Big, Hairy, and not exactly friendly (Open)

[Jorn]

Jorn was one of the jamouran still in the Spires, and still under the effect of the fog. Being approximately 21 human years old, his beastial instincts were strong. He wanted land, territory, and it was to be all his. Currently he was prowling an area around a cave that he had recently visited. The visit consisted of scaring out some bats and clearing out all the previous occupants, before exiting out again. He was king of his land, and his land was his. Above the cave was a small out cropping of rock, where he stood upon. He gave an ear bellowing screech across the land, his land.

[Jorn]

Oops. The big man was coming. Not physically bigger of course, but the big man was the alpha. Older, but smaller then him. He, Jorn, was the biggest, the strongest, the best. And yet, everyone let that old snob be the alpha. Marn. Jorn growled in his mind, angry at not being the alpha. But that was the way of things. He was still second to Marn at least. Everyone knew Jorn got what he wanted, unless Marn wanted it first. But less then that, Jorn was king. Everything should be his, all his. All it would take is for that blubbering fool to fall and not be found. Marn approached remotely and grunted stiffly at Jorn. Jorn screeched back, and Marn left. Marn was watching him, and made sure he was doing what Marn wanted. Of course he was, but only for now. Jorn would listen to Marn, but only for so long. For now, he was to watch the territory.

[Massacre]

It felt great to be hunting again, Massacre thought to himself as he flew through the air weaving between the massive trees that made up the forest surrounding the city of the Spires. And he was with one of his own kind, though Shadowfang was surely more of a city Zith than Massacre would ever be. Massacre knew little about the intelligent Zith, having spoken to him very little, and was curious to see how he would do on the hunt. Shadowfang hadn't turned him down when Massacre had asked him to fly out with him, so that was a good sign, but still Massacre wondered. The fog was a problem, it made navigation difficult, but the trees themselves were not difficult to avoid. Massacre may have been getting on in his years, but he was still large enough to dodge the massive plants easily and not crash to the ground. It was finding prey that was difficult. His night vision allowed him to hunt at night when other's could not, but in the dense fog it didn't matter what time of day it was, they were all on even ground. Sight wasn't all that mattered, however, and Massacre wasn't entirely helpless. As a race the Zith had excellent hearing, but anyone could have picked up the bellowing screech that penetrated the fog not far away. Massacre signaled to his kin and altered his flight, heading in the direction of the screech. Hopefully whatever had called out would do so again, allowing the pair of Zith to find it easier. When they did Massacre would be ready. In his hand he had his bow, one of his custom stinger arrows already nocked and ready to fire. Crammed into his pack was the rest of his gear, all the stuff that came included in the capture pack sold by the strange human merchant. Massacre was ready to catch himself a jamoura, or some sort of creature anyway, and was more than a little excited to try out his new toys.

[Shadowfang]

At Massacre's signal, Shadowfang altered his flight to follow the older Zith. He knew only as much about Massacre as Massacre knew about him. It had been so long since he had been on a real, cooperative hunt and he had jumped at the chance when the adult had asked him to come with. Along with the bandages that were forever wrapped around his arm, he also wore extra bandages around his nose and mouth. It did not offer any physical protection from the effects of the fog, but it did work as an effective mental placebo. His own capture pack was hanging from his chest and he held a stinger spear in one hand and was clutching a bundled-up net in his other arm, ready to spread and drop it when they had found their prey. 

He dove a few feet in order to dodge a thick branch that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Trees loomed ahead, shrouded by the dark mist. The dense fog was masking the sight and smell of whatever had let out that roar, but they would be able to find it soon.  They were predators after all.

Even if the animal did not roar again, they had a decent idea of where it had come from. Even then, the jungle seemed to have its own echo. Not like the echo of an empty cave, no, it was something that seemed more filled and weighty to him. They would not need to guess, however, as another loud shriek tore through the silence of the fog, allowing the two Zith to pinpoint where the beast was. Shadowfang slid his spear in between his body and the strap of his capture pack, an awkward task to perform while flying, but it worked. With the spear loosely strapped to him he unwound the heavy net and held it in both hands. The plan was simple; drop the net on whatever beast they were tracking and let Massacre shoot it with arrows. If he needed some help then Shadowfang would simply throw a sleep egg or two and stab at it with his spear. This hunt should go off with out a hitch.

Should.

[Jorn]

Grunt. Growl. Grunt again. Jorn was still angry. Then again, he is pretty much always angry. Being angry is good. Being angry means I'm being normal. But now he was getting agitated, wanting to move. He felt the blood rush to his thick strong limbs, the adrenaline rush to his mind, and his view turned into tunnel vision, while his ears and nose opened up to the things around him. Listening, ever listening. A scratch, a scraping sound, caused by some claws sharpening against a tree. The smell followed down wind to him, and he had it fill his nostrils. Prey. Food. Intruder. Mine. Jorn let out a fierce roar and barreled upwind towards the animal. His prey, a large bear, felt the huge vibrations in the ground as Jorn closed in on it. The bear, also being feral and territorial, held it's ground, letting out it's own loud roar before Jorn crashed into it, the two of them rolling in a large cloud of fur, teeth, and claws. Jorn was bigger, stronger, but the bear was still just as violent. They both flew apart from each other, scrabbing on the ground for purchase. Finding it, they both stood, each slightly bloodied and ruffled. Beginning to circle each other slowly, they waited for the first move. Jorn attacked first, the bear not far behind. Their crashing bodies echoed through the trees, followed by their ferocious growls and shouts.

[Massacre]

After the second roar the pair of Zith knew right where to go. Massacre still couldn't see his prey, but he knew it was close. The Jamoura were formidable creatures due to their size and intellect, but Massacre had hunted formidable creatures before. The scars on his chest were evidence of the bear he killed in his youth, and the massive olidosapux were as big as the Jamoura, more so. Supposedly the fog made you go feral if too much time was spent within it. That meant that whatever they were hunting, it would not be thinking like a rational being. If it was a Jamoura, it was little more than an animal in the fog, and animals were much easier to hunt than rational beings. As Massacre and his hunting partner closed in on their prey they could hear the sounds of a fight, grunts and growls and crashing sounds filling the air. The closer he got the more he could make out what was happening, and when he flew by he saw one of the massive apes facing off against a large bear. The sight was both a good and a bad thing. On the one hand it meant that both of them were distracted, but on the other hand it meant they might hurt each other and suffer serious injury, possibly even kill each other. Normally Massacre wouldn't have cared, it would mean he'd only have one prey to worry about, but in this case he was supposed to bring them back alive. Massacre circled overhead once, high enough that hopefully neither of them would notice, and watched as bear and Jamoura circled each other. He flew to one of the massive branches of a nearby tree and landed easily, the claws on his feet digging into the wood to keep him securely in place. Massacre held his bow in a relaxed position, waiting to fire until Shadowfang joined him and they could work out some sort of a plan, assuming he did join him on the branch. "What do you think we should do? Let them fight it out, or try to capture them both?"

[Shadowfang]

What met Shadowfang's eyes as they arrived at the source of the noise almost made him growl with displeasure. There was a Jamouran, yes, but it was in a pitched battle with a bear that they would have to assume was a Kelvic. He quickly came to the same conclusion that Massacre had. Their prey was distracted but if they kept fighting then one of them could die, and dead prey was of no use on this hunt. He circled the area with Massacre while they examined the situation, then landed next to him on the same branch.

He crouched on the thick wooden branch and wrapped his arms around his body to keep the spear from slipping away from him while keeping the net in his hands. He threw a sideways glance at Massacre when the older Zith asked his question then returned to watching the scuffle below. For a brief moment, he was filled with the same feeling of apprehension he would get when Musca asked him similar questions. She was always testing him, expecting him to give a perfect answer every time. Was Massacre testing him as well? Or was he genuinely interested in what Shadowfang had to say? Either way, Shadowfang would have to answer him. He sat there for a moment, mulling over the options and outcomes to both situations. He finally decided on a tactic, one that he decided was the best option. They would walk the middle ground.

"Wait" he said. "but only for a little bit. Let them fight briefly and, the instant one of them falters, you will take the Jamouran and I will take the Kelvic." They were stretched thin, only one hunter for each target, but Shadow fang thought that this method might keep the animals distracted for a while and tire them both out without letting them wound each other too seriously. He decided to leave how to go after the Jamoura up to Massacre and began thinking of his own strategy to capture the bear. When one of them finally did falter, he would fly to the side and flank the bear - giving Massacre a wide berth in case the Zith wanted to shoot some arrows - and drop the net on the bear to get it tangled and immobilize it. But for now they need only wait.

[Jorn]

Jorn was screeching and growling and grunting and making all sorts of typical feral animal noises, locked in combat with the intruder. His claws laced out over the bear, trying to scratch through that rough fur and hide. Having at one point gotten close enough, he bit right into the bears shoulder, at which the bear promptly bit him back in his own shoulder. Letting go with a roar of animal rage, Jorn wrapped his arms around the middle of the bear and threw it up and over his shoulder, with the bears teeth still latched into his shoulder. Then both fell over on their backs, which stunned the bear enough that it let go of his shoulder, which was bloodied and feeling intense pain. Jorn leapt up to his feet and moved a ways away from the bear, trying to work his shoulder out a little before attacking again. Then he caught the whiff of more creatures, and then saw them. Large winged things flying over him, suddenly coming closer. He bellowed and roared at them for good measure, before beginning to scrabble up a tree to deal with this new threat.

[Massacre]

Massacre nodded in agreement with Shadowfang. It was the same plan he had come up with. He would have preferred to deal with only one of them, it would have been much easier, but they couldn't let the other die if there was any way to prevent it. If the bear was one of the kelvics, then the Jamoura would not be happy with them. Massacre had already been punished by them once for something as minor as shooting a tree, he didn't want to see what they would come up with if he let one of their people die. The Zith didn't have much time to think about things. When he glanced down at the ground he saw the stunned, but still alive, bear lying there by itself. The zith's eyes widened for a moment, and then even more so when he spotted the jamoura climbing up the tree after them. "Time to move," the older Zith said as he spread his wings and hopped off the branch, making sure to stay well away from the massive creature. He hoped it wasn't so crazed that it would try to leap out and attack him, that would be disastrous. Massacre quickly guaged the distance between the jamoura and the ground, trying to decide if it was high enough to kill it. If it was, he would have to lure the creature down to a safer level.. but really, Massacre had no idea. He didn't know how much punishment the large apes could take. Deciding it would be better to take it down right away rather than wait until the jamoura got higher up, Massacre pulled an arrow from his quiver and knocked it, swooping back around until he was heading directly for the creature. He wasn't so good with the bow that he was going to try to take a sideways shot, straight on guaranteed the most accuracy. In an ideal situation he would have preferred to be on solid ground when he shot at the beast, but since it was climbing a tree, an aerial shot would have to do. Massacre drew back the string of his bow, sighting down the end of the arrow. Massacre let loose the arrow, which darted out in front of him toward Jorn. The Zith flared his wings, halting his forward momentum, and pushed himself backward away from the jamoura. He waited until the arrow struck home, catching Jorn in the back of his thigh, before he spun and flew away. Wasting no time, he withdrew another arrow and began to circle back around. Massacre knew that one shot wouldn't be enough to put the creature down. He was told it took four of the stingers to knock out a full grown Jamoura, but the single arrow would at least slow it down. Not only was his leg now injured, but he would begin to feel a bit tired as well.

[Shadowfang]

At Massacre's order, Shadowfang was in the air without question. Not that he was willing to argue, especially with the Jamoura chasing them up the tree. Well the Jamouran was Massacre's problem. Shadowfang had a bear to focus on. The beast in question was already getting back to its feet, having quickly recovered from its stunned state. He flew lower, gaining speed toward the bear and dropping his net as he passed over it. The heavy snare fell on the bear's head, catching its left front leg in it as well. The bear roared and thrashed, trying to untangle itself from the net. It would easily be able to get free soon, but maybe it would be distracted for just long enough so that Shadowfang could get a hit in. 

Spear in hand, he descended and landed on the ground near the bear. He was not. Nearly good enough with a spear to try and strike from the air, so he found some stable footing on the ground before pointing the spear at the struggling beast and taking a ready stance. He took two skipping steps forward and thrust, pushing the spear toward the bear's torso. The tip of the spear wobbled and shook, moving around, not keeping a straight path, and glanced off the bear's back. The Stinger missed almost completely, not even slicing his prey a little bit. Shadowfang jumped backwards and reset his stance. He figured he only had one more free shot a the bear before it untangled itself from it's snare.

He gripped the spear closer to the tip so it would not wobble as much, even though this meant he would have to get closer to the angry, thrashing beast. He took another few skips forward and thrust again. Success! The spearhead stuck into the bear's thick, furry hide. Shadowfang jumped backward, breaking the tip of the spear off inside the creature, and took to the air to flee as the now wounded bear wiggled out of his net. He hovered out of the thing's reach and grabbed another Stinger head to put on his spear. If it took four to put a Jamouran to sleep, how many would it take to put a bear to sleep? It was a little smaller than the Jorn, but it was still bigger than most animals. 

Two. Shadowfang decided to try for two hits total. He had already hit it once, hopefully he would only have to hit it once more. He affixed the spearhead to the spear and pointed it down at the animal, already planning his next method of attack.