Blacktail Deer Plateau There's a haze above my TV

@Easy hunting thread :) Sorry for bad post!

 
Kieran woke up this morning with an itch in his step, and the boy felt the urge to hunt. He hunted every day anyway, but today in particular he wanted to. So he rose from where he lay in a den and stepped outside, cringing a little at the cold ground. Prey was going to start becoming much more scarce - he wasn't looking forward to it.

He set off at a brisk pace, the small breaths he was taking making puffs of white. Winter was certainly on it's way, and he couldn't be more worried. This would be his second winter, and his first had not gone well. So bad, in fact, that he was dreading this one. So the boy decided he would make the most of Autumn, even if it wasn't the best of seasons.

He continued walking through the territory, hoping to perhaps find a hunting partner for the day.

"Daddy! Daddy, can I go with Kieran?" Easy begged, garnering a few seconds of her father's attention as he moved among his pack, giving instruction and checking over each wolf he passed. Grayday's eyes flitted briefly to the red-tinged boy's retreating form before he gave his daughter a smile and quick orders to return to the rendezvous if Kieran didn't want to play. The silver-streaked girl was darting off almost before she had her father's permission. Luckily, there were other wolves around that needed his attention.

At a steady lope, Easy caught up to the boy before he'd gotten too far, though the voices of their packmates were already nothing but a distant murmur behind them. "Kier! Kieran!" she hailed, bumping her shoulder against his legs as she came up beside him. "Can I come with? What are we doing?"

Eager brown eyes gazed up at the older boy as she excitedly awaited confirmation. Kieran was someone she'd known her whole life, although there'd never been much occassion for them to hang out, except when he was babysitting (and in those cases, she was usually trying to sneak away). Still, she loved the older boy as she did all her family members, and now that she was older, he was a ticket to adventure like any other adult.

As he left the area, ginger paws swiftly carrying him away and into the other parts of the Morningside territory, he heard a his name being called, and the voice it came from he recognised quickly as Easy. The hunter turned with ears perked, just in time to see the young girl lope toward him and bump against his leg. He grinned at her, considering for a moment before nodding slowly. "Sure, you can come. I was gonna do some hunting - would you like to help with that?" He wasn't sure if she'd done any hunting before but it would be good experience for both her and him if they could do some together.

He smiled again at the dark furred pup, noting the excitement in her eyes - the childlike wonder he sometimes wished he could get back. Pups were usually excited very easily; he kind of envied it. Being around youngsters like Easy was still something rather new to him, although he babysat sometimes, this was the first time he'd ever seen children grow from newborns, and he had to say watching it was fascinating. Not to mention adorable.

Easy's ears perked at the mention of hunting. She knew it was an important skill, of course, but mostly, she knew that it was something at which both her sister and father excelled. Easy, too, wanted to be a great hunter one day.

"Okay," she chirped, a new bounce in her step. "What are we gonna hunt? Daddy's taught me how to track things, and I'm gettin' way better! I can sneak up on rabbits, now, but I still can't catch 'em. I can catch fish, though! And crawdaddies! And once I caught a little squirrel all by myself!"

She chattered on like that for a full minute, not quite giving Kieran a chance to answer as she listed all her strengths and weaknessess. They were weaknessess, mostly, but she really was getting better! One thing she had been practicing at was knowing when she was talking too much, or too loudly. Hunting was quiet business, after all, and when Easy finally remembered that, she quickly fell silent, and glanced up at Kieran with comically wide eyes.

The little wolfess seemed pleased enough with the idea of a hunt, and the older boy smiled as he continued to walk. "Whatever we find, I guess." He chuckled, checking the air for a scent again. "Something small, though." They couldn't have Easy be trampled by an elk - that would not be good. 

The girl began to list what she had learned, along with all her skills and weakness, and Kieran chuckled. "Sounds like you're gonna be a master at hunting when you're older, hm?" Finally, as the young hunter lowered his snout to the cold ground, a scent could be distinguished. Squirrel. "Easy - there's a scent here. Do you know what it is?" He glanced at her, wondering if she could tell the difference between scents yet. If not, perhaps she could begin learning.

"Yup!" Easy agreed, glad that Kieran could already divine that she'd be an amazing huntress someday. She was awfully excited about the prospect, even though she didn't often have the patience required for the task. That would come with time, right?

This train of thought was easily cast aside when Kieran prompted her to sniff at a trail. The girl darted over and began snuffling around, her face screwed up in concentration. It was small and green-smelling, and it wasn't a bird. That probably meant it was a rabbit or a squirrel. Easy figured she had a fifty-fifty shot at getting it right. 

"A rabbit?" she said uncertainly, looking up at her new best friend with wide, hopeful eyes.

He watched with forest green eyes, observing as the younger girl sniffed at the trail and attempted to decipher what it belonged to. As she lifted her head again and turned to him, making a good guess, the boy smiled. "Almost - it's a squirrel. You were very close though." 

Kieran then grinned at her. "Let's follow this trail, shall we? We have to keep quiet when we get close, but then we can try and catch it." With that, the boy lowered his own snout and began to walk along the trail, sending glances back to Easy to check she was following too.

Easy nodded emphatically and lowered herself in a clumsy mirror of Kieran's stance. Walking this way was a bit awkward, but she soon learned how to position her body and was streaking alongside the older wolf as easily as his own shadow.

She kept as quiet as she could, even learning to soften her own steps as they drew closer to their prey. When Kieran looked back at her, she flashed him a bright, admiring smile. She wanted to ask what they would do when they saw the rabbits, but she didn't want to be a loud mouth, so she kept her jaws firmly shut.

supersorry about the delay on this!

Theygot closer,then closer still. Kieran realised he hadn't given clear instructions on what to do when they got close enough to catch it, so he turned and whispered to her. "When I nod my head, you're gonna go that way, sneak behind the rabbit. Then I'll let you decide when you think it's a good time to spring - you should be waiting until the rabbit is distracted, then do the important job of chasing it toward me, okay?"

"Okay," Easy whispered, tearing her eyes from the trail to gaze intently at the older boy. She didn't want to miss his signal. Unfortunately, her inattention to the ground ahead of her led to the girl tripping over a stick and tumbling a few feet before coming to a painful stop. She tasted blood, and realized that she'd bitten her tongue rather badly.

Chin wobbling and with tears prickling in her eyes, Easy picked herself up off the ground and stood there for a moment, fighting the urge to simply give up and begin wailing. After a few deep, trembling breaths, she turned her attention back to Kieran, feeling young and ashamed for her error.