Can't I just be a vegetarian? [Meesh&Aries]

[Aries]

"I don't want to hunt!" Antares whined to Silva, though his stomach was groaning for some meat. He only knew of one edible plant this time of year, and it wasn't very tasty, a bird sounded great about now. He wasn't up for killing one, even though he should test out his new form with hunting.

He sat firmly on his rear at the roots of a tree, grabbing a mouthful of white creepers, which tasted wonderful but surely wouldn't fill his belly. His normally smiling face dropped into a clearly not amused frown as the dark canine's stomach growled. He felt kind of bad now, surely his moaning and groaning had driven away the prey. He rose to his feet, muttering a few profanities under his breath.

"Okay, fine, let's get some food. I suppose we could use some more bedding for the den." he perked up a little bit at the thought of fresh feathers to sleep on.

[Meesh]

"If you want to live, you'll hunt" Silva replied patiently, for maybe the tenth time that day. "You can't just live off of tree roots for the rest of your life"

When Antares finally admitted his hunger, Silva leaped to her feet, grinning. She had been itching for a good hunt all morning. "I knew you'd agree eventually!" she crowed, bending down to give her friend a quick lick on the cheek before turning and trotting towards the direction of the bird hunting area. "It's not that bad, I promise" the black furred canine called over her shoulder as she trotted off in the direction of the nests. "And you'll be a natural at it, I'm sure" Ever since the pack was founded, Silva and Nerah had done most of the hunting. But Nerah was away on some sort of business or the other, and Silva wasn't about to go off hunting alone. She had been pleading with Antares all day to join her, and finally, he agreed.

"C'mon! I'll race you to the outskirts of the hunting grounds!" and with that, the black furred canine was off, sprinting towards the nearby tree cluster.

[Aries]

Antares snorted as the canine crowed and licked his cheek, and began padding after her. "I can hunt, I just choose not to!" he snickered, he hadn't been hunting hardly at all, but when he did he was usually successful, but then again he always picked off the already sick or dying animals. It made him sick sometimes, but he just felt so guilty about killing that he just wasn't capable of killing another healthy being.

"You have the size advantage, no fair!" the feline sprinted after her, lips pulled into a massive grin. He still had the advantage of agility and his body was nearly the same length, longer with his tail. He still lingered behind her by a bit, he honestly didn't want to beat her, competition wasn't his gig.

"Where are the hunting grounds exactly? I've always just followed scent trails." Antares called to Silva, catching up to to her. He almost skidded to a halt when he saw a few unfamiliar plants but resisted, it's not like he could eat them unless something else did first. Being poisoned was not on his list of things to do, not that he had one anyway.

[Meesh]

"I'll believe it when I see it" Silva called over her shoulder. "Well, I guess I'll have a chance to see it today, anyway." Unlike Antares, she had no qualms about hunting prey. It made her feel bad at times, sure, but she had learned long ago to deal with it- especially if it meant bringing in food for her loved ones. She didn't fault Antares for his choice at all though- everyone had a right to hunt or not hunt as they so chose,
"It's perfectly fair" The canine retorted as she ran. "You're faster than I am, anyhoo" She sensed Antares slowing down- weather by choice or not she couldn't tell, and lowered her pace to that of a steady run, slowing until she was at the same pace as the feline. "The hunting grounds? It's a tree cluster just a little southeast of here" Silva answered. "Tree birds like to nest in the tree roots, so that's convenient for us. There's always a few oder ones just strutting about though- I'm hoping we can go for those"
She paused, scenting the air. Sure enough the bird scent was slowly growing stronger as the two approached. "We're pretty much here"

[Aries]

"Touche!" Antares slowed to a steady trot as the canine slowed with him, birds aren't too smart but if you're not silent you won't get any lunch. He learned that the hard way, but it's not easy to stay quiet when you haven't had meat for days on end, and were growing weak from it. He'd learned since then that no matter how much he hated eating meat it's something that has to be done. Although he'd learned to scavenge, or poach eggs to avoid killing.

"Ah, okay. That's good, I'd rather not attack any of the healthy, young ones. Maybe I'll be able to get into their nests for some eggs too, I've done that before." his pace grew slower and quieter as the scent of bird grew stronger, as Silva had pointed out, they were just about there. He scouted around the trees and sure enough there was birds, and nests as he had hoped.

"Shall we?" Antares dropped to a crouch, snaking around the dark trunks of the trees to stay camouflaged, getting ever closer to the bright orange birds. Sure enough there was a couple that looked sickly, and old, he was going to go for those. He slid silently forward, careful to make his footfalls blend in with the leaves rustling in the wind. In a flash he snapped forward, muzzle instinctively sinking into the soft body of the bird, killing it instantly. As fast as he could set that bird down he chased another older, slower bird down and killed it in the same quick manner.

"I told you I could hunt." He scoffed at the canine, gathering up his two kills.

[Meesh]

As they neared the cluster of orange-leaved trees, Silva slowed down as well, placing her paws softly on the leaves to avoid crackling. She pressed closer to the trees as Antares dashed forward and attacked, taking two bird out with one stone, so to speak. Silva grinned , dipping her head in acknowledgment. "Fine, I admit you can hunt" she agreed, before dashing forward, leaping once before teleporting into the air to grab one of the orange feathered birds mid-flight as it flew to escape in the commotion caused by Antares's catching the first two birds. Landing lightly on her paws, Silva trotted over back to Antares, tail wagging. "But wait until you can do that, then we'll talk" she teased gently, knowing her friend had been wanting to evolve.

She placed her bird gently down next to Antares's two. "I think that should feed us" she observed. "But a couple of eggs would hurt" She glanced at one of the nearby trees, wondering if she should try climbing it or just teleporting directly up. "You want to grab a couple, or should I?"

[Aries]

"Okay, that was amazing, but I'm good in the form I've got." Antares scraped the ground awkwardly next to their kills, he really did like his new form. It wasn't too big, as to not be terrifying, but it was strong for carrying things, while still being able to be gentle as he'd always been. He didn't know what he'd turn into if he evolved again, and he really didn't want to find out.h

"Ah, I'll get it. I've got experience in not breaking them on my way down. I'm not sure if you do or not, so." with that he began scaling the tree with the lowest branches. His long ebony-like claws were excellent for digging into the bark, and his dense shoulders were plenty strong enough to pull him up. That and he wanted to show off to her. He quickly reached a thick enough branch to hold his weight that had a nest full of eggs in it. Carefully, he walked with his claws dug into the bark, now only feet away from the nest.

A flurry of orange feathers and claws blocked his vision, causing him to lose his balance. The mother bird had the audacity to come protect her unhatched babies. Antares didn't want to hurt the bird for protecting her young, but it was either swat the bird out away from him, or fall painfully to the ground. He wanted to take the latter approach, but he also didn't want to look like a wuss in front of Silva. As the bird came in for another attack, Antares now hanging from this forelegs, he snapped it between his jaws.

"Incoming." the feline muttered, dropping the dead bird down to Silva and began scarping his way back up onto that branch with his hind legs. Hopefully the other parent wasn't interested in attacking him after what happened to the other. Quickly, he gathered the three relatively small eggs into his jaws, careful to not crush the thin shells. He made his way to the next lowest branches, which wouldn't hold his weight for long so he hurried down. He then scurried down the trunk, hitting the ground softly, but sending tiny orange leaves flying.

"For you m'lady." he dropped the still intact eggs near her feet.

[Meesh]

Silva nodded as the Occult offered to get the eggs. "I'm sure you'd do a lot better at it than I" she admitted with a chuckle. "With my luck, I'd end up teleporting right on top of the eggs and crushing them all~" She watched carefully as Antares made his way up the trunk in case he might fall. not that she didn't trust his climbing abilities, of course, only, it was in Silva's nature to keep an eye on others. I never really noticed how sleek he's grown Silva realized with some surprise. Or how kind. He's changed, Antares has. Perhaps we all did Her eyes glimmered in reflection.

That was when a bird landed at her feet, making Silva jump. She chuckled sheepishly, smoothing down her ruffled coat with a few quick licks. "Please tell me you didn't see that" She called up to Antares, dragging the bird over to the others. "At this rate, we'll have enough to feed the entire pack for a week!" Silva had always eaten a lot more than her fellow canines simply out of sheer size, and she knew Antares would be eating more as well, due to his evolution, but four birds was a lot, even for them! Ah well. Nerah would appreciate the treat back at him.

Antares landed on the leaves with a thump, offering the three eggs he gathered to Silva. The canine chuckled. "A toast" she proposed, nudging one of the eggs towards Antares with her paw and pulling another one closer to herself. "To your fine hunting skills~"

[Aries]

"Better to have extra food than no food at all, right?" Antares replied with a smile after dropping the eggs. It was hard to talk with a mouth full of precious cargo. He pretended that he didn't see her flustered reaction after he dropped the extra bird down earlier, though he wondered what she'd been so absorbed in. She'd been deep in thought about it, whatever it was. He wouldn't ask, though.

The feline grinned shyly as she complimented his hunting skill and pushed two of the eggs back at him. If he could blush he'd be brick red by now, but thankfully he couldn't for his own sake. "Heehee..." Antares accepted her toast and crunched on the two eggs. It'd been a while since he had eggs, they even were more delicious than he remembered. It didn't take him long to finish the eggs, the both of them weren't even a mouthful for him now. He walked over to the mount of birds and began plucking one of them, laying the feathers in piles according to size as he always had.

"So after we're finished here and drop the extra birds off at the den do you want to head to the Orchard because..." I want to sleep under a tree with you "...I think it would be nice to visit the newborns again." Antares awkwardly passed the now featherless bird back and forth between his paws.

[Meesh]

"True" Silva grinned at Antares, leaning forward to give him a light nuzzle, on instinct. She paused, wondering why the normally innocent gesture felt strange to her now, almost like it meant something more. Ah well. It was probably nothing. She finished her own egg with a gulp, then padded over by Antares to help him pluck the feathers from the birds.
It was a task Silva was used to, as she found herself quickly falling into the rhythm of plucking and sorting. It didn't take much concentration, though, and she kept on darting glances at the dark coated feline. What was so different about him, that she kept on noticing all these things about him today, the sleekness of his fur, how kind his eyes shone.
Before long, the birds were plucked and the feathers, sorted. "Nerah will appreciate this" She commented, before settling down with one of the now-plucked birds between her paws. Silva bent down to take a nibble before pushing another bird towards Antares. "Sure! Let's finish up with these and I'll quickly drop them over before we go to the Orchard~ I haven't been there in a while"
Of course I would go to the Orchard with you. Whenever you ask, I would sleep there with you any day

[Aries]

"Wow, you.." are gorgeous "..did great with plucking that bird. I'm.." absolutely and completely in love with you "..really impressed. You didn't even tear its flesh at the slightest!" Antares's head said one thing but his mouth said another. The feline stared unfocused at the canine her fur is like a starless night on the plains, and her eyes the moon he mused. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, hoping Silva didn't see him space out at her. He had never really thought about just how much he really did adore her presence.

"Yeah, I hope so." Antares commented, pulling the bird Silva pushed towards him closer. "Thanks~" the feline's whiskers wavered as he smiled at the female, taking a hefty bite of it. He nodded in agreement, as to not speak with a mouthful of bird and quickly, but cleanly scarfed the rest of it down.

I hope she feels the same.

[Meesh]

Silva grinned, tail wagging at the complement. I hope you know that means the world to me~ "Thanks Antares!" She leaned over to give her friend a nuzzle before finishing her bird and part of another in several quick bites. "You were just as amazing, you know~" You're always amazing Now finished with her meal, Silva quickly gathered up the remains of their meal and the feathers. "I'll be right back"
Two teleportations, and about thirty seconds later, and Silva was back, trotting towards Antares. "I hope you didn't miss me~" The black furred canine teased. I certainly missed you "To the orchard, then?"

[Aries]

Antares met her nuzzle with a lick on the cheek. "Thanks~" Antares chuckled, he compliment pulling his face into a shy grin. She finished her bird just as quickly as he did and before he knew it she was gone, teleported off to the den. The few seconds she was gone felt like forever, he had a nagging thought in the back of his mind that something would happen and she wouldn't come back. Thoughts like that scared him beyond belief.

"More than you'd ever believe!" the feline blurted out upon her arrival. I didn't just say that out loud did I?. A sheepish look crossed his face as he turned to greet her with a soft nuzzle and licked some of his ruffled fur flat.

"Yep!" The feline began trotting off in the direction of the Orchard, tail stuck straight up in the air.

[Meesh]

Silva blinked at Antares's comment. More than she'd ever believe? A tiny bubble of hope grew in her chest and her tail began to wag. She nuzzled him back with a grin. "Glad to hear it~"
Internally, she was thinking. Did he really mean it, or was it just a joke between friends? Perhaps she was just over analyzing things. Then again, maybe she wasn't.... Perhaps Silva would ask Antares ocne they got to the Orchard. She always felt more comfortable there, anyways.
Perking up, the canine suddenly tuned and dashed towards the Orchard. "Race ya there!" She called over her shoulder as she ran, tail wagging in excitement.

(You can transfer this thread to the Orchard whenever, Aries ^^)

[Aries]

"Oh no you don't!" Antares pranced off behind the canine, careful to keep a steady pace behind her. His mouth was turned up in a massive grin, and his tail waved behind him him happily as he pelted through the forest only narrowly avoiding the dark trunks of the massive trees.

- - -

Antares skidded to a halt when the pair reached the soft moss of the Orchard. He knew exactly what he came for, he simply wasn't sure about how to say what was on his mind. Curse his awkwardness. After a moment of thought, he figured they could certainly use some rest, the run was long and tiring.

"So, um. Do you want to get some rest before visiting the newborns?" Antares's eyes passed and forth from the Kata-hal to the Tart Cerasus tree as he fiddled with his paws.