AW! Perhaps somebody that would be interested in helping her on this hunt? :)
She was on hot pursuit of a scent trail. Holding herself low to the ground, the young Goufa followed after the near-by rodent. Though she was not all that confident in being able to identify just what she was stalking after she knew that it was some sort of prey animal. She was only a few paces away from the family den as she slithered away into the nearby tall grass, following diligently. She wasn’t quite sure of what she would do with when she crossed paths with the prey. All she knew is that she was going to track it down and figure out what would happen when the time came.
She woke with a dull headache that did not go away even after a hearty breakfast and long drink. Refusing to let it deter her, Wildfire set off into the pack territory, searching for company. Although she always hoped to cross paths with Thuringwethil, the commander was, more often than not, preoccupied with some sort of official pack business. Keeping this in mind, the Bandrona left her scent trail alone and swung by the rendezvous site instead to see what the puppies were up to today.
Upon arriving at its fringe, she saw Freyja clearly imitating hunting behaviors. Or perhaps she was stalking live prey? Wildfire hung back, watching, fascinated to observe the youngster's instinctual behaviors. She also took notes so that she could give Freyja some good feedback.
As she wanders, Portia comes across yet another pup. This one is similar to the boy she'd met prior-- but a girl! so very different! And oh, the knowledge that she had to bestow upon this young girl-- it was endless really. All the wonderful things you could do to get what you wanted and when you wanted... all the wolves you could sway with just the sway of your hips!! To teach these things to a young woman was a marvelous task-- they took the things that most viewed as a stain upon the mannerisms of ladies and made them righteous. Embrace those things, says Portia! Embrace them and show the world that you are whoever you want-- not some broken piece to the puzzle that was femininity.
But, perhaps another day-- at another age.
She trots to the child and lets out a light yip, hoping to gain the attention. With a humble bow to the assumed Princess, she speaks, "Hello, sweetheart."
Slowly but surely she stalked the adrenaline of what was to come pulsing through her being as the scent trail grew stronger. Not daring to pay any mind to all that surrounded her, she kept to her trail diligently. That was until another greeted her. Freezing instantly, the child swung his head in the direction in the spotted wolf, her eyes widening and her pelt bristling as she looked upon the other’s face. She knew that she had seen this wolf before, but she wasn’t quite sure just where. Perhaps it had been on that day that they have moved dens. “H-Hello,” she offered weakly, a sudden feeling of loss draping over her shoulders heavily. She was sure that she wouldn’t be able to find whatever she had been tracking now. It had probably heard her and scampered off.
With her awareness heightened to those around her, she sensed another in her presence. Turning, she spotted Wildfire instantly. “Wilfiwa!” she greeted, her tail waving as she looked to the flame-colored wolf.
The yearling's brow furrowed when another wolf appeared on the scene, disrupting the pup's tracking. Wildfire had hunched down to watch but straightened up again, watching the two interact. She recognized Portia from various pack gatherings but didn't know her personally yet. The Bandrona slunk closer, ignoring the dull ache in her skull and shooting Freyja a bright smile and then training her attention upon the adult. A weird quaver passed through her belly when she realized the woman reminded her a bit of Charon. Hopefully the resemblance ended at their shared phenotype.
"Hello," Wildfire said to the other adult, wondering if a proper introduction was necessary and then deciding it definitely couldn't hurt. "I'm Wildfire. You're Portia, right?" She paused a beat to give the Skayona an opportunity to answer before redirecting her warm amber gaze down to Freyja. "Were you trying to hunt?" she asked, black tail waving.
The pup speaks with a bit of disappointment, and only then does Portia realize that she was probably trying to do something. She almost speaks again, but the girls quick outburst disrupts her train of thought. Her attention is drawn to an emerging coat of bright orange-- a foreign color to such a bland-coated woman. Wildfire. She knows the name and the face from pack meetings, understanding her to be one of Thuringwethil's most trusted subordinates-- and a scout, at that. Her head dips humbly to the other. "Yes ma'am," she says, though it feels weird to call a younger wolf something usually associated with an older crowd... regardless, it was a way of respect in the Skayona's mind.
"A pleasure," she adds with a smile, her gaze soon turning back to the child. Hunting, maybe that made more sense.
As the adults greeted eachother Freyja watched on, he attention jumping from one to the other as they exchanged formalities. When a question was directed in her direction, Freyja perked to attention and nodded. “Os,” she offered quietly, her frown lingering.”I unno wut was out dere... “ her voice trailed as she looked to the direction in which the scent had gone. “But, I kno somefin is dere.” Whatever it had been had smelled just like food. Her eyes returned to the others, hoping they had some insight on her current dilemma.
"Oh, there's plenty of prey out there," Wildfire said. It wasn't a meaningless platitude, either. Not so long ago, she couldn't have said that and she didn't take it for granted now. She exchanged a quick look with her fellow adult before directing another smile at Freyja. "I'm sure we can pick up your scent trail again... although if we can't, I'll show you how to strike another. You in?" she queried, already knowing the answer but also turning to Portia to add, "How about you?"
Thought Portia remains silent for this interaction between the two-- feeling somewhat guilty for having distracted the pup from her hunt-- her face appears calm and kind. She glances between them as they speak, noting how much more talkative Freyja is than little Hvit was... secretly she'd always find the latter to be her favorite. When Wildfire directs the conversation to her, she nods and smiles sweetly at them both. "I'm always in for a good hunt," she says, tail wagging behind her. "What direction were you headed, hun?" she asks Freyja.
The child brightened at the prospect of more prey, offering as breathless, “reawwy?” Perhaps her hunt hadn’t been ruined. Looking between the two adults, Freyja followed the conversation with interest and soon found that the focus was back on her. “Hm,” she thought, her tail waving as she reached her snout out to sniff at the air. Though it took her more than a brief pause to sniff out the trail that she had been tracking it was eventually found again. “Here!” she squeaked, pointing north of where they stood. Turning to the two adults, her excitement faded slightly. “I dunno what we’re trawckin,” she admitted. “But, les go?” Without another word, the child turned towards the smell, her snout held low as she lept into action.
The trapper nodded, though her reassurance proved unnecessary as Freyja was soon after able to relocate the scent trail. Wildfire moved to stand beside her, drawing in a deep breath. The pup might not be able to identify the prey but the experienced small game hunter could. "Groundhog," she reported with a smile and twitch of her black tail. "They're sort of like a mix between a beaver and a squirrel. They're delicious."
As with the recent hunting lesson with the injured rabbit, Wildfire resisted the temptation to issue instructions. Instead, she motioned for Freyja to take the lead. If the girl had questions, she could answer them, but Wildfire found she enjoyed this immersive approach to teaching. Sure, she could show Freyja everything she knew but the pup would learn faster if she did things for herself right from the get-go.
Portia had absolutely no pointers to give the girl. She could hunt as well as any other wolf, but she was by no means as skilled as Wildfire-- perhaps-- was. It was a skill everyone acquired, some were better than others, and she chose to devote her free time to growing the natural world rather than striking it down... though she was by no means against a good rabbit.
She stays silent as Freyja begins off, allowing Wildfire to walk just before her-- she did hold the higher rank, after all. Though she would always love to teach people about plants and herbs, she did always love to see young wolves find their calling. Perhaps this was Freyja's.
A groundhog. Her head tilted as the foreign word slipped from her mentor’s tongue. As an explanation followed the word, Freyja listened carefully and attempted to imagine the described creature. Pausing for a moment to do so, Freyja attempted to imagine what the creature that they were tracking would look like. A dark line grew over her brow as the image of a large squirrel with the teeth and the tail of a beaver came to mind. Pulling her head back to tuck her chin to her chest, Freyja giggled at the mental image that she had come up with.
Once her fit of giggles had past, she looked up to Wildfire and then back to Portia. “Powtia? You have a gwond hog?” she asked, wagging her tail as she looked back to the spotted wolf.
She was finding that teaching pups—especially with her particular method—required a lot of patience. Luckily, Wildfire had plenty of that. She smiled indulgently when Freyja stopped to giggle, then ask Portia a somewhat random question. Meanwhile, the scent trail just lingered there, fading with every second. But the Bandrona would not push it, as much as she would love to see Freyja excel and perhaps become a titled hunter herself. They would do this at the child's pace. And if the trail went cold, they'd find another. As she'd just said moments ago, there was plenty of prey out there.
sorry for the delay! it's been a rough few weeks, catching up on threads now (:
The child spoke to her directly, and she nodded. "I have, hun. Groundhogs are very good eats," she said, smiling. Her gaze shifted to Wildfire, and although she was not the expert hunter that the fiery girl was, she did understand the relevance of time and speed. Freyja was just a child though, and perhaps it mattered little if they actually found the prey today-- or if they found the one they were actually tracking.
When Portia offered her opinion on the game they sought, Freyja nodded as a smile spread upon her dark lips. With what had been said, Freyja was all the more keen on catching the groundhog. Turning her attention to the expanse before them, the Goufa picked up her pace in an attempt to get to their prize quicker. She remained silent that the trio made their way and she soon noticed that the scent trail was getting stronger with each stride that they took.
Then, it appeared.
In the distance, not too far off, a figure lingered. Though Freyja wasn’t entirely sure if this was the groundhog they had been seeking, she stopped suddenly and looked to Wildfire eagerly. “Issa da it?” she asked in a harsh whisper, excitement seeping into her tone.
Beyond a brief question that Portia quietly answered, the trio fell into a companionable, purposeful silence as they stalked their prey. Wildfire occasionally scanned ahead but most of her attention fell to Freyja herself. She watched the pup's behavior, how she moved. She saw plenty of things she could critique and improve as the girl grew into herself. For now, the Bandrona kept these notes to herself, filing them in a cabinet in the back of her mind.
Freyja led them within visual range of their quarry and the Bandrona's tail lifted, wagging. "That's it," she whispered back to the girl. She paused, debating whether to say anything else or just leave it all to chance. She remembered both Freyja and Hvitserk struggling a little without more direct guidance and couldn't resist adding, "What do you think you should do now?"
Portia fell silent beside the two. She was here to help, but it was Wildfire's area of expertise. She stands with her head low and her tail still, staring at the creature in case it would move, ready to alert the other two.
She was certain that she knew the next steps. Looking from Wildfire to the prey she let a smile spread across her lips. “We pownce, right?” she asked in a whisper, making sure that the groundhog could not hear them discuss it’s ultimate demise.
She glanced at Portia, then redirected her gaze back to Freyja as she answered. She shook her head lightly. "First," she corrected gently, "you need to get a little closer. If you try to attack from here, it will likely get away. The closer you are, the better your chances of capturing your prey." She paused. "But in order to get close, you need to be very stealthy. Do you know what that word means?"
After the child answered Wildfire about the term stealthy, Portia would interject with a "You must be light on your feet-- you must move without being seen or heard by the groundhog." Her ears cupped forward as she studied the creature, it's form still waffling around the same spot. It seems oblivious to the situation, and Portia thanked God himself that they were downwind-- it made the teaching a bit easier.
Freyja was not sure just what stealthily meant, but Portia was quick to explain what it meant. Her attention shifted from one adult to the other as such tactics were explained and once she understood she nodded. Turning back towards the looming creature, Freyja hesitated for a moment as she dwelled on just how she would be light on her feet.
Drawing a hesitant paw forward Freyja stepped. The grass rustled under her touch as at the noise she froze, her eyes widening as her ears falling flat. Her eyes lingered on the creature, who somehow was still naive to the lurking danger, and found that it had not been bothered by the noise. Attempting another step, Freyja shifted her weight as she stepped and found much better result.
Not finding the time to gloat, Freyja turned to the adults with a smile. “Sneek den pownce?” she asked, wanting to clarify before stalking off.
Freyja didn't know the term, though Portia quickly explained it to the child. Wildfire threw her a grateful smile, then nodded at the youngster's question. "Yep," she whispered simply, then fell quiet for a moment before she remembered to say, "And if you mess up or it just gets away or whatever, don't feel bad about it, okay? Even the most skilled hunters only succeed maybe one out of every five times or so." She didn't want Freyja to feel badly if this didn't go well because, honestly, the chances of success were extremely slim. Wildfire wasn't expecting a kill but the experience would still be great practice.
Portia smiled and nodded to Freyja as Wildfire spoke. She then proceeded to lay lower, allowing the child(and even Wildfire) to make her move without any outside distraction. She then waited patiently, ears perked with excitement-- oh how she prayed the child would make the catch! Wildfire told her not to be disappointed if she failed, but Portia held full confidence in the girl.
Looking back from the spot that she lingered, Freyja smiled to both women and offered a wave of her tail in way of a thank you. Though she was still very unsure of just what she was doing she was more than relieved that she had the support of Wildfire and Portia. Remembering to stay light on her feet, she crept forward, instinctively dipping low in an attempt to camouflage herself from her lingering target.
Her eyes zoned in on the rodent as she crawled closer, thankful that it hadn’t noticed her just yet. She slunk forward until she was just a pounce length away. Pausing then, and somehow alerting the other that she was there, Freyja pounced suddenly as the other began the scurry off, instinct driving her every move. There was something within her that just told her what to do and though she was momentarily concerned of how she just knew what to do, she decided to save those questions for a later day.
Once upon the earth-colored creature, Freyja bit down hard on its neck as it attempted to escape from underneath. As she held on, the Groundhog screamed (literal) bloody murder as it thrashed. Noticing that it wasn’t dying, Freyja pushed her game into the ground with force as she bit, hoping that that would take care of it. Soon the creatures thrashing subsided into nothing and once it lay still, Freyja quickly released it’s body and backpedaled, her eyes sparkling.
“GUYS!” she srcreamed, her attention looking from what she had done to her guides, her tail wagging madly from side to side.
She had done it!