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It was certainly a ways away from the familiar grounds of the Wentworth, but the journey was well worth the short time away. With the inhabitants of the Wentworth still perusing the grounds and making camp, the fodder had grown sparse in fear of the predators that lurked. When small game such a rabbit and the occasional marten still lingered, they were not as filling to a hungry belly as the succulent meat of a young deer or handsome bull. It could have filled the small community for days rather than hours and their hides would have made wonderful collections as bedding for the wolves to rest on. But to accomplish this, first the kill needed to be made.

So her path lead the golden she-wolf from the encompassing grounds to the vast fragrant woods to the south trailing after her wounded prey. The dangers of a party of one were lost to her as her efforts to down the wounded bulk help precedence. She had travelled from the early morning without rest, stalking the prey wounded by her accurate fangs. His belly remained a gaping wound, spurting blood each time the beast attempted a quicker stride. He was dying... and the damned beast knew it, but he was a defiant male. And though his harem had abandoned him to the rule of another young elk, he remained resilient against the threat lurking not far away... waiting for his energy to dwindle and his last bit of life to fade away.

Without a pack to help down him, the wolf could only watch and wait for her prey to die, in effect attracting any that cared to smell to attempt and take the beast all their own. But while she waited for his life to drain, she was careful to observe her surroundings as well. Ever vigilant as the eyes in the sky that watched the wolf stalk the bull with gleaming pairs of red-orange and yellow eyes. At times the owl pair would sweep down to harass the animal by the call of the wolf, but never lingered too long to receive injury. They were meant to further stress the beast as though the threat of the female wasn't enough to drive him mad.

Quietly, with well muscled form parallel to the ground, she crept and waited. Eyes wide and anticipating, waiting for the labored breaths to convey he was ready to die.

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As the Great owl made to sweep down again, his aim was effectively cut by another swooping down for the eyes of their prey. He shrieked as did the smaller female remaining aloft above at the audacity of another bird interfering. But while the eagle was only following the orders of its handler, so was the male, and to his handler he cried out in alarm to alert the stalking wolf before returning to his surveying height.

X'yrin was forced to pause in her stalk and witness this disturbance as it transpired. Her remained low to the ground with hackles raised and ears drawn forward in alert. For the moment her eyes were taken off the beast, she hastily swept the grounds for immediate signs of an intrusion. It was foolish to assume that no other would smell the kill, but she had hoped like a fool that the elk would have slowed to its deathly crawl by then. Time was not in her favor, and what little remained was better used now, than later.

Her plan was forced into action earlier than expected but no energy was wasted in damning the unfavorable circumstances. From her quiet stalk, she sprang into hostile action, charging toward the wounded flank of her prey on swift paws of death and vaulted onto its rear to hinder the first of his frantic steps. As her claws honed into his thick hide, he brayed and bucked indignantly and swung his crowned head around to catch the she-wolf on her already wounded and bleeding shoulder. But she held fast to him, endure the smarting cut of his blow with teeth and claws burying deeper into his soft flesh, riding the weak bucks of his flailing limbs as the gaping wound drained more of his life away...

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Haste influenced her terrible aim and as she clung to the back of the beast riding its terrified bucks and kicks, she came to realize its painful repercussions. A will executed kick did its intended damage, effectively knocking the she-wolf off the back of the surprisingly resilient prey. But she would not claim defeat when other depended on her success.

She thought of them and panic coursed through her adrenaline fueled upon seeing the other leap for her game. Her lips peeled back in a hostile smile as she watched the male grab onto her intended kill as she took a brief moment to regain her footing. No… the meat was not his, but HERS! And she would be damned to have her efforts stolen away by circumstance. The killing blow would be hers, to claim the meat rightfully as her own and ensure her band would survive for days more. When the civilized tongue would have better suited the misunderstanding well underway, instinct dictated she not speak, but as as a hunter would. And again with reopened wound and bleeding shoulder, she proceeded a frontal charge to the vacant side of the elk’s neck and clamped down like a tightening vice around its cords.

Gradually the hoarse brays turned to gasps for breath as it began to suffocate on the blood rushing into its throat. The she-wolf clamped harder still, letting her weight drag down the impressive beast by the neck. His legs buckled as both the running blood and loss of air drained his strength. Futile as his efforts were, he continued to try for an escape, jerking his neck wildly to be freed of the two pairs of jaws wrapped around his neck, but inevitably caused his own demise. The cords snapped by an ill placed twist of his neck and finally he was still and silent. The autumn wolf felt the grace of his sweet blood upon her tongue and envisioned that the first trickle was that of his life draining away… the essence she had taken to make the kill her own.

She held fast for a moment longer, shaking her head to ensure the beast was damn before delicately unwrapping her jaws. In confidence over her claim, she placed a heavy paw atop its crown head, interrupted from her private ritual of savoring the blood to give her attention to the stranger seemingly bequeathed by the ancestors. Had he not appeared when he did, undoubtedly the outcome would not have been with her as relatively whole as she was. Softly, she whined her gratitude and offered a friendly wag of her tail despite her rigid stature, but by no means relinquished her position above the head of the carcass.

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Her apprehension toward the other became more obviously unneeded as he respectfully backed from the kill. Though words were still the main communication of these lands, she still resorted to her first 'language' of gesture to convey suspicions and well as speak. Were it not for his break of the silence, she would have carried on as the Nomads had without consideration that her language would not be understood.

Her ears perked attentively and brows raised and creased with interest. He hadn't intended to steal? Well now the she-wolf felt foolish for endangering herself as she did. A woman of few words except for when the time demanded them, she let her downcast eyes speak of the embarrassment she had for her behavior. Both head and tail lowered bashfully as she humbly stepped down from her claim. "Oh..." she uttered softly. "Please forgive my actions... I do not consider myself a selfish creature... but I could not afford for this meal to be stolen." Shamefully, she averted her eyes. "I am ashamed to have assumed the worst of you, after you selflessly offered your aid to me. I am grateful, truly."

Each word was lavished with the taste of blood on her maw, satisfying her starved pallet in a strange appeasement for the gorge. There was great difficulty in keeping her content growl low and modest, but why subdue the glee for such a wonderful taste? She was quite glad for her words of gratitude, for they allowed her to smile and convey the pleasure in both his assistance and the taste of fresh blood. As she lapped the gore from her muzzle as cleared away the stench of the animal's blood, she came to better smell the essence dripping from the unknown male, and swiftly her tones of pleasure morphed into a sorrowful song. "You were injured... my friend, I am terribly sorry," she whined, taking a bold step toward him. "Perhaps I could help?"

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Through experience from prior encounters she had with other creatures of this vast land, she expected first for her offer to be rejected, coupled with a more apprehensive nature to her neutral offering. But she was surprised when he accepted, inching a bit closer to allow her to survey the wound more in depth. Graciously, she fanned her tail as though he had granted her a wonderful gift and proceeded to smell and gentle test the wound for hints of infection.

As she further inspected and run her tongue across the wound to clean and encourage clotting, a forward drawn ear caught his name and dutifully noted it to her growing compendium of generous souls she had come across in her time here. She whined pleasantly before withdrawing her muzzle. "It is a pleasure Niro Takekuro," carefully she sounded the name to ensure she had repeated it as successfully as it was spoken. "I am X'yrin, an Exultare... a warrior to the Nomads of the far North." Both name and title were given not only as words but as a prideful extension of herself, all a single phrase that describe much more than a sound for her given name.

There was no reason to give her title in Ichika, for it was a word that no longer held meaning to the small family still in the Wentworth. But thinking of them made her realize the time she had spent away from them, and reminded her of how urgently they needed this meal. The autumn woman was all too glad to take the further assistance of this stranger, provided it was all in good will. "That would be wonderful," she sighed happily, already stepping around to the other side of the elk. "If we could keep its main body intact its hide can be used later. I am well used to"- what had her young pupil called the act at one point? Tanning?-" tanning the skin. No resource is wasted," she boasted with pride. At a thought, she turned her amber gaze to her companion. "But of course, we can share this meal. You have others to feed, yes?"

ooc: I cant remember when I had her on two legs last XD

During her time on these still foreign lands, she had come to realize her own strangeness regarding her home community. While it was always described as a pack to the North, given the change in the season, they would have been well to the East if her memory of their trail served her right. Claiming the North always seemed easier to comprehend, both for herself and those that did not know of her culture, limiting her reason for going into the description of the Endless Path and how it led. But it was rooted deeply within her and despite its complexity, she was made to speak of it again with a smile.

"Not so much for the warmer climate," she contested while giving the wound a final cleanse. "By culture speaks of an Endless Path that carries stray souls from out home to find a fitting course for themselves. I was...rather, I am still on this Path and was brought to these lands some time ago." Lapping her maw again, she turned her golden muzzle to the blue overhead with a fond smile playing on her lips. "But I do miss the chill of the North. This climate still takes getting used to... though the air is much more fragrant during this season... very pleasant."

When asked for a moment to retrieve his tools, the woman sat patiently as the eagle was sent off on her errand. Looking at the relationship between bird and handler, she was compelled to evaluate her own relationship with the two owls hanging overhead. Aside from occasionally acting as scouts neither had been conditioned in such a way to retrieve anything other than small game, the largest of the two more so than the smaller female. But then, what was there for either of them to do other than to act as her eyes and extra set of claws? They were guides more so than tools... but still the woman found herself thinking.

Once bird and tools returned, she discarded that train of thought and revisited the meat still in need of sectioning. Seeing the potential to work, her preferred form was altered to favor the more dexterous, equipping herself with flexible digits in order to hold the hide taunt in the process of skinning. She hadn't noticed her companion had run off until her form settled and she combed back the wild bangs from her eyes to see him returning, his form also changed. She looked to him with a curious tilt of her head and an ear perked in curiosity. Was he not used to changing in front of others, she wondered. Or perhaps it was a taboo to be exposed. She recalled an embarrassed look upon the New Dawn Alpha's face when he had seen her change without consideration and felt quite embarrassed for doing so yet again.

But as she opened her mouth to apologize for her inconsiderate behavior she was distracted by instruction and about jumped to her feet to comply. "Of course," she replied in a calm, quiet tone despite the excited sway of her tail. "Let me see what I can find..." Briskly she walked into the surrounding wood, nearly tripping over herself as she reacquainted herself with the use of two, rather than four limbs.