Crabs!

[Nachty]

Mitternacht stood up to his full height as Volker appeared behind him. He turned around as the dog began to speak, noticing how much stronger the other's accent had become. Just then the was the scuffling of feet, and Mitt turned back to where the young wolf had been just moments before. She had run towards the opposite side of the shore and didn't seem to show any signs of stopping.

He was very tempted to go after her, but he knew that would probably only scare her more. He couldn't blame her though. Him and Volker were two pretty imposing creatures. He tilted his head slightly watching her get farther away.

"Das war ungewöhnlich..." Nacht mumbled, "Very odd." He truned to Volker his tail lowered slightly. He hated it when others were afraid of him, and that little experience reminded him of some of his past experiences with others. "Who do you think that was?" Mitternacht questioned of his new friend as he continued to stare in the direction that the she wolf had run. By now she was just a small speck in the distance.

[abhorzion]

As Volker smiled down on the small black and white wolf, she let out a gasp, quickly and clumsily coming to her small, neat paws, kicking crumpled leaves around as she did. She looked frightened, causing the Rottermann to feel rather guilty.
"Oh, no don't be afraid..." he started, but it was too late, the young she-wolf had bolted in the opposite direction and was now hurtling down the beach as fast as her legs could carry her. Volker snorted and shook his head as he watched the pretty wolf run, was he really that scary? He didn't know whether to feel embarrassed or insulted. He looked at his large grey friend and sighed.
"Was it something I said?" his accent still re-surfacing, without him realising. Mitternacht nodded and Volker noticed a sad expression cast itself vaguely over the wolf scarred muzzle. His tail drooped and his ears seemed to sag, he must feel pretty insulted too, Volker thought.
"Who do you think that was?" sighed Mitternacht, still glancing towards the small black speck in the distance as it bounded away.
"I don't know, she sure was pretty though, eh?" replied Volker, nudging Nacht playfully in an attempt to cheer him up a little. This attempt however, seemed to fail somewhat. Mitternacht had a familiar look in his eye, a look of loss, a look of deep hidden sadness. As Volker gazed into these deep, mysterious eyes, the beauty of the beach and it's melody of crashing waves, calling gulls and the wind whispering in the tree's faded away as the two stood for a moment, looking into the distance.

The ex-police dogs dark brown eyes looked over the sea once more as he became momentarily lost in thought. The dark water which had been gently lapping at the warm white sand now appeared to fierce as the waves rose and crashed into each other, as though they were fighting. Dark clouds had begun to gather over the beach as the two had played in the pile of leaves and the fresh, light breeze now blowing stronger and colder, whipping the angry waves up. It's going to rain... thought Volker, and he snapped back into reality. He looked once again at Mitternacht, his gaze still fixed on where the small black wolf had run, even though she was gone now.
"Hey, let us forget the girl, Mitternacht." coaxed the rottermann, nudging the wolf gently on the neck with his nose. As he did so, a strong gust of wind hid the sound of Volkers stomach rumbling again and he hoped nacht hadn't seen the embarrassed expression on his face. "Looks like rain." he added, sheepishly.

[Nachty]

There was a slight pause before Mitternacht nodded and looked up to the sky. The clouds were in fact quite gray, and Mitternacht felt the wind pick up a little. "Looks like it is going to be a heavy rain too," he finally replied, "It would be wise if we found some shelter and quick." Mitternacht didn't mind the rain so much because his thick coat was pretty well insulated. At the same time he didn't enjoy the feeling of all those freezing wet drops on his back. He scanned up and down the beaching looking if there was any place on the shore to block out the storm. Eventually his eyes fell upon some large rocks a little way in the distance. They might just be the right place to block out the rain.

"Volker, I think there are some large overhangs over there that would be good protection from this coming rain. It would be a good place to wait out the coming storm," Mitternacht said as he picked up his tail quickly. His memories had left him and gone to the back of his mind...for now at least. "What do you think?" he asked turning to the large police dog next to him.

[abhorzion]

A splodge of rain pounded Volker on the nose as the clouds opened and began to empty over the beach. Volker didn't like the rain, his fur was short, smooth and firm, it got wet quickly and the Rottermann didn't like being wet too much. Mitternacht nodded towards some large craggy rocks, just off the shoreline, near the nearby woods. They looked to serve adequate shelter from the oncoming storm.
"What do you think?" asked the large, scarred grey wolf, turning towards Volker. The pained, sad look had gone from his eyes, his cool demeanor returning.
"I think you are a clever wolf." replied Volker, nodding respectfully. As he did so, his stomach grumbled loudly. Volker winced, he was so hungry! He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. Five days? A week? More? What had he eaten anyway?
"Mitternacht..." he sighed. "I am so hungry but do you think we have time to look for food?"

The wind howled, and the rain became heavier. The waves grew violent and crashed into the beach, the tide was coming in. If the two were to eat and find shelter, they'd have to move fast.

[Nachty]

"Sounds like a smart idea," Mitt agreed wiping off a drop of rain that had landed on his snout. It was absolutely freezing. "What do you think would still be out with the weather like this? I'm sure we're not the only ones who have noticed the weather." Mitternacht lifted his snout attempting to catch a scent from the forest beyond, but his senses were completely over powered by the strong smell of the sea water being moved about by thewind. As a small bit of sand went up his nose he sneezed rather loudly. "Ich hasse es wenn das geschieht," he muttered shaking his head. His nose was still itching a bit from the little bits of sand still clung to his snout.

"Lets try and make this as quick as possible. It looks like the sky is about to completely come down on us," Nacht added taking another look at the sky.

[abhorzion]

As they pondered what they could eat, Mitternacht let out a loud sneeze. Volker felt inclined to chuckle but his stomach groaned and roared impatiently, demanding to be fed. Hmmm... what would dare brave this rain? thought the ex-police dog to himself. What had he hunted before? He strained his memory quickly, blocking out the coldness of the rain and harshness of the wind. A cat? Yes, a cat but oh yes, he'd found that cat already half eaten there was no chance of finding a ready killed animal just lying around near the beach. There was a rustling sound in the bushed nearby the beach and a curious whiff caught Volkers keen nostrils, bringing him back down to earth.
"Mitternacht! Hören sie!" she whispered, loud enough for his friend to hear but quiet enough not to alert whatever had just rustled. "Can du smell that?" The Rottermann considered the smell, he'd smelt it before, what was it?
"Wilderschwein... wild boar..." he murmered. Her tried to gauge from how far away the smell was coming from but the rain and sea water inhibited this. It couldn't be far, it was strong enough for him to have picked it up over the smell of the stormy beach.
He turned to Mitternacht, he'd need his help to catch it if they did try to hunt it, wild boar were large powerful animals, the last time he'd snuck up on one on his own he'd come off far worse than the pig. He quivered as he remembered nursing his bruises that day.
"Nacht, do you think we could find it? Have you ever hunted boar?" he inquired. His aching stomach told him it was worth a go but his past experience told him otherwise.

[Nachty]

Mitternacht, now that his nose was clear, could smell the boar. "Yes, I've hunted boar," he said simply, taking a step in the direction he believed the scent was coming from. "It has been a while though. If I remember correctly they are not the most pleasent beasts." Mitternacht shook some of the water from his pelt. "I am sure though tha two big guys like us could take on a simple pig," he added with a small laugh. It felt reassuring to say it out loud.

"It seems like that's the only choice at the moment." He sniffed one more time just incase there was any other trace of another source of meat. Normally the large canine preferred to avoid the sharp tusks of the boars. He already had enough scars as it was. He shuddered slightly at the thought of being gouged by a boar. He'd met a few other wolved who still carried wounds from boars. Mitternacht had been lucky enough to avoid the larger boars. "I would prefer something a little less agressive though... he mumbled to himself, but his stomach wasn't about to be picky.

[abhorzion]

Volker's stomach complained loudly and his nose took in the fabulous smell of large male pig, encouraging his already loud stomach. Mitternacht batted some sand from his nose and sniffed the air.
"I am sure though tha two big guys like us could take on a simple pig." he said with a chuckle, a smile once more returning to his scarred grey muzzle. It was good to see him smile, it made Volker smile too. The german dog hoped that his friend was right, it would be two large canines against just one boar, right? Sure, the boar had tusks but they were cunning and fast! The rottermann looked once more at the terribly stormy seascape and then back into the shrubby dunes leading into the wood, where the pig smell was coming from. There was a slight uneasy pause as the two looked at one another, Nachts eyes burning away with just a hint of doubt. Volker's "handsome stump" of a tail wiggled from side to side and he pawed at the sand, gearing himself up for a boar hunt.

"Come on, let us find this pig!" he barked, still trying to keep his voice down. He didn't want to scare the pig off afterall. He nodded towards the gnarled grey wolf and padded towards the woodland, nose held to the trail of scent left by their prey. After a few moments of crunching through leaves and squinting in the foggy rain, a grunting noise became apparent. Volker froze, the rain beating down on his broad head and dripping down from the tips of his ears and nose. He signalled to Mitternacht and observed the pig. It was important to know what it was doing, if it was alone, what mood it might be in. The boar was indeed male, he was quite tall, rather wide and had two large, sharp looking tusks protruding from either side of his jaw. This was a beast alright. It appeared to be casually grazing through the sparse, sandy grass, occasionally scooping a mound of uprooted mushrooms into it's mouth. It's nose twitched in the grass and it grunted continuously, it hadn't noticed the two stalking canines. Volker turned his head towards Mitternacht.
"See if you can get behind him, I'll go in from the side and try to grab his throat." he whispered, as quiet as possible, lowering his chunky body into a taughtened crouch.

[Nachty]

Mitternacht nodded his head eagerly following beside Volker. The scent of pig was stronger, and his instinct started to kick in. He padded on carefully so as not to startle the boar. When the boar came into view Nacht's ears laid flat on his head. Now the smell was right in his face. The tusks on the beast were impressive and for a moment Mitternacht wondered when it'd be like to have teeth like that. You would look like an absolute fool, his mind answered him yanking his thoughts back to the present matter. Boar. That's what was on the menu tonight.

"See if you can get behind him, I'll go in from the side and try to grab his throat." he heard Volket whisper to him. Now that sounded like a good plan. Pigs didn't have tusks on their rumps.

"Can do," he whispered back turning from his friend and making his way to a better location to trap the animal from behind. The fog helped hide his large fram in the relatively open area, and the rain helped drown out his pawsteps as he moved as delicately as he could on the sandy ground. Finally finding a spot he felt comfortable in Nacht gazed through the mist and caught a glimpse of Volker who was waiting patiently. Dinner here I come, his hungry mind grinned once he was sure Volker was ready.

Leaping out of the mist Mitternacht landed just a few steps behind the boar. The creature squealed in surprise and fury as the large wolf bit down on its right haunch. While dodging a carefully aimed tusk Mitternacht looked up to check if Volker was with him.

[abhorzion]

Muscles tense and senses hightened, Volker kept a firm, fixed gaze on the large boar. His eyes quickly darted over to Mitternacht, who had just about positioned himself behind it, then they danced back onto their dinner. They both waited patiently for a moment, then their eyes met, signalling that they were ready. As the boar turned towards Volker, the muscles in his legs tensed, ready to pounce and a drop of dribble fell from his lips as he anticipated the hunt.

Mitternacht made his move, leaping from his hiding place, landing slightly behind the boar and sinking his teeth into it's rear. The moment nacht's paws hit ground, the Boar turned to face him with a disgruntled shriek and almost caught him with its tusk. Luckily, he missed and the grey wolf clung onto the pig, unharmed. As that enormous, armoured face turned away from Volker, he burst out of the bush he was hiding in, legs outstretched and teeth bared. He grabbed onto the boar with his paws, digging his nails into it's skin and sinking his teeth into it's throat, hoping to make it fall over. He hung on to the boar with all his strength, snarling as he snapped his jaws to get a better grip on the swine's throat. With a swing of it's mighty head, the boar threw Volker off and the rottermann landed with a bump, falling onto his side. He didn't stay down for long, there was no time to fuss about as long as the Boar could move it's head, Mitternacht was in danger. He boundec back up onto his paws and manouvered so that his head was underneath the boars, grabbing at it's throat once more. This time, he got a decent grip. The animal thrashed and shouted, stamping the ground as the two canines tore at it's large, bulky body. As it swung it's head again, taking Volker with it, his left tusk caught the rottermanns side, slicing into his ribs and just scraping his leg. He winced in pain but refused to let go. With another snap of his jaws, he clamped down on the creatures windpipe and shook his head furiously. He caught a glimpse of Mitternacht, who was biting the boar all over and clawing at it's rump, they certainly made a good team. Eventually, the boar stumbled, it's frantic cries becoming less frequent and quieter. Volker let go for a second and shouted to his friend.
"Nacht! Push him over!" he barked, excitedly, his stumpy tail wiggling from side to side. He resumed squeezing the boars throat, ignoring the hot sticky sensation of blood pouring from his wound and focusing on the task at hand.

[Nachty]

Mitternacht shifted his weight so that it his full force onto the boar causing it to fall over rather clumsily, but the male was not out of steam yet. It tried desperately to get out of Volker's grip but to no avail. Opening his jaws once more Nacht bit down hard on the animal's back as he held it down while it still thrashed slightly. Digging claws into its flesh; Nacht waited patiently as the creature eventually went limp. Releasing his grip Nacht turned to Volker who was gripping the pig's throat tightly. Mitternacht had seen the boar's tusks gouge Volker's side and now that the fray was over he could get a better look at the wound. It was bleeding a bit, and he whimpered quietly. It looked quite painful.

His hunger could wait. What was on his mind now was his friend. "That is one nasty wound," he said simply stepping toward the dog. "Probably going to leave a scar if we don't do something with it," he continued, his voice sounding more concerned. He'd just met Volker today and he wasn't about to let some angry piece of meat take him down.

[abhorzion]

Mitternacht pushed the enormous, thrashing piece of pork over and both canines clung on until it ceased to move. The pain in Volkers side had been washed over by the adrenaline and excitement of the kill but as the atmosphere calmed, the pain crept back into the spotlight. Volker winced as he held onto the swines throat, he realised it was dying now but didn't want to let go until he was sure
it wasn't going to somehow pull through and get back up. Mitternacht released his grip and padded over to the determined Rottermann, studying the wound on his side with some concern. The now dead boar twitched violently, startling Volker and causing his injury to pulse with pain. He whined sharply, letting go of the animals windpipe and licked the blood from his muzzle, it's delicious taste teasing his stomach. He turned his head towards the large gash and licked it, the metallic taste of his own blood flushing out the taste of the boar. He shook himself gently as as to avoid hurting himself further and looked at his friend.

"That is one nasty wound. Probably going to leave a scar if we don't do something with it," he said, the concern rolling through his strong accent as he stepped towards the Rottweiler cross. Volker nodded in agreement and looked to the dead pig once more. A smile spread across his face, he was proud of their teamwork and that was one hell of a reward! They'd never finish it all, it was enormous but it was certainly going to be a satisfying meal.
"It does sting..." he replied, still looking longingly at the kill. "I'll be fine." he added, laying down and proceeding to lick his wound once more. As his tongue explored the gash, he realised it was fairly deep and would probably scar to an extent anyway. Volker was not a vain dog, he didn't particularly care about the appearance of scars and he was never one to judge anyone else on their appearance either. However, he naiively thought that nobody else would judge him on his appearance either.
After a few minutes of licking, the wound stopped bleeding.
"I'll leave it, now." he said, matter-of-factly "It'll probably scar like you said but at least it's stopped bleeding." he added with a smile.
"Let us eat!"

[Nachty]

"Sounds good to me," Mitter nacht smiled sensing that Volker would be fine at least for now. As long as he kept the puncture clean it should scar, but at least it would scar cleanly and without infection. Sniffing the boar hungrily Nacht licked his maw. Recently he'd been relying on slightly smaller game. It took less energy out of him and was less dangerous. An injured lone wolf generally didn't last long that way. Now he couldn't help himself. He bit down into the still warm flesh. Blood cover his muzzle as he ripped off a chunk of meat from the animals stomach. It tasted just as good as it smelled if not better, and it had smelled good to begin with. Mitternacht had never tasted boar before, and he made a quick mental note to remember this. After another gulp he swallowed the fresh meat happily. He could feel it filling the empty space in his gut.

Mitternacht's tail wagged as he licked some blood off his face. He ripped another piece of meat off the boar. With his stomach being filled with warm boar meat Nacht was feeling much more relaxed. Food often had that effect on him. A good meal always put him at ease when he had the luck to catch something large enough on his own. "You've got a good nose Volker. I don't think I could have scented this big guy myself if you had not pointed him out," Nacht grinned at Volker before biting the haunch he'd latched onto earlier.

[abhorzion]

The rain pounded the earth and a trickle of warm blood ran down Volkers muscular side and into the puddle forming next to him as he plunged his large, broad muzzle into a wound on the boar. He tore a sizeable chunk of meat from the animal and swallowed it whole in one big gulp. He grinned contentedly to himself as he felt the flesh slide down into his empty, grumbling gut, it was so satisfying and tasted too fantastic to put into words. His small, elegant stump of a docked tail waggled excitedly to and fro and he smiled at his large friend, licking his bloodied muzzle. He leant in for another large mouthful and the wound on his side twinged, causing him to flinch momentarily. It sure did sting but if he kept it clean, he was sure he'd be just fine. Afterall, a scratch was a small price to pay for such a grand meal, even if it was quite a large scratch. Swallowing yet another lump of warm, fresh meat, the Rottermann looked to Mitternacht once more with a friendly smile. As they made eye contact, Volker nodded approvingly.
"You've got a good nose Volker. I don't think I could have scented this big guy myself if you had not pointed him out," said the large wolf, licking blood from his maw. Had he been physically able, Volker would have blushed as he was complimented by his friend.
"Thanks." he replied sheepishly. "I used to use my nose to sniff out something called d.. druh.. drewgs? I forget what my human called them but he taught me to smell from far away. Still, I couldn't have done this without you, we do make a pretty good team." he added, very matter-of-fact-ly.

Volker continued to eat, his stomach filling up nicely. As he gazed down on their kill, it dawned on him that the two of them could never eat all this between just the two of them, this boar was enormous, about half the size of Volker himself and twice as muscular. He'd never successfully killed a boar until today and he thought he may have slightly under estimated the amount of meat on an adult male pig... What are we gonna do with the rest? It's too big to take with us... he thought silently as the steadily heavy rain belted down on the two from above. And we shall have to take cover soon or else we could get stuck in the mud... Volker looked at the ground below his form, it was getting soaked and soon enough, it would be thick, gloopy, sticky mud. He knew that kind of mud could be dangerous, as could the tree's that thrashed violently and writhed above them, struggling against the raging wind. They'd have to leave soon.
"Mitternacht?" started the Rottermann, swallowing and reaching his stomachs capacity. "We could be in danger if we stay here in this storm for too long. What are we gonna do with this pig?"

[Nachty]

(oops just noticed this. Sorry)

"Mitternacht?" The shaggy wolf lift his head to look at his friend who looked to be getting full. "We could be in danger if we stay here in this storm for too long. What are we gonna do with this pig?" Mitternacht swallowed a warm piece of meat and thought. Normally, he would just leave behind whatever he didn't eat which rarely happened since he ate most of what he could find. Still, Volker had asked him a question and he'd have to answer. The rain drops started to come down harder and the rumble of thunder was coming closer.

"Ich bin nicht sicher... " he admitted licking the last bit of blood from his scarred muzzle. The cold rain was starting to soak through, and it caused him to shiver."Do you think...perhaps we might store it somewhere? I am not sure where we could, but I bet there's a place relatively close we could stash what we have left over." The grey and black wolf eyed the trees through the rain. Quite a few had some holes in their trunks, but certainly none large enough for a boar carcass. After a few moments of thought Miternacht thought of a solution.

"Ich habe eine idee. We could divide what's left of the pig and store it in those knot holes in the trees. It should take us too long to do." Mitternacht ripped off one of the boar's legs and carried it over to the nearest tree. About half way up there was a ole just large enough for the large haunch. Nacht had to shift onto his back paws to be able to reach the spot, but at least it'd be out of reach for animals smaller than him. It was a good spot at least for now.

A bolt of lightning struck not to far away illuminating the sky causing Mitt to plod a little faster back to what was left of the pig. He did not like this weather one bit and the sooner he got out of it the better. The wind howled loudly in his ears and he sorely wished that he could go back to the cave by the shore, but there was a boar to deal with first.