The Sun Burns Brighter

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Shiver slows to a trot as she enters a young grove. The ground is littered by charred wood from the historic fire two generations ago. She breathed in the rich earthy scent of late winter. She loved this time of the year. The scent if the air had the unmistakable tang of frost.

[forte]

Sonora had been traveling for a while, trying to stay in the vicinity of the pack meeting she had been at not long ago. Without any sense of smell to speak of, it was hard to tell where the rest of the pack was, but still she had to be familiar with Rising Sol's territory. Whether or not she had unknowingly wandered into an are that did not belong to her pack, well, that was a question that Sonora figured it would be best not to ask for the time being. She focused on listening to the sounds around her and keeping an eye peeled for movement in the underbrush.

Ahead, she noticed the forest getting brighter. Before she knew it she had emerged into a grove of deciduous trees, whose naked branches let more light reach the ground than the evergreens Sonora had been traversing. The trunks of these trees bore char marks from some long-ago fire.

A flash of movement caught the she-wolf's eye, and she noticed the silver wolf Shiver, another member of the Rising Sol pack, exploring the grove of ash trees. Not being the most outgoing of creatures, Sonora didn't call out to her immediately. She had grown up in a pack where there was not much leisure time, and most communication was about tasks that needed to be done to further the pack's cause, so she wasn't entirely sure how to start a conversation with Shiver, or even if it would be appropriate. Maybe the silver wolf wanted some alone time. She puzzled over what to do at the edge of the grove. Perhaps she had jumped the gun a bit about joining a pack seeing how unsure she felt in social situations...

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The silver shewolf zipped inbetween the trunks. Then she stood stock still and melted into the landscape, silver fur blending in perfectly. She had sensed prey. And as a hunter it was her duty to find it and kill it. She padded noiselessly towards the musky scent. Then she saw it. It was a young doe. It lifted its head to scout the surrounding forest then continued peeling bark off the trees. Shivers icy blue eyes surveyed the small deer. She could kill it quicker if she timed it just right.....

[forte]

Sonora had just decided to approach Shiver when the other wolf suddenly disappeared. Then, more movement nearby: the head of a young deer appeared atop the underbrush, looking around it for danger. That explained Shiver's disappearance. She was probably hiding somewhere, getting ready to go in for the kill. Sonora sat stock-still until the creature went back to browsing; only then did the brown wolf duck down, listening for the flurry of action that was soon to follow, ready to jump in if she were needed.

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Soon the doe turned away and began to walk silently towards another tree. Now was her chance. Shiver leaped out if the tree without a sound and landed on the does back. It jolted and stared to buck, but shiver held on. She swung under neath the animals head and bit down on its neck. Then it swung its head harder and Shiver was flung away. Blood stained her fur as she circled her prey. It was in shock. The doe scraped her hooves against the frozen earth and attempted to keep its watery eyes on the cunning predator.

[forte]

Mere moments before a commotion alerted Sonora to the action that was taking place nearby. She sprang out of her crouch and dashed toward the sound, soon coming upon the two creatures, wolf and prey, mid-battle. The deer was already bleeding from a shallow bite wound on its neck; Shiver would likely make quick work of the animal, but still Sonora took up a spot on its opposite side, ready to block its escape.

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Shiver grinned as Sonora bounded in to help. Now this doe would go down quicker, not a chance of escape. The doe turned abruptly to face the new threat, and Shiver took her chance. She loped onto its flank and sunk in her fangs.

[forte]

Sonora was impressed by how quickly Shiver took action. Even a young deer could severely injure a wolf with its sharp, flailing hooves, but it was as if the silver wolf were completely unafraid. In a flash the she had leaped at the doe's flank and gotten a hold there; while the prey was distracted Sonora darted in and clamped down on a foreleg, holding on with all her might but ready to back off if she saw a hoof coming for her face. Unable to smell, the brown she-wolf relied more heavily than most on her sight, and she was not about to let herself lose an eye.

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Shiver dodged out of the way as a small deadly hoof billeted for her skull. She turned and grabbed hold of the does neck once more. She bit down with all her might. Slowly she felt the does strength sap away. It fell to the ground with a thud.

[forte]

When she felt the deer's struggles beginning to fade, Sonora started to pull on the foreleg she held in her mouth, tring to get the creature to the ground, where it would give up. The combined efforts of the two wolves quickly overpowered her and the doe sank to the ground, her eyes wide and he nostrils flaring as she accepted her fate. Blood gushed from the wounds at her throat. Sonora felt that the battle was won, so she finally let go of the deer's now-broken leg. "Good kill," she said quietly, both as a comment and a complement to Shiver.

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"Yep, we did good. Wanna help me take this to the dens?" She suddenly got distracted. There was grass poking through the snow. And a flower! She sniffed it hungrily spring is here!

[forte]

"Yeah," Sonora replied, wondering how they could transport such a large carcass. "Maybe if you took a leg and I took a leg, we..." The brown wolf trailed off as she realized Shiver was paying more attention to a sprig of greenery poking through the blanket of snow than to their predicament. Still, Sonora smiled. She could feel that spring was near, but it was nice to see it, too.

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"Sorry I'm a bit distracted today." Shiver smiled and nodded. "Yes we could each take a leg. Then we can bury the rest. The ground is a bit softer now." Shiver nodded at the flower. This was the best day she had ever had since.....never.

[forte]

Sonora wagged her tail and gave a small smile. Maybe she had been wrong. She had enjoyed her first hunt with a packmate, and there were sure to be many more. "Great. Let's get going." The she-wolf took one of the deer's hind legs in her jaws and waited for Shiver to do the same...but then she realized she didn't know which way the dens were. Probably in the middle of the territory, but in the bustle of the hunt she had lost what little directional orientation she had had. She dropped the leg again. "Uh...you know the way there, right?"

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Shiver mentally face palms. How stupid was she! " Er.....well the gathering was that way..." She pointed south with her muzzle. " so the center would be that way?" She asked bewilderedly.