Iridescent Lagoon good hunting & sunshine showers

Leda had been tracking a rabbit for a while, though she'd only settled on a rabbit after she'd lost sight of the much larger deer she had been contemplating. A deer was doable on her own, but it was a lot of effort—and far more meat than she needed. So when the deer had taken off, alerted by a stick that crunched under her paw, she'd huffed and turned her attention to smaller prey. As she scented the air, she caught faint traces of rabbit. And where there was one rabbit, there were usually more. So with that in mind, she set off until she found a stronger rabbit scent.

And then the waiting game began. She settled herself flat against the ground, waiting idly to catch sight of—or hear—the rabbit. Her ears flicked, and though she was laying down, she was alert and prepared to be on all four paws the moment she caught movement. There! Her ears swiveled as she stood, brown fur peeked from leaves as the rabbit paused to scent the air, before it darted.

Away from her—the chase was on!

Small, fast, she was familiar with hunting small prey. Especially lately, as she spent a lot of her time by herself. There was no pack to hunt with here, and she'd adapted quite quickly. She darted after the rabbit, nose to the ground every-so-often so that she could ensure she wasn't off-trail, and there it was—

—right in her sights. As she neared it, she prepared to pounce.

Her jaws clamped tight around the squealing rabbit's back leg, and she shook it aggressively until it quieted. She didn't see the point in letting it suffer; the longer it screamed, the longer she had to wait to eat. And the loud growl of her stomach was just one motivating factor behind the rabbit going silent. The faster she ate, the more she could explore this new area, as it was she had yet to scout for dangers, too engrossed in the hunt that she did not know where she was. Though she hadn't known where she was prior to chasing the rabbit, either.

One thing was for certain, though: she could hear water nearby. And she could smell rain upon the air. She'd need to find somewhere that would stay relatively dry to eat.

As the rabbit finally stilled, she continued forward, until the lagoon was just in view, and settled under a tree as rain began to fall. She wasn't the most against getting wet, but it would be nice to have a chance to eat her kill without being soaking wet. She dropped the rabbit at the base of the tree, and shook her fur out before settling in.

@merrick

MATURE FOR SWEARING AND VIOLENCE
Random Event: Merrick, take cover from the rain!

Merrick had been tracking the deer for some time. No longer satisfied to gnaw on the small scraps he found around the grounds of Willow Ridge, he had headed south towards the meadow.

The large male had picked up the fresh scent upon the wind, and then some while later finally caught sight of a single doe moving along the edge of the treeline. He made sure to keep downwind of it, stalking slowly along the edge of the meadow, concealed from immediate view by the sparse tree cover which connected the drooping willow to the rest of cedarwood forest — he was soon to be rewarded for his persistence. He was certain of it.

Dark amber eyes studied the doe carefully, watching how it moved, slower now that it had taken a fancy to some freshly budding shrubs. The faint pitter-patter of approaching rainfall caused his ears to twitch suddenly upon his head, though he refused to be distracted by the changing weather. He stalked closer, his large frame crouching lower to the ground as he closed the distance between him and his next meal. He halted, heart throbbing against his chest as he readied himself to pounce, his muscles twitching with excitement as he counted down to the perfect moment to strike...

Three, two, o— a sudden commotion ahead caused the deer to spook.

In an instant it was gone and Merrick was left to watch—in complete dismay—as his meal darted away deeper into the cedarwood forest.

Dark amber eyes shot up ahead to catch a glimpse of a dark figure heading towards a tree, a rabbit twitching between its jaws. Merrick stared at the stranger, a deep scowl forming on his face as he growled. Immediately he moved to confront them, storming out from the trees into the heavy rain, across the meadow and right to the tree which they now sheltered beneath.

He stopped a few metres short of them, nostrils flaring and tail curling high above his back as his fiery eyes acknowledged the small female with a glare. He was positively seething. Hot with rage and sweating from physical exertion, steam rose from his soaked, bedraggled fur. Merrick looked to the rabbit. "Hand it over." He snarled through gritted teeth. "You lost me my deer, you little bitch. Hand it over, NOW!" A paw stomped against the damp ground as his fur bristled further. He was not about to leave empty handed.

(This post was last modified: Apr 01, 2022, 09:35 PM by Merrick.)

Leda's muzzle was pressed into her catch, her senses focused entirely on the scent of the rabbit. A terribly stupid thing to do, because when the male is standing before her, claiming that she ruined his hunt, she's totally caught off-guard. Oh, her mother would scold her, and remind her that she must always watch her surroundings, and yet...

...she was caught off-guard. She could just hear the huff in her mother's voice as the elder she-wolf fussed over the way her daughter refused to pay attention to the world around her; 'You hyper focus much too easily, Ledavia,' her mother had said it time and time again. And even years later, it was still just as true.

Her ears flattened, and she studied the larger wolf with a wide-eyed stare, trying to decide if she wanted to give up the meal she had worked so hard to catch, or risk being mouthy.

It was just her, and this male out here as far as she was aware; and while she was certain that she could catch another rabbit, something about the male's tone rubbed her wrong.

Releasing the rabbit, she stepped in front of it, her ears still pinned. Every fiber of her being was screeching at her to let the rabbit go.

And yet—

"Are you sure that I lost your deer?" Her head tilted slightly, and as she's speaking, she's scooting the rabbit further from the male with her back feet. "Because it sounds like, maybe, you need to practice hunting."

As soon as the words are said, in that matter-of-fact tone that she used to get scolded for, she wished she could take them back. But she couldn't rewind time. She was proud of her hunting skills, and she couldn't help if this male was chasing larger prey and couldn't keep a handle on his hunt.

The wrinkles along his muzzle deepened as his dark lips pulled back to expose more of his sharp teeth; his snarl mirroring his growing anger as he observed the small female move to step in front of the rabbit, guarding it from him.

Her snarky question summoned a low growl from Merrick. From that point on, every word that slipped out her mouth urged the large male to take another stride forwards until, ultimately, he could not encroach on her personal space any more. He stood towering over her, hoping his size and presence would be enough to intimidate her. Rain water dripped down on her from the dark russet fur of his chest as he held still for a moment, his fiery orange eyes glaring down at her dark face, silently wanting challenging her to make the first move.

"The rabbit is mine." He breathed.

(This post was last modified: Apr 02, 2022, 02:26 PM by Merrick.)

The wrinkles on the male's muzzle deepened, and his anger seemed to amplify with each moment she stood in front of her rabbit. He didn't acknowledge that she thought he was a bad hunter, and she huffed; not having that answer left her nowhere closer to figuring out just what it was about him that made him think he deserved her rabbit.

"It smells like me." She stated, turning her back to the larger male and snapping the rabbit up in her jaws. Unless he did something to stop her, she'd start walking away from him with the rabbit.

This male was draining and she wasn't entirely certain if she'd have the energy to catch another rabbit if she gave this one up. And some small part of her knew that, if she left this male angry with her, she'd feel guilty about it later.

Maybe he was just a bad hunter, and needed help... but her mother's teachings declared that she put herself first unless she has abundance to share.

And there's certainly no surplus of rabbit anywhere that she knows of. So she keeps walking, slowly, a more submissive walk then when she attempted to face off with the male, in hopes that being slightly dominant would surprise him and send him off on his own.

Even after he had proceeded to get right up in her face, attempting to intimidate the smaller female with his size and dominance, she still refused to play nicely and submit.

He had challenged her to make the first move, and now she took her chance, having the audacity to shoot him another blunt remark before turning her back on him and scooping the rabbit up in her jaws.

Merrick blinked in disbelief, taking a second to process what was happening before he suddenly snapped back. A low growl rumbled deep in his throat as the small wolf began to slowly, but calmly, walk away. A loud snap of his jaws signalled his impending assault, as he charged forwards into the rain after her, a thunderous snarl erupted from his mouth as he sought to plant his teeth around her rear right leg to trip her up.

The sound of snapping teeth filled the air as he missed her paw by an inch, her smaller frame proving difficult to reach.

Merrick attempted to try again and picked up his pace to position himself parallel beside her, the rabbit now in full view as it swung from her jaws..

Dice Gods said no.

(This post was last modified: Apr 02, 2022, 05:17 PM by Merrick.)

Leda was interrupted by the larger wolf charging after her, and the loud snap of his jaws gave her enough of a head up to yank her leg away from his mouth. She snarled, tightening her grip on the rabbit, as the male moved parallel beside of her.

She stuck one of her feet out, an attempt to trip him up—and if she had succeeded, she would have taken off at a run... but he stepped right over her paws, and she growled her annoyance. Even as she moved, picking her pace up a bit, though not quite giving in to running from the larger wolf, she focused the best that she could on him. She didn't want him to get the best of her and take her meal.

Her mother would be appalled at her fighting tactic. Honestly! Trying to trip her opponent so she could dash away? She rolled her eyes, the phantom voice in her head quite loud. She'd never live it down if her mother found out (luckily, though, her mother was very likely nowhere near her).

At this point, it was pure stubbornness overriding the typical shy nature of the she-wolf. Merrick reminded her a bit too much of the bullies she had grown up with in her pack; always picking on the smaller wolves.

I'm in tears. The dice really said "no".

The growl and snarl which rose up from the female almost excited him; her obvious annoyance offered Merrick some encouragement that his desire to make her feel as equally frustrated as him, was indeed working.

Completely unaware of the smaller wolf's attempt to trip him up, he presumed her quickened pace was an attempt at getting away from him. The last thing he wanted was for the dark wolf to escape with his dinner, so he once again moved to match her, and then with a few long strides, to overtake her.

As his his shoulders strode parallel to her head, he swung his neck over suddenly, aiming to shove himself against her smaller frame to slow her down and at last take hold of the rabbit.

This time he was successful and his jaws clamped down on the rabbits limp body as he shoved his face into hers. He growled triumphantly, his dark amber eyes straining to look across to meet her gaze, as he now pressed his rear paws into the wet grass to try and bring the chase to a halt.

Dice Gods said yes!

An eagle flies overhead and drops pieces of its kill. +3 Health

Leda stumbled, and almost fell. He grabbed the rabbit at just the right time, when she was busy steadying herself, that he managed to grasp onto it quite well. He shoved his face into hers, and her nose wrinkled as she snarled into the rabbits fur, shaking her head slightly from side-to-side.

They were standing still now, and she was pulling at the rabbit with all of her might; before something caught her eye. An eagle had dropped pieces of its kill, and she released the rabbit (hoping, somewhere deep inside of her, that the larger wolf would lose his balance without her weight on the end of the kill).

She darted around the male, and to where the dropped pieces of food were, beginning to eat. It wasn't a lot, but it was better than expending energy fighting this wolf; whether he was just lazy or stupid, he was taking up a lot of her time and her energy.

"Hope you're happy," she muttered, as she planted herself a few feet away from him, eating slowly. Her light eyes would stay focused on him; she didn't feel like having this taken from her too.