Hush Meadow Teamwork means never having to take all the blame yourself

For @Enoki

Mordacai rolled back on his haunches, and licked his chest fur absent-mindedly as he waited on his sister. Keeping clean had become habitual for the young Ashrelle: if he wanted to be respected then he had to look respectable. Cai's amber eyes scoured the uneven ground of the meadow. He was sure there was plenty of prey hiding amidst the small hills and that made him confident that he and Enoki would be able to catch plenty of prey to fill up the caches. It would be the first step in proving himself to his leaders. Soon they would see how capable he was of taking care of the whole pack.

Deciding to let his sister know that he was here waiting for her, Cai tilted his head back and howled, a deep husky sound that Kiki would easily be able to identify. The dark male rose to his feet and stretched his legs, preparing for the hunt. Cai hoped that after a successful hunt today he might be able to win the attention of some of his other packmates. He had not, as of yet, made enough connections with his pack mates to completely replace the feeling of family that he had in Calarosa. Perhaps, he never would. His future seemed uncertain and Cai didn't want to bother considering the many options that were open to him now that he had left Calarosa. For now, he simply wanted to focus on the hunt and spending time with his sister. It had been many years since they hunted together, but Cai imagined that the two would fall into step easily enough. After all, they were family and family was forever, wasn't it?

The call floated effortlessly on the light breeze that toyed with the ever changing leaves as they held on for dear life to their branches, Enoki stopping in her tracks to twist and turn her ears in different directions while listening to her brothers call for her. He was waiting in the meadow now, ready to get their hunt started. This sent a tingle of excitement down her spine and set her paws into motion, carrying herself at a quickened run to close the distance from where she now stood to the Hush Meadow where he awaited the Ashrelle princess.

As soon as she left the willow forest she was welcomed by the knolls and openness of the meadow, the black figure of her brother just off to the right from where she entered the area. With an enthusiastic wag of her tail behind her Enoki marched over to his side, adorning his muzzle with a lick of affection. "You ready, brother? I can't wait to stretch these ol' legs." she informed, her body starting to gain a sense of vibration as her lust for the hunt started its rise from the pit of her stomach. Hunting was and always would be her go to activity. Nothing beats the rush of running across open ground with your target running across the same ground, but to escape with their life. The entire process was thrilling and she wondered if Mordacai felt the same waves of adrenaline when he hunted at home. Was it an Ashrelle trait or just a sensation Enoki felt alone?

Cai smiled as his sister approached and welcomed him with an affectionate lick. "Born ready, sis. It's been too long since we had an opportunity to hunt together." The dark male nudged his sister's shoulder with his own before wondering deeper into the meadow. Looking back he called over his shoulder to her, "Who knows? You might be impressed by how much Ive improved." With a sly smile he turned back and paused to scent the air and was pleased to catch the scent of quite a few different prey. The scent of rabbit was heavy and that meant that the scent of fox was also heavy, but Cai had no interest in those vermin. The scent of smaller mammals, such as mice and voles, was also strong in the meadow. Cai wondered what he and his sister would hunt today. They were both good hunters so it would be a waste to hunt something small, but with only two wolves they couldn't hunt anything too large either.

Cai turned his dark head and let his amber eyes settle on his piebald sister. "What should we hunt today, Kiki?" Cai asked with a questioning look in his eyes. As soon as the question had passed his dark maw, he regretted it. The question, the nickname, the situation. It was the same as when he was a pup. The sound of his rich, husky voice sounded out of place with the question he had asked. The last time he had said those words his voice had not had the deep tones of manhood, but the squeaky notes of a boy. How odd that four years late, reunited with his sister, he should think that his voice sounded out of place. If anything, it was everything else that was out of place.

A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity

What where they gonna hunt was a good question and she didn't know just yet. A quick smell of the air around them told her that there was plenty of smaller prey hiding in the grass, but that would make for a poor hunting trip if all they caught were hares darting to and fro. Yet at the same time the smell of deer was heavy on the air, but with there only being two wolves this go around it would be harder to do the work of pinpointing a target, separating it form the heard and then giving the chase to take it down. The only luck on their side was that the bucks were still in rut, paying less attention to their surroundings and the females around them. Boy did the Ashrelle siblings need a prayer answered.

Blessed be the day as their prayers were indeed answered and Enoki's amber orbs became trained on a small herd nestled in the center of the meadow, more importantly they focused on a lone deer young in age making its way away from the herd and becoming separated. This hunt was basically handed to them now. Keeping her eyes trained on the young doe like a sniper she spoke softly to Mordacai now. "There is a young deer that's become separated from the herd. We have our prey." Nails began to knead at the soil beneath them as the excitement and thrill that came with hunting bubbled beneath her business casual exterior. The pink of her tongue broke past the black lining of her lips to lick at her muzzle as if she already tasted the sweet and tender walking meat on legs. "Think we can manage it seeing as it is younger and would take less effort to take down?" She asked before taking only a split second to look over at him in acknowledgement. Enoki did not want to give that young doe a chance to disappear from her sight. No way was their potential lunch getting away from them. Or was it?

Mordacai followed his sister's amber gaze with his own and saw what had attracted her attention. Indeed, they had their prey. A young doe had strayed away from its herd and was now vulnerable to the attack of the two wolves. Certainly they could manage to take down a young doe. And deer weren't like wolves when it came to their pack. The creatures would scatter once the wolves came out and they would not double back to protect their young. If the doe could not outrun them, could not fight them off, and would receive no back up then how could the Ashrelle siblings possibly fail? For these reasons, when his sister asked him if he was in agreement with her on the target for their hunt, he gave her a quick curt nod and she quickly returned her sights back on the doe.

Cai's lips drew back in a snarl, baring powerful and sharp canines, and his muscles bunched in preparation to move. What was he waiting for? Would Enoki lay out a plan for them to follow? Would she give the order to begin? No, not today. It was time for the younger Ashrelle to show his talents and prove himself. Cai took several cautious steps toward the deer and stopped once he was in front of his sister, closer to the doe than she. If Enoki stayed to the back and circled around the deer, she could could come at it from its left. The deer would dart away to the right and find itself running closer to where Mordacai would be lying in wait, crouched behind one of the small hills. When it passed by, he could jump out and sink his teeth into its rear and use his weight to drag it down. Once he had it anchored Enoki could go for the neck and land a killing blow. All in all it was a solid plan. Now he just had to share it with his sister.

Sorry post is blah. My muse has been nonexistent for Enoki

Enoki's body began to press low to the ground in preparation for the hunt, but before a single thought of strategy could cross her mind the swarthy pelt of her brother blocked her view of the target. What was he doing? If he kept creeping closer surely he would scare the doe away and hope of catching a potential mean would be all but lost then. In warning she emitted a low growl that rumbled faintly in her chest, but she knew that he would hear it. If he had a plan of attack she would have preferred he share it with her before hand instead of on the fly like it was appearing to be now. Organization was key for any successful hunt.

Her growl went unnoticed as Mordacai continued to creep forward then brought his frame to a stop, his coat still blocking her view. Reluctantly the huntress slunk around to his left enough to catch the young doe in her sights again, having to reassess the scene that unfolded before her amber tinted orbs. It was obvious that the younger Ashrelle had something to prove to his sister and nothing was going to change his mind about it. But what was this plan brewing within his brain? He would have to communicate with her if they planned to bring the doe down. With a small turn of her head and a hushed tone she glanced to her right in his direction. "What brilliant plan do you have in mind, Cai?"

All good! Take your time with replies, I dont mind:)

Cai tensed when Enoki asked him what "brilliant plan" he had in mind.

She's mocking you.... A voice taunted him in his head. He was beginning to hate this voice. It drifted up form the back of his mind like smoke from fire. He wouldn't see it coming but then it would be in the fore front of his mind making his head foggy and blinding him until what it said was all he had to go on.

She was mocking him. Well I'll show her, he thought to himself as he went over his plan once more in his head. It should work and once they caught the doe she would have to acknowledge that he had led the hunt and that he had done a damn good job of it. Determined, the swarthy male barked out his orders, "Look you just hang back and circle around. Once you're on the opposite side, go after it and when it runs I'll catch it and anchor it down for you and then you can go for the neck." This was a classic hunting technique and there was no reason for it not to work with two skilled hunters going after a young doe. Still, as Cai's amber eyes remained focused on the deer something made his guard hairs rise. And it wasn't the anticipation of the hunt. Something was wrong. With him or with Enoki or with them. He ignored it to the best of his ability but there was a bad feeling gnawing at the dark male's insides.

The fur along her shoulder blades couldn't resist the urge to bristle at the way he barked orders at her, the tone he used rubbing Enoki the wrong way and clearly he was feeling it too as he own guard hairs rose even if his attention locked on the deer. Where had that come from? This was a new side to her brother she didn't know about and questioned if she even wanted to get to know it further. It wasn't a pretty look on the regal prince, but she pushed whatever his problem was aside and forced her own guard hairs to smooth back out, switching her amber gaze from her slightly hostile brother to the young deer that continued to venture farther from the herd nonchalantly. What a fool.

Pictures flashed across the fore front of her mind like a miniature motion picture as she played the hunting technique Mordacai spoke of scene by scene. It was a standard hunting technique and the chances of failing were slim, but the way he said it once again began to fog her judgement. What was getting into her, into them? They always got along and never had arguments, but maybe the years apart had done more damage than good to their relationship. There was no doubt that a strain was forming in their bond. 'Focus, Enoki.' she calmed herself before speaking on behalf of his plan. "Fine." was all she ushered out in an attempt to avoid giving him something else to grumble about later since he was in such a sour mood now. Slinking away from his swarthy frame she stalked to the left and kept low to the ground, beginning to circle widely around the meadow to reach the opposite side without alerting the deer and ruining their chances. It was going smoothly until...snap..a twig broke loudly beneath her paw and echoed off everything around them. 'Shit. Why me!' Enoki mentally cursed as the deer in the area lifted their heads in alert and darted off for the safety of the trees. So much for Cai's plan. It was time to improvise.

Having no other choice if they wanted to eat Enoki bounded off full speed toward the young doe that was still yards away from her, a snarl rippling from her jaws at her accidental mistake and the desire to save the hunt. A failed hunt never left the piebald woman in a good mood and the last thing she needed that day was to be in a bad mood with a sibling that was in an equally sour mood. The outcome of that couldn't be good.

Cali kept his eyes on the doe as his sister processed his plan. A part of him was relieved when she agreed and began to circle around. At the sound of a loud SNAP! relief quickly boiled over into frustration and as he saw her piebald form dart across the meadow and go after the deer that frustration sizzled into anger. First she messed up his plan and now she was just going to wing it! What the hell was her problem today?

She thinks she's better than you. She doesn't need you for this hunt. The smoky voice was in full force now. His head was clouded by it's influence. His muscles were throbbing as adrenaline pumped through his veins. His vision became hazed over by a red filter brought on by his anger. Cai let loose a vicious growl. At his sister, at the doe, he didn't really know. Mordacai had had enough!

Time to end this, the swarthy male thought to himself as he darted out from his hiding spot and let his legs launch him in leaps and bounds towards the doe. Now the doe had detected both of them and hastily began its retreat, turning and starting towards its herd. Hell no, Cai thought as he urged his legs to push him farther, faster. He and Enoki were both enclosing on the helpless animal and there was no way it could out run them now. They had already closed too much of the distance for it to even have a prayer of escape. But who would go for the killing blow? Cali knew that he should go for the rear and try to anchor the deer down for his sister but he couldn't help but want to vehemently refuse that plan. Why the hell should he make the way for her when she had messed up his plan? She should have been more careful! If he couldn't have the glory for coming up with a successful plan then he would take the glory for landing the killing blow. With that Cai launched himself at the deer's throat, yellowed teeth bared and ready to sink into the animal's jugular.