A step too far?[Open]

"Love is like an hourglass, with the heart filling up as the brain empties."

This morning had been like any morning for Xaro. He rose relatively early but not all too early just about the same time as the rest of his pack mates. Of course the first thing on his morning plan was to head to the river for a drink. The hunter seemed to need the hydration more than some of his pack mates who were able to go longer without water than he. It was to do with the dent in his head, if he didn't take enough fluid into his system regularly he would get dizzy. Hence the light brown wolf would rise at this hour to head off the the stream, if it hadn't been for his head then he would have stayed resting a little while longer.

So as per usual Xaro left camp heading towards the river. As his paws carried him through the foliage a howl pierced the air. The howl was unmistakably that of his alpha summoning a hunting party. Odd, it seemed to be a little earlier than usual today or had he just gotten up later than he normally did? The hunter froze his paws sinking right through the thin layer of the snow not that the wolf had paused. What to do? He should go join the hunting party, that was his duty as a hunter but then there was his need for water. It took the grey brown male a few moments to decide though he had really known it from the start, getting a drink was more important for the likes of him. He would make up for it, maybe he could catch up to the party or make himself useful and catch something else smaller for the pack. So decision made his paws started to move again carrying him forwards at a steady trot. Honestly the male would have liked to go a little quicker but he knew it was best not to rush himself not until he'd gone to the river and got that fluid he needed inside himself.

Some time later Xaro's leisurely pace succeeded in bringing him to his destination. There it lay, the river a blue grey beauty who flowed gently along her course not frozen over yet but near to it. The hunter definitely wasn't looking forwards to attempting the break a sheet of ice every morning when he needed a drink. The light brown wolf lowered his head bringing his muzzle down to the mass of water. His jaws parted and that little pink tongue shot out basically spooning the water into the males mouth so that he could gulp it down a moment later. The process took quite a while as he needed to get a lot of the cool refreshing liquid into his body. Yes it was cold, more like freezing every touch stung his sensitive canines but that didn't stop him only when he had drunk enough did he stop.

So now Xaro was ready to do his duty as a hunter, get food for the pack. The call for the hunting party had already sounded quite a while ago and his memory had as it did so often betrayed him so he couldn't remember from where the howl had come from. Maybe he could find them but most likely he would be too late, hunting by himself for some smaller prey seemed like the better option. A rabbit was his first idea but seeing the icy blue mass of water before him gave the wolf another idea. Fishing, why not? It was cold but he was here and he had the patience to do it. Success seemed more likely with a fish than with a rabbit and this might be one of the last chances for this, if the river froze over then he would have missed his chance for fishing. So fishing it would be so the light brown male set to work. Slowly he tested the water first only with one paw it was cold enough to make him shiver but he forced himself to follow up with the second front paw a moment later. Soon all of his paws had been placed into the frigid waters. A moment later the hunter was wading forwards as if he had forgotten the temperature of the water, the determination to hunt and succeed had taken over.

Xaro chose to wade a little bit further downriver, further away from camp and closer to Yerizhan territory but he was certain that he was still on Naharis land or well water. The reason for this was that the water was a little shallower at this point, that should make the task at hand easier. The fish didn't seem to want to show themselves today so for quite a while the male shook motionless just staring down at the water trying to make out his own paws. Just as he was thinking about giving up there it was, a movement that caught the wolfs eye. A flash of silver moving gracefully through the water in the hunters direction. The conditions seemed perfect so the wolf readied himself to attack. A few moments passed then the fish was where he wanted it. A grey paw shot forwards aimed towards the trouts belly. The fish saw the approaching paw just in time to avoid being hit on it's stomach, it made a startled attempt to dodge which ended with the paw colliding on a point further back on it's body than Xaro had intended. The wolfs claws managed to catch the fish so it's escape was nowhere near as gracefully as it's approach. He wasn't going to give up on this one quite so easily, the wolf followed the fish attempting time and time again to sink his claws or fangs into it. If the fish had not been wounded by the wolf the chase would have been a hopeless case but one it just barely managed to keep ahead. Xaro wouldn't have bothered if he knew he didn't have a chance but chance or no chance keeping his eyes on that silver fish within the grey water was difficult. The moment came when he was no longer sure whether or not the fish was still there up ahead of him or if that was just water. Another few leaps but then the male was quote sure, that was no fish only water. The prey had escaped the predator this time round and it seemed that predator's chase had lead him a little further downriver than originally intended. The wolf himself had not realized this yet but he had traveled all the way to the border, on which side he was? Well that was hard to tell, still in the safety of his own packs territory or had he crossed over the invisible line into Yerizhan land?