Predatory Instincts

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There was a loud thud as a rabbit fell to the ground. A panting wolf with thick chocolate and gray colored fur panted and settled down next to her meal. The rabbit had given her quite some trouble as she had chased it and managed to corner it against some rocks before it escaped. Lyana licked her lips and dug into her meal with gusto as she lounged by her den while ribbing apart her prey with her sharp teeth. She paused to check the surrounding area, licking her muzzle while one paw rested on the half eaten meal. She thought she had heard something, but resumed eating the small prey hungrily.

"Weird...they might be getting pushed over." She also got him thinking about it. Rabbits were like a failsafe. He was hoping that they would stay in the feild. Hunting would be too tricky if rabbits weren't in a pattern.

Lyana's ears twitched at his comment. "Pushed over by what exactly?" If rabbits were fleeing, there was clearly something moving into their territory. The little critters had a habit of being able to live even with humans around them. Was something taking over so many rabbit homes, or scaring them off, that they were looking for a safe place on the other side of the river? "I need to see this." She finally said after a long pause. "Whatever this is chasing them out, well I have a feeling it'll be coming here sometime in the future. And I'm not standing against it unprepared."

"Whatever is, I don't want to meet it. But I heard a roaring a distant off. With some tree's snapping. Smelled bad too...But planning would be a good idea." He agreed.

Roaring? Trees snapping? There's no possible way a moutain lion could be that strong. Or even a bear for that matter. Lyana had never seen any animal break a tree completely. Whatever this was, she felt her fur tingle nervously, it sounded strong. "But if one is careful, they can at least scout out whatever it is that can break trees. Whatever... That thing may be. It doesn't sound like it could be any animal I know of."

"It literally didn't sound like an animal either...." The more he thought about it the more it worried him, his hair stood on end. He hadn't stayed long enough to glimpse whatever it was, even if he did he probably wouldn't have wanted too.

Lyana had finally made a decision. "I'm going to see what it is. If it affects my prey, I want to know what's making it so hard to come by a meal. I don't intend to be blindsided by some foreign creature taking up the fields. Nor do I intend to have it take my den away." She had fought hard for that den, and wasn't about to lose it to some strange new animal out in the fields.

Slit took a couple seconds to decide, "Can I come along as well? If I know what it is I might be able to decide if its worht minding."

Lyana shrugged. "If you'd like to. I'm not making any promises it'll be easy. And I'm not sticking around to fight by your side if whatever it is catches us." She said as she bounded along the river bank. The stone slab up ahead had water rushing over it, making it a slippery task to get across. It hovered just under, enough that your paws wouldn't sink into the liquid depths, but enough that the water still flooded over it up to the beginning of Lyana's claws. She sighed in annoyance. Something about getting her paws damp annoyed her. But she crossed across the stone slab either way.

Slit shrugged off the muddy ground. She was grinning on the inside. She was certaintly an interesting character. He continued on keeping his 'respectful' distance.

The she-wolf's paws hit the ground on the other side as she made a jump to try and avoid more mud and dirt stuck in between her toes. The expansive field in front of them was an impressive sight. The tall green grass and occasional bush and pile of rocks looked inviting and full of prey, but oddly enough... Wasn't. She tuned in with her ears, focusing for any sounds of snapping trees or roars. The only thing she could hear was distant, a strange rumbling noise. "Do you hear that?" She finally asked her companion.

Slit stopped and listened, "Yeah," He sounded a little far off thinking about similarity of the sound he'd heard and this one. "Sounds like the winds carrying it."

Lyana turned her head to the left, and then to the right, trying to catch the exact location of the sound's whereabouts. It seemed to be coming from the far Northwest. The two of them, facing directly west, were catching the faint sounds of something far off. Lyana herself had never trekked that far across the fields, and thus had never seen what was that far. Her curiosity was taking over steadily at this point as she headed in that direction.

Without a word Slit followed behind. The sound started to become less faint. She was right.

The more the traveled across the fields, the stranger the land became. The springy grass was steadily being replaced by a strange type of earthy ground. It was squishy almost, each time Lyana set a paw down her paw sank down into the ground only for it to spring back as soon as she shifted her weight. The grass became a brownish tinge, as if it was dying off. Her ears twitched again as the rumbling sound increased. The strange new area of the fields had her feeling uneasy. It felt damp like a bog or swamp in a way. She paused for a few moments to take in the surrounding view. The only bushes left were twisted and deformed, brown and full of dead leaves. "What happened here?" Was all she could manage to ask.

Slit was nealy horrified at what he saw. Whatever had done this didn't seem like it was anything on earth he knew of. Then he saw, "What...is that..." He was looking to their left. branching up from the ground, was a two story half built house begining to be under construction.

Lyana wasn't sure herself. She watched it, unsure of whether it was a monster or some kind of land formation. "I don't... Know. I don't think it's alive. It's not moving. I don't think it's sleeping, is it?" She asked while shifted uncomfortably. The rubbery earth caused her to move to a different spot occasionally as she felt like she was sinking into the ground.

"It doesn't smell like it...." He tried. He approached it slowly and sniffed it. "No.....I don't think so...it actually looks like a giant...shelter..."

"Shelter.. For what?" She said while circling it. A sudden beeping sound made her jump. It was repetitive, and caused her to back away from the house. Was the shelter letting out a warning cry of some sort? Cries could be heard behind the house. She backed away and signaled to Slit to make space between them and the shelter.

Slit recoiled at the sounds. He may have been right. He backed away in sink with her and got lower to try not to draw attention. He keppt his eye's on it, intent to see if there would be any movement.

Lyana dropped low to the ground, trying to stay hidden among the dead chunks of grass left. Thankfully her fur blended in well enough with the dark colored earth that she assumed they wouldn't notice her. The shouts became more distinct as two figured appeared. Humans. She realized on sight. They carried a long object between them, crying at one another in loud voices. They were wearing strange pelts, bright orange on their torso's and yellow on top of their heads. The long object looked almost similar to a tree, but it was blocky and edged like a rock. Lyana was confused as to what they were doing as they managed to carry it between them. "Humans... What are they up to..?" She said as she shifted her weight to avoid getting a paw stuck.

"Um, Lyana...." Slit said in a quiet and nervous voice. He looked at the small 'tree' object, and recognized it with horror. "We need to run." He started to edge back slightly.

Lyana seemed confused at his sudden urge to run. She backed up along with him. "Why? What is that thing they're carrying? Is it for their pups?" She had never seen humans this up close since they had killed off her pack, and wanted to see exactly what they were planning. Being in a group of two, they wouldn't have been that noticeable. At leas tshe thought so.

"That....thing.....pops on the end." He explained as he picked up the pace. "Whatever they point it at does too. That includes us." The anxiety dripped from his voice. He got worried when another one came out and pulled back a latch on the end making a clicking noise.

Lyana's ears went back. "Pops on the end? Let's make tracks so we can talk about this in a better comfort zone. Not near my den though..." She said. Lyana didn't want to lead them to the very place she slept in, let alone anywhere near it. She decided to travel near the beaver dams. "Come on." She said and inched backwards across the squishy earth to turn and run.

Slit didn't protest that. He didn't really care all that much where they were going, so he went on uknowing. It started out as a decent pace trying not to alarm the humans, then into a full on sprint.