Quote from Skyelre on January 31, 2020, 1:07 am

Saber had made it to the stairs and was taking a breather when he heard the faint sound of someone entering the cabin from below. He listened intently, hearing the person shuffle through some things before heading back out in a short matter of time. Saber waited a moment, listening for if the person would come back, but the cabin remained silent.

Satisfied by the stillness, he slowly began to make his descent down the stairs. He was still down on his hands and knees as he climbed down backwards, keeping his body low so if his strength gave way there was hardly a fall to take. By the tail end however, he was collapsing after every step down, having to rest for a moment before moving down to the next step. His muscles were giving in.

Once he was down at the last step, he managed to push himself up for another break. He slumped up against the wall as he sat on the final step, his arms now resting on his legs. A new rash had now appeared on his fingers of one of his shaking hands, as the one on his face had grown slightly bigger and brighter now. He gasped for breath as his muscles burned, exhaustion woven into his knitted brows. He wearily tried to look around but the world seemed blurred and incoherent. His head was feeling light, his face pale and sweaty.

He closed his eyes as his consciousness slowly began it's own decent down, soon to be lost in sleep. Still, there was something in the back of his mind he could hear that seemed like it was tapping on a window trying to get his attention. Only now was it lightly acknowledged in his tired state as he slowly realized it had been trying to get his attention all along. His last conscious thought was that it was something that needed to be remembered.

For the slumbering soul, time passes without warrant. How long Saber was out was unknown. Once the front door of the cabin was heard again however, his eyes opened as he was quickly snapped back into reality. He stared toward the sound as his body tensed, but he had no strength to move- he was trapped.

Quote from Adriana on January 31, 2020, 3:51 pm

Logan put a dish towel over the meats and stored them in the fridge. She contemplated putting some in the freezer, but she'd do that later. The current task at hand-was her hands. And arms. Clothes, too..

"Agh," she mumbled, and a bitter sounding word in an unfamiliar language came out of her mouth following her groan. She was staring down at her arms as she walked towards the steps, "What was even the meaning of a bath-ehh... pointless.." she grumbled absentmindedly. The animal blood on her arms and clothes masked the strangers scent well, and it wasn't until she almost stepped on the man that she noticed his presence, which caused her to flinch back.

"Ahyumm..." wide eyed and confused, she pointed over her shoulder towards the kitchen, "There are meats, in the ice box."

Quote from Mae on February 1, 2020, 3:51 am

Earlier, Kratos stood aside to allow Logan the skin. When it became clear, however, that she would not only have the skin off, but have the entire animal cleaned and cut as well, the Alpha left her to it. He went out behind the cabins and was not seen again for more than an hour. When he returned, there was not an inch of his seven foot frame that was not coated in many layers of mud. He found Logan an equal sight to be seen, for she was red-faced, sweating from head to elbow, and utterly covered in Elk blood. Yet, her work was in far better form. The carcass was cut out cleanly, with several pounds of meat stacked, and the undesirable parts set aside.

Logan hefted the meat up in her arms and carried it inside, haunch-meat, back-meat, shoulder-meat and all. Kratos calculated the haul carefully as she passed. He estimated it was two hundred and thirty pounds of boneless meat. For a pack of werewolves it wasn't much, but it would do. Had hunting been less favorable yesterday morning, Kratos considered, the pack would be far worse off today.  The pack circled homeward when wild game began to take to their winter grounds. Now, it was time for the werewolves to consider a winter plan of their own.

As Logan took her unhinged meats inside, she gestured toward the bag of undesirables and let her sentence trail behind her. Kratos looked at the red bones of the elk she left. Then, he picked up the bag, and carried it into the woods.

There was more work to do...

Quote from Skyelre on February 1, 2020, 5:08 am

Saber was holding his breath, hands clasped tightly over his nose and mouth when Logan happened upon him. His head was down as his eyes were tightly shut. The only indication that he heard Logan was how he seemed to sink even lower as his knitted brows tightened.

Quote from Adriana on February 1, 2020, 11:24 am

Logan looked at the man, tilting her head and leaning forward if only briefly, to study the red patch on his cheek. She stood straight again and continued past him up the stairs. She’d come back down them within ten minutes, showered and wearing a pair of long cargo shorts and a relatively fresh tank top. She looked down the stairs for the boy.

Quote from Skyelre on February 1, 2020, 1:55 pm

Saber couldn’t stand even a minute of the smell. He heard Logan pass by him. He heard her move about on the upper level. But the distraction was hardly enough.

The smell was intoxicating to some part of him. It felt like the space around him was growing smaller, trying to suffocate his conscious mind. All the thoughts that were trying to consume him were growing louder and louder.

In an act of desperation, he got up- The adrenaline that was now coursing through his muscles letting him push past his limit, his mind suddenly alert. Despite the yelling in his head, he gave no heed to finding the meat that the blood had come from. Instead, he shakily stumbled over the furniture towards the front door, as he held his breath. He slipped out the door as he closed it forcefully behind him, gasping in the cool air of the outdoors. There was a problem though- although it was much lighter outside, he could still smell the blood.

His eyes grew wide as his conscious thought finally snapped. He turned to find the source of the smell but only saw the hide and antlers that lay off in the distance. He could tell the direction the remains of the beast had gone though.. But with only a few unsteady steps, his energy sharply declined and he blacked out.

Now a pile of exhaustion in the shape of a man lay in front of the cabin door, a new rash growing right next to his lips where his hand had been clasping before.

Quote from Adriana on February 1, 2020, 6:09 pm

Logan followed the strangers scent - now evident, with the smell of flesh and blood somewhat dissipated. She was able to trace his distinctive odor-sweat, laced with adrenaline and something else she couldn't quite place, something almost but not quite ill-to the front door, which she opened and stared down at the hapless pile of person. She touched his shoulder, then gripping it lightly, gave it a small shake. When he didn't move, she checked to make sure he was still breathing, then picked him up and hoisted him over a shoulder, gripping him at the back of his knees to balance his body-the difference in stature made this easy.

She followed Kratos' scent-also not a hard trail, considering she only need follow the smell of fresh mud and elk remains. With any effort, she would find the Alpha in good time..

Quote from Skyelre on February 4, 2020, 9:12 am

Saber's body was so worn out, he wouldn't be awake for a while;  For the one who tries to fight nature's order, nature will fight back to reclaim her own. If his conscious mind would not permit rest, then it must be absent to obtain it's desire. Now with the interference gone, the body set to mend itself. Still, the rash on his fingers and face would prove to be there a while.

Quote from Mae on February 8, 2020, 10:06 pm

Coming up the steep dirt slope behind the cabins the woods opened into an airy grove. There was more space between the trees here than in other areas of the wood, so that one might even see the peaceful green meadow beyond them. Likewise, the undergrowth was not as dense here as south of the cabins, and much of what did exist was trampled flat. Indeed, a great upheaval had taken place here. Behind the retaining wall, a huge amount of wet earth was dug up, leaving mounds of rich black soil displaced and compressed. The mud was lined by thick dark grooves; undoubtedly the claw marks of the displacer which rivaled a bear in size and shape.

Despite the evident destruction, however, the forest was beautiful. In the meadow yonder, late flowers were poking their colorful heads through the grass. Presently, a light breeze came passing through the branches overhead. The air was swallowed in the sound of water coming through a dark tunnel out of the ground. It smelled strongly of nourishing wet minerals and mountain earth. The stream hurried on at a loping speed, winding its way across the meadow, and out of the forest to join the Monvac river far south of the fields.  Laying on the streambed, smooth round stones could be seen glistening beneath its shimmering white surface. It seemed Phantom Mountain always disguised its chaotic nature under a mask of tranquility and alluring beauty.

Kratos was not far from here. The scent, or trail the Alpha left in his wake, was prevalent in the area. Many bushes had been broken and some uprooted in his passing. The strange paw prints of the werewolf were left deep in the wet earth, going northward. Indeed, to one who could come and go as as silently the Calagathorm Alpha was known to do, the scale of destruction left behind was alarming.

Further north, the great werewolf was camped at the head branch of the stream. He lay on a empty bank of mud, much of the foliage having been washed away the night before. The cascading water well superseded its bed nearby, speeding over the dividing neck of land. Between two large trees the Alpha's mantle was strung, hanging like a king sized blanket out to dry. Its beautiful crimson side, hemmed in gold and dark patterns faced Logan as she approached. Though the sack of meat was nowhere to be found, the black werewolf was bent over the edge of the stream, with the rushing water running up over his large muzzle nigh his brow, and his forearms submerged to the elbow. His ear turned back when he heard Logan approach, and his head came up came up thereafter, water draining off his face and down his neck.

Now with his golden yellow eyes turned at her, Kratos looked at the sack of a man slung over her shoulder. Then he met her eyes, and after a moment in which his eyes communicated the thought, he said, "I don't understand, Logan. Was the elk not enough?"