"Don't the statues ever creep either of you out?" Hivoo shivered. She felt like here, in Rekes, that eyes were always on her. Tiny dots of blue glows watched from the dark moss that swaddled the large, crystalline claws. The mountainous region was claustrophobic, with either daunting mountainsides ahead or striking overcroppings above. The winds here were cold–not like the islands, or even L'Hatzif, from where Shenzi had traveled from. But the giant statues towering overhead--she feared they could somehow leap to life at any moment. "Just remember, we are the predators here," Thylla answered, triumphantly taking up the role of the head hunter.

While Thylla and Hivoo were from the colony of Tsidal, Shenzi was from the Sea-Cucumbers–she knew conflict, when to accept leadership, and when to remain quiet. "What's our target?" She asked simply, as if in the tone of a trained assassin. "Hojenst," Thylla answered, ensuring that Hivoo was listening, too. "And there'll be plenty of those." The large, bovid-like creatures were some of the toughest prey to take down, granted their large size and thick coats–but also one of the most rewarding, if you had a large enough party.

Hivoo, Shenzi, and Thylla clambored over mountains and down them again, transferring fields of giant stone statues, and up outcroppings once more. They traveled in near-silence, only making occasional speak about the hunt–"Do you smell that?" at one point, then the response, "No, nothing." At another point, Shenzi stopped to pluck an alpine poppy, but when she reached in to sniff it, it dispersed into a burst of petals. "Don't fall!" Came another time from Hivoo, responding to the scratch of Thylla's claws over the rough terrain.

It was almost nightfall when they found them–Lumbering sacks of meat in the distance, standing on some of the somehow thickest, yet thinnest seeming legs imaginable. "That's our route," Shenzi gasped, "We should trip 'em over." Thylla gulped a little at the idea—she had to admit that it was genius, even if it was a little risky. One could be crushed by them just in attacking the flanks though, too, so there was no reason not to try it. Still… "I'll lead the impact," Thylla insisted, "Shenzi, you take the right flank–Hivoo, you take the left."

The hunting party broke slightly apart, taking up their new positions. "Which one are we hitting?" Thylla asked, eager to be helpful. "Hmm," Thylla thought for a long moment as she examined the herd before them. It was about eight hojenst, though the majority would run right away. Their male–a large, heavily tusked bull, had wandered away from the herd, munching on berries on the mountainside. "There–" she decided at last on an elderly cow at the edge of the crowd. "Gotcha–Locked in," Shenzi answered, nodding. It occurred to her now that it would've been possible, too, to lead the hojenst off a cliff, but these were all on low-lying ground.

As if instincts did all of the talking that the trio needed, they each crouched and started slowly edging their way through the glow-speckled mountaingrass. Thylla lead the way, occasionally pausing–just a moment–to check the positions of Hivoo and Shenzi behind her. The two crouching predators met her eyes with their ears back, maintaining their sides. They were close now–it was difficult to see over the grass this low, but she edged them towards the thick grey legs of the older cow. A young calf, two cows over, flicked it's legs and trotted away–maybe seeing, or smelling one of the xiunari–but the rest of the cows stared on, as if it was a usual overreactor.

Now–Thylla expressed, silently, as she leapt into action–darting across the rocky plain and towards the thick, grey skin. Shenzi leapt to the right, while Hivoo came up hard on the left. As Thylla sunk her claws into the back thigh and yanked the hojenst down with all her weight, Shenzi slammed it, giving it the final push over. The elderly cow gave a pained shriek and toppled, nearly landing on Hivoo. She leapt out of it's shadow just in time. Now the herd responded–cows braying their distress signals, and more trotting away in alarm. They really aren't like us, Hivoo thought, They don't come back for one of their own.

The only one who seemed to care was the bull, who stared them down for a long, hard moment. Two tsabhua stood over the elderly cow, staring him down, while a third wrestled with a leg. "Is he coming?" Shenzi growled, mouth full of resisting prey. Hivoo stood silent, almost petrified for a long moment. Then the bull's eyes glazed over and he turned, gallumping off after the rest of his herd. "Seems not," Thylla answered, rather coldly. "Let's put this old cow out of her misery, then we can get to the skinning." They'd get quite a few steaks to feed the hungry tark'ee out of this one.