Warren Peace - Adventures in Hunting

As the wolves of the Blacktalon Guilt set out to find a meal suitable for the masses, they come across a most unusual location. The territory they've discovered is one of flowing grasses and rolling hills, and bored into the hillsides are a great number of small burrows and holes.

The air is thick with the scent of rabbits, and judging from the other clues, this place seems to be teeming with nothing but hares of a broadest assortment. While it's not the big game promised, it certainly seems the wolves have easy hunting before them.

With his head held up and his little excuse for a tail up, the pup rode up front of the pack, acting as though he was their leader, positioning himself as the role that he would claim when he come of age and skill. He looked back at Agro and gave him a triumphant look, one that shone of mock and cockiness. Despite that Agro was not the leader of the pack, his age and aura made the others listen to him. He held an authority that he didn't ask for, but got anyway. Damian was going to change that. He was going to become the leader, to show them that they needed one. Agro was doing a great job, but letting any Sally, Nick and Henry into the pack was not something the pup would tolerate. No. Only the strong was going to be part of Blacktalon, which meant that most of the pack would be leaving when he held the throne, and that included Claudius.

Damian turned his head back and looked at the one that claimed to be Claudius' mother. He gave her a hard look and his mind spiralled into thoughts. Why was she here? Did she not believe that her son could look after himself? Despite how true it was, he didn't see why she would turn up after all this time for that reason. Maybe she had been thrown out of her pack for being useless? It wouldn't surprise the pup. The uselessness had to come from somewhere. Like mother like son. However, that wasn't the only thought that crossed his mind. She was Claudius' mother, but the white wolf held so much hate towards her. Why? Damian didn't remember his mother too much. A hazy memory here and a whisper of an echo there. However, he remembered the cold air that replaced her warmth. He remembered baring the world by himself. He wondered what it would have been like to have been loved and cared for by a mother rather than by the hands of the monsters; humans.

The only love that Damian ever received was by his sister. Their loyalty for each other made them strong. An unbeatable force not to be reckoned with. It was the only comfort that he would receive from another, he found it hard to ever getting comfort from others within the pack. Maybe when he was almost frozen to death, but not when he was a fit bill of health. He didn't need to be babied by some mothers, but it was something that made him curious. The love that the pups held, was that different? Was there something more special about a parent loving you? Without hesitation, he cast his eyes back at Agro before snapping his head forward. What was he thinking?! Agro was not his dad. His dad was back at the ring. However, the old coot was the one caring, training, feeding and teaching the pups. Maybe he was someone he might consider a father. Although, Damian would refuse to even admit that Agro held some role in his life. That was something that was banished to the back of his mind.

His thoughts were suddenly distracted by the scent of something that made his skin crawl in the lust for blood. He could smell them. The fear, the longing of love, protection and bravery. He could smell it. He could smell the strong scent of helpless pray hidden within the meadows. Drool threatened to form from his muzzle as his eyes darted to each burrow, waiting for his victim to make a fatal mistake. However, he knew that these hares were not stupid. They've been hunted for decades by other animals, and they weren't going to lay over and become his dinner. He had to earn his meal and he wouldn't have it any other way. That's where his sister would come into it. By himself, he knew that these hares were much too fast for him. The only way he'd catch one would be by luck or someone else catching one for him. Which was not something he wanted. He wanted to catch one by skill, and he defiantly didn't want someone else catching his meal for him anymore. He didn't want to be a dependent pup anymore. He wanted to be an independent adult. However, his stub left him with few options, and the only one that he was willing to try was with the help of his sister.

“Dakota!” He pup barked as he quickly hopped over to his sister's side. He hated asking for her help, but he knew he had to. “How about I scare the prey out and you catch them from another burrow?” He suggested as though he didn't need her help, but he knew that she knew that was the only reason he was asking to work in a team. She was not stupid. Damian needed her help, more than she needed his. He knew that she wanted to compete against him, showing off her skin, but the pup was determined not to starve or let one of the adults hunt for him.

The pup gave her a quick nod before sniffing out the burrows. One smelt especially good and Damian was riled up and ready to go. He placed himself by the burrow before sticking his head inside and barked. He barked loud and viscously, making him look terrifying to the hares below. “Get ready, Dakota!” He bellowed as he continued to snap and bite towards the terrified animals, hoping to drive them toward his sister. All he could do was bark and wait for his prey to scare and run.

However, things didn't go as planned. A hare didn't think much of Damian's plan and leapt out in front of him, nipping his nose, before springing off. The pup yelped in pain, shaking his head, trying to rid the pain. He couldn't believe that the hare had the nerve to strike at him. He stoof there in shock before his features turned of one in rage. In anger, Damian abandoned his post and gave chase. That hare was gonna pay for what he did. He leapt at the hare as it dashed around him as though it was mocking him. “Stay still!” He snapped as he tried as again to place the creature between his jaws, however, it was just too fast for him. He did look like a rather silly fool as he span in circles, trying to nab it. However, the pup was determined to eat it, or at least hurt the thing.

“Shut up, Dakota.” He snapped as he come to a halt. Heavy pants echoed from the pup as his chest heaved. That stupid hare could run faster than the small pup could even process. He closed his airs as he sucked in any much needed breath. He wheezed a little before coughing, clearing his air ways. He was determined to catch the little vermin, but he had no idea how. The frogs back at the swamp were much easier than this quick paced beastie.

Though, what happened next really drove Damian's anger sky high. Brave had caught the hare in one swift kill. How dare she?! That was his kill! She had no right to catch his food for him. He was crippled, not dead. How could he learn to hunt if they hunted for him? It was stupid and he hated it. He wasn't useless like Claudius. He could hunt his own food, but it just took him a little longer to actually do it. “I don't need your help. That was my food, catch your own.” He grumbled at the female with a piercing frown, his blue and brown eyes glaring into hers. He looked at the dead hare between his paws and pushed it away. “I can catch my own dinner.” He snorted with a quick growl.

Damian continued to frown as Brave gave him a life lesson. He had heard it all before. Be friendly with the pack, cuddle up to them, sleep with them, share your inner demons and emotions with them. Yeah... no thanks. Damian wasn't here to make friends and have a wonderful family life. He was at Blacktalon to become strong, to become a leader. Even when he tried to connect to the pack, it normally fell flat. He was just no good at socialising with those who did not want to try. There was a wall between him and the pack, and he had come to like this wall between them. He didn't need their love or comfort, just their protection until he was old enough to care for himself. “We work by our selves and we like it that way.” He remarked back as he moved over to his sister.

The brother agreed with his sister's words. They worked alone and it was better that way. The other members were weary of the pups and preferred to let them do their own thing or try and fail. The pups weren't very welcoming. They weren't surprised that no one wanted to work with them,not that they cared, or so they would think. Secretively both pups loved the attention that the pack gave them, they craved it. Though, the attention they usually got was a bad one, but it was attention all the same. Dakota was more of an attention hog than himself and got rather jealous with her fiery temper. She liked attention as a whole, where Damian only cared about one wolf watching him, and that was his mentor, Agro. He wanted to prove himself to the whole pack, but Agro was the one he really wanted to impress.

He listened again to Brave's words and nodded. “Then my sister and I will work together.” He said simply as he moved to his sister's side. He gave her a nod and readied himself. He wasn't going to wait for Agro to watch them hunt or do it for them. He and his sister was going to get their own meal and The newbie and Brave could get their own. He snatched up the dead hare in his jaws and made it tumble towards the newbie. “Eat this. No point it going to waste” He admitted with a steal look. It wouldn't have gone to waste if Brave let them hunt their own food.

“Lets get some food, Sis.” He said as he got into position. He waited for her signal and would be ready to make the kill.

Word count: 660
Wolves addresed: All.
Notes: I'm nice, Damian's not. Sorry for the lame post.

Wolves Addressed: Damian
Wolves Mentioned: Jeamesero, Brave, Agro, Chance, Marina
Word Count: 904
Notes: Dakota is hungry because I'm hungry

“Get ready brother, food is coming to you”

Damian saw the hare, and the hare saw Damian. However, it was all too late for the little beast. The pup leapt forwards and sank his teeth right into the creature's back. A piercing squeal echoed through the air as the hare wailed in pain.. The pup wasted no time putting the animal out of it's misery. He shook his head hard, causing the hare's body to break as he crushed it under it's jaws. Within a few painful seconds, the hare was dead. It's limp body lay dangling in the pup's bloody jaws. With a satisfied grin, the pup plodded over to his sister and dropped the hare by her paws. “Easy.” He said with pride attached.

He sank onto his hind and placed a large paw on top of the beast's back before ripping the creature into half. A lesson that the pups both learnt was that sharing was something that came hard to them. They fought over the smallest piece of meat. So splitting the food in half and each having their own part helped them not to fight over their dinner. Though, it didn't always work.

The pup grabbed his lunch and scooted away from his sister as he dug into the hare's hind. He looked up at Brave and glared at the female. Told you I could do it. He snorted at her before muching into his meal. Though, Damian was a growing pup. This measly meal was nothing to live on. He'd need more food than this stupid hare.

“Right. The rest of the pack needs food.” He got up and shook the blood from his muzzle, aiming for the blood to dot against Brave's white coat. He gave her a tiny smirk of triumph before he padded over to his sister. “Hurry up, Dakota. We got a hunt a lot more than this. We'll probably need like five for Claudius' big butt.” He grumbled with a tiny lace of humour, but also anger in his voice. He still hated the wolf, but he didn't think Agro would be happy if they left the white wolf hungry. Though, the pup did think that the elder should hunt for his own food. He was able to do it, but he was just fat and lazy.

The pup got back into position, but when he got back, the sight shocked him. Five little baby hares all sat at the entrance of their borrow; they all looked scared and lonely. The pup looked back at the hare he had killed beforehand and then back at the babies. The hares that they killed must have been their parents. Pity drown Damian's thoughts as he looked at them. They had no clue at what happened. They just heard their parents screams and then silence. They were too young to yesterday the concept of life and death. They just knew their instincts and their parent's lesson. Well, they'd get no more of those lessons. They were to starve without their mother's milk to warm their grumbling tummy's. He growled at the thought, but he was a life too and everyone had to eat. The pup quickly darted into the front end of the borrow, snapping his jaws around the little young's bodies before killing them all swiftly. No guilt, no remove, nothing, swept through Damian as he collected his prize. Life was hard. He'd prefer it if it hadn't been the babes, who were so small he could carry them all. However, life was tough and the weak did not survive. He had no time for the mourning of others. The babies would have died anyway and he was hungry. End of story.

He carried the food over to the first hare that they had caught and dumped them over the other. It still wasn't enough food to feed a pack, but it was enough to make sure that they would survive. He licked his chops greedily as he stared down at the food. He could quickly nab one and make a quick dash as he ate, but he was sure that someone would stop him escaping with the goods. He growled at the thought. He was too slow to outrun his pack mates. Though, he wa-

Something rotten hit Damian in the face; well the scent anyhow. He sniffed the air and instinctively, he could smell that there was a storm approaching. A storm normally didn't phase the pup. He just knew that hunting was soon to be over. This storm looked like a powerful one and that was nothing something the pup would like to get stuck in. Though, they still didn't have enough food to last them if the storm decided to stay for a visit. He snapped his head to Brave and frowned. “What do we do?” He hated asking for direction, but this was something beyond his ability to control, and Agro was not here, so Brave in Damian's eyes, was next in charge.

He eyed the storm as it grew closer. Something was off about it. It didn't feel natural to him. It felt more powerful than Damain could even imagine. He wondered if the older wolves had felt a storm this strong before. Was this going to be dangerous? Were there going to be causalities? Maybe it would be Claudius? The pup could only hope. Instinctively, Damian made his way over to his sister. Storm, or no storm, he made sure that they were together. If this storm did hit them, they had to look out for each other.

Wolves addressed: Brave and Dakota
Word count: 936