Sira had a rare ghost of a grin on his maw as he made his way to the place he'd chosen in the pride lands. He rather agreed with the random method of who one was paired with. After all, a leader should be able to work with any, no matter the circumstances. But the gray cub couldn't help but wonder WHO he would be paired with for the hunt.
He finally reached the spot and sat, waiting for his partner to come along. He'd seemed to avoid most of the awkwardness that came between ages...but his limbs were still perhaps a little too long, and his paws a little too big...Though by the way he'd been walking, he'd learned to take that into account. Mori'earsira was prepared for whatever challenges lay ahead.
Merilin'iel was a proud, quiet girl who lived much between her own furry grey ears, but had grown from a strange cub -- had somewhat come into the oddness of her personality. It had likely not made her any friends among her siblings and the remainder of the pack, but she had been careful to avoid making enemies where she could. If she was lucky, she thought with some wry amusement, her partner would be someone that she did not dislike. She padded toward the familiar figure on soft paws -- she had spent much of the past days thinking things over, rolling around the possibilities, counting up the outcomes as they could come up with, and she was pleased with the thoughts she had settled on. "Partner," she called quietly, marking her approach with the officialness of the business they were about, and flashing the white points of her teeth in a greeting.
Ah...Merilin'iel. She he could deal with easily enough. Perhaps she was withdrawn from the others, but he did not dislike her. Just didn't know her too well. Perhaps that would change one day. He nodded in greeting. "Shall we get started, sister?" The sooner they started, the sooner they would find a suitable prey-beast. Sira had seen water-buffalo at a distance before...Even a young one would test their skills.
"As you wish, brother." The emphasis was on the last word -- Meri knew as well as any what was in store, and though she was sturdy, she was perhaps less used to being very physical than some of her siblings. Calling on their sibling bond for solidarity was not a bad idea, she thought, just in case they ran into trouble -- and she knew well what trouble could befall them. "Have you scouted for prey?"
Sira nodded. "A bit. It's why I chose this area. Prey that shall prove a test of our skill...but shouldn't be so impossible as to give us failure." Let his half-siblings go for sheer glory. He knew how to pick his battles. "The individual beast however...is for us to mark together." He stood and shook himself a bit. "The herd is this way." With that, he padded off silently into the grasses.
Failure isn't an option, thought Meri, but it didn't come out -- it sat, heavy as a stone, in the back of her head, and brought determination into her violet eyes. Without speaking, she only nodded and followed behind her brother with her head down and her steps measured, to let him lead, but with her own senses keen and sharp for sounds and motion.
Once they were within a few yards of the herd, he stopped and crouched low. His red eyes searched the herd, making note of any stragglers and their physical state. Seeming mental state too. One seemed far too out of sorts...that one was to be avoided. Creatures like that tended to have nothing to loose...and they were very dangerous at that point. There were a couple likelier candidates however...One young one was limping, another was a bit on the smaller side. He pointed them out to Meri silently, eyes asking which she would go after. He wanted to make this a joint decision...not just rush into it.
Slinking up low, belly in the grass at her brother's side, Meri scanned the herd -- her brother's picks seemed suitable, she mulled to herself. The smaller buffalo might be quicker at a burst of speed, she thought, if weaker over time. But the limping one would likely not be able to get away as swiftly should the strike not be as precise as they'd like, though it looked healthier overall. Still, they'd only get one easy shot at this, and they needed to make sure that their kill was respectable... After a moment, she coiled in a bit, and indicated the limping beast with a flick of one black-tipped paw, her ears flattening back against her head. Still, it would be a risk. Meri knew her own strength, and it was not enough to do the job at hand. She found herself grateful for the presence of her brother, despite her own pride.
Once his sister made her choice, he nodded. He'd been thinking of that one himself. Smaller beasts tended to be weaker...but they also got away more often. And though they were cubs, he doubted they could attempt another kill with the same ferocity of their first try. They needed to get it right THIS time. He started for the chosen beast, belly low to the ground and the slight breeze in his face, rather than against his back. No sense in alerting their prey to their presence too soon...Once he knew they'd gone as far as they could without being detected, he motioned to the buffalo's legs. If they could topple him, they would have the killer advantage.
There was a nod, and Meri sank lower, muscles bunching beneath her dark coat. A low noise sounded in the furry throat and her violet eyes met her brother's bright red ones -- lifting her tail, she gave a rather ladylike growl before springing with clean, tight precision (for her age, of course) toward the long, powerful legs, aiming to take out the ones that were not lame before the limping one.
Sira followed suite not a second after his sister, his own deeper growl joining hers. The legs she did not hit, he did. Working in tandem would keep the beast off guard and keep them on top. With claws worked to toughness by training, he went after one of the buffalo's unharmed legs, running them down the inside of the leg as the beast started to try and remove them menaces from him. Sira let out a cry of triumph as he felt his claws rip through vital muscles.
Fierce pleasure tore through Meri's stomach, but she wrestled it down, sharp claws tearing into furred flesh as she all but climbed the buffalo, making for the vulnerable throat once the legs were red ruins. The pale grey marks on her muzzle were soon soaked in the valuable and life-sustaining blood of the floundering, fallen creature as it bellowed and bleated.
Sira barely kept himself from falling to bloodlust...but the grin on his maw was indication enough of his state of mind. As his sister went for the throat, he went to its face, swiping at its eyes and muzzle before it could try and n** at its killer. He would keep its attention on his larger form while Meri dealt the death blow. He could more easily shrug off the pain if it managed to get him.
Her still-dainty jaws found the place where the angry, panicking creature's voice rose from, and with pleased efficiency and a savage growl, Meri locked her jaws over that spot, feeling the satisfying sink of her teeth into the warm vulnerable flesh. Her head tossed, yanked and pulled until she felt her mouth filled. Blood splattered; it soaked her dark fur, and she would have been finicky if victorious joy hadn't filled her. The poor creature's last sounds came as wet wheezes as it writhed its last. Her claws sank in deep, forcing out a final gasp before it stilled.
Sira chuckled, a vicious sound coming from him. "I do believe we've won, sister." He took a final swipe at the water buffalo's face. "I certainly wouldn't mind hunting with you again." They worked well as a team...perhaps that would come to their advantage later on in life.
