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 Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 1:24 pm
Bryna seemed to agree with his statement for the she-wolf ghosted off without another word - neither had she commented on his remarks fore which the burly male was grateful. If he was really lucky she might not have even noticed them. He could hope so in any case.
Without breaking the silence Triton sped after his ghostly leader, dark blue hide blending smoothly with the shadows cast throughout the forest by the swiftly rising moon. Having hunted in a pack for several years before leaving home to make his own way in the world Triton was well used to the dynamics of hunting in a group and followed the she-wolfs unspoken lead skillfully.
He was a burly creature as wolves go - but surprisingly light on his feet,crouching slightly behind and to the right of her he let his eyes gaze over the area she was looking - in the ferns if he wasn't mistaken, a deduction which proved true when she motioned that way with her muzzle and asked her question.
Edging forward slightly and keeping his voice low Triton glanced at the ferns and then back to Bryna, he rather hoped his confidence was well placed - he would hate to be saying yes only to be proved wrong.
"I think I can manage"
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Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 7:07 am
"I'll flush, you catch. If there is more than one, pick one or we'll lose them both." She turned and headed for the closest end of the pool so she could make it around the water without waking the prey. She picked her way carefully across a stone in the stream so that no leaves or dirt would cling to her paws on the other side, and gave the ferns wide berth as she slunk around to get behind them.
Bryna waited, one eye on Triton to be sure he was ready. She could smell the ducks for certain now, a nesting pair, and although she was sorry to kill them-- one less mating pair for the next spring-- it was part of the life cycle and needed to be done for survival. She hunkered down, and when it seemed Triton would be in position she snarled and darted forward, scaring the life out of the birds and causing their voices to swell in frightened quacks, breaking the peaceful quiet.
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Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 1:25 pm
Triton nodded silently - her remarks really didn't seem to need an answer after all and as she turned and slipped off nearly as soon as uttering them it didn't look as though she'd expected one in any case. That was fine with Triton,hunting after all wasn't the time to be social butterflies. Watching her slink off Triton choose his own path, hunkering down and moving towards a spot to the front of the ducks.
Crouching down at his chosen spot - which as far as he could tell was the most likely flight path for the duck's to take. It wasn't long after he had moved into position that Bryna leapt forward with a snarl - the sight was vaguely reminiscent of her leap from the bushes earlier - although this time they weren't on a collision course which was rather nice.
As the screeching flapping creatures sprang from this nest and with several rapid flaps of their feathered wings made a bid for freedom Triton leapt from his place among the ground cover and made a snap towards the first one he had spotted. His snap was meet with a satisfying crunch and an equally unsatisfying mouthful of feathers. Landing in triumph the blue male deposited the kill on the round and spat out the feather's, one of which flew up and stuck rather comically on the top of his head. Triton didn't seem to notice this however and turned his eyes to see where Bryna had gotten to after her charge.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:17 am
Although it wasn't part of her job as flusher, Bryna tried to catch the second duck anyway, but missed. She watched it fly off into the night for a few moments, still crying out in fear, and then turned to look back at Triton. Well, at least they'd gotten one for him to pick over. She moved around the ferns and took a seat fairly close to him.
"Good job," she complimented, her eyes darting up and locking on the feather. Her lips curled into a slight smile and she leaned towards him as if she were about to lick his nose before she turned her face towards his ears and let out a huff of air, blowing the feather free of his fur. She watched it spin madly in the air for a moment, then drift down to the leaves before she met his eyes again and then leaned back to give him his personal space.
Her tail wagged once as relaxed and looked at the pool. "Once you've eaten, let me know if it's enough."
The pool was close, and Bryna remembered her former thirst with a vengeance. She took the short walk to the pool and leaned her head down to drink, ignoring that she had completely turned her back on him. She was keeping a sharp ear out for any attempt at duplicity from him, but with a meal in front of him and her quite capable of taking care of herself, she wasn't too worried. That had been a fast catch, however, and one she-- or he, for that matter-- would never have been able to manage on her own. Some hunts simply required two wolves to make a kill a certainty.
As the cool water soothed her tongue and throat, her face grew serious with thought and drinking became an absent and instinctive reaction rather than a conscious one.
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:42 am
Triton after spotting Bryna turned to watch the second duck fly off to safety as well, ah well - one was better then nothing and had he tried for both thats most likely what he would have ended up with - as Bryna had pointed out earlier. His tail thumped briefly in response to her compliment.
"Ah well it wouldn't have worked with you there to cha..."His voice trailed off as she suddenly leaned forward as though to lick him, blinking his eyes to keep them from appearing strangely widened - which they seemed want to do. Holy wolf howl! was she about to?...no..no she was not and Triton let out a slight breath which he hadn't even known he was holding as she watched what appeared to be a feather spin through the air. He cleared his throat as she looked back to him and moved back. "Yes..err, like I was saying..wouldn't have worked without you there to chase them, running after them alone seems pretty pointless" he babbled on - clearly trying to act as though it was a common occurrence for female wolves to blow feathers out of his fur.
As she wandered off towards the pool for a drink Triton lay down and turned his mind towards the duck, the eating of which turned out to be a somewhat messy affair, what with feathers and dander floating about everywhere. Still he found he couldn't complain about the taste which was quite different then his usual fare.
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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:21 pm
Well, she certainly wasn't planning on teaming up with anyone other than the members of her pack she was supposed to be finding, but the neat hunt-- following the messy one, that had to be kept in perspective, although her common sense reminded her that that was neither of their faults-- and Triton's fair bit of polite deference sang a note that plucked all the right strings in Bryna's mind. They were both wanderers with no determined direction and, as they had agreed earlier and found out now, it was certainly easier to hunt with two of them. The fact that he seemed to occasionally babble was fine by her, since he seemed to know when keeping silent was important.
All logic pointed to this as being the right thing to do, and it had been months-- many long months-- since Bryna had had companionship, not to even mention someone who would acknowledge her as a Beta or even just an equal, and not as a pitiful lone who hadn't been able to protect her pack. Some of that was pity at herself welling up, and Bryna quite firmly swatted it aside with a mental paw. Pity was an emotion that Bryna rarely wasted any time on, and never when she could help it. She was strong, young, able, and determined to a course that was right and that only she was able, to carry out. This wasn't something to be ashamed of, it was something for her to be proud of. On top of all that, she knew it well.
She looked back at Triton as she turned and her lips quirked in a smile that would have been a grin on most any other wolf. She'd forgotten that eating duck tended to turn you into one if you weren't careful.
"We'll be picking feathers out of your fur for days if you don't go a little more carefully." She moved towards him again and sat herself down carefully just outside the radius of flying feathers. Her tone was straight, rather than teasing, but she didn't even seem to notice that it might come across a little harshly. "While I am assuming that it's good, you need to pick your way through unless you want to end up looking like the bird that escaped."
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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:07 pm
Triton lifted a paw to bat at a feather which was rather annoyingly caught in one of his eyelashes as Bryna returned from the waterside, he didn't fail to catch the amused look on her face and arched a brow before looking down at himself.Huh...he gave a soft snort at the feathers and down flecked here and there in his fur. "Well I've always wanted to fly" he remarked with a straight face before turning to look at her again with a wolfish grin.
It took a few moments of contemplation before he keyed in on certain words in her statement, when he did he eyed her speculatively "A few days?" was she planning on sticking around? He'd gotten the impression earlier that she had places to be, and unlike him was not just wandering aimlessly.Turning back to his meal he tried to be a bit more...neat, as he picked through for the remaining morsels. the flurry of feathers was noticeably less but still apparent. Eating duck neatly it seemed was an art form - or at least required someone with a bit more patience. Ah well. Digging out the last bit she stood suddenly and gave a mighty shake - which caused a whole new hailstorm of feathers - and a sneezing fit as he was caught in the middle of it.
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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:05 pm
With an extremely offended look, Bryna jerked backwards as the feathers suddenly formed a cloud that seemed to block out her reply to his inquisitive response. She scrambled to her feet and took a few steps back, several feathers now lodged in her fur as well and stick out at odd angles. She'd seen wolves from a distance-- and humans as well-- who used feathers as decoration, but she was fairly certain that this use of feathers was not becoming in any fashion to anyone.
She stared at him a moment, then her mild ire calmed and she nodded once in agreement. "A few days. If you had nowhere better to be, and since I have no specific timeframe I am working in, we could always travel together for a few days. If nothing else, the hunting would be easier and it would break the drudgery of doing our travelling alone." In her mind, that was all there was to it. He should agree, and if he didn't, well... Who was she to dictate his lifestyle? Still, he really should.
"And," she added as she suddenly felt the need to add some extra incentive, "You may feel free to challenge any decisions I make." If he didn't understand what kind of a surprising gesture that was, Bryna didn't realize that he wouldn't look at it from her perspective.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:54 am
When the feathers settled once more Triton noticed that a fair number of the pesky things still clung to his coat - ah well they'd drift off eventually he figured, or he'd pick them out before sleeping..whichever came first. Taking not of the look she was giving him he blinked - hmm perhaps he ought to have warned her first? "Sorry" He managed to say, attempting to look contrite although a slightly bemused expression continued to try and peek though.
She was talking of important things however and Triton tipped his head slightly as though considering, it did seem like a pretty good offer - and he certainly had nothing against a little bit of company, in any case there was a better chance of filling his stomach and like any wolf that incentive alone was a compelling one. challenge her huh...Triton was willing to bet that wasn't something done lightly and despite the offer was fairly certain a goodly bit of ire would follow should he attempt it. Bryna was a good wolf - but Triton had spent enough time in his home pack to recognize the signs of someone who liked to be in charge. This didn't bother Triton however - he wasn't to terribly bothered with following, seemed the least stressful of the positions to him and quite honestly it would be nice to have someone else make some decisions.
"Very well Bryna..seems you've found yourself a traveling partner" He finally stated in a cheery voice.
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:17 am
Bryna smiled brightly, pleased that things had gone well with that suggestion. For however long it lasted, Bryna was happy with her choice to bring up the possibility. Companionship, just someone to talk to, made her feel better about the long journey ahead of her.
"Good. If direction doesn't matter, I will simply lead us the way I've been going," she offered, then turned her head to pull one of the few feathers she could reach out of her fur. She could just imagine what a wolf would say if they came across the messy pair now. "We can still make good time before the sun rises, which leaves opportunities to find a good place to rest for the day. I have no objections to hunting or even travelling during the day, but I would prefer to do most of it at night and take the hot days to rest."
She shook slightly in the hopes of dislodging more of the feathers, but when she saw none fall she simply accepted it and moved on. If they didn't come out, she would ask Triton to look her over. After all, that was what having a travelling partner was for, wasn't it? Helping you do things you couldn't do yourself?
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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:29 am
Triton did not miss the pleased look on Bryna's face as he accepted her offer - perhaps she had been a lonely traveling alone as he had. None the less he was pleased to make her happy and having no plans himself was not put out by following her lead - wherever that may take them.
"Makes sense to me" He stated, sleeping during the worst of the day's heat would be a fine thing - perhaps in a nice shady spot with lots of springy grass beneath, in any case - it was far less likely something unwanted would wander up on them unnoticed during the daylight. Turning about he paced after the silver wolf.
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