MUAHA *claims this*

Hybrid had heard a call for a hunt and decided to answer it. Without any real work to do, he supposed it would be worthwhile for him to participate and hunt. After all, hunting was another form of work as a warrior; the only difference was that they ate their prey at the end of it. Although, Hybrid supposed that sometimes these rules could be bent and broken. He knew he had done it enough times to consider all prey edible in the end. It was all flesh and food after all.

Hybrid was, however, rather disappointed when he arrived to the source of the call. He did not realize until he came closer and noticed the scent: it was that annoying coyote woman he'd met a few days ago. He had particularly enjoyed her sass or her need to try and chastise him; it had struck him as immature and annoying and he loathed to think that she would start whining at him or bitching about something stupid again. He rolled his eyes and felt himself growling low in his throat just thinking about it.

He stood a few metres away, weighing his options. He supposed that he could return to whatever he had been doing before (which was nothing) or he could try to hunt with this woman. He sneered at the thought, but nonetheless decided that it would be best to put some food in his belly. Perhaps they would be doing some real hunting and not whatever the hell she would have him do with traps.

"You call fer a real fucking hunt eh?" Hybrid asked as he approached. He wouldn't have any of this bullshit trapping that was for sure.

Hybrid recoiled slightly, showing a bit of teeth, when the woman smiled at him. What the fuck was she doing smiling at him after their last encounter? Hybrid eyed her uneasily, not bothering to hide his toothy response. He didn’t trust her and he didn’t like her and this just affirmed it. However, her smile quickly changed as she replied with a yes, affirming that she was looking for a real hunt and not just a weird pansy trapping… thing. He didn’t know what the fuck to fucking call it.

He harumph’d quietly when she began to disrobe, annoyed she had waited until after he had arrived to shift. It seemed rather impolite and he would have thought it logical had she shifted after howling to ensure she was ready to go immediately. Hybrid didn’t like hold ups.

He laughed when she said it was nice to see him. He replied with a quick and snarky, “sure,” accompanied by a roll of his eyes. However, once she asked his choice of prey, Hybrid was all business. He frowned and considered the question, thinking back to the prey he’d seen on his last few patrols.

“Well,” he began almost amicably, “I saw some deer not too long ago. Could try that. I saw ‘m just north by the foot of the mountain.”

(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.

(325)

Hybrid nodded once they were done discussing their plans and moved to head toward his position. He was glad the female had listened intently — it seemed as though she understood his descriptions of the land and for this, he was glad. He didn't want to have to go and explain it all over again and then see the herd move. That would necessitate an entirely new plan! But luckily, the deer didn't move very far and Hybrid quickly moved to take his position.

He snuck through the bushes, keeping his body low to the ground to ensure the deer would not spot him. He was careful not to step on any dry branches; though, with the melting snow, there wasn't much brittle vegetation around. He was lucky. Hybrid hunkered down to wait for the female to begin the chase and picked a spot with a good view and good cover. He only had to wait a few minutes before he heard the deer begin to run in a frenzy and soon, he could hear the single deer being pursued by the coyote woman.

Hybrid waited and was about to leap out when he saw the deer pause and struggle as it slipped down the short hill. The snow had melted and made the side very muddy and even before Hybrid leapt out of his hiding spot, the deer had already begun to panic.

He quickly dodged out from under his cover and ran for the deer, which now had one hoof lodged in between a rock and the mud. Hybrid weaved around the deer's front flailing hooves to jump at its chest and lodge his teeth into its neck. If he was lucky, the other coyote would appear in a few moments to help. He didn’t want to count on it, so he dug his teeth in deeper and hooked his claws into the deer to make sure he wasn’t thrown off in its struggle.

Hybrid struggled to get a better grip on the deer. It was panicking – that much was clear – and so it was buckling and struggling and twisting every which way. He had known this would be difficult with only two coyotes, especially when these hunts were best-suited for a group. Nonetheless, coyotes were cunning and persistent beasts and Hybrid knew he would not give up until the animal was dead.

Luckily, the deer was still trapped and the more it thrashed, the deeper it sunk into the mud. Hybrid had hoped that the deer would trip as it descended the hill. Hybrid dug his teeth in to the deer’s neck and tried to pull its head down to the ground to force the rest of the animal down to its hooves. He knew that if he could get it to bow and kneel, it would be much easier for them to kill it because of its compromised position.

That was when he felt Aeron’s impact on the deer. The animal thrashed as the other coyote attacked and was trying its best to get its two pursuers off. Hybrid held fast and tried to yank it down with his teeth. He felt the deer beginning to weaken, so he reached around with his front paws, which bore strong claws thanks to his Secui form, and dug them in to the deer’s neck. If he could not force this thing down, he would chew right through its neck. As long as it did not get free, he might actually be able to do it.

(321)

As Hybrid tried to bring the deer to the ground, he felt it shift and move in response to what the other coyote was doing. The deer was no longer thrashing as much and was now weakly tried to fend off its attackers. Hybrid realized that the other coyote understood his plan, a tried-and-true coyote trick, and was working on helping him out. He grinned wickedly and pulled harder with his forelegs. His paws were still latched in to the deer’s neck, so he re-adjusted his grip to get better leverage. He was not as concerned about losing his hold now, since the deer had a lot less energy. Although this was tricky hunting with only a partner and not a clan at his back, he knew they could do this if they just held out.

The other coyote helped him force the deer to the ground. After a few minutes of struggling, the deer began to descend to the ground. Hybrid yanked and pulled viciously in an attempt to kill what was left as it fell.

And then it was over. Hybrid stared at the dead beast, his next meal, chuckling in a silent laugh. He glanced to the other coyote when she spoke. He didn’t say anything about the first comment, but he did sneer when she implied that men were weak. Hah! Coming from a female, that was pretty rich.

“And you’re not a weak little piece of shit. I like that in an Inferni member,” he noted. He licked his chops, as she had done moments earlier, and then turned his semi-sneer into a vicious grin. “There are only two of us. Let’s eat what we can, call for the rest of Inferni, and bring some back for others.” Hoping she would follow suite and eat with him, Hybrid thrust his face into the hole in the deer’s neck and began ripping out innards for his meal.

Thanks for the super speedy response! And here is one for you! (415)

As Hybrid pulled out muscles and sinewy tendons, he saw the other coyote begin to do the same. They were silent aside from the sounds of ripping and tearing that defined their eating. To eat, one must devour; there was no other way around this simple truth. Hybrid did not simply feast upon this delicious meal, but tear it apart to gain his fill. He finished at about the same time the other coyote did. He was amused to see that they had eaten about the same amount and taken their fill, choosing from a few tasty organs. He figured he did not need to eat all of them and waste the nutrition solely on himself and was content to share them with the other coyotes of Inferni. Although he and Aeron could have simply eaten what they could and let it rot, Hybrid knew this was not how a clanmember behaved and therefore, left some for the other members of Inferni.

He watched as the coyote began packing away some of the meat. It was strange to see her do this, since he so rarely did anything in his Optime form. He wasn’t sure when she had shifted, and felt odd sitting there still in his Secui form. He could not handle a knife in this form, but he doubted she had two. Nonetheless, he understood what she was doing. He could assist as well by carrying some meat back to Gabriel and the others. He supposed it would be best to howl for some others to come and finish what they could not carry.

With this in mind, he began the process of shifting in to his Optime form. He felt his bones pry themselves apart, move, and then click into new positions. Some lengthened and some grew shorter. After a few minutes, he was fully shifted, but had an odd twinge in his shoulder. He did not use this form often, so it took him some time to do so.

Once he was done, he was surprised to hear the coyote speak. However, he was even more surprised to find himself agreeing with her.

“Yes,” he stated, almost flatly. He never spoke so kindly to females.

“We bring death to other creatures. It is a very beautiful thing.” He paused and then grinned wickedly. “Have you murdered many wolves in your day? Kaena and I killed one and put its skull on the borders. Perhaps we should kill again. You and I.”

Done!

He was a little surprised at the coyote’s answer. He had assumed that with as much violence in her body, she would have had to kill a wolf by now. It only made sense; what kind of warrior did not claim victory over a member of their cousin species? The conflict between wolves and coyotes was natural and old and therefore Hybrid expected of every coyote who called themselves a warrior to commit such a murder.

He was more surprised when she revealed she had murdered her siblings. Hybrid felt torn: why would she murder potential warriors? Why deplete the stock of future soldiers?

“Well you won’t be killing any of my comrades, woman,” he sneered. “We don’t kill our own kind here,” he spat.

He was surprised – again! – when she spoke once more. He didn’t like this laid-back attitude and he didn’t like how goddamn relaxed she was about this.

“I don’t know. I was thinking I should…” he trailed off, uncertain. He shook his head. “You know very little about Inferni and what we are. What we mean. I should show you.” His voice was laced with venom, but the hand he placed on her hip was light and caressing.