(518)
Hybrid didn’t bother concealing his distaste when she revealed they would be the only ones hunting today. He would have much preferred to team up with some others he knew and trusted – perhaps Kaena and Gabriel, and possibly Kesho. While he did not trust the aging coyote, he knew that he trusted him more than he did this female and that was good enough for Hybrid. He decided to shrug it off and continue on his way; it wasn’t like he had anything to fear hunting with only this female. He didn’t think she would try any funny business like Ezekiel had that other day, but he supposed hunting nonetheless required a very basic level of trust.
Soon, they were travelling north at a comfortable pace. He rarely shifted out of his Secui form these days, so he was able to move quickly through the clan territory. He knew his way around pretty well and now that they were nearing the borders, he quickly recognized many familiar landmarks such as a few oddly-shaped trees and particular rocky outcroppings.
As he assessed his surroundings, he could see the female was doing the same. She quickly outlined a plan of action and Hybrid nodded with a sneer. He didn’t like her giving him orders or directions, but he would go along with it nonetheless. There wasn’t anything he could suggest to improve it, after all.
“That sounds fine,” he replied quietly. He knew his voice wouldn’t travel too far and that while the deer could not hear them, he still didn’t like taking chances. He chose not to comment on the female’s comment about killing for the sake of brevity and simply rolled his eyes in response.
They waited for a few minutes shoulder-to-shoulder, watching in silence until the female broke it again. She pointed out the usefulness of her snares and Hybrid just snorted. A coyote could have gotten caught in one of those. He certainly hoped he wouldn’t. He still didn’t like them.
“Let’s split up now,” he suggested after a few seconds of consideration. “I’ll hide a few paces north, over there,” he said and gestured to a small rock wall. The foot of the mountain afforded him a few good hiding spaces and this was one of them. “If you ring around far enough, you’ll be able to separate the deer by scaring the others north and driving the injured one south to my position. Once you get it past that willow tree, there’s a pretty steep drop, so even if it notices me, it’ll be hard for it to turn around and get away.” He hoped that had all made sense. He knew these parts pretty well and also knew that if the deer weren’t mindful, they could easily fall into some natural snares, such as the sudden drop in front of his hiding space. The deer would most likely head around the willow tree toward him in an attempt to find an out and then when it was surprised, try to turn around only to find another coyote, the female, hot on its heels.