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@Lestan I hope this is okay! I thought it would be a cute match up for a thread!

Violet glanced over her shoulder at her mother who motioned her to go on. She said to find Lestan. Her mother had pointed out his fresh scent for her to track. It was kind of exciting to get a task from her mother like this. Normally it was to stay put, or do track something with her but now her mother didn't seem to follow her. Violet moved her nose closer to the ground. She followed the scent, it was harder than expected. She was distracted several times by something that smelled more strongly. The girl had been so focussed on tracking that she was almost a little startled when she spotted him.

Hellow!! She realized she had seen him before. Are you Lestan?, she asked him. Her tail wagged excitedly because her nose already confirmed that this was the source of what she had been tracking. She couldn't help but show her excited wiggles. She couldn't really self regulate that yet. Mama told me to find you! She said you are very good at watching the deer! In her world everyone knew who her mother was, and who she was so she didn't introduce herself.

it's great! <3

lestan had continued to search for suzu's lost child, working himself almost into a head cold. cautioning his body to rest, he had then only spent his time outside the water, keeping lookout and fretting.
if only shardik was here too, though he mused this in melancholy and not judgement.
a little girl wearing the shade of autumnleaf and arric's signature eye circle bounded joyously toward him, and his tail waved with welcome despite the heaviness of his heart.
"h-hello, violet."
already his stutter was easing, just a little. "yes. i am lestan. did you w-want to learn how to track?" so clearly he spoke now; the mayfair had her mother to thank for that.

I love it already!

The girl didn't think twice when the man greeted her with her name. She shot him a dazzling grin and a wag if her tail. The girl noticed that he was sometimes stumbling over a word. She briefly wondered why it happened but then she remembered that her mother told her to copy him and not to ask him too much. Maybe this was why?

Yes! I think? Track means find?, she asked. Mama also said that I should not talk much and copy what you do if I want to see the deer! The girl did frown a little at that. She liked to be loud and to talk so that was a challenge. She then looked at him expectantly as if he would have the answer to such things. Maybe things would be easier when they were doing this tracking, because if they were going to stand here she could tell him loads of stories, or ask him all the questions.

me too! shes adorable omg

"your mama is right," lestan agreed, thanking arlette with great loudness in his mind for having instilled these basic principles. "n-nothing can be g-gotten if it hears you sneaking up on it."
now. for their quarry. "i'll sh-show you where the d-deer are, violet," the mayfair offered. "tracking is how we find them."
with that, lestan moved at a gentled trot for her benefit, heading them both into a forest comprised mostly of birch. "the g-ground where you w-walk is very important. if it's s-soft, it will hold their tracks well. tracks are the im-imprints of their hooves. like there." to her left, a single stag had walked, a large male confident and healthy.
"see it? t-touch the track. s-smell it. they hold m-messages about the d-deer. does it s-seem safe to h-hunt? use y-your nose."
patiently he waited.

I can't Lestan is so cute and patient T.T

Violet let out a puff. Again! Her mother seemed to know a great deal. Her father ALSO always said mama was right. There seemed to be something about her mother that made all these wolves say that she was right. Ohhhhh, she spoke, which seemed like the best tip EVER because everything always moved away from her when she wanted to see or catch it. Violet beamed when he agreed to show her the deer. Her thin and long tail wagged, still needing to grow in the fluff it would get later. She tried not to talk or not to say too much but it was hard she had so many questions already.

She was quick to follow him, now blindly trusting him. It helped to be on the move, they stopped at a spot as Lestan explained. Violet instantly looked at the ground. The ground was important?! She lifted her paws and stepped back, she noticed small little indents where here paws had been. It almost turned into something comical as she walked backwards trying to look. Her attention span was something to consider. Wher?! she turned into a circle, almost trampling the mark with her own. She froze when she spotted it. Woa! So different! Why does it look like that? she asked. She brought her nose closer to inspect. It had a very faint scent. Uhhh, she spoke and seemed conflicted for a moment.

She looked at it again. It is deeper than mine! But is is also very different than mine, she spoke out loud. But... we hunt deer right? So I think it is safe to hunt, she concluded.

always! <3

"we d-do hunt d-deer, but l-look," and he took a great breath. "w-when we sm-smell, we are ch-checking to m-make sure the thing is s-safe to hunt. infection or s-sickness can s-sometimes be a reason n-not to hunt s-something, but only sometimes. st-still, it's important to be s-sure."
"it is deeper, the hoofm-mark. more oddly sh-shaped. it h-helps the d-deer move fast when their hooves are l-like that," lestan explained.
"l-let's k-keep following, violet. you l-lead this time!" the mayfair offered, happy to have such an attentive pupil.

Violet looked at where he was pointing out. She was curious and eager to learn. She angled her head. Infection... She knew that. Oh yeah! Her mother said something about it. She was not aware that her mother was a healer so the things she would give them, she did not associate that will illness or sickness, she associated it with her mother caring for them. But she had heard of it, as her mother had pointed out plants. She found plants rather boring. How do I smell infection? She had not been exposed to the scent so maybe that was why that confused her.

But I am also fast!, she argued right away. And we catch the deer so then our paws are better? She was in a very competitive stage of her life where everything was a game and where she wanted to win. She didn't dabble long on the question who was better because Lestan presented her with a game, a challenge, to win! Follow the trail. She was very reward motivated and for her the reward was finding the deer. It would work wel for tracking. She put her nose to the ground and started to sniff the tracks. However, nothing the girl did was slow, so she raced forward until she lost the trail, had to back track and then loose the trail again. She huffed as she almost pushed herself under a bush pretty sure the trail went that way! Not thinking that the deer was much bigger than her. She backed out and then looked at her teacher. Clearly she didn't want to disappoint him. Uhh... This way!, she dashed off in another direction. She had lost the trail in her excitement and the fact that deer tracks could be very subtile.

oh. that was a good question. "if it sm-smells off," he tried to further explain as he padded after her, "then don't eat it. infection is stinky. it is l-like rot, but inside a d-deer."
would that track?
so beautiful their creekside as he and violet traveled with knowing step. he hid a smirk as she dashed to and fro, gamely continuing to follow until she began to dash in the wrong direction.
a chuff said she should come back to where he was aligned over where the tracks began again. three more deer had joined the first in a single-file queue. "s-see? they're h-heading for w-water. where is the b-best place to d-drink that you kn-know of, violet?" deer and wolves were not so different when it came to slaking their thirst, both seeking opportunity where possible.

Vi thought about it. It smells... off? Like my brothers? They are stinky too, she offered to him with a very serious tone. She would have to learn what infection is and what it smelled like. Today, she figured deer would be as smelly as her brothers.

The girl, who was wildly running around, stopped when she heard the chuff. Her big ears flopped back and trotted towards him. Oh no. She made a mistake. But instead of scolding her for not tracking he helped her. Soon those ears were popped back up on top of her head.

She followed his motion and then thought about his question. Oh! Oh!!! I know! I know!!, she spoke, almost bouncing on the spot. The river!!! But Mama told me not to get too close without an adult when the steam goes fast. She then seemed to scan Lestan with her eyes and deem him old enough. Violet looked at the tracks and then located the river by sound. This way?, this time it was more suggestive instead of demanding.

he laughed aloud at that, unable to help himself. violet mentioned the river and her mother's warning, and to both of these things lestan nodded. "yes. d-deer will seek water, and y-yes. we should not g-go so close when it's fast."
"they'll w-want to drink at a c-calmer place too. l-let's find one," he urged, showing the girl how to avoid stepping on the crunchiest leaves and brittle twigs. walk where it was softest, unless, he went on, you yourself were not trying to leave a trail.
eventually the river's roar lessened just a little and he glanced at violet, gesturing for her to search the riverbank while he checked behind them for any other dangers or curious followers.

Violet smiled when Lestan laughed. She saw it as a good thing, and that he agreed with her that her brother's were stinky. She was pretty pleased about that. Lestan gave more information about the deer. They will seek water, but calmer water. He confirmed also what his mother said about the river. Hmm. Oh! I know!, she beamed and moved into the direction of the wide river bend. On it's wider part the river was much slower. It seemed Lestan knew as well. She tried to copy him as much as possible. She was in that phase where she would copy everything adults were doing. She had a feeling she was doing pretty good!

Violet moved closer to the location when she was gestured to continue. She seemed really focussed on where she was placing her paws, sometimes hesitating but managing to hold her footing. By the river bend she noticed a shape. It was so hard not to get excited. But her tail wagged and it made the bushes rustle. The majestic buck snapped his head up in alert. It was big!! There it is!!, she whispered to Lestan. How exciting. She instantly looked down at the feet of the deer, very different from her indeed. Wow. What do we do now?, she asked quietly.

"w-well. now we w-watch." and while lestan suspected that might sound very boring to a girl of violet's size, to him it was ambrosia. "watch him. look how strong he is. look at his antlers and his hooves. see how big! he could crush either one of us alone, violet, and th-that's the lesson you need to take. numbers bring down something like that. but appreciate how m-majestic he is in his own right, and remember that h-hunting includes respecting what you hunt. i am sad to kill, even if i know we have to do it. i don't expect you to be s-sad, but keep always in mind you are taking a life."
having whispered his way through the paragraph, lestan fell silent now, goldblue eyes watching in near-reverence.

Violet's big smile indeed instantly vanished. Watch?!, she whispered. Though she did not need to wait long for the man to explain why. She had seen the hooves but also the big antlers. She remembered them from chewing on it. It always made her sleepy. She was completely silent as she listened. With each word she took in that detail.

She focussed on Lestan when he spoke about killing. She frowned, a concept she sort of grasped but also did not. But she could understand that eating this animal would take away such a majestic being. It is not smelly of sickness. It looks strong. So would you say that then we would not choose to eat this one?, she asked, her voice still as soft as it could be.

"well, th-that depends on the hunter. i would say no. let him go. he will be a f-father to stronger fawns and they will f-feed us better. but another wolf might say, take him first. he is s-strong and we will not w-wait to eat. it also depends on the situation, the hunt, the weather. there are a lot of f-factors."
and he was beginning to realize just how many.
"let's back away qu-quietly and t-try not to scare him," lestan urged, demonstrating a slow movement deeper into the brush.