Blackberry Fields Hunt Opportunity - West RL - Elk

Sagacity's mind had been made up, completely, until she saw yet another wolf- a large one at that- join forces with the wolves from the other pack. They'd approached and had also put forth the idea of working together and for a moment, Sagacity wasn't so sure they could take them on if they decided, in the end, to chase the other pack to have more meat for themselves. But she got a mixed response from Chulyin and by the time she decided to stand up and make the decision herself, the elk had appeared- foolishly running toward them. "Game on," Sagacity said, without a second look at Chulyin who would simply have to assume that they would work together- otherwise they'd get next to nothing.

Sagacity teamed herself with Iopah, as the two of them probably had the smallest amount of weight to sling around but possibly the majority of the speed would come from them too. Their job, as it had been in many hunts, was to herd the foe and worry them while the other larger, stronger wolves went in for the kill. It was the elk who made the first bold move, and after rearing up, it swung its sharpened antlers toward one of the larger, surly males- but in an act of sacrifice, the other shoved him out of the way. Now struggling with his footing and still in the elk's path, he was in immediate danger. Iopah had lunged at the elk's hindquarters, and Sagacity would as well, closing the distance like a fleet silver dart and while Iopah targeted one haunch, she leapt at the other. If he'd made an aim to kick at Iopah, she could only hope that her added weight and snapping teeth would knock his balance off so he could not aim properly. But like Iopah, she could not bite on for long- little more than a snap- if she wanted to dodge a retaliation.

Her movement mirroried Iopah's, and she too lunged back after her attempt at distracting the elk, and she gave the other female a meaningful look; they were in this together.

Ooc: Sorry I missed the second round, my internet has been wonky all week :/

If we act like prey, they’ll act like predators She trailed behind her pack mate's as a silent shadow, now and again glancing sideways to keep an eye on Karpos, and make sure he was keeping up. When they were joined by Gent, she flashed him a quick smile, happy to have his strength added to their force. But at the same time, her nose was filling with the unwelcome scent of strangers - wolves of another pack, seemingly threatening to rob them of their kill - and her teeth bared. The idea of joining to take down the elk though, seemed wise; they were only four adults, two of which were quite small... Leaving the decision making up to her superiors, Evann stayed silent though, and when the two foreigners approached, she kept her facade distinctly neutral. An agreement seemed to form, to take down the animal together and share the spoils, but there were little time for detail; for soon the opponent was upon them. The Elk burst forth, it's large head lowered for attack, and Evann jolted backwards, snarling fiercely; What kind of demonic beast IS THIS?! It seemed the prey had grown tired of waiting for them to attack, and had decided to come to them; and he was challenging them now. The small, brown-mottled wolfess pulled further backwards, body lowered close to the ground, ears pressed flat back. She knew better than to take a monster like this head on, she would b crushed, so instead she started creeping sideways, eyes locked on the bull. With a scream, the animal raised his body and prepared to attack, and Evann responded by quickly moving further around his side, out of his line. She could not see whether the elk hit his mark, or who that mark was, but she did see Sagacity lunge for the beast's hindquarters, as well as the unknown female doing the same. Knowing that her lace in the hunt was similar - distract, wound, scare - Evann sprang into action as well, teeth bared, her target the left flank, where she hoped to help the other's in causing small wounds to serve as distraction. Word count: 353 "Speech." Thought

This is the start of the fifth round. WOLVES MAY NOT JOIN THIS THREAD AT THIS POINT. The next round will begin on 3/15/14 on 6:00 EST

His actions resulted in a flurry of motion from the crowd of wolves as they scrambled for positions. Orken felt his heart beating faster. But just in the nick of time, the wolf he had been aiming for was shoved out of the way by some other wolf that wished to come to his defense. Ah, this one is a martyr. Though there were only seconds remaining before Orken's antlers and all his weight impaled the black dog, Orken found that its heroism reflected his own values. He found himself pulling his head away from the wolf as if to spare him just this once. It would be a boon between two heroes, whether or not the wolf had enough intelligence to understand it. He planted his forelegs in front of him, applying the breaks and reining himself in. Awkwardly, he grunted at the black wolf, hoping to bridge the gap of understanding between their two worlds. "Bravery never goes unrewarded."

In the moments he wasted trying to speak to the beasts, though, the wolves had found the time to enact some sort of strategy. They were now upon him, leaping at his hindquarters. He felt teeth sink in and scrape his flesh on his right, his left, all around him, two for each side. A normal bull elk might have bucked and kicked at them, but Orken was a very strange bull for his kind and he was renown for his unorthodox fighting style. With a wild smile stretched across his face, Orken rolled to his left side where @Sagacity and @Evann were, hoping to crush them under his bulk of nearly 1,200 lbs (544kg). If somehow they managed to get out of the way, he'd already be rolling right back onto his feet, no longer surrounded by the wolves.

With Evann at her side and Koda and Iopah on the elk's other side, they had him surrounded. She hadn't been paying attention to the black male who'd shoved Koda out of the way- but when the elk spoke, she found herself surprised- and somewhat distracted. And when the bulk of elk began to descend upon her, she had hardly enough time to get out of the way. While he was large, he was fast, and his weight dropped as though something had clubbed him over the head and dropped him dead to the ground. Sage shouldered the thinner Evann in her own effort to get out of the bull elk's way and as a result, one of the elk's hind hooves caught her shoulder. She grunted and staggered, but in the very least she hadn't been elk-rolled.

With all four of them- Sagacity, Iopah, Koda and Evann- so long as she didn't suffer the demise of being flattened- on one side of the elk as he stood, there was a chance for him to get away, though Miccah still created at least somewhat of a barricade to keep him from charging forward...Or in the very least, discourage him. Sagacity's shoulder smarted but her appetite begged her to continue- she could smell the elk's blood and wanted to taste it once again. With a savage snarl and a renewed determination, she lunged once again at the elk's vulnerable, soft flank, just between his haunch and his belly. It was a sensitive place and she hoped it would do some damage in revenge.

Good, they were working together. Gent was pleased as Sagacity & Chulyin's mild indecision was slighted by the other pack's representatives' blunt appeal. This would give him hope that the thin bonds he'd strove to create earlier in the winter would be strengthened rather than broken. If they could earn themselves an ally, perhaps it would make up for pissing off Cut Rock River. Or maybe Naira would resent this approach just as much, the boy could never tell what her mood would decide. As it was, he believe thoroughly that cooperation was the right choice. He followed behind the others, allowing the two secondaries to take the lead. Gent had nodded to Evann, the stuttering wolf who he was fond of, before locking his glacial gaze onto the elk ahead. In what felt like no time at all, they were upon the prey, and the action was instant. Given his delay, Gent hit the ring just as the beast threw itself to the ground, and just as he'd been lunging forward the yearling sprung out his legs before him to quickly bounce back, alarmed and caught off guard by the flailing of knobby hoofed legs and sharpened tines. He let out a hiss of a growl, angered by the gall of this animal to fight back and attempt to harm his pack mates, rather than showing proper fear as prey should. There was an instant where the thrashing was paused as the mammoth rolled its legs under itself to stand, leaving the only threat as its swaying, antler-adorned head, and this was an opportunity Gent was ready to take. Launching from the opposite side of Sagacity, Gent went for the same vulnerable spot, looking to tear as deeply as possible before it started kicking again.

For some reason, Miccah couldn't get his footing. It was only by some miracle of the Fates that the elk somehow changed his mind to spear him right through the middle. Breathing a sigh of relief, the man finally regained his footing. His eyes widened as the elk rolled onto his side. With his large build, he could easily crush someone! Watching as the strange wolves (Sagacity and Evann) got out of the way in the knick of time, he breathed another sigh of relief. Well, almost in the knick of time. The petite silver wolfess got hit in the shoulder, but she was sure putting up a strong front, not letting it stop her from targeting the elk yet again. Miccah admired her for that. His blue gaze switched to Iopah and Koda. They were both pulling their weight, snapping at the elk ferociously. Now, it was his time to battle.

Miccah picked his paws up and ran in a full circle around the five wolves. "We need to tire him out! Keep at it!," he barked for them all to hear. An encouragement and order all in one. Determination rang in his tone. They would not lose this golden opportunity. This elk was going to die, and it would die at their hands. Finishing his circle, he was once again in front of the elk. Snapping his jaws, his paws moved on their own accord. They needed to keep him boxed in. Soon, all his wounds would get to him. He just hoped exhaustion wouldn't set in by then.

Under her snapping jaws Iopah felt the beast come to a stop. In her fury she couldn't deferential between a voluntary halt... and collision. She thrust the thought of Koda from her mind. There was nothing she could do that she wasn't already doing.

The fast approach of the two Keep wolves was initially meet with distrust. She had so much adrenaline, from both the elk's charge and her own subsequent attack, that is made her suspicious and overly defensive. What if they were going to take advantage of the situation? But they were intent on the elk, beginning to attack in the same manner. And Iopah could only handle one threat at a time. So, when Sagacity caught her gaze she held onto it's meaning. Just as before, she had no choice but to trust this she-wolf.

The disbelief at Koda's re-appearance was fleeting, soon they were side by side in their attack. When the elk began to lower Iopah hesitated. There were no vital organs back here; Why was he dropping? As Orken continued his roll Iopah warily watched his hoofed feet raise before her. She needed something not hoof-shaped to target. His shoulder was tempting but a glance at his impressive headset decided it. With a determined growl she returned to his right haunch.

Her earlier love bites were meant to distract and infuriate, now she wanted to keep her grip. She aimed for his right haunch. She wanted to sink her teeth deep and pull, damaging muscle and rendering that leg as useless as possible.
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Iopah basically watched Orken roll over then went back to the same spot as before.

(This post was last modified: Mar 17, 2014, 04:21 PM by Iopah.)

Fight not to fail, not to fall! Success! Her teeth connected and she bit down hard, but though her entire body was screaming for sustenance, she didn't allow herself to be overwhelmed by triumph - or the sweet taste of blood that came with it. Rather she kept her eyes strained on the bull's head, trying to anticipate his movements. And then he went down. A new wave of elation rushed through her, but it was killed almost immediately; the beast was falling down on top of her, and his weight would break her like a twig; Oh shit! Desperately, with fear threatening to push her into panic, the brown wolfess let go of the elk's flank, dropping to the ground, ready to bolt. Then an unexpected weight graced her side, pushing her off balance. She fell, and above her the body of the huge beast was baring down on her. Frantically, she rolled, slipping under the elk before his side smashed into the ground, narrowly avoiding his crushing weight. Almost. A cry of pain escaped her as the tip of her tail got wedged under the rolling beast. The bull soon got back on his feet, freeing her squashed tail, and the girl quickly got back up, leaping a few bounds away from the animal. Her tail was throbbing painfully, its broken tip changing her sense of balance; only the adrenalin rushing through her veins kept her on her feet, numbing the pain in favor of her thirst for blood; And revenge! Evann watched as Sagacity regained her own bearing and jumped back at their prey, and then the black stranger took a victory lab, playing cheerleader; had the circumstances been different, the slender girl would have laughed as his display, but now she simply nodded in agreement. Then she jumped back into the fight, leaping at the elk, snapping her jaws to confuse and scare him. Finally after several bluff attacks, she launched the real deal, aiming for the back of the bulls right shoulder, intent on getting a firm grip and keeping it; it was time to stop this beast from moving! Word count: 348 "Speech." Thought

This is the start of the sixth round. WOLVES MAY NOT JOIN THIS THREAD AT THIS POINT. The next round will begin on 3/19/14 on 1:00 PM EST

Though Orken had managed to escape the wolves, it was only for the moment. Already some of them were closing in on him again, and the bull was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake when he had chosen not to run. Subtly, he began to turn and shift is weight to his hindquarters so that he might spring away when a wolf he hadn't previously noticed manifested on his left. Fear began to sink in. Where had that one come from? Orken's attempt to escape the black beast's parted jaws was feeble: he awkwardly reared pack and swiveled back to his right, only to find several wolves waiting there for him.

Then they were embedded in his stomach. Okren looked down at the two of them hanging from his underbelly in shock.

One of them tugged again and suddenly his entrails were spilling out.

His eyes were awash with fading curiosity as his intestine dangled from his torso and more wolves piled on him. He looked up, he could see the wolf he had spared barking something. To him? To the others? Orken couldn't tell. With the weight of four wolves on him, the bull could no longer stand, and he crashed to the ground, hoping vaguely that he would crush one of those stupid wolves underneath in his last act as Third privateer. Somewhere he could hear the sound of another bull bugling.

Orken is now dead Spirit of Wildwood will not longer be making posts on his account and the rounds will proceed regularly every two days.

-Slaps Karp-

everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Karpos was so lost and confused as he gazed at what was happening. He was trying to figure out how to jump in without messing something up and just as he had made it to the elk to help take down, it had fallen. Karpos was going to leap at it's back to drag it down but it was done. The elk was dead and it had fallen. He backed up and watched for the adults to eat. He couldn't possibly eat because he did nothing to aid in the take down. Guilt filled Karp and he looked at his paws in shame. Damn it Karp, you failed. He had failed in what he promised to do. It appeared {at leas to him} that he had just shown up for the food.

To himself, he looked like a major slacker.

Karpos wanted to ask permission then and there to leave and start a search for Aponi and Mercy, which he should have gone out to look for them long ago, because he felt like he needed to do it. He felt like he was the one who had to bring Aponi home. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe, resisting the urge to take a giant bite out of the elk. He turned his head and sat back by the bushes and away from the crown. Pitiful Karpos, just pitiful. His conscience snapped at him as he offered a small and almost unheard growl in response. He laid in the snow and watched.