GOATS AGAIN
---Mehen---
Goat season! It was finally goat season again. Anik was excited, ready to rush out with the group he had with him and get as many goats as they could. Within reason, of course. They still had the population to consider, and protect! Goats may have been delicious and helpful prey, but they didn't need to wipe them out, that would be bad.
He sat atop Kali, looking around at the group. It was a big group, not the biggest he'd worked with, but certainly big. That was fine though, most of it was tokotas being taught and gaining experience in things like hunts. They'd need it for sure.
With him were Nux and Vincent, experienced tokotas that knew what they were doing, and Pagan, who wasn't here to hunt, just to learn. The merle needed more experience before he got into doing things properly, because really he was just a handful. Hopefully learning things would help to handle some of his issues, if only a little bit.
It promised to be a good hunt at least.
---Cantbreakthis---
Really when it came to this season mountain goats were almost always on the metaphorical menu. They were just so useful in the long run – good to eat, with useful pelts and horns, it was difficult for them to not be the prey of choice in the long run. Besdies after a long and exceedingly harsh winter it was important that the village manage to restock its reserves of food… especially for the elderly or the infirm that just weren’t able to get food easily for themselves. Some of them didn’t even have family to help them!
Everything looked to be going well at least. The day was actually decently warm for a change – the sun high and bright up in the sky – and everything had an air that winter was finally slipping away from their home to leave spring in its wake.
Riggs shifted a little bit, shaking himself with some bemusement, as Nuka yawned from beside him. The brown male was nearing the end of his hunting career and perhaps it was a good thing to finally give him a proper break. Ripley ignored the two as she moved on ahead just a little bit, paying close attention to their surroundings as she tried to keep track of where their soon to be prey might be.
Pickle on the other hand wasn’t there for the hunting. After annoying the ever militant Steele for a bit, dancing and darting around the albino female’s legs for a while, he finally ventured over to properly greet the outgoing Echa. The two of them seemed to have hit it off pretty well and were following along, tugging back and forth on a large stick that the little toki had dragged up from goodness only knew where. He really did have a particular knack for finding them after all.
---Mehen---
Pelts could be turned into useful gear, and blankets and coats for people too. Things that benefitted the communities they were helping, as well as their own packs. Their tokotas would eat well, and so would the people in the village, and that was, in the end, the important thing. Anik planned on hunting a few other kinds of prey himself, when next he was able, but he knew goats were the most vital.
They just needed to be sure they didn't ruin the populations either.
Nux was eager to attach himself to Riggs, rubbing up against him with his tail wagging, and practically leaning on him. He loved his friend, and he was just super excited to be out with him again. He paused only to snuffle at Nuka and lick his cheek, before moving back to Riggs. Riggs was the most important one here!
Of course, he would have said hi to Ripley but she was off already, tracking down the goats.
Vincent wagged his tail a bit as he circled back to investigate the newcomers. He knew the others, but Echa and Pickle? Who the heck were these two! He tilted his head at the little toki with the stick, leaning down to sniff at him. Why the heck was this tokota so small? Was he a puppy? That would be weird.
Pagan didn't seem to care much, he'd seen tokis before, and he wasn't yet interested in the stranger. He just wanted to get this done so he could go back to napping at home, he had his good looks to keep up! Kali, on the other hand, was friendly enough, and Anik let her explore the others as they walked behind the group, letting the hunters lead on and do their job. She was a good sort, and he knew she wouldn't hurt any of the other tokotas.
Idly the black pied sniffed at the little toki, curious about him. She'd seen him before, on the picnic, but she hadn't gotten much time to actually get to know him. Now they could, while the others did work!
---Cantbreakthis---
Everything was ultimately beneficial. Not that other prey wasn’t important as well – it almost certainly was – but it was almost certainly important to consider just how useful that the mountain goats were for right now. They’d have to slow up off them later on however… you certainly didn’t want to hunt the poor species into extinction and it wasn’t fair to everyone else who was out hunting too!
… not that Alaina was probably thinking too much on the last bit as she sent her tokotas out on hunt after hunt for them, but the woman was pretty darn pragmatic after all. Ultimately it was probably not a surprise.
As always the big friendly sphinx was oh so happy to be with Nux. They didn’t really get to see one another all that often anymore, not with Alaina having him out and doing things so much, so he was happy to lick and play with his friend while they had the chance. Of course it was likely bound to not last exceptionally long.
Echa moved forward a bit, carelessly sniffing towards the curly maned male when he ventured over towards her. Pickle, on the other hand, moved until he was able to tug on the other male’s tail while he wasn’t paying attention to him before springing playfully away to keep himself from being caught. Of course this placed him within range of Kali which demanded he go investigate her as well.
While everyone was meeting everyone or continuing forward with the hunt Steele ignored virtually everyone else. Nuka had already bounded ahead to catch up with Ripley when the roan female finally signaled that she’d caught the scent, glancing back towards Anik expectantly, but there was a longing within the albino female to go after them. To work, to actually make herself properly useful… but now wasn’t the time for that. Not yet.
---Mehen---
Restraint was important, especially in the beginning of the season. They weren't needing to make a huge dent so early after all, or it would take the prey off the table for the rest of the season! He didn't want that to happen, and so he was going to be showing some level of restraint, and also taking the tokotas to different hunting grounds for them too. That way, no real damage was done, and if it was it would be obvious before it got bad.
The tokotas would need breaks inbetween though, or else the poor hunters would end up worn down very quickly.
Vincent made a shocked sound, jumping as the little toki pulled his tail- but ultimately it was forgotten moments later. He was pretty sure the tiny thing was a puppy, and he knew not to be mean to puppies. They were not bright after all, and he had to be understanding of that. Probably.
Kali would move to lick the little toki, and Anik laughed. "Good to see you two getting along." Really it was good. When Steele looked at him he frowned. "Soon, girl, soon." He knew she wanted to hunt, he could practically feel the desire coming from her. There would come a time to unleash her on the hapless goat population. Now wasn't it. The merle sighed softly as he walked along, hearing Ripley's call and kind of wanting to hunt. Even if it would get his pretty fur dirty. It would make him feel like he was doing something, instead of just walking.
As Ripley sounded the signal, Vincent moved up to join Nux, Riggs and Nuka. "Get 'em guys!" Anik barked, signalling the hunt to officially start. He trusted Ripley to lead the charge, knowing she was an expert at this by now. She had this!
---Cantbreakthis---
Perhaps luckily enough for the most part aside from her core few Alaina did rotate out her hunters. Well, normally. Lately poor Royce and Absinthe had been having to do so much work in the long run but they were getting that break now. Riggs, Ripley, and Nuka were certainly used to being sent out hunting over and over and over again.
Nothing new there. At the very least the three knew how to work together exceptionally well and could work with most things that were thrown at them in the long run. Maybe they’d eventually get a break too but their handler’s beliefs wouldn’t necessarily make that easy at all.
The merle male’s sound brought Steele’s attention away from the hunt itself momentarily but that wasn’t anything important. She wanted to work, itched to be out there hunting too, but she heeded the handler’s orders and remained back with the others. Pickle and Echa, on the other hand, were both interested in sniffing Kali all over and befriending her.
Ripley was quick. She moved ahead of the males with her, swinging rapidly to the right. There was little to be concerned here – it had been a while since the last storm and the ground was firm beneath her paws. Nuka and Riggs both fanned out as well – the brown merle male keeping pace with the excited too easily although he couldn’t resist an eager nip in Vincent’s direction in simple play.
No time for that now. It took only moments for the herd to actually be in sight. Nuka put on a sudden surprising burst of speed and his teeth clipped down hard on a poor unsuspecting mountain goat’s tail, yanking it backwards where Riggs was able to swing sideways and get a swift kill. The roan female, on the other hand, was certainly by far more interested in swinging wide and gathering back the herd that threatened to flee the other hunters… catching and killing first one and then another who were simply too slow to escape her honed pathing.
---Mehen---
Anik settled that he would have to borrow the tokotas for something that didn't take much effort, fishing maybe. Ride them out, set the traps, and just relax on the shore. Let them swim if they wanted, catch fish if they wanted but just relax otherwise. They'd need a break, even the top hunters of the group.
Besides, it would give Nux and Riggs time to relax together too!
The merle licked his lips, snorting softly, and moving off to sniff out anything interesting in the area. When he found nothing, he simply flopped over, deciding he was just going to rest his feet until the hunters were done with their hunt.
Kali was more than delighted by the attention, the gentle female moving to lick Pickle's head, and then sniff at Echa curiously. These two were nice! The black pied decided she liked them, and her tail wagged happily. As she relaxed, Anik dismounted and moved to watch the hunters, ready to step in if anything went wrong.
The hunters moved, Nux readying himself to charge right down the middle of the goats, and Vincent veering off a bit near Nuka. He side-stepped a bit in surprise when Nuka nipped at him, but quickly aimed a playful nip back with a wuff. The minute the goats were coming though, Vincent jerked his head out to catch one by the leg as it shot past him and yank it off it's feet. He quickly crushed it's throat, and moved to immediately drag it back towards Anik.
Nux did as he had prepared for, barrelling down the center of the goats chased towards him, bowling two over and quickly finishing them off. He snapped eagerly towards another goat but missed, and he whined softly. "That's alright Nux!" Assurance called from Anik quickly.
"Alright guys, come on back. Bring everything over!" He wanted to get the goats packed up after all. Once he had done so- loading goats up across the backs of Steele, Echa and Pagan- he moved to rub Pickle behind the ears and then swing back up onto Kali.
"Let's head home everyone! Good job!" A successful hunt indeed. Now they just had to get back home, and rest for a bit while he prepped the goats. That would be easy enough though, he was getting to be quite the pro at it. After all, he had led so many goat hunts in the fall, he remembered the skills well. The tokotas, on the other hand, were going to get a nice meal and some quality relaxation. He was sure they’d like that.