Blacktail Deer Plateau serafina

supa-vague *cough* for @eilidh ?

lasher had not departed again after his talk with dante. thoroughly distraught by peregrine's treatment of him, along with saena's wounded condition and junior's disappearance, the beta had kept close to him, and to his children. aiding blue willow at the medical den, he otherwise spent his time on short patrols and small hunts.

at length, lasher found himself near the rendezvous site at sunhigh. casmir and constantine slumbered near to one another, an ever-growing heap of gangly limbs and dark fur. the man cast his eyes about for his daughter. today belonged to the pair of them; he wished to show her sights that could not be seen within the confines of the packlands. 

Not sure I like the sound of that... :P

Eilidh did not know about the disturbance in the air or of the wolves whom her father loved, but were no longer there. She was blissfully ignorant of the cruelties the world offered, and if she had known, she would be fine with it. The princess moved among the wildflowers surrounding the rendezvous site, letting her brothers sleep while she explored. She had woken from a nap, groomed whatever fur she could reach, and crawled beneath the bushes and flowers, and settled in to observe the world around her.

Soon her father appeared and she grinned. An idea formed in her head, one that would be silly and hopefully make him laugh. He looked so sad, so she wanted to make him laugh! She gathered her limbs beneath her, wiggled her way quietly (though not really) toward the edge of her cover, and whispered, "Peek-a-boo, I see you!" Despite her attempts to keep still and hidden, to see what his reaction would be, she erupted into soft, girlish giggles.

;)

a flurry of soft laughter caught lasher's ear; he could not help the beam that spread across his lips. but he would play along. sauntering over to where eilidh had secreted herself, the beta looked about for her exaggeratedly. "where is she?" he wondered aloud to the o'er-reaching branches of the trees circling the rendezvous site. "i can hear her, but i cannot see her! why is that?"

taltos hid a laugh as he pretended to search behind a clump of wildflowers and a small rock for the pale girl, and then stumbled backward with feigned surprise when he 'finally' spotted his daughter. "you startled me!" his breath hitched then in his throat; she had grown so tall, despite her retained girlishness. elilidh would be a delicate bloom, but she had grown fast, and while he was overjoyed to see her, and all of his children, thrive, lasher was sad that they did not remain pups for long.

"would you like to explore outside the borders with me, beag amháin?" he asked, tail swaying gently. 

Eilidh laughed as her father almost tumbled backwards when he saw her. She bounded from her hiding place and licked his chin, bouncing around him excitedly. He asked something that he'd never asked before. "Outside the borders? What's out there, Pappa?" She nodded her head, though, and made as if to follow him. Whatever was out there, she needed to know! 

Curiosity killed the cat, right? Well, what did it do to the wolf?

he fell into step with her, setting a slow wolf-trot for the borderline. "many things, my girl. prey, new sights to behold, and enemies." his murkwater eyes fell to contemplating her lovely little face. "it is the first thing for which you must look when you leave the safety of the plateau. bears, mountain cats, and other wolves all bear teeth and claws that may injure you."

pausing before the borders, lasher lifted his muzzle to scent the air. "what do you smell, eilidh?" he murmured in a query. today they would set out to discover the larger predators, but he intended to surprise her with that fact.

Eilidh followed her Pappa toward the borders, memorizing every word he spoke. Prey, sights to behold, enemies. She wasn't sure what that meant, but didn't want to seem too ignorant. But she knew her Pappa would not fault her for it, so she asked, "What's an 'enemies'?" Then he explained about bears, mountain cats, and other wolves, ones that wanted to hurt her. She shivered. "Why would they want to hurt me?" Eilidh was trying her hardest to speak like an adult, to drop her wannas and gonnas for more proper want tos and going tos.

They paused right before the border, the scent line that told her to stay inside, near her Mamma and Pappa and the other wolves she trusted, like Dante. He asked what she smelled, and immediately she wanted to shout "You!" but she didn't think that would please him. Sure she smelled him, not only right there next to her, but along the border. There would be a better way to describe that. Eilidh paused and let her nose work, smelling, sniffing, snorting, sifting through the myriads scents that bombarded her. "I smell...trees and grass. Wolves. Especially you, Pappa, and Dante, along the border." She opened her eyes and looked at him, wondering what else she was supposed to smell.

he smiled as she sniffed along the scentline, and nodded encouragingly at her when she spoke. "very good, eilidh," taltos murmured, stepping over the thin barrier created to ward away neighboring packs and rogue wolves. he glanced to his pallid girl, seeing that she followed.

"big cats and bears may want to hurt you because they fear you, or because you have come too close to their cubs or kittens. you must always be aware of your surroundings." lowering his muzzle, the beta found the relatively fresh spoor of a young black bear and chuffed to the pup, to bring her about. "what does this smell of?"

Eilidh beamed up at her father, wagging her tail behind her hocks. She had gotten it right! But as they moved onward, Eilidh studied the area around her carefully, taking her father's words to heart; avoid bears and big cats. But what did they look like? She couldn't remember seeing any of those before, nor smelling them. Perhaps she had, but she didn't know what that scent meant yet. 

They neared a fresh pile of dung within a few short moments, outside their borders, and Eilidh bent to sniff it. She recoiled, scrunching her nose against the stench, and took a step back before answering Lasher. "Yuck, Pappa! That smells worse than Constantine's farts." She mulled over what it might be, and finally came to a conclusion, or at least part of one. "It's poop, right Pappa? But what kind of poop?"

he chuckled; constantine's gas was indeed malodorous. "yes, poop," he confirmed. "a black bear made this. it reeks because bears, like us, eat meat. the spoor of an elk or a deer does not smell like this; it holds the scent of sweet grass and earth." he looked pointedly at his daughter. "it is a young bear. he will probably fear us and run away. would you like to track him?"

assuming that she would, for eilidh showed a penchant for details, lasher stood aside and allowed the girl space to find the flat pug-mark of the bear, its broad track. he himself could see the lumbering trail that led between two nearby trees but he wished for her to discover the path, and so said nothing, and offered no aid except for an encouraging smile.

So this was a black bear's poop. She had never seen one before, nor smelled it knowingly, but as her father explained that they ate meat and lived nearby, Eilidh was determined to see one. He suggested she follow the trail, and she nodded happily. She bent to the pile again and inhaled deeply, noting this time the stench of mammal, of consumed meat, of grass and something sweet. The bear may not have eaten grass and trees, but he smelled of it. Why?

But she let that question linger in her mind as she found the trail and followed it. It took her a moment to find, but after zigzagging across the area, Eilidh finally caught it. With a bark of glee, the ivory and gold-kissed girl leapt forward, stopping between the two trees to make sure Pappa was following, before diving into the wilderness.

he smiled as forward she leapt, and followed close upon her heels. he did not think that the bear would attack, not with two wolves so near, but he would not let eilidh out of his sight. sidling alongside her at the pace that they set, he scented the air. "the bear will probably stop for water," he commented, sighting down the trail and noting that it traveled in vague direction of the stream.

she was a natural tracker, it seemed; perhaps that would be her role in the plateau. all at once lasher felt the gravity of his age; he would be very old when his children were ready to assume their adult ranks -- if he lived at all. shaking away the thought, he smiled lightly at his daughter. "what do you see?"

Don't you dare get rid of Pappa Lasher! <3 *chains him to Eilidh*

If the princess could hear her father's thoughts, she would have paraded proudly for him, and laughed at his notion of her tracking skills. Either way, it could be something she was interested in; only time would tell. Her father spoke of the bear's most likely next stop: water. Eilidh smiled and continued to trail the creature, his scent growing stronger by the minute. Then the scent of water nearby tickled her nose and the sounds of the stream reached her ears. She paused, looking back at her father, and waited for further instruction. They were not far from the water's edge, but if there was a bear nearby...She didn't want to find him unawares.

<3!

the sound and fragrance of water stilled him; he paused in his tracks before trudging a few feet ahead of eilidh. "there," the man murmured, his body crouching somewhat as he motioned with pointed muzzle to movement between the trees along the streambank. the bear was lanky and richly coloured with dark fur; he snuffled along the loam in search of ground-nuts and berries, and downwind as they were, lasher doubted he had scented them yet.

gesturing eilidh closer, he smiled at her. "what do you think?" he murmured.

"I think we better not go any closer." She warned him quietly, her hushed tones directed only at her father. Her emerald gaze remained trained upon the bear below them, ambling along the shoreline, occasionally stepping into the water and out again. He did this for some minutes before she whispered, "What is he doing?"

sorry for the wait! let's wrap up and have another?

wisely she halted, and lasher did also. "he is searching for ground-nuts and plants to eat. bears do not only eat meat; they eat all manner of things." while he knew awareness of the wolves' presence would only send the young ursine off in fear, he knew better than to press the issue. "would you like to find another prey-trail back to the rendezvous site, elilidh?"

Yes please! :)

Eilidh watched the bear as her father explained that bears not only ate meat, but nuts and berries and other things. The creature snuffled around the stream bank while they watched, and after a moment Lasher suggested they find another prey trail. The gold child nodded, and with a smile, turned to put her nose to the ground once more. She found a rabbit's scent, something her mother had taught her to be very familiar with, and followed it carefully home.