The Plateau - Harlequin's Territory

Posts : 133 Join date : 2012-10-07

As you trek through the Valley of Helhunds, you find the snow-blanketed land to level out, and then stretch vastly for miles.
You don't know how far it goes, exactly. Wind twists and cuts like a blade as it passes through your fur. It stings, but nothing that can't be overlooked. Other than the howl of the breeze all is quiet. No trees in sight for birds to perch, no brush or foliage for omnivores to ravage, no bears or foxes to eat the omnivores...it was the definition of desolate. However...there was an overwhelming scent of decay. Upon closer inspection you notice that the ground is painted with red and brown, and things that appear to be gnarled roots or twigs jut sharply from the snow. Slowly the snow begin to tremble, the earth raised into white statues, graffitied with blood and muck. Then the magnificent white statues began to move, piercing stone eyes and heads all fixating on you. One had a mane that emulated a zebra; you notice its glowing orange eyes to be following you. A sickening grin twisted onto its muzzle as snow continued to billow off it. A low, blood-thirsty growl rumbled in its chest, slowly climbing in volume until it sounds like a chainsaw crippling a metal fence. It, followed by many others, tumble towards you like an avalanche. You can either hope to submit and be spared, perhaps join, or run for your life and chance an escape...or you can stay and get mauled. The choice is yours to run with or from these creatures too cruel and savage for the depths of hell.
What will you do?

Members:

Harlequin
Russo
Eireen

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

Russo snarls viciously at the intruder, a mated pair of bobcats. He's grown since he joined Harlequin, now about 9 years old. He lunges, taking down the smaller male with ease. The female swipes forward with her claws, catching him on the cheek. He yelps, by attacks her neck with new vigor, pride flooding him as her bones are crushed between his powerful
jaws .
He looks to his alpha, who'd become like a father to him, for approval. Eireen, the other member of their murder, smiled. Russo would indeed be a worthy successor to Harlequin.

Posts : 133 Join date : 2012-10-07

Harlequin had aged somewhat, but for the most part his horns were the only thing about him altered. He was watching Russo with the half-interest that he always did, which took a lot of effort on his part since he usually couldn't bring himself to focus on anything for long before something else pulled his thoughts away. He knew Russo could skillfully kill, but that didn't matter that much in Harley's mind. He wanted a successor that was as clever as he was strong. If one mattered more than the other, brains triumphed over brawn unquestionably.

An unspoken conviction lingered in his orange eyes as he watched Russo. He loved Russo like a son, he treated him like one too. However, he and Russo were so different. Harlequin found Russo to be naive, bending to his will without question. Russo was undoubtedly a magnificent soldier, but was he as intelligent as Harlequin had hoped? Maybe, he thought, my expectations are too high. To avoid giving the young male the impression that he was dissatisfied, he nodded, muzzle snaking into a grin that acknowledged Russo's accomplishment.

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

Russo trotted back over to Harlequin, smiling. "Did I do okay?" His uniquely colored eyes shone with pride. Despite the painful sting in his cheek, he was happy. Bobcats could easily prove fatal to a young hund, not that there were any yet, but it was better to show their authority now, rather than later when lives would actually be at risk.
Russo licked his lips, the taste of blood reminding him how hungry he was. He nodded at Harlequin, smiling. His hunger could wait. There were plenty of lemmings hanging around his den.

Posts : 133 Join date : 2012-10-07

"Exceptional, as always," he prevaricated, having long since found Russo's tactics predictable but nevertheless effective. He saw the glint of hunger in the adolescent's visage and said, "Perhaps you would accompany me in a hunt?" Emotion had become something distant for some time now, yet he always managed to summon some form of enthusiasm or approval when it came to his small murder. He was gentle and accommodating with Eireen, and supportive and encouraging of Russo.

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

"Sure! Sounds better than catching the lemmings in my den." He loped towards the woods, the start of his man bouncing to the beat of his footsteps. He sat down at the edge, waiting patiently and diligently. Russo had two sides, his goofy, youthful side and his primal side that went into affect when fighting or hunting.

Posts : 133 Join date : 2012-10-07

Like a ghost Harlequin maneuvered to the youngster's side, paws falling silent into and out of the snow. He glanced at Russo from the corner of his eye and nodded. His body lurched forwards into motion, nostrils flared and twitching for any hint of a scent trail. A few yards into the woods he managed to pick up what smelled to be a female moose. His tail wagged, casting off snow that blew in the breeze. He snorted and took after the scent, easily scaling natural blockades such as fallen trees and shrubbery. He paused occasionally to check if Russo was still following.

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

Russo kept good pace, lagging slightly behind as it wasn't his place to pass the alpha. No matter what, he would follow Harlequin anywhere, he'd become a father to him since Harlequin had found him bleeding in the snow.

Russo lifted his head, sniffing for prey. He scented a moose and smiled. The females were less deadly without the horns, but still a challenge. Russo loved a good challenge. It was part of his inborn nature.

Posts : 133 Join date : 2012-10-07

As he neared the moose he felt his body naturally begin to hug the ground, crawling forwards with no more noise than a mouse. He fixed his eyes on its brown woolly posterior. It was oblivious to his presence. Waving his tail as a signal to move in, he sprang at it, paws outstretched toward the moose's flank. For a mere moment his eyes connected with the startled black gaze of the moose. He saw panic and fear manifest themselves in the moments to follow. His body landed smack on top of the moose, sliding off to the right. As he slid he hooked his nails into the shoulder's of the moose, throwing it off balance in its attempt to flee and ending up sprawled on the ground beside him, flailing its powerful legs haphazardly. "Heads up," he barked, warning Russo as he had many times before that any blow from those legs could prove devastating. He tried multiple times to bite into its throat, but his reach only extended to the side of the moose's neck, and despite his savage mauling of the skin and repeated bites not much damage was being done, other than exciting the spasming animal further.

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

(herp a derp derp)

Posts : 133 Join date : 2012-10-07

(Bro, don't know if I wasn't specific, but the moose fell over. Like, it's on the ground next to Harley spazzing while he's on top of it, trying to kill it without letting it get up. xD)

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

(Oh, derp)

Russo grabbed the moose by the neck, sinking his fangs into her veins. Her struggles slowed and a sense of victory filled his body. Russo released his grip, licking the blood from around his mouth. "You okay, Harley?"
He smiled and wagged his tail. He'd helped kill such large prey, a first for him.

Posts : 133 Join date : 2012-10-07

(lol hurp durp)

Harlequin nodded, his tongue wiping over his muzzle hungrily. He saw that Russo was happy/proud, which made him merry to an extent. "Let us get this gal back to Eireen, yes?" he said, grappling the skin on the moose's neck and tugging in rapid, jerking motions. It was somewhat effective, gradually inching the moose that easily outweighed him 2 to 1 a few inches with each tug. He soon got his footing and began to drag it, this method working more efficiently but was still laborious. He thought to himself that Russo deserved a marking for successfully killing such a large animal.

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

Russo grabbed onto one of the moose's legs and helped Harlequin drag her back to the rot. As they inched their way back to the Rot, Eireen rushed over and grabbed her by the skin of her back. "Jeezus, please tell me how you killed this thing! It's huge!"

Posts : 133 Join date : 2012-10-07

Harley set the moose down and said, "Russo killed it, you should have come along. It was a very impressive hunt." He braced his paws on the moose's stomach, jaws snapping onto the flesh and twisting, pulling off hide and chewing it indifferently. He'd learned not to be wasteful, and so now he ate everything on the things he killed that he could. Often when the others finished he'd snack on any left over for fear of it going to waste. Gorging quickly on easily ten pounds of moose flesh and skin, he backed up, licking his blood drenched muzzle and rolling in the snow to clean his fur.

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

Russo, ravenous despite his size, finished the job on the throat, eating it down to the spinal cord, then moving onto the flanks and using the tail as a dessert.

Eireen nibbled on the cheekbone. It wasn't the best food, but her former rank did not allow her access to the good parts of prey.

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

Within the hour, the moose had almost been stripped to the bone by the ravenous murder. Russo was still gleaming with pride at the pivotal role he'd played in the kill. He wasn't asking for a blood marking, that would be a plus, but what he wanted was Harlequin, his father's, pride.

It was a deep, gnawing hunger, but Russo did his best to control it. His uncle had let it go out of control, but Russo was too innocent to let things like pride or envy destroy him. He was born to follow.

Posts : 133 Join date : 2012-10-07

Harlequin sat on his flank, weight oddly distributed to his rear so that his front half was nearly lifted off the ground. He had twisted his head around and was scratching at his horns with his hind foot. Something was unbearably itchy, sore, and stinging. He winced every time his nails passed over the raw flesh. He clenched his teeth and suffered it as he clawed away, only managing to drench his back paw in blood. He would then turn his head the other way and scratch at those horns with the other paw, til it too was bloodied. He didn't care about the pain, just the soothing of the unidentifiable itching of his skull. He had almost entirely forgotten about the hunt. When hours had passed and he was at an interval between furious defiling of his body he noted that the moose was only bones. A smirk seized his muzzle and curled it into a silent snarl. The action was anything but him, he didn't recognize the action but could do little to stop something that felt so...natural. Russo should be awarded for killing his first large animal.

(What marking should Russo get?)

Subject: Re: The Plateau - Harlequin's Territory Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:41 pm

Danatelle, now presumably a widow, wandered off of her mate's territory, and ended up in that belonging to the previously known loner, Harlequin. She was in a daze, distraught by Declaar's death, and howled into the blizzard. She yipped and barked at snowflakes, trying to find another hund.

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

(I have an idea, I'll link you in a min)
Russo smiled at Harlequin, which faded as soon as he spotted Harlequin's wounds. "Harlequin, what happened?"

Posts : 133 Join date : 2012-10-07

"Don't worry about it, it is probably nothing major. Fleas, ticks, little biting pains in my ass," he said, words more profound and bitter than usual. He didn't quite feel like his usual self. He felt like he was watching himself misbehave from another body.

(Oki doki. :3)

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

Something didn't feel right within Russo, however, he knew not to push. Russo sighed and dragged the skeleton to the edge of the den clearing. He looked curiously at it, examining the ethereal beauty and strength of the whitened bone. Hmmm...

Russo removed the skull and looked curiously at it. It seemed like it could hold up to anything. Indestructible. I think I'll keep this as a trophy.

Subject: Re: The Plateau - Harlequin's Territory Wed Nov 21, 2012 11:48 pm

Danatelle watched the two hunds from a distance. She barked, trying to get their attention.

Posts : 189 Join date : 2012-10-03

Eireen whirled, spotting a female in the distance. She ran to Danatelle's side, smiling. "Hello, I'm Eireen. May I ask what you need?"
Russo spotted the interaction and looked curiously to Harlequin, "Do you know what's going on?"

Posts : 133 Join date : 2012-10-07

Harlequin's nose had detected the female a while ago, but ignored it for the most part. He was rather sexist by nature. He only felt threatened/intrigued by male presences. He shrugged lamely, head slowly pivoting around to glance at the two females. "Not a clue," he responded, voice heavy with indifference.

(What mark is Russo getting? :O He should wear the moose skull!)

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