Kingsfall Is it cause I lied when I was 17?

RE:A recent heat wave has left the forest drier than usual.
Hunting dem 1/3

It wasn't his job, per se, but Elias had no intentions of letting his daughter go hungry. She was growing in size and character everyday, but with the recent spate of attacks on their caches there wasn't as much grub to go around. In fact, to say that they were running low on resources was an understatement. Something had to be done and rather than looking to @Nineva to solve all the problems, he was going to deal with it on his own, for once.

The forest floor was hard and dusty beneath his paws. It seemed as though the further he ventured from the lake the drier it got, much of the surrounding foliage, like ferns and bushes, were brown and crisp. Every limpy footfall seemed to create too much noise, how was he supposed to be sneaky when the forest seemed to be going out of it's way to reveal his position? With a sigh, he leaned down to press his nose to the ground. Surely there was something edible roaming in these woods, something he could drag back to the Keeps' caches. Even if it wasn't much, it'd be better than nothing, better than starving for sure.

Perhaps if he followed the river he'd find something. After all, everyone needed to drink, especially on hot days.

Ramiel ARCHER

I don't believe in no devil,'cause I done raised this hell

The path he'd taken had led him away from the lake in into the deeper forest of Kingsfall. The yearling was starting to wonder if the keep pack was doomed after the hardships they'd faced since their claiming of the Territory they now called home. It seemed like it was just one thing after another and with winter getting closer each day. Well Ramiel couldn't help but worry that they might not be able to restore their caches to what they were.

Ramiel kept his nose to the ground hoping to come across the trail of something to catch but it wasn't going well. The dryness of the forest made it really hard to be stealthy which made it hard to catch anything before it knew what was going on.

He did however catch sight of his blond packmate to which he called out to, “You out here hunting too?” Maybe they could work together to get something done.

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very minor pp to keep things moving

Elias paused, paw midair as his ears tipped forward and his nose twitched. Oh. He'd been so caught up that he didn't realise that he had company, not just any wolf but a packmate. Ramiel, right? Admittedly, he didn't really know the other's well. He supposed he'd been a little antisocial, he'd been so focused on Pudding that everyone else just sort of faded away, stayed on the fringes of his mind. This one though, he supposed he'd spent more time with him than the rest.

"Yup." He swished his tail from side to side, in a lazy, if not friendly greeting."I was uh...thinking of following the river. You can tag along, if you'd like."

If anything, it would probably work out better if he did. At the very least, if they did happen to find something it wouldn't be as difficult to bring it down. As large as Elias was he wasn't going to be able to kill anything big on his own. If he even tried he'd no doubt return home empty pawed, maybe even injured. Or he'd not return at all, that was a very real possibility.

"I'm not looking for anything in particular, figured anything would do at this point." He shrugged as he began to limp along, moving parallel to the water.

He kept his ears perked as he moved, listening out for anything that moved. Seeing as he wasn't local he had no idea what sort of creatures usually resided here, perhaps Ramiel would know?

"I don't leave the Keep a lot, Ellery and all so...do you know what lives here?"

(This post was last modified: Aug 25, 2018, 07:02 PM by Elias.)

Ramiel ARCHER

I don't believe in no devil,'cause I done raised this hell

It became apparent that he wasn’t the only one that was out hunting trying to replace what had been taken from them in the past months. They both would need to be cautious so that they didn’t run into any of the surge wolves. As he caught up with the blond man Ramiel thought that it might be better that they were traveling together just in case they ran into trouble whether it was surge wolves or coyotes. The Archer was certain the latter would probably show up at some point considering they usually did.

Elias confirmed that he was in fact hunting and even offered for Ramiel to tag a long, the man received a sweep of the younger wolf’s tail and a dip of his head. “I think it might be beneficial to us both if I did,” he commented.

Their options for prey to bring home would increase, between the two of them Ramiel felt that they had to bring something home. He hoped that it would be much bigger than a rabbit. A deer would certainly help to replace what had been taken and put them a lot closer to filling their caches before winter. He just hoped that they didn’t return home without anything to show for their efforts. The Archer nodded at his packmates words about anything would do.

“We certainly aren’t in a position to be picky,” that was for sure. The yearling fell into step next to the blond man as they moved along the water. The yearling was alert for any signs of anything that would indicate there was prey nearby. His attention was taken from that task briefly when Elias spoke again. “She's a handful isn't she,” he commented about Ellery, Ramiel liked the girl though he hadn't had the chance to really get to know her. As for what was in the area, “The usual, rabbits, squirrels and deer. Maybe if we're lucky we might run across a beaver closer to the water.” Though the Archer didn't have his hopes up for that.

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(This post was last modified: Aug 27, 2018, 12:14 PM by Ramiel.)

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hunting dem 2/3

Ellery wasn't easy, she was far too clever for her own good but in all honesty, Elias wouldn't have it any other way. It made it easier for him to sleep at night knowing that she'd inherited her mother's fire, that she wasn't a pushover like her papa was. Not that there was anything wrong with that per se, rather...He was doing it again, wasn't he? Getting tangled up in his own thoughts. Shaking his head, Elias forced his mind back in track, to the matter at paw.

"Mmm. We're quite a way from the keep, maybe we shouldn't try to get anything too big. Dragging it all the way back sounds...tough." Elias was a big lad, strong, but after a hunt they weren't going to be at full strength. There was no need to make this harder than it had to be.

Still, there didn't really have the choice to be fussy, whatever they came across they'd have to try and bring down. Though even with Ramiel by his side that was going to be easier said than done.

Limping closer to the river, Elias waded his way into the shallow water. From the slanting of the ground he could tell that the river had once been wider, deeper than it was now. He assumed they had only found an offshoot of the main river-calling it a stream would be more accurate- but the fact that it had dried up some was troubling. Surely autumn was around the corner, and with it would come the rains. He could only hope and cross his toes.

Pressing his nose to the dirt he inhaled sharply, it smelled...something had been here in the past few hours.

"It's faint..." He muttered, not even glancing up. "But I smell something. Some sort of...deer?"

(This post was last modified: Aug 27, 2018, 04:24 PM by Elias.)

Ramiel ARCHER

I don't believe in no devil,'cause I done raised this hell

If it hadn't been for Ellery the Archer might not feel such an urgency to refill the caches after losing everything. It wasn't her fault that everything that had happened to the keep since they claimed it had happened. She was innocent in all of it and now she was the one suffering for it. Ramiel had to admit that Elias had a point about dragging something large back. Between the two of them it would be much harder.

“We are so something we both can carry back would be best as long as we bring something home so Ellery can have something to eat tonight.”

The rest of them were adults they could forget their own foods. Perhaps the yearling had a soft spot for the child, she was much too young to be fending for herself. What was the point of a pack if they didn't provide for the next generation? It was still the case that they had to fill the caches but Ramiel couldn't be sure how difficult that would be. The number of coyotes would surely have an impact on what they could find.

Ramiel followed Elias right up to the edge of the river which didn't look to be filling it's banks like it should. A clear sign that the lore needed rain badly. With the hot temperatures and dying plants every creature that called the place home was suffering. It worried the yearling that maybe they wouldn't find anything that they could hunt. He waited as the blond man waded into the water searching along the water for signs of prey.

His head went up and turned back toward his packmate when he spoke of finding a scent of something that was deer like. “We should follow the trail see where it leads. We can decide later to go after it.” They may find something else along the way but for now this was their only lead.

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Hunting dem 3/3

"Right."

This was the easier part of hunting, all he had to do was keep his nose to the ground and his wits about him. He idly wondered how far a deer could wander in half a day or so. If it wasn't in too much of a hurry he didn't think it would've gotten far. But with all the dried foliage he couldn't help but wonder if it was searching for food just as desperately as they were. It was a strange thought, one Elias was quick to brush aside.

"This way...I think it crossed and continued on east." And so Elias did just that.

He splashed through the creek and paused at the other side for Ramiel to follow suit. He had no interest in doing this alone, if they were going to succeed they would have to work together. It was the natural way of things, the reason why wolves had prevailed for so long. Once the dark archer was by his side Elias continued on, sniffing and snuffing at the dry forest floor. His eyes watered as dust tickled his nose, but he continued on. They travelled in relative silence for quiet some time, till Elias noticed a blurry movement ahead of them. Something brown and small that was partially hidden behind one of the many sequoia trees.

His ears perked forward and sure enough, the sound of hooves could be heard tapping against the dried dirt. It was a female white tailed deer, skinny but tall, clearly not a youngster. She tugged and chewed on the yellowed grace, her ears flicking as she shooed the flies away from her face. She seemed distracted and hadn't yet noticed them, good.

"Right." Elias mumbled, careful to keep his voice down. "What should we do? Tried and tested run at it, wear it out and drag it down together?"

As tempting as it was to think otherwise, wolves were not ambush predators. Unlike cats they were not meant to lay in wait, and pounce when their prey least expected it. What was the use in trying to pretend to be something they weren't? If they were going to catch this deer they would have to do it their way, the wolf way.

Ramiel ARCHER

I don't believe in no devil,'cause I done raised this hell

As much as he detested the idea of having to carry a heavy carcass back to the keep he would do it. They all needed food and especially Ellery so he would just remember her when he'd grown tired of dragging whatever they might catch back. He was getting a head if himself considering they'd only just found the trail and didn't know what lay at the end of it.

He followed the blond man through the water it splashed up against his stomach wetting the fur there. In the heat he expected it to dry quickly and a moment later he stood on the other side next to his packmate. Moving forward he too put his nose to the ground taking in the scent it ran over. His mind analyzing them for the one that they wanted and since they hadn't spoken he could take his time with it. Ramiel hadn't seen the first signs that they had come to the end of the trail.

When he looked up at Elias the Archer yearling could tell that something was up. Head turning he saw her through the Sequoia's struggling to get at the grass she was trying to eat. The thought had only ran across his mind when the plants had started dying. The fact that the animals they preyed on would be struggling to survive as well, that was the explanation for how skinny she was. Still there was enough meat on her the keep wolves would benefit.

Ramiel shook his head at the the plan given, “Expends too much energy and if we're going to have to drag her back we need to preserve it, I say we try and trap her then take her down.”

To him it seemed the better way, the question was where could they trap her that was close by. It would be pointless to avoid expending energy wearing her down only to chase her a far distance to trap her. He began looking for the best place for the plan to work.

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Trapping the doe sounded like a good idea, but as always things were never as easy as that. If they had been closer to the mountain it might have worked, they could have used it as a barrier, a means to pin her in. But here, in the Kingsfall, there were so many directions she could dart off in.  So if plan a and b had flopped what about plan c?

"Why don't we just chase her back the way we came?" They were going to be expending energy to get her back anyway. Honestly, wouldn't it be so much easier to run her north than to to drag her along all the way? That's what Elias thought anyway."Might be a bit tricky but I think we'd be able to steer her along, keep at her sides and force her forward."

That's how the Selwyns used to hunt anyway. Elias was hardly an expert in these matters, but he'd watched his former superiors at work and understood the concepts of their hunting techniques. They'd be hitting two birds with one stone, tiring her out for the kill and getting her closer to the Keep. They'd come from that way so....Elias paused and sniffed the air, the breeze was moving downwind but it could change any moment. They didn't have all day to sit back and plan this out.

"Let's just...let's do this. Push her back north, drag her down when she's tired and haul her back the rest of the way."  Easy- peasy, or so he hoped. He pulled in a deep breath as he dug his nails into the dirt." We've got this, right?"

Ramiel ARCHER

I don't believe in no devil,'cause I done raised this hell

He'd put a plan out there for them to consider knowing that it would be difficult. Kingsfall wasn't exactly full of places to pin the doe in but it was out there. It was his packmate who came up with the best idea really. Ramiel was a little irritated with himself for not thinking of it.

“That's the best plan we’ve had all day.” Really if they were going to have to drag her back why not make her do most of the work. Then they might only have to drag her as far as the cache depending on when they finally brought her down. “It might be tricky but if we work together to drive her back toward home it will work.”

The only problem the young Archer saw with this plan was if they lost control of her. He thought they might want to find a way to move her slowly in that direction so that the chances of losing her would be lessened. They could fill out chase her once they were closer to home. That way they also wouldn't get too tired in the process either.

“How do you want to do this?” He asked thinking they should solidify some things first. They needed to be sure of what they were doing before they started. Not knowing could cause them to make a mistake. “Of course we do,” Ramiel reassured. The yearling was sure they could pull this off.

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