It had been a long day of traveling for the pair; Ke’ira had been determined to find prey of a decent size to bring back to her pack, but the pickings so far had been slim. It wasn’t necessarily her main job to find food, but she had wanted to provide a little extra. On her way out of the lands, Kamen had bumped into her and wanted to join in - after all, the two had been almost inseparable friends since finding each other on the plains and joining the pack together. Though he was a guard, another body couldn’t hurt, and he was a pretty decent hunter. Plus, the two of them made quite an effective pair.
“Kamen…” She paused, her nose pointed towards the sky. “Are you getting anything?” Her tone was low, and she glanced back as he trotted up next to her.
“Nothing, really.” He paused, scanning the horizon. Where had the herds moved on to? He knew that their own lands often had slim pickings, but they had travelled far enough to where it really shouldn’t have mattered. Did they just head in the wrong direction? They weren’t bad hunters, so it really didn’t make sense to him that they may have followed a bad scent trail. Kamen took a few more deep inhales, closing his eyes. “I don’t understand.”
“Me, either.” Ke’ira turned to look at him for a moment, searching his face for answers. Unfortunately, he looked just as confused as she did. “Maybe there was a shift in the winds that we didn’t anticipate at some point.” She turned her head, also trying to scan the area for any signs. “Perhaps we should try to locate a watering hole.” The strategy was risky, as ambushing and taking down prey at such an open area was highly difficult, but at least it would find them prey.
“...alright.” Kamen paused at first, thinking over her words. She was probably right - the wind probably changed at some point without them noticing, sending them away from any prey. He wasn’t overly excited about heading to a watering hole for prey, but at least it might give them some kind of respite from this day of traveling. “Let’s move, then.” It only took him a moment to pick up on the tell-tale scent signs of a watering hole in the distance. Though they weren’t at all fresh, there were definite paths leading towards it from years of frequent use.
“Let’s quicken our pace, so we’ll have time to return before dark.” The sun was still high now, but they had traveled some distance; if they made a kill, it would take some time and quite a bit of effort to return it to the pack. Honestly, they’d probably end up eating at least half of whatever they managed to kill on the spot.
Kamen’s pace quickened with Ke’ira’s, following the makeshift path through the grass. After a few paces, the scents that indicated a watering hole nearby grew stronger, building some hope in the male. If they still didn’t find anything once they were there, it would be their first real failure after a full day of trying. Sure, not every hunt ended in a kill, but at least every day they went out, they eventually were able to find something. The pressure felt even more real now that they were part of a pack and trying to pull some extra weight.
Ke’ira’s legs moved quickly, gently hopping over each stick and stone that laid in their path. In the distance, she could see a few trees and shrubs - a good sign for water. Of course, trees and shrubs were scattered across the plains, but there were more clustered just ahead of them than in other areas. “Kamen, do you see it?”
“Yeah.” His eyes rose from the ground, honing in on what she was looking at. His nose rose, trying to separate out the different scents; good, there definitely was a presence of prey there. Antelope, impala - some wildebeest too, it would appear. There were probably also some small birds as well that might make for a nice extra meal, if they had the patience and skill to catch them. “What do you think?”
The two slowed their pace simultaneously, Ke’ira bringing her nose up to join his. Her eyes closed, and she breathed deeply. Luckily, the wind had shifted to be in their favor - even if it had sent their scents to the watering hole, it wouldn’t have deterred many of the thirsty visitors. “An impala wouldn’t be a bad prize.” The was thinking about the long return journey. “A wildebeest might be challenging at this point, but I think we could manage it if we really wanted.” They would have to see what kind of shape they were in - if there was a small of sick one, it would make their jobs a whole lot easier.
“I think an impala is a smart move at this stage. Should we go in on either side, or come up to the watering hole unsuspectingly?” They could try for an initial two-sides ambush, but they would have to decide on a prey now and base everything else on visual cues and past experience; luckily they had at least that on their side. The two had hunted together so frequently that they knew how to read each other’s movements almost perfectly. If they chose to approach the watering hole as just two thirsty hyenas, they could get visuals on their options and go from there, but then the element of surprise would be lost as everyone would already be on edge due to their presence.
“Alright, then. Let’s do an ambush. Wait until I’m close enough to attack.” She gave him a lasting look, building herself up mentally. They always had a kind of small-stand off just before going in for a kill, to solidify the mental connection that they had built over time.
“Let’s go.” The two gave a nod to each other, then split off in opposite directions.