Hunt at Twilight

A pair of shinning golden eyes was darting back and forth, keeping aware of the surroundings with ears perked and nose at the ready. Keovi paused as he looked over his shoulder to make sure no wolf was fallinf behind. The sun was just below the horizon now, and a very light glow was still covering the forest, but still giving them good cover in the thick and shadowed trees. As they treked further up into the forest, the ground was more leafy, and trees much taller and threatening in the eerie light. With the sun almost gone now, the temperature was dropping, bringing a chilly feel on all the wolves' pelts.

Through the branches ran a pine marten, agile and swift as it made it's moves from branch to branch, almost sighlently. Suddenly both she and the wolf stopped, with the wolfs black nose lifting into the air as a musky odor hit their noses. " Elk, should be up ahead, the scent is strong. " He said quietly. as they stood silent, twigs could be heard cracking as hooves trampled them, slowly making it's way across the forest. " Quickly now, but quietly, I want to get a closer look at how many there are." Keovi called over his shoulder, as he started at a quick trot through the trees. the glow of twilight was soon fading, and then they would hav to rely more on their senses to catch the elk, but with the pack at the size and strengh it was, the golden brown and black wolf wasn't worried much.

Snowest followed Keovi to the elk herd. Whatching Keovi Snowest flicked her ear when she herd his comand. Jack and Snowest troted after Keovi both anticipating the hunt to come. Snowest grinned.

Kia trotted after Keovi; faster than a walk but slower than an all-out run. Her pelt prickled with excitement when he notified the others of the elk ahead. She kept quiet and followed right agter him, wishing Zio was here to enjoy this with her. She'd never hunted as a pack before; she'd always been alone, hunting with Zio. This was much more fun. Her eyes widened to give her a better sight as the sun dropped below the horizon, the twilight sky leaving the forest for tonight. Her ears twitched at every sound, trying to locate the elk, and ahead, she was surprised at how close, the sound of hooves sang out. Breaking twigs and leaves, Kia was surprised that they hadn't found them before with the noise they were making. Although her many months alone tole her to bolt ahead and attack, she stayed behind to await her leader's order. Besides, she thought, I wouldn't be able to take down an elk by herself. Now that she thought about it this was her first time to hunt elk. Her pelt once again prickled with excitement and her brown eyes glowed with anticipation.

Keovi's paws itched to give chase but he stopped the pack for a moment as they listed to the nearby hoof steps. through the bit of light shing through the branches, dark shadows could be seen moving ahead, twice the size of the wolf. Takara quietly climbed down from the pine tree she was in and changed form into a bobcat as she reached Keovi's side. " There's a young female, and two larger males. I saw we go for the female, there's no young or injured that I can see. " She whispered, her white teeth almost glowing. Keovi nodded, his own eyes still hungrily watching the elk move throughthe trees. Which one is it? " " At the end, there by that sapling." Takara looked towards a small tree the female was eating away at. Keovi nodded again and turned to face the wolves.

" Go for the female." He first said. " I'll head around behind her, while Takara will approach from the trees above it. Kia, I want you to join me in the attack, while Snowest, you separate her from the males, try to keep them away before you attack as well. " he paused there, his head turning slightly to look around and over the heads of the two, searching for the white pelt of Iceheart or her anima Ky. " Just wait a few more moments, they don't know we're here yet, so watch where you place your paws." His voice was hushed, and the elk seemed not to notice. the female continued eating the sapling while another male held back and grazed at some leafy stuff on the ground. The largest male was walking ahead, making enough noise to cover up the sounds the wolves were making.

listening to Keovi's orders Snowest nodded her head slightly. She began inching sideways keeping her body facing the elk so she would know if they heard her. then Snowest postitioned her self so the she was in full veiw of the other wolves but the elk couldnt see her at all. Snowest awaited Keovi's signal.
Jack changed into an ant and raced so that he was oppisat of Snowest, on the other side of the elk. Then Jack changed into a Lnx. He waited quietly, barely breathing. He would attack when Snowest did.

Kyota flew over the elk. He dove down, and landed by Keovi "What can I do? I can peck out the eyes, so that it can't see you, and then start mauling her head." He itched with the impatience of the hunt, and transformed into an eagle.

Keovi's eyes followed Kyota while he land, with Takara keeping an eye on the elk. 'hurry up' She said to him silently. Keovi listen to the anima's plan and thought of times back in his old pack, when the wolves would come back after trying to hunt elk with large wounds or broken bones. "No, don't Takara away it's sight. It's already dark enough, and elk are very dangerous. Blind it, and it may end up seriously hurting one of us. Let's try to avoid that. But yes, go for any part of it you can reach, I want to weaken this as quickly as we can." He whispered, now turning slowly to face them. " When I attack, that's when you all attack as well. Snowest, remember to be careful around those males, scare them into running if you can, they're far more dangerous than this female." He said, and with that began quietly making his way widely around the female until he was ooposite of his pack. Takara changed into a chipmunk and ran across the limbs and branches onto the female and a second later Keovi pushed his hind feet off the ground and ran full force at the elk.

Takara jumped down from the tree to join him as a bobcat, glancing quickly at the others before she raked her claws down one of the elk's flanks. It all happened in a few heartbeats, but long enough for the elk to try and throw off the bobcat by jumping and running towards Keovi without knowing. He inched backwards, growling as it ran at him, but once it got close enough he pushed his front paws off the ground and snapped his jaws on the elk's neck. It staggered backward, now trying to pull in the other dirrection, with Keovi still hanging onto it's throat, blood now seeping out between his teeth.

As soon as Keovi started running twords the elk snowest jumped out with a loud growl and began trying to push away the bulls. Growling at them and lurching forward and then back before they could attack her, snowest thought, "It's working!" when all but one of the bulls remained Snowest ran at it with full speed then suddenly curved around it and raked her claws along it's flank. Giving a startled sound the elk snapped out it's hoof at Snowest. Seeing the hoof coming Snowest jumped away, instead of her head the hoof hit her paw. Stifeling her cry of pain Snowest looked up and saw the bull running away. Then turning she ran and leaped onto the she-elk and gripped the back of it's neck with all her force.

Kia silently followed Keovi to the opposite side of the herd, just as she was ordered. She leaned forward and was just about to rustle the leaves in front of her, but stopped herself. She chuckled inwardle at herself; she was so used to hunting with Zio, this was an intirely new hunting tactic for her. As soon as Keovi ran from the bushes Kia followed right beside him. She ran a circle around the female and when it's attention was on Keovi she launched herself and caught onto it's flank. It tasted different; she'd never hunted big animals like this before. She held on as she elk thrashed about, making sure she was out of the way of it's flailing back hooves.

Keovi started to jerk and pull towards the ground, hoping to topple the elk to make for an easier kill. His mind was racing, yet he wasn't thinking of much at all. The excitement of the hunt put his mind set on killing this elk, and nothing more. Takara had jumped off of the elk once Snowest got a paw hold onto it. She hung back for a moment, panting while the elk still tried to run, dragging the wolves with it. she trotted beside them, looking for an opening, and found her chance as the female elk staggered under the force of the three wolves. she rushed beside Kia and grabbed onto it's leg, biting and digging her claws into it at once. The elk made once last cry of fear before it kicked it's hind feet, sending Takara into a tree trunk.

She was immediately back on her feet but dizzy. Keovi had also lost his grip on it's neck and was dancing around the front of it, snarling and avoiding the flailing hooves. He saw his chance once the elk put all four feet on the ground, and lunged at it's throat again, this time feeling the wind pipe and biting down hard. A sudden and starling hissing noise made Keovi almost jump away, but he kept his grip. The elk was now still, almost giving up, but jerked it's head once or twice before it's front leg buckled and it came toward the ground.

The hissing noise rose and fell as it took it's last breath. Bloods was spilled all around it and the wolves now, each muzzle bloodied with the doe's life supply. All was quiet now, and still as Keovi kept his grip, waiting for the beat of it's heart to come to a stop. The ground now had a thin layer of snow, steadily building as the night grew darker, and the air colder. The two other elk were quite some distance u in the forest now, cracking twigs and leaves as they ran further away from the killers. Takara padded over to them, limping and sat to rest under the shelter of a wilted fern as a bobcat still.

Raveging at the elk's neck in a savege fury fueled by her crazyness Snowest tried to reach the elk's jugular vein, but Snowest had bitten in the wrong place and couldn't reach it. When the elk fell Snowest jumped oof, her blind hunting instincts fading. Grinning her bloodied muzzle Snowest growled in joy.

(lol, if you want to see Snowest "Grinning her bloodied muzzle" look at my avatar)

Kia remained clinging to the elk's side as it went down, barely missing being squashed by the massive animal as it thudded on the ground. She released her hold and looked up at the wolves around her. Her eyes sparkled with joy; her first pack hunt had gone perfect. Too bad Zio wasn't here to enjoy it with her. She grinned at the others as she glanced once more at the animal they had killed. This was easily the biggest game she'd ever hunted and she felt invincible right now because of it.

"Well done!" Keovi praised, fog coming from his mouth as he spoke, as with every breath now. " This will defiantly feed all our pack." he said, now raising his muzzle into the air and letting out a howl, filled with confidence and joy, but also to respect the life they had just took, as Keovi was taught in his old pack to do. Takara merely smiled meekly from her shelter under the leaves from the snow, tending to her hurt leg carefully. It was scraped and sore, but not broken. She stood to put pressure on it and winced, but was soon used to the tingling pain. The cold was a good thing sent from nature in her case, numbing it enough so she could walk without wincing anymore, but she stayed in her place. The ground was now visibly covered in snow, deep enough to cover the paws, and it was only coming down more. She wondered how the weather was looking on the plains, where it wasn't as cold or dark as the forest here.

Grinning broadly despite herself when Keovi praised the pack Snowest was feeling extreamly content. When Keovi began howling Snowest added her own howl to the melody.
Whatching Takara Nick wondered why she had winced. Walking over Nick said, "Whats wrong with your leg?" Nick vaugely heard Snowest's voice in his head, "Your in looooovvvveeee" it said teasingly.

Takara looked surprised once Nick had spoken, she was still lost in her own thoughts. she shook herself free of snow before she spoke. " I was thrown against that tree," She nodded towards the tree she was kicked against, " And hurt my leg pretty badly. It's not broken though." She said, but her tiny ears were flat on her head in embarrassment. None of the others had been hurt. She suddenly looked up into the sky, or what little of the sky was visible from under the trees. It looked more gray than black now, and even the forest seemed lighter, but once her eyes darted around curiously she noticed it was snowing harder now that the sun had vanished completely from the sky, leaving only the stars and snow, which was now falling steadily towards the ground, thick enough to make things look whiter in even the sky. " Wow, we should probably get back to the clearing soon." she murmured, pulling in her paws close to her belly to keep them warm.

Kia added her howl in the mix of melodies from the others. Her tail swayed contently, even though she was cold. She closed her eyes and let out a soft yelp as a big puffy white snowflake landed on her nose. She shivered and shook off the snow now gathering on her back. "We should get this back to the others before we're frozen. At this rate it won't take long," she added, glancing up at the sky. "The snow doesn't look like it will let up soon." Despite her being cold, she wore a smile on her jaws. She'd always loved the snow. She thought it was beautiful and she loved to frolic through the deep snow. Even though Zio hated the snow he sometimes joined her. He loved to play at heart, but he hated the cold and wet.

Kyota had flown to the elk and had dug his claws into it's shoulder. He jumped of as Snowest came flying towards him. He quickly changed into a coyote and howled the thanks. He then turned to Takara "I can help you get back" he offered. He shook his pelt a bit at the snow, but he wasn't bothered by it. He turned to Keovi "We better go soon, Iceheart doesn't like frozen meat." He grinned at the thought.

Keovi's muzzle fell as his howl died away, but his still had a bouncing happiness in his steps as he positioned himself near the Elk's front legs. " Ya, Let's get this down to the lake as soon as we can. It should be easier with snow on the ground and were going downhill." He said, turning to the trees below them, where the ground slanted slightly towards the lake. He shook his pelt free of snowflakes before he reached down, but he was perfectly content with the snow. His fluffy coat didn't let any of the cold reach him, yet he could just feel the cold snow beneath his paws, urging him to rush more. He grabbed hold onto one of the forelegs and pulled, his muscles working to drag the elk. Thankful for his strength, he began to feel it move beneath him.

Takara was hesitant to help though, she licked at her leg cautiously before shaking her head to Kyota. " I'll be fine, but thanks. " She said, smiling a little bore rushing to Keovi's aid. She tried hard not to limp at all, and soon found it easy once she focused more on the cold however.

Keovi nodded and then began to help dragging the carcass. He grabbed the doe's other foreleg and began to pull.

(Lol, it was just a typo, MP. x3)

Kia stood where she was and watched for a moment, then padded over and latched on with her teeth. She pulled, eager to see how Nightwalker and the others were doing, and if he was any better. This was possible the wost time for him to be sick with it so cold out.

Nick winced, imagining the pain. He whatched as Takara walked away. "She is so pretty..." Nick thought.
When Keovi's howl started to fade Snowest aruptly stoped howling. When a flake of snow landed in her ear Snowest growled at the feeling. When SNowest saw the other wolves begin dragging the elk she grabbed a back leg. As she began pulling some of the elk's blood trickled into her mouth. Just then Snowest realized that she was starving. It took everything SNowest had not to rip into the elk's carcess. Snowest moaned softly at the effert.

Keovi woofed his thanks for the help and they were all able to easily drag the elk downhill in snow, which was helped by the wolves' natural strength. Takara felt her leg aching after dragging it for a while and regretfully stopped to trail behind them , keeping watch now for other animals that might steal their prey but there were none to see in the cold snow, everything was asleep in their dens.

Soon the trees thinned as they neared the lake and the ground slopped evenly out now, making it slightly harder to pull the carcass. Keovi strained to jerk at it using his powerful back and hind legs, inching it closer and closer towards the open grass, with Takara trailing behind still and snow falling steadily as it did in the deeper part of the forest, but now more was able to reach the ground, and all the wolves' paws grew wet and cold, but Keovi kept his mind off it by thinking of the three pups and dear mate he was coming home to.

(continued in a new Yumiti lake topic, cause the last one is large enough lol )