Hunting (Lyam)

[Sylkra]

Spring 32

Sylkra stopped, and opened her mouth to sniff the air. It was a quiet night, perfect for getting a good meal. She blended in perfectly with the thick undergrowth. Her eyes flashed as se picked up the scent of a deer, not too far away. She took off her skins and put them in her sack, then put the sack in the hollowed out tree next to her. Then, she shapeshifted into a tan-furred beast. She was now her true form, a wolf.

Stepping out into the open, she ran in the direction she smelled the deer. Luckily it was only one, not a whole herd. She then saw it in a huge clearing, eating peacefully in the grass. Not for long though. She took behind a tree, and then sprung, going for it's throat.

[Lyam]

Lyam had slept the whole afternoon to be ready to hunt in the moonlight. It had been so long since he had not hunted! But well, since he enrolled in the university, he had got three daily good meals; no more needs to go and hunt. But he really missed the sensations he had when hunting so he had decided to go out at night and track the game. Silently, he went out of his shared room and shifted in the corridor: no doubt that a black wolf would be far less remarkable in the night than a pale human. He went in the forest where he knew little and big games would be. Soon, he smelt lots of little rabbits, ferrets, even sleeping squirrels high on the trees. Lyam hesitated; he was not there to eat, not really. So he could try to catch a bigger game, for once. He smelt the air again, looking for some deer or so. He knew that a lonely wolf could hardly catch such a beast alone, but well, it was a challenge he was ready to face. He walked stealthily until he finally found what he was looking for. Filling his lungs with the air of the forest, Lyam noticed the deer was all alone and not very smart, as another wolf was still near him. He wondered a second: real wolf or Kelvic? Smelling again, he caught all the human flavours of the stranger. Kelvic. Lyam made a big circle for the two others not smelling him and finally arrived on a little clearing. The deer was there, completely unaware of the danger. The other wolf was in position too, ready to jump. Lyam smiled with his wolf’s face. It could not be so easy. When he saw the other wolf springing, he barked and ran towards the prey too, but without any discretion: he wanted to be seen and heard. The timing was perfect: the distance between the stranger wolf and the deer had been long enough for the deer to react, step forward and avoid the mortal fangs. Seeing Lyam behind him, the deer became completely fool and scared and ran away deep in the forest. If he had been in his human form, Lyam would have burst out laughing seeing the stomached face of the other wolf.

[Sylkra]

Sylkra lept, but was stopped by a black figure across from her. She fell in midair, and then stumbled onto the ground. Who was this intruder? She was about to lower her ears to show she was no threat, but stopped when she picked up the scent up a wolf and human. This man was Kelvic.

"What do you think you're doing?" she barked, happy to find someone away from the city, but mostly annoyed he stole her deer.

Under the moonlight, this Kelvic was male obviously. He had a muscular build, and was larger than Sylkra. His pelt shined under the moon, looking white, but was actually black with a white underbelly.

[Lyam]

Hearing the tone of the other wolf’s barking, Lyam understood he was before a Kelvic female. But if what she said was obvious, what she meant was far less: both happiness and angriness in the same barking was quite… strange. Lyam’s tail wagged faster in an opened message: calm down, let’s just play! But seeing the gaze of the other wolf, he understood that she was not hunting for pleasure: she was really hungry. So he went toward her with his ears straight on his head and gazed at her straight in the eyes. ‘Ok, I’ll help you’ his eyes said for him. Then he turned on his heel and rushed between the trees, his nose smelling the air. If they ran fast enough, they could catch the deer again.

[Sylkra]

Sylkra was mad, but softened up a bit when he wanted to help her. All she needed was food, se hadn't eaten in a week. As he bounded away, Sylkra noticed he was being nice to her. How thoughtful!

She raced through the forest, easily catching up with him. Soon they found the deer and Sylkra hid behind a tree. She flashed the tip of her tail telling him he needed to go around to the other side. She then leaped, not touching the deer, but instead startling it toward Lyam. She hoped he would be able to get it. She chased after it too, just in case.

[Lyam]

The deer was not so far and soon they could see it again. While the other wolf staid behind, Lyam made a big circle to go and face the deer. The game was simple: she would just have to lead the deer to Lyam’s jaws. It was in fact the perfect tactic for two young wolves who had decided to hunt together. When she decided to leap, the deer jumped with fear and went directly toward Lyam who was perfectly hidden in the dark forest by his black fur. The young wolf waited until the very moment and jumped as fast as he could. He grabbed the deer throat with ease but the force of the impact made them both fall and Lyam found himself half trapped under the big mass of the game. He growled with angriness seeing his body under the deer from his tail to his waist. He tried to slip out but the deer was far too loud for him. Moreover, the bloody wound on the game’s throat was bleeding to death, emptying the purple sticky liquid over Lyam. He gazed at the other Kelvic who seemed very amused. “Please, help instead of laughing…”

[Sylkra]

Sylkra was on the dirt, seemingly about to laugh her head off. She smiled when he asked for help, and went to wok. She took the deer by its leg in her mouth and tugged on it for a while, and not being that strong it took a long half hour just to get it off Lyam.

When he was free, she shook herself, sending powdery dirt flying everywhere. When she saw Lyam covered in the stuff, she blushed and brushed him off with her tail. Then she layed down and beckoned him to have the first bite. He deserved it.

She felt a lot embarrased for her lack of strength, which should show in most wolves. Then she was sorry for her lack of respect when she mindlessly shook the dirt off and onto him. She shifted, and went to go retrieve her pack.

When she came back, she set it down and fished around in it for her skins. One they were on her, she set down, arms around her legs, and waited for Lyam to take the first bite.

[Lyam]

It took her half an hour to free Lyam from under the beast. When finally even the tip of his tail could move freely, Lyam stood up and gazed at the other Kelvic that was shaking her entire body, blowing dirt everywhere. With his body already covered with fresh blood, Lyam felt all the dirt gluing on his fur. He would really need a big bath. Seeing what had just happened, the other wolf came to brush him with her tail, but Lyam just stepped back before she could. It was nice but terribly embarrassing. As she shifted and went away, Lyam lowered his head to not be rude looking at her naked but wondered where she was going. Had she get upset he had refused her help for the dirt? Obviously not, because she came back few seconds later, covered with some skins clothes and sat in the dirt, waiting. Waiting for what? Lyam bent his head with curiosity, before understanding the whole thing: together, they were a pack and he was the male. He was the dominant, by default indeed, but still the alpha. He had to eat first, this was the rule. He bent over the deer and took the first bite. Then he raised his head and invited the young woman to eat. He stepped back, not hungry at all, and let the girl take whatever she wanted. It was quite rude not to shift, however Lyam really did not want to become a covered with blood and naked human before the girl. He would rather clean himself before, and if possible find something to cover his body. He would have not been embarrassed, but he was not sure about the girl’s reaction seeing a naked man. So he waited until she was not longer starving, impatient to go and find a river to wash this blood.

[Sylkra]

It was very nice for Lyam to lower his head, but she didn't mind him looking at her naked body. It was natural for a Kelvic to be naked.

Seeing Lyam was done, not taking that much, she went over to the deer to take a bite. She tried doing it very girly and polite, and succeeded, taking little chunks and stuffing them in her mouth. Once she ate her fill, she stepped back, and sat down next to Lyam, searching in her pack for her brush. She took it out and brushed her hair, which was covered in dirt.

She then put her brush back in her pack and asked, "You haven't told me your name yet, but I'm Sylkra." She lowered her head in respect towards Lyam.

[Lyam]

Lyam became really impatient when he saw the girl brushing her hairs. Was it really the moment when he was covered of blood and dirt, waiting for her to be ready to go? He should have go away before. When she finally put her brush back in her bag, she introduced herself while showing respect toward Lyam. But the young Kelvic did not really care actually. He heard her name and tried to memorize it, but ignored the sign of respect and stood up. His ears turned in all directions, looking for some water noise. When he finally heard something, he gazed at Sylkra, wondering if she would follow, and began to trot between the trees, not to fast for her to be able to follow in her human form. When Lyam reached the river, he did not wait and jumped on it, feeling immediately better. Around him, the clear and cool water turned dark red but he didn’t mind as his black fur became black again. He swam a bit to reach a place where they were more water and shifted. As a human, the water arrived on his waist and he began to rub his body to clear the rest of the dirt and blood. He finally immersed completely on the water to clean his face and hair, without looking what Sylkra was doing. If she would like to come, she could, she was free. If not… well she would just miss something!