Lost Lake fit for kings

pack hunt thread! thought i'd get it started. paging @Tagg
@Anthem -- backdated for 5/22, early evening. Any other packmates welcome!

Once she was further away from the natal den, Desideria shifted from a stealthy walk to an easy lope. The scent of the pines lining the territory was thick in the air, but it could not hide the telltale perfume of a small herd of deer wandering nearby. They'd flown too close to the sun, and soon one of them would end up burnt. Once she felt she was far enough away from Namid and her puppies, the tawny timber wolf slowly to a halt, and pressed her nose to the sky. Wriggling it, she noted the musky scent of the ungulates was heavier here. They were getting closer. She dare not bark for her packmates, lest she startle the deer before the hunt could begin. Instead, she settled down in the fallen pines, her light coat blending in well amongst the trunks of trees. Her ears swiveled on her head like little radar dishes, listening for any further sign of the prey, or of her packmates approaching. It was not her idea to hunt, and she had no desire to take over the lead in this. Hunting small prey was her forte. Well, no, stealing was her true forte, but she was trying to change these things. When another wolf approached, she lifted her head, waiting for her packmate to come close enough to whisper. "I can hear them. I'm not-- Never hunted a deer before, but I've hunted a lot of small things. I can flush it out towards you though, I'm good at that. Just give the word."

LuDa-Stock & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

OOC: Thanks Des :)
@Anthem @Angele
Word Count: 276

Tagg quickly followed Des from the den area, not wanting to miss out on the hunt.  He assumed Anthem and the white female with him would join them soon.  He found Desideria quickly, sitting a small ways ahead.  Her ears twitched at his approach, and her voice was cautiously quiet as he approached.

He nodded.  Her idea was a good one.  "Let's wait for the other hunters too.  I don't want to give the go ahead an have Anthem expect to lead."  His impression of the beta had been that he was just and understanding, but he would rather be safe than sorry.  He didn't know who he had been with, but they had seemed close and he was a little unsettled by her.  "Do you know who that white lady with Anthem was? I haven't met her." He risked whispering, barely breathing as he formed the words.

He sat with his blind side to the female beside him, good eye aimed back towards the natal den to watch for the beta and new member.  He didn't know if anyone else would be joining them, but he knew even four members would be a good team to take down a deer.

As they waited, Tagg listened to the herd closely, hoping for some sign of an injured member that would prove easy to take down.  He couldn't tell, though maybe Des had noticed something.  He glanced at her, but didn't want to risk speaking again in case the deer had caught on to them.  He listened carefully for her reply, knowing she would be cautious enough to speak quietly should she choose to reply at all.

"Speech"  Thought

l

Leaving the den site with one last look at the new father Anthem had followed the two younger wolves. They had taken the lead so far and he wasn't inclined to wrestle it away from them. Not trying to keep up he let them fall away from site. He breathed in the air around him trying to calm himself. He felt jittery and excited with the birth of the pups. He had to get a hold of himself so that he didn't mess up the hunt. Feeling the excited energy trickle away slowly he smiled. He needed to be focused so that they could bring a fest back to their King and Queen. Then they could feast. 

Speeding up so that he could catch up to the other two he found Des and Tagg. They seemed to be talking about something but he pushed it aside thinking that they were figuring out how they were going to take down the deer. Slipping up onto the other side of Tagg Anthem inhaled deeply. The scent of deer was thicker here and it was making him hungry. A small smile played on his face as he glanced at Des before coming to rest on Tagg. What's the plan? He asked a brow raising as he asked the question. Angele was likely going to be joining them soon so he didn't feel like he needed to wait on asking the question. 

His ears twisted to hear the answer of the question as he peered through the leaves of the bushes around them trying to catch sight of a deer that they could take down. His gaze was caught by a young male deer or rather its antlers. Phantom pain echoed across the beta's back as he watched the herd. He didn't know if they should try and go for a young one as it might not feed them all but if they went for something older that wasn't weakened by age or an injury they could get hurt. It was life though he mused to himself as he glanced once more to his companions.

I am the Anthem we sing,

  

My sister the Angele we follow,

     

My brother ,Nathaniel, our guide

Together we shall not stray.

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

The first wolf to approach was the man who'd suggested a hunt in the first place. He was quick to settle with her, keeping low and out of the wind as the deer continued to wander nearby. It would be such a pity, if they wasted their opportunity before they really began. Rolling her ears forward, his question caught her slightly off guard. But then again, this was the male that even Namid admitted to knowing little about – for all the scout in training knew, the russet wolf preferred to stay away from the rest of the pack altogether, coming together only when it benefitted the entire group. Leaning in, she whispered, "Her name is Angele. She's Anthem's sister." Admittedly, she knew little else about the newcomer, other than that she was large, and thought very well of her sibling. They probably made a decent team, not unlike her own brothers. Sometimes it seemed as if the twins could speak without words or signals, only through a special telesthesia that belonged only to them. If the same were true for the Fallen Tree Cove pack siblings, it could work well to the hunting party's advantage – assuming Angele and Anthem wanted to work with them at all. She didn't have to wait for long, as the beta soon approached the pair. Lifting her head, she gave the cloudy wolf a nod in acknowledgement. "Was waiting for you," she murmured quietly. "I offered to flush the deer. 'm not very big, but I'm quick, and can chase them towards you two if you tell me where you want them." Desideria lapsed into silence after her offer, looking from the oldest to the youngest as she waited for one of the males to make a decision.

LuDa-Stock & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

OOC: Sorry, due to a time crunch I'm going to use the same role-play segment I used as my exit from the birthing thread... I apologize again... I suck I know...


Angele watched her brother follow the other wolves and reluctantly rose to her feet to do the same.  She really wanted to talk to him in private, but right now she just needed to get the hunt over with.  As usual she would follow her brother’s lead and do as he did.  He seemed interested in the young Tagg fellow, and she wasn’t about to get in the way of whatever he was planning.



 

Angele joined the others, who were muttering something about the hunt.  She settled next to Anthem, watching the other two out of the corner of her eye.  She realized Tagg was blind in one eye and couldn’t help but wonder how useful he would turn out to be if he couldn’t see properly.  She refrained from saying anything, however, to avoid alerting their prey to their presence.  She didn’t care to hunt at that moment, true, but she also didn’t want to let her brother down.

 

Her ears twitched foreword, listening for the deer she knew lie ahead.  She could smell them, and their foot-falls made soft thumps in her sensitive ears.  There were a few of them; good – they would have their choice of meat.  She glanced at Anthem, who was telling the others to take the lead.  She rolled her eyes to herself; great.  The organizers of the hunt were blind and unpredictable.  Neither option sounded good.

 

She realized, though, that her brother must be testing them and didn’t comment.  She just waited for what they had to say.

My brother is the Anthem we sing,
 
I am the Angele we follow,
   
My brother, Nathaniel, our guide

Together we shall not stray.

OOC: Sorry this took so long!
Word Count: 299


Tagg swallowed.  It was his time, and he wanted to do well. He wanted to prove to Vespertio that he'd made the right choice to allow him to join the pack, even though he'd broken wolf code and crossed into his territory without permission.  If only Anthem's sister weren't present... she was unnerving him a bit.  But he knew he had to get over that; there was no reason for him to be afraid of her.  He swallowed.


“I think Des’ idea was good.  She and Angele should go around so the herd is surrounded.  Since you’re the largest of us, Angele, I think you should select our target.  You and Des can single it out and drive it towards me and Anthem.  From there we can just try to wear it down and take the final shot when we have an opening.  We’ve got to communicate, though.  If all of us go for a killing blow at the same time we’ll get tangled up and lose it.”  He whispered to his companions.  He couldn’t help but feel the thrill of planning it out.  He didn’t know the girls much, but Tagg knew he could rely on Anthem and assumed his sister would be the same.  She did unnerve him with her silent, pinning stare, but he figured it was just the nerves.  He liked Des; she reminded him of Rift a bit.  He just knew he could rely on her as well.

 

Tagg glanced around at each of his pack mates, waiting for what they had to say.  He looked at Anthem, searching for any sign that he approved of his plan.  

 

The smell of the deer was becoming intoxicating, and Tagg’s heart began to beat a little faster.  He was ready to get out there and hunt!


"Speech"

l

Anthem felt more than saw his siblings approach as he watched and listened to the two younger wolves speak. Their plan wasn't a bad one and it was simple so it would make things easier. The only thing that he would have changed was the fact that maybe that Tagg and Des should chase the deer toward Angele and him. The way he saw it was that the two smaller wolves were likely faster than him and his sister but he didn't voice his thoughts. Maybe there was a reason to have them paired like they were he didn't know but he was interested to see how everything panned out. At least with him being teamed with Tagg he could help him as needed and if things got ugly then he would be able to get the other out of danger faster than he would have had he been teamed with Angele or Des. 

I don't have an objections. He commented softly his voice barely a whisper as the scent of deer seemed to increase. Was the herd moving closer? He glanced to look at them through the bushes to watch them for a moment before looking at his companions once more. He wasn't in charge Tagg was so he would have to direct them but first they needed a target. Looking at Angele's lighter hued form he waited for her to make her choice. With the four of them he was sure that they could handle whatever she picked.

I am the Anthem we sing,

  

My sister the Angele we follow,

     

My brother ,Nathaniel, our guide

Together we shall not stray.

It was a small group, but it seemed to be capable enough. Anthem was the beta, after all, and their hunting leader had been here longer than herself or the white female. Resisting her urge to hum, she simple offered the youngest wolf a short nod. Less voice meant less chance the herd about the area would notice them. Fortunately, the gray male approved as well, and the desert dame nodded again, acknowledging the highest ranking wolf. Her tail swished once behind her as her eyes sought out the other femme – they'd met before. Perhaps they didn't understand each other so well, but they were no hostilities between the two. They could probably work together. "Angele can pick the mark," she agreed, voice very low, "and I will chase it to you two here, yeah? I'm the fastest, I can cut it off if it tries to make a run for it once it realizes this is a trap." Nodding once, she glanced around the small group of others. Smallest, and fastest, the scout in training was certain that would be the best use of her abilities. "And I won't go for the killing blow…'less someone tells me, yeah? So no worries there." Speed came at the cost of strength, after all. Picking herself off the forest floor, Desideria gave the pair of males one last nod before she began to creep away, waiting for Angele to follow – and eventually, take the lead. If this would get them a kill, she was happy to fall in line, and once they were in place, she turned her head towards the white wolf. "Say who," she whispered, voice barely audible, even to a canine's ear.

LuDa-Stock & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

Urg, sorry for the wait, y'all. Lost Des' muse for a few days there. x _ x

OOC: Sorry for the wait you guys... I'm having some time crunch issues... so what is our posting order, anyway? I was looking through and it's pretty hectic... Do we just want to do Des, Angele, Anthem, Tagg? Since that's the order we appear to be in now?  Y'alls thoughts? I'm doing Angele cuz it's been longest since her post.

Angele listened to the others' words and Tagg's plan.  She thought perhaps the smaller wolf should be a chaser since he seemed to be built for speed, but she wasn't going to argue if Anthem wasn't.  She shrugged and peered through the bushes, watching the deer for any sign of a weakness she could exploit.  She didn't want the young one; there were enough of them to select a more ambitious target.  She wasn't sure she wanted the lead buck, though, because she didn't want to risk the injury of one of the younger two.  She selected instead a smaller male.  Still large enough to feed the entire pack - including the new mouths - but small enough to not be a major threat to the hunters.

"That one." She whispered, pointing with her nose and glancing at Des.  "I'm going to go around the opposite way." she said, slinking off through the bushes away from the others. She would watch for Des to make her move and take the deer from the side to help drive it away from the herd and towards her brother and the hunt coordinator.  She crouched down, waiting.  Her ears strained to pick up any signal the other pack members might give her.  She took a deep breath and felt her pulse slow to a steady, calm rhythm.  She was ready, and nothing remained for her to do but wait on the strike.

My brother is the Anthem we sing,
 
I am the Angele we follow,
   
My brother, Nathaniel, our guide

Together we shall not stray.