Tribe Hunting 4 - Ash Collab

-Ash-

The rain pelted down on them fiercely. It was difficult to see or hear anything at all. Kyrian had high hopes they would find something before the storm settled in with no luck. He squinted through the rain desperate to avenge his stupidity since he was sure the female tokotas who were with them were probably not happy one bit, especially the cat Erica. Jase whined behind him while Lana flinched as lightning struck in the distance. Being outside at the moment wasn’t safe, but Kyrian was more than determined to find and take down prey.

“Kyr….We need to find shelter.” Jase pleaded out loud.

“Maybe you should listen to him?” Lana added after he didn’t respond.

Her comment made the tawny wolverine stop to turn around and look at them.  He could clearly see the older females were perturbed with him and it made him feel more like crap. Droplets of rain ran down the middle of his forehead and dripped off the tip of his nose. His pride was crushed and he was losing hope.

“Alright.” he sighed after looking at Lin and then Amy.

It was irresponsible of him to have talked them into letting him lead.  Artemis was a top priority to take care of and his handler would probably be ashamed for him to have put her safety on hold to look good. Gritting his teeth he stamped his front paw and looked around for shelter until the storm passed by them.

-Sif-

Lin didn’t really mind being out in the storm, and to be honest neither did Amy, both mother and daughter had quite a strong fondness for water and as a general rule most of Amy’s bloodline were good to hunt in the rain, but Lin had Erica to protect and even keep the cat under a hood on her back only did so much to keep the rain off the poor thing, and Amy had Artemis to worry about for as much as her handler liked to think that she was like her younger sister and immune to the cold, Artemis was not. Already the handler was starting to droop and shiver and Amy knew that she wasn’t going to last much longer out in the cold like this.

Amy had just been about to force the suggestion of finding shelter, with Annie right by her side and ready to back her up (Annie was not as used to the wet and cold and would like to be dry now thank you very much) when Jase and Lana apparently did it for her, and with the resigned look on Kryian’s face they clearly were good to find shelter. Since Amy had been in this area before, she had a good feeling that there would be some form of shelter to their left, and she conveyed that out loud to the others, moving to take the lead of the group and bring them to where the ground would get rocky and there should be a few jutting caves.

Lin was in the middle of the group, walking next to Jase and not really paying anyone any mind, but then she tilted her head just slightly to the side to avoid hitting a branch that Annie had brushed past, and with the tilt of her head, she was just able to catch a form out of the side of her eyes. A moose. She halted, alerting everyone around her to the presence of the animal with a flick of her tail.

-Ash-

The trees looked spooky beneath the darkness of the clouds and every time the crackling light crawled across the clouds Lana became more frightened. She wanted to go home very badly and was more than grateful when Amy took the lead. The greying brown female used every bit of her self control not to jump for joy. Jase shook his body to rid the water from off of his coat and giving her an extra amount on hers to earn him a light brown glare. The marked collared brown lowered his head and eyes and slowed his pace. Lana couldn’t help but smirk seeing him cower at her, but only because of stubborn males like Kyrian.

Lin made her stop as well as the rest of the group to see the silhouette of the moose that stood in the rain. It appeared to not have noticed them yet due to the rain washing their scent away and the way the wind was beginning to howl around them, Lana doubted it would hear them either. Jase stepped up next to her watching it intently. He made Lana wonder if there was something else out there that she hadn’t seen yet. She found herself inching closer to her male packmates for protection,but would never admit to it out loud. Out of her peripheral vision she could see Kyrian’s muscles flexing and his tongue was constantly darting out to lick his lips. The three of them stood still as they watched and waited for a signal from either Amy or Artemis. Another bolt of lightening struck making her jump and startling the moose at the same time. It reared up and kicked out its front hooves at them. None of them were sure of whether or not it had seen them yet, but somebody seriously needed to move before it got away.

Growling Kyrian and Jase seemed to move at the same time. Lana noticed the two of them had almost synchronized each other's movements in a way and somewhat admired it….until she realized she’d been left behind. Their paws splashed in the mud and puddles of water as they charged ahead.

-Sif-

Lin darted out after Kyrian and Jase, leaving Lana behind with Amy. Annie was right on Lin’s heels so it just left Amy there, torn between chasing the prey and getting her handler to safety. It only took her a moment to seize up the two options and make her choice. “Lana, I’m taking Artemis to the cave. Wait here so you can lead them back in the right direction.” She growled out, annoyed at having to leave her prey, and then despite her handler’s protests that she was fine and ready to hunt, Amy galloped for the cave where she knew that there would be materials to keep Artemis warm.

Meanwhile, Lin had caught up to Kyrian and Jase, with Annie pulling along side them as well, the moose directly ahead of the group. It seemed to be slowing down and still didn’t seem to have noticed their presence, so Lin gave a mumbled growl to the others. “I think at this point we need to just get as close as we can and go for it. Mud’s too slippery to try much else” and waited for an affirmative.

-Ash-

The greying brown female silently watched Amy disappear into the rain searching for the cave. A large lump had formed in the depths of her throat and even when she swallowed it still didn’t go away. Lana squeezed her eyes shut for a second when more lightning struck nearby. She was beginning to shake and tremble, but stood firm in her place. The female had been entrusted with a job and she would not disappoint or fail. Meanwhile Kyrian and Jase were on the hooves of the moose. The tawny wolverine could practically taste the meat of the animal in his mouth. Lin had gotten ahead of them a tad and was running with stride next to the moose. The large animal had finally seen them due to a bolt of lightning giving up their position. Beside him Jase was beginning to weeze and become out of breath. He was beginning to doubt whether or not they would bring the bull down.

“Hang...in...there..bud.” he said between breaths.

The brown male glared out the corner of his eye surprising Kyrian. There was a look of determination that he hadn’t seen before in the pup. Jase snorted...he snorted at him! Kyrian didn’t know how it happened, but Jase was suddenly in front of him. He watched him snap his jaws unsuccessfully at the haunches of the moose missing several times. Then without warning it was as if a great stone grew out of the earth. Jase ran up it and leapt off the top landing onto the back of the big bull. He chomped down hard on the back of its neck. The large mammal stopped running and bellowed in pain as the three other tokotas circled around it. Jase dug his claws into it refusing to let it go. The large moose began to buck in an attempt to throw him off. Kyrian stood back thinking of a way to join in and help his packmate out. His brown eyes watched the bull throw its head back exposing it jugular and giving him a random opportunity. He gritted his teeth and pushed off of the ground latching on to the moose’s throat. When he clamped down the bellowing stopped and the moose began to stagger. Flexing his muscles Kyrian pulled down making the bull lose his balance. It collapsed onto the ground with Jase manuvering so that he was standing on its side. The prey inhaled deeply one last time and at the same time the light left its eyes. The tawny wolverine finally let go and stepped back.

“Jase. You can let go now.” He chuckled.

The brown male blinked his eyes and suddenly lifted his head looking around as if not realizing what had just happened. He heard Annie make a “heh” sound.

“That’s one way to do it.” she replied as the rain slowed down.