Okay! So here we go. I will leave this open for a week before we start the replying cycle. After that we won’t keep a posting order, but try not to post again until all other participating Ichikans have. Being left behind is uncool. Let’s have some fun aye? Words-600+
The sun was falling low over Phoenix Forest when Jaden stepped out of the cool shadows that had clung under the greenery’s canopy for most of the day. The air was mellow with the soft, rich scents of trees and grass. Slightly recognizable, and surely only for the nose of a wolf, was the gamey and delectable call of a white tailed deer herd no more than two miles away. The Shishen had been waiting for this rotation in their movement. For weeks and weeks Jaden had been watching the prey of Ichika migrate about. To him they were beginning to become predictable. The local herds had clearings they liked and fields they regularly passed through on their constant search for the best vegetation for feeding.
The largest herd of deer in the area, who’s sent was recognizable from where Jaden sat, was currently grazing a clearing not far into Phoenix Forest. Here they were most vulnerable to attack; a perfect place for Jaden to stage the first Ichikan pack hunt.
The responsibilities of the Shishen were simple: ranged combat and organizing pack hunts. For the latter half of that short list the crimson bellied tundra wolf had spent a majority of his time preparing for. It seemed like a simple feat to show wolves where deer were so they could kill and consume them, but to lead a hunt where group coordination and teamwork were essential and tied to the very fundamental reason for having a pack hunt took careful planning and courage.
The careful planning was easy and had been finished more than half a moon cycle ago. Courage was shockingly something the warrior lacked for this hunt. Not to say Jaden was a coward, no, quite the opposite. In his former life the brute had faced death and scrutiny many times. He had very nearly been the leader of a murderous group of assassins, but somehow this was different. Leading people he didn’t know, or even giving them direction on a simple hunt seemed wrong to the Shishen. It seemed like he was stepping into a place in this pack he was not meant to step into. But this was his job. Nayru had asked of him only this simple task (as slinging arrows was practically second nature) and it was finally time to face Ichika.
It wouldn’t be that bad, at least that is what Jaden told himself as he looked over the foot hills of the Halcyon mountains. He wasn’t a complete stranger anymore and a few of his new acquaintances assured him they would show. But the new faces seemed to hide just under the furthest tree and behind the shallowest hills. Tonight would be interesting indeed.
Before his nerves could get the best of him, Jaden let his muzzle raise to the sky and called in a deep, friendly wolf howl. He called any Ichikan near enough to hear. He called of a hunt and implied future success in his confidant tones. Nothing more could be explained in his howl despite how nice Jaden’s deep voice sounded on the calm air he wouldn’t try.
The call was repeated once more and then it slowly died down and bounced off the nearby mountains. The deer, who had been momentarily spooked by a predator’s voice, slowly returned to grazing unaware of their possible fate. Nothing was left to do now but wait and Jaden did just that. He sat on his haunches in a relaxed attention that didn’t betray his nerves in the least. He watched for the faces, new or known to bring themselves into view.
Tawny is shy & has a slight speech problem, other than that she is an ok hunter...small and underweight, but she can follow orders.. / +613
The small hut had been organized finally. Tawny had dug out the bottom another few inches and laid slabs of wood she’d pulled off buildings, and then layered the few skins she had on top. It was a comfortable floor and bed. A few shelves had been built into the walls and held the smaller items, like jars of beads and paints. Outside, around the backside of the hut, she had dug another hole and lined it with leaves, mud and wood. That hole was packed full of her other supplies and then covered with one of the nylon, waterproof flags. The roof of the hut was covered with the biggest flag, which happened to be the color of rainbows. Thankfully it was dull and faded, so it didn’t stand out so bright in the otherwise dark forest. Feeling good in her newly sealed off home, she was able to relax and create her jewelry and pretty things in peace, without worrying about the weather and creatures stealing her supplies.
The little brown girl was curled up in the corner, the skins pulled over and piled into a little bed, and her fingers were flying, weaving pieces of string together in an intricate pattern. Every few inches on the length was a bone weaved in, hanging down to look like a set of sharp teeth. She was getting excited about being almost done with the piece, and her fingers slipped a few times. The last bone was slid in and tied off, and then she had a beautiful necklace made from thick black twine and blood stained rib bones carved to look like bear teeth. Dropping it over her neck, she stood and grabbed the strip of leather hanging above her head, wrapping it around her waist and cinching it tightly. The small carved bone knife that Razekiel had given to her was sitting in a little deer hide sheath, ready for use if needed.
Right as her feet passed the doorway from inside the hut to the softly lit outside world, she heard the kind and friendly howling. It wounded like a summons for a gathering. Tawny stopped moving and wrung her hands together for a few moments, not sure if she wanted to go and be surrounded by the pack wolves…her pack mates. They were people that she desperately needed to get to know, her new family and she only knew a few of their names. Taking a deep breath, she dropped to all fours and let her body take on her halfling form, the muscles piling on as well as the thicker dark mane on the back of her neck. Even in Secui form she was only the size of a large lupine. The girl was a little git altogether. Loping through the woods, she followed the direction she was sure the howling had come from. Thankfully it was near where her hut was and it didn’t take long for her to catch the fresh scent of a male wolf, one that she’d smelled before, but never met.
Slowing down to a loose and lazy walk, she ducked under the bushes and came into a little round clearing. The large black male sitting there brought her to a halt, but she suppressed the fear and took a few small steps closer, dipping her head in greeting. I’m Tawny… A soft snuffling sound came from about three hundred yards off, easily caught by their canine ears. Her head snapped to the side and she peeked through the foliage, seeing the smallish herd of deer. Smiling shyly, she shifted on her feet and squirmed in anticipation. A-Are we going to hu-hunt?
Lupus was not a form she was often seen in around and about, in it she was positively underwhelming, small and skinny body that was covered by thick fur. But the benefit of it was that it would hide her expanding stomach from the eyes of those whom she didn't want to know. It was a pointless ruse of course for any canine with a nose would be able to smell motherhood's tell tale scent that lingered about her like an annoying fly. Guilt shoved her into this form, guilt shame and fear. Fear that Temo would somehow be able to sense that she had cheated and given herself to another man, even if she had been inebriated at the time. What was worse was the fact that she couldn't even remember it, not a single second. The pain and confusion surrounding her rape by Lucifer had been bad enough but willing, consensual sex with a man that was supposed to be both of their friends would break him completely.
So therefore when the call came from the Shishen that the pack hunt was soon to be starting the doggish hybrid whimpered and hunkered down on the spot. She didn't want to go but she was Prestige ranked which meant that her presence was expected at all pack activities, including hunts. Her form slunk through the vegetation and occasional human structures until she came upon the small clearing designated for the gathering, slinking like a scolded child she revealed her small lithe form from the shadows. She was one of the first to arrive before Tawny. She gave the brown girl a small wag of her tan tipped tail and Jaden a nod of hello before sitting back on her haunches and trying to not be noticed despite being extremely noticeable.
A black shadow drifted through the trees along a river. Temo looked westward and the reddening sun through a break in the trees. He had started for home but realized that it would be dark before he got there. He decided that his lupus form would be faster traveling and was glad he had left his tools at home that day. With a shift from optime to lupus he started off only to be stopped by the howl drifting to him through the trees.
His ears pricked up and rotated to listen to the howl. There was a pack hunt being formed. He wondered for a moment if he should join. It had been ages since he tried to be in a pack hunt. As he pondered over to join or not to join, the second summons floated by him on the breeze. It was on the second call that he decided to join in.
His ears having already homed in on the origin of the call, he spun around and headed off in the direction that the hunt would begin. It was not long before he was silently padding his way through the trees where the call had brought him to. He sensed others had already arrived and his black fur kept him hidden in the shadows of the trees until he padded out to join the others that had already arrived. Temo nods a greeting to everyone and sits next to Jace.
Now that she was finally able, the girl had shifted back down into her lupus form. Wretch's injury had kept her out of sync with things going on in the pack for a month or two, and she was ready to get back into doing her pack duties and interacting with whatever members she could find. Interacting with others scared her and she wished that it was something she could go through life without having to do...but Saul had been encouraging her to get out of the house and she really wanted to please him and prove to him that she could make friends and work as a part of a group despite her own feelings on it.
The girl had heard the howl of the nearby canine and had started toward it without any thought, wondering the meaning behind it. Did someone need help? Or had they found something interesting? Wretch had only ever hunted for herself, never with a group before. She approached the group slowly, creeping quietly out of the brush to join the gathered canines. "Hello" The young female said in a low tone, trying to spot the owner of the howl. She didn't see anyone that she really knew yet. Feeling a bit anxious, she hung back from the group and waited for someone to approach or talk to her first. Her oceanic eyes kept to the ground, not rising to look at anyone around her.
Somehow the call broke through even his most captivating thoughts of Arye. Ever since the day by the lighthouse the boy had thought of her more and more. Pripyat had known, all along, his feelings for the sea-side girl. He loved her. There was no other way around it. He had perhaps loved her since the day he had first found her along the shore, right of the edge of his whole world. The golden eyed angel hadn't been apart from him since, and daily not only did his world seem to grow bigger but his love for the girl did too. It was almost an obsession. Almost.
That the voice of others could still reach him proved, at least to Pripyat, that what he felt and thought, was healthy, surely. It was not keeping him from living his life. Arye was in fact, off doing her own things that day, and so Pripyat happy enough for a distraction, rose and bound off, four legs propelling him into the direction of the call. Often now he alternated between secui and optime. Rarely did he like to linger in his lupus form, perhaps because for so much of his youth it had been the only body he had known. Yet now he moved on four legs, a bulky but normal sized wolf.
When the boy arrived he was pleased with the faces he found. First he smiled at Tawny, the strange girl that he had played tag with on the beach. Remembering her on that day, they had both been awkward and uncomfortable at first, and it seemed that at least they both were familiar enough with Ichika to come to this event—this was pleasing to Pripyat who at times could still feel uncomfortable in his own skin although the phenomenon was occurring less and less. The smoky male then turned his attention to Jace and Temo. Their faces were the most familiar, having grown up knowing them and moving with them from Phoenix Valley. Yet something about them was strange, although Pripyat could not determine what and merely smiled at them silently before turning to the man who had called him here and the young girl who resided with Saul. These two he knew the least, and yet for once the unfamiliarity did not bother him. Arye wouldn't have liked it to bother him.
Hey there! Am I supposed to post here? I wanted to introduce Sammi to the pack! If she isn't allowed here...Just shoo her away! Whoo! Go Ichika Colors! Pst, she's in Lupus form!
Sam had been wandering around, she had talked to Jace about joining and she wanted to prove her loyalty. She her face broke into a friendly wolfish grin. She saw a few wolves assembled in Pheonix forest, suddenly a feeling of terror made the ivory girl freeze. She was nervous. The kind of nervous that makes you as cold as ice and just as unmoving. She felt just like she did when she would make up a speech for her previous pack. She was on the verge of giggling like a puppy. She was nervous still. She didn't know what the others would do if she jus suddenly walked over on their borders. She wasn't a loner anymore. She had to show a bit of backbone.
The youth's tail wagged slowly, she was being friendly, but she was rather anxious. She wouldn't be shooed away would she? Her cream legs still propelled her forward. She knew that they were preparing to go on a hunt, she also knew that shifting to Secui would benifit well if she were to join in. She had no clue on why she couldn't shift to Secui. It always left her writhing with pain on the ground in the middle of the shift. Samantha was not the most muscly of wolves, her body was better built for speed. She could run for a very long time without tiring. She smiled shyly at the assembled canines. "H-Hello, I'm Samantha Jarret. I joined not that long ago...Do you mind me joining in on the hunt?" She wagged her tail hopefully and then she remembered her initiation task. She had not done it yet! She wanted to slap herself in the face with her paw, that was how she would prove her loyalty! She smiled apologetically at Jace, hoping she would help guide the ivory girl through this. For now, she would listen to the others.
I’m late Sorry for that but only by a day or two… right? :>
Mmmmmkay so introductions might be lame so sorry again for this. If we go too long with out anyone postin’ (3-4 days) we can just go strait to the hunting. Words-500+
And from Ichika came wolves! Not a single known face appeared from the pack but it was still something incredibly neat to see. Jaden greeted each wolf as they arrived. To the smaller female who stayed at a safe distance and named her self Tawny, he greeted her back by telling her his rank (Shishen) and explaining that they would indeed be hunting. The next two wolves seemed less willing to converse despite Jaden not having met them formally and clearly understood the meaning behind his howl. He could guess that they were Jace and Temo from descriptions he had heard from other wolves about the pair. Then another smaller in stature female found her way slowly toward the group and shyly greeted them all. Jaden greeted her in a similar fashion as he’d greeted Tawny and asked her kindly if she’d like to participate in the hunt. The last two wolves to join the hunting group were a young male and a young female. The male smiled politely at Jaden and was greeted as the others had been: with his rank and the meaning of their meeting, and Samantha was given the same.
After the two younger wolves arrived, Jaden waited another twenty minutes for anyone else who might have been in the area. When no one showed the large tundra wolf surveyed his hunting companions. He realized rather quickly that there were very few wolves as large as him in Ichika no-Hoen. In fact, there was only one other wolf in the group who could be called medium built and that was Temo. The rest were truly slim built. This wasn’t what the Shishen had planned on when he had envisioned the might pack hunt of Ichika, but it wasn’t necessarily a problem either. It just meant they would have to compensate by working harder as a group.
Jaden stood when he was satisfied with his examination and cleared his throat. He had to address the group now and took a breath so he could speak confidently to all of these new people past his nerves. “Hello everyone,” He said with a broad smile and looked about to be sure everyone was paying some attention. “It seems no one else is coming. My name is Jaden and you all are all going to be part of the first Ichikan pack hunt!” Exclaimed the brute lightly and hoped that everyone else was as excited about this as he had been for weeks. “It’s not as formal as it sounds though; we will only be hunting. Once a kill is made you are free to leave and go about your business if you like, but hopefully no one here is that busy.
“Everyone here is new to me. So, if anyone else besides Samantha and I is in a similar position feel free to speak now. This hunt should bring us all a bit closer and the first step to trust is a name. After everyone is comfortable enough, we will hunt.” Jaden then sat down on his haunches again and looked at everyone else expectantly, giving them the floor.
She is so pathetic sometimes. xD and Kusala is her rank "craftsman". / +430
Tawny watched as all of the others showed up, nodding and dipping her head in return to all the greetings she received, but not talking anymore. Jace was there, as well as her large black mate named Temo. Then a few others that she didn’t know…and Pripyat got there, finally someone other than Jace that she recognized. She gave the gray male a shy toothy grin and dropped her head, remembering their silly game of tag on the beach. They’d had some fun out there before parting ways on good terms, she was happy to see that he looked to be doing well.
The small girl sat there quietly watching everyone, dark blue eyes trying to capture as much of the moment as possible. She studied each of the canines as they sat around her, all of them looking like they felt a little bit uncomfortable. Jaden, the leader of this gathering, was rather big. He wasn’t the largest wolf she’d ever seen, but he was the biggest in their group so far. His fur was very interesting, with the way that it faded into a different color…she’d have to be brave and ask him about it after the hunt. Perhaps he could show her how to do it to her own fur. Her eyes skipped over Jace and Temo, for she’d seen them together before and just suspected that they’d be looking and acting like normal. Next was a little sweetheart (Wretch) that looked pretty nervous about being there with wolves that she didn’t know. Tawny could relate and she sent the younger female a kind smile, hoping to calm her nerves. The last female to show up got a small smile and a nod as well; and then Tawny felt pretty caught up with the group and who she would be hunting with.
After a few more greetings and then a long stint of silence, the large male began speaking once again, telling them of his position and what was going on. When he asked for introductions, Tawny groaned internally and took a small step forward. She figured that since she was the first to respond, she’d be the first to speak. Crouching slightly under the weight of her nervousness, she kept her eyes on the ground and huffed softly. I’m Tawny…um, k-kusala. I like t-to make pretty things. And I love bones… She shook her head a little at the silly, stuttered out answer and took a big step back, pressing herself against a tree and wishing that she could just vanish from sight.
As each new person came to join the group Jace nodded a hello, whispering quiet greetings to those that actually spoke out loud. The hybrid was feeling a bit apprehensive about the hunt, after all she had not hunted with man y of those assembled, the only one she really did know here was Temo and of course Tawny, her beloved daughter of her heart, for her she gave a large grin and a soft smile, she did love her daughter so. As the organizer of this hunt, the Shishen Jaden began to speak Jace shifted into her Secui form, wincing as it hurt a little due to the pregnancy. Today would be the last day she would shift, after the hunt she would switch back tp optime and then stay in that form until the pups birth.
She forced an excited look onto her face, hopefully the hunt would go quickly and then she could claim weariness and escape to her home where she could hide her shame and guilt from everybody around her. Introductions began and when it was her turn she stood to her feet and looked at those assembled around her with a half smile,
"I am Jace, the Yakuso. It's my job to keep the Elements class in line." Here she chuckled slightly "My hope is near the north west of Westville and you can find me where most nights." With he piece said, she stepped back and sat down next to Temo agian. She smiled at him and nodded with her head for him to take the centre light.
He quietly waited next to Jace as others arrived answering the call for a pack hunt. One by one they arrived and a quick nod of greeting to each one, most of them he did not know. Some he recognized from seeing at various other pack functions. The whole time the others were arriving, he worried about working with others on something so important like a hunt. It had been a long time since he had last attempted to participate in a pack hunt.
Temo was right in that a pack hunt would help him meet others as they arrived and he was glad of that as he needed to meet more of . However, he was becoming increasingly nervous about joining in. He did his best not to let his nervousness to show through to the others.
When it came time for the leader, Jaden, to address them, Temo listened carefully and attentively to his words. As he listened to the others introduce themselves, his nervousness increased. He did not like being the center of attention, even if it was only just to introduce oneself. With an inward sigh as Jace nodded to him to introduce himself. He knew this is a necessary evil, "Hi everybody, I am Temo," his voice trailed off, a loss for words as he looked to the rest to introduce themselves.
She wondered if it would show that she was unused to these types of events. Wretch had only ever been to one or two pack meetings, some of them having occurred on the road between Dahlia de Mai and these new lands...so she wasn't sure how to react to some of what was going on around her. She wanted to force herself to be friendly and to bring her eyes up from the ground, but she couldn't seem to do so. They were stuck on a clump of grass that stood up from the rest of the turf around it, a few pieces clustered around a small yellow flower. Wretch took a few deep breaths are more canines approached, some seeming just as anxious about the hunt as she was. She wasn't as afraid of the actual hunt as she was of talking to the canines around her. Hunting was something that she needed practice at, and this would help with that.
The young adult listened as the lead canine introduced himself, a few others following suit. She cleared her throat, taking a few moments to sum up her will before opening her mouth. "I'm Wretch. I'm an Antei...I know the lay of the land and what areas need help in the regrowth process" She volunteered. "I've never been in a group hunt..I might need a little direction." She continued, admitting the thought aloud and looking about at the others. "I broke my leg twice..but it's all healed up now so I can get back to business"
Nearly everyone gave a name for the group to examination. Some were more willing and comfortable with speaking up and some weren’t. Jaden listened intently and tried his best to remember every name mentioned. Tawny was the smaller and rather shy wolf, Jace was a wolf who seemed more confidant than the others and had distinctive scars, Temo was her mate who said little but was the only wolf here with the same shade of ebony on him as Jaden, and Wretch was the only pure white wolf he’d seen in Ichika. Samantha had given her name before Jaden decided to have people meet and greet. She was the newest member of Ichika he’d met. That left the smaller grayish male who had still said nothing. Jaden glanced at him and wondered if he could possibly be shyer than poor Tawny. If that was the case then his silence was fine. Hopefully they would all be more comfortable around each other after this day.
After Wretch finished her greeting Jaden stood once more and spoke. “Good,” he said warmly with a smile directed at Wretch, “then we are all strong and ready to hunt! The deer are in a clearing no more then two miles that way,” His ebony muzzle tipped and nodded to the forest behind him. “They are grazing and we should be able to surprise them,” Jaden looked out on the group and analyzed them once again. When he was satisfied, he made a circle with one paw in the dirt beneath them. “We will split into two groups. One group will attack the deer from the back and push them toward where we are now,” he made a pushing motion with his large black paw through the closest boundaries of his dirt circle, “and the other will lay in wait for the scared deer here,” He poked on the other side of the circle. “When they come running from the clearing, that group, which I will lead, will attempt to pick off one or two deer from the herd’s outer edges. This way we will hopefully have more than a single deer between the seven of us.”
Jaden’s eyes met Jace’s, “Would you lead the attacking group, Jace?” She was the only wolf he could tell had some experience leading. “If you don’t mind, that is. The rest of you can decide whether you would like to chase or ambush.” He then turned and calmly pad his way into Phoenix Forest and motioned again with his dark muzzle for the rest to follow. “Are there any questions?”
What's up Ichika!!!? I am so fucking sorry if I forgot names, cyber-slap me if you want. I don't have Internet all of the time, when I have no access, I prepare my reply on my iPod's notes, copy and paste them to the thread as my reply when I do have access!
The girl listened to all of them, memorizing every name. Jaden, Temo, Pripyat, Jace, Wretch, Tawny,Saul, Noah (I think?). She happily smiled and when there was silence for a moment, she jumped in, the spotlight on her. "I am so happy to be in this awesome pack, nice to meet you guys! Excitement was creeping up on her, leaving her pawing anxiously on the ground.
She sat quietly in the circle of assembled wolves, listening. Her ears swiveled to the direction to any sound, sea blue eyes following any movement. Sam knew how to act in a pack, she was polite and remembered to be very friendly to everyone. She gave a gentle smile to Tawny, she seemed very shy and reminded Samantha of herself in earlier times.
After Jaden told them what would be going down, Tawny turned and ducked into the shadows. She would be better at chasing than taking the deer down. Her body was small and sleek, so she was fast and could dodge kicked up hooves pretty easily. In her mind, the males would be better staying there and taking the deer down once they were corralled in. The little female was loping along, placing her paws lightly before springing up again, following the scent of many deer. She could hear a few of the other gathered canines running in the forest around her and wondered who had followed. It didn’t matter, really. She knew to wait until the warning yip before leaping out and snapping her jaws. Once she was in place behind the small herd of deer, she hunkered down and watched. Her fur blended in with the dirt and tree trunks perfectly. The many shades of brown and gray were a very natural camouflage that helped her in stalking many different types of animals.
The girl stretched out in the leaves and laid her head on her paws, keeping her dark blue eyes on the grazing deer. There were five does and two large bucks, with three or four fawns running around. Tawny licked her chops and kept her eyes on the bucks and the does that wasn’t showing her motherhood. Once again she had gone a while without eating enough to sustain her body weight, which wasn’t a lot, but like any other creature, she needed calories to function. Her stomach felt slightly hollow, but she knew that this was a pack hunt…this meat wasn’t for her, right? It was for the other members of the pack, those who needed it and hadn’t come to the hunt. She’d just have to go hunting by herself after wards probably; maybe catch a rabbit or two. She knew it would be okay if she wasn’t able to eat with the others, just helping them made her happy and satisfied.
slight pp of anyone coming with Jace, she jsut tells them where to hide 3+
Introductions were all around apart from Pripyat who seemed content to stay silent. Jace knew everyone here, having met them at one time or another or seen them at a pack event, the only one she was unsure of was Jaden himself and maybe little Wretch but that was it. She made a note of getting to know her other pack mates in future after her pups were born and she could move about more freely, in fact the birth of pups would be a reason to celebrate and she would be able to get to know them more then.
Jace nodded as Jaden asked if she would lead the second group, it was the best she could have hoped for since she didn't really want to chance being kicked in the stomach by one of the stampeding beasts, to loose this litter as well would no doubt break something inside of her,
"Aye, that I will." She stood and shook out her fur, settled dust flying from the thick fur in a cloud.
She observed his placement tactics intensely remembering the position and which direction they should be coming from. Grinning at Samantha for her enthusiasm before trotting off after Tawny, quickly catching up with the mottled brown wolfess and rubbing her head against her affectionately, almost sensing the female's thought processes. Tawny's real mother had neglected her enormously and Jace felt the need to rectify that in every way possible, she wagged her tail and lowered her ears although her whispered tone didn't leave room for much argument,
"You eat with me when hunt finished. We have fun times breaking it up again." She said referring to the last time when Jace and Tawny had disassembled the deer Tawny had caught, it had been fun for both involved and had helped to strengthen their bond. She stood taller as the others caught up to them and she directed them with jerks of her head and flicks of her ears to where they should crawl through the underbrush closer to the herd. She herself settled down next to Tawny and the pair shuffled forwards. Now she paused waiting for the signal that Jaden and his team were in order.
With his usual quiet, Temo listened to the others introduce themselves. His thoughts now confirmed his earlier consideration that he would meet others of the pack that he had not met yet. This made him happy that he was making progress at not being such a recluse and participating more with pack events. He hoped Jace would approve of his efforts in the en devour of getting to know the rest of the pack that they have belonged to all summer.
He listened to Jaden's plan with interest and liked the plan. It was a simple plan that gets used a lot because of it's effectiveness. He considered which group he would join and sizing up everyone else and what looked like most of the smaller wolves were going in the chase group, he decided that he would be best in the ambush group where he would not get tired out from chasing and can use his mass to better bring down a deer.
He watched Jace move off in the indicated direction to work around the herd with those deciding for the chase following her. With a nod to Jaden, "I will remain with you as part of your team for the ambush where you can more effectively use my size to our advantage." Temo sat quietly with the others that decided to stay and participate on Jaden's team for the ambush.
The young girl was content to do whatever she was told, whenever she was told it. It seemed as if she would need to choose whether to be in the chase or ambush group, though, and of this she was not certain. The girl's leg was healed fully, Saul had said...but was she truly well enough to be using it for that length of time? The idea of her faltering and messing up the hunt made her ears droop slightly as she thought over each option. Each one had some way for her to fail, some way for her to mess things up. But laying in wait and attacking sounded less strenuous, in the big picture. Near the end it would probably get more dicey, but her leg wouldn't have already gone through the strain of a mile run.
"I'll ambush." She had no weapons other than her teeth and claws, but those would work just as well for her. She had never been one to use human-made weapons, preferring to stick to the basics. Wretch watched what the others were doing carefully, standing behind with those who had said that they would prefer to ambush the deer as well. She was excited and terribly nervous, her heart thudding in her chest and filling up her ears with its sound. She could be the one to mess this entire hunt up...but she hoped that she wasn't.
Pripyat sat in the circle, or on the outskirts, as the others gave names. Jace, Temo and Tawny he knew well enough, Wretch, Jaden and Samantha were unfamiliar to him before but he counted them among his friends now. It was easy these days to be so accepting and carefree. Arye seemed to make that possible, even when she was absent. Yet the boy did not give his own name, so accustomed to silence in such meetings, it felt too awkward to open his mouth. Had Arye been there just a glance would have forced him to speak, yet when no words came for the man in charge, Jaden, moved them along without protest. For this Pripyat was grateful.
As the plan was laid forth Pripyat hung back to see who went where. Jaden, Temo and Wretch were set to ambush and as Jaden moved off Pripyat silently followed him, his swift movement behind the man the only indication that he had accepted such a position. Once they drew closer Pripyat's silence was warranted, for to spook the deer before the timing right could be a grave error. That so many wolves could move in such a quiet manner did not surprise Pripyat, and yet he was glad when the tension was released and the chase finally began.
Like a loaded spring he set off after the deer, knowing that he could perhaps outright them short term but keeping a few paces behind, the snaps at their flanks more for effect than actual injury. It would be those who leaped from hiding places that would take down the deer, for they would not be tired from the flight the others were now engaged in. The chase in all reality did not last long, though the seconds lingered like minutes to Pripyat as he savored the sport, and when the others bodies sprang from shadows and upon the deer Pripyat was almost sorry. Almost.
Jace agreed to lead the chasing group and soon after that the hunting party divided. Jaden waited as Jace and her followers departed, giving them ample time to position themselves for a strike. Once he was confidant they were ready away, Jaden then led his group toward the clearing’s edge. Okay, he breathed, sticking to the shadows and trying to slow his hammering heart. We will wait until the herd crosses into the tree line and strike at its outer edges. If you strike too early or find yourself too close to the herd’s stampeding center, we run the risk of having someone trampled. Stay alert and place yourselves carefully. Temo, he glanced at the other ebony male and stopped, you can stay here and ambush form this side with him, Jaden nodded toward the other slim male who he still had no name for. Wretch and I will continue to the other side of the clearing and try for a deer of our own. Two should feed us generously? The Shishen finished with an eager grin. If they managed to kill two deer today, the event would end perfectly with a social meal and a sense of accomplishment for all.
Jaden took a brief pause to ensure there were no protests to his request. He chose the two males to stay behind simply to divide power more evenly. Wretch was the smallest and when he studied her closely, it was apparent that the canine might even have some coyote blood in her; two weaknesses that would be best made up for by Jaden’s bulk and experience. The two finally found a spot on the other side of the clearing and Jaden got comfortable. The deer were grazing and completely unaware of the circle of death that now surrounded them. When they come running toward us, He whispered now to Wretch and laid himself in the shadows of a large tree. I will choose one and try to take it off its feet, but I might need your help to slay the beast completely. Are you Ready? he asked this and searched her blue eyes for affirmation. He hoped he could trust the coyote blood to prove her self of some use.
The prey were completely ignorant when a call came. The sharp wolf voice made their hearts jump and they all searched the trees for a hidden ambush they wouldn’t find. If it weren’t for the wolves that suddenly sprang into action behind them, they might have fled from the haunting voice. Fortunately, the small brained animals had much more fear of the sharp, hungry jaws they could see. What might lurk in the safety of the trees quickly forgotten, the deer charged right into the Ichikan trap.
Sorry for that but only by a day or two… right? :>
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