Sun Mote Copse some people are just born to fight, i think

savaktuk settles into his new home as well he can. in truth, firebirds day to day life isn't that different from tartok and savaktuk considers that likely most packs are the same in that regard. play your part, earn your keep; there is similarity and comfort to be gleaned from that. he hunts in the early tresses of morning when the moon has yet to wan and the summer air remains cool and un-oppressive. what he does not eat he buries in the caches and sometimes he hunts exclusively to help keep the stores of food up. when he is finished with that task, he takes to the borders in rhythmic patrols.

savaktuk makes such rounds now, steps marching and magma gaze keen as he surveys the creeping, receding shadows of the sunrise.

She wasn't grounded this time, though Towhee had sat her down and they'd had a serious talk about scouting safely. Meerkat had walked away from that conversation with one primary directive: -"If you're going to explore, take someone, anyone with you. It's not safe to go alone until you're older. Even then..."- But her mother hadn't gone down that road, only repeating herself firmly. Grateful not to be in trouble and eager as ever to do as she was told, Meerkat had readily agreed.

Presently, she kept her eyes peeled for a buddy to take along on a little adventure to one of the nearby territories, maybe the glade again. The first person she came across was a stranger, though there wasn't an ounce of hesitation as Meerkat approached. She grinned and wagged her tail, giving him a once-over before respectfully dropping her gaze. He reminded her a little of that woman, Pri, except that he was a dude.

-"Hi! I'm Meerkat, who're you?"- she greeted, adding, -"Do you like to explore?"- before he could even respond.

while savaktuk is not surprised to know that there are others that rise with the ascending sun, he is surprised to see a cub approach him from the depths of the copse. having not have been around cubs extensively as a father would be, he cannot tell her age by looking at her and deduces regardless that it doesn't matter. she approaches him with such gusto and purpose that the tartok cannot help but be mostly impressed with a mixture of amusement. bronco had informed him of the firebird's youth and it would seem despite savaktuk's desire to generally avoid interacting with them, he wouldn't be able to avoid this interaction.

she does that strange gesturing that he watched towhee and bronco make and his magma gaze follows the actions as she speaks aloud, trying to commit the words to the gestures. she introduces herself — meerkat — and without giving him a chance to respond with his own name, she adds the question of does he like to explore.

savaktuk. he offers her his name and after a pause of uncertainty of why she was asking if he liked to explore and the further press of did he? he answers yes.

His succinct answers worked quite well for her. She grinned at his affirmation and chirped, -"Okay, let's go!"- She motioned emphatically for him to follow and then broke into a trot, leading him toward the far edge of the copse. She hesitated for a beat when she toed the borderline, though one glance over her shoulder at Savaktuk was all the reassurance she needed to proceed.

Like before, she skirted around the edges of the bog. Although she wasn't nearly as fussy as Alyx about getting dirty, she wasn't in the mood to wade through the swamp right now. Meerkat angled for the glade over yonder, though she gradually slowed her pace so that she and her newfound companion could stride along side by side.

Meerkat could sign while walking but found it much easier to switch to verbal communication on the go; she was less likely to stumble. "You're new, right? I'm going to be a scout. Do you have a trade, Savaktuk?" she queried conversationally.

savaktuk follows after her dutifully, with little choice otherwise. he cannot let her go venturing out of the safety of the borders alone — despite that he, himself, had been relatively unbothered and ran into no trouble. it was also true he hadn't gone very far before deciding to homestead at the first pack he came across. what lay beyond the hinterlands was vastly unknown to him. she slows her stride and with a blink he realizes that walk at the same pace, side to side. subconsciously, he corrects his own gait so that she does not have to power-walk to keep up with him.

a grunt of affirmation leaves savaktuk at her question of him being new — a quick, noncommittal noise that slips between her question and statement of being a scout. it is good, then, that she has a reason for being out here and isn't leaving the safety of the copse for ...whatever reason kids left the safety of their home. curiosity? spite? fighter. hunter. though he bore no official titles of either here in these foreign lands. still, he has the experience all the same.

"Oh, cool," she commented in reply to his brief answer, "my mom's a fighter and my dad's a hunter. And I think Neema's both!" Her tail waved as she spoke of her three parents. She was proud of them and their myriad accomplishments, even if she was only a few months old.

For a few moments, they proceeded in companionable silence. Then they approached the edge of the glade and Meerkat hastened her step, eager to further explore the territory. It reminded her of home, yet it was so different at the same time.

Checking to make sure Savaktuk was still tailing her, Meerkat bounded through the wood, dark brown eyes roving over everything as her nostrils flared to drink in all the new and interesting smells. Without realizing it, her paws carried her a little to the north. The trees thinned and she saw something dark up ahead, which intrigued her.

"Savaktuk! This way!" she shouted, breaking into a trot that delivered her to the foot of Heron Lake Plateau, the great waterfall crashing off to her left and causing Meerkat's jaw to drop.

the child — meerkat, he reminds himself — is very chatty ...at least to savaktuk's standards. she mentions that her mother is a fighter, her father a hunter and someone named neema is both. true to form, savaktuk makes a noncommittal noise, a low grunt, as his way of contributing to the conversation. at the very least, he uses this simple and primal way of communication to assure the child that he is paying attention to what she's telling him even if he doesn't contribute anything vocally.

he does not know where meerkat is leading him, isn't sure that she really knows either, but he dutifully trails a few paces behind, keeping a keen eye on her and the dwelling shadows of the unfamiliar terrain. he doesn't trust anyone enough to think that there aren't loners lurking nearby. though meerkat wasn't exactly defenseless — her teeth could do plenty of damage if her life was threatened — he watches wearily all the same.

no one intercepts them thus far but the assurance is not enough to coax savaktuk to let his guard down ( if it was ever really down ). she outpaces him in her eagerness and with a small snort of disapproval he is about to chide her when she shouts for him and his pace hurries to eliminate the distance. there is the sound of roaring water, baffling to the tartok who ever knew the slow and steady trickle of streams and icemelt. though meerkat had not sounded distressed when he catches up to her, his magma gaze fiercely studies their surroundings all the same, only to follow her line of sight.

the roaring sound was water, as it rushed down the cliffside, spilling in a constant stream of frothy water below. he peers over the side for a moment before a small smile tugs at his lips as he looks back to meerkat. waterfall. he supplies helpfully, having heard of them but not having ever seen one himself.

She had never seen anything like it and Meerkat was riveted. She stared at the distant wall of water, her good ear flickering constantly in response to its dull roar. Eventually, her eyes roved upward to take in the sight of the plateau itself. The pup had seen similar terrain near the far east side of the copse, yet this view was downright breathtaking.

Her attention snapped sideways, only realizing Savaktuk was right beside her when he spoke: "Waterfall." "Yes," Meerkat rejoined a little breathlessly, "it sure does!" Water falls, she mentally corrected, though she knew it would be rude to say that bit out loud. (Meerkat, of course, didn't realize it was she who was mistaken.)

Neither one of them spoke for a while after that, Meerkat's full attention returning to the cascading water. She could've stood there for hours, entranced, but eventually she snapped out of it enough to wonderingly inquire of her companion, "Where does the water come from?"

savaktuk leaves her side to investigate a bit, moving only a few feet away, closer to the bank of the rushing water before it makes its grand escape down the cascading cliffside. he paws at the olive and emerald colored moss that grows in abundance there, attracted to the damp earth, rolls over a few water smoothed pebbles with his paw, head bowing to sniff at the clusters of clovers. he's tempted to drink the water but worries that it has enough power to grab hold of even him. she rejoins that it does fall and not realizing that she's misunderstood his very caveman attempt to inform her what it is, he nods and returns to his investigation; the aroma of woodland prey fresh.

he returns to her side before long though, not wanting to be distracted if she decides to explore further. her question stumps savaktuk for a small while until her gruffly answers, as best he can, river? lake? maybe even the sea, but in truth he really isn't sure and emphasizes as much with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

The inflection in his answer made Meerkat's lips purse. He didn't seem to know for sure. Her eyes tracked back to the waterfall before dropping to the area Savaktuk had been exploring a moment ago. She didn't make any attempt to move in for a closer look herself. She wasn't afraid, though she was definitely a little awestruck and intended to maintain a respectable distance, at least for now.

After a bit more staring, Meerkat forced her attention to her companion once more. -"You said you're a hunter,"- she mentioned, slipping back into signing without even realizing it. -"My dad is a tracker. That means he scouts for prey, right? Maybe we could do that now?"- That way, they could both pursue their trades with a single, mutual effort. -"Kill two birds with one rock,"- Meerkat blurted as she suddenly remembered the appropriate turn of phrase (well, mostly).

savaktuk watches her for a reaction to his guesses and suspects that she does not find his guesses all that satisfactory. without following the snaking river that feeds the waterfall he couldn't tell her for sure and despite the tiny pang of guilt for not having a satisfactory answer he offers no apology. she appears to move on quickly enough as she asks about him being a hunter and asks if her father scouting for prey made him a tracker. yes. he offers simply; wrapping up both her questions with one gruff word. kill two birds with one rock she blurts out and savaktuk lets out a rumble of a chuckle. right. he affirms, motioning for her to take the lead with a gesture of his muzzle.

He concurred and it was only then that Meerkat gave him a curious look as she realized aloud, -"You don't say a lot, do ya?"- The question (or observation, really) was coupled with a friendly wave of her tail to show she didn't mind. -"Do you know how to ptero?"- she couldn't help but wonder. Maybe he would prefer sign versus spoken language? -"I could teach you,"- Meerkat offered offhandedly.

But, right now, they had another task to perform. Meerkat spun in a slow circle as she tried to guess where they might find some prey or, at the very lest, a scent trail. -"Deers like the woods, right?"- she asked, giving Savaktuk a thoughtful glance. -"We should go back into the glade. What're some signs that deers have been here?"- she wondered even as she moved back toward the trees. There was scent, of course, but surely there was more to tracking than following one's nose.

no. savaktuk responds in gruff agreement to her assessment. he sees no need in being overly verbal. plenty could be communicated with body language; talking just seemed excessive and redundant. no. he replies to her following question: wondering if 'ptero' is what they call the weird signing they do. he's tempted to ask if his lack of verbalization bothers her, especially when she offers to teach him their peculiar way of speaking. sure. though he would likely approach it the same way he approaches talking: he would use it as sparingly as possible.

he gives a nod to her question and gestures for her to take the lead back to the glade, contemplating her question and lets out a low chuff to garner her attention as he snaps a twig with his teeth and gestures to it to indicate 'broken twigs' as an answer to her question. following, he makes a clear pawprint in the muck and gestures to it with his muzzle next: 'tracks'. poop. he finishes with a grin that is almost boyish before he nudges his muzzle towards the glade, his brief lesson in tracking done.

Force of habit made her expect a verbal response, though she quickly realized he would demonstrate instead. She paid close attention as Savaktuk broke a twig, then made a print in the mud. At first, she didn't quite follow. Why was he doing these things? Then it dawned on her that he was showing her the traces the deer would leave behind. When he did speak, it surprised a loud snort out of her.

-Gotcha!- she signed before repeating it and explaining, -"Gotcha!"- Hopefully her own basic translation would make sense. Meerkat then fell silent again, turning her attention to look for spoor. Once she knew what to look for, it seemed she saw signs everywhere. It was like adding an entirely new dimension to an already pluridimensional world.

She was so caught up in the task itself that when the game trail led them to a mother and two fawns grazing in a clearing, Meerkat let out a surprised noise that immediately sent them fleeing. She blinked and stared after the startled deer, then looked around to catch Savaktuk's eye. She should probably feel bad for promptly scaring off their prey, though it wasn't like the two of them could've really tried their hand.

-We did it!- she signed, eyes bright, body wiggling. She didn't bother with a direct translation, certain her face and body would express it well enough. -"Can we head back now? I wanna tell my dad about it!"- she added after a moment, swiveling and beginning the trek home, presumably with Savuktuk tailing her.