[IC] The Pack of Vandrow (Always open!)

[Valkyr]

Amber stopped when she felt Klondike following her. She turned around and looked at him curiously. "Are you going to hunt rats with me?" She asked, half jokingly. She looked back at the direction Alkah had come from and continued walking. "We'd better try to be quick about it. Don't want Lila coming back before we're done."

[Aristocles]

"Yeah, let's just get it over with" Klondike replied, putting his nose to the ground and sniffing.

[Valkyr]

Amber kept her head low and followed Alkah's trail. It wasn't long before a second scent started appearing. She recognized it; the rats were nearby. The smell got stronger and stronger until—She stared at the rat that was only a few feet away. They stared each other down for approximately ten seconds before Amber lunged. She charged after the rat who squeaked in fear and ran. The rat nearly made it to a hole in the ground, but Amber's larger size was too big of an advantage. She caught up to it quickly and clamped down her jaws on the rat. Amber turned and faced Klondike happily. She cheerfully said something past the rat in her mouth. She then tightened her jaw and immediately killed the rat by breaking its spine. She turned away and wandered around the tiny clearing she had wandered into. She examined the ground, looking for the rest of the rat dens while she chewed and gnawed at the rat still held in her jaw.

[Aristocles]

Klondike dashed over to the spot where Amber had killed the rat and he found several others. The silver wolf dashed after them, paws outstretched and fangs bared. Killing a big one with a single bit of his powerful jaws, he wondered if hunting rats was proper for a wolf. Such actions reminded him of his cubhood, when killing a rodent was a real accomplishment. Then his dismissed those notions. Meat was meat, and a rat would fill his stomach as well as anything else. Besides, he knew very well that he could not afford to be picky, even in the spring. "Good find, Amber!"

[GhostWing]

Lila slinked her way closer to the source of the scent. It was one she had smelled before, but it was a long time ago when she was younger and was just starting to hunt with the patrols. Plus the scent had been old but the patrol leader had told them that it was humans and humans always brought trouble with them. There was a twig snap and Lila instantly dropped to her belly, flattening to the ground as she heard some more sounds. She hesitantly poked her head up and narrowed her eyes, seeing a group of them with those fur shelters. She turned tail and ran back to where she left Klondike and Amber, fixing a glare on the spot where they were SUPPOSED to have stayed. She put her nose to the ground and followed their scents, finding them easily. "I thought I said to stay put," She said to the pair.

[Aristocles]

"I'm glad to see you too" Klondike replied. "Seriously though, we were worried for you. Have you found the source of that smell?" he sniffed the air and detected that horrible smell again, even as he could not place the source of it. "You don't think it has anything to do with humans or something, do you Lila?"

[Valkyr]

Amber cheerfully started chasing the rats as well. She definitely felt like a cub again, but she didn't mind. It felt wonderful to have fun like this once in a while. She grabbed one of the fatter ones and tossed it up in the air. She stood on her rear legs and smoothly caught the rat in her jaws and crushed its skull. She landed back on all fours lightly and finished devouring the rat. "I thought I said to stay put," She heard Lila's voice. Amber cringed. Her ears flattened and her tail tucked between her legs. She had not expected Lila back so soon. They must have spent a lot more time chasing rats than she had expected. She slowly turned around and faced Lila. "Sorry..." She mumbled, blood messily dribbling out of her mouth. She sat back and decided to let Klondike talk to her.

[GhostWing]

"We need to get back to the dens, there are humans in these woods and Postremo needs to know. And for the record, when the patrol leader says stay put, it means stay put," Lila said, scolding the pair. She wasn't normally so serious, but humans were a very serious matter. "Ian and Jackie must be out hunting still, hopefully they'll return soon with something bigger but gather what rats you killed and haven't eaten yet and bring them along."

[Aristocles]

"Alright. We'll get them. If humans are around, rats may be the only thing we get to eat for a while" he ran back to the rat nest, and picked up another one that had been killed. He had heard of humans and from the stories, they sounded terrible. Once, they had been powerful, capable of shattering the Earth and sky. But whatever they did to break the world broke them as well.

[Valkyr]

Amber quietly picked up one of the dead rats that hadn't been eaten yet. Humans... Once the top predators, but they were still extremely dangerous. She shivered at the thought of the pack being found. She greatly regretted that the whole pack might only eat rats for the next few days. In fact, it might be much longer than that. Perhaps just maybe she'd be able to find something bigger later if Ian and Jackie didn't. "Hey," Amber spoke up, "Alkah's still around isn't he? Does he know?"

[GhostWing]

"Wait, Alkah is out here? On his own? Forget what I said, you two head back, I'll go and find him," Lila said, turning and raising her nose into the air before sniffing at the ground. "No detours. I mean it, just head straight back." She found the trail and took off at a run, hopefully Alkah wasn't too far away.

[Ancient Amen]

Postremo had came out of a bush and walked up to Lila and asked, "What did you say I couldn't hear what you guys were talking about, I was watching Amber and Klondike to observe them for a bit." Postremo could of sworn he heard Lila talk about humans and got a bit worried.

[Whitewolf]

Misty followed Postremo as he came out of the brush, not at all pleased to hear that there was humans about. Just when it looked like things were going to get easier for the pack too.

[GhostWing]

Lila stopped as she heard Postremo behind her and turned back. "Amber picked the scent up not to far from here, I investigated and there is a small group not far from here setting up their shelters by the meadow and now I've learned that Alkah is out hunting on his own, he doesn't know there's danger," She said.

[Ancient Amen]

Postremo knew there others that went out hunting as well which don't know that humans are near. "Okay I need you and Misty to go back to the pack while I go out and find the others quickly, and please don't worry I'll be back with the others safely." Postremo said to them. He couldn't believe that he has to deal with humans, he thought they all disappeared but he was wrong, there were more.

[Whitewolf]

Misty wasn't happy about being told to go back to the pack while Postremo went out to search for their missing members, but she knew that she had to do whatever was best for the pack, and Postremo always had the pack's best interests in mind. She turned to Lila. "Are you ready to go?" she asked the other she-wolf.

[Valkyr]

Amber sighed and, tightly holding onto the rat she had, followed instructions and started making her way back to their den. "Come on, Klondike," She mumbled dejectedly. There had to be something they could do. Humans were the top predators, sure, but they lost their power. They were weak now. She just knew if the pack coordinated, they would be able to easily defeat the human survivors. Amber tilted her head. She was getting ahead of herself. She wasn't even allowed to go with the others yet. She was being told to return to the den like a cub. She lifted her lip angrily but made no noise as she headed back to the clearing.

[GhostWing]

Lila nodded her head in acknowledgement, padding over to Misty. "I'm ready, maybe we can find a couple of rabbits on our way back," She said, starting for home.

[Whitewolf]

Misty nodded, feeling her stomach growl again at the mention of food. She then followed Lila back towards the rest of the pack and the dens. She sniffed the ground, and stopped when she spotted a rabbit in the grass up ahead. She got down low and then charged and ran the rabbit down before it had a chance to make its escape. She picked the dead rabbit up in her jaws and started walking again.

[Polaris North]

Renzo headed for the entrance of the pack's home. They weren't much wolves left and as a pack wolf, he must protect the camp while the hunting parties were out. His ears, eyes and nose were all alert, trying to spot something that seemed out of the ordinary. There weren't even much noise besides the wind, the leaves rustling against it and some birds. Other small animals tend to scamper away once they know that there is a pack of wolves that has made their home in one place. He smelled a single rodent, a vole, nearby. His stomach suddenly growled. "Better eat something then..." He muttered to himself as he dropped to the ground and slowly approached where he had smelled the vole. Once he spotted it, he sprinted towards it and caught it. It was quite plump. He picked it up and headed for the entrance once more and began to eat. He waited for the hunting parties to get back.