Although feeding the queen would've been enough for Skritch, and the prince's reward had been generous, the starving royal family necessitated more food. Still, they hadn't brought back the meaty hojenst steak requested by the stern old king, nor the leaping jaebo wanted by the princess.

"Which do we hunt first?" Skritch tapped his chin, considering the options—bunny stew wasn't so awful of an idea. Hivoo, a slate tsabhua, regarded him with a gracious smile. "It doesn't matter to me," she agreed, her long fangs glimmering in the daylight. "Well, I'd already say our choice has been picked for us," Thylla's deep purple eyes focused calmly on the valley below them.

((The highlands of rekes were long hills of wild grass that seemed to flow without direction across the valley. Plump dots of brown to grey hojenst speckled the meadow, most eating grass but a few lying with small family units. A few sparse trees with thick brush like that of moss offered slim shadows that one had taken to sitting under.

The sun was out in full force against the backs of the tsabhua and hojenst alike, creating a heat that built the longer they stayed immobile. The large bovid walked as slowly as Hivoo had imagined that Earth elephants might, and they flicked their tails to ward off insects as they chewed mouthfuls of grassy cud.))

"Oh," Skritch admitted, crestfallen–he'd personally have rather sought out the jaebo. He wasn't so fond of the king, viewing him as having stole the heart of Mel'kha. The two had been fated to fall in love–a sleazy fortune teller had even said so, though maybe Skritch had jinxed it after giving her a fake coin. "I mean, just because they're here doesn't mean we have to hunt them, so–"

Thylla shook her head at him, disagreeing vehemently. "Let's just get it over," Hivoo gave a sad frown. In the colonies, it was kill to survive–none would argue against a hunt, but attacking these large, tusked beasts felt… Somehow more wrong than going after tiny mice or even the tusked nukap. Maybe it was the greater amount of bloodshed to fall one, or the thought that they may have had more intelligence.

"It's just not fair!" Skritch threw out his claws. Fortunately, neither Hivoo nor Thylla were standing too close or he may have accidentally scarred them in his rage. "How come he gets a beautiful queen, and now we're gonna bring him a prime steak too?"

It was obvious that the tsabhua runt was hurt, but Thylla couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "They've been starving half to death in a bunker for weeks. You can't tell me you're jealous..?" That word sent Skritch into a new, flying rage. "REE!" He screamed. "Hold on, you guys!" Hivoo hurriedly bolted between them, refusing to accept violence between the two colonies – It's not what their leaders would've wanted.

"Look, I know–whatever grudge you have, I'm sorry," she addressed Skritch first, "If we catch enough, we'll give you a steak too, and– You'll get the King's ring! Isn't that a great reward?" The fang-toothed tsabhua turned to Thylla while the runt Captain was still deliberating.

"But Thylla is right–the tark'ee are starving, and the hojenst are right there–" She gestured to a particularly large, dumb-looking brown one pawing at some rocks at the base of the outcropping the three stood upon, "We gotta strike with the chance we've been given." She shut her mouth, and both Thylla and even Skritch, for once, did too.

So, the three hunting tsabhua slunk low as they entered the valley, the tall grass tickling their noses. Hivoo's extra horn poked out from hiding, and Skritch's pasty white pelt risked giving up their position entirely. But Thylla's dark, striped pelt camouflaged well into the shadows of the grass, and so the experienced huntress led the way, hushing the other two with a finger to her lips to stay further back.

The hojenst were either dumb or not especially interested, continuing to chew and lay without a care in the world. Only the great bull, discerned from his deep brown pelt and larger tusks, seemed to occasionally be scanning the area with his black button eyes. I'll strike one hard and true – One of the females at the edge of the herd, Thylla considered. What Skritch didn't know–what Hivoo might have known–was that these beasts are staunch defenders, if you give them time to react.