Sundbere

The lone female padded along the top of a sandy ridge in hopes of finding prey. Her fur was a light sandy color with little variation to it, and it helped her to blend in with the monotone colors in this particular area. Being new to the valley, she didn't know where the best hunting might be, but this place was more open than the others, and she hoped she would have a better chance at spotting her next meal among the loamy hills and ridges. Maybe a bunny, or some other little rodents? Or if she was lucky, maybe a sickly deer that she had a chance to bring down on her own. Whatever opportunities might cross her path, the little female was eager to go after.

Rainiak

Rainiak had found a home for herself, and now needed to find some members. If not that, at least make some friends in this new place. So it was when she saw the other wolf loping along the eskers by herself that Rainiak decided to approach, moving quietly as she did so, with a friendly sway in her tail and a calm demeanor that would let the other knew she meant no harm.

Sundbere

She stopped when she saw the other approaching, surprised to see another wolf out here in the lonely Eskers. She could see the friendly posture the other carried herself in, which made Sundere relax and give her plume a small wave to return the message that she too meant no harm. "Have you come out here to hunt, stranger?" With a growling stomach, Sundere's mind was focused on getting food in her belly, "With the two of us working, we might catch a decent meal."

Rainiak

Rainiak had stopped a short ways away from Sundbere, not wanting to get too close without the other first noticing her. When Sundbere waved her tail, that was Rainiak's cue to continue forward, with a pleasant smile and a greeting nod, "Now that you mention it, I could go for a bite of meat." Food had originally been part of her agenda, but then if she was expected to patrol and guard her new territory, she had to have some fuel, didn't she? "I wouldn't mind joining you. My name is Rainiak, by the way." The wolf tilted her muzzle to the oncoming breeze while she spoke, already scenting the wind in preparation for their hunt.

Sunbere

"My parents call me Sundbere." Being rather young, not quite two years old yet, Sundbere was relieved to have some help finding food, and mimicked Rainiak's gesture of sniffing at the breeze, "I haven't found anything yet, but two noses should work better than one! And I believe spring is almost here, so I'm hoping there might be calves about if we look hard enough."

Rainiak

Sundbere was right; Rainiak could already smell the musty odors of the warming earth, and the grassy fragrance of new shoots that were starting to pop up from the ground after a long winter's rest. With new food emerging for the plant eaters, it was prime time for many of them to start calving, and a youngster of any species would be much easier to take down than any adult. The only trouble was finding them. "During this time of day, I suspect many of the plant eaters will be resting in what cover they can find. I'm rather new here I have to admit though... I'm not familiar with good hunting areas." Rainiak cocked one ear back, and the other forward, letting them work like radars to pick up any useful information. "Lets try this direction? There's a cluster of small pine trees up this way, and we might find something there." She nodded in the direction of the distant greenery before moving off.

Sundbere

She followed Rainiak's gaze to the trees, which looked like little more than green blobs in the distance to Sundbere. "That sounds like a fine plan to me. I'm new here too, actually. By myself, I haven't been able to take on much more than groundhogs and hares." The wolfess knew to keep her voice quieter now, and tried to move as silently as she could while skittering down the edge of the ridge they were moving away from.

Rainaik

"You're new here, too?" Being unfamiliar with the resident packs in the area, Rainiak hadn't been able to tell by scent if Sundbere was in a local pack or not. Now that she understood this female to be a loner, it sounded like a good opportunity to pick up a new packmate, "If you're interesting, I've claimed a stretch of land to the east. Right now, it's just me there, but if you're looking for a home, you're more than welcome to join me there." Like Sundbere, Rainiak was speaking in a quiet whisper that grew lighter as she got nearer to the scrub pines.
The closer they got, the more she could smell the distinct and welcome odor of elk. They were in there, amongst the pines... but how many? "Smell that?" Dropping away from her invitation and going into hunt mode, Rainiak stopped, poised at the edge of a cluster of rocks, where her earth-toned coat would blend in to some degree. "We can circle around and see if we can get an idea of how many are there. Or, one of us can rush in and spoke them out, and the other can wait in ambush to see if any stragglers or calves run out."

Sundbere

"I'd love to!" She responded with a yip, then pulled her ears back and smiled apologetically when she spoke too loud, "Sorry, it's been a while since I've had someone else to talk with." She only hoped she hadn't spoked any of their prey. The sandy-coated wolf tried her best to stay quite while she followed after Rainiak the rest of the way, and before long, she could smell the elk too. "I can run in there. You're probably better at picking out the stragglers than I am."

Rainiak

Her pale eyes glistened a little and she shook her head, smiling as she did so, "That's quite alright, Bere, I can understand. I've been on my own for a few months, too, and it does get rather lonely." She was no longer focusing on the younger wolf however. Her senses were trained on the small thicket of dwarf pines that the elk were bedded down in, trying to her best to determine if there were any calves or not amongst the small herd. "Go for it. But be careful... they may attack back, or if they get really spoked, you might get trampled." Since it sounded as though Sundbere didn't have as much experience with the larger prey, Rainiak gave her a few pointers before creeping forward and starting to circle around the trees.

Sundbere

Rainiak

Sundbere

Her heart was pounding now, excitement and a bit of worry mixing together with the overall thrill of a hunt. She bobbed her dial to Rainiak's words before jumping forward and running across the loose ground and into the stand of trees. Once inside, she began to yip and bark, trying to stir up the various elk and get them spooked. She was careful to watch for any of the large beasts that might run her over, and also kept a sharp eye for any weakened, old, or very young individuals that she and Rainiak might bring down.

Rainiak

She watched and listened, using her ears where her eyes could not follow Sundbere into the pine thicket, and her eyes for any elk that would run out. Sure enough, the herd spoked and flooded out of their resting spot when Bere charged in, exposing a group of five females, and one young calf that had been born the night before. Immediately, Rainiak rushed after the fleeing creatures, her legs pumping fast, trying to catch up to the fawn. "Bere, this way!" Each stride brought her closer and closer to the calf, who was trying desperately to keep up with its mother.

Sundbere

She had to jump aside when one of the elk almost ran her over in its hurry to escape, but Sundbere made it out without a scratch by the time the herd had escaped the thicket. Following Rainiak's cue again, Sundbere ran hard to catch up with her and the calf that was their target. As she got closer, Sundbere tried to leap at the young creature and bite at it's shoulder to take it down.

Rainiak

She was close enough to the mother and calf that their scent filled her nostrils and made her stomach stir with a hunger she hadn't previously noticed. Closer and closer she got, every bound of her long, white limbs propelling her closer to her target. She was only a few short, tantalizing feet behind the calf when the mother turned suddenly and charged their way in an effort to protect her calf. "Watch out!" Rainiak yelped and had to move on a dime to jump out of the charging cow's way. The elk turned again after missing Rainiak, this time charging after Sundbere. In all the panic, the calf kept right on running, and managed to zig-zag out of the wolf's lunge, leaving Sundbere nothing to sink her teeth into.

Sundbere

Sundbere growled in frustration when she missed the calf. She could almost taste it, she was so close! She wasn't about to give up this eyes, and persisted after the small creature with quick zig-zagging of her own to keep it in sight. But just as soon as she got near the young elk again, the mother charged at her and Sundbere had no choice but to scramble back out of the way, or risk getting struck by those hoofs. Getting bold, she now lunged at the adult elk, biting where she could.

Rainiak

Seeing that Sundbere had the cow's attention, Rainiak took her chances going after the calf in the hopes of further separating it from its mother. If they could get it alone, it would be theirs. But getting it alone was going to be the challenge. Darting wide around the elk mother, Rainiak bolted fast for the young creature, who'd only just started to slow down and turn back to its mother. Upon seeing the wolfess charging his way, he bolted again, putting his long legs to use as he shot across the ground, staying just out of Rainiak's reach.

Meanwhile, the mother had turned to face Sundbere, giving the wolfess no time to land any bites, unless she wanted to be trampled by hooves. With a grunt, the infuriated beast charged again, moving with surprising grace and tenacity for a prey animal. If only she didn't have a youngster to defend, she would have taken off running long before now, but as it stood, she was determined to keep herself and her baby alive today.

Sundbere

Sundebere didn't want to be stepped on by those heavy hooves. She had seen and heard enough about what they could do, the least of which was break a bone or give a wallop of a bruise. Death for the more unlucky hunters. "I'm having trouble over here!" She barked out and dodged away from the predator to keep from getting injured. Seeing that Rainiak was going after the calf, Sundbere charged around the mother elk and joined her new friend to try and take the younger calf down.

Rainik

The will to live was strong in the calf, and it had to be if he wanted to survive in this world. With everything thrust of his ungainly, disproportionate legs, he kept himself a step ahead of Rainik and alive for a few seconds longer. Bound by bound, he was managing to keep away from the wolf's hungry jaws and even starting to outpace her by a small amount.

Rainik's jaws were parted and her tongue lolling out the side as she ran, putting every once of energy and strength into her legs as she surged after her prey. Bit by bit, she watched him pull away from her still, despite her best efforts to catch up. Their only hope of catching him now was if he slipped up, started to zig-zag, or simply ran out of endurance. She doubted the latter would happen, but he was young and inexperienced enough that he may yet slip up in some way. Luck didn't seem to be on their side right now however, because the mother was turning around after Sundbere and making the effort to catch up with her calf and get between him and the predators.

Sundbere

She heard the elk running her way and looked back at the charging beast with a snarl. If she got between them and the calf, they'd have to start all over again. "Go for the calf, I've got the mother!" She knew it was dangerous, but her belly was growling and she was determined to make this hunt successful, so she turned and leaped at the charging elk again to hopefully land on the shoulder or side and sink her fangs in.

Rainik

The latest attempt by Sundbere was risky, yet paid off in that she did land a bite on the cow's lower shoulder area before the animal could dodge away or meet her with flailing hooves. It significantly slowed her down, but she was far from giving up just yet, and immediately kicked out as best she could at the wolfess to try and drive her off or break her grip on the shoulder.

Rainik continued after the calf, only hoping that Sundbere not only held the cow at bay, but managed to come out of it without damage. 'C'mon, I'm so close!' Loose soil and sand was being kicked up as she powered on after the calf, and began climbing the side of an esker as the youngster bolted that way. The steepness of the ridge and the shifting ground slowed the calf down quite a bit, and just as the creature cleared the top and began to bolt down the other side, Rainik had gained on it and was a mere leap away. With a final push of strength, she plunged forward with all her might... only to have one of her hind paws suddenly give beneath her as the loamy soil broke away. Her balance and momentum were instantly thrown off, and instead of closing her jaws around the back leg or rump of the calf, she was getting a mouthful of dirt as she crashed ungracefully forward, then proceeded to tumble wildly down the opposite side of the esker. The calf was doing a good bit of sliding on the decent as well, however he managed to keep his hoved feet firmly beneath him, and by the time Rainik came to a stop at the bottom of the ridge, the calf was far out of her reach.