodbye to the pack, who would he say goodbye to anyway? He kept to himself and that was how he liked it. They needed every second they could catch, the falling snow would make their scents harder to track so the sooner they left the quicker they would return. Taking a deep breath, he mustered what energy he had left and followed in the pawprints of the white male, his nose working overtime to follow the scent that the child and her kidnapper had left behind.

There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health

Moment by moment things quickly fell into place. Once the beast was separated from the herd, the wolves of the Glen took their goes at keeping their target on track, slowing it down, or bringing it down. Albireo snapped at its limbs, Zia took to a shoulder, Phineas and Borlla to the other, and Caleb headed the animal off, grabbing hold of its neck. She found her place somewhere between Caleb and Zia, where she moved to lash at the caribou's chest with enough caution to avoid an injury from its knobby forelegs as it reared. Their efforts had culminated in a swift, neat kill─one that would fill hungry bellies for days to come. The taste of blood simmered in her mouth, the warm liquid trickling from the corners of her stained lips to pool beneath her tongue.

As her superiors ate their fill she watched with longing eyes, the after-effects of adrenaline still pulsing through her body. Luce was worn down, the last of her dwindling energy spent contributing to a successful hunt, and the excitement of it all was really all that kept her from giving in to the tired feeling she felt in her chest. Distracted as she was by this and the sight of blood and waiting her turn, she had failed to see that Hypatia was no where to be seen. Ears pressed forward as Phineas resigned uneasily from his meal. "Hypatia?" A chill shot down her spine. Her eyes darted to Borlla and back to Phineas as he sniffed out the snow for any sign of the princess.

She was gone.

The Argyris called to Caleb and issued his instructions for the rest of them to haul the kill home. With concern heavy on her heart and apparent in her eyes as they sought Borlla's, the girl took to her friend's side in a silent show of support.

<div align="center"><div style="width: 430px; background-color: transparent;"> <div style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 9px; color: black; text-align: justify; padding: 15px; text-indent: 15px; line-height: 13px;">Lips drew back across bloodstained teeth, mind driven into a frenzy as the coppery potion trickled into her jaws. Teamwork paid off for the pack, all overpowering the pathetic creature. It had never stood a chance. In time, she felt it's breathing slow, its struggle lessen until she felt her paws upon the snow-covered earth again. They'd done it! It was hard not to feel proud at the accomplishment. Food was scarce and every bit counted. This was a substantial bit. As they all recovered from the hunt, she looked to each of her packmates, offering them each an exhausted smile, perhaps especially to Caleb. She had yet to really converse with the man, but he'd proven himself valuable.
<p>Moving towards Phineas, her eyes searched the brush for their daughter. The hunt had been a successful one, so certainly she'd have learned something. She looked forward to hearing the girl talk about it on the way home, perhaps Borlla would take her out and they could try to find some rabbits to go after. The smile still upon her face, it would soon become pettifogging as Phineas drew away from her, towards where they'd left her to watch. Before he'd even reached the spot, her heart had collapsed, her paws had melted, freezing to become one with the snow. Something was wrong, so very wrong. Her ears tipped back, her golden eyes sudden molten, breathing heavy as the pale man turned about. Borlla was expressionless now, empty. The father had taken the reins of rage, but the mother was drowning in the shallows, helpless to the chemicals within her, dictating her feelings. There was no fury within the woman, not quite grasping what had truly taken place.
<p>She met her mate's eyes, swallowing back hysteria as he gave the commands. Wrenching her paws from the ice, she swept her gaze over those that remained. <span style="color:#32527a;font-weight:bold;">"You heard him."</span> She barked, her voice cracking, straining her attempt to be strong. Moving back towards the prey, she felt Lucero beside her, finding physical warmth in her friend's presence, but she wasn't sure if anything could really help her now. Beginning to break down the caribou, she only wished to get back to the Glen as soon as she could, if only so she could hunt down Phineas and whoever had taken Hypatia from them. <span style="color:#32527a;font-weight:bold;"></span>
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{borlla exit}

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