Moonspear measuring a summer's day

Jarilo had been left to his mama's devices and she eventually led him to a creekside after the morning rainshowers cleared up. It was only the small one not too far from the rendezvous, but a feature he had not been to yet nonetheless, and he was excited about it no matter what it was. He was just happy to be out, so whatever worked for him. He trotted along on her heels, nose working in overdrive and trying to stay close to her. Eventually, she detailed some things at him and said he should try pouncing the frogs while she fished nearby--where the waters were a little deeper, and so, he was told not to get close; she would be watching from just over the way, she assured him.

He eyed the patch of creek he had been assigned with a growing skepticism he tried to fight off by simply seeing more about this. The bottom was full of smooth rocks and when he dunked his front paws in, the waters ran up to between his knee and ankle--prompting a quick but fleeting wince. It was cold, but he was already getting used to it, so he stepped in with another paw, then the last two to puff himself up with accomplishment. With this small step forward, confidence built slowly. Now...

Without a good clue on what exactly he was looking to accomplish, Jarilo stood ankle-deep and looked around in hopes of finding something that moved just to get the ideas going--but all he saw were small dragonflies and other little bugs skirting this way and that.

The momentary dissassociation aside, Tryphon managed to follow the children to their rendezvous (a place he had scouted out when asked), and had set up his own temporary camp not far from where the children romped. He was still unsure of his role upon the mountain, but content nonetheless; and if Tryphon was anything else, he was determined, for he wished to be of use to this family, as they had agreed upon. Without any other duties since he had been welcomed to tend to the children, he did not have much to occupy his time when their parents were around.

Today, although Amekaze was intent on taking Jarilo out on an excursion on her own, Tryphon milled in the background as he often did, and followed just in case of problems. When they stopped near a creekside he kept on going - scouting ahead - and was gone for an hour or so merely investigating. When Tryphon made his way back, it was to bear witness to Jarilo's playful antics within the water. He did not approach, but did settle somewhere upstream of the mother and son, keeping his ears out for trouble.

The swirling and twirling aerial paths of bugs did threaten to pull his interest, but they weren't of much consequence. Pouncing and snapping at bugs, while definitely fun, wasn't what he was wanting to do here though; mama had charmed him into the appeal of frogs, and fancying a new quarry over leaves that crumbled and insects that just squished that he could do even without the creek, he wouldn't give up quite that easily. But, all the same, standing here and waiting for some to find him grew boring fast.

With a little splish splish as he drug his paws through the waters, he crept up the small stream ever-so-delicately--peering around in the low foliage lining the creek in search. Still, nothing. A few times he heard splash sounds up ahead, ones not (obviously) associated with him, and wondered what that was.. but he never got close enough to one to see more than the ripples it left behind after.

A neatly-placed opening allowed him to spot Tryphon where before, he'd been too busy with his nose down at the water skimming along to take proper notice. Jarilo gave a little yap at him, and began plodding through the creek towards the older male he was long since comfortable noticing around; nevermind the 'hunt' for a half-second as he curiously eyeballed the sentinel. "Hey! What d'ya see?" he asked, and to prove he hadn't forgotten about the main task: "Any frogs?"

Everything seemed quiet. It was an idyllic day from what Tryphon could discern. The only break to his concentration came when the boy noticed him and, having drawn closer in a less-than-subtle way, Jarilo called out to him. Tryphon may have been watching the kids for a few weeks now, but he wasn't much of a sitter - he didn't know what to do around kids just yet. They had been too small and formless when he'd met them; now at least Jarilo was actively moving about. He could speak, he could run, he could hunt. But Tryphon wasn't sure if he should promote the boy's antics. What if something went wrong? What if he found a deep patch of water and drowned?

This sudden thought served to chill Tryphon; he wouldn't let that happen, ever.

Frogs? The boy responded finally, having realized he had been stuck in his own head and, effectively, ignoring Jarilo's question for too long. He made a show of looking to either side of his body, then squinting out at the water, but inevitably returned his attention to the child. In an effort to be silly - and get more interaction out of Jarilo - he said, what's that?

"Yes! Frogs." the boy confirmed with a yip and bright-eyed nod, happy to suspect that he knew what those were--only to turn around and doubt that in the very next moment. His expression wavered, albeit only fleetingly; he was still quite pleased with himself all the same since he had a mission in mind and despite his failings up to now, the aspect of having a goal was sitting quite satisfactorily. "Well!" he huffed, turning his back towards Tryphon to gesture at where he had just come from. How to tell him easily? "Mama said they're good to pounce on, slippery but tasty, and should be by the water." She had described them more with some big complicated words interspersed, but those were the details that stuck with him since abstract thought was not yet his forte--and neither was realizing that his rippling around was sure to scare them all off, which led him to his main problem right now: "BUT, I can't find any."

She had heard the voices, namely Jarilo's, and after only catching one small fish for herself--and eating it immediately--she decided to round back and check on him. In prowling closer up along the edge of the creek, she saw Tryphon too, and nodded his way with a small chuff. If the boy was pestering him like he most likely was doing, she'd take him back from here to let the gold-faced male return to his sentry duty. "You probably scared all the easy ones off by now," she chided with a smirk when she heard the last bit of what Jarilo had said about not finding any frogs. "Being more mindful of your impact on the scenery should help. You splashed and rippled all the water, and made enough noise I could hear you from well over there just to start. No prey, or really anything, would wait to sit around and wait for that to come their way." As she detailed this, she pivoted towards the creek but didn't go so far as to wet her paws again.

"It is important to slow down and listen to nature: its ripples, instead of always your own." She dipped her nose to almost the water's surface, then withdrew with a careful look around, ears twitching and senses extending in thoughtful silence. Hopefully, this encouraged Jarilo to take her hint and do a bit of the same.. but she had a more difficult time judging him than some of her other puppies. He could phase between completely obnoxious and surprisingly keen when it suited him. It just depended on which one she was dealing with right here and now.

He had not heard her approach, and gave a jolt of a start when he realized his mother's presence. This allowed Tryphon to slid away from his immediate attentions, and the steely-furred boy's ears fell at her comments. "I know," he huffed, looking for a half-second like he considered a more indignant remark, but he flicked his ears and swallowed it down for now. "The water is nice, though.." he tried to justify in a quieter voice, and started to head closer to her to regroup on the frog mission, since evidently that wasn't heading anywhere right now.

Jarilo moved from the waters, this time much more carefully, but he saw that some ripples just couldn't be avoided. He was still trying to understand exactly what she had meant by that.. although he was able to pick up the overall message of it: be quiet, and not make so much commotion—no one, nature included, really appreciated that. It was a place for him to start and maybe he might understand the rest at once. He could not say if that would be happening right now, though. He just wanted to stay busy.

He pulled himself ashore and went to bump his snout beneath his mama's chin. "Where does it come from? The creek?" He peered upstream with a concentrated look on. "Papa says they go to the ocean."

Quietly, and with her ears splayed wide, she watched him come to the edge and reached to nudge him when he was close. As for his inquiry, she perked subtly and looked upstream. "From high up on the mountain, nearer to the peak where it is icy and snowy—even during the summertime in the highest parts." she explained and leveled him with a look meant to outrun his next questions, if she could even begin to. He wouldn't know much about snow. He'd never lived it, at least not yet. "Snow is what happens to rain when it is very cold, like it is during the winter and in very high elevation." Jarilo looked to still be listening, so she went on. "When those peak snows melt, they create and feed into the creeks." Amekaze gestured, circling her details back around to what he had wanted to know in the first place.

"And yes. Eventually, if it does not dry up somewhere along the way or find a dead end, it would join a larger waterway like a bigger creek or a river, and then goes to the ocean." She peered down at him, since she had not missed the certain little emphasis he tied onto speaking of the sea. Were his curiosities aiming for the coastline already?

His peering morphed into squinting as she did what she often did and explained things he had no idea about. He had to listen carefully since he had asked for it, and unexpectedly, he learned a bit about snow too since that was where the creeks came from. But that didn't interest him as much as some other facets of nature so far, not nearly as much as the ocean did. "So that's why the creeks are really cold sometimes..?" he asked, trying to nod along since he had hopefully deduced properly. "I can see where that happens one day maybe, right? And snow too?" he looked up at her encouragingly. Just like the ocean, he may as well get to investigate it up close sometime.

"Exactly," she replied at the end of a soft nod. "Creeks and other waterways also form and grow from rain.. but rain and snow both are just different types of precipitation," she went on to explain, terminology included as she went backtracking slightly to help make snow more relevant for him—hopefully inspiring him to just think of it as really cold rain until she'd have more seasonal experience on him to build upon. The link such as that would would likely help his understanding for now. "Of course, if you go up far enough." It wasn't unrealistic, but not always easy to get to where it was most obvious.. and she got the sense he was going to be disappointed to go look at ice beginning to melt to a trickle. "And snow, definitely. It tends to happen just about everywhere in the wintertime." She wasn't looking forward to it any, and did not want it to come too soon, so his curiosities about it would simply have to wait. "You will see when the time is right." Amekaze assured the steely-coated boy with another bob of her head.

"Are you hungry yet? I wonder if there are any frogs out further downstream..." she gestured, and started to go that way without exactly waiting for his whole answer.

Glad to know his answer was favorable, his soggy tail wiggled. Her further explanations kept him from rushing too far ahead with more questions, and effectively gave him plenty to try to grasp.

But there was something about.. wintertime. He'd heard this mentioned, here and there, mostly from either parent but it seemed to come up consistently. He was listening, although he did not know what it meant as he squinted at her and nodded slowly, even if full understanding didn't quite sink. Jarilo had no choice but to believe her... when the time is right, he'd get to know.

Her next question redirected his thoughts in an instant, not that she left him much time to ponder it at any length. "You think?" he perked a bit, hopeful for another go at frog finding now that he knew about what didn't work.

Gathering up, he went bounding after her lead.