She wasn't meant to leave the rendezvous site without an adult, though just like the whelping den, Haunt felt herself outgrowing the limited space. She wanted to range far and wide, freely roaming the territory and the wilderness beyond it. She wanted to hunt, which meant tracking prey wherever it might lead her.
As midday stretched languidly toward afternoon, she sat at the edge of the clearing, her tail twitching like an agitated cat's. With a small grunt, she made a decision and executed it. Glancing around to see that neither of her siblings were paying her any attention, she slipped off into the trees like a ghost.
Soon, she broke into a gallop, her white ears pasted against her skull as her feet made too much noise on the leaf litter. But nobody apprehended or stopped her, so she reached the far western edge of the bypass without incident. There, she paused to catch her breath and observe her surroundings, even as she studied the markings littered along the borderline.
Eventually, she began to creep away from her parents' domain and into the neighboring grove. Haunt's head bobbed as she observed the many splendid colors of ferns everywhere she looked. Tall, narrow trees grew closely together, giving the place a very cloistered feel. It was next to impossible to take a single step without brushing into something leafy, which put Haunt on edge. It was good practice, however.
In between all the fall foliage, there were dozens of scents. Haunt lusted after big game, though she was smart enough to know she couldn't hunt an ungulate solo. She was barely capable of managing small prey on her own yet. Hopefully she would get to practice some trapping today too.
Kaertok trailed far behind his daughter, watching and waiting to see what she would do. Intervention was not on his action list today, so long as she was not in immediate danger. He watched as she approached the western edge of their claim, and he watched as she paused there. Instead of turning around, she proceeded forward. She disappeared into the trees, but Kaertok stayed just close enough that she was never out of sight for more than a minute or two.
Being the observant cookie she was, he had a feeling Malrok would pick up on his following her sooner or later. Until then, the father observed, wondering what had spurred her to leave their home.
For long moments, she barely moved except to comb her nose over the ground, sifting through the scents until she sussed out the one she wanted to pursue. It belonged to a rabbit. They were agile and quick prey, though at least they couldn't escape up trees, like squirrels could. Of course, they could do the opposite: flee down a rabbit hole. But Haunt figured she could just dig a bit, in that case, not unlike the way she'd dug at the wood rat's nest under Arbiter's instruction.
Taking care not to make too much noise by brushing through the undergrowth, Haunt moved painstakingly slowly as she tracked the rabbit. She paused to sniff at some droppings scattered among the brown leaves littering the soil, eyes raised and flicking through the grove. The pup then proceeded, freezing when she felt a stick roll under her foot. Fortunately, she avoided pressing her weight down on it and thus breaking it. She moved her paw and furtively continued, her tail beginning to twitch again as the rabbit's scent grew stronger in her nose.
He trailed along behind, watching as she stopped several times to sniff this and that. Eventually, he realized she was on the trail of something. With great amusement, he watched as she seemed to press her foot down on something, stalling her for a moment. When she moved far enough ahead, Kaertok sniffed at the stick, pleased that she had been able to keep herself near silent as she followed the trail of her prey. At this point, he realized it was a rabbit she was after.
Kaertok's role, at least for now, was to simply observe. Thus far, she hadn't noticed him, and he thought that was the best option. If and when she did happen to realize he was following, he was curious to see her reaction. Would she abandon her quest, or would she simply ignore him and move on to what she was already doing?
The hare's trail led her toward a stream, which she heard before she saw, the soft burble of it carrying through the dense undergrowth. When she eventually emerged on its bank only for the scent to vanish, Haunt frowned. Her tail began to twitch rapidly, signaling her agitation to no one in particular. She stood there a moment, deliberating, then dropped her head and began combing her nose along the water's edge. She went left, then right, but evidently the lapin had gone for a swim.
Haunt paused, eyeing the water. She didn't mind getting wet and enjoyed rain, likely an unprecedented side effect of growing up during an ongoing deluge. She had never really swum before, however, and she hesitated. She studied the distance across, took note of the water's rapid but soft movements. She lifted a paw and dipped in a toe, then her entire paw, before taking the proverbial plunge and wading right into the stream.
About halfway across, the water deepened enough that she could no longer feel the bottom. Haunt instinctively began to kick as the chilly water closed over her pale shoulder blades. The gentle current pushed her downstream a bit but she made her way to the opposite shore, clambering onto dry land and giving herself a perfunctory shake. Still dripping, Haunt dropped her muzzle and roved back upstream a bit, striking gold as the rabbit's scent filled her nose again.
For a moment, he thought she had given up on her quest, but she continued on, undeterred by the stream, which she swam across with relative ease. She could use some work on keeping a straighter line, Kaertok noted, but otherwise she had done well. Improvements could always be made, he thought.
Once she’d made some space between them, Kaertok made his own crossing of the creek, coming out the other side and shaking his coat dry. He picked up her trail again, continuing to follow and catching glimpses of his daughter’s bright white fur every few minutes.
It led away from the creek bed, Haunt carefully pursuing it with her nose skimming just an inch above the ground. She hadn't gone very far when she heard a splashing noise behind her. At first, only a single ear bent backward. Then, she swiveled swiftly and sprang, certain that the rabbit must have doubled back toward the water somehow.
When she beheld her soaking wet father, Haunt reeled back in momentary shock. Her white forelegs braced on the ground and she blinked up at him. She knew he might be cross with her for leaving the bypass, though Haunt was honestly more upset about the interrupted hunt than worried about Kaertok's inevitable rebuke.
In fact, she couldn't resist a brief, frantic search of the shore with her senses, just to be sure the rabbit wasn't within easy reach. Of course, it wasn't, and eventually she gave it up as a lost cause and faced her father. She didn't look him in the face, keeping her head low and her eyes averted. Her tail went limp, feathering against the backs of her pale legs.
Malrok appeared surprised by her father, which meant she had not simply been ignoring his presence. Instead, she had not noticed him. That was disappointing, but when had he not been disappointed in them? Whatever move he wished for them to make, they failed him in some way or another. Malrok was better than the other two, although Pingasut had shown some desirable qualities here and there. Atuaserk was the most disappointing of the three. She whined far more and seemed to think that a sour mood was a good trait to have.
Have you lost the rabbit's trail?
he asked. He did not care so much that she had left the confines of Legion. Arbiter seemed more keen to keep them locked in there, but Kaertok thought it better they learn to defend themselves against threats early on. And what better way than through real-world experience?
He spoke, his question making her go still with uncertainty for a beat before she replied, "No." How did he know about that? Why wasn't he punishing her for leaving the bypass? Quickly deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, she rumbled, "It's this way," and sprang back into the brush, away from the stream.
She found the trail easily, glad her father wasn't dragging her back home by the scruff and instead allowing her to pursue her prey. Haunt glanced at him, the tip of her white tail giving a grateful twitch, before she honed all her attention on the hunt. She lowered her head again and crept along the forest floor, taking extra care now that she knew she was being observed.
But only a small fraction of her attention was paid to her sire's presence. As she moved painstakingly through the lushly vegetated grove, the rabbit's scent grew stronger in her nose. Haunt knew she was getting closer. Her movements slowed down to a crawl as she closed in on her quarry, eyes and ears now peeled for any sign of the lapin itself.
The pup twitched to a sudden stop, belly slung to the leaf-littered ground, ears cupping forward on her crown. She listened for a long moment, then took one slow step, then another, pausing in between each to listen. There was too much growth to see, though between her powerful sense of smell and her swiveling ears, Haunt could visualize her target's approximate location.
She halted one last time, body quivering as the tension built in her muscles before the strike. Although Haunt herself moved noiselessly as a phantom, the brush rustled noisily as she leaped. Her yellow eyes glimpsed a flash of brown fur among the green and her lips curled back from her teeth as she lunged after it, only for the rabbit to easily vanish into the greenery unscathed.
He trailed behind, noting how her movement was different now that she knew he was there. He paid special attention to that, locking the memory in so that he might notice it on other wolves he may be tracking. It was subtle things. Her ears swiveled differently, her movements were more calculated than they had been before.
Kaertok was careful to let this be her hunt, not his. She would not always have his watchful eye looking out for her and guiding her, and he knew that day was drawing near. Even seeing her in her element here made him realize how quickly she had grown. Malrok may have still been an adolescent, but she would be a capable wolf. He was sure of that now. He thought the same of Pingasut, although he considered Atuaserk a lost cause.
As the rabbit slipped away, Kaertok watched, not making any move to go after it. You are good at finding them, but not so good at catching them. You will learn,
he said. Come, let's go back home.
The Tartok gestured for her to follow, shoulder-to-shoulder. When they got to the stream once more, he gave instructions.
When you swam before, you let the current take you too far. This time, push against it. Letting it take you too far can be dangerous.
Kaertok dipped himself in first, pushing himself to the other side where he waited for Malrok to make her own crossing.
Haunt stood there a moment before letting out a huff. Her failure disappointed her, especially after all that effort, but she knew she still needed lots of practice. Kaertok said as much when she turned to face him. His words were frank, which Haunt appreciated. She nodded her acknowledgement, repeating the three most important ones in her head: You will learn.
She did not expect the lesson beside the stream, though she paid close attention when Kaertok explained her earlier error. She swallowed, wondering if he'd been following her that whole time. Haunt almost asked, though her tongue stayed still. She would rather not know, instead working on paying more attention to her surroundings even in the midst of an otherwise all-consuming hunt.
Rather than swim straight across, Haunt did as her father did, swimming at an angle to push against the current. She climbed out more or less across from where she'd begun. She shook the water from her pale coat and looked to Kaertok again, ready for anything else he'd like to teach her but equally prepared to walk home beside him in silence, his ghostly little shadow.
She did better coming across the stream the second time, although again, there was room for improvement. There always would be. None of his children would ever truly live up to his unrealistic expectations, but they might come close on occasion. He felt he had done his job to teach them well. Which led him to thinking about his next move. He mustn't give anything away, of course. He had been tight-lipped about his plans to everyone around him, most notably Arbiter. Alas, dropping a vague hint here he thought would be safe.
As they padded back toward their home, he gave Malrok the only vague clue he was willing to give about his plans. Keep practicing your tracking skills; you will need them in the coming months.
It would be some time before she was prepared to take on the unspoken task that he would leave in his wake, but he assured himself that she would be up to the task. And if not, she was not the Anneriwok he thought she was.
I will call you Inukun now. It means "prowler" in my mother's language.
He fell silent then, content to remain that way throughout their journey unless Inukun wished to say more.
For a time, they walked in silence, Haunt's attention straying between Kaertok and their surroundings as they passed through the grove back toward the bypass. When they approached the borders, he broke the companionable silence with some words of wisdom. Haunt turned them over in her head with an astute nod. Oblivious to the hint hidden in the words, she would nevertheless take them to heart. She aspired to be nothing short of the world's finest hunter, after all.
Just before they walked through the natural archway into the expansive valley ringed by rocks, Kaertok said one last thing to his small lookalike. She met the unexpected christening with a blink, then a wave of her tail. Soon it swept steadily back and forth as she bowed her head in acceptance and respect of her father's title for her.