Divided We Stand (A Packs Roleplay, OPEN and ACCEPTING)

[spiff]

Aella nodded but did not reply, as the scent of prey reached her nose. Saber smelled it at the same time because he began to stalk forth, a look of concentration coming over his face. Aella lingered back for a moment, unsure of what to do. He had said they wouldn't need much and she knew that the animal they had detected was not one that required two wolves to take down, so that left nothing for her to do but to stay out of the way. "I'll meet you back here," she said, quietly so as not to disrupt any aspect of Saber's hunt, and moved away silently in pursuit of her own prey.

[*~WolfSoul~*]

Amara felt the wind blow against her thin body, ruffling her fur and flowing around her feet. It felt strange to stand tall. She swiveled her head, dark muzzle lifting to sample the scents on the wind. For all her weaknesses, she was good at scenting at least. She could smell a variety of herbs from Tanga's den, and the scent of each individual wolf wafting from their respective sleeping quarters. She hoped nothing happened while most of the pack was gone, knowing that it was just her and perhaps the healer and shaman still around.

Saber's only response was a flick of his thick tail as he continued his silent stalk forward. Stopping momentarily, he spotted the boar. His body tensed, scenting the wind as he prepared to make his move. As the tusked pig turned its back to Saber, he leaped into action, reaching his prey in 3 long strides. The boar let loose with a loud squeal and began to sprint away, but its hunter was already upon it. Heavy paws tripped the hoofed feet and the boar rolled into a thick bush. Saber was on it in an instant, sinking long fangs into the back of its neck until the squeals ceased. Saber's ears perked in the sudden quiet, then he turned his focus back to his kill. He didn't notice the quiet, heavy steps of something nearly bigger than himself as a young bear approached, having heard the kill.

[spiff]

Oh?" said Kade, interested in spite of himself. He couldn't imagine how raw meat like the hawk he'd just had a bite of could be preferable to the usual dishes that the chefs prepared, but then Delano was a bit of an odd one. Kade had noticed the way the beta had let his fur grow out, lending him a slightly more disheveled and unkempt look than was the style these days. It occurred to him that he should probably remind the other wolf about the importance of being well-groomed, but it wasn't as if Delano took a bath in mud every day, and Kade didn't much care, anyway. "Are the chefs' work not up to your standards?" he said, though he already knew the answer to that one; he always made sure he was ahead of the game. "I can have a word with them, if you'd like."

Fey gave a little, mirthless smile at Lilith's reply. "You flatter me," she murmured, finally doing the bow she should have done the moment she'd seen the others. "Alas, my work was interrupted." She turned to Maia, wondering vaguely how the other female had become alpha. Certainly, it couldn't be out of merit. These packs were a far cry from the empire Fey had come from; there were no traitors, no backstabbing (both metaphorically and literally), no murders and no need for assassins. Most likely, Fey thought as she eyed the other wolf for a long, silent moment, Maia had been born into the role. "And may I ask where exactly you were going to hunt?" she said at length after she'd kept the hunting party waiting for a good few seconds.

The first animal Aella found was a rabbit. A wolf from one of the other two packs would have stopped at this point to hunt it down, but Aella barely cast it a glance before she passed on. The warriors of the Northern Mountains considered it beneath them to waste their time on such small animals, and she was no exception; there were other, larger things that deserved her skill. Yet after a few more minutes of prowling through the trees, it became apparent that there was no worthy prey to be found, so she doubled back toward their stated meeting place, planning to continue her search in the opposite direction. However, this plan was soon forgotten as the fur on the back of her neck stood when she neared Saber's location, an a feeling of uneasiness washed over her. Something was off...
Aella didn't realize how terribly wrong things felt until she placed the scent: bear.

[The Royal Mirage]

Delano rolled his eyes behind his bangs, sitting back and scratching behind his ear lightly. "I prefer my own cooking, if you get my drift," he explained, lowering his leg again, his navy tail laid out flat and straight behind him. Sure, hunting wasn't common around the shores, but Delano would go to any lengths if it meant differentiating himself from the rest of the pack. Plus, he simply had a taste for raw meats. He licked the remaining hawk's blood from his maw, exposing elongated pearly fangs, feeling a bit odd that he didn't so much mind Kade's company. Maybe he just enjoyed surprising people.

---

Maia cast another glance to Sparrow, realizing the dove hadn't explained exactly where they were going, before giving a carefree shrug. "Wherever our tracker has found a good score," she smiled, her calm demeanor unfazed by Fey's behavior. Her black bangs blew into her eyes as the strong mountain winds caught up to the group, and Maia made a note to tie it back when they reached the elk herd. Her black stripes refused to shimmer the way her quicksilver felt did, rippling like waves in a restless sea.

[*~WolfSoul~*]

Saber breathed in the scent of his fallen prey, then suddenly stiffened as he heard heavy footsteps behind him. He whirled, finding himself less than 10 feet away from a young bear. It stopped when it spotted Saber. The wolf was a very large and intimidating one, and the bear, though larger, was still young and inexperienced. The bear gave a low growl, second guessing itself, and took a small step back. Saber lowered his head, raised his shoulders, his fur stood on end. His amber eyes glowed like burning coals and his dark muzzle split open to reveal his long white fangs. A guttural snarl came from the brute's deep chest as hatred shone in his eyes. The display of strength was understandable for scaring off a timid bear, but as Aella reached him she could see the deep hatred and hear the powerful menace in his low growls.

[-goldleaf-]

Sam drew up a bit short as he scented rather than saw Fey, half turning to glance back at her and the rest of the party who had stopped to speak. His ears drew forward, gaze leveling on the silvery slip of a fea from the distance between them. He had no sense of protection over her that he did for the rest of the pack, having grown nearly all his life within the safety and almost loving embrace of the hunting wolves, he felt a kind of kinship with everyone even though he seldom called on it. But this fea was different to him, still too new, and not quite as easy to accept into the pack as he had done with the new alphess and her family. Sam flicked his tail tip, ignoring Aspen as she too drew up in a pause to glance back, the two always strung together with their movements. He ghosted nearer to the group of feas, usually carefully averted eyes still kept level on Fey as he stopped a bit away from the group, a presence rather than participant. She had never startled under his weighted gaze as others so often did, which gave him all the more reason for his slight mistrust of her.

((Sorry, can't do more than one post right now, I'm off to work again:/ ))

[*~WolfSoul~*]

((I know this doesn't really affect anything we're doing in the RP but I changed the pictures of my wolves Amara and Saber to color in oekaki. They're my first 2 color ins ever! So I hope they're alright. I just figured I would say something so if anyone really wanted to see a full body picture, it's up now. I tried to make Amara look skinny, I don't know if it worked or not.))

[spiff]

((She looks good, Wolf! I myself am too lazy to get out my tablet. Sorry about the wait, I'm not so used to handling this many characters. ;c))

Kade coughed at Delano's reply. "Ah, yes, your cooking is marvelous," he said, taking another bite from his portion of the hawk. "Or rather, your lack of it. Simply divine." He rolled this piece of meat around in his mouth some more before swallowing it, exploring the foreign taste and texture. Personally, he found it to be stringy and bland raw and without herbs, but everyone was different. Frankly, what Delano did was none of his business, as long as he made a capable beta. Although, come to think of it, Kade wasn't sure what Delano's duties led him to do throughout the day. He hadn't really thought about it until now, actually. "Are there any other quirks of yours that I should be made aware of?"

Mm, I see," said Fey in a bland tone that suggested she didn't see at all. So they were simply running through the forest at Sparrow's will? I could do better, she thought even as she said, "I'm sure you won't mind if I join you" in a tone that didn't put it up for debate. She was aware that this confidence would normally be labelled more precisely as "arrogance," but ahe felt entitled to it. She doubted that any of the other wolves in the pack — or any of the wolves in any of the other packs, either, for a matter of fact — had had an upbringing like hers. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if none of them had ever killed another wolf. Not that she was eager to ask around about it, of course; that would raise even more suspicion around her, and heaven knew she didn't need more of that. Honestly, their wary glances didn't bother her as they would other wolves; rather, she reveled in the discomfort she gave them, and the only thing stopping her from acting up even more was the reminder that she was a subordinate and thus subject to Maia's authority. Maia had been the one who had let her in, after all, and though she didn't like it, this placed Fey under her power.

Aella looked between Saber and the bear, again unsure of how to proceed. He seemed to be holding up fine on his own and the bear looked young, even backing away at Saber's menacing snarl. But Aella had fought enough predators before to know that even the inexperienced ones were a danger. Should this bear gather enough courage to attack, the consequences, she knew, could be devastating. A single swipe of its large paw could deliver a fatal blow if aimed in the right place. "Saber?" she said uneasily, looking to him now for leadership even though she had slightly resented him for it just a little earlier. He was the leader hunter; he had to know better than her what to do. "Are you going to attack?"

[*~WolfSoul~*]

((Oh, it's no big deal. I have trouble just with two characters. ))

Saber's ear flicked to her momentarily as she spoke, then he gave her a queue to come to his side by flicking his amber-tipped tail. He knew that even a young bear would attack a lone wolf, but two large wolves snarling at any bear was bound to make it think twice. As Aella made her tall appearance, the bear began to back away more quickly, taking several steps back before finally turning tail and running. For a moment, it seemed that they could feel victorious - they'd worked together to make a bear run away. But a half-second later, Saber's great muscles tensed beside the tall fae, and he sprung out of his snarling stance after the bear. His snarl was bone-chilling, his legs made huge bounds towards the back of the fleeing bear. In his eyes was a wild passion that told any wolf who saw him that he was not thinking about what he was doing - this wasn't a calculated takedown for food. Saber was barreling towards the bear on a mission for blood, without thought. Unable to control himself, Saber caught up to the bear and sank long fangs into its flank, following up with a heavy blow to its nose as it twisted, roaring. The bear raised a mighty paw and swiped at Saber. The brute ducked, saving a swipe to his head and earning claw marks on his shoulder. He seized an opportunity to lunge at the bear, clawing and biting at its neck and shoulder madly. He was thoughtless, he was furious, he was hateful. It was as if Aella was not just a few bounds away.

[spiff]

A breath of relief escaped Aella as the bear turned tail and ran. Normally she would be itching for a fight, but there was only the two of them and it was entirely possible that one or both of them would get gravely injured in the struggle. But then Saber gave chase, the twisted mask of hate on his face visible to Aella for a moment before he was on the bear, clawing and biting at it in a mad frenzy. "Saber!" she cried. "What are you doing?" This question was completely unnecessary as she knew full well what he was doing, and she didn't wait for a reply or even think through her decision before covering the distance between them with two great bounds and plunging into the fight. Other warriors were likely to be nearby, but the thought of calling them for assistance didn't even cross Aella's mind until it was too late.
One great leap put her onto the bear's back. She dug her claws into its fur for leverage and took a swipe at the back of its neck, causing it to emit a great roar of pain. A moment later she was on her own back, the wind knocked out of her as she stared up at the treetops for a second before realizing it had her thrown her off. She scrambled to her feet, and not a moment too late as the bear, for the moment heedless of Saber's presence, swiped at the place her head had been just a split-second ago.
A rush of adrenaline surged through her veins at her scrape with death. This was when Aella truly came to life; it was what she lived for, this moment when there was nothing but teeth and claws and blood. A grim smile tugged at her lips as she shook off the remaining dizziness and prepared to enter the battle again.