Xola || 6 || Female || Wolf || Eastern Medic || M: Violet, Illusion (Ind), Malicia (Ind), Newborns (Ind)

A solemn silence followed the medic and her apprentice as they trudged their way past the outskirts of the camp, the stillborns in their mouths. The snow had picked up significantly since they first left the den, leaving their coats laden with white spectacles of nature. Cold spectacles of nature at that. Her ears were flattened and head lower as she pushed through the growing winds, feeling their chilling bit puncture through her fur. With a flick of her tail, she ordered her apprentice to stay behind her as they marched on, hoping that her small form could provide at least some relief for the younger wolf from the storm’s winds.

While Xola had not initially planned on burying the young right away – wishing to have the parents there in order for them to give a proper goodbye – it seemed as though it would have to be done. Their small forms would not be able to weather (heh) the raging storm above, and she’d rather not have the parents witness such a horrid sight. Even if the pups were most certainly deceased.

Coming to a nice spot not far outside the camp (not too far, of course. She knew better than to go miles out during this storm), the night-fallen female begins to big out the piling snow and earth from beside a tree. She did so at an angle, allowing room for her apprentice to join in if she so pleased. It, thankfully, did not take long to big a deep enough hole for the two despite the frosted ground – her years of uncovering roots coming in handy. Gently, she lays the first of the pups into the little pocket before stepping back to allow Violet to do the same. Afterwards, she bowed her head in respect to their passing and started the process of covering them once more. That, like the digging, did not take much time.

Backing up from the grave, the charcoal pelted female releases a shuddering sigh – wisps of condensed air escaping her. For as long as she’d have her job, this was always the part she struggled the most with. Death was not a concept foreign to her. She had experienced much of it herself. But the death of a newborn pup? That always rocked her the hardest.

Looking up from the grave, Xola’s bright-honey amber eyes landed on the tree it rested against, studying the thick bark lining its trunk in consideration. Taking another deep and chilling breath, the medic lifts up the front of her body to press her front paws against the wood – claws digging slightly into it. Her back ones remained solidly on the ground, providing some support for her next course of actions. Without a second thought, she begins to claw some of the bark off, leaving a mark in the tree as to where the little ones were. Once she believed the “symbol” (if one could call it that) was sufficient, she pushed off the bark and landed her front paws back on the ground with ease.

Giving the grave one last sparring look and snagging the scrapped off bark from the ground (couldn’t let it go to waste, after all), she turned to her apprentice. “Let’s go. We can’t be caught out in this storm any longer,” she said as loudly as she could, walking past the younger female in the process.

Her pace was, at first, slow, but it soon picked up in speed when she was sure that Violet was and could properly follow her. Eventually, it became a full out gallop – a race to get home. Albeit, a rather short one.

All but leaping into camp, Xola was quick to signal for her apprentice to take shelter – pointing towards the medics den in the process. She, herself, would not be spending the night there. Rather, she’d spend it with the newly formed family.

Without hesitation, the night pelted medic trotted into the cave the queen resided in, being as quiet as she possibly could so as to not wake her from her slumber. Locking eyes with said queen’s mate, she nodded her head towards the corner of the area. A signal as to where she would be if they needed anything. Although he would have been perfectly capable of getting her, she’d prefer simply staying in the same den in case something were to go ary.

As silently as possible, she made her way to the precise corner she had motioned to – body shivering slightly from the residual effects of the cold. Softly plopping down, she moves into a curled up position to preserve as much heat as possible. Her tail curls itself under her head, a sort of plush, warmth-holding pillow for the cold medic. A breath leaves her as she relaxes to a degree, content on listening to the whistling winds blaring through the camp from the inside of a warming den.

Violet l Female l Medics Apprentice l Eastern l M: Xola, Pups, Illusion and Malicia

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Violet followed solemnly and quietly behind Xola. Her mentors body shielding her from most of the storm, but the swirling winds and snow still caused her problems. The cold tore into her ususally thick pelt. Causing her body to shiver violently. But she still trekked on, for the dead pups sake. Her pads were frozen and cracked, making every step feel like she was walking on ice. Usually she would pass her mentor and shield her, but her mind was elsewhere. What kind of shape was Malicia in, and even Illusion. Kniwing that two pups, who might have had huge roles in the pack die. The gray wolf shook her head gently, trying not to ruffle her pups fur.

Up ahead, Xola came to a stop, and started to dig in the building snow, right be the roots of a tree. Xola had positioned herself so Violet could also help, and she obliged. Her dark gray paws kicking up the soft, moist dirt. The only pproblem was the roots. Xola, more experienced, dug through them with ease, her dark paws easily tearing through the thick roots. Violet, on the other hand, inexperienced, took longer to cut through the dense roots. But the two medics easily finished digging, and it hadnt taken to much time. Xola placed the limp body in the hole, giving a respectful bow before moving aside to let Violet through. Violet placed her limp bbrown-white bidy next to the other pup. She gave a deep, respectful bow and murmured a few words she had been taught to use. She then turned to her dark mentor, who moved in to scoop in dirt. Violet pushed some more dirt, and then snow into the hole. As they finished Violet grabbed a larger size rock in her jaws, and placed it iver the grave as a marker. She gave a soft howl in mourning, before turning and following Xola back to camp.

As the medics entered camp, Xola motioned for Violet to take shelter, then Xola went towards the newborns den. Violet knew where she should go, not knowing if the medic would come to their den or not. Violet, on the other hand, entered the medics den, where hopefully there was something she could do. As she walked in, she shook most of the snow off her pelt, before lying down. As she neared sleep a small thought popped into her head, as she thought about the medics son Hymir. Where had he gone off too? But she barely had time to think before deep sleep washed iver her, and the wind and sbiw howled just outside the den.

Double

Solaris || 5 Years || Male || Raven Pack Hunter || M: Shiva, Arashi, Mairea (Ind)

Solaris watched with stoic gaze as the two huntresses darted ahead, taking turns nipping at the legs of their desired catch. The lead female was the first of the two to do so, responding to his bark with a yip before doing so. She dropped back not a moment later to let the brindle wolf do the same. All the while, he continued to hang back and allow the duo to continue with their own task.

A nearby bellow caused his ear to flick slightly out of focus, although his eyes remained strictly on the bull in front of him. From the sound of it, the odd moose herd ran along a similar path a few paces away. But he knew not to fret over such a predicament. Even the males in rut knew better than to interrupt a hunt, especially when the target was a more experienced member of their species. He had to admit, prey items such as these were no fools.

A stumbling step from prey before them caused the male to leap slightly to the side of the chase, both to avoid running into the bull as well as the two smaller wolves. Out of the corner of his eye, he just barely noticed the swing the creature took at the white-pelted female (who had grown difficult to see in the increasing snow). The beast was tiring.

With a determined rumble, Solaris begins to pick up the pace – using those stamina reserves he withheld all this time. Finally, it falls, landing harshly on the ground multiple feet below it. Wasting no time, he lunged towards the bull’s throat, sinking his teeth into the soft flesh and using all his strength to fight against the being’s attempt to raise his head. He did not bother to take care and stay out of the range of both the antlers and front hooves attempting to batter his body. He could care less if they did. Another scar of his pelt is all it’d be.

Although his fangs could not kill in a manner like those of a feline (crushing the windpipe and all), he could still deal a hefty amount of damage to the vital area. Damage that of this age could recover from. The more the cervidae struggled, the harder he pressed on the weak spot… until, not long after, it grew motionless.

The sun touched male’s jaws remained aptly clamped around the bull’s throat minutes after its apparent departure from this world. A safety precaution in case the animal was pulling some sort of stunt – one he had fallen for in the past. But, after nothing changed, he loosened his grip and stepped back. His sides heaved with steady breaths – not rocking but still having some strength to them. His eyes glanced over his body, scanning for new developments and injuries that would grant him another trophy of a hunt-well-faught. Nothing. He growled at this distasteful discovery, unpleased with the performance he had just displayed.

Such a pathetic chase, he growled to himself, not even a single scratch. Mairea will not be hearing of this abhorrent event.

Releasing a grumble, he turns his gaze to the sky, watching the dark mass of clouds swirl overhead and surround his wintery form. A perfect camouflage for him, but not a necessary one at this point in time. The cold hardly tampered with his form, his heavier coat coming into use and providing him with some relief from the enraged and icy winds. But, it was possible that the same could not be said for the other two.

An unimpressed huff left his nostrils at the thought. The large male promptly turns towards his fellow wintery wolf and produces a rumbling bark to grab her attention. Once she had it, he nodded towards the bull – an offer to do most of the heavy lifting to get it back to camp and, thus, them out of the storm. His fiery eyes remained locked on her own while he awaited a response.

Hondo l Male l Beta l Eastern l M: Xola, Violet, Open

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Hondo's eyes fluttered open. It took him awhile to realize where he was, but he soon adjusted. At first he thought he was in the medics den, but remembered he had left. As he peeked between the moss vines that protected his den from the cold, he was shocked to realize that it was snowing. Sure before he had fallen asleep it was stormy outside, but itnwasnt snowing. Now, about 6-7 inches of snwlow had piledbon the ground. He surpressed a small shiver before curling into a ball, trying to regain what heat he could. As he looked back outside, he saw Xola and Violet return from the woods, solemn looks on their faces. But his eyes wandered to the black she-wolf, and lingered on her until she disappeared inside Illusion and Malicia's den. He decided to go outside and stretch his legs, and to see if anything needed to be done. He purposly walked in Cola's direction, as the snow started to stick to his brown and black brindle pelt. As he neared the new parents den, he began to slow down, his limp starting to take notice. A small throb ran up his foreleg, but he dismissed it after a small wince. His topaz eyes peeked into the den, he noticed Malicica and Illusion, and then his eyes wandered to Xola before backing away from the den. She had looked so peaceful, along with Illusion and Malicica, so he left them, he could always talk to Xola later, right?

He quickly grabbed what appeared to be a squirrel from the prey pile before going back to his den, hoping to wait out the storm, as camp seemed unnaturally empty.