Blacktail Deer Plateau specially for you

@Lasher

She felt a certain amount of relief now that she had been taken in by a pack; but she had no idea what she was doing, and worried that she could be cast out at a moment's notice. Unlike the caramel female, the dark wolf that had accepted her seemed kindhearted and more understanding, and so she sought him out. But before she got too far, it occurred to her that if she wanted to make the best of the second chance she had been given, she ought to get in there like a dirty sock and show that she could be useful.

So, she fetched him a gift. Specifically, she caught a bird, a blue jay, and now carried it lightly between her teeth. Her tail was rose behind her with delight and her ears perked with pride as she trotted along. She spotted Lasher among the pines and birches, and picked up her pace. She came to stop in front of him, dropping the bird on the ground, and flashed him a big, goofy grin. Yes, this ought to please him.

LOL

the aptly named kitten seemed to be settling well, though he had not seen her since acceptance. his time had been spent upon the borders, with a foray or two to donnelaith, to visit his stubborn mate and bring her a delicacy. however, today he knew he must spend inside the confines of the plateau, though his heart longed for the south.

presently, the beta prepared to seek out a meal and some much-needed slumber, but the scent of avian blood approached his nostrils, and he turned to see the syrupy expression of the catlike wolf blooming happily in his vision.

at his paws lay the carcass of a freshly killed jay, and the beta gazed at it in consternation for a moment, then returned his eyes to kitten. her tail was flung high in a manner that he had come to know was delight, but it would not do among wolves, not when she ranked so lowly. "what is this?" he inquired warmly, though not without a note of doubt tinging his tones.

Her face fell. What is it? Was this not obvious? She had hunted for him, had shown that she could as she said she could. Her brows knitted, and her eyes shifted from side to side, as if the most appropriate response was written on the bark of the trees that flanked them. "It's... a bird..." she said with hesitance. "A gift. For you." She followed up, reforming that grin as she hoped that now he understood. Maybe he was not used to gifts? She did not know. Much, she did not know.

he could see its avian nature, and was flattered at her gift, but amused by how little she knew of wolf-life and its nuances. "thank you, kitten," the man murmured in the tones that had never lost their faint accenting. "i will eat it later. for now," he murmured, before he lifted the bird and crossed the clearing to a cache, gesturing for her to follow and pushing aside the mounded earth to deposit the bird before patting loam gently back into place, "for now, i will teach you something very important."

"your tail is indicative of words unspoken, as is all the language of your body. i am your leader, and so my plume will rise higher than your own," lasher explained, demonstrating. "you are to keep yours low at all times, unless you are greeting a wolf not of our pack at the borders, or threatening an outsider. you are the lowest ranked here; this will change with your activity and contributions, but until that time, down it comes, and down it remains."

"furthermore, to look another in the eye is an act of challenge. you must not do this thing, unless it is in the aforementioned situations. is this understood?"

He thanked her, and she perked up, her tail of course lifting with the renewed sense of pleasure, it's tip curling as per the language she had adopted from her unusual upbringing. She followed along as beckoned, watching as he buried the bird for later, and turning a curious gaze to him as stated he had something to teach her.

Her eyes were open, her ears erect. Excitement fluttered in her chest. But he did not get far along before that excitement shifted to trepidation, and her tail drooped - though not according to the lesson he was teaching. "Oh," she murmured quietly as she looked away, turning not just her gaze from him but her frowning face entirely.

"I understand," she said, her voice still a soft hum. She batted absently at a dry leaf near her paw,  feeling all the more uncertain about her place among the wolves.

she seemed rather perturbed, and the happiness fell shining from her face into a reservoir that she kept from his eyes. lasher watched her quizzically, ears folding once to cup his skull before rising once more. "i did not mean to offend, kitten," he murmured quietly. "but you must know what it is to be wolf if you are to live among us. the snows will roll across the land soon -- it is dire to be outside the comfort of a pack at that time."

he gave her an encouraging smile. "what co-rank do you think that you will seek?" gesturing for the catlike child to walk beside him, lasher moved toward the borders, wishing to hear her words.

It was not that she took offense, but rather that she was overwhelmed by the sudden and dramatic change in her life. One that she had not asked for, and one she wished could be reverted. What she knew was no more, and now she was faced with having to learn so much in order to adapt. She did not even know how the appropriately communicate with the wild wolves.

"It's not that," she sighed. "It's just..." she bit her lip. Creases formed in her forehead as she struggled to find some explanation, but nothing came and she merely shook her head. It was a subject for another time. Fortunately, she had chose the best possible wolf to follow home, for he was not prepared to give up on her, even as she flip-flopped from I can do this! to No I can't!.

She walked beside him. His next question was met with a small huff, but one laced with a bit of good-natured humor. Here was yet another thing she did not know about. "Ok, what are those?"

she seemed to struggle, and lasher reached to touch her shoulder with his muzzle in a show of sympathy, understanding that she had come from a vastly different world than the one in which she now found herself. his patience was vast -- as long as it could be said that kitten was attempting to navigate the rules and hierarchies of pack-life, then he would teach her.

"a co-rank is a task that one takes to aid the pack. dante and myself, we are counselors -- come to us in times of mental need. my mate is our healer, and a skilled creature indeed. she is also a chronicler -- a holder of pack lore -- and a caretaker, one who tends children."

"in addition, there is the rank of outrider, those to gather information and traverse new lands. your packmates behati, casmir, and regulus intend to take up this rank. warriors defend the territory, and hunters are skilled beasts who fill our caches. gamekeepers store the hunted meat and track the herds, wardens mediate conflicts, and naturalists are the trackers of weather and botany."

lasher paused to assess kitten's intake of the information given thus far.

Kitten should meet Shardul sometime ahahaha..

His muzzle touched her shoulder, and she turned to bump her forehead against him with a soft rumbling sound. She appreciated the gesture immensely, and appreciated even more his patience. She had convinced herself that she was probably going to end up eaten by wild beasts long before she learned how to be one, so running into the kind wolf had been a blessing unforeseen. For that he had her loyalty, and her unspoken promise that she would take his words and lessons to heart and do her best to learn.

She kept her gaze turned toward him as he spoke, absorbing the details as best she could. She felt a stirring in the pit of her stomach; anxiety, really, for the table seemed to be endlessly stacked with more things she had to learn. She drew a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "I can start with hunting," she offered. "I'll try some of those other things. Maybe find something I am good at." Her tail started to lift as a hopeful smile formed on her face, but she remembered quickly and flicked it back down so that it hung limply. She giggled sheepishly.

im game lol

her gentle purring reminded him anew of a feline -- not for the first or the last time did the ecru druid wonder from where she had come, and how she had stayed alive thus far. lasher sensed, however, that kitten would be asset to them in times to come, and smiled at her words, appreciating the sharp check she gave herself in regards to her plume.

"how did you come to find yourself in the wilderness?" the man inquired at length as they walked. in time he would show her the finer points of hunting game larger than squirrels, but for now he wished to know about kitten's veiled origins.

hehe! Probably later! ;)

His question caused her ears to fall back, for her lips to purse, and for her brows to dip toward her pale eyes. It was not a subject that she was happy to speak on, for although she was grateful to be in the wolf's pack, and to have a shot at surviving, she was not happy to have been put in the situation in the first place.

She sighed. "I was taken from my home," she began, her eyes travelling toward her paws as the two walked on. She hesitated, debating which details to share and which to keep to herself, but she felt that anything she withheld now would be inquired on later, so she shared openly. "I lived with people who liked to keep animals. I was a pet." She glanced nervously toward him. The word, she had learned, did not sit well with the feral and wild animals she had encountered before. "Other people did not like this, I guess." Humans were strange. "They took me, and chucked me out here like I had any idea what to do on my own," bitterness laced her words as her muzzle wrinkled. "I was born in that life. I grew up in it. I don't know this one..." She trailed off.

<3

he did not overlook the bitter melancholy in kitten's voice -- they had wronged her, to toss her so horribly out into the elements with the expectation that she should fend for herself when they had robbed the child of all she needed to do so. "you were a pet before, but you are a wolf now, and wolf you shall remain. i shall see to it."

he smiled, before his ears cupped forward and he caught the thin tendril of prey-scent. it was a doe, young and frightened, separated from her herd. yet, as he had done with eilidh, lasher said nothing; he would allow kitten to come to such conclusions herself.

She was accustomed to being fed, and having a fresh bowl of water available at all times. She was habituated to having warmth and shelter at the ready, complete with a plush bed and an assortment of toys. She was used to the life any dog might have lived, and were it not for her wild, exotic origin she would have been permitted to continue living it. Unfortunately, she knew nothing about surviving in the wild, and her instincts were a dull tool from limited use and coming from a bloodline of pets. Her rescuers (activists as they were) meant well, but had erred in their judgement.

"Okay," she said, a soft smile playing on her mouth. She still could not fathom her luck, that she should have followed the one wolf (she assumed) that would be willing to take on a special case like hers. But Lasher had his work cut out for him, as would become evident in the next few minutes as they strode forward.

The dark male had picked up on the trace of doe on the wind, but Kit had not. The doe had picked up on them however, and stood with white tail raised as she peered out from the brush. She was a statue; it was her first line of defense in going undetected in the immediate presence of predators. Her strategy worked at least on the agouti girl, who moved ahead, only to be scared out of her wits as the doe let out a sharp, loud alarm snort and went crashing through the forest. Kit leaped side ways with a hiss, her back arched and bristled tail lashing wildly, her hackles raised and eyes wide.

Hope it's ok if I did this haha

lol i love it it's totally cool

kitten blundered forward, only to be spooked by the doe's thrashing sound. lasher stood aside, amusement curving his lips. "you did not use your senses," he informed her. "first your nostrils, then your eyes and ears -- rely on them when you are hunting." he led her deeper into the forest -- the deer was sure to have bounded to some remote locale to recover from the fright -- but taltos tracked the doe slowly.

"now do what i have said, and listen. tell me what is around us," he ordered gently, pausing in a sun-dappled clearing rimed with frost, though birds and small animals called effortlessly in the thick wood 'round the wolven pair.

*continues with the shenanigans*!

Kit looked blankly at Lasher, for a fraction of a moment she met his eyes before remembering her recent lesson and diverting them to the side. How was she supposed to know they were hunting? Did wild beasts always hunt? She knew how to use her nose and her ears, at least against squirrels and mice, but she was not aware she was supposed to be doing any more than walking and talking. She held her tongue from commenting on this.

He beckoned her to do as he instructed and she plunked down on her rump to do just that. She closed her eyes, her nostrils twitching as she purposefully drew scents in, her ears turning. She heard birds chirping in the branches, a squirrel chattering in the distance. And... "AHA!" she yelled triumphantly after launching herself away at a diagonal into a clump of tall grasses. Beneath her paws a shrew scrabbled to get away, but she had it pinned, and she felt mighty proud to show off her keen rodent-hunting skills to Lasher, even if it was a stroke of pure luck the critter happened to be there.

"Did you see? Check this— OH NO!" In her excitement, she lifted one of her paws ever so slightly, and that shrew slipped out and fled, disappearing beneath a tree trunk. "Drat!" she growled with ears flattened, swiping the ground with her paw. "I had it." she sulked.

the beta settled himself to laugh aloud, but the tones were devoid of mockery; rather, the druid took true joy in kitten's well-meaning folly. "it was a good attempt!" he praised her, approaching on broad forepaws to sniff at the place where the small rodent had been. "take several moments the next time; attempt to find patience before the strike. it is difficult, and will take time, but i have no reason to fear that you will not master it."

he invited the girl to his side once more. "would you like to see a demonstration?" the wood remained full of chittering beasts despite her missed strike -- taltos would have no struggle in finding a hapless prey animal.

He laughed, but not at her, and she found herself chuckling with him, ever appreciative of the fact that she had found someone so patient. He could just as easily have been mocking and intolerant, like a certain female she knew of who wished to having nothing to do with her. She stepped aside as he came to sniff at where the shrew had once been beneath her paws. He had yet more wisdom for her, and she listened keenly, bobbing her muzzle along and committing to memory this next lesson. She had been hasty, excited at the chance of showing him she was not entirely without skill.

"I'd love to!" She chirped brightly, eager to see him do what she had been unable to do and actually catch something. She settled herself into a low crouch, indictating to him that she would be stealthy and quiet as he took his chance at hunting.

he smiled fondly at her before casting his senses about to search for some hapless animal. a chipmunk, not yet burrowed away, moved beneath the leaf litter and his ears cupped toward the clicking rustle of its small paws. lowering himself unto the loam, lasher crept silently toward the motion, each muscle knotted with its own potential of anticipation, his slow and inexorable stalk almost pushed to the very breaking edge of his patience.

taltos lashed; the corroded leaves cascaded 'round his forepaws as they landed squarely upon the tiny body, crushing its life away almost immediately, and he turned back toward kitten with the small and striped form dangling from his jaws.

She was quite certain for a moment that she felt herself wilt beneath Lasher's handsome, fond smile. She chittered softly, and looked away, but in the same moment he turned his attention upon the woodland, and the unsuspecting denizens therein. She watched intently from her crouched position, her movements as she shifted so that her eyes could follow him were slow and deliberate, determined she was not to spoil his hunt.

Time itself seemed to come to a standstill. She hardly noticed, having spent many hours sat at the edge of a tall bed of grass in wait for a mouse; patience she actually had, despite her earlier blunder. Suddenly, Lasher pounced, and succeeded where she had not, capturing a chipmunk between his paws and getting it between his teeth before it could escape.

"Way to go!" she cheered, jumping to her paws. "That was a great catch!"

he preened somewhat beneath her praise, though it had been no large feat of strength, and lay the body at her paws. "you must learn as a child might," he told the girl, though his tone held no mockery. "because you have not yet lived among wild creatures, i cannot expect you to know all the things that a wolf of your current age has come to realize, and you must not be harsh with yourself, likewise."

the druid gave a swift touch to her cheek. "however, continue to practice. my son, casmir, roams far, and often. perhaps he allow you to accompany him upon one of his hunting forays."

For once, her expression did not give away where her thoughts went as he spoke to her, though her ear twitched. She was reminded of her puppyhood, when she was learning to become a wolf, albeit a domesticated one. She did not fit in with her family, the cats, and so started to adapt to live among them. It was perhaps one of the only wolfish instincts she possessed, that of the social creature, the need to be in a pack. Even if it were a cat pack.

They mocked her, laughed at her attempts to do what they do, and even though she had learned many of their behaviors, committed them to habit even, she was still not but a clumsy kitten to them, and so she was named. Now, among her own kind, she finds herself in the same situation, of having to re-learn her way of life, her way of being, having to adapt to fit in. It was almost funny to her, were she not so stressed by the idea.

He touches her cheek, and she is distracted from her thoughts. She rumbles at him in a sort of purr. "I will go find him," she said with enthusiasm, if not slightly forced enthusiasm. But first, she scoops up the chipmunk he had offered to her, casting him a long blink and then stepping to rub her boy against his before she takes her leave.

lasher was not impervious to the unwitting -- or perhaps deliberate - charm of the catgirl. a low growl greeted her brushing body, and the swampwater of his gaze followed kitten until she had faded from view. a wry smile tilted his lips; he turned away and moved into the heart of the territory, to hunt and to ponder.