Pad, pad, pad (open)

[ShadowReine]

The blue wher made his way, his wings closely folded to his sides, out of his den alone. He knew not to go near any place he might bump into a holder, but rather was trotting away from the hold.

He also knew where he was and was not allowed to hunt. He knew that the human hatchlings found him fascinating...and that their parents did not exactly agree. That the parents, for their part, would snatch them and pull them away if Silisk did not back off. That they did not trust him. He knew that somewhat pained His, but he also knew that she refused to let herself care too much about it.

His was a good human. She appreciated him. But he knew that if he was going to hunt, he would have to get a good distance away. And he really did wish one of the other whers would come with him. His was good company, but she was human and did not quite understand just how much fun it was to catch a fat wherry for yourself.

[Sparrow]

Parisk crept along behind Silisk, although she wasn't so much worried about being seen by him as she was by her handler. He didn't much approve of her tendency to acquire and mangle objects that turned up when she was out, and in the Hold... there were a lot of things to be found. People left things all over here. She liked that.

Right now though, Parisk was more interested in where Silisk was headed, guessing it was very likely hunting. She liked that even more. Soon enough they were beyond easy finding distance, and Parisk picked up the pace, trotting and then breaking into a lope, the thought occurring to her that perhaps she should get warmed up for hunting by pouncing on Silisk.

She thought better of the idea a bit late, realizing that by now Silisk was probably entirely aware of her presence, and had to more or less trip herself to stall her pounce.

Probably not the best way to start off a hunting trip.

[ShadowReine]

Silisk turned and mock-snarled as a tangled ball of green slid into him. Not that he cared. Parisk was not, after all, a bad green to have around, hunt with or, for that matter, chase when the time came.

His handler didn't care who he chased, at least. She understood that a green-ichored blue had to chase a green every so often. With one more clearly-feigned snarl at the smaller wher, he began to pad off again towards his planned destination. He knew she was sure to follow...and two whers were better than one when it came to taking down substantial prey.

The blue was no fool.

[Sparrow]

Parisk snapped teasingly at Silisk's tail after untangling herself and getting back on her feet. She wasn't at all put out by all of Silisk's snarling, but was just as willing to mock-do things. That was hardly anything new for her, or any wher really.

There would be no mock-attacking once they found prey though, and Parisk kept alert for the scent of it. She wasn't entirely sure where they were going, nor had she paid significant attention to where they were, being far too focused on stalking Silisk, so she didn't know quite what to expect to come upon.

Wherries were usually a safe guess, and so long as she could stay on her feet, they would probably have one soon enough. In fact, she would make sure of it. Silisk was not only a hunting partner but a male, and she had already looked foolish in front of him once more than she meant to.

[ShadowReine]

Not that Silisk did not want even more to look smart in front of a green. Females chose, after all, and while he wasn't sure when Parisk would run again, he intended to chase her when she did.

Stalk. Stalk. Ah yes. This was the spot...a meadow where wherries tended to roost. They were a lot harder to catch during the day, but at night, if you sneaked up on them in the right manner. With a second wher, he could flank them properly, and he moved out to do that, trusting the green to stop snapping at his precious tail and do her part.

Food first.

Then play.

Maybe other things later, if he impressed her enough that she remembered it.

[Sparrow]

Parisk raised her head when she picked up the scent of wherries. Yes. Good. She was hungry. They were far better prey than Silisk's tail, which was, in fact, scooting off in another direction.

Food. That was the priority. Another wherry-scented breath reminded her of that. Parisk slunk away, prepared to flank, scare, chase... eat. But these birds weren't caught yet, and if she wanted them to be she needed to focus.

Or maybe she could just provide a frightening if rather inept wall and leave the work up to Silisk. Surely he was a very capable blue. Where was he, anyway? She was, to an extent, remember the task at hand, but maybe team hunting would be more effective if she knew where her partner was. She had followed him this whole way only to lose him.

The wherries though. She wouldn't lose those. Silisk would turn up.

[ShadowReine]

What Silisk was doing was circling around the wherries. As they caught the blue's scent...which would also be blown towards the green, reminding her of where her impromptu hunting partner was, they started to flush. At least some would head right for Parisk.

They smelled good, what Silisk had caught, but as he moved upwind of them, he lost their scent and Parisk's. She had better still be on the other side, because he needed her to grab these nice, fat wherries. They must have been feeding on the hold's crops...wherries did things like that.

[Sparrow]

Parisk snapped to attention when the wherries started moving. Yes. Right. That was where Silisk was. Why was she the one catching the prey? Maybe she should have gone the other way. Not that she minded a good opportunity to catch something, but she wasn't sure what she thought of being the that was relied on.

No time for contemplating that though. Silisk had done her part, and a frightened wherry was getting far too close to her to ignore. Parisk turned, sprang, missed. The startled wherry squawked and pounded away.

Nevermind. He had been a scrawny one anyway.

Lying low, Parisk crept toward a second wherry. This one seemed more hesitant, and Parisk could see why. One of its wings hung limp, and likely the leg hidden behind it was bashed up too. He had lost one fight and now he would lose another. She pounced, barreling into the injured limbs, knocking it off balance. She found its neck quickly enough.

One down.

[ShadowReine]

Meanwhile, one of the wherries tried to take off ahead of Silisk, but was too slow, the blue pouncing on it. A side swipe with his talons took care of the frightened bird.

Two more, the blue thought, should be more than enough for a green and blue...and his handler didn't appreciate it when he brought leftovers home to her. Like most humans, she had the silly idea that meat should be cooked.

Totally stupid that, but then, humans had no talons and virtually no teeth, so...maybe they had their reasons for being so silly about it.

[Sparrow]

Parisk galloped behind a second wherry. It appeared to be dragging its feet a bit, but was still quick. Not quick enough though, and she tackled it, making short work of this one as well.

Well, two wherries was more than enough for her. Surely Silisk had caught something himself too. The pack of wherries was beginning to run thin by now too. Unfortunately, prey animals were particularly experienced in making it away from a spot in record time.

Parisk was ready to start eating. Where was Silisk now? She set to snuffling her way towards him.

[ShadowReine]

There he was, dragging one large wherry and one smaller one with him. Anything that was left over would be eaten rapidly enough, by the firelizards when dawn came if nothing else.

With a tilted head towards the green, he tore into one of them...the rest of the pack were now long gone, and their nesting ground belonged to the whers. For the night, anyway. Before dawn he would be back in his nice, cozy den.

That was one of the advantages of having a human. They built such nice dens.