bear

@Faust !

---

Whatever had been before, had been lost in sleep.

In the earliest of the morning, the sun had not yet sloped down the mountainsides in full. Not yet high enough to shine upon all of the lands. It laid long shadows across the lower slopes of the roost's walls.

As he stood partially up the mountain side, eyes down into the valley. He could not help but wonder what lived below.

A large collection of moving elk could be spotted from here alone. Smaller from this distance, but recognizable all the same. Surely something lived here that hunted them, feasted upon them and their bounty. Yet the spots of the mountain that hollowed into caves perhaps forewarned what might feast upon the cervidae of the roost.

He chuffed lowly, shook his coat free of debris at once, then moved onward.

Path in search of a fresher scent that he thought he found.

the staff team luvs u

---

architect

The discovery of the Roost over the mountain peaks was no easy task. Faust's paws had already been refined due to the texture of his previous...previous life, so there had been no cuts or bruises there. But his shoulders burned as he would hoist himself over the mountaintops, and then back down once more.

The valley, he would admit, was stunning. The hollows he passed as he made his descent were perfectly carved out for hidden hideaways and defenses. This could be a home. The thought bubbled in his head. And more so, the grass had been green and the encircling conifer trees even greener. There had been a lake, smaller in size than most, at the center of the Roost with river rapids tailing out of it.

When he met the bottom, there had been a masculine scent that hit his nose. Birch and pine. Almost water like.

The man was older than he was. More experienced, surely. With careful steps, Faust would begin to approach him, but his eye was caught by a traveling herd of elk. Elk with babies, and Faust realized that he had been starving.

"New to these parts?" He would ask, his posture relaxed, wanting to ask him an even better question.

the staff team luvs u

The voice cut sharp against his ears.

Not for its harshness, not for anger or dominance. It was the tongue. The common words running like harsh canyons along his brain. The man that caught his eye was...relaxed. Both mountain men if looks did not deceive, but apparently of different cloth all the same.

New was not so strange a word.

So he heaved out a single word response with a polite nod of his head in following — “Yes.”

And then he gaze turned out again, even if it should not have. He should have remained on guard. Yet the movement of the elk below tempted him too. Little ones could be picked off with ease between two — assuming none cherished their babe enough to swing antlers at huntsmen.

“Yours?”

He asked his own simple question now as he fixed a gaze upon the man again. A new face was welcomed for what felt like the first time.

the staff team luvs u

The pair of men stood idly for a moment, both of them watching the elk in a unified moment. A primal moment shared between common animals. Together, they could easily take down a calf and gorge themselves on its core. Embers crackled in his stomach, contracting, and he knew that is what he wanted to do.

"Yes." He would nod his head in return. So, they had both been new. Perfect. It would be a stupid question to ask if there had been other packs lingering around this territory, but it seemed moot of any scent bubbling around the air. It was just them, and the tempting elk on the ridge below. Unknowing, ignorant creatures that could fill their bellies with a few quick, tenacious bites.

"You hungry?" He would ask the male, his attention not leaving the herd. It would after a second to make eye contact with him. A firm understanding that hoped he would get. "I don't mind sharing."

the staff team luvs u

Hunger.

He had not failed to notice the own way his body held onto the feeling, as if he had never had a meal in his life. As if he had awoken with an emptiness in each part of him. Mind, soul, stomach. He cared little about the first two and more for the latter.

Especially as they seemed in agreeance about this thing.

“Hunt. Together.” His voice rose from the back of his throat, husky and deep. He knew his words would clunk against each other like swords clashing and yet he too felt confident enough that his message was clear. He would let the younger man take charge here upon these new slopes.

Prvak, for his age and experience, had to acknowledge that the land was new as himself. That he could not navigate this man's winding home as well. Even if he yearned to know the mountain paths and the rivers that carved through. It was no winter dream, but it held beauty all the same.

the staff team luvs u

It was music to the furyborn's ears to put together pieces of his sentence. A mutual understanding for the time being,it seemed, would bind them for such a earnest task. Depending on how it went, he may want him to stick around for longer. If he wished.

"Together." Faust would reconfirm with his own diligent confidence. Without another word, he would take the lead and descend down the mountain at an off-angle. He would choose the route that kept them the most hidden in the treeline, and have his feet ebbed carefully as if they were walking on clouds. Silent. Silent is what they needed to be.

Luckily, their coats blended into the mountainside as best they could. While Faust's bolt of lightning of creams and gold could stick out, he made sure to keep his head firmly upright. Keeping his blonde tint out of sight.

The end of the ridge came quickly with the beat of their paws. Faust slowed himself to a halt, lowering his body into the brush. From here, they were towards the flank of the herds of elk. Spread out were the cows with their calves— hidden away were the calves in other bushes not far from their mothers. They hid them there whilst they grazed. Or when they were wary about danger.

They didn't look all that worried.

"Your pick."

the staff team luvs u

Together.

Prvak named the man prvi lovac — first hunter in his head. For the boy took the lead without asking or fussing. He proved to know the groves of the land — or if he did not, he seemed to know them very well.

Together they went down the mountainside along the overgrowth and thick trees. Prvak excelled in the shadows in his mute tones and swarthy coating. The prvi lovac was more like living earth. Deep waters and warm grounds. He did not think that the elk would fuss much if they caught the shine of either of them. Not when they all looked so healthy and neat. Nothing had spooked their herd in too long, he thought.

But there was a calf.

Content to be curious of the world as children ought to be. Yet these were not children of their blood. Their curiosity mattered little to the great man and his prvi lovac.

He jutted sharp with his nose towards the one that had dared to stray just enough to be truly vulnerable. Perhaps one in a bush would have been easier, but one in the clearing could be better to chase away from its herd.

the staff team luvs u

Faust waited but a moment for the male to pick out which spectacle of the herd would be theirs.

He didn't have to wait long.

Faust glanced towards the male at his flank, only a brief once over, before he'd let out a huff and a nod of his head. It was a good choice. The calf had been on the outskirts of the herd, its mother ( he assumed ) grazing a distance away from it, her back turned. There was a moment where Faust wondered if these animals had any true predators hidden in the caverns of the Roost, or if they were simply in a lofty heaven of their own blessed making.

  He didn't care all that much again once he felt his stomach rumble.

"You look stronger," Faust breathed lowly."I can go for the bite if you hold it down."

One way or another, Faust imagined the plan could work. If it meant humbling himself before this stranger, then so be it. It was a fact. He did look stronger. There weren't many other details that he thought this beast of a man would need— they'd flesh out the details once the chase actually began.

It was in his cards now, not Faust's. The minute that he would leap to his feet, he would follow.

the staff team luvs u

He did not...fully understand.

Something about strength.

Yet he figured talk mattered little when they must hunt. Their discussion could happen in the physical. At once, Prvak made to move when the man fell silent once more. He knew that soon the cows would frenzy, that they would seek to protect the ones they could. He wished to split this one off from its herd and hope that no mother was vengeful enough to chase them too. If she was wise, she would know her years would give her more calf and that one gone was not such a tragedy.

He was feral in such simplistic ways.

The calf bleated, frenzied by the dawning of its end. Prvak only tunneled in further and harder. Snapped teeth at its soft legs, prepared for when a launch upon it could be made.

the staff team luvs u

Simple enough, the man seemed to understand. Ossȳngagon dyni — Terrifying beast.  When his feet soared, so did Faust's. In a unified motion, Faust would subtly think about keeping pace. Together. But his focus remained on where the dyni was heading.

He is going in. Faust lagged behind, sure to not get in his way. Faust kept watch of flummering cows, attempting to get in their way. There had been only one, the mother he assumed, who made a singular attempt to charge towards his dyni, but with a snarl and snap of his jowls, she backed off in an instant, giving up on her precious creation.

And then the man the color of stone bit into the legs of the calf. It stammered, mewled for release, but Faust did not hesitate as he launched his body on it, crushing it with his weight. With a secured bite around its neck, he'd clamp down and hold himself there. Waiting, waiting, until it's breath left its chest.
 

could make one more post of the calf struggling so you get a third point?

---

the staff team luvs u

this should be good then i think! :D

---

It was weak beneath the bodies of mountain men.

Prvak worked his teeth against soft muscle and bone. He clambered over it, even as he felt it try to kick hard against his ribs. One leg laid against the earth and the one beneath him was wounded. It could not fight as much as it wanted to.

Especially not as prvi lovac — first hunter would end it. He trusted the other man to stay steadfast in this final act. There was no reason to not.

Then they could feast and watch as the elk carried on elsewhere. Not knowing that this would surely not be the last time they were plucked apart.

the staff team luvs u

perfect

---

The calf squirmed a few more times over. Thrashing from side to side. A sorry excuse of an attempt to relinquish itself from the jaws of such a beast, a pair of them rather. The other male had it locked down beneath his weight and teeth pinching the inside of its legs. It would not escape.

The life slipped away quickly. Its breath halted and there was nothing left except a delectable meal that could be shared between them.

Faust removed his jaws from its tight clamp around the calf's neck, blood gracing his teeth. He'd shift to stand, taking a step backward. He would nod towards this comrade. Hopeful, comrade.

"Eat." He'd gesture towards the recent kill. Hoping he would accept, Faust would wait. He would wait but have his eyes on the traveling herd that didn't even glance backward once more at them. Untouched prey. The Star Mother continues to provide— but he sensed a balance at play. Avitas was playing in her shadow. A stupid mistake could have this ripped away from him. He knew that.

They would never take more than they would give.

"What is your name?" He would ask the male, his attention not leaving the herd. He must know, now, seeing the skills that he possessed.

the staff team luvs u

He did not need to be told twice.

Nor was he shy in gorging himself before prvi lovac — first hunter when it had been offered. Prvak never once looked a gift horse in the mouth. Yet still he was mindful of just how much he consumed. Left some good pieces for the good hunter, a sign of respect in his eyes. Nutrient rich parts were vital for creatures like them.

Few in numbers.

He entertained the idea for a moment. A life among the nestled slopes of the roost. He could tend to the high mountain reaches, come down for hunting and gathering when it was called upon. It was not his place to decide such things though. This he understood deeply.

“Prvak.”

His name rolled as a heady exhale.

“I think you prvi lovac —” His eyes twinkled warm despite the way he clambered over his words. “But not name. What is?”

the staff team luvs u

The mountain beast gorged himself. In a good way. It was a safe assumption that he had been just as hungry as he was, but Faust showed restraint. He would make sure this male, older male, got his share first. It was the courteous thing to do.

The name that spilled from his lips was far from any origin that Faust had been aware of. He then heard it too— a heavier accent. Their conversations, if you could call them that, had been reduced to mere words. But now, as he attempted to string a sentence together, he could hear the gruff of a foreign tongue that grazed his lips.

Prvak. Faust nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Faust."

He wondered what...what did he say? Prvi lovac, what did that mean? Faust thought better than to ask what it had meant...but his mind wandered, wandered to fantasize about what its meaning held. The beast of the Vale would let himself fall quiet once more, brushing his feet lightly against the blades of grass. With a swift move, then, he would begin to bite down on the rich, nutrient-filled parts of the calf. It was only moments before most of it had been scarfed down and his face drenched in blood.

"You should stay." Faust said unexpectedly, lifting his head, then spitting a small bone out from the side of his cheek. "Here. With me."

the staff team luvs u

Faust.

It did not match the name he had bestowed upon the man, but that was okay. Prvak would still think of him as prvi lovac, even if his mother had dawned him a name of another tongue. Prvak was content to be wayward now, to lay aside while the Faust had his own fill.

He simply listened to the world around them. How it turned silent now with the distance of the herds, how the morning sun warmed his darker hues in a way that was not entirely unpleasant. Still he yearned to climb back up to the high reaches of the slopes around them. Still he closed his eyes and dreamed of winter.

His ear flicked softly as he looked at the young man who spoken once more.

Stay. Here. With me.

This was a concept he understood. Some part of him might have held a suspicion on it. Why did the young prvi lovac wish for the old gorski čuvar — mountain guard to linger in his roost? Yet he saw the other side too. A young man needed bodies to send to hunts and wars. A young man needed bodies to make his claim. Prvak had proved to hunt, to listen to the hunter.

Both of them had come away content and fed.

“Prvak can stay.” He drawled slowly, thoughtful in the way he parsed through his thoughts to words. “What need?”

the staff team luvs u

For a moment, a flash of panic roared through the furyborn's blood. What if he said no? He didn't know Prvak's sides of morality— or if he had any to begin with. So when the words of acknowledgement and agreement left his lips, Faust let out a breath he did not know that he was holding.

"Guardians. Protectors that fight." He would offer to him, keeping his sentences short. He thought it was a bit odd that the man referred to himself by his own name, but it could be the fault of the language barrier. He'd shrug off the thought and keep his attention on him.

Faust would look out to the stretch of the Vale before them. It was truly beautiful. It was a place where he could imagine his home. A place where a family could be born— if he so chose to have one. All he could ever want more was his friends at his side.

"We can explore?" Faust would ask, hoping that the male would agree. If he had, Faust would do everything in his power to keep him safe, too.

---

recruiter — end after your next post?

the staff team luvs u

Guardian was not a title he had given himself.

Yet he had worn the role in different names. A champion, a warrior, a knight. Prvak itself spoke to his feats in lives before the Roost. While he could not retire those days entirely, he could focus his passion upon these lands now. A gargoyle to their stony slopes to make sure none ever breached their little kingdom.

He chuffed low and warm, accepted the role given to him from this point forward.

He rose at once, attentive in both his gaze and stance. The cut of a man who had done the things that Faust asked of him. Yet one who opted for a peaceful afternoon first. To explore the roost on their full bellies and know peace before any chaos breathed upon them.

He prayed it never did.

the staff team luvs u