The Search

X stands in the outskirts of the camp grounds, Gorsh, Mort, and Ulric at her side. "Well, I hope your're all prepared. I want you to do some hunting in the territory before setting out, alright? You need to have some stregnth." She looks at her packmates, "When Xorn and whoever she's chosen arrive, I want you to head east. But you should know that there's a body of water there, and you're going to have to cross it, somehow..." She pauses, "If needed, you may stow away on a human boat that's headed in the direction, but only if corssing the water is compleatly impossible."Her ears prick as she hears pawsteps aproching, "Right then, Xorn is almost here. Are you all prepared?"

Xorn starts to pad towards the rest of the search party with Raine. "I'm here. We should only do a short hunt, I want to cover some ground before dark." The others nod their heads in approval. "I think now is the time to tell you exactly where we're going. We're heading east to find Tanis." She gets a few uneasy glances from the others. "I know he abandond us when we needed him the most, but we need him now and I'm positive he'll come to our aid. We need his kind of strength to win this battle. We're not quite sure where he is, but we know the path to get him may be dangerous. And another thing, the last time we heard about any of us having contact with him, he sounded a little loopy. So be prepared." Xorn looks at each and everyne of them seriously. "Anything to add, X?"

"Nope. That's the jist of it." She nodded, "Right then, I hope to see you all again soon." She stands, and begins walking back to camp, "Don't get yourselves killed. I have faith in you." She smiles, then dissapears with a flash of fur.

Ulric stares after X, then turns to Xorn. "So, who was it you decided to bring with us?" He smiles, "Whoever they are, they better get here soon." He smiles, "In any case, when they do get here, leave all the hunting to me. It's why i'm ranked what I am anyway." He swishes his massive tail back and forth.

Mort spots the female, Raine, before the others do as she stands in the shadows behind Xorn. He looks at her couriously, blinking his many eyes. He had often seen her around the camp with X, but he had never really met her. She seemed to keep to herself.
Mort lowers his eyes as she aproches the group, too shy to say anything.

Gorsh rolls her eyes, "If you wern't so absorbed in yourslef, Ulric, you'd know that our fifth member is already here. " She watches him as he turns to face Raine, and sneers. "Now about that hunting, who don't you snap to it? We've already been waiting here long enough And for someone who claims to be so great, you're not exactly very smart." She catches him in the eye, then looks over at Raine.
A pause. ...... "So.... You picked her?" Gorsh gives the female a once-over. Why'd Xorn pick her? All she ever does is hang around with X. You never see her being of any use.. Why not pick someone less....

A low growl errups from Ulric's throat, "Just shut your trap Gorsh, nobody wants to hear your complaining." He turns his back on them, "I'll be back in five," he then runs into the forest.

When he locates the hunting ground, he is able to pick up the elk's sent very easily. He backs up, looking for a suitable tree. He finds one a few feet behind him, then quickly turns into his werewolf form. He looks up and grips the first branch of the tree , testing it. Then, with a flash fo fur he swings himself up onto the branch and poceeds to jump to the next tree, and the next, until he is above the tree where the elk is located. He prepares to jump, then soundlessly launches himslef toward his prey. It notices, but it is far too late. He lands behind it, cracking his claws. The animal falls to the ground with a thump, a small ammount of blood spraying form the multipe blows that Ulric made on diffrent areas of it's body.
It is still alive, he knows, but that is what is speaial about Ulric's hunting ability. He targets his prey's musltes and tendons so that it is unable to move. He is then able to bring it back to his packmates alive, so the blood is still fresh.
He smiles, then recalls the time Gorsh ruthlessly killed the elk hunting not a few days ago. He sighs, So reckless.., but dismisses the thought.
Grabbing the elk by it's legs, he heaves it over his shoulder and makes his way back to the party.

When he arrives, he tosses the elk and it lands in the centre of the group with a crack, breaking all it's bones. "There you are, fresh as can you can get."

(I got bored >.<)

Xorn snarles. "Enough fooling around. I'm tired of it." She glares at Ulric and Gorsh. The Beta starts running east towards the mountains. At first it was an easy run, but as they got closer the forest drew thick and they had to slow. By nightfall they were barely over halfway to the mountains. "We can't go any further." Xorn said after the fifth time she'd almost ran in front of a tree. "I can't see two damn feet in front of me, and there are trees everywhere. We'll have to find Tanis in the morning." Her dissapointed look is obvious to all. She was hoping to at least make it to the mountains. "We're going to need food, and the best person for this sort of job is the hunters. Ulric, I'm fairly certain you and Raine have a better sight than anyone here. So you two need to go." She starts to face the others when she looks back at Ulric, "I certainly hope you can keep up with her." She smirks.

She looks at the silent one and tilts her head slightly as he avoids her gaze. She gives a nod at everyone in the group, including Gorsh who seemed to be looking at her smugly. Suddenly she felt very unwelcome, and it wasn't even as if she told anyone but X that she was U.K.R. But she had no time to figure outwhy she was getting unpleasent looks, for they were off in search of Tanis.
***
She looked at Ulric who seemed to be astonished that Raine could hunt. But it did not matter, he had another hunter to help out. They started to full out sprint, wanting to be back soon. She quickly pulled ahead of Ulric manouvering quicker around the trees. Suddenly they found a bunch of sleeping deer near a lake. She remained low and kept to the trees waiting for the lead hunter's signal. But bfore they could act it started to pour unexpectedly. Thunder and Lightning souded and the deer awoke, now frightened and jumpy. Their senses were now on full alert. But this posed no problem. Raine spawned her 'hologram' and made it walk to the opposite end of the forest line, then she made it sprint forward scaring the deer towards her and Ulric. They both advanced on the deer, though Ulric seeming surprised yet again.

The thunder and lightning came as a surpriseto Xorn, and she had made it rain herself. When it started, the other two wolves looked at her wondering why she did it. She just shrugged and let it pour. It'll teach them a lesson for them to lay in the rain all night. It seemed cruel, but she was only toughning them up so she did not stop it.

He lays on a ledge in the distance. He loved coming here at night and being able to see everything that happend. It was his sanctuary. Tanis looked out onto the wood to see a small herd of deer on the edge of a lake. It made the scene even more peaceful then it already was. When the rain started he knew the thunder and lightning would not be far after, so he retreated into the mountain's cave knowing that the mountains almost collapsed evrey time there was a storm.

Midway through sprint, Ulric pushed himself into the air and forced a transformation. he had always prefered his werewolf form over his wolf form. It just felt more natural, even if there was nothing natural about his apearence.
He lands right as the deer are aproching. He dashes and takes down one deer, striking it's mustles. It colapses, still alive. He lands , looking over his shoulder at Raine, who had already disbatched her kill. "Hm, not bad." He flashes a smile. "Now let's hury back to the rest." He shakes himself, spraying water droplets.
With the deer slung over his shoulder, he begins to walk back in the direction of the others. "C'mon Raine, let's go."

Gorsh looks to the sky and growls, "Damn weather. I hate rain." She sighs, then looks in the direction Ulric and Raine took, then back to Xorn. "This is going to take some time... We don't even know where Tanis is. Did Ulric say he was going to be in the mountains? Plus..." She sighed, 'There's the matter of crossing that massive body of water... How are we going to pull that off? " Gorsh stands up and moves under a nearby tree for shelter from the storm. "Humph.. Those two better get back here soon."

He lays curled up under a tree near Gorsh and Xorn, his tail over his nose. He sighs, annoyed at Gorsh and her constant inpacence and complaining. Why was she so loud? There was no need to speak...
He closes his eyes, removing the thought and attempting to get some sleep.


As he sleeps, he dreams. He dreams of runnning, running away form something. What is it? He does not know. Nor does he wish to find out. Though he has had this dream many times before, he is deeply afraid. Of what? Again, he does not know. Hurling winds and cold snow whip through his fur as he runs over the snow covered ground. He feels as if he is flying, but getting nowhere at all.
Suddenly, the wind stops. He is no longer running. He does not want to stop, but he canott go any further. He fears for his own sake, for his presuer is nearly upon him. Alas, he gives up and turns to face that which scares him.
Suddenly there is a scream. A peircing scream that silences all, even the wind. It streches on. And on... and on.. One munite.. two.. three.. ten..
An hour? More? Will it ever stop?
Yes, it will. It does. Alas, the anogy is over. .. Or...
Is it?
All is quiet.
There is a whisper. It is faint, but there..
Die... it says.
Why?
Die...!
But..?
Die!
What...?
Die!
He feels himself falling, falling..
An endless fall. The scream starts again.
Fear, agony, despair...
Why?

Mort's eyes snap open. He does not painc however, doesn't even show any signs of what has just happened. His ears perk as he hears arpoching pawsteps. He raises his head. Raine and Ulric apear from the bush. He looks at her, and she looks at him. He did not understand her, for she did not seem to mind his eyes. Yes, his eyes. All six of them, the three on each side. He had been told that nobody would ever accept him. Nobody would ever love him.
He apreciated Raine at that moment, simply for looking back at him, as no one had ever done before.

She returns Mort's Gaze, her tail flicking with curiosity. She brings over a chunk of deer meat to him and starts ripping some off for herself. She nudges the large peice over to Mort when he doesn't start eating eating. Raine's eyelids slowly start to get heavier, and heavier until she finally fell asleep.