Grassland Hunt
Walking briskly underneath the hot Thedale sun, the trio had their sights set on catching up to a herd of zebra that they’ve been tailing these last couple of hours. From the tracks that they’ve been able to find amongst the brush, it doesn’t seem to be a large herd, a couple dozen at most.
Valor flicks an ear as she follows after Zephyr, the possum-like Vayron leading the way, beside her, a newly met acquaintance, Leana, someone that they met when they were back in the city, and allowed to tag along for this hunt. While Valors typically quite wary of newcomers, so far she hasn’t minded Leana’s company.
“Not too much further…” Zephyr mumbles as he sniffs at the ground, tail swishing in concentration at how the scent is progressively getting stronger, “when we reach them, would you like to take down a zebra together, Ana?”
“Don’t want to team up with me, hmm?” Valor teases with a smirk pulling at her maw, blue gaze playfully narrowing as she bumps their tracker.
Zephyr huffs, “it’s not like that! You’re plenty big and strong enough to solo a zebra!”
“Oh, you callin’ me fat?”
“I am not!”
Leanu snickers at their bickering as she observes the duo, deciding not to join in on the banter as she pulls a canteen from the belt strapped around her torso, taking a few quick swigs of water. While she’s well adapted to the desert heat, it can be quite brutal some days, even for someone like her.
“I’m fine with that plan,” Leanu speaks up after putting the canteen away, briefly pausing her walk in order to wipe her wettened jaws with the back of her arm, “can’t say I’m in the mood to be tussling with something that can kick my ribs in by myself.” While she’s able to go after zebras by herself, it’s a risk that she doesn’t mind avoiding when the opportunity presents itself.
Zephyr sighs in slight relief at Leanu not encouraging Valors antics, but he’s nodding as he examines the tracks they’re following, the dirt freshly overturned. “Very close now… let’s keep quiet.”
---
Valor is the first to spot the distant herd due to her taller stature, her body dropping down into a low crouch within an instant, signaling to her companions that they should do the same, their bodies disappearing amongst the tall grass that surrounds them.
“About a hundred meters in front of us… dead on the money about their only being a couple dozen,” Valor whispers softly, her voice hardly audible to the Vayrons beside her. “Zeph, you look, you blend in better than either of us.”
The intense white and reds of Leana’s coat, and Valors striking black and white appearance… not entirely ideal in this environment. Zephyr doesn’t exactly blend in, either, but his duller colors grant him a bit more leeway.
Cautiously, Zephyr pokes his head about the grass, his ears pinned firmly against his head as he scans the herd in front of them, brows furrowing as he commits each zebras positioning and status to memory… and then he’s ducking his head back down.
“I saw two that’ll be good for us. Valor, you veer to the left, there’s a zebra that’s somewhat split off from the rest and is closest to our position… Leana, we’re going right, so just follow my lead.”
Valor nods at the plan as she begins to creep away from the duo, with Leana following after Zephyr as he begins to move, her paws carefully stepping precisely where he has to minimize any risk of noise.
It’s a slow approach, with each hunter only moving whenever the wind blows to conceal their advance.
They’re within a few dozen meters when the herd finally alerts with a sharp bark, forcing the trio to suddenly charge from their hidden positions as the zebras begin to flee, the sound of pounding hooves against the earth drowning out any other sound.
Leana and Zephyr are up first, their lithe builds allowing them to swiftly catch up to their selected zebra, with Leana snapping and snarling to send it into a further panic as she drives it further away from its companions, putting herself between it and its herd.
“Go for it!” Zephyr calls out.
Leana steels her nerves, before leaping onto the back of it, her claws digging as far as they can within its tough hide, her sudden weight causing the zebra to buckle and nearly stumble to the ground, it would’ve recovered, if Zephyr had not lunged forward in that moment to slash out the back of its leg with his own claws, sending the zebra hurtling into dirt beneath it.
He’s not hesitating to go for its throat, his magic springing to life around his paws as plants shoot up around them, manifesting roots to entangle themselves around the legs of the zebra to help pin it in place as he attempts to suffocate it.
Leana is biting the back of the zebras neck when it attempts to swing its head down to bite at him, a snarl emanating from her jaws as she holds it firmly, not allowing it to retaliate as it weakly attempts to flail in its restraints.
On Valors end, her chase is nearly over as she runs down her prey, her breathing heavy as the distance between them steadily closes. The intense amount of dust and dirt being kicked up by its hooves forcing her to squint, her head slightly tilted back to avoid being directly blinded.
With a growl, she’s throwing herself at it, roughly slamming her body against its own, her strength and bulk forcing the zebra to roughly tumble down as its legs fail to keep it upright. She’s not allowing it a chance to recover as she’s suddenly atop it, her powerful jaws easily finding its throat and clamping down as it lets out a strained squeal.
She’s ignoring its kicks and flails as she focuses on suffocating it, brows furrowed in concentration as she gradually feels the zebra weaken within her teeth, her claws tearing along it to further wound it, with the intention of bleeding it out at the same time.
Her assault doesn’t last long as she glares out at the retreating herd as they disappear in the horizon… before she’s spitting out the neck of the zebra when its struggling and pulse finally vanish, its body limp as she stands up, glancing over to Leana and Zephyr…
…Who are busy pulling over their own kill.
“You two alright?” Valor asks, a brow raising at the roots that bind the zebras legs, “magic seems a bit cheaty, don’t you think?”
“Not at all!” Leana answers in Zephyrs stead as they reach her, “better to use whatever we have at our disposal,” she rubs at her jaw, already feeling a twinge of soreness creeping in from how forcefully she had to hold the zebra back, “I always underestimate how strong the plains zebras are…” she would’ve preferred if they had found a smaller variant, but oh well.
Zephyrs humming, “you look like you got kicked a bit.”
“A bit,” Valor shrugs, “but I’ll live… let’s focus on getting this stuff back, before the hyenas pick up on it,” she grumbles at that potential hassle, damn scavengers get on her nerves, “think you can make us a makeshift sled with your magic?”
“Yeah,” holding out his paws, his magic is effortlessly springing to life as more roots sprout from the ground, entangling in on themselves to form a rectangular shape, with one set separating from the rest to extend out to form an arch-like shape, its structure thin as he forms something akin to reigns. “Aaaand there,” he dismisses his magic as he finishes constructing their sled.
Leanu glances about their surroundings, keeping watch as Valor loads the corpses up onto the sled, “do you think we’ll be able to get back to the city before nightfall?”
“We should be able to,” Valor responds as she gets into position within the arch of roots, “if not we’ll just have to push through, setting up camp will be too risky with kills.”
“Guess that works,” while she’s not a huge fan of traveling at night… she supposes pushing onwards would be the safer option.
As they begin their trek back to the city, Zephyr can’t help but occasionally find himself glancing to the defined hoofprints on Valors body with a frown. He’ll have to check her over properly once he gets the chance, he knows how stubborn this woman is when it comes to her own health.
What a pain.
SilentWolf1411 and QueenOfOpals stinkers
Vays: Zephyr 15376, Valor 12655, and Leana Reltu 15269
WC: 1443