Citizen 45 Hyperion

Nataku   
While she would never utter the words aloud to her companion in this hunt, Toxis was beginning to regret her decision to slink into the bougainvillea bushes to conceal their colorful scales. To be fair, her persha scales were a hue that wasn’t commonly found in nature, and she had figured that the other armored rexal may frequently have encountered a similar issue. The bougainvillea with its luscious coating of pink and purple hued flowers had seemed like the perfect place for their otherwise unnatural coats to blend right in while they snuck up on their prey. Boar weren’t known to have the most keen of vision, but they certainly weren’t blind and Toxis didn’t fancy finding out what she or her hunting partner looked like with a few new tusk holes poked in their armor if they were spotted before they were ready. So concealment seemed like the right choice at the time. But she had not considered the irritating sap that coated the thin branches of the flowery bushes. Surely this wouldn’t be bothersome to tough scales that could withstand the pressure of the ocean? And yet, she felt like this was starting to itch along the edges of her scales.   

EtherealEnds   
A golden beam of sun filtered through the dense canopy, dappling the emerald-green grass with dancing specks of light between the wandering shadows. They had traversed a distance away from the city now, the thicket growing more and more unruly as they continued their hunt. Hyperion had committed to the hunt, though, as she placed her massive paws silently on the loamy soil beneath. Her emerald-green gaze flickered around the forest, looking for any signs of the boar they were tracking.   There were the hoofprints in the ground, but they couldn't just follow those out in the open. Plus, they had to consider if they were downwind of the prey. Hunting took a lot of patience, and Hyperion wasn't exactly known for that being her crowning trait.   She kept herself low among the flowering bushes, crouching behind her companion, Toxis. The flowers at least did something to mask their scent, and it was difficult to find anywhere else where she didn't stick out like a sore thumb.   A flash of brown, coarse hair made Hyperion bring her attention to the shadows several feet away from them. The boar was picking at some berry bushes in the distance, unaware that they were still tailing the tusked beast. With two of them to fight the thing, this would probably be a piece of cake. Hyperion remained still, making sure her breathing was steady and silent. Perhaps they could flank the beast? 
  
Nataku    
Toxis drew in a slow, measured breath through her ridged nostrils. Flowery fresh perfume was the strongest first scent to register, but it wasn’t what she wanted. No, she needed to filter past that to a more subtle, and yet much deeper scent. Their prey today, what had led them away from the smell of the sugary sweet dishes of the city, was boar. She hoped that with Hyperion as her hunting partner, they would be successful and bring back a nice large one for a meal that could make a feast fit for the Elders. Who knows, maybe they could even get lucky and find a whole passel. Oh if they could get so lucky! The wild sows were known to be staunch defenders of their litter and often would choose to stand their ground and fight rather than flee. And then the boar would usually stay near his sows to defend them and if they could manage to take down more than one? Toxis may have drooled just a little at the passing daydream. But it was a bit too soon for such idle fantasies. They had to find the boar first. She concentrated on the scent, and hoped that her dusky hunting partner was doing the same as they slowly, silently crept through the flowered bushes.   The boar wasn’t far, no amount of bougainvillea could hide their distinctive earthy scent from the keen nares of a rexal. Toxis paused, one paw held just above the ground as she caught sight of the boar shoving its snout into some nearby berry bushes. Was its tail up? No, she didn’t think so, but it was hard to tell from this angle. Hopefully it hadn’t spotted them yet. They’re best bet was to surround it, surprise it. She couldn’t spare a glance over her wide shoulders to look back at Hyperion, lest her large scaled plates catch and snap some twigs and alert the hoofed hairballs she hoped to have for dinner of their presence.    Instead, she flicked her spiked tail up slowly, hoping it would catch Hyperion’s attention. Slowly so as not to break their cover, she pointed her tail tip down until it touched Hyperion’s forepaw and then she flicked her tail to the left. She then curled her tail tip towards her own hip, and flicked it to the right. She hoped the intention for her to go right and send Hyperion left to flank around the boar was clear. Slowly, she turned and crept away from the dusky rexal through the thicket.   

EtherealEnds   
A slight breeze rustled the verdant grasses, but luckily it did not draw their scents to the wandering boar. His ears flicked back, his tail swishing as he stuck his snout into the dense underbrush and thickets. If they could skirt around the creature’s field of vision and avoid drawing their scent to it, then the boar would be fair game. Her mouth watered at the mere thought of it, but she kept still as she felt for the signals from the other rexal. It was quite clear to her that they would both be flanking the boar, and she nodded at Toxis in acknowledgement.    Sure, she might seem a bit overconfident, but she knew this would be easy for two rexal. Carrying herself lightly as she followed the lead, taking to the left side of the boar, Hyperion was keenly aware of all her senses. After all, she had to be; this hunt would determine her status in the world. The Coming of Age Ceremony was one of many ceremonies that meant everything to rexal society. Hyperion knew that she only had one true chance to prove herself at this. Failure was not an option.    She picked her way silently to the left flank of the boar, her mouth watering as she drew closer and closer. Hyperion crouched low, waiting for the signal from Toxis. After the signal, if they both attacked at the same time, the boar would easily be overwhelmed. This was easy prey now.    

Nataku   
She was relieved to see that her partner in this hunt had successfully flanked the boar without the beast being any wiser to the presence of the two apex predators. Now it should be a simple matter of taking it down, so long as no one hesitated. All but the wee youngest of rexal children were larger than a boar, and Hyperion was no child. The persha rexal was confident that her partner would prove that today with the completion of this ceremonial hunt. Toxis stared through the bushes across the grassy clearing marred by the ruts of the boar, her blue eyes focusing to pick out Hyperion on the other side. She was surprisingly hard to pick out, the dappled spots around her appendages doing a remarkable job of helping to break up the border of a deadly hunter.    A deadly hunter who ought to be perfectly in line for a kill shot if this boar happened to run towards that bush. Which, given Toxis’ view of the oblivious animal’s rump, ought not be hard to arrange. A toothy grin spread across her muzzle as Toxis rose tall. On good spook ought to do it. After all, this was the ceremony for Hyperion to prove herself ready to join the ranks of adult rexal. It should be her right to kill the boar. Although Tox would be right here in case there were a problem. With a thrash of her tail, she lunged forward from the bougainvillea, in one swift stride closing the gap between her and the boar whose head snapped up at the sudden sound of leaves rustling. With one large front paw, Tox swung forward, raking her claws across the rump of the boar. Not enough to kill it, but enough to certainly make it startle forward, squaling in pain as it bolted away from the source of the attack. Right towards the waiting dusk rexal.   

EtherealEnds   
Hyperion crouched low in the bushes, feeling the thistles snag at her skin as she waited patiently for Toxis’ next move. While the slight sharpness of the thorns was annoying, she could put up with it until they finished their hunt. Hyperion had dealt with much worse than this. Surprisingly, she had concealed her burly stature well, and the boar had not become aware of their presence. The dusky rexal smirked as she glanced over at the other with her. They had this in the bag now.   As soon as Toxis had launched herself at it, Hyperion bolted out of the bushes, her claws outstretched and fangs bearing down on the beast. She dealt with a swift killing blow to it, whispering thanks to the Ancients. This only proved that she was one step closer to her goal; unfortunately, she accepted that she would not be able to make this her own meal. This was an offering to the Ancients, after all.