Redhawk Caldera prize of the century

Eljay's first catch! 8) hoping for a @Nightjar but any would be welcome!

Ever since he had become an adult, Eljay had felt kind of useless in the hunting department. He took and took, but he never gave anything back and though he practised loads, he never seemed to catch anything. Eljay wandered through Redhawk Caldera's territory that day as he thought of it, and just as he heaved a sigh, he noticed the form of a rabbit darting through the grasses. Except it wasn't really darting very fast, because there was a clear limp in its step. Eljay's instincts reacted right away and he turned his head and started to dash without thinking. He wasn't a very fast wolf, but considering the rabbit was limpy he stood a better than usual chance.

Eljay didn't know when it happened, but he suddenly found himself with the rabbit between his teeth. The rabbit struggled and though Eljay bit down on its neck, the only thing that seemed to be happening was more blood and more struggling. When the rabbit kicked Eljay's chest with one of its good legs Eljay yelped in surprise at the force and dropped the rabbit. Blood pooled around its neck and it tried to get away, crawling across the ground. It was gruesome to see, and Eljay wasn't sure what to do. Panicking, he bit it again and again until finally it went limp and stopped moving. "I'm sorry, Mr Rabbit," Eljay whispered, ears flattening as he felt guilty. He knew that rabbits were food and he'd intended to kill it, of course, but he had intended to kill it without so much pain and blood towards the end. He'd wanted to kill it swiftly, like he saw the other adults always do.

But soon his guilt flooded away and made place for a cheerful attitude — he'd caught something! Eljay grabbed the bloodied rabbit between his teeth and he started making his way towards where he'd last seen mommy and daddy, hoping they would still be around to show them his prize.

*rescues lonely Eljay thread!* We can bump to the present, if you want? :)

The smell of blood reached Elwood's nose before he even laid eyes on his son, and he perked his head up and sniffed attentively. He wondered where it was coming from, and was about to investigate, when he suddenly saw Eljay. And the boy wasn't alone -- grasped in his mouth were the mangled remains of a rabbit. His cheeks and chest were smeared with gore, indicating that he hadn't just found the carcass lying around but had likely killed it himself.

Elwood felt a surge of pride as he padded towards Eljay, meeting him in the grassy plain beneath the caldera's shadow. "Is this your catch?" he asked, already grinning broadly -- he was fairly confident he knew the answer. It seemed that things were finally falling into place for Eljay: once he ascended into the adult ranks, he had taken on more responsibility (like guarding the Alphas' den and keeping an eye on the firebirds) and that, perhaps, had boosted his confidence immeasurably.

thank you for joining :D yes, we can bump it to present :)

Eljay still felt kind of mixed about his catch, because he had caught it himself but he also hadn't had the cleanest of executions, unfortunately. Yet maybe it'd be best to skip the details and just let his parents know that he had caught something, rather than spare the details. Eljay was glad that when he reached his parents' den, daddy was already on his way towards him. Eljay's tail waved briefly and he put down the mangled carcass and licked the blood off his lips while daddy asked him about the catch.

"Yeah, well, sort of. I mean, it was already kind of limpy..." Eljay smiled bashfully and felt kind of dumb — he'd told himself not to downgrade his story right away, but somehow the words just tumbled from his mouth. Hopefully it wouldn't take away all of daddy's pride about his accomplishments, though, 'cause even if they were but small compared to other wolves, Eljay knew it was a big deal 'cause it was him and he'd accomplished, well, something, at least.

Despite Eljay's weak deflection, Elwood felt a surge of pride. It was clear by the expression on Eljay's face that he was pleased with himself, even if his first instinct was to downplay his success. He reached down to nudge at the carcass with his nose, inhaling the ripe scent of fresh meat. As he righted himself, he met his son's gaze.

"Doesn't matter if it was 'limpy.' You did great," he praised, his tail swinging to and fro behind him. "You should be really proud of yourself -- I'm proud of you!" he added. He wanted to ask Eljay to do a bit more hunting with him right then and there, but also didn't want to push the boy too far. He knew that it wouldn't take much to cause the delicate flower that was Eljay's confidence to wilt.

Eljay's tail wagged carefully as daddy praised him for hunting the rabbit even if it was a limpy rabbit. He smiled as he looked at his mangled catch, and though it looked rather gruesome and like he had not only given the rabbit a lot of extra pain before its ultimate death, but had also ruined some of the meat in the process, it still looked rather edible. "Thanks, daddy," said Eljay with a soft smile. "Should we show mommy..?" he wondered carefully, not sure if she would be as pleased as daddy with the progress. Would she think it as great an accomplishment as daddy, or would she just see the end result and think it wasn't all that great compared to others' accomplishments?

Had Elwood been privy to the thoughts swirling around in Eljay's mind, he would have tried to reassure his son. Even the best hunters often mangled their prey in the process -- it was simply a messy activity more often than not. Some wolves might even consider more gore to be a sign of their success, though Elwood usually did not end up bathed in blood himself because he was overall a more careful gamekeeper. It was a reflection of the way he lived his life, but at the end of the day he was still a wolf with predatory senses.

Eljay wanted to show Finley his hard work, and Elwood saw no reason why that wouldn't be appropriate. "Yeah, I'm sure she'll be happy to see what you've done," he said, gesturing as he spoke for Eljay to fall into step with him. They could swing by the den and see if Finley was there, and that would also give him the opportunity to share some news with the youth. "By the way," he said, glancing sideways at Eljay with a lopsided smile playing on his lips, "Mom and I have been talking about puppies." He waited for Eljay's reaction before continuing.

Eljay picked up the rabbit and he started towards the den, hoping that @Finley was around somewhere there. He glanced sideways at his father as he mentioned pups, though he couldn't really respond at the moment, considering he had the mangled rabbit between his teeth. He glanced inquisitively at his father though, hoping that he would elaborate on the subject. It sounded like it was going to be positive, but Eljay didn't want to make any assumptions until he heard the words from his father's mouth.

Dropping this in :)

Finley was being lazy that day. There were puppies to feed, puppies to mentor, and even puppies to make, but the Blackthorn wasn't feeling up to it. She was far more interested in her current pastime; being sprawled out in the grass like a useless piece of crap. Useless, but oddly content considering the life-altering, stress-inducing decision she had come to only a few days prior.  It was an unexpected feeling, but one she was not about to pass up and ruin by hunting or something equally taxing.

She was actually snoring like the delicate flower she was when her mate and son were on the approach. Being asleep, she was completely unaware of their presence, otherwise she would've stopped imitating a wild boar and wiped some of the drool that was slipping out of the corner of her mouth. But that was one of the wonderful things about living with them - they'd already seen this sight at least a dozen times before.

I <3 Fin!

Eljay didn't respond and Elwood was momentarily concerned, until he threw his son a sideways glance and remembered that his mouth was full. He gave a short laugh and shook his head, then continued. "Well, once we get permission from Peregrine and Fox, you'll have little brothers and sisters sooner rather than later," he said with a wave of his tail. He hoped that Eljay would be excited, especially since he seemed to enjoy spending so much time with the firebirds. Having his own siblings would be a whole new experience.

The Beta suddenly halted, his ears swiveling. There was a soft rumbling from nearby, and he glanced around warily. When his gaze lit on a silver mound in the grass, his face wrinkled into a grin. Forgetting the puppy talk for the time being, he reached out with an elbow to nudge Eljay, then pointed his snout towards the slumbering Finley. She was out cold and had no idea that her son and mate had snuck up on her.

Eljay smiled through the rabbit in his mouth as his father announced the news of more pups. He felt a bit mixed by it, but he knew that daddy and mommy had plenty of love to give to both his new siblings and himself. It would all be alright. Luckily he didn't need to try eloquence right now because he was holding the prey -- a great excuse not to have to verbally respond.

Soon they arrived at the den, where mommy was snoring like her usual self, elephant-style. Eljay put down the rabbit and licked the blood off his lips while he looked at mommy at daddy's poke. Eljay walked up to her and gingerly nuzzled mommy's face, wanting to carefully wake her up.

Finley awoke with a sloppy snort at the urging of her son. She lifted her head and shook it, rolling onto her belly to give her mate and baby a bleary, one-eyed stare. A few swipe of her arm across her muzzle and the second eye joined the look, and a few seconds later her tail was wagging and she was smiling.

"Hi kids," she said just before a wide yawn stretched her jaws apart. A shiver ran down her entire body as her lips re-sealed themselves and she stretched out her forelegs, arching her head back and reveling in the delightful crackling and subsequent loosening of the bones in her aching neck. Wake-up routine accomplished, she gave a sigh and turned again to her family with a slightly canted head.

Eljay woke Finley with a gentle prod, and Elwood smiled and settled back onto his haunches as his wife stirred. He felt a surge of affection as she blinked and yawned, slowly gaining consciousness with a luxurious stretch. She looked up at Eljay expectantly, but didn't seem to notice the rabbit carcass at her son's feet.

Not wanting to steal the spotlight from the youth, Elwood simply flashed his mate a small smile and then looked pointedly at the pile of meat, waiting for Eljay to announce his accomplishment.

With as much grace as what she'd been sleeping with, mommy awoke and looked groggily up at her son. Eljay glanced down at the mangled rabbit at his feet, but mommy didn't seem to notice it still; she was probably just sleepy and had not looked at him fully just yet. "Good morning mommy," Eljay said with child-like humour before he hesitantly added: "I, uhm, I caught something." Eljay looked down at the rabbit, mangled and all, and thought back a little sorrowfully to the moment he had tried to snap its neck but had let it struggle on for the longest of time instead. Yet he still hoped mommy'd be as proud as daddy had been.

It took Fin a bit of time before she started seeing straight. The sleep didn't seem to want to let her eyes go, but when it did, she found herself looking at two rather anxious faces. It was odd and mildly alarming, but the pair were quick to alleviate any prolonged worry with the announcement that Eljay had made a catch.

Fin looked down at the mangled carcass, back at her son, then a glance to Elwood for confirmation, before she gazed at the rabbit. For a minute, it probably seemed like she was about to pass out again. But suddenly, Finley was up and pouncing on her son to smother his face with kisses, her tail wagging frantically.

"You caught something?? You caught something!!" the mother chirruped proudly as she reached to nuzzle him.

When given the opportunity to share his achievement on his own, Eljay spoke up and drew Finley's attention to the furry bundle that used to be a living, breathing rabbit. Elwood watched her process the information, shifting her gaze to collect the evidence, and then she was suddenly on her feet and enveloping Eljay in a hug.

Elwood couldn't stop his tail from swinging freely behind him. He couldn't remember ever feeling so proud, and he hoped that Eljay knew that both of his parents thought the world of him. "Good job, buddy," he reiterated in the background as Finley celebrated.

want to wrap? :) my last post, feel free to reply once more or archive this!

Eljay looked at his mother as she glanced at the mangled rabbit, and he was about to say something. He didn't get past "It's not that —" before realisation seemed to dawn and mommy grew enthusiastic, leaving Eljay no chance to explain that he'd mangled the rabbit in the catching process and that it wasn't that big an achievement. His tail wagged tentatively as mommy showered him in proud enthusiasm and nuzzles, and he looked at daddy as he reiterated his pride, too.

It felt like for the first time in his life, Eljay'd done something right. He wasn't totally happy with how it had gone yet, but he'd caught something at least, and maybe he would do better in bigger hunts now, too. But best of all, he felt he'd made his parents proud, something that hadn't been easy for him throughout his life. Eljay smiled softly, feeling a little put in the spotlight but for once simply enjoying the moment.