Sleeping Dragon say you will

Something that morning had drawn the child to the creek. Without much regards to the members of her parents or siblings, the grey-clad Goufa has slithered out from the den and had left behind her snoozing family. Her journey from the den was a silent one, her paws delicately falling upon the dew-laden earth as she made her way to the spring. She was growing at a much quicker rate now and she was finding that it took her a quicker amount of time to get from point A to point B- something that she wasn’t complaining about. In addition to her growth, her baby blues had been overcome by a bold chestnut. She was looking much more like an adult and less like a puppy.

A smile drew upon her lips as she touched-down at the creek’s bank and eagerly she pulled herself to the the water to take a drink. With her thirst quenched the child then drew herself down to lay in the shallows, despite the cooler conditions. The water quickly soaked her belly as she laid but she did not mind. Instead, she lingered there, her eyes looked about the territory surrounding her as she enjoyed this rare moment of solitude.

The first half of September passed rather uneventfully for Wildfire and she wouldn't have had it any other way, really. The weather was starting to cool, especially at night, and there was a new crispness to the air. Her heart skipped a beat whenever she heard the sound of fallen leaves skittering across the ground. She enjoyed autumn anyway but this one would be particularly important. These would be her last few months of freedom before becoming a mother, if everything went according to plan, and Wildfire couldn't have been happier to trade in her independence to become a parent.

In the meantime, she shamelessly used Gyda's children to nurture her motherly instincts and get an idea of what it would be like to have her own little ones. She passed by the rendezvous site only to find it deserted. Perhaps the former Viking Queen had taken the pups on a foray today. They were at the age where they could wander alone too, so it was possible the family was just out doing their own things. Wildfire pressed her nose to the grass and took in the freshest scent, which happened to belong to Freyja, and began to track it.

"Hey there," she called when she discovered the young girl wading in the stream. "You're not supposed to swim alone, you know," she chastised affectionately, coming to a stop on the bank and smiling fondly at the growing youngster. "You're always supposed to use the buddy system," she echoed her father's rules of yore. "But I'm here now; I'll be your buddy."

Her eyes had eventually fallen to the glossy surface of the stream as she watched the gentle current navigate around her. Feeling much at peace in that moment, Frejya sighed happily as the water continued to lap at her damp fur. Just as she felt the eyelids grow heavy a voice rang through the air and brought her to attention. She perked quickly as her eyes landed upon the Bandora. Smiling, Frejya quickly stood and shook herself off before answering Wildfire.

“I could totally swim alone and be fine,” she fired back with fondness. “But,” she added quickly as she cleared the distance between then and reached up to nudge at the leaders cheek. “Now that you’re here I’m fine with a buddy.” She pulled back then with a wagging tail.

She felt like it had been ages since she had seen her mentor and was glad that she was here. Turning her attention back to the stream she smiled. “Wanna swim?” The words came eagerly. With this said, the child went back from where she had come from, jovially prancing deeper than she had before.

The child's sassy rejoinder took her a little by surprise, her brow arching even as she smiled. "You can," she allowed, "but it's much safer to have someone else around just in case." Wildfire waved her tail, hoping Freyja understood she wasn't trying to spoil her fun. It had been impressed upon the Redhawk from an early age that swimming alone wasn't a good idea, even for the most skilled. Anything could happen.

Letting the subject rest, the Bandrona nodded. "Sure. Pretty soon it's gonna get too cold for this, I think," she said as she dipped her toes in the water. "I mean, you can technically go swimming when it's freezing—just like you can technically swim alone—but it's a pretty bad idea. Ever heard of hypothermia? You want to avoid that just as much as you want to avoid drowning," Wildfire explained, hoping she wasn't being too much of a mood killer. These were important facts.

Just in case, the yearling scooped some of the water with her paw, splashing it in the young girl's direction with a playfully villainous laugh.

Though she had heard of the buddy system she wasn’t quite sure of just why she would need it in the water. The threats of the being alone were ones that she had been taught but the danger of water was still uncharted territory in her mind. Eyeing the depths, she asked curiously, “What’s so bad about the water?” Perhaps she hadn’t have been alone this morning, she thought.

As the conversation shifted more confusion was introduced. Though she could feel the gradual decrease in temperature she was naive to just how cold it would get. The next chain of information caused confusion as well. “Hwp--” she attempted sloppily, her brows lifting as her tongue flailed helplessly. This was something that she certainly had not learned before.

Thankfully their conversation had taken a positive turn as she ventured further into the water. As she turned back towards Wildfire she was met with a spray of water. “Hey!” She replied hastily, shaking off the wayward droplets that had fallen upon her nose. “That’s it, imma gonna get you!” And with that, she lowered her nose into the river and scooped out with her snout, aiming it in Wildfire’s direction.

Freyja retaliated by spitting a stream of water in her direction. Wildfire laughed as she dodged it, sloshing water around her red heels. She kicked another small wave in the girl's direction, then jumped back onto the shore and playfully stuck out her tongue to taunt the pup.

As much fun as she was having, though, the adult hadn't overlooked the youngster's earlier question. It was important that she answer, even if it wasn't any fun. "You can't breathe underwater. If you try, your lungs will fill with water. And if the temperature gets too low, it can make you very sick." She paused, black tail twitching pensively before she spat out the dark facts. "You could die. That's why the buddy system is so important; you should always have someone to look out for you."

She gave Freyja a pointed look, hoping she understood the seriousness of the matter, before grinning and leaping back into the water, (presumably) soaking them both.

She listened closely to what Wildfire had to offer in regards to just why the buddy system was important. Her eyes grew wide and a lump formed in her throat as she comprehended just what she was being told. She had been taught about death and knew it was something that shouldn’t one shouldn’t flirt with. Such situations, like swimming alone, seemed to be instances that indeed gambled with the ideal of death. “I won’t swim without a buddy again,” she promised seriously, tucking away this lesson so that she could relay it to her siblings at a later time.

She mood of their conversation shifted as the two began to splash at each other. As Wildfire sent a wave in Freyja’s direction, the young Goufa lifted herself onto her forepaws so that she could stand momentarily. Just as quickly as she had hoisted herself up, she landed heavily into the water with the hopes of getting Wildfire back.

Within seconds, Freyja reared onto her hind legs and slammed her weight down to send a wave back in Wildfire's direction. It rolled up her chest and neck and she laughed, her wet tail whipping to and fro. Now that the lesson had been covered, it was all about playtime as far as she was concerned. The Bandrona wiggled her brow at the pup, then dipped her smudged muzzle, gulped a mouthful of water and spouted it at Freyja.

After her mouth was emptied, Wildfire wondered, "Are you still interested in hunting, Frey? Because there's a lot of prey to be found in and around the water."

Hey wave was countered by a mouth full of water and as she was sprayed, Freyja turned her head away in an attempt to deflect the blow. Unfortunately, this still did not work in the child’s favor. Water struck the side of her head, some seeping uncomfortably into her ear, and quickly she tried to alleviate the done damage by shaking her head.

Once she had shook to her heart’s content the child turned her attention back to Wildfire as she spoke. “Yes, I love it!” she replied quickly with a wag of her tail. To the next fragment of the leader’s sentence, Freyja looked towards the water curiously. “Really?” She had not even heard of hunting in the water and was quickly intrigued.

It tickled her that Freyja seemed so keen on the trade. Perhaps she could even specialize in small game like her makeshift aunt. But it would be best to introduce her to all the possibilities and cover the basics first. Wildfire was no fisher but perhaps she could show the pup a little bit about the prey only found in aquatic ecosystems. Freyja might even excel at it where the Bandrona most definitely hadn't.

"Sure, there's fish, crayfish, ducks, muskrats... lots of options," she replied with a grin. "It takes some special skills to go after them. But there's actually a specialty for that." Wildfire paused, scrunching her nose as a drop of water tickled it. "Has anyone talked to you about those? The hunter specialties? For instance, I specialize in small prey. But you could specialize in large prey or birds or fish. Whatever appeals to you the most—whatever you're particularly good at," she explained.

Her head craned and her eyes lifted to meet Wildfire immediately as many unknown animals were listed off. Though she had no clue what all of these animals were she was confident that she would learn about them in due time. The conversation shifted to specialties and she remained quiet despite the thoughts running through her head. She knew that she had no preference in what she hunted-- the thrill of the chase kept her coming back-- but would consider her preferences going forward.

“I didn’t know that,” she admitted in an uncharacteristic sheepish manner. “And I don’t think I’m best at at anything, yet, but killing a deer was cool,” she offered in way of a humble brag, standing a little taller as she spoke.

The youngster's answer took her totally by surprise. "You killed a deer?" she asked, then winced slightly at her own tone. It wasn't very kind to sound so overtly skeptical. "I'm sorry," Wildfire said quickly. "When was this? Was anyone else with you?" she asked, hoping the authentic curiosity in her voice made up for her previously dubious tone. "I'm sorry I missed it," she added honestly with her own sheepish smile.

Her smile grew at Wildfire’s surprise and she nodded in response. Though she would have loved to say she brought it down alone she knew that she could not lie to her mentor. “There was this realllly big guy near the geysers,” she began, recalling the time that she had spent attempting to one-up him. But in the midst of this recalling she realized that she had never really learned his name, despite him referring to himself multiple times throughout their meeting. “And I never got his name-- but he smelt like us!” Her reassurance followed swiftly, knowing that would be a concern. “And he got me to spook the deer and a really weak one ran towards him and he pinned it!” Her heart thrummed as she recalled the thrill of the hunt. “And then he called my over and I bit it’s throat!”

With the news shared she looked up to Wildfire proudly, wondering how she would take all of this in.

Freyja didn't even seem to notice her aunt's faux pas, for which Wildfire was grateful. She listened attentively as the youngster enthusiastically described the events. The Bandrona momentarily frowned, wondering about the identity of this wolf, though it sounded like he was a pack mate at least. Her expression softened. She felt very protective of Gyda's pups but it sounded like this deer hunter had given Freyja a great learning experience.

"That's awesome, Frey. Maybe you'll make a good a great Deerstalker someday." Wildfire grinned and waved her black tail. "What did he look like?" she wondered, still curious about the unidentified mentor.

She smiled at Wildfire’s compliment and offered a smile in response, her attention lingering as the subject shifted back to the wolf who had assisted in the kill. Thinking back to her time with Goliath, Freyja paused for a moment in an attempt to pick out every detail that she could about him. “He was really big and not like, fat or whatever. He was really strong.” she recalled with a frown. “He was tan and black and brown and spoke weird.” She didn’t understand why he spoke so oddly, but she also was too intimidated to really press on the matter.

“Like,” she began puffing herself up in an attempt to mimic his stance. “He was say things like ‘Me catch 1,000,000 deer and best hunter in the land!’” Once she was done the impersonation she deflated once more, a new found sense of confusion upon her features as she looked to Wildfire. Wasn’t she supposed to know all the pack members?

The Bandrona's face crinkled in thought. The wolf Freyja described did not sound particularly familiar, though Wildfire wondered if he was one of the more recent recruits that she hadn't met yet. She was just making a note to seek out a wolf of this description when the pup looked at her in confusion. The yearling's lips parted and she laughed at the frankly adorably judgmental look on the youngster's face.

"He must be new. I'll have to see him out and thank him for helping with your training," Wildfire said. "Speaking of which, would you like to learn more about prey that lives near the water? I'll go right ahead and admit I'm no good at all at fishing. But there are several small mammals—muskrats, beavers and otters, to name a few—that live near the water."

Her confusion shifted to acceptance, smiling at what Wildfire had to offer in regards to the new wolf. “I can introduce you!” she offered with a wave of her tail. “He was pretty scary at first, but he was nice in the end.” She was naive to what red flags this would raise but she felt that it was unfair not to warn Wildfire about the wolf’s rough edges.

When the conversation went back to hunting, Freyja nodded with enthusiasm. “Yes!” Though she knew very little to nothing about these animals she was still eager to learn.

"I'd like that," Wildfire said, tail waving, wondering if it was his size or demeanor that had initially frightened the child. She would get to find out for herself soon. But the Bandrona trusted that nobody truly threatening would have gotten past the commander and into the ranks.

Shuffling that thought aside for now, Wildfire beamed at Freyja's enthusiasm. "Okay, great! Well, let's start with where you're most likely to find each of these creatures. Muskrats tend to live in burrows along the banks. Otters too, I think. But beavers actually chew up trees and build dams right in the water. They're a bit harder to find around here but we can definitely track some muskrats if you want? I can show you what their holes look like and you can get familiar with their scent."

Taking her mentor’s advice, she listened closely as she attempted to commit these names to memory. Otters and Muskrats-- creatures she did not know of-- were quick to be introduced and to this she nodded as she memorized. The next animal was one that really caught her attention-- beavers. Her eyebrows rose in response, a question quickly coming to mind, “What’s a ‘dam’?” It sounded interesting, to say the least!

To the next subject matter, Freyja nodded quickly and took a step forward, leading them to the bank. “Yes, let's go and see!”

"It's kind of like a den built out of sticks and mud," Wildfire explained, head cocked slightly. "Sometimes beavers build them in places that even affect the water flow. They're kind of cool to look at, though it makes the beaver a more difficult sort of prey to catch."

Of course the hunter-in-training was more than enthusiastic about exploring all things muskrat. Briefly, Wildfire reflected back on the time she'd spent hours hunting them with the girl's father, Gavriel. Wildfire's lips twitched and she nodded. "All right, c'mon." With a flick of her damp black tail, she then began to lope along the shoreline, searching for signs of muskrats among the cattails.

Wanna fade here? :D

Of course! Thanks! :D

 


She was amazed by what Wildfire taught her and she quickly replied after clarification on the word “dam” meant. “We have to find one!” She would keep an eye out and hopefully Wildfire would do the same. “I want to find a dam and look at it with you and maybe even hunt a beaver! Even though it's hard I think we can do it because we are both really good hunters.” She would keep such plans tucked away for another day.

With the prospect of hunting muskrat fresh on her mind, Freyja followed Wildfire onto the bank, excited to learn more about the prey that lived by the river.