Hunting Lessons ( Open )

[aisu]

What was she thinking? She couldn't survive as a loner, alone, it was impossible she had never been alone in her entire life. Damn pride, stupid, stupid me she hissed within her own mind as she wandered the grounds she would now have to call home, it wasn't as glamorous as the Galaxy Pack territory but she wasn't complaining, at least it had food and water. For the time being, Aisu was alone to explore, she had sent Amadeus out to look for some type of shelter while she went for food. A silly idea if one had seen her form lately, she hadn't caught a meal in days, only surviving off of measly grubs and scraps left from more lucky wolves.

Slim pickings. She mused as she looked around the grounds, lots of trees, grass, it was peaceful. It reminded her of the grassy valley, on that fateful day, she had met Grizzly playing on the rocks when she was trying to catch a butterfly. Also, on the same or following day-she couldn't quite remember, Kage had died. Aisu tucked her ears back at the memory and growled, why couldn't she stop thinking about it? It haunted her every day. It's not my fault, right? It can't be my fault, Kage was a pup, and we didn't mean it. We didn't know that the buffalo would run. She fought with herself within her mind. A habit she had picked up.

She was going insane and she damn well knew it. Shaking her head the former Alpha walked on swaying between trees and listening closely for any type of food. She spotted a faun in the shade of a tree dozing, it would be an easy meal that would last for a week at least. But Aisu doubted her speed and let it go besides, the mother must not be too far off.

Again, she walked on picking up speed into a small trot. She looked up and smiled at the rays of sun that hit her face. She sighed however when she realized that maybe she couldn't hunt. She had never the need to try, and as a pup she only played. Minkota had never brought home a live kill for them to practice on, and Ocarina was too busy with pack business. Her ears pricked up snapping out of her fond thoughts of warmth and family.

What was it?

She looked around half startled and half alert for meal. A small bird hopped out of hiding to pick at the grass. Aisu's heart fell, she couldn't kill a bird, not with Amadeus, no matter how hungry she was. And then a squirrel climbed down a tree to join the feathery friend. The female groaned inwardly, out of all the animals in this God forsaken forest and this was the best she could find?

Give me a break She growled.

[blackdiamond012]

(OOC-I saw you and thought well hey-Niko did promise some loyalty to you and whose always spouting off about loners. hope you don't mind.)

Niko had left his family in the den to wonder around for a while. Keeping Bram away from his mom and sister was not the best thing in the world, but it was a necessity so the loner knew that the little time the pup spent with his family was precious. Unfortunately for the family Niko didn't always fill the same way. Without a family he'd grown up on his own until he'd met Caliban, but after Caliban's disappearance Niko had gotten used to being alone again. The family life was starting to wear him down. He loved his family, but Niko also loved his freedom.

Trotting he enjoyed the sun and the fresh air that filled his lungs. He continued to walk along until he caught a scent he remembered. "No, it couldn't be..." Niko thought to himself as he walked closer tracking the scent. He thought she was dead, but as he came into her eye sight he realized that she was alive.

Alive and scruffy. Niko didn't know what to make of the appearance of the Galaxy Alpha. Coming up to her curiously he tried a light smile, "Aisu. I haven't seen you in so long I thought the Galaxy Pack had lost their alpha."

[aisu]

Her ears swiveled when she caught a sound, footsteps and they were heavy, which meant it was male. It wasn't a meal ticket but a wolf which in a way Aisu despised she was hoping she would have little contact with other wolves. Yet she noticed the scent and blinked-Niko? Oh great Gods.. She groaned inwardly again. What could he want? She turned and tried her best to face the loner male, she was bitter toward him for abandoning her that once in her time of need at the Gathering.

But he was the father of Feather's pups, the thought made her smile. She wondered how her former Medic had been doing but she quickly left that thought when she heard his words. "....I thought the Galaxy Pack lost their Alpha."[/i] the words made her growl lightly and she sent a warning glare toward him, nearly out of habit. "They did." She voiced her words angry and bitter. It had only been hours before she left her pack's lives for good, and the raw rejection was still bitter to her.

How could they do that to her?

She noticed his light smile and she instantly felt bad for being so bitter toward him, but it was easier, better this way. She wouldn't be able to get hurt again and she wouldn't hurt anyone either. Her stomach growled for maybe about the one hundredth time that day and her cheeks flushed, why was she such a bad hunter?

Could this day get any worse?

[blackdiamond012]

Niko was taken aback by Aisu's obvious anger and discomfort. She had changed tremendously and he wasn't quite sure why until she flat out told him that the Galaxy Clan lost their alpha. In that second his confusion deepened until it disappeared in quick understanding. Before he could say anything about the leader becoming a loner her stomach growled and Niko frowned slightly.

"You aren't going to make it like this," he didn't mention the fact that she was a loner choosing to stick to something neutral. He'd already stepped on her toes about her clan once and it seemed that she was still...bleeding for lack of a better analogy.

"Well come on," Niko sighed wondering how he always ended up in these messes. He should walk away. He should have done a lot of things in his life, but somehow he was always with another wolf and teaching them. "Keep quiet and stick with me down wind. There's still some daylight left." Niko turned tail glancing behind him. She needed to learn the ropes because it was obvious she didn't have a clue. He always knew clans made a wolf weak.

[aisu]

Aisu blinked for a minute when the elder stated the obvious she wanted to growl at him and tell him to go away, that she was damn well fine on her own. But she didn't. She knew that she wouldn't make it like this for very long, so she swallowed her pride and followed her stomach walking after the male.

She hunched down as she walked feeling somewhat awkward for the position but she had seen other wolves do this when she was little. She thought it was natural to walking in a slinky fashion, but it didn't feel natural at all. She wondered why Niko was helping her, she wondered how Feather was and the pups that she never got to see, she wondered if Niko knew about Annibelle and she wondered if she should tell him.

"Why are you helping me?" She asked glancing up at the sky to see if Amadeus was around, damn bird, you think he would help her sometimes with finding food.

[blackdiamond012]

Niko glanced behind him at her question, "Do I have to have a reason?" Truthfully Niko was thinking about why he was as well, but there were to many reasons to sort out and so he left it at that not wanting to go through his feelings one by one.

"Now, use your nose. You keep downwind, but other animals aren't. And use your eyes as well. You can use your powers if you want," Niko shrugged, "but I don't out of respect for my prey. If I can't get them on my own then they deserve to live. Check the ground around you too. Any small print or markings can lead you to something." Niko had heard himself say the same thing before.

"See those prints? That's a raccoon. We won't see him during the day, but those scrapes on the are a buck. Since there's two of us we could take him down." Niko nodded towards her, "Have you ever killed before or has the clan warriors always provided for you? Have you had any experience with hunting?"

[aisu]

(( A/N: Sorry for the very late reply Niko school and all D= ))

Aisu didn't comment to his question, figuring that he wasn't really expecting an answer anyway. She tilted her muzzle to the ground and sniffed only to get dust and dirt up her nose and she sneezed shaking her head. Again, she nodded to his words about power and prey, it seemed simple enough so why was it so hard?

She looked around at the ground and noticed small stubby footprints that looked strange and alien like. A raccoon? The ex Alpha blinked, what was a raccoon? Maybe it was some type of subspecies to a fox or something? She shrugged it off and sighed. Hearing his question before he even asked it and she shook her head.

"The pack has always hunted for me, I've been on a few trips but never actually participated. Mother never brought home live kill anyway and the closets I would call hunting was when I was a pup and tried nipping heel at a calf..." She trailed off and favored the ground the better view than Niko's gaze. She couldn't go on with the memory as it reeled in her head. "So, simply, no I have no experience at all." She sighed feeling defeated and ashamed of the fact.

[blackdiamond012]

((ditto. I was like HOLY CRAPPERS! I forgot about this thread....oops...))

Niko sighed in pity. Honestly in his mind there was nothing worse than a wolf that could not stand on their own two feet. Feather could. His daughter and son would. Anything to make certain that if he died they would be alright. "I'm an old wolf and there are still things that I don't know. You'll be fine Aisu. Just trust me. Raccoons are nocturnal. We won't be seeing him today. Let's go after the buck."

"Remember if you're going to hunt with me-no powers. Come sniff this tree and get his scent. It's just like tracking down a member of your clan or something. We'll follow the clues until we reach him. When we start to get close stay low to the ground and follow my lead. If he gets a good running start then were done. If he makes a stand he could injury you severally with his antlers. So go ahead and sniff. I want you to lead us to him and make sure we don't get to close." Niko really wasn't taking any pity on the alpha making her take a leading position so early, but he didn't have much of a choice. It wasn't like she was a pup and could learn from playing games. She'd had her share of fights. Now was the time to be suave with her skills.

[aisu]

Aisu listened to his words but thought that he was an old crack case when she heard him say that she would be leading. She couldn't lead them to the buck she could hardly lead herself here and she had no hunting experience what so ever and Niko was telling her to lead the hunt? Obviously the loner held no pity for her not like she wanted his pity anyway sighing she went to the tree and sniffed.

Blinking at the smell she sniffed again-a heavy musk but it wasn't like any of the musk she had smelt before. She sneezed before stepping away and nodding to Niko walked down a trail she sniffed the air and tried to find the scent turning a tree she crouched down when she heard a noise. Looking through a brush she saw a large tan colored body she tucked her tail feeling nervous all of a sudden. "...he could injury you severally with his antlers."[/color] Damn Niko she growled scaring her like that this was technically her first hunt and she couldn't even use her powers yet the male thought she could take down a big buck?

"I can't do this." She whispered watching the animal graze and she suddenly felt a sick feeling of deja vu.

[blackdiamond012]

Niko watched her progress. It was slow, but steady. She had more skill than she gave herself credit for and he was more than grateful that she wasn't some pup. He had two to teach at home that he wasn't really up for. He had learned his lesson from Caliban that it was not an easy task.

"Gotcha," Niko muttered edging beside her. He was actually....proud. Proud that she could do something like this on her first try. He was about to compliment her when he heard her whisper and growled lightly. "Only if you say that. We're down wind. Let's get a little closer. When you feel comfortable just charge for his flank and his feet. I'll make sure he doesn't swing his head around. You've got the advantage that most wolves don't because most on their first hunt are younger-smaller. Size is on your side." What Niko didn't say was that they would be hunting smaller prey...more appropriately prey then what the two of them were hunting now.

[aisu]

Aisu stared at the deer watching and waiting to see if it would spook and run. It didn't and she was somewhat grateful she heard Niko growl lightly and listened to his advice. Size was on her side? She was smaller than most normal wolves and he thinks that size is on her side? Still the older wolf's advice made her confident and as she crouched and walked carefully closer toward the animal she watched it's ears the buck remained relax and unalert so that was good.

But when the time came for Aisu to charge at it she froze Go! Run! her inner mind yelled and challenged her but the memory of Kage's death haunted her vision. Even if it wasn't exactly the same case, she was terrified that the deer would lash out and hurt her. Or worse, hurt Niko and it would be her fault all over again. She shook her head and took a step forward stepping on a twig and the crack of wood sounded louder than it actually was.

But it was enough to make the buck startle and alert. Now before it gets away! Her mind called but her feet were planted as she watched the deer take a starting run. Then something inside her snapped and instead of feeling the burning heat rise to her throat like usual she took a leap and ran after the animal jumping up to it's flank one of it's rear hooves flew out and kicked her.

She yelped but kept a grip until the buck kicked again and Aisu fell to the ground whimpering in ashamed anger.

[blackdiamond012]

Niko watched her inch forward feeling a little more secure. He went around her to get a head so that when the chase started he would be in a better position to go for the head. He had no intention of Aisu having to deal with those antlers at all. He heard the branch snap and cursed under his breath. He'd been waiting for a while for her to actually make her move. He understood that she was trying to calm herself down and talk herself into it, but to step on the twig was a bad mistake.

The buck took off and Niko went with it. He was on the bucks right side when Aisu made her move. He heard the last kick and swore aloud this time. "Damn it.". By now he'd picked up speed and was at the bucks head. He swerved in front of it making the animal rear up on its hind legs and kick out while Niko growled and snapped at it with his teeth. He looked feral and the buck looked wild coming down with his antlers trying to ward Niko off. Side stepping, Niko snapped at its feet before moving to its throat. He missed, but the animal grew wild again and turned around.

"Aisu, cut it off!" Niko knew she'd been kicked, but he hoped she hadn't been that badly hurt. Things like that happened on a hunt and it was real grit to get up and continue on. Especially since he was nipping at the animals flank. He needed her help to take him down. If she could startle him or even get a hold of his jugular they would be in prime condition to bring him down.