Arocheae

Arocheae's tongue was lolling from her mouth as she climbed higher into the mountain, sticking to a small stream so that she wouldn't get lost. The little wolf hybrid had no idea what they might find, or whether they'd be successful in their hunt, but getting out from the Basin was exciting enough on its own. "I heard Camanche talking about how the big sheep live up here. You know, the ones they bring back sometimes, with the giant horns that curl around and around? Maybe we can find one of them." There was no way the small, curly-tailed mutt could possibly take down such a power, graceful animal on her own, but until she tried and failed, her confidence was limitless.

Layra

Layra followed her pack mate. The 6 Month old lion cub climbed easily up this mountain. Her ears forward. She listened and licked her lips. oh god that would be awesome! I growled playfully as I followed her. My mouth open in a pant.

Arocheae

"I wonder what else we can find up here?" One of the golden rules of hunting was to be quite and not give away your location to potential prey, something that Arocheae hadn't considered yet. Further up she climbed, leading Layra higher into the mountains and further away from the Basin, until she too was panting hard from all the climbing. "Man... I didn't realize how high this mountain was! Say.... Lyra, do you smell that?" The curly-tailed wolfdog stopped short and tilted her muzzle to the breeze. "I smell something dead. Loooong dead." And indeed, if Layra put her nose to it, she too would smell the stench of old decay somewhere nearby.

Layra

Layra pounced on up after her and when she spoke she let her mouth hang open as she took in the smells.YES I CAN!She began to run in the direction of the smell of the dead animal.

Arocheae

During the pair's sprint towards the source of the odor, Arocheae slipped and fell at least twice because she was not use to navigating the steeper, more rugged land they were scaling. She was resilient however and bounced back up with little more than a bruise or two for her mishaps, nothing that was going to slow her down. It didn't take all too long before the pair came across the carcass, and the sight of it caused the youngster's ears to paste back in an uneasy manner. "It... kinda looks like a wolf.." Arocheae stepped more cautiously as she drew closer to the carcass, which was little more than a skeleton with a few meager scraps of hardened, badly putrified flesh and clumps of grizzled-gray fur.

Layra

Layra slipped a few times but her claws helped with the traction. she approached the carcass slowly and made to touch it with her foot.What is it though?She spoke .

Arocheae

Arocheae extended her white muzzle, nose quivering, towards one exposed shoulder blade of the carcass. Only a stuff bundle of fur and leather-like, dried out flesh stuck to it. "I'm not sure." The hybrid drew back and skirted slowly around the sorry pile of bones, most of which were all still in proper alignment despite being scavenged upon many times. "It must have been a wolf. Or a wolfdog. Look at the head." Her eyes had drifted to the skull, and she noted how the muzzle looked more blunt than your average wolf muzzle, and even in her young age, she could pick out these details. "I wonder how they died?"

Layra

She nodded poking and proding the carcass. think we should just leave it and find something else to eat? or should we scavange off it?She spoke not sure what to make of this dead animal. In ways she didn't want to scavange from it but she was mighty hungry. Her tail flicked as she moved toward the head end.

Arocheae

The adolescent wrinkled her nose and shook her head, "Eww, I think it's too old to eat." Maybe if she were really hungry, she'd consider chewing on the tough flesh. Not that there was much left of it now. "Maybe we should just leave it, and keep looking. I'm sure we can come across something we can actually hunt!" Arocheae tried sounding enthusiastic again, but as she sidled away from the curled-up corpse, she couldn't help but feel a shiver run down her spine.

Layra

Layra stared at the corpse a while longer and then followed after her. The young cub was getting hungrier the longer they traveled.I hopse so im getting hungry fastShe spoke

Arocheae

Arocheae bounded forward, happy to put distance between herself and the pile of bones. "I hope we find a mountain sheep pretty soon." She called back as she zig-zagged along the uneven terrain, moving as quickly as she dared without risking another stumble. The wrong step at the wrong place, and either one of them could be toppling down a long ways to their death, or serious injury at best. Her young mind wasn't so concerned about this as it was the potential for finding food and having a great time though, and before long, something new caught her attention. "Ohhh wow, I can smell it again!" Arocheae said with a wrinkled nose. "I think there's more dead st... Eeek!"

The alabastor female had yelped and scrambled back when a dark shadow glided in front of her. The heavy flap of wings was unmistakable, and she jerked her head upwards in time to watch a massive, black-feathered vulture descend on the ground in front of them. The beady-eyed bird, dressed completly in a charcoal-black color from beak to claw, bobbed his long head and eyed up the young canine and feline. "You two shouldn't be traveling this way. There is only death past this point." He informed in an eerily somber voice.

Layra

Layra followed her and then stopped and gagged at the smell then saw the bird and backed up a bit.who who are you?She studdered moving closer to her pack mate.

Arocheae & Two Claw

"I'm Two Claw." The vulture replied simply. His little, beady eyes bored into the two adolescents, making Arocheae shiver and feel distinctly uncomfortable. "The land past me, where the humans once built their stone temple, is cursed ground. You will find little there but Death... and if you don't leave this area soon enough, Death might find you first."

Arocheae looked at Layra in horror, not sure if Two Claw was being serious, or whether he was just trying to scare them. "What do you think? He looks awfully scary..." She whispered.

Layra

She stared at the vulture and her rounded ears move to lay back. Then she looked ot her friend.maybe we should go, the others will probably be starting their search for usShe spoke.