- c a l e b
xxx✺ gender. brute x age. seven years x rank. alpha x tagged. marmaduke, fluffy. x word count. 904
- the large wolfdog opened his eyes from his light resting moment to see one of the pack's hunters, a small dog who appeared to be much "too" little for the alpha, standing in front of him with a feathery grouse lying at her paws. the alpha gave a sniff at the dead bird, his face like stone as he studied the catch. he had always been particularly hard on some of his pack mates including the tri-colored dog that stood before him. fluffy, in his eyes, was way to small to be a hunter in the pack. she lacked the strength and power that most of his other hunters possessed, and he didn't see what use she was on the hunts to bring prey home for the entire pack. a buck could easily step on the dogs leg and injure her severely and she was too short to do any damage to the larger prey besides nip at their heels and annoy it. he could see that she was a determined little dog, but determination meat nothing if you didn't have enough power behind it. caleb didn't see why the fae still wanted to be hold her position, but he had to admit that she did bring in a few decent snacks every once in a while. he looked over at the female once again before releasing a sigh and pulling the grouse over to himself. the alpha male growled lowly to dismiss the hunter before returning his focus to the small bird.
these might make my nest a bit more comfortable. the black german shepherd hybrid thought to himself as he carefully plucked away at the brown and white feathers. they tasted weirdly in his mouth and left an odd texture on his tongue as he spat them out on the rock surface next to him. he didn't mind too badly, however, because in the end it would be worth it to have extra comfort for his large body. the cold stone floor wasn't very nice to the male, especially because of his past injuries that still liked to bother him every once in a while. once he reached the skin of the bird, he tore into it hungrily. the meat of the bird was tender and soft in his jaws as he chewed the sweet prey while looking out over the pack. he could tell that some of the pack dogs, like fluffy, were patiently waiting for him to be finished so that they could fight over the small portion of leftovers. he didn't plan on leaving much for the rest of the pack as their wasn't much meat on the bird as it was, but fortunately for them a tall dark brown and tan coat caught his attention. it was the second command of the pack, a dog who had proven his loyalty and strength to caleb by fighting for it.
it was no secret that if any dog wanted to move up in the pack hierarchy they had to fight for it. it was the pack's tradition ever since caleb had decided to make the rule, and he didn't plan on changing it. the alpha found it very interesting and entertaining to watch two dogs fight over a rank to prove themselves. it was a way to gain honor for at least a short while, and the alpha thought it was a good way to weed out the weakest dogs within the pack. all the way from a beta to the omega, any dog could challenge another to a dual. if the omega desired a hunting spot all they had to do was announce it and fight a current hunter, if they won then they got the hunter spot and the previous hunter would be the new omega. caleb had witnessed many of the fights with some of them, like the most recent one, had ended in a death. a poor dog named pip had fallen victim to a patrol dog when he tried to challenge him, he had been nearly two times less the size than the patrol dog and had simply lost his life due to one powerful swipe of a paw. it sent him flying into a sharp rock in the clearing, killing him instantly. the death didn't have a big impact on caleb, any dog with any sense of logic knew that ole pip was foolish for being greedy.
a huff escaped the male as he rose to his paws, licking the blood from his jaws while savoring every last bit of it. lucky for her, fluffy had earned caleb's happiness for the morning. the wolf mix tossed the remains of the bird towards the small dog with his nose and gave her a very faint nod, giving her permission to finish the rest of the bird off. "eat now. go back out later and catch something else." he said gruffly to the fae before he locked his gaze onto the pelt of his beta. with a final growl the alpha male leaped from the rock hovering above the camp and landed confidently in the camp clearing. dust flew up in all directions but he opted to ignore it before striding over to marmaduke. the more dominant male approached with his tail slightly raised, a well known sign that showed his wolf habits. "marmaduke." the male growled lightly, staring directly at the large brindle striped dane.
- l e x i e
xxx✺ gender. fae x age. four years x rank. hunter x tagged. chase, gunther, dodge. x word count. 985
- lexie couldn't wait to get out of the camp and hunt. she hadn't been able to go out of camp since early yesterday morning, and it was beginning to take its toll. she was an athletic dog, she needed to run, hunt, and well, be able to feel freedom. no matter how thankful she was for the pack and having shelter every night, she still felt like she was lost within the pack. it almost felt like she was in a cage on most days, when she couldn't be out of the camp and in the open air. it was relieving to know that she was only a few minutes away from freedom. "alright then, I don't think we will need any one else to hunt with but feel free to grab someone on the way out if you see fit!" she said with a bit of impatience in her tone. she wanted to at least bring back a couple hares and maybe even a larger mammal for the alpha, maybe then she could earn some free time away from camp herself. she didn't know which of the other hunters might want to tag along, but she knew that they probably shouldn't push the limit of three dogs on one patrol. it became too cluttered and disorganized when there were too many sets of paws after one piece of prey. even when taking down a deer lexie preferred to have the maximum of three dogs to avoid bashing into one another during the chase.
lexie waited a few more heartbeats while looking around before nodding her head and bounding off, heading straight for he camp exit. she squeezed past the wall of thorns and vines with ease without taking a look behind her to see if chase was following. she figured that the fast male would catch up to her anyways, so why slow down and risk missing out on a hare? the golden brown fae's ocean blue eyes appeared brighter as the sky reflected on them, making them appear to be more of a baby blue color. she, however, didn't take notice of the bright sun shining down on her as she raced through the trees. the softness of the grass beneath her paw pads was soothing as she slowed to a stop near the tree line. she had always enjoyed nature even when she had lived with her longpaws. they had often taken her on walks in the forest when it hadn't been so hot out and she had enjoyed them thoroughly. back then she had been amazed at all the different bushes, trees, and flowers but now it was like she had never lived any other way which made her both relieved and sad. she didn't want to forget her longpaws and the life she had before the big growl but it was nice to finally feel comfortable with her surroundings.
in front of her, a wide expanse of water flowed downhill with a couple rocks sticking out from the surface. it was the pack knew as the stepping stones, which allowed them to safely cross the river without drowning. after the big growl, however, the flowing water had become contaminated and unsafe to drink from. it was a shame really, lexie would glad take a drink from the water if she hadn't seen what it had done to the dogs who drank it before. she had no desire to die so horribly... maybe there would be a puddle of water amongst the grass in the meadow. the fae sighed before slowly lowering her paw to one of the first stones, testing its sturdiness. once she deemed it safe she allowed her full weight to be put on the stone before looking to the sky. dark grey clouds were beginning to form in the sky, a sure sign that it was going to storm later that day. "looks like its going to ra-" she had began to say out loud, guessing that chase would have caught up to her by now, but was cut short when a strange scent drifted across the tall grass. it was strong, and she could tell that whatever it was, was nearby. immediately lexie turned tail and leaped back onto the bank, she wasn't going to risk being shoved into the water by some malicious stray.
the female retriever gazed across the meadow and sniffed the air carefully. it wasn't everyday that she ran into something so...exciting and new. everyday it seemed to be the same thing, but not today. lexie huffed and looked behind her shoulder, "i think the scent is coming from over there. let's go." she pointed with her muzzle to a tall patch of grass on the other side of the river. a small jingling sound rang in her ears as she leapt back down onto the stepping stones and hopped from one to the other. she recognized it immediately, it was a collar. lexie wagged her tail slightly before carefully picking her way through the grass siliently. to her surprise, it wasn't long before she could actually hear a voice above the calm wind. no wait, two voices! lexie stopped in her tracks and waited for chase to catch up before she approached the pair of dogs. then, slowly she started forward once more until she broke through the grass. in front of her, two hunting dogs appeared to be in an argument, but over what? only a few moments later lexie was able to detect the cause, a freshly killed rabbit. the pack's rabbit. lexie's ears went flat against her head as she looked up to the larger dog of the two. he was a handsome dark chocolate brown pointer with bright amber eyes and a muscular body frame. "what are you doing here?" she demanded, feeling relieved that she hadn't gone out by herself instead of brining chase with her.
- r i l e y
xxx✺ gender. brute x age. three years x rank. stray x tagged. iris. x word count. 539
- riley was amused to see the look of surprise that appeared on the fae's face as she realized that he didn't mean any serious trouble. he imagined that the look was caused by the rest of the strays, because he too had witnessed quite a lot of strays who had been much ruder. he could see multiple scars and even more recent injuries that had been inflicted by other dogs on the female's pelt. it wasn't hard to pick out the patches of missing fur and torn skin, but riley tried to ignore it the best that he could. he had nearly gotten his head bite off before by a dog who was sensitive to other dogs staring at his injuries, and he wasn't about to do it again. she appeared to be like himself, quiet and reserved, but there were many differences between the two dogs besides their looks, he was sure. riley had always relied on his wits to get himself out of bad situations and nothing else. he wasn't as big as most of the other strays that he came across so he needed to be smart in order to work himself out of situations. he had found it quite easy to outsmart the biggest of dogs purely because of the reason that they weren't as quick and witty like himself, and besides, it was quite funny to trick the largest of dogs.
as riley returned his attention on the collie mix, he could tell that she was lost in her own thoughts. he tilted his head to the side slightly, perhaps she was reliving one of those moments right now? maybe seeing another stray was too much for her and it had reminded her of some memories that she would have forgotten had it not been for him. maybe, just maybe she would want to leave now because she was too uncomfortable to stay in the same building as an enemy? that would sure make it easier for riley and he secretly hoped that it was the case with this fae. he didn't see how he could possibly live alongside another dog, especially after the big growl had ruined so many opportunities for food, water, and shelter. so one of them would have to go most likely, but who? would he have to fight for the meat shop, and more importantly if he did, would he have a chance of winning? he couldn't be so sure either way.
the female in front of him started to move once more with a sigh escaping her jaws. a faint glimmer of hope swelled in the dog's chest as he thought about the possibilities of what her next words would be. he remained calm on the outside, however, and managed to catch the slightly uncomfortable glance that she gave him. her words were not very relieving though, and he realized that she had just continued their conversation from before. a very small frown formed across his muzzle, "i see..." he murmured quietly, his mind was too busy working out his response to sound too enthusiastic. "and when do you plan on leaving this shop?" he inquired directly, bringing his brown eyes up to meet hers cautiously.
