The greyscale girl moved through the territory. It had been a rather uneventful day for her so far and she was keen to make a change to that. Normally she would work on her trade and practice with her mother but today she didn't feel like it. Het body was changing. She was becoming bigger and leaner. She had shed her puppy fat and made her more look like a gangly yearling. Clearly, she was not even that. Wynter was really in that in-between stage of puppy to yearling and it made her feel different.
She went to inspect if anything exciting had happened or if there was someone she hadn't spoken to much yet. Since her mother was also her mentor, she stayed really in her own bubble of Nutmeg and Ira. She wanted to be more social. Perhaps there were other wolves she could learn from as well. She was most definitely certain that that was the case.
With Ira away on some kind of business trip, it was up to Hieronymous to look after the pack once again. It was unnerving, he didn't like this responsibility to be honest. It was far too much on his plate, too much to try and keep together what Ira worked so hard to build and keep during this past year - and how she entrusted him with her work while she was away. They were big paws to fill.
While trying to keep a close eye on each member, more so on the borders, the caches and keeping track on what needs to be filled before winter was here - someone took his eye. One of Ira's children. Wandering alone. He had spent a lot of time with them when they were younger, helping Ira when she needed some time away... but since his disappearance, time to heal - they went and grew up already. He had missed so much.
A little nervous to approach the girl, he smiled and tried to keep it cool. Greetings little lady, what are you up to today?
Did she even recognize him at all, he wondered? Or was he just another stranger?
Wynter turned around when she heard a voice. Her tail wagged when she saw the unusual colored male. Then again, she didn't know it was unusual, she knew him. Hiero! But he did look different from the other wolves. She realized she hadn't seen him in a long time. "You've gotten smaller!," she exclaimed with a slight shock. She was certain he was bigger before, how she remembered him.
"Nothing much. I didn't want to train with mom today, and since we can't go to the borders I don't know what to do," she commented. Now, it wasn't like that the girl was longing to leave the pack or the borders. But she did like to do border patrol and work on her mercenary trade. She was obedient enough that she would do as told, especially if her mom pressed her on it.
With the way Nutmeg treated him in their last one on one, he didn't expect anything different from her sister. So when the young lady called out to him with such recognition, it warmed his heart! Beaming with a smile and laughing at her claim that he had gotten smaller (everyone was smaller when they looked at Ira or Orlaith). No, no my dear, it is you who have gotten bigger!
With wide eyes glancing over her, exaggerating enough to get his message across. Do you think you'll shoot past me soon?
Depending on which side of the gene pool Wynter came from, she very well could and Hiero wouldn't be shocked in the slightest if he was honest. Two of the three in this litters' lineage were of a larger scale.
Pursing his lips, he pondered her words briefly. Glad that the young lady listened to his instructions to remain close by - that man and his brothers could very well still be lurking by and the lovely Wynter here would be ripe for their picking... he shuddered at the thought. Tell y'a what, we can go to the borders together. Wanna do that?
So long as he was accompanying her, he had no problems with a little patrol partner for today.
Wynter thought about his words for a moment. She realized that his words did make sense to the female. She nodded at him. "I guess that sounds more likely," she commented, she had noticed that she was growing. Before she couldn't really reach her mother's face, and now she could. She looked at Hiero. "I might if I train enough!" she commented, though she might just reach about just his size. She grinned.
Her eyes lit up, and eagerly nodded. "Yes!," she beamed. "I really want to learn about border patrol and be a good warrior and guardian like mom," she told the male. The grey female was very keen on working on becoming a warrior.
Ira's daughter pondered the new facts that were brought to her attention, and all the while he simply watched her with a beloved grin across his face. The grin grew almost immediately at her following comment, even bringing out a cheerful laugh! Absolutely!
Why not let her believe that training is what makes someone bigger instead of their genetics? It was cute, innocent, and it would only do her good to think that and work hard until the truth came out in time.
With that, his duty for the day was set. He would accompany Wynter around the border and maybe teach her a thing or two, maybe a new perspective on it instead so she may come with her own routine eventually. You have no better teacher than your mother.
He nodded confidently. It wasn't even to boost her own self-confidence, he knew Ira was a wonderful teacher, a great mother, and an amazing leader. These girls really did win the genetic lottery.
Okay, lets see what you know already. Take me to our borders.
Wynter nodded seriously when the male confirmed that working hard and training would get her the size she wanted to be. She nodded once more, thoughtfully. She already tried to work on her warrior skills a lot. But she figured that protecting the border would be just as important. The girl beamed when he spoke of her mother. "Yes! I have the bestest mom," she smiled. She really looked up to her mother and wanted to be like her when she was bigger. It seemed that her mother wasn't scared of anything!
"Oh. Okay!!," she spoke and then started to trot to the border with her tail raised proudly. She wanted to bring him there the fastest route, which was through the bramble. She only realized then that Hiero was probably too big to take this route and adjusted for him. She stopped at a scent marking and then turned to Hiero. "I can see the path we walk, and I can scent the marks," she explained. "It is only to tell others we live here. It will not really help to keep intruders out that is why we patrol, to check for things that are unusual, right?"
The best I've ever seen!
And he meant it. Well, maybe he was being biased considering how much of a crush he still had on the mom - something he was almost ashamed of really. Especially now since she had blatantly told him she would never be interested in him or in love in general. He just couldn't act upon any of it is all.
Wynter was quick to take the lead, and Hieronymous happily followed behind her at a respectable distance to give her space to move around. The last thing he wanted to be was to hover over her shoulder and make her nervous. She had to have space to move and explore! All he had to do was keep up.
Thankfully she took a different route than forcing him, a square piece, to fit in a circle-shaped hole. He nods along to her remarks. Very good.
He keeps nodding, Ira was already working on teaching her children. That was not shocking at all knowing her. That's right, it's why we train so that when an intruder does come, we can keep everyone safe. The borders are there only to tell them this is our home and to respect our boundaries.
Wynter nodded. It confirmed what her mama told her. She curiously looked at Hiero and then sniffed the scent mark. "So most use pee to scent mark, right?" she asked. And then tipped her head at the mark before casting her eyes at Hiero. 'What if I run out of pee or scent?," she asked innocently.
The female looked around. It didn't look that dangerous to her. It just look like their territory continued really. Her tail lifted as she stood. 'The border doesn't look dangerous," she questioned, perhaps a bit boldly.
Hmmm that's a difficult one.
Well, for him it was. The whole scent thing really did evade him and how was he supposed to explain any of this to a child who had a nose who would run circles around him? He saw Ira freshen up the borders plenty of times before and even mimicked her thinking she had a better sense of all this than he did, and so, he would go by that.
Trotting over to a tree, he rubbed his snout and shoulder against the trunk, and to another tree, his paws. Raking it with his claws and pads before stepping back and signaling the young Page to come over. Here, take a sniff - tell me what you smell on them. Which is stronger to you?
He didn't know the answer to that himself, but it seemed like a good idea to have her teach herself almost with his guidance.
Despite his disability, it had made the Constable observant. Piecing things together by watching others and adopting their habits for himself. This was one of them.