Redtail Rise L

@Moon Runner had gone. her father had bidden his daughter farewell for now in a booming howl that carried far.

it was more satisfying to know she would come back than it was to fear that her dispersal would come at an inopportune moment.

perhaps she and @Bobcat might find one another.

for now, the huntleader licked his jaws then came after the scent of @Riley, knowing it was time to test the man himself for future choosing.

Riley was sad to see his squirrel hunting partner go.

But he understood. Not so long ago he stood upon the precipice of his birthplace. The only difference was, Riley never returned.

He nosed a new patch of cached acorns. A smile hung his lips, fading as his eyes fell upon the imperial figure of Augur.

With his head lowered, the Blod sent greeting by way of a low wag of his tail.

augur welcomed sun stone with a low rumble. he pressed his muzzle against the other man's guard hairs, softly exploring where the other had been and with whom, while adding his own.

a strong male would be in demand come spring.

a strong man for a strong leader.

yes, he thought of wealda. but augur also considered thorn caller.

for now, he turned and moved along the border at a lope, intending sun stone to follow. they would visit the burned place and see what was to be found there.

In the way of the wolf, they shared scents -- imparting tiny details of their lives into every particle of fur. Riley noted several scents in particular familiarized each of Augur's fur shafts. And the man would likely notice the same of Riley.

Augur pressed forward in a strong lope, the distance between them growing with each surging step. Caught off guard but willing, Riley followed -- wondering what their errand was but noting they headed in the border's direction.

the blackened area with its side-smudging of soft grass was home to many things. when the snow came, it would be cover for ermines and rabbits.

for now, he only paced amid scorched earth and looked for nibbled stems which might indicate mice.

for a wolf, a single mouse was nothing.

augur wished to see sun stone's speed. his dexterity.

Riley remained clueless to their purpose until Augur paused among a small clearing of burned forest edge. He drank deep of the scents here, noting foremost that of lesser creatures.

The male's watchful gaze communicated expectation.

Riley stepped carefully into the stemmed grass. The smell of timothy grass and fescue rose to his nostrils - but there, occasionally on a bent blade, was a molecule of mouse scent.

He hunkered down, watching a small hole in the veldt intently.

they crouched to watch.

eventually a tiny nose wiggled and a small body glimmered in the entrance of the burrow.

the massive man tensed, but he did not otherwise move. he was evaluating sun stone for red woman, and so this hunt would be his.

The stakes were higher than Riley realized. As he bent to the bush, he heard the tiniest scuttle of feet.

Rapid breaths.

The sweet musk of mouse.

He struck — but the mouse was quicker, and it retreated underground.

There was another scent, beyond that of fescue breath and spoilage.

He glanced to his silent partner before he began to dig the earth. Tills of dark soil exposed, Riley nosed each new scoop. Somewhere, here, was something far more rewarding than a single crunchy mouse —

His next pull of earth released the spoils. A dozen small pink things, squalling as they were exposed to the hungering eyes of the world. He turned to the stoic face of his leader, watchful.

The mother would live, today — but her children would not.

it was a rich find.

the huntlead chuffed. it was sun stone's prize, to be eaten by the hunter or carried elsewhere.

his eyes did not command in one way or another.

the test continued.

Ambivalence rested in Augur's gaze. Riley turned back to the pale forms of flesh. Twelve in all. Hardly a full meal for an adult wolf -- but a rich packet of nutrition for something smaller.

He scooped them roughly from their cradle in the dirt, nosing them against the cold ground. Would be good nutrition for the cubs. While Redtail's puppies were hardly infants any longer, they were still too small for large game, and a bundle of mouse nestlings could serve as a good learning opportunity for the Rise's next hunt leaders and warriors. Should we bring them back to the den?

he grunted at this and stood, nosing toward sun stone's shoulder and the uncovered nest.

it was a good choice.

he felt it showed that the other male would think first of young on his other hunts as well, and this boded well for his time among them.

the huntlead relented then, and moved to help sun stone carry what had been found.

would u like to wrap this for a more recent one? <3

The man nosed along Riley’s shoulder, gaze falling on the squirming nest. Together they bent to the small bodies and carried them carefully in their jaws.

They would make good playthings for the young; Riley would leave them by the den’s step to discover.

He would be gone shortly after, his attentions returned to the border where he felt more at ease.