The Wolves of Yellowstone

Luna stared at the russet male. Well, She thought to herself, I've officially failed and been caught in my lie. She sighed, ready to tell him that he was right, but just as he turned, the wind shifted, bringing the scent of a new wolf. Luna froze, calling out to the russet wolf, "You were right." Her green eyes narrowed as she turned in the direction of the scent, brush lined where ever the wolf could be hidden. Her nose twitched as she turned to look at the russet wolf, "Though, we're not alone here."

She stalked towards the brush, about five feet away, circling it as much as she could without getting actually into it. She didn't see anything, but her knew that something was there. Luna could sense it as well as she had sensed the russet wolf, and known it was male.

(Oh... This post was horrible. XD I'm sorry, I'm at a loss of words.)

Kagami turned back as she heard Arnou speak, and she tilted her head as he conveyed his message. Stay here for a while? Maybe she could.... She would be safer if she was with another wolf, and they would be able to hunt for better prey, too. Maybe she didn't have to decide whether to stay permanently now... She would see how it went.

She nodded, and her tail wagged as she replied. "I'll stay," she answered, though nervousness shone in her voice. "For a day, or two, maybe," she added a few heartbeats after, but she was interrupted by a growl from her stomach. Almost relieved that she didn't have to say more, the gray-and-red wolf laughed, and she angled her ears to her right. "I know where a good hunting ground is. The Douglas Fir slopes have a lot of deer. Want to go see what we can find?" she encouraged.

Anchor stopped for a moment to watch the female wolf prowl towards something else. As the wind blew into his nose, he caught the scent - she was looking for another male wolf who was nearby. Anchor didn't really mind any other wolf's presence, as long as nobody attacked him while he was running. By now, his energy lost from the dash down the cliff had been restored, and he began picking up speed again, heading towards the waiting hill.

He hadn't gotten the black wolf's name, but didn't entirely mind that. He knew another wolf was here, and he would give her the rights to a small piece of land, although she couldn't own a territory if she wasn't in a pack.

Anchor momentarily forgot about his encounter with the black wolf and began climbing the waving slope.

Kagami nodded eagerly, and she turned toward the incline, her eyes on flat land. "It's a bit of a run," she warned with an amused twinkle in her eyes, and after a grin, took off. She put most of her strength into her back legs so that she could bring herself up the slope instead of into it, and she managed to crest the top before finally reaching the top, back to the main area of Amethyst Mountain. She trotted along at a brisk pace down the slight incline for a while before she turned somewhat to her left toward the line of dark trees to the east, and picked up her pace again so that she was at a steady run. She flattened her ears against a sudden gust, but other than that, all was calm. The wind blew from the forest, so she could already smell the deer that could possibly be there. Excitement rose in her and she sped up just a little, though she kept her ears angled backwards to make sure Arnou was following her.

As she neared the trees, she slowed down so that she could walk silently, and sniffed the air deeply. There was some smell of deer, and an even fainter scent of elk, though she would rather go after the deer, since it would be hard to take care of the latter with only two wolves. She kept her nose slightly angled to the ground as she prowled in attempt to catch a scent trail.

Arnou followed her up the slope, scenting the whole time. He caught a stale breeze with deer up the hill, and then fresh back torwards the forest. "Alright, where should we go first?" The male asked. After asking he realized that he should have lead, but he let it slip. Arnou had only passed his own 'boundaries' to scout for other signs of life- Kagami would know more about the terrain outside of fossil forest anyway.

Kagami turned toward Arnou, but only for a moment, and as she beckoned with her tail, she lowered her head again. Finally, she had caught a scent! The trail was faint, but if she followed it, they could get to the herd. Carefully, she said to Arnou, "I've caught a scent." The trail was heading north, up the slope. With her nose alert and somewhat toward the ground, Kagami ran up the hill in pursuit. There was a wind on the more open areas of Amethyst Mountain, but they didn't reach her red-gray fur due to the shelter of the douglas fir trees for which the hill was named.

In a few minutes, she managed to catch sight of the back of the herd of deer. She lifted her tail slightly so that Arnou would know to slow down, then flicked her ears to try and tell him to skirt around to find a weak one. Kagami padded behind the herd for a while, moving from side to side to try and pick out one that was too sick or old to be able to keep up. Suddenly, she leaped forward, chasing behind the herd to see which deer would fall behind. She thought she had seen one with a limp earlier, and it was standing out to her now, slightly slower than the rest of the herd. After slowing down and feigning lack of interest, she looked back toward Arnou and wagged her tail. She wanted to see how he led a hunt.

Kagami seemed equally amused by the sort-of-game they were playing with the deer, but she dropped back as Arnou raced forward. Hopefully, he would be willing to ambush it. The deer that was limping suddenly slowed down as, again, Kagami faked a lack of interest in the hunt, and after a few moments, began grazing again.

That was when the real fun began.

As soon as it was lulled into a sense of security, the red-gray wolf leaped forward again, hard on its heels. The deer was ahead of her, and it took a moment to accelerate, but Kagami quickly closed the distance, and her amber eyes flared as she leaped for the deer's flank. She latched on with her claws and bit down, hanging there for a moment before her prey's bucking movement forced her to let go. As she continued to run beside it, she anticipated Arnou's re-arrival on the scene.

Kagami nodded to him as the deer continued to run, though it was hindered by its injured hindquarters. Finally she was able to keep pace with it, and glared at it, next planning to aim for its neck. But she would have to come from the front... Suddenly, she put on a burst of speed and sped on ahead, hoping to gain enough distance so that she could have time to turn around and leap. As she reached a fallen log, she turned and whirled around, fangs bared. The deer was still running toward her, but its energy was running out even faster, and she leaped as soon as it was close enough.

Thankfully, it didn't kick too much, and it fell to the ground as she bit down. There... her aim was perfect. As she and the deer landed on the ground she jumped off and the deer was dead as she looked back.

Excited of her kill, she grinned and looked toward Arnou, her tail wagging. "That was great," she complimented, bowing a little to show that he could have the first bite of the kill; she would have to start learning more intensive pack etiquette than just instincts, and she guessed that males would be dominant over females in a normal pack structure. At least, that was how she learned.

((I'm not really interacting with anyone, so I'm not posting. Don't worry, I'm not getting left behind, I'm just avoiding a one-liner.))

The ground steeped up under Anchor's feet. He slowed his pace to avoid losing energy - although he still had plenty left, he didn't want to take a nap on the side of a hill where he could fall and break himself on a tree trunk a few meters down. Grass bending under his paws, he scaled the bipolar hills, turning his head to the right. He had previous knowledge that there was a spring over there, and he was indeed getting thirsty, so he slightly adjusted his angle of approach.

The ground grew slowly rockier.

((Are you going to make another map?))

Arnou nodded, catching up quickly. "Yes, it was." He flicked his trampled ear to test it- seemed better. "Nice catch. Good size- too." The male dipped his head. Okay, so today was so far a sucess. "We should probably get back down to ou- the territory after this, just in case." Arnou added.

)GAH stupid blocks....(

((I already did. I think it's on the previous page.))

Seeing that Arnou didn't want to eat first, Kagami dipped her head, then began to eat the prey, slowly at first but then speeding up. She had aimed for the shoulder and a little behind, which was a pretty soft part of the deer -- but not the softest. She was saving the belly for Arnou, or if he didn't want it, she would eat it later. She turned toward him and nodded toward the prey, inviting him to have some. Her ears flicked as she heard a stutter in his speech before the word "territory," but she shrugged it off. "Sounds good to me," she replied.

Kagami's ears tilted as she thought for a moment, and then she shook her head. "Nope. We have food, we know where the den is, so we should be fine for a while." She turned back the way they came and began walking in that direction, remembering that Arnou had suggested returning right after they ate. There were ravens that were already beginning to eye the carcass, and with that catch they probably wouldn't have to eat for a few days anyway. Normally Kagami would sit by the carcass until she was hungry again, then eat some more, but she didn't want to make Arnou stay with her, so she continued on her way back to his territory.

As she broke into a run, she reminded herself that she was a guest in the territory, and she would have to follow his rules, if he had any. It was amusing that a lone male would try to claim a territory in the first place, but she would treat it as if it wasn't strange, for now...

Somehow Kagami was taken aback by this question, although she thought that she had already answered it before. Before she had said that she would stay for a couple of days, but right now it seemed like she wouldn't mind staying for a little longer. The she-wolf looked back at him, stopping as they reached the ridge, and nodded. "For a while, at least," she finally replied, her thick tail wagging subtly. A small smile reached across Kagami's face as she continued toward the den site that Arnou had pointed out. An autumn wind blew across the slope as she made her way toward the small hole that opened up into a huge den. But she didn't go inside just yet; she didn't want to look like she was snooping around too much.

((Sorry I haven't replied; for some reason my computer said that I had read all the posts ><))

Kagami turned to him, suddenly soft-looking, and replied, bowing her head. "It's okay. It wasn't uncalled for." She lowered her tail to show that she wasn't angry, but then perked up again. "You're not a featherbrain!" she persisted, taking a step forward. "You just did great on the hunt! A wolf like that can't be a featherbrain." She stood there with hard eyes to try and convince him, then decided to change the subject.

"Can I see the den?" she asked, turning back around and padding toward the entrance. She didn't go inside yet, but she dd crouch in front of the entrance. The front of the passage seemed dark and squished, but she was sure that there was more to it inside...

((Where has everyone else gone? D:))

)I dunno! D:(

Arnou nodded, slightly cheered. "Sure. It's about four steps in squeezed until it opens up. It's really, really big in there." He said, coming after her, but waiting. He could still taste the deer at the very back of his mouth, but ignored it and waited for her to go in. His tail was slightly lowered, but back to it's normal position.

((Eh, I don't know. I'd post with Anchor, but I don't want to do a one-liner. I was thinking of making him head for the water hole, but I'm not sure how to explain that in more than three sentences.))