Greatwater Lake To that night

Wraen was lying in the tall grass and was watching the ducks that were swimming near the lake's bank. Few weeks earlier she had caught sight of a mother duck with several little, fluffy ducklings keeping close to their matriarch. Now there was sight of only one bugger and she figured that either the last batch had grown up very quickly or someone else had had a marvelous feast and this was all that was left here now. 

Her main focus, however, was not the youngster, but singling out the one feathered avian that would become her lunch today. There were different tactics of, how to attract them close to the water's edge or even better - on the ground, where they weren't that fast. The most bizarre show she had witnessed had been performed by her mother Osprey. Who had danced, rolled on the ground and pretended to be completely mad. And she had been pretty convincing, because the silly birds had swam towards her and only their wings had saved them from a most certain death.

Dancing was not an option here because of the lack of space, therefore Wraen took the cat-like approach, being patient and waiting to make the right move. That moment finally came - she shot out of the grass into the water, attempting to tackle one of the three birds that had come close ending up with mouth full of feathers and one rather ruffled looking duck swimming hastily away, quacking accusingly. Oh well, she would have to give another try.

sunspire's beta had a lot on his mind lately. whether it be about seabreeze or his children or wraen or the rest of the pack-- he stressed. everything stressed him out-- and though he did a marvelous job at concealing his anxieties, he still felt them. god-- when did he become this wolf? terance could hardly remember a time he wasn't plagued by some sort of stress. before sarah's disappearance, maybe. 

he'd left the mountain to take a walk, maybe clear his mind, when he spotted his sister a distance away... hunting? he assumed that's what she was doing. terance was not a hunter. he could hunt, like every other capable wolf, but he was slow to hip, new tactics and a little clumsy in the long run. as always, wraen outdid him in the grace department, being far more clever when it came to hunting. so he approached slowly, assuming wraen probably picked up on his presence, and positioned himself low beside her, giving his sister a gentle nudge to the shoulder. he'd help her-- if she wanted it, she just needed to tell him what to do.

"Bastard," Wraen growled after the duck, climbed out of the water and lied down to free her mouth of the feathers that had stuck between her teeth and to her palate and tongue. While doing this, she shot angry glances towards the quacking air-heads, therefore, when someone else came close and nudged her on the shoulder, she turned and eyed the person with a clear "NOW WHAT?" look.

Recognition hit her then, the look cleared away and she smiled at Terance. "Tried to get one of those jerks," she pointed towards the ducks, who were now far out of the reach. "But good thing you came by - I was in the process of providing lunch and you might come in handy," she added on a brighter tone and beckoned him to follow her along the bank. There - further down the road, deep in the reeds - she had found some nests the other day. While the first batch of "chicks" had grown and left the place already, it was worth having a look there again. 

"How are you doing, daddy?" she asked.

"that's why i'm here," terance returned with a slight smile, his tail waving, "just tell me what to do." and then she beckoned him to follow her, so he did-- of course. as they walked, wraen asked about him, and terance shrugged-- though smiled at the name used. daddy. he loved his children. "good," he answered her, glancing her way, "kids are a lot but-- ibis and okeanos are worth it. what about you?" 

"We will do some raiding," Wraen explained with a malicious grin, still sour and harbouring murderous thoughts towards the winged water dwellers. They will pay, they will.

"Oh - they are. I met the two on separate occasions. Ibis is a treat and Okeanos is a funny little fluff-ball," she said. "And I understand that Seabreeze is doing better as well. Recovered from her sickness and all?"

"Me - I sleep and hunt and hunt and sleep and there is hardly room for anything else," she said with a light-hearted grin, hiding the fact that nowadays she was often running on low batteries, never having enough rest and pushing herself to the brink. Three nursing mothers and kids, who began to live on solid food was a lot and just like the many-headed dragon's hunger in the fairy tale's, their's were abysmal.

"i love 'em," was all terance said, but his grin was broad and his tail had begun to wag. to hear that wraen liked them meant a lot-- especially since she was (at least originally) so un-okay with the untraditional way that they came about. she was coming around, for him, and terance really appreciated it. of course, his inner demons prayed on his ears, whispering that she was only pretending, and she hated him and them, but he forced the thoughts down. there was no way, and he knew that. "she has, she's doing better," he added with a gentle sigh-- thank zues. 

her answer was... an answer, but it didn't answer his question. terance repeated himself, "of course, you're amazing at what you do-- and sunspire thanks you-- but how are you doing?"

If there had been resentment before, now there was none. Wraen had accepted the situation and with a motto - things are what they are and what will be, will be - took care of those practicall matters, surrounding them, that she could. Plus, by now Terance probably should have known that, when things were not to his sister's liking she was rather and often unpleasantly open about the problem to others. And Wraen was just as a failure in being a proper actor, as she was a singer. 

"That's about sums it up," Wraen really had nothing else to add. "I am..." she pondered on the subject "...fine. Like tepid water. No storms or whirlwinds in this pond." She chuckled at the comaprison of her emotional life to a pond. "Anyway - not afraid to get your fancy feet wet?" she asked, not wanting to dwell longer on a subject to which she had nothing much to add on. "Dirty as well, though I can't imagine it will matter to you much, since you are blacl already," she gave an evaluating look up and down her brother. 

"Though - I have to warn you, before you engage in this - you will stink for few days. Seabreeze might kick you out of the den and make you sleep under the stars."

"hmm," hummed terance as he thought over her metaphor, "as long as it's not too much-- let me know if it ever is, i'll always pick up some slack if it means you can get a good night sleep or two." of course, nowadays terance hardly slept anyway-- too busy worrying. of course, there was never enough time for free time nowadays... and terance knew wraen would tell him that, but he cared more about her wellbeing than maybe him getting a meal or a good nights sleep-- he'd sacrifice his own for wraen and the rest of the pack.

"not a priss," he defended with a smirk, his tail waving, "but fine-- i'll just go bother rannoch with my stench." he was ready, he didn't care so much for the side effects.

Good thing about hard work was that it left Wraen no time to worry. And in her situation she would consider the latter state of mind as a waste of time. Anyway...

"Well, in that case all of us three stinky leaders will have to camp out on the fringes of Sunspire," she concluded with a devillish grin that indicated she would not be against harrassing other pack members with stench of stale water, mud, rotting sea-weeds and bird shit. 

"Alright, handsome boy," she had stopped by a path of down-trodden reeds that led straight in the muddy and weedy water ahead. "We will have to swim to that island there," she beckoned. "The last time I and Maia visited, there were plenty of eggs there. Now there might not be many, but the birds are in the process of changing their feathers. Therefore with some luck we might find some that are unable to fly. And... well... you know, what that means."

With this explained she charged ahead, splashing straight in the water and swimming towards her targed in the form of a small island that was overgrown with bushes, reeds, grass and all and anything imaginable.

"can do," terance returned simply with a small smile. and with that he followed his sister out onto the little island, paddling hard to make it across in a decent time. when the siblings arrived, terance stayed low to the shore, shaking out only his head to avoid making a mess and scattering the birds. they were far enough off but... still. he glanced to wraen with a smirk, waiting for further direction.

"The plan is simple - we go in parallel as much as the overgrowth here allows. I will take the water-edge, you go a bit inland. Once I find a suitable candidate I will scare it away from the water and towards you - and you try to snatch it," Wraen explained, then turned away from her brother, straightened out and listened carefully. Some distance away rustling grass and some quiet quacks indicated that there were at least three, if not more feathered lunches awaiting them.

She beckoned her brother to follow and by moving so as to make as less noise as it was possible in the reeds, neared the little flock. For a moment she paused and in the next she pounced. Her estimate had not been wrong - there were three ducks. Two went for the water and slipped her grasp, however, the second did not manage to get that far and turned to waddle in the opposite direction. Wraen watched it go and hoped that Terance was up for the task, while she released herself from the mud that she had got stuck into.

Whether they were lucky with this particular duck or not, did not matter much, because in the next few hours both of them managed to take out at least three, having not only decent meal for themselves, but also being able to bring back something for the kids to enjoy at home.