Uprising, Arcane Pack Hunt

[Hype]

Fenrae took the shift from mother mode to hunting mode rather well, sliding easily into a run. They needed to cover some ground; in spring the caribou stuck close to the both ends of Arrenko river, and while the north lake was not far from the densite, it was still well out of the forest. Fenrae stretched her stride, lengthening her gait and showing her speed; it felt good to run, to feel her muscles stretch and burn after being cramped in such a small space. She slowed her sprint after a minute or two, allowing any of her stragglers time to catch up as they made their way to Arrenko Lake. As the trees began to thin, Fenrae slowed her pace down to a near crawl, moving against the wind as they began to scent for any straggling groups grazing closer to the treeline. As the herding group became more and more exposed, Fenrae continued to slowly scan the trees, looking for that telltale break in the scenery until she finally found it. The group of ten or fifteen weren't clustered with the original bulk of the herd. No, this younger group of mares, interspersed with a few bucks and several calves, seemed intent on being their own pocket herd, away from the main leading bucks. Fenrae stopped, looking over the group for a few seconds, "see anything good?" Fenrae asked as she scanned, waiting for something to catch her interest. If not, they could always move to the larger group...but this could be easier... ((OOC: Who should post caribou? Or should I, since I have no life, lol! Still, just waiting for that post before they get into action))

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Wolves: Loni . Fenrae . 133
Dogs: Roshi
Humans: Bronson . Dover

"The Public is more familiar with bad design than good design. It is, in effect, conditioned to prefer bad design, because that is what it lives with. The new becomes threatening, the old reassuring." -Paul Rand

[Lunaria]

Logan and Roxii were quick to address the most important issues; if the damn taggers were Vexes, and how badly she and Gena were injured. Timber stayed quiet as Gena answered Roxii’s question, nodding her agreement with her packmate’s words. The two females hadn’t smelled like pack wolves. Most likely, they’d just been stupid and hadn’t thought to keep aware of their surroundings. Timber didn’t care whether it was stupidity or recklessness that had brought the two taggers to the Arcanes, she was just thrilled to have had a chance to help rid the island of one of them. As Gena finished speaking, Timber frowned thoughtfully at Logan’s question, rolling her shoulder experimentally. It hurt, to be sure, but it wasn’t anything that the gamma couldn’t power through. She looked back to Logan with a firm, determined expression, giving a sharp nod in response. The gamma female watched with a slightly worried expression as Iannon and Casolt moved off to check for more taggers, and although she knew that killing taggers was something that every Arcane would give almost anything to do, a small part of her hoped that the pair would find nothing. Timber knew that Iannon was strong, and capable of handling himself against a tagger or two, but she couldn’t help worrying. She did her best to distract herself until Iannon came back, mostly by concentrating on her injuries to give herself a full self-checkup. She rolled and stretched her injured shoulder in every way she could think of, getting an idea of what her limits would be until she healed. After what seemed like an eternity, Iannon and Casolt returned to the pack, and Timber released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. He was obviously frustrated at the lack of opportunity for some action, but he was okay. Her worries abated, Timber turned her attention to Logan as he issued the hunting positions, nodding as she was assigned her usual runner position. She was a little nervous about doing a bunch of running just after being injured, but it only made her more determined to perform as close to her usual level as possible. Timber was a skilled herder, and always did well in her position. The female glanced thoughtfully over at Mortimer and Pandora, sizing them up as hunting partners. Mortimer had been a bit of a spaz during his first big hunt with the pack, but the male had become much more confident as a pack member as time went on. Hopefully that would reflect in his hunting performance. Timber had never hunted with Pandora, so she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from the smaller female. The gamma female was very interested to see how this would all play out. Once the hunting assignments were given, Fenrae wasted no time leading the herding party towards the lake. Timber took off after her without hesitation, running carefully at first, then with more confidence once she found a stride that hurt her shoulder the least. Sure, there was some pain from her shoulder as she ran to keep up with her alpha as best she could, but Timber refused to let a little thing like pain slow her down too much. Still, she wasn’t quite as fast as usual now, and Fenrae took an easy lead. Normally, Timber was one of the faster wolves in the pack, and would have been able to keep up with the alpha, and it was a bit frustrating. In addition, although the gamma knew Fenrae got annoyed by all the Arcanes trying to keep an idea on her, watching the alpha female get progressively further away was a little worrying. Fenrae was one of the most important wolves in the pack, and Timber refused to let anything happen to her alpha on her watch. Timber was pleased when Fenrae backed off from her full-out sprint after a few minutes, and caught up to her alpha as fast as she could. She glanced over at the other female with a raised eyebrow as they moved through the trees, speaking in a light tone. “You know Roxii would kill me if she saw me letting you get that far ahead of me, right? I’ll bet you’re just rubbing it in that I’m a little slow today…” she said, her expression and tone turning to mock-hurt. Timber was comfortable enough with Fenrae to engage in a little light teasing with her. However, once her little piece was said, she switched into hunting mode. The group was getting close enough to the lake now that it was time for silence and stealth. The gamma followed carefully behind her alpha, watching the caribou as the herding group drew closer to the potential prey. She spotted the smaller group of cows, bucks, and calves a few seconds after Fenrae, and studied each of the caribou closely for signs of weakness. The calves, of course, were potentially easier targets, but they were also relatively small. The Arcane pack had become rather large, and one caribou calf was not enough to feed all of them. Thus, the choice came down to one of the cows or one of the bucks. “We’ve got a big, strong enough hunting party that I think we could take one of the cows, or even one of the bucks if we wanted to. If we can scare the small group enough, it’s likely that they’ll try to run for safety with the bigger herd of caribou. If we can cut our target off, I think we can take it down without the others coming back to try to save it.” Timber spoke quietly in response to Fenrae, thinking out loud as she watched the small herd of caribou. Ideally, one of them would spot a weakness in one of the adults that they could exploit. However, even if they couldn’t find a weak caribou, the Arcanes had a large enough hunting party to take down a healthy adult target, as long as they were smart about it.

[Hype]

Sam was quite possibly having the worst spring ever. I mean, he'd been in his prime in the winter, a full rack of antlers and the best rights to any of the females in the herd. I mean any of them. Sam always had the worst luck, being cut off from the herd by a pack with a scant two other bucks, left to fend for himself for the winter. Greeat. Now here he was, full and sleek and ready for his illustrious return to the top, only to find his mares and new calves ostracized, pushed to the edge by some old buck who thought he knew a thing or two. Yea, whatev. And so Sam was brooding as he grazed, watching the old buck for any weaknesses. He could so totally take back the herd. He just needed that last bit of strength that had been sapped from him in winter... ((OOC: Out of muse. Bleagh. Muct go die now. Everyone should post so Fenrae and Timber aren't the only herders.))

[Ivv]

When Casolt and Logan dismissed ranks, they both had a tendency to grow a little lighthearted with each other; a little less raw and rigid. The two walked in step with one another like a pair of contrasting twins; Logan's fur was still rigid, raised in discomfort in leaving his pups behind with only two protectors so soon after a threat had been identified — and, yes, two was a measly number in comparison to the full army of Arcanes Logan would have preferred — but Casolt's step was easier. He was still cautious, weary, but his step had begun to give away his enthusiasm until... "I just can't believe it," Casolt said finally. Roxii and Iannon marched like soldiers behind them, far more alert than the weary Alpha. Logan knew Casolt had been waiting to say something about the pups. He'd seen it in his eyes the moment Jarkko and Lijah sprang from the den. Just as Loni had become a proud grandfather, Casolt was a gushing uncle. Even Roxii could not have denied Lijah. They'd been turned to mush in a matter of hours, moments maybe. "They're amazing Log," Casolt added with a smile and bumped Logan's shoulder. The touch drew Logan out of his daze, brought him away from densite and back to the hunt. With a sigh, he smiled. "Thanks, Cas." Logan replied, beginning to focus on the hunt as he should have been in the first place. "I didn't think Fenrae and I would lose our jobs so soon, but I think those two have every one of you willing to obey their every command." Logan turned around to glance at Roxii. "You were smitten with my Lijah." However much he'd wished for that to come out as a teasing remark, Logan's pride was too noticeable. Despite Roxii baring her teeth when Lijah got too boisterous, he had still seen Roxii's complete sense of awe with his daughter. As they came closer with the rest of the hunting party, Logan lead them away and off to the side, mindful to keep his group downwind. The air was rather still today, anyways, but that didn't mean he wouldn't take every precaution. As they began to crouch in the mess of trees and bushes, Logan looked over at Casolt who was nearest to him. "The minute this hunt ends, I want you to rejoin Loni and Gena. I want a perimeter sweet done immediately." It was his last command before the four of them fell completely silent, waiting for the other half of the pack to make their move.

[OOC: Took some liberty with Cas, Losty. I know he's maturing into his true Casoltness, but I figured no one else would be able to calm Logan's nerves aside from Fenrae ;) I love their bromance.]

[AKwolf]

When Casolt and Logan dismissed ranks, they both had a tendency to remind Roxii of two nattering pheasant hens. They clucked and cooed about the pups and despite herself, Roxii rolled a dark and slow look over to the two of them as the four wolves cut away from Fenrae’s group and skirted around the scent of caribou. To anyone else, the look Roxii gave them would have probably come off as something no more humorous than death twice warmed over, but to those who had spent a painfully prolonged period of time with the beta female, they would know the look as somewhat amused. Dismally amused, but amused none the less. The females weren’t even going on like those two were, and despite Logan’s earlier glum mood, the both of them now had a sense of proud fancy about them. Just like two old hens glowing and nattering about their chicks. Had Roxii known the term, she would have called them “metros,” but since she didn’t, she merely called them twits. Of course, she didn’t voice any of this and the look she gave them was as close as either of them were getting to what she really thought about them. Truth be told, Roxii was quite taken with the two little bite-sizers as well. And had she been a kinder individual, or at the very least not had the reputation of “biggest bitch this side of the equator” to upkeep, she may have even joined in on the gushing and gooing. But…she was Roxii, and the closest Roxii ever came to gushing over anything was to insult it in a less-than psychologically destructive way. However, her silence on how she felt didn’t stop the nagging urge she felt to suddenly turn around and guard those two pups like nobody’s business until the hunting party returned. Logan had been dangerously correct in his assumption that Roxii would kill, maim, and generally beat to a bloody pulp any fawn or flora which breathed incorrectly upon Jarkko and Lijah. And, as the four of them ventured away from the densite, Roxii was exceptionally alert to the scents and disturbances which Logan’s group crossed. Should any non-Arcane wolf, untagged or tagged, cross paths with her as the group moved out they’d soon get a disturbingly personal whiff of what their entrails smelt like. No questions asked. The pack had endured one too many disturbances today for Roxii’s comfort and she was gunning for anything with even the most basic of cellular makeups. As the two old hens went about their gushing, Roxii moved like a heathen dictator behind them. Eyes actively searching for something to beat into oblivion, despite her knowing that any wolf who approached the known territory of the Arcanes would have to be far left of sane. Still, the recent kills by Casolt and Gena had stirred Roxii’s violent tendencies and as such she was feeling more on edge than usual. And while Roxii had never been a creature of jealousy, psychologically she was manifesting a form of jealousy in an anxious desire to thrash someone, herself. It was due to this mentality that Roxii didn’t recognize anything besides nattering between Casolt and Logan until the alpha male paused to look directly behind him and at her. “You were smitten with my Lijah.” Roxii caught the pride in his voice which he had tried to mask with a teasing overtone. Her first reaction was a cool raise of her left brow in what some may translate as a “naturally” sort of response. “Obviously.” However, Roxii always had a bullet in her belt and seamlessly her lips curled into a cool and dancing smirk as she jerked a quick, harsh nod of her head to Iannon who walked next to her. “I’ve taken it upon myself to foster your pups’ intelligence before Iannon deems it high time to endow his personal brand of idiocy and self-loathing onto them.” The words slithered off her tongue with an ease so silky it was somewhat disturbing. She gave a sharp glance to Iannon, eyes glittering with a dark serpentine glee, and waited for whatever retaliation he may take. Making jabs at her closet adoration of the pups wasn’t going to get anyone all too far. So she liked the pups, bloody fucking who-hoo! Truth be told, it only gave her more of an excuse to be an all-around bitch in that she was now taking it upon herself to be Jarkko and Lijah’s personal bodyguard and bully-assassin. Not that they really needed it, after what Roxii had seen of them, but she’d happily welcome any more reason to be a vicious hardass. Moments later and they were upon the herd as Logan led them downwind of the caribou. Roxii stiffened in expectation as the musk of the animals began to drown out the lush scent of the lakeside. As they slowed and crouched within a copse of gorse and bush, Logan commented a short order to Casolt, “The minute this hunt ends, I want you to rejoin Loni and Gena. I want a perimeter sweet done immediately.” Roxii glanced shortly at Casolt before turning away, muscles tensing and relaxing with attention. Her silver eyes glinted oddly with a suppressed emotion of pride and hidden admiration; however they soon clouded with a sharp edge of mockery as she turned her gaze to Iannon and whispered softly. “Damn, Ian, sounds like Logan may be thinking of replacing you with a younger, better looking model.” She waggled her brow in a somewhat more crude fashion than the expression normally should have been, before flicking her tail and turning her full attention to the caribou. Despite her desire to protect the pups and despite the anxiousness she was feeling, Roxii was composed and somewhat “happy.” Which did not bode well for anything she caught in her crosshairs.

[azureye]

((OOC: Grah, lots to catch up on. I lose at college x.x;;;;)) Mortimer hadn't really had an opportunity to acquaint himself with the pups yet. Well, that was what he told himself, anyway — he'd had plenty of opportunity, but he kept making up excuses in his head. Oh, they were busy talking to Loni, or playing a game, or he didn't want to interrupt them talking to so-and-so, or whatever — not that he didn't want to meet them. He watched from afar, grinning mildly from time to time. And he watched the perimeter more carefully than ever, ever since the pups had been born . He was sick with worry that something should happen to them, though he tried not to show it. So when Timber and Gena returned with the news that taggers had been lurking nearby, Mortimer felt a surge of anxiety and rage — taggers! It was a good thing that Logan ordered Mortimer to go on a hunt so quickly; otherwise, he'd have been beside himself with inaction. As the party departed, Mortimer kept pace with Fenrae easily: for once, all his twitchy, anxious energy could be put to some use, and he ran with an easy, excited gait. Then, as the group slowed, Mortimer took a moment to eye his hunting partners. His demeanor was rather more relaxed than usual — not having Roxii hovering over his shoulder helped immensely. He grinned mildly at Timber, and then — Pandora. He hadn't talked to her much since the revelation regarding her pregnancy, like most of the pack. He didn't eye her with contempt, his silence wasn't laced with icy scorn — he simply seemed jittery around her, more jittery than normal, and tended to shy away from her as though he were afraid of catching something. But now, for the first time in a long while, he gave her a long, low, level look. Looked, and then looked away — but that look was charged with something. Scrutiny, a desire to understand, to know — as though he were studying some puzzle, some phenomenon, some fascinating thing — As though he'd wanted to say something, but couldn't. The moment passed, and Mortimer was silently surveying the herd, tipping his ears toward Fenrae and Timber as they mused aloud over how to go about their mission. "A buck, you say," Mortimer murmured, letting his eyes flutter over the herd. "That one over there, lingering to the side — we could take him." Mortimer rolled his shoulders back and gave a small, cocksure smile. Oh, he felt sure of this hunt, much more sure of this hunt — he felt in his element, today. Or maybe the change of season simply put him in a better mood. In either case, he stood, awaiting some signal from Fenrae.