Redhawk Caldera Pure comedy

He stood in the ankle-deep creek, pebbles making their way into the slots between his toes as he watched the shiny, quick creatures dart around his feet. They were so pretty, but Raven had assured him they were food, not merely toys. He didn't want to end up like Titmouse, choking on a rock and nearly killing himself. Burnt sienna eyes tracking the movements of the fish as they darted to and fro.

When he thought one was stopped long enough, his muzzle rushed to the water. A little too quickly, in fact. He ended up with a snoot full of water, and he coughed and choked it out. He was going to have to get better at this if he wanted to be a real hunter.

It was almost a little funny to see poor Phox drive his nose into the water and catch nothing but water, but Eljay's sense of humour was soon overshadowed by worry if the boy was okay as he stepped quickly to his side. "Are you okay?" he asked with a frown, then wondered out loud, "What are you trying to do?"

Yay, thanks for joining!

Eljay, a wolf Phox knew, but wasn't particularly close with, stepped in, and asked if he was okay, then asked what he was trying to do. Fidget snorted and nodded at the first question, and then gestured toward the fish for the second one. Sometimes, he forgot he could use his voice instead of signaling everything. "Catch fish," he replied, "Wanna eat it." That's what adults did, right? Catch fish and eat them!

Eljay glanced at Phox and then followed his gaze on instinct, used to Towhee's signing (even if he understood very little of it) and blinked a few times, not sure what Phox wanted. He just saw the water and not the fish underneath the shimmering surface. It was only when Phox said 'fish' that he said, "Oh! Uh, yeah, I could help. Look, it helps to uh, wait until they get more comfy around you and aren't scared anymore. Just wait a bit." He wasn't sure if Phox'd be able to learn yet, what with youthful enthusiasm, but he demonstrated by staying in the creek and waiting a while, doing nothing, hoping Phox'd follow suit.

Fidget stuck his tongue just a smidgen out the side of his mouth, concentrating on the water (and fish) below them. He was nearly vibrating, watching them all dart around. He was trying so hard to stay still, but it was difficult for a wolf who had spent his whole life moving. "Dis boring," he mumbled, scrunching up his face. Patient, he was not. Phox wanted to be eating the fish, not standing still while they went about their lives.

Eljay chuckled when Phox had a hard time staying still and getting the fish near enough to even get a shot at them. The fish would come closer and nearly get close enough to go for, but each time they darted away just before they got to that point. Phox then declared that it was boring, and Eljay said, "Well, yeah, you're right buddy, catching fish is pretty boring. But sometimes to get stuff, you gotta hand in other stuff. Like to have fish, you need to do boring things and give up time." Eljay realised that he might be getting into a bit complicated territory there, but he couldn't really take back his words now and so he patiently looked at Phox, hoping he understood the implications.

Fidget huffed, giving Eljay an "ugh" face, but he didn't try and complain further. It wasn't like that was going to do any good anyway. Nevertheless, Phox was bored and he wanted something to do instead of standing around in the water. "Innit there anyfing we can do?" he asked. His ear twitched in mild annoyance. Standing around was the worst kind of torture to a young and growing wolf pup. Maybe Phox could scare some fish out of the calmer waters, or maybe Eljay could do that while he pounced on them!

Phox didn't seem convinced with Eljay's methods and the fish never seemed to calm down enough for Eljay to show what he meant because Phox wasn't about to wait for it. Eljay frowned thoughtfully when Phox further pleaded and said, "Uhm, well, we could try that one of us chases them from a distance, and the other tries to catch them when they come near enough. What part do you want to do?" Eljay'd fill in where necessary, then, though he wasn't too good at either parts of the activity and felt a little nervous about it.

Coincidentally, Eljay said exactly what he'd been thinking, and Phox gave him an amused look. "I was jus' thinking that!" he replied giddily, stepping from front foot to front foot and causing all the fish that had been coming close to scatter in all directions. Now he had to decide which role he wanted to play in this new (and much more exciting) plan.

If he chased them, he'd get to move a lot more (very appealing). However, if he was the one to catch them, he'd get that satisfaction (also very appealing). He waffled between the two, then finally spoke his choice. "I wanna scare 'em!" he declared, tail wagging and ready to finally get started.

Eljay grinned and said, "Oh, wow, that's pretty amazing!" It also showed that Phox had a good insight in different tactics when it came to hunting. This particular manner wasn't Eljay's favourite way to hunt but it was a method that worked for some others and so he decided that he would just give it a try, even if his accuracy had never been his strongest suit.

Phox decided that he'd be the one to scare them and Eljay nodded. "Alright buddy, let's go then! I'll stay here and you can try to chase as many fish as you can in my direction!" Eljay waited patiently in place for Phox to take off and bring him fish, feeling a little nervous and hoping he'd do well enough and catch at least one fish.

Given the go-ahead from Eljay, Phox bounded through the water, splashing it everywhere and likely scaring off every fish within a five mile radius. He didn't waste any time once he'd gotten a good distance from his cousin, biting the water and doing his best to herd the fish toward Eljay. Now, if you know anything about fish, they don't exactly do the whole "herding" thing.

Instead, all the fish scattered in every direction. That didn't stop Phox from trying, though, and he was probably far enough away from Eljay that the fish had resettled around him without a fidgety Phox to ripple the water every ten seconds.

Eljay watched as Phox bounded off, having severe doubts if this would lead to any kind of success, but he wanted to give it a try nevertheless. Phox moved quite a distance away and Eljay chuckled to himself as he watched the boy pounce around the water and, at the very least, having a blast. He decided not to burst his bubble and give further instructions, then.

But when he looked down he noticed that some of the fish were returning to his feet. Eljay looked up again to see that Phox was still sufficiently away and then he looked back at the fish. He dove down and missed at first, but, driven by his desire to give Phox a success, bit around some more and happened to catch one of the fleeing fish between his teeth. Eljay then quickly put it down in the water between his front legs (where it flopped around a bit, but didn't seem to be going anywhere by itself anymore), intending to keep it there until Phox was closer and, once Phox'd reach them, he would quickly dive down and grab the already-dead fish again to show it to Phox as though he'd only just caught it.

Very minor power play with Eljay doing what you said he'd do, lol. Feel free to fade out & archive with your next post!

Once Fidget was certain that he'd caused enough commotion, he bounded back toward Eljay, "herding" the fish toward him. When he got there, Eljay grabbed one of the fish and held it in his mouth. Fidget squealed with delight. "We did it!" he screeched, so proud of himself for helping Eljay with the task. Maybe teamwork wasn't so bad. And maybe fishing wasn't so bad, either.

He was at-the-ready to feast on the fresh fish, provided his Eljay was willing to share.

excellent! :D thanks for the thread!

When it all unrolled exactly as Eljay had it planned, he was grateful. Eljay wasn't the best at lying, but it was a white lie this time and he didn't actually need to lie — he just needed to not deny what Phox actually said. "Yeah! Good job, buddy!" Eljay said with a smile after he had put the fish down on the bank. "I'm not that hungry, so you can have it all," Eljay said with a soft smile and he watched while Phox ate what he wanted, glad that he had a sense of fulfilment from catching the fish together and sort-of having learned a thing.