Riddle Heights A dangerous Venture

@Cornelia - I think these two might make an interesting thread if you'll treat me to one :)

Kaela wandered along under the trees, ears twitching as the rain sprinkled around her. She wasn’t quite sure where she was anymore, only that she was alone. Since her encounter with the old woman, Kaela had resumed avoiding other wolves like she had before. She’d headed towards the mountains, hoping to find some high ground, and maybe even some snow. She despised warmth, and wouldn’t be satisfied until the cold hard of winter was once again a buffer between her paws and the dirt.

She stopped, sniffing the air. Something smelled… delicious. She liked it. The only problem was her size. The scent indicated an equine creature of some sort, but she wasn’t quite sure. Her hunts usually took place with a rodent. She sniffed again, longing to follow it but fully aware that she would never be able to take one down on her own, even if it was a calf. Now would be a good time to run into somebody. She thought, glancing around.

Looking around, Kaela sat down. Thunder rumbled overhead, causing her to jump. She shrank low against the ground and snarled up at the sky, hackles bristling and ears flat against her skull. She huddled as close to the ground as she could force her body to go and continued warning the sky not to touch her. She was dangerous. She would not be abused by the sky and its yellow lightning. She refused to be cowed by its power. She would not run like a pup from the noise. She would stand and fight.

And she would win.

"Speech" Thought

@Kaela I'm honored! ^-^

Cornelia Hungry eyes followed the family of deer that lazily stepped through the rain. Their young near their mothers who ate from the leaves as the one stag cautiously looked around. The bad weather didn’t ease the stag’s anxiety.  Once more the woman cursed her lonesome existence, feeling the bitter taste on her tongue as the image of her old pack flashed right before her eyes. Maybe another time, she thought as she slowly backed away from the bushes she had been hiding beneath. If she wasn’t going to join any  pack she could always something akin to a hunting partner. Cornelia felt little for regular company nowadays, she kept herself safe and fed. Any other wolf could only risk the little stability her life currently provided. The timber woman looked at the green roof of leaves. In between the spaces she could see the dark grey looming over their heads. This would be no good, if the soon coming thunder would decide to crack into one of the many trees. Fires had started that way, or so she was told. Cornelia could believe in those tales when a low growling sound shook the earth to its core. Her fur rose slightly at the sound but soon smoothened out, it was only thunder. A bright flash from the lightning strike blinded the wolf for a second before she blinked and the world was again, dark grey. Cornelia shook her head as she moved on, the water in her fur splattering everywhere. The thunder made her slightly uneasy, the trees seemed to be more present that they usually were, mainly due the stories of fires after thunder and wood collided. She was not planning to die under a tree, or anytime soon to begin with. Like every storm it would come by, trashing the place and scaring the daylights out of everything but soon after everything would be alright again. Cornelia stopped in her walk, sniffed in the air as she confirmed the smell that had been hidden behind the cloak of rain. Wolf. Somewhere nearby too, Cornelia searched around her, eyes staring like a hawk as she sought for anything out of place. Soon her eyes fell upon a dark fur with lighter variants pressed down on the earth. If she had eyes Cornelia would raise them high in the air, unfortunately she had not. Instead the female simply walked over, silently judging whatever the other was doing. ‘You’re scared of thunder?’ She asked curtly with a tilt of her head. She looked down upon the younger female, lately she got a lot of youngsters on her path. "Speech." Maybe I walked this long way by myself

Kaela jumped, her fear of the thunder snapping from her eye like a bent sapling springing to regain it’s usual position.  She had half a mind to simply attack the newcomer, but a second crack of thunder left her immediately calm and calculating.  The Voices didn’t push it this time. She sat serenely, tail curled over her paws.  She twitched one dismissive ear as she regarded the other female.  Kaela vaguely remembered wanting to find another wolf, but she couldn’t remember why.  She didn’t typically like other wolves.  Why would she want one?

The sound of a deer fawn bleating drew Kaela’s attention.  A hunt! She thought, heart pounding in excitement.  Two of us could do it!  She returned her gaze to her counterpart as rain dripped down around them.  She fluffed her fur a bit to help keep her warm.

“We should hunt.” She said bluntly.  She was unused to speaking to others, and as such she had little practice asking things.  “Two of us could take a small doe or young yearling.”

Kaela didn’t feel the need to speak any further.  Words and pleasantries were lost on her.  She watched this other wolf, thinking.  She didn’t care to share a meal, though she supposed it would be worth it if it meant she got a change in diet.  She would be willing to make an exception. A sniff told Kaela she was a loner like herself; no other wolves would likely be coming their way.

Good.  We can drive away anyone that might come calling. She thought.

Kill, kill, kill, the Voices chanted, though for a change their commands weren’t aimed at the other canine, but the prey that waited for her to eat it.

"Speech"  Thought

(This post was last modified: Aug 03, 2015, 10:34 PM by Kaela. Edit Reason: bold )

Cornelia The young wolf jumped up, probably because the thunder and her own sudden appearance. Instantly her muscles tensed under her skin, any scared wolf could do something foolish. Dark brown eyes stared cautiously at the girl but she didn’t say anything yet. Leaving the girl alone to calm her nerves and consider another reaction except jumping up. The blue eyes shot Cornelia a calculating gaze, so this kid was not a stupid one. She could always keep walking if the girl was working on her nerves. She didn’t know why she had talked to her to begin with. Probably because she was surprised to bump into so many wolves lately. Seriously, talking about over population, but there was nothing you could do about it. The girl suddenly spoke unexpected words with shameless bluntness. A curt laugh rumbled with the thunder. ‘Yes, we should. Are you any good?’ Cornelia couldn’t help but curl the corners of her lips with this attitude. She liked it, straight to the point but not rude. Besides she felt like a change in her diet of squirrels and rabbits. How good would it feel to bring down something bigger than her own paw, eat something more juicy and more rewarding than prey that was half fur and bones. The woman shook her head to get some of the annoying rain that had drooped down, out of her ears. Her eyes fell over the girl’s body, her colors would go well with today’s gloomy weather. Her body seemed to be made for speed, with good long legs. Her eyes would be slight problem, the rain and thunder already hindered their sight but the girl had a natural disadvantage. Cornelia tilted her head slightly, no it should be okay. The girl had survived until now and she looked rather healthy which meant she could survive on her own. With or without perfect eyes. ‘You chase, I’ll bring it down.’ She concluded to her hunting partner of the day. Her body was built out of pure muscles, she had sparred and trained to bring animals down and eat the dust. Wolf or prey, it was no difference to her. Cornelia gave the girl a small smirk before she stalked off, towards the family of deer that would be soon rudely ripped apart by two beasts. "Speech." Maybe I walked this long way by myself

It seemed like a good plan to Kaela, who preferred running over confronting the beast. She nodded once and stood, following the woman back towards the deer. She now ignored the thunder overhead, uncaring. She was slightly surprised by the lack of irritation shown by her bluntness. It was usually met with a fight. But this wolf didn’t mind. They didn’t exchange names, which Kaela didn’t particularly care about. She’d never understood it anyway.

As they approached the deer sheltering under some trees, Kaela slipped away from her temporary partner’s side, circling around to get a better angle from which to scatter the deer. Bunching up her back legs, she threw herself from her hiding place with a ferocious snarl.

The ploy worked; the deer scattered and Kaela selected a young doe to target. She leapt in its way as it tried to flee the wrong direction, snarling and bristling like a porcupine. The deer reared and went the other direction. Kaela wasn’t sure where her hunting buddy was, but she figured she could catch up. Taking off after her prey, Kaela kept close, nipping at its heels to direct it.

The thrill of the chase pumped through her veins, carrying vital oxygen to her muscles and helping her to move faster. She was enjoying this. If traveling with a partner meant she could do this more often, it would almost be worth it. She didn’t believe in caring; getting attached lined one up to get hurt.

But this… this was fun.

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

@Kaela the opportunity is very fitting xD

Cornelia It was rarely the case that two wolves wouldn’t introduce themselves but did hunt together. Cornelia couldn’t say she disliked this kind of communication, where they only talked about their mission in their mind and on their tongue. It didn’t matter if she liked this kid or if the young wolf liked her. As long as they were successful in their hunt, all would be fine. With the thunder cracking in the air their already soft pace went deaf on the deer. The girl soon slipped from her side, for a second the dark eyes followed her form into the darkness before they refocused. Her eyes narrowed as she observed the group of deer, considering which one the girl would pick as their target. The girl soon came out of her hiding spot for an ambush full of snarling and displayed teeth. The herd panicked, running all over the place to find one direction of safety. One young doe was separated from its mother and the herd. A small smirk formed on her lips, unable to ignore the excitement and thrill that already ran through her body. Soon after Kaela’s dash to the herd, the woman followed on a slower pace. Giving her the chance to successfully drive their target away. The woman made a long arc around the two as they ran the opposite direction of the herd. Her eyes shone hard browns as she could see her target come closer and closer. Her heart beat like crazy as she took her accelerated her speed. With the throat in reach she lunged forward. Her teeth sinking into the thin layer of coat, right into the flesh and muscles. The doe made an anxious noise as it tried to get her off its throat. A loud growl came from her throat as she kept an iron grip on their young victim. She didn’t know what the girl was doing but she hoped she would jump to the attack. It would make the hunt a lot less tiring and the sooner this thing was down, the sooner they could eat. "Speech." Maybe I walked this long way by myself

It didn’t take long at all for the other wolf to make her appearance. Kaela couldn’t help but admire her skill as she caught their meal’s throat first try. Now that the chasing was done, Kaela had half a mind to sit and watch the other do her part and take it down.

But this was just too much fun.

She joined her partner in the attack, biting down on the creature’s rear leg until she heard the bone snap. The animal’s struggles increased as it desperately tried to escape its destiny at the teeth of the superior creatures. But it wasn’t going to.

Kaela raced foreword and slashed along the doe’s shoulder, severing muscle and tendons with her blow. With the leg out, it wouldn’t be able to strike back. With two of its legs out of commission and the weight of a predator hanging from its neck, the doe couldn’t continue standing. Its knees buckled and it collapsed, giving the wolves even more opportunity.

Kill kill kill! The Voices screamed, the thrill of the hunt giving them strength. She obeyed, pouncing upon her soon-to-be meal and savagely tearing into its back and neck. She almost forgot the presence of her hunting partner in her glee. This was so much better than those frail rabbits and mice; so much more satisfying than fish and birds. She was thrilled to once again have a larger creature to consume, with nobody to stop her.

"Speech" Thought

Cornelia Nailed to the doe’s neck Cornelia could only feel the ground with the tips of her hind legs. If the girl decided not to join in the ripping fun she would have to wait for the doe to run out of blood and sink to its knees. In that case she would probably have to let go for once in order to find an new anchor point in the doe’s flesh. The doe bumped down slightly, Cornelia didn’t know why as she was rather occupied but later on she would see the damage the girl had done to the doe’s hind legs. The metallic taste bloomed in her mouth as the blood poured through her teeth. The taste was delicious intoxicating, only adding up to the killing instinct she felt buzzing in her head. She wanted to rip the warm meat of its bones and fill her thirst with its blood. Feel the strength flow out of its body, let it panic and yank as it would fight for its right to live. Suddenly she could feel the doe give in to the weight on the front. The doe sunk through its knees as Cornelia let go of the piece of ripped skin. She didn’t feel like being smashed under the doe’s body. Young as it was, she was still heavy and able to break some of her ribs if she got trapped in the fall. Without the warm skin that hugged her teeth her jaw felt oddly empty, with an unsatisfied growl she joined the girl in her ripping fest. Going for the maw of the doe, biting down harshly into the soft flesh of nose and jaw. Slowly suffocating the life and power that was left of the young thing. Yes, die and be my meal. The widened eyes showed their whites as the doe tried to trample and kick but without doing any damage as two of them were rendered useless. The doe kicked, yanked it’s head for the last time until the body made a spastic movement and laid still. Frozen and without any soul to move a single muscle. Cornelia slowly let go of the maw, licking her bloodied face with a wicked grin. ‘Good job.’ She said as she looked over to the damage that was done by the two of them. Finally she understood why the doe had bumped and soon after fallen down to bite the dust. The girl had damaged the muscles of the legs, unable to put any weight on them their prey had fallen to his death bed. A risky move but totally worth it. The back and neck of the doe poured blood on the ground, as they stood. Cornelia’s tail made a satisfied swish in the air. No injuries, slightly out of breath with their bursting hunt but nothing that couldn’t recover after a full belly. The woman sauntered forward to the belly as she took the first bite, ripping the skin open to get to the delicious meat. ‘Dig in.’ Although she didn’t think the girl needed permission or anything to claim her part. "Speech." Maybe I walked this long way by myself

Kaela shrugged off the spoken compliment, instead turning to rip into the fresh meal.  The taste of the blood and meat trickling down her throat seemed to infuse her with new strength.  She hadn’t eaten this well in ages, and she certainly wouldn’t mind being able to eat like this more often.  She liked the taste better than that of her usual prey.  She ate like a pauper at a king’s feast, stripping the bones clean.

When she finished, she sat back to lick her lips.  She was kind of thirsty after such a hefty meal, but also kind of tired.   Her belly full, Kaela yawned and rested her blood-stained chin on her paws and watched the other female eat, considering her.  She had hunted well, she had to admit.  She also didn’t ask questions or attempt to make small talk.  She didn’t seem to mind Kaela’s lack of interest as well.  She was certainly somebody she could use.  Not for company, or even a friend; Kaela wasn’t interested in those.  But having another wolf around could have its benefits.  They could take bigger prey, and two together would make for better protection than two alone.

Kaela stretched, returning to her feet and bending her neck to lick some of the blood from her chest fur and legs.  It was a good meal.

She looked again at the older woman.  “We make a good team.” She commented off-handedly before returning to her grooming.  She had nowhere to go, and this deer could likely last them another day if they could defend it from scavengers.  The question was, would this woman want to stick around and gain the full benefits of their kill?

"Speech"  Thought

(This post was last modified: Aug 07, 2015, 05:10 PM by Kaela.)