Heartleaf Creek Hunt Opportunity - West RL

But if you're gonna dine with them cannibals

• NAIRA •

Sooner or later, darling, you're gonna get eaten

A howl sounded across the landscape in an echo of her own, followed closely by another. She did not wait for the shouting to start before she began to move forward. A low growl left her chest as the elk startled and began to pick his legs up high, fleeing the kerfuffle at their backs, but she would not worry about the encroachers for now, she had more important things on her mind. The ungodly screeching did not stop as more and more strangers arrived, and the only meal for miles clearly panicked. Frustration clawed at her internally, she wanted to spin and rip them all from snout to tails but there was no time. Not yet. As @Chulyin and @Gent shot past she picked up her pace, barely hoping to be able to catch the elk who not only had a head start because amateurs decided to holler their presence to the prey, but was also far better equipped to flee the closing predators.

She had a sinking feeling they would not be the only ones going hungry today, and it would not be her packs fault.

Oblivious to the presence of any but her own she could only hope the other keep wolves would be close on her tail and level headed enough to ignore the bickering onlookers. The click of teeth behind them was forgotten. She could not afford to be distracted. None of them could, but as the elk pulled further and further in front her heart began to sink. Unless @Quick, @Evann or @Sagacity managed to slow it down, she really doubted anyone would be able to catch it.

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The woman was looking around desperately for any sign of substance for her pack and herself, her single eye looking through ever crack within her territory. Eventually she came upon Hollow's scent, and growing curious followed it, a familiar, warm feeling settling into her chest at the thought of the loyal man. soon she was close enough to hear communication between many wolves and the woman had to shake her head to make sure she had heard right. The voice of Hollow broke through her confused thoughts and immediately, the scarred woman raced towards where she was sure she heard her friend howl from. Soon enough his figure, along with many others came in view and the alpha was quick to steer her form towards her strong friend, the familiar form of one of Sloane's own, along with Ash's friend came into view. Ash.. Was he here with them? She hadn't heard from her brother in quite awhile and was desperate to see him, but such thoughts were overrode with the sight of prey before her, wolves that didn't look too familiar to her chasing it. They would need to wear it down, but even she knew that not everyone here would be able to get such a morsel. Desperately pushing herself forward to stand by Hollow's side, her blind side guarded by him, just as it should have been, Nina watched, her emerald eye sparkling.

A blur of white caught the woman's attention and she looked towards who she found was Athena. A small smile gracing her lips, she scanned the area for any other familiar faces for her, save the ones of her pack mates and finally spoke up. ”I believe it would be wise to all try and bring this animal down together and then decide who gets what afterwards,” she spoke surely and strongly, tilting her head towards Hollow for any sign that he would agree or disagree with her decision. Hopefully these other wolves would be accepting enough of their presence, for it seemed like the beast they had all stumbled upon was not going down without a fight....one that the pack wolves would have no problem dishing out.

Summary: Nova makes a face at CRR, then follows Naira after the elk and cheers on Aponi.

Nova's tail waved a happy rhythm as Mercy greeted her, playfully nipping at him as he nosed her cheek. Even if the weather seemed a bit spooky, things were never as bad with the whole pack together and Mercy at her side. Or so she thought. A stranger's howl went up, and soon enough a beast of a wolf arrived, with a deep thunderous voice cursing them as vultures. Nova's lip curled, they were here first! These guys were the real vultures.

More strange, angry faces appeared, and just as it seemed imminent that a fight would break out, Naira moved into action. It made Nova nervous to leave such an irate bunch of wolves at her back, but she figured that her mother knew best and followed in her wake. In any case, the other packs voices were soon muffled by the screeching wind, and Nova could almost imagine they weren't even there. Almost. Already the elk seemed as if it might have gotten too good of a head start to catch, but it obviously wasn't going to wait around for its own funeral to catch up.

Nova could see three black streaks racing after the elk, or perhaps even each other. One of the others a tawny figure, chased after them, too. And then, surprisingly, Aponi joined the chase.

"Get 'er Aponi!" Nova barked, wishing she had the energy to catch up and give her sister a hand, but Nova was already exhausted. She had no reason to suspect her sister would fail, having never won a spar against Aponi herself.

Well, wasn't this just a dream.

Though a few other Hollowheart Keep wolves showed up, Sagacity's blood curdled the moment she caught the scent of other wolves- and her eyes flashed when she recognized Maksim. He'd been more than a match for her before, so she knew to stay clear of him now. Rather than engaging in verbal nonsense with Maksim, who seemed to think that he had more of a right to the prey than them, Naira pushed forward- to join in with Chulyin and Gent who had come onto the scene at a different angle, and were therefore able to avoid the crowd. Quicksilver shot after them, and Sagacity was impressed by her pack member's fleetness of foot, but she herself was somewhat hesitant to take action, even though her alpha female had already moved toward the herd.

She looked to Maksim. A few other wolves she did not recognize began to run after Gent and Chulyin, obviously with the aim of taking down the Hollowheart Keep wolves. And if they did that, then the caribou would get further away and none of them would eat. But she knew that if they were the ones to make the kill, they wouldn't be on it long. They'd waste their energy bringing it down and then be unable to defend it from the onlookers, especially if they had some sort of bond between the packs. Even if they didn't, with the amount of wolves which had gathered from the other packs, they'd have little to no chance of keeping their kill.

There weren't enough wolves from Hollowheart Keep to launch both a hunt and an effective defensive party, though Aponi charged one of their rivals with enough conviction to rile the sterling female up...But she was still unsure as to what she should do. Her feet pushed her forward, following Naira toward the others, but she wanted nothing more than to abandon the scene altogether. Loyalty was the only thing which kept her there.

Given that @Crowe, @Mapplethorpe and @Faol hadn't shown up, she assumed that they had chosen to remain in the woods to guard the borders- they were a formidable force to be reckoned with. But there wasn't much to guard- all caches had more or less been used up, and surely no other pack would take their territory simply because they wanted it- the hunting was no better there than it was anywhere else. So for that reason, she wished they had abandoned the packlands altogether and had come to help them. Though they would still have been outnumbered, they might at least have looked like more of a threat and might've stood more of a chance.

Her heart wasn't in the hunt- not until she saw her son flash past her, and rather than hurrying to catch up with Gent and Chulyin, he made a different choice. And she knew then what she would have to do.

Chulyin, Gent, Quicksilver and Eek were the most likely to bring down the animal. The rest of them would have to do all they could to defend their kill. So she conserved her speed and strength and held herself back, choosing instead to keep pace not far behind Naira and move in to a defensive position once the kill was made- if they even managed to bring something down.

There was a taste on the young male's tongue, new and foreign to him. He became aware of it as the other wolves began to arrive and he looked into their eyes, which bore the same, hungry, feral light that he'd seen in those belonging to the wolves he cared about. But this was different. Seeing strangers with that look of hostility not aimed toward the prey but toward his packmates brought a heavy feeling into his lungs, as though a lump of burning coal had somehow managed to manifest itself within him, made of his own blood and heartstrings. He bared his teeth and growled, flicking his sour tongue over his lips as he stepped forward when they were offended. Naira, however, hardly seemed to register the words which had been flung in their direction, and with a single glance to his mother, he knew exactly who this man was who'd made the spiteful comment. That was the man who'd hurt his mother.

Though he wanted nothing more than to take revenge, he knew it would be futile. If his mother couldn't handle Maksim, no doubt Mercy couldn't- and he had enough wolves behind him that they'd never win a fair fight, anyway. So he shot forward alongside his mother and Naira, until he saw a familiar shape charging across the clearing aiming at one of the strangers who'd been dogging Chulyin, Gent and the coal black female he didn't recognize. Though Nova was his closest friend, she was safe where she was. Aponi, on the other hand, had charged an adult female from one of the other packs- and Mercy would not see her left on her own.

So he charged forward past his mother and aimed directly toward Aponi and Kisla with the intention of forcing himself between them, should a fight break out. He would not easily allow harm to befall one of Hollowheart Keep's two heiresses.

suggests that everyone summarize their posts for simplicity's sake. it would really be appreciated.

While the man had gotten something of a headstart, the elk had already kicked off after the outbursts from the foolish wolves at his back. The man was not graced with speed. He had the advantage of moving through the snow easier than others, but even as he plowed ahead, he could already feel the enemy closing in on him. He very nearly veered into Gent, who had surprised him, the dark boy appearing at his side. But he didn't, thankfully, and was glad to have a bit of assistance. Clenching his jaw, he attempted to consume the ground faster, harder, more and more aware that there were more wolves behind him. But turning around could prove dangerous, so he continued to keep his tail close to his legs and his speed consistent, although his lungs were beginning to burn.

The elk was only getting closer, though it still moved faster then he did. The man simply hoped that the elk would do what he could not and that was look over its shoulder. And it seemed that either the fates were smiling upon his conscience or were about to be laughing at the Keep wolves, for the elk tossed its head in such a way that it certainly must've gotten a glance at the torrent of wolves on its trail, and in a wave of panic, faltered just enough to open a window for the golden-eyed man. Throwing his own weight forward, he allowed his jaws to reach forward, snapping viciously at the valuable tendons that would keep the elk upright.

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

Koda has finally arrived! He's on the heels of Chulyin on the opposite side of the elk, he has lunged at the elk as well with attempts of biting at its leg to bring it tumbling down. Not sure if a squabble will occur over this, but he wants food!

The howls were unrecognizable but one, and he felt his shoulder muscles tense at the commanding howl of his leader in the distance. Hollow had caught whiff of the bull, as did many others, and he called for the help of a select few in Secret Woods to help bring the reward back home, in disbelief he waited to no avail for the male to call on him. It made sense, he was the lowest in the pack, a title he no longer deserved, but he would accept it for the sake of his family; he had not given up on them yet. As his paws covered ground he felt the tension in the air, the disgruntled sound of wolves in distress reached his ears as he made it way swiftly to the meeting ground only to stop when he was finally upon it.

Chaos ensued with the promise of a full belly as green flecked eyes watched the multiple packs fight for their right to the kill. It was almost comical watching so many fight for the claim to a single bull when it could easily feed the masses, but he understood how desperate times called for desperate measures, and continued into the battlefield with his defenses raised. He was no fool, had never considered himself one, therefore he was hot on the heels of the others who pursued the kill, barking and yipping his way through the line of different wolves. Blurs of blacks, tan, grays and brown flew passed him as he made his way toward the bull, feeling his adrenaline soar as saliva lined his lips in anticipation of getting to the kill. Although he was probably one of the few from Secret Woods to make chase of the bull, he knew that stragglers hardly ever ate, and he couldn't trust many of the others to play fair when given the chance to divide up the meal; it was better off if they simple took it for their own.

When he was within range of the darkest male who was closest to the elk he felt anxiety overcome him and took the opportunity to lunge at the elk as well, wanting to get first taste of the kill and first dibs on the reward that should soon follow. He cared little that Chulyin smelled of Hollowheart Keep, or that so many others were fighting in the midst of this chase, all that mattered now was bringing this bull down.

(This post was last modified: Feb 13, 2014, 05:18 AM by Koda.)

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

Quick had hardly the time to pay attention to her packmates as they appeared, her attention taken by another howl sent out into the clouds by a wolf not belonging to their own. Her hackles began to raise instinctively. It was not long until some other group of wolves showed themselves. She had expected hostility on hunting grounds (no pack wanted to share) but these strangers seemed to act as though they were stepping on to a mine-ready battefield.

Her lips curled in disgust. Vultures? Filth? How disrespectful. She had no idea of the previous interaction between the wolves of their packs, but it didn't take a grudge to garner her reaction. Immediately her head rose, lips pulling back to bare her teeth against the cold wind. Anger rushed through her veins as she wondered, who are these assclowns? But Quick swallowed her fury. She wouldn't take kindly to any threat to their livelihood (and boy was this quite the show) but all this animosity growing among the wolves was sure to be noticed by the elk. If this intruding pack's absolute lack of poise scared away their one shot at a decent meal, she would eat them instead today.

They could spit whatever poisonous words they wanted to, but the wolves of Hollowheart Keep had gotten here first and it was no fault of theirs that it had taken so long for these "River wolves" to lug their asses behind. If they wanted bloodshed they'd have to get in line. First and foremost, she wanted to eat. She was not the only one with the right idea. More and more kept filtering in but her own had started aftet the bull - with enemy wolves hot on their heels.

Ignoring the spectators she raced afterward, not conservative with her effort in order to get past the river wolves. More swift of foot* than them she remained on the outskirts of their reach. It wasn't the wolves' blood that tasted so good to her. Strides long and fierce the arctic-blooded wolf breached the head of the pack, talking to one side of the bull. Though weakened by the winter its hooves were no less sharp. To avoid getting her jaw broken she reached and snapped between the lower joints of its hind leg. She felt the texture of its dark fur on her tongue, closing her jaws with a ferocious growl. She retracted at once. Alone she couldn't hold a bull, but the first bite had been made.

Gist of it: Quick being a very small bit faster(*) than Athena/Kisla she runs up ahead of all of 'em and starts biting at the bull's legs to wear it down by small injuries.

And if I bleed, I'll bleed, Knowing you don't care! She stood stiffly while more and more wolves gathered, her confidence dwindling as more numbers joined the opposing side; and even strangers with a new scent showed up; More packs?! was just coming to the realization when Naira set off, obviously thinking the same; No one's gonna get ANY food like this! Desperately trying to keep track of the unfurling mess, Evann's dark brown eyes ran over the many wolves - standing and bickering, running after the elk, or each other - head spinning slightly at the mere volume of the whole situation. The impression she got was that more than enough wolves were already targeting the prey, getting in there would only serve to complicate things, but that left her standing in the spot, her pack quickly abandoning her, making her the lone opposer of the bigger force. Pushing away her growing anxiety, she sought for something useful to do - and found it in the youngsters, who were, foolishly, throwing themselves right into the middle of the chase; What are they doing?! She was off in a flash, tired legs aching, but her brain caring little as she saw both on of the young princesses, and the older @Mercy, running into the group and... She gasped, they were charging one of the strangers; NO! She pushed forwards, desperately trying to reach them, but they were too fast, unless they slowed down she wouldn't make it! Regardless she kept going, teeth baring, she had to protect them! She opened her jaws, aiming at the tawny female who was the target of Mercy and @Aponi's attack, hoping to hit her opposite side and draw her attention - even if her teeth hit, it wouldn't be a hard blow, she didn't have the strength, nor the wish to severely wound this female - she simply wanted to distract her. Word count: 308 "Speech." Thought

SUMMARY: Evann is running after the pups, trying to catch up to them and grace @Kisla, to draw her attention away from them.

OMG this is so late. Bringing the other two in (Titan, Tokino) after this. +Somebody might wanna tell Nari about the alliance between CRR now.

Nari was very late.

She'd heard the call only barely while scouting for food within the woods north of her own territory in the meadow. Now she was picking up speed trying to reach Minka's call. The rusted alpha's howl seemed a bit stressed which worried the silver hunter greatly. All of their pack had had problems this winter. So there was much to stress about normally, but this call sounded more needing than usual. Plus, her own name had been sounded in the call. Minka had not called on or looked for Narime since she'd arrived.

Which meant that Minka needed some serious help if she wanted the ex alpha to be there with her as back up.

Narime paused. She had passed a number of wolf scents and trails all leading around through the snow. All the paths were quite confusing, and Nari could only imagine why so many wolves were being attracted to this area. She caught her breath for a few moments then raised her silver crown and called to Minka. It was a call meaning "I'm coming" that echoed through the chill air and around the tall sleeping timbers. Then she started off again following wolf trails heading in the direction that Minka had called.

The silver womans nose touched the snow occasionally as she scented around the smells of each trail she came upon. Inali's scent finally appeared on one of the deep rutted snowy trails. It seemed Nari would be joining them later than normal.

Then she'd come upon it. The older scent of elk. It was the first sniff of prey since..well....for a long time. Too long had Nari missed that scent. Now she knew why Minka had called her. They were probably going to hunt this bull. However with all the other scents of wolves no encroaching onto the breeze Nari was sure Minka needed her more for back up than anything. They might have to fight for this food, and her pups and pack mates needed it.

Yeah well I think most of the packs need this food. Thus the reason I can smell more than just my own family around... Nari thought letting a low growl slip through her muzzle as she spotted something moving ahead of her.

Stopping instantly the gray she wolf looked over the scene. She saw an elk being pursued by many wolves, and Nari knew it was her own pack s pelts hurrying after the creature. She didn't have a white wolf in her pack as of yet. Or at least not that Narime had known about. Then again Minka and Ash lead. They might have added some one white while I was scouting for food. The thought floated through her mind as she watched from atop her small hill. The creek was below someplace hidden under the snow and ice.

Scenting the air that now seemed full of wolf scent Nari worried about her own family. Where were they?

Careful to keep an eye on the hunt but also for any unwanted wolf meetings Nari slipped through the trees like a ghost. Even though shed traveled all the way there the womans stamina had held up well enough. She could hunt if she needed to. For now however the she wolf was content to let the other wolves do the work. She couldn't risk an injury by fighting with them.

It took the gray wolf a good 3 minutes as she sprinted along Inali's trail and spotted her three pack mates ahead. Slowing to a trot Nari came up to them while catching her breath. Other wolves were near as well which set her bristles up. However the young mother didn't make a move on those strangers since Minka was obviously comfortable near them. She must know them... Nari glanced once over Namara unsure of the two wolves. It wasn't until she was closer that Nari scented her own pack scent on Namara. In fact it was the same female smell she had noticed when first returning to the cave.

"Well this looks to be a fun party. Mind if I join?" Narimé greeted Minka first albeit awkwardly. She wasn't sure whether to lick the woman on the nose, cheek, or chin. She settled for waving her tail in greeting then settling it to a position above that of Inali and Namara's own places. She nudged Inali's shoulder with a warm smile then licked her muzzle. Then Nari paused looking over Namara.

"I'm Narimé Lagina second of the pack and mother to the pups we are hoping to feed today. It's nice to finally meet you. I've scented you around the pack for some time now." She gave this still unnamed pack mate a nod of greeting while keeping her chin tilted higher than the smaller female. Once greeting Namara was finished Nari turned once more to the alpha.

Her head tilted up but only respect showed in Nari's gaze as she looked to Minka for an answer to her previous question. Once the answer was given and silence reigned for a few moments Nair spoke again.

"This is as much as I've gathered from the situation. An elk appears out of nowhere and a few packs have shown an interest in hunting it... " She gave a raise of her brow while looking towards the area she had last seen wolves pursuing the elk pointedly. They were obviously interested in the meal too. Every wolf starving from this past winter was interested in that big bull. "So now we are sitting here doing nothing why? The pups need food and I plan on getting it for them." Narimé asked absolutely sure that she was going to procure some meat for her three children. However the gray she wolf was willing to listen for some plan that the wolves might have been talking about before she had gotten there.

SUMMARY: Narimé shows up and seeks out her pack mates. Basically greets everyone then asks Minka what the plan is.

(This post was last modified: Feb 14, 2014, 05:41 AM by Narimé.)