famished [open]

[Deleted]

DYRJE don't get any big ideas

The morning sun filtered softly through the greenery, creating pale puddles of light that shifted lazily at Dyrje's paws. She looked up at the canopy. The gentle wind made the branches restless. So too was she restless. She had woken up and dozed off half a dozen times, but the inertia was coming to an end as her stomach chose to rudely announce its presence to anyone within earshot of her. Dyrje was embarrassed, but had to concede that it had a good point. She hadn't eaten well in quite a while. Since splitting off from her parents a month or so ago she had been living off rabbits, typically. Rabbits were quite lean and she also found chasing them was a lot of effort for very little payoff. Of course, there was virtually zero chance of having her skull caved in by an errant cervine hoof, so that was a plus.

Dyrje moved slowly, catlike, through the brush. For all her problems with eating rabbit, she knew that it was bound to be her next meal. Unless of course she was lucky enough to happen upon some discarded large game, provided it wasn't too rotten of course. Her parents, obstinately nomadic, warned her never to look down on carrion-eaters. This may have been because their best tactic for feeding their squalling children was stealing scraps from the kills of others. Dyrje couldn't count just how many times her parents nosed at her haunches and told her to run faster as they absconded from the scene of another cold-blooded meat robbery.

The female leapt onto the lowest branch of a tree, which was about two feet off the ground. She balanced upon it, and cast her gaze to the area around her, thinking maybe she could scout it for potential meals. But the concentration of trying to stay on the narrow branch and the resultant wobbling made it incredibly difficult to see any signs of movement. She jumped back off the branch, defeated. As she did, she saw a flash of brown-grey streak across the ground in front of her. Adrenaline pumping, she leapt towards it it just to see it disappear into a burrow at her feet. Not to be defeated, she dug determinedly at the hole. Maybe it was new, as it was not deep and the dirt was easily disturbed. Snarling, she snapped at a long little paw desperately trying to push its squirming owner deeper, and her jaws met their target. She pulled the flailing rabbit free, and not wanting to prolong its agony closed her jaws over its head and throat. It was over.

Food! Dyrje all too quickly began to strip the rabbit of its flesh. She was hungry. She was very hungry. Even with her disdain for the idea of eating rabbit again, she was hungry. It didn't take her long to reduce the rabbit to all the parts even she wouldn't eat. Feeling sheepish, she pushed the dismembered corpse back into the burrow it had been trying to dig itself into. Then she scooped some dirt over the top of it. Maybe she could come back to it next time she was starving and suck the marrow from its bones. 

[Ray]

DIONYSUS avonarte my heart is like a stallion, they love it more when it's broken Though Dionysus was quite happy at the moment to be and stay a loner, there was one problem with his current living situation that was becoming glaringly obvious - hunting solo was an experience that left something to be desired. Namely, a full stomach. It wasn't that the surroundings were sparse, oh no. The Shore Woods was lush in both vegetation and wildlife, much of the latter being quite agreeable to the unpicky palate of a wolf. Sadly, even being a large-ish wolf as he was, Dionysus wasn't exactly capable of catching more than rabbits and other similarly-sized meaty creatures since he was on his own. He would have tried for a young deer but the problem with those was that they tended to have old deer all around just waiting to stove his head in, and that wouldn't do to fill his stomach at all. The male wolf padded over the loamy earth absently, only occasionally pricking his ears in the direction of a particularly loud rustle or chirp. He was definitely hungry, but wasn't at his limits yet - could probably afford to be a little picky with today's meal, thought Dionysus with a slight crinkle of his pale green eyes. About to turn his head left with the general intent of breaching the tree line towards the shore, Dio suddenly noticed some movement quite a few yards away in the opposite direction. It looked like... another wolf? But its head bobbed much higher than the height of a normal wolf's for a few long moments, before dropping back down to the ground. Interest piqued, Dio pricked his ears that way and began to make his way leisurely toward the other wolf. The gentle scent that quickly greeted his nostrils informed him that it was a female wolf he was assaying, a deduction that would have been made sooner or later anyway as she was quite dainty in size and build. Probably younger than Dionysus's three years, as she did look like she could and would continue to grow. But, he mused, probably not as well as she could be growing up, if her diet was going the way his was. She looked hungry and the male could tell she was definitely on the hunt. As he neared the female he noticed her suddenly dart forward and begin pawing strongly at the ground. He smiled faintly, having started silently rooting for her sometime between figuring out her scent and seeing her make her move. She whipped her head into the air and with it came a rabbit! Dio's faint smile grew into his trademark one-sided grin as he came to a stop a respectable distance away from the young female. All too quickly she was done eating - the poor she wolf must have been famished. Dionysus allowed the female to bury the remains of her catch before offering his sincere congratulations. "Good job," he said from behind her, one of his ears twisted a little to the side at a rakish angle. "That was quite a sight to see." His eyes twinkled, it had really been quite the experience. He didn't mean to seem creepy or weird but it was always invigorating to see another wolf make a successful hunt.

[Deleted]

DYRJE don't get any big ideas

After mutilating the rabbit Dyrje was still hungry. Her stomach would take a while to catch up to the fact that it had been fed. In fact, she had devoured the small mammal so quick it was quite possible its flesh had not actually made it to her stomach yet. She licked her lips, tasting the blood splashed onto her muzzle, when a voice rang out and made her jump (admittedly not quite as high as she had to jump to get onto the low branch). Her immediate reaction was to tuck her tail between her legs in a display of submission. Dyrje had not been brutalised in her short life; the reaction was not the result of a traumatic childhood. Rather, it was something she was advised to do by her parents which eventually became second nature. Since her parents were so fond of filching from other packs, submissive behaviour was a good apologetic defense when they were caught. And they would often use Dyrje and her siblings to manipulate. Honestly, the more Dyrje would look back at her past, should she eventually discard her rose-coloured glasses, she would realise that though her parents seemed like good role models for all the values they instilled in her, they were at times quite self-serving and happy to endanger their children.

Dyrje's eyes fell on the male who had spoken to her finally. His tone had not been aggressive, nor was her pose. She remembered she wasn't actually trespassing on anyone's territory here either. Her tail worked its way back behind her, rather than under her, though her posture was still fairly cautious. As soon as that happened, she felt a burst of heat spread across her skin. She became all too aware that the dampness of her muzzle and the fact that licking her lips previously would not have removed the evidence of her savagery. It wasn't so much the savagery that was embarrassing either. It was the desperation with which she had captured the rabbit. She and the rabbit were both desperate to survive. Even if it was likely Dyrje would have eventually found another poor rabbit to destroy.

Her evaluation of the male left her feeling that he was not threatening. His words could have been rather sinister if said in a different tone. Of course Dyrje was a little naive and she would have probably stuck around even if he had been pacing around her growling. Okay, maybe that's a bit extreme. She smiled shyly at the male, still feeling sheepish about her display. His words left no need to wonder how much of her actions he had witnessed. "Thank you," she said. "Sorry I didn't save you any." It sort of sounded like a flirt, but it was a genuine thought. There was times that Dyrje's age and social awareness made it questionable whether she actually knew how to flirt. Regardless, she did indeed regret not saving any of the rabbit for the male. While he was not skin and bones, he did not seem particularly well fed.

[Ray]

DIONYSUS avonarte my heart is like a stallion, they love it more when it's broken The large male's grin remained wide and amused as the female sprang into the air, landing with her tail curled underneath her belly. Of course, she had thought she was alone, and had been completely absorbed in both hunting for the rabbit and then dismembering it to get it into her belly as quickly as she could. He felt faintly sorry for startling her, but got over it quickly - Dionysus did have a conscience but it tended to be more of a helpful suggestion at most times than an actual deterrence from doing ridiculous things repeatedly. And anyway, no point dwelling on bad feelings when you could make them better by moving forward the right way, right? Finally she looked at him. Dionysus noted with interest that her eyes were a similar colour to his own - pale green, lighter than leaves, like the sea on a bright but turbulent day. He watched as the fur on her neck and shoulders settled and her tail returned to a more comfortable, less stressed-out position. That was good! He was always happier to meet wolves that didn't shy away instantly and bolt within seconds of looking at him. The male wolf was biggish but not horribly intimidatingly so, and he did so like interacting with others. That was the other downside of being a loner, he guessed. Though he was happy to wander about, he did miss the intellectually stimulating companionship of another of his own kind. As she opened her mouth and spoke, Dio lowered his rump to the ground and sat down quite placidly to further demonstrate his lack of intent to perform anything malicious. Maybe one would venture to say the male hadn't a bad bone in his body - he could and would attack and defend given the opportunity, but there definitely was no evil in this wolf. "It's alright, didn't look like there was much to save. And you're pretty hungry." Of course he didn't mean to belittle the female's catch. Rabbits themselves were a few scant mouthfuls after their innards, pelt and bones were discounted, leaving very little to fill the stomach of a growing wolf. It was a shame, really. "I'm Dionysus," he offered abruptly but pleasantly, because exchanging names was always a good thing. Also so Dio could place a name to the wolf he was currently looking at, and referring to unceremoniously as "female" unconsciously in his head. "It's kinda poncy, but what can I do about that now." He shrugged nonchalantly and the easy grin returned to his lips, a tilt of his head conveying interest to continue whatever conversation they were having.

[Deleted]

DYRJEdon't get any big ideas

Dyrje chose to mirror the male as he sat, resting her hindquarters on the ground and curling her tail around her legs. She felt somewhat comfortable in the male's presence. He seemed gentle and amiable enough so far, though it was pretty early in their conversation. She smiled reservedly as he spoke again, and her tail beat softly against the ground in thought. As he spoke of her kill she cast her mind back to the rabbit. He was right, it wasn't really much of a meal at all. It wasn't even that fat. Dyrje needed a pack. Separated from her parents she didn't have the gall to pull flesh off the kills of others. She felt too guilty. She had come across carrion, but often she would assume someone was coming back for it until finally it had turned and she didn't feel like sabotaging her well-being by eating it.

The male went on to introduce himself. Dionysus. It was a nice name, she thought. Apparently he found it to be 'poncy'. She laughed in that sort of nervous filler way she had perfected in her life time. "It's a lovely name," she assured him. "But if you prefer I can call you by a nickname." Dyrje had never really had a nickname. Her name was already too short and easy to say. Which led her to remember the best thing to do when someone told you their name: provide your own. She realised with a start and smiled sheepishly at the male. "I'm Dyrje." She found that she didn't have anything in particular to remark about her name. It was just what she was called.

Dyrje surprised herself by blurting out something suddenly. "Are you a pack wolf?" She normally put more thought into what she was going to say. It was a stupid question. He didn't look like a pack wolf. Unless his pack was going through hard times, or he was at the bottom of the ranks and got the last pickings of their meals. Somehow she doubted that. Though he wasn't overwhelmingly large, he was a decent size and she could hardly imagine him skulking around showing his belly to everyone.

[Ray]

DIONYSUS avonarte my heart is like a stallion, they love it more when it's broken The female too sat down and Dionysus was pleased. After such a long time of wandering alone (well, it had only been several months, he had remained with a small group of wolves for a while before deciding to move on) the male was definitely appreciating some pleasant company. Maybe she would stick around a little while, too. He'd forgotten just how nice it was to actually have someone to look at, let alone talk to. She complimented his name with a laugh and Dio inclined his head just a little, an air of pride about his movement as the side of his mouth twitched in a faint smirk. "Thanks," he replied simply, though his eyes were lit up with mischief. What kind of mischief though, Dionysus really didn't know himself. It was just a sort of (slightly annoying) personality trait with him. "If you can think of a good one you're free to use it." The petite female then offered her own name, Dyrje. It was unique and somehow equal parts pretty and haunting. "I like yours. It won't be easy to forget." His lips spread in a welcoming laugh before returning to a pleasant expression of contentment. Dyrje had then asked if he belonged to a pack, to which Dionysus responded with a cheery grin and a verbal reply to suggest the complete opposite of cheeriness: "No, to my greatest chagrin." Though it was starting to become truth; he really was getting rather tired of living from scrap to scrap, feeding himself with morsels of meat instead of gorging like pack wolves could at each and every successful hunt. He had started noticing his subcutaneous fat melting off too, slowly like ice at the end of winter, but Dionysus was definitely growing a little slimmer. Just at that moment, his stomach growled as if to second Dio's statement. "Or well, the chagrin of my stomach," he clarified, looking down almost sorrowfully at his traitorous torso and waving his thick tail back and forth once or twice. "You still hungry, maybe? We could y'know, combine forces, try and pick off some poor sickly fawn." It was worth a shot, after all. Having two wolves about did up the chances of catching larger prey by quite a respectable amount. And he was feeling this slowly-growing urge to want to feed this young wolf.

[Deleted]

DYRJEdon't get any big ideas

Dionysus thanked her for complimenting his name, and suggested she could come up with a nickname. She smiled faintly. Dion or Dio came to mind quickly, but she would probably have to know him a little better before she decided which one suited him better. He went on to compliment her name as she had done for him. Not easy to forget? Well, her parents occasionally called her by her sister's name, but she supposed that didn't count. Her tail beat gently against the ground. "Thank you," she murmured warmly.

Dyrje's ears perked up as he answered her question about the pack. It seemed that like her, he was packless. She wondered idly about his past. Had he been born into a pack but left it as he came of age? Or was he like her, born to a nomadic family group? Maybe he had been chased out of a pack. But considering his temperament, it was very unlikely. She did wonder about his history, but they barely knew each other. It would be rather too forward to ask him such probing questions about his past, especially as they weren't particularly relevant. She had just got caught up in a daydream, like usual. She came back down to earth with a start at his stomach grumbled. Once again the guilt resurfaced regarding the minuscule rabbit she had recently polished off. Though she was still hungry and would gladly eat again, her own stomach was no longer grumbling. Thankfully.

Dionysus spoke again, once of his stomach (to which she responded with a cheeky smile), and then of the possibility of more food! The thought of eating a deer, even a thin little fawn, practically had her salivating. And the idea of the sickly fawn they were just putting out of its misery assuaged the guilt she would have felt for killing a fawn. Even if it was just a concept and it was likely they would end up murdering a healthy fawn and causing its mother a great deal of pain and grief. However, that all became immaterial as soon as Dyrje remembered that she had never actually hunted anything like a deer. She had hunted rabbits, which tested her reflexes something fierce. But the stakes were lower with rabbits. One wrong step, and you lose the rabbit. One wrong step with a deer and you end up impaled on the tines of an irate stag. 

Regardless of all her insecurities, she smiled at the male. "I'd love to," she responded. "But I've never hunted a deer before. I don't know how useful I'll be." Having clarified that, she felt a little more comfortable. She didn't feel that her fear of being gored or trampled were worth bringing up. They were just a risk she had to take. They both had to take. And it would all be worth it after they had gorged themselves on the flesh of a fat little fawn (the sickly little fawn of her imagination had apparently gained a few pounds as her appetite overwhelmed her). The thought of actually having a full belly filled her with a new energy, and she suddenly sprang to her feet. "Do you know a good place?"

[Ray]

DIONYSUS avonarte my heart is like a stallion, they love it more when it's broken The large male's ears pricked up as Dyrje replied in favour of Dio's suggestion. She mentioned never having hunted a deer before which Dionysus should really have thought of earlier, having been aware that she was quite a bit younger than him. It was no matter though, she seemed agile and quick enough to be part of a hunting group, and Dionysus himself was large enough to take a fawn or yearling deer down with enough force. With Dyrje around and luck on their side, surely a simple sneak attack couldn't fail, right? "You'll be fine, Dyrje," he replied confidently, tongue lolling out in a rakish smile. "It'll be a breeze." Of course, maybe he was being over-confident, but being too nervous never helped anybody, right? Getting to his feet, Dionysus arched his back in a nearly feline curve, stretching out his shoulders and haunches and shaking out the thick ruff of fur about his neck in anticipation for the hunt. (And food.) "I think there should be a mid-sized herd in a clearing a while away from where we are right now, in that direction." The male gestured with his muzzle towards the way that he had come from, flicking his ear dismissively. "Saw them on my way through this forest but didn't really pay them much attention, since I was on my own." He was excited at the prospect of a stomach full of meat, and fresh tender young deer meat at that. They were two young starving wolves planning a hunt as big as they could manage - surely youth and hunger would be on their side. "Come on, it'll be great." He set a quick pace through the forest, though not so fast that the younger female might find it too winding. Dio's legs themselves weren't the longest by far but they were sturdy and trotted along steadily, tail waving as they neared the area where Dionysus remembered having seen the herd of deer. A short distance away and downwind so as not to alert the deer with sound or scent, Dionysus slowed to a halt, panting lightly, and crouched lower in the surrounding foliage with ears pricked forward. The male took a cursory glance at the herd ahead before looking back to see if Dyrje was doing alright. It wasn't that he thought she was weak or anything, but then again she was considerably younger than him and both of them were rather underfed at this point. "So you see up ahead and to the right of us, there's a fawn with its mother at the edge of the group? That one would be our best bet, but we have to be careful because a little further on is where the stag is and we definitely don't want to mess with him." As Dionysus spoke, a great stag some distance away raised his majestic head up from the ground and took a long, leisurely look around before lowering his heavy antlers back down to continue grazing. The fawn lay at rest in the shadow of her mother who was also feeding, both of them at the nearer edge of the herd, presumably to prevent the little young one from being trampled. "How fast do you think you can go? Think you can draw the herd away if they see us?" His voice was warm and open, just so Dyrje knew the plan was going to be crafted by both of them and not just him. Of couse, Dio didn't want to push the young female into anything dangerous that she wasn't comfortable with, but it remained that Dio wasn't too nimble on his large paws and would probably get kicked in the head if unlucky. Still, he was sure they could think of another variation to his plan, if the slighter female wasn't too keen.

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DYRJEdon't get any big ideas

Dyrje was virtually vibrating with a new-found sense of energy as she waited for the male's response. She was getting ahead of herself, but the thought of taking down a deer - something bigger than what she could eat in one sitting - was tantalising. She was practically drooling. She let her eyes rake the surrounding area as if she might just see a previously overlooked herd of deer, just waiting for their attack.

Her head snapped as his voice echoed out between them. He reassured her that she would do fine, that they would both do fine. She bowed her head in acknowledgement and skittered around in excitement as he got to his feet, somewhat like a child when their parent finally cracks and takes them to the park after a long day inside. Her attention was drawn back to him when, thankfully, he seemed to express vastly superior knowledge about the location of herds in the area. She had seen some, naturally, in her time here. She never bothered to track them as she knew as a single yearling she wouldn't be able to take down anything by herself. It seemed that Dionysus had experienced the same thoughts, but he had the sense to at least remember where the herd was. She smiled apprehensively as he said it would be great. "I hope so.."

As Dionysus began to make his way to the aforementioned clearing, she followed him, restraining herself to keeping a few paces behind him. Dyrje, as previously mentioned, had no hunting experience and she felt as if she ran ahead of him she might somehow spook the deer. Surely he knew the proper pace and he knew at which distance they should stop from their pray. Just a little bit impatiently, she weaved from side to side, burning off a little nervous energy. Dio's pace was fine, she was just excited. As he drew to a stop, so did she. Looking for him to guidance, she also lowered herself down and stared hungrily at the herd that lay ahead of them.

His words washed over and she was thankful at least that he knew what he was doing. She had looked at the animals and seen an all you can eat buffet. Apart from avoiding the stag, she wouldn't have known which animal to go for. Her eyes locked onto the fawn and mother pair he had mentioned and felt a pang of sympathy (it was only a child!) which she quickly quashed. It was the harsh fact of life that deer were made to be eaten by wolves. Dyrje jittered a little as Dio mentioned the stag. As he lifted his head up she imagined the great tined appendage snapping around and staring directly into her soul. Her fears proved unfounded as he simply lowered his head and continued grazing. Her heartbeat slowed a bit.

"I think I can go.. fairly fast. I was the fastest of my siblings.. most of the time." She smiled sheepishly. "I think I can do that." Really, she was wracked with nervousness that she would screw the whole thing up. Hopefully the worst that would happen was that they would flee. Horrible scenarios that resulted in Dion being crushed beneath the hooves of the irate stag played out in her head. She couldn't talk herself out of this just because something might go wrong.

With that she began creeping through the grass towards the herd. She may not have known a lot about hunting but she knew that stealth was a good option. Right up until the herd saw the pair of starving wolves dragging themselves through the grass, which surely wasn't far away. But those extra couple of feet could mean the difference between gorging themselves or slinking home hungry and exhausted.