EVERYTHING TO PROVE ☆ hunting...?

[dallas.]

Hunting back in the city had been so simple. Well, not necessarily simple, but it was certainly easier, mainly due to the fact that all of the prey in the city seemed to be as dumb as someone with a major head wound. Aside from that, hunting in the city hadn't been an occurence that Dallas had to participate in very often. Usually, even if the prey was stupid, it was also scarce, and if he managed to get any scraps of something actually caught, it was usually just something he had managed to snatch from his father before he darted away to the sound of his old man's growling. Because of this, Dal had spent the majority of his puphood and the lot of time afterwards – up until he was shipped off to the island, really – just scrounging for food, rather than hunting. He had searched through dumpsters, begged from humans, and even stolen from others before he ever really attempted hunting. This also happened to be one of the reasons why Dal had been so damn malnourished when he had been sent to the island. Not doing any of your hunting yourself made it so that you could only really rely on luck, and the universe absolutely fucking hated granting Dallaslights any sort of luck. Unless it was bad luck. The universe liked to throw that around like candy when it came to him.

When Dal had eventually been shipped off to the island after the event, he had been in a strange and hostile new environment, without really a single idea of how to hunt for himself. After all, it was never like his old man had bothered with teaching him, and nobody in this new place seemed to be particularly enthused at the prospect of taking in a useless canine they would have to teach, so he was pretty much screwed. For a while he thought he was finally just going to die, wandering around the island from group to group, picking fights and scrounging whatever little he could before he was berated or beaten for it. It wasn't as if he didn't have any fighting skills, but when you were scrawny and all your muscle was just from constantly walking around, it didn't make for a very good fighter. So, when he had finally met The Gang? It had been like destiny had united them together. Sure, things weren't perfect then, as demonstrated by the fact he had arrived to Tanglewood still malnourished, but that was mainly by choice. After all, he couldn't be taking food away from the rest of them. They were all so much better than he was, and they deserved all the food that he turned away, especially considering Johnnycakes was the only one who was an herbivore.

Now, though? He didn't have a sweet gang around constantly shoving food in his face. Sure, Adelaide had been taking care of him and Johnny, and she had been feeding them pretty well, but he felt... shitty, about taking food without doing anything in return. He had tried to shrug the feeling off, especially after Adelaide had told them they had a stockpile, but he just couldn't. After all, stockpiles could run out. So, the canine had decided to attempt hunting, even with no real prior experience and a skinny, still injured body. He had gone out early in the morning, before Johnny or Adelaide were awake, and had carefully crept out, letting his soft pawsteps guide him towards the woods, where he would hopefully be able to find something to catch.

Needless to say, this particular venture hadn't gone very well.

Dallas's first attempt had been trying to catch a squirrel he had encountered, simply sitting on a log out in the woods. However, the creature had caught his scent thanks to his sloppy positioning, and had left from the log just in time for Dal to nearly face plant into it. His second attempt had been no better, with a shrew eluding him thanks to his clumsy footsteps crumbling leaves beneath him. By the time his first attempt came around, the canine was feeling pretty fucking frustrated, his injured side aching as he watched the morning sun rise in the sky. Huffing in anger, the hound lowered himself to the ground, sniffing. Before too long, he managed to find a large robin, seemingly taking a break on the forest floor to preen itself. The male lowered his entire body down close to the earth, his movements slow but slightly clumsy. When he charged forward, a spike of pain went up through his body, causing an involuntary loud yip of pain to leave him. The robin immediately shot off into the sky at the sound, and Dallas found himself splayed out on the slightly well forest floor, his side now filled with a burning painful sensation. Glaring at nothing in particular ahead of him, the hound howled in frustration, "Why does hunting have to be so FUCKING hard?!"

[Blazic]

[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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Vathmos was used to hunting in a group, and stealing. She didn't have any issue with either. Hyenas benefited from staying together. They worked to overpower and survive. Wildebeests, Warthogs, Wild Dogs, even eachother. Smaller prey didn't need as many hyenas, of course. Roughly two per wild dog in a pack, warthogs were one to two, larger animals like zebras required at least four. Enough to cover everyone, and enough for safety. If you were injured in the hunt, and too far gone, you became a part of that meal.
That was the way. Vathmos, luckily, had been in the high rankings of her hierarchy, number eight out of seventy, that number didn't account for slaves or offspring, though. That was just the males and females.

When she moved to Tanglewood, she had moved to hunting on her own. hunting had been difficult to adapt to, of course. Sneaking had to be learned and vathmos had to overpower prey by herself. She didn't have a lot of problems with overpowering, but she couldn't control her rage long enough to use it for boars, or, by Lamashtu, the alligators. She could eat a gator for at least two days. She salivated at the thought. She had only gotten a boar once or twice, so she tended to aim for the deer. On occasion, she went for the easy picking at the farm, but most of the cows there were too large for her to drag back across the territory. She only feasted at the farm if there was a juvenile or something already dead for her.

Vathmos always covered herself in a fresh coat of mud before she went out to help hide her stench. She watched the raccoon, chittering and chirping with some sort of food in its paws, snacking away. It sat on the base of a tree, so Vathmos would have to get it in this one shot, or it would climb up the tree and evade her- "Why does hunting have to be so FUCKING hard?!" Its head shot up and it ran up, Vathmos made her leap, but her jaws clamped on empty air. Okay. Who did that? That was a male voice. She growled and started moving in the direction of the noise, when another smell hit her nose. Ash. Soot. Fire. Snarl. Vathmos' nose crinkled, lips pulling up to reveal teeth. Were they working together to ruin her hunt? No, they probably did even know she was out here. Vathmos came to the source of the noise, a jeering chortle leaking out of her throat as she came out of the underbrush, eyes on Dallas first.
Ugh. This guy. "Hunting wasn't so hard when I was tracking your little rabbit pet..." She could not believe that let that thing in. Tanglewood didn't turn away anyone, but when Vathmos made the leap for the rabbit, it was food at that point. He wasn't a member until afterwards. "A little tip though- don't scream and alert all the prey in the area." Ugh. Ideitowtee.

Vathmos' head turned and tilted as she finally looked at her fellow hyena. "Out here for hunting too or?" Surprised she doesn't scare off all the prey with her smell, too.

━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

[dallas.]

It was nearly infuriating to Dallas, to see someone so effortlessly emerge from the shadows to snap up the prey he had been trying so hard to catch. The canine's eyes narrowed a bit at Snarl as he gazed upon the dead bird now clenched in her jaws, none too subtle hatred in his blue gaze – although it was up in the air whether it was directed at the bird, or at Snarl. The male almost didn't wanna push himself up to his paws, instead heavily considering just staying in his position laid out on the forest floor until he eventually died there, but eventually he just let out a heavy sigh, pushing himself upward. He immediately winced upon doing so, a smaller and less high pitched yelp leaving him at the pain that shot up through his side. Dal had no idea how much damage Vathmos had done when she had bitten him – Adelaide had told him when she patched him up, but at that point his attention had been more on Johnny than anything else – but it had to be a not inconsiderable amount. Letting out a slow pained breath through his teeth, Dallas barked after a long moment, "Standin' up isn't all that fun, after what that asshole other hyena did ta me... and I'm sure you think this is easy. Probably been doin' it all y'life..." The pure white hound dug his claws into the ground in frustration for a moment, his eyes glaring daggers down at the earth beneath him. It was nearly certain that if looks could kill, the ground would already be ablaze, perhaps to Snarl's delight.

Dallas's head snapped upward when another figure approached them, his eyes immediately narrowing upon realizing who it was. Speak of the devil. Almost immediately after she opened her mouth, he wanted to throw himself at her, and his ears pinned down to his skull, his words coming in a sharp growl, "Oh, fuck you! Maybe I wouldn't scream 'n' 'alert all the prey in the area' if my fuckin' side wasn't killin' me. And the rabbit isn't my fuckin' pet, he's my friend. He 'as a name." The male didn't even really make an attempt at trying to be civil with Vathmos, especially after seeing what she seemed to think was an appropriate conversation starter. The hyena was just lucky that he wasn't throwing himself at her to try and rip her apart. Sure, he was scrawny and she was a fucking hyena, but being at a disadvantage had never stopped him from initiating a fight before. When Vathmos turned to speak with Snarl, Dallas found himself rolled his eyes, slowly getting to his feet and stretching out in an attempt to alleviate the sudden pain he had been struck with. Half of him – okay, most of him – hoped that Snarl would tell Vathmos to kindly fuck off, and then maybe Snarl could teach him what the hell he was supposed to be doing... aside from not yipping, of course.

[guts]

She, being the mother hen she was, had been none too happy to discover that Dallas was nowhere to be found in the home they shared, a spike of dread running through her as she made her way outside and into the territory in search of the missing canine. When she found him, she was going to drag him all the way back, just like she had done when they met, whether he fussed or not. Until he gained the weight that he needed, she would use his scrawniness to her advantage.

Once she had found him, laying on the ground after a failed catch, Adelaide quickly made her way over with a small wince at the angry way he spoke to Vathmos. While she didn't like hearing him talk to another group mate in such a way, she wasn't going to stop him. After what she had done, she couldn't blame him for being upset. She had an odd view of justice.

"You should be in bed!" she scolds him, pushing away the urge to help him to his paws. Looking over at his bandaged side, she sighed, then turns to the two hyenas. "Good morning, Snarl, Vathmos. Neither of them were of a very nice sort, as she had observed up until now, but that didn't mean she would be rude to them. She was sure they were nice, to a degree that they didn't openly show it.

[Blazic]

[Vathmos]

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VATHMOS

INFORMATION ROLEPLAYER MISC.

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Sometimes Vathmos wished she was in charge so she could eat Dallas already. Her mouth opened slightly and her head tilted and disinterest washed over her face. "Your side hurts. Walk it off." If you couldn't work through pain you didn't deserve to survive. Dallas would have to learn or overcome himself. Hyenas fought even as their guts were spilling out. Fruitlessly, but they still fought. She chuffed at the mention of the rabbit. It was prey until it was a clanmate. Vathmos was in the right to eat it before Dallas showed up. She did not do anything wrong, and Vathmos was ready to hold that ground.

The next to approach made Vathmos' ears perk- it looked like a fox with extra fur and long legs. Vathmos never had fox before. She imagined it tasted like dog. She had probably heard of Vathmos, but the hyena herself could not remember interacting with this one. She gave her a nod in response. Vathmos would probably get her name later.

Vathmos watched Snarl's grin turn into aggression, and the spotted heightened herself in response, ears and tail up. A little whooping chortle left her throat, mouth opening to display teeth, ears pulling back as the striped hyena spoke. Vekkteman. Clanless. Vathmos' lips pulled back in a snarl as the striped hyena spat out the words, and Vathmos found herself approaching Snarl to close the distance between them. She halted, a shrill noise escaping her, paired with low whoops.

"Stop calling me that."

A spark of electricity arced across her canines, then vanished. Vathmos was becoming tired of the way Snarl treated her. The striped hyena make rank of above her, but she had yet to prove herself stronger to Vathmos. Snarl had just been here longer. Chaser didn't mean anything.
"You don't know anything about me or the way I hunt. Stop acting like you do." Vathmos let herself blow hot air in Snarl's face, her own briefly relaxing and shifting her face back to composure, her chest rising and falling quickly as she attempted to regain herself. She didn't want to initiate a rage against Snarl. Wasn't the time or place.

━ [b]MY SKIN IS A STORY┆LONELY. CLINGY. HATEFUL. ━

[dallas.]

Initially, Dallas's worry had been focused upon the arrival of Adelaide to the little scene he had made. Seeing the female who had taken to acting like a mother to him approach with a tutting tone in her voice made the canine wince, and a sigh left him. He could hear Snarl telling him something about hunting in the background, but his attention was primarily on Adelaide, his tail swishing slowly from side to side behind him, less in a happy wag and more of an exhausted twitch. Vathmos was chattering off some insulting words about his wound wasn't actually that serious, but the german shepherd found he didn't really care, moving over to Adelaide's side slowly. Pressing into her with his uninjured side, the canine barked softly, shaking his head a little, "I was tryin' t'catch some stuff for th'group. I felt bad just takin' food from th'stockpile 'n' not puttin' anythin' back in return... I knew ya wouldn't want me to. That's why I left so early." Not that it had particularly done him much good, considering she had eventually tracked him down anyways. Although that wasn't so much the fault of his time management skills as it was a result of him being absolute shit at any sort of hunting. At the very least Johnny wasn't here yet, and the little pygmy rabbit hopefully wouldn't be anytime soon, since he deserved to just stay curled up and safe inside of Adelaide's house. A state that Dallas very much wanted to be in as well, if Ade could help him back.

However, before Dal could speak up and ask his stand in mother figure to walk him back home – and perhaps teach him a couple of hunting tricks – tensions seemed to spike between Vathmos and Snarl. He had known that the two hyenas didn't like each other, since such a thing was obvious to see watching them interact even once, but this seemed even more escalated than the last time he had seen them like this. Ears pinning back, Dallas could feel the aggression in the air, his claws sinking down into the soft earth as he heard Vathmos's shrill laughs and low whoops. All of it put him on edge, and he felt the want to peel his lips back and expose knife like fangs. However, instead he just stayed back, observing but not interfering. Despite his penchant for liking a fight, that didn't mean he was particularly keen on getting in between a fight between two massive hyenas' especially two that had been feuding for quite a while now. He'd be crushed, and probably end up with a little more than just a wound in his side. Silently, the nearly pure white canine hoped that someone else would come over to investigate the noise soon, like one of the other chasers, or Feza, or Leroy. It wasn't as if he and Adelaide were going to tear them apart if they got in a fight, and having someone of an equal or higher rank around might've knocked some sense into them.

[fulzanin]

WE'LL MAKE A WAY WHERE YOU CAN FIND YOUR PLACE
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When it came to hunting, Feza was no stranger to failure. A vibrant pink, blue, and yellow pelt did not allow for her to easily sneak up on prey. Her small size did not allow for her to overpower other creatures. Wings allowed for more nimble behavior, but they equally caused for her to get caught on twigs and other sharp objects. A small body meant that she was easily able to sneak where most others couldn't, but it did not exactly allow for her to compensate for lackluster hunting skills. Just as the guardsman could not fight, she equally could not hunt. It wasn't as if she practiced. Festivities and party throwing were far more important to Feza than wandering around while hunting. She still did it on occasions, yes, but often only to pass the time while wandering the territory - as she had been currently doing prior to hearing talking. Aggressive talking. Not festive talking.

A soft landing signaled hesitation as Feza arrived, pacing a few steps nonetheless to wear off the remaining momentum. A deep breath was sucked in. Conflict. Ew. Not festive, not festive at all. Was she, the highest position in this predicament, supposed to do something about it? No. Feza was not a person who would do such a thing. Ears lowered, briefly her ever pleased expression faltering to concern. However, blue eyes shifted over to the complaining youth, and her smile returned. She ignored the problems present, the tensions between the two hyenas. The expectations of her, to break apart the fight? Such things were high expectations of the party thrower. "Ah, you don't have to feel bad about taking from the food pile. That's why it's there!" Feza said, offering up a grin of encouragement. "But, but let me tell you, it's super nice of you to try to pull your weight, and it's, it's totally okay that you can't yet. You'll get there one day." Feza rambled, her small form bouncing a little in her ever present desire to be moving, doing something, smiling and grinning at all times. "Uh. If it's alright with uh, you, ma'am, I could uh. Try and help him hunt. I'm kinda similar in size! Kinda! Not really but uh, any help's better than no help. And uh, uh, if his uh, if his side is hurting I can just carry him back to camp. By flying. Which is fun and, and festive and good."

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THE EMPTY CHAIRS WILL BE RESERVED FOR OUR PITY