Chinook || Warrior || M: Border Patrol

The male dipped his head at Axel's order and moved to follow him down their set side of the path. He snorted softly in amusement at Akeena's mild joke over polar bear lunch, but in his mind he hoped that they would not encounter one of those beasts. They were a pain to scare off, and one hit could send a wolf reeling and keep them dizzy for days, if it didn't kill them. He wanted to get home without a massacre.

The tournament would be massacre enough. Even if the losers were not killed altogether throughout the course of the competition, their social standing would be obliterated at any sign of weakness. Pack politics were things he preferred to stay out of for that reason. Well, that and they caused rifts between individuals every year the trials were held.

He pricked his ears and turned as Veracious mentioned that she had not been picked for either side. Chinook felt a little awkward at having forgotten the female had come along. She really was quite a stealthy creature; it seemed to serve her well until it came to instances like this. The large male looked over to Axel, then, and waited for the other brute's verdict.

Natan || Warrior || M: Border Patrol

Natan wrinkled his nose at the thought of an old polar bear kill. With a shake, he responded to Akeena with, "Augh, as long as it doesn't end up stinking us all up for the rest of the day, maybe."

There had been a time or two when he had come across a rotten seal carcass and oh lord did those smell. If Akeena could smell it as well as see it, they were in trouble. If it was just a sight... well, that would be a little better. He moved closer to the female to see if he could smell it, but the scent he caught was -- thankfully -- nothing of the sickly sweet scent of decay. With a satisfied chuff, he began his descent down the hill -- only to stop as he remembered Veracious.

"Oh-- um, I'm sorry," he said, swishing his tail in apology. "I must have gotten too wrapped up in my thoughts."

Of course, it wasn't him who could assign her anywhere, and technically she outranked them all, but he had a habit of apologizing to maintain the peace. It was, in his opinion, a bad habit. He, too, looked from Akeena to Axel, then from Veracious to Chinook.

Arden - Offspring - Mentions: Tavarious and Hunting Patrol

Arden flicked his ear at Rana's direction as a sign of acknowledgement. The female was a quiet one, and her confirmation on joining the chase was probably the first time she had spoken on the patrol thus far. He had also noticed how she had been closer to Artavis out of everyone else on the patrol. Arden was vaguely aware that the female was closest with Artavis out of all of them anyway. He saw the two together sometimes.

When Artavis told Theo to go ahead alone, Arden gave a nod of approval in his friend's direction, who was ordered to go scout ahead alone. The male knew what he was doing, and if he sensed any danger he could alway fall back to the patrol for backup. His thoughts were interrupted when his brother had agreed to keep the groups even and that he would be joining the chasing group. His brother did have a lither frame, which would probably be best suited for it, after all.

Stop. I'm not certain. It's not normal.

When Artavis halted the group, Arden glanced to both of his brothers. His dark gaze settled on Afton, waiting to see if his brother would go investigate the strange bloody scent alone. Losing a single warrior for the time being would be fine, but if this strange scent included any trouble, their hunting patrol would suffer for it. And if they came back with almost nothing... it wouldn't look so good for their ceremony.

Arden gave a nod to Afton who had decided to go alone, thinking along the same lines as him. Bringing another would just lower the hunting success probability. "If it is anything urgent, call for backup. The rest of us will focus on the hunt unless we are called for." He surveyed the group with his amber eyes.

His ears perked up at the sound of distant hooves... Deer. A low growl was released from his throat as his intense gaze narrowed with annoyance. "Something is up. The herd started running, it sounds like. We better get going and check it out before we lose them." A sense of urgency was evident in his voice. First, with this unknown weird bloody scent, and now the herd is fleeing? Coincidence? Probably not.

Without another word, he vanished, following the path that Theo had taken just a couple moments before as he led the rest of them to the deer. But he turned over his shoulder before he trotted off, "For the chasers, keep close. But feel free to go ahead." Without another word, Arden left and began to follow the scent of deer.

Akeena - Warrior - Mentions: Border Patrol

Augh, as long as it doesn't end up stinking us all up for the rest of the day, maybe.

She sent a small grin in Natan's direction. "Well, it's up to you. Is a little seal meal worth the stench? Hopefully our hunting patrol brings us back something, or else I might have to make the trek out here again." She grumbled, but it was obviously still a joke as her hazel eyes held a mirthful twinkle.

The familiar voice of Veracious, their Ambassador, rang in her ears. It surprised her, as she had not noticed the female had joined them already. Her gaze fell on the female for a moment, giving her a nod in greeting before swaying her tail as a motion for her to join them. "Join us, unless Axel wants you with him and Chinook. But obviously Natan and I are the more fun team." She gave a coy grin before beginning into an easy trot through the powdery snow, leaving her paw prints in her wake. Flakes of snow were kicked up, sprinkling her pelt slightly as well as anyone who was unfortunately too close behind her.

"You guys coming?". She called over her shoulder.

Axel||Warrior||Male||M: Border Patrol

Axel said "Lets move so I we can leave and sorry I forgot you were there come with us." He counted along the way in his head. He walked guessing Chinook was following he spotted something in the distance. Axel ingored it tho just in case in was nothing. He had stopped to wait for a response. He didn't know much about the terrian so much in the swamp so was glad when they were assigned the Tundra. Axel sighed before saying "Lets wait for anyone else that got left behind tho."

Arden - Offspring - Mentions: Hunting Patrol

Everything was already falling apart. The hunting patrol had barely even begun, yet several things had not gone according to their plan. For one, there was some mysterious bloody scent in the air. Number two, they had sent Afton to go investigate, lowering their patrol numbers. And lastly, it seemed like the deer herd had already scattered before the patrol was able to target one. Now, it seemed like Arden not being appointed the lead of the patrol was the last of his worries.

His ears perked at the voice of hi brother, Artavis, who was mulling over ideas for the hunt.

Wait until they regroup and scout out the weakest one like planned, or track a singular one and target that one. What are our thoughts?

Arden responded gruffly, "Let's track a single one. With all of us together chasing down a single deer, it will be smoother. Plus, if it is already alone and isolated, our chances of success are better."

His dark amber eyes narrowed aa they approached the trampled grass where the herd must have been just moments before. Arden turned to his brother, expecting anything except what had come from his brothers mouth next. He had appointed Esmeralda in charge?! Arden's widened eyes and perked ears were enough to show his surprise. But he recovered quickly, not allowing his disappointment to show. He simply chuffed once, glancing away into the distance as he felt a prickle of annoyance. Why her? How about him? Did his brother not want him to lead? Was he trying to avoid giving Arden power? An upper hand and a chance to prove his worth? The Tournament hadn't even started yet, but his brother was already playing, it seemed.

A low growl thundered from his throat. Great. He cast his glance to the rest of the group. They were now missing three wolves: both his brothers and Theo. It was just him, Rana, Esme, and Larkspur. While the obvious choice was for Arden to be put in charge, his brother had placed Esme as the leader in his absence. Arden sighed, "Alright. Shall we?". His amber eyes stared at Esme. A glimmer of intimidation and maybe even a little jealousy gleamed in his eyes. As if he was testing her, seeing what her first move was in this delicate game that had begun.

Chinook || Warrior || M: Border Patrol

Akeena and Natan offered to let Veracious join them right before Axel said she would come along with the two males. Oopsies. He himself did not mind which group Veracious joined; on the one hand, the others had vocalized their suggestion first. On the other, Axel was in charge. A third consideration was that Veracious outranked everyone else, even if she was not leading the patrol herself. How... messy.

It wasn't even of consequence, as far as Chinook knew. It was a trivial matter, yet the nuances of the decisions available made it as twisted and marred as a much more difficult scenario. Natan looked like he'd been caught in an awkward wedge, even though he had barely spoken at all. Must this happen now?

Axel had already begun to move out, so Chinook followed and left the decision entirely up to the female. He noticed the other's brief pause and his eyes were immediately directed towards the tundra's expanse. He couldn't see anything unusual; whatever Axel had spotted, it was not in Chinook's line of sight, and the former seemed relatively unbothered by it anyway.

"Let's wait for anyone else that got left behind, though," Axel had said. The other's words brought Chinook's gaze back on the wolf in front of him and he offered a nod, looking over his shoulder. It had gotten eerily silent for a moment; the fur on his neck began to stand up, and he looked around with caution. He couldn't see or smell anything, yet the sense that something was going to go awry could not be shaken from him.