Blacktail Deer Plateau lure

Her winter coat was growing in nicely, even though it was only October. Easy didn't know one month from another, but she knew it was still too hot during the day, even if she was getting more and more grateful for her thickening pelt during the nights. If she could see herself, she'd probably also be gratified to find that she was developing a pattern much like her sister's - that flat black was slowly becoming speckled with pale silver as her adult coat come in.

But she couldn't see, and so her transformation from soot sprite to silvery fae was entirely lost on the girl.

What was not lost was how long her legs were getting. Easy could now stand in the shallows of the pond without getting her belly wet - something she was far more pleased about than her winter coat. It made fishing a lot more fun now that it was getting too chilly to swim, and today, the girl was making the best of this new development by sifting through the mud and grit in the shallows in search of one of her favorite treats - crayfish.

*attempts to lure a wild @Spiritwalker*

 

Although they had made no formal introductions Catori had taken herself towards the rendezvous site all the same. She had a fur pelt clenched between her teeth - maybe a move that she might start playing some of those easy tracking games with the younger crew but so far, she'd found no one where she expected them to be. Kids wandered and roamed and Catori got that, sure, but where were they? She gave a little hum before she found the freshest tracks and took after them. It was entirely unfamiliar to her other than Grayday's familiar overtones and she intoned it was probably one of his littles. 

What she found though was a sooty mud-puppy who was apparently mucking through the mire - and Catori had to wonder what sort of prize she was planning on gleaming. "Looks like you're busy," She said good-naturedly, curious about what the child was up to. Or more specifically, what she was hunting for. She'd left the pelt discarded up near the rendezvous - they could always pick that up later. 

It wasn't long before Easy's sensetive muzzle poked against something too hard to be rotting wood and too light and hollow to be a rock. In a flash, she'd taken hold of the hard-shelled creature and tossed it to shore, where she quickly followed after it's panicking form. In the water, that lightning-quick flick of their tail could propel them away in an instant, but here on land, it only took a moment or two for the young wolf to pin down her quarry and give it a few hard stomps. The stomps didn't kill it, but did dislodge one of the angry claws from the crayfish's body.

Easy had learned the hard way that those had to be the first thing to go.

The approach of another distracted her before she could dispose of the other claw. Without realizing it, her mouth popped open in surprise at the strange woman's appearance. She was somewhat familiar - once, several weeks ago, Easy had blinked up at her in hazy-half sleep, the first time her father had brought the woman home - but not in a way that Easy could pin a name to. Still, she recognized that the scent belonging to this woman could often be found around the territory, and frequently upon her father's pelt.

"You're daddy's friend," she said by way of greeting, one paw darting out to pin down her prize as it began to scuttle away.

 

Before too long the child's intention was made so much more obvious and she smiled down at the smaller female. Even though it had made her freeze in her tracks for a moment mentally. She didn't want to be just the girl's daddy's friend - and maybe she needed to sort of....separate a bit to make sure she maintained her own identity within the pack. Regardless of whatever happened between her and Grayday - and she didn't want to think too much on that right then - she wanted to make sure that she was Catori and not just 'the woman.' "I'm Catori," She offered warmly. "And I swear, you were smaller the last time I saw you." Some children loved hearing it, some hated hearing it but it would be left unseen which one this particular child followed after. 

She watched the way the girl kept the little crustacean pinned beneath her paw, clearly this was an experienced little hunter. Cat looked along the muddy bank before she turned her gaze back to the girl's. "So what's your name?" Knowing that Grayday had three children didn't help her too much when she still didn't know their names apart from anything else - she definitely wanted this to be as positive of an introduction as possible so she wouldn't take a stab in the dark and use the wrong name on the girl. 

Easy blinked at the older wolf, not doubting that they'd met before (somehow) but not quite sure when that might've been, either. After all, she didn't know when she'd met Sunny before, either, but he was her brother, so they must've known each other at some point. The same sort of thing must be going on, here. "Dad says I'm gonna be as big as he is, when I'm done," came her proud response, although her tone was a bit distracted as she tried to get her mind around the other wolf's name. Catori. That was a new one, but it didn't seem as strange to her as it had seemed to her father. She was still growing up, after all, and had met lots of wolves with funny names.

"My name's Easy," she answered, tail wagging a tiny bit. "But I have a funny name, too. My momma used to call me Ishara. Daddy says it means when you want something really bad."

Her head cocked to the side. "What's Catori mean?" she wondered, curious as ever. The crayfish lay forgotten under her muddy paw.

 

Catori could imagine how big the girl would end up, but she couldn't tell what she'd look like. Not yet. With her wispy coat and her dark coloration it would leave much to be decided on how they ended up looking. That was, to her, the most interesting part of the growth between children and adults - her colors had changed drastically. "Lets see how big you get," She said with a chuckle. "Probably be taller than I am." 

Catori couldn't help chuckle at the notion of a trouble name - of yes, she had certainly heard Catori Corten from time to time in her day. "Catori means 'Spirit' - although I don't know what all that means." She couldn't even begin to explain everything to her with the Bears or her coat or her title. "I like your name," She said with a soft smile. "It's definitely a good one." 

Easy had only a vague notion of what a spirit was supposed to be - her father was not terribly spiritual, after all, though he was getting more sentimental as he got older. He was, however, a gentleman, and had raised his children to be polite if they could at all help it. So when Catori complimented her name, Easy felt obligated to do the same.

"Yours is good, too," she said with a wag of her tail, eager to please the older wolf.

"Hey - do you want some crack bugs?" she asked, using the name she'd made up for crawdaddies. Her father hadn't known what to call them, so they'd been forced to come up with something on their own. Crack bugs had fit the calling, since they looked like bugs and you had to crack them. "I'm gettin' real good at catching them. They hardly ever pinch me anymore."

 

"It's a little funny," Catori admitted with a good natured laugh - that was fine, she didn't mind the difference between their names and the common easier tongue. It also wasn't nearly as pretentious as calling one's self 'The Spiritwalker' so there was that, too. Catori peered down at the little 'crack bugs' that the young pup was messing with and couldn't help the gentle smile that grew on her face. "That takes practice," She said with a hint of admiration. 

"How about you show me how you find them." Catori would sit back and watch the girl's technique - maybe she could even help her, depending on how the girl liked to hunt them down. Maybe Easy was a little hunting savant and she had it all figured out already, wouldn't that be something? 

"Okay," Easy chirped, moving back toward the water and carefully wading in. If she moved too quickly, the crack bugs got scared and would swim away. Luckily, she'd learned how to enter the water without disturbing it too much. It'd taken a lot of practice and a long, long time, but now she was fairly adept at catching them - and eating them, too!

In the water, she slowly moved her forepaws around, feeling for another of the crack bugs. Eventually, her sensetive toes found something that felt right, and she dove in to snatch it out of the water with her teeth, tossing it to shore so that it wouldn't pinch her.

It landed in the dirt still flipping and flopping, but Easy pounced after it a moment later. "Gotchya!" she said, leaning down to tear off one of the snipping claws, and then rubbing the crack bug in the dirt until another claw fell off. Then, she nosed it toward Catori, tail wagging excitedly.

"Here you go!" she offered, taking a step back to present the woman with the gnarled, muddy thing.

 

Catori couldn't mask the utter delight she felt as she watched Easy work. It was a surprise to see how the children had adapt, and this one in particular, well - she was like a little Island child herself. Catori grinned as she took in Easy's form and how she'd just naturally figured out what was the best way to maneuver the crawfish until it was rendered defenseless and then offered to her. "You are a wonderful little hunter," Cat said with a merry laugh. "You made that look effortless." Catori praised. "I bet you'd be a natural with fishing too - you aren't even afraid of the water." Not that everyone was, but, some were especially avoidant of the waters given the natural instinct to stay dry for most wolves. 

Still, she took the bug that was offered, nosing and eating carefully of the tender meat that was offered. Catori took a moment as she watched the edge of the water shift. Even the dirt itself would move and shift in the right context - and she knew what to look for. A moment later she'd found and nosed another one of Easy's 'crackbugs' up and onto the ground. She pinned it with a paw, the creature naturally pressing up to try and pinch her. She took the opportunity and quickly disposed of one claw and then the other, spitting them out before offering the critter to the younger girl in a trade.

Easy looked uncertain at the mention of fishing.

"There are fish in here, but they've got stickers and they hurt when the flip around on you," she warned, not liking the idea of doing that again. She'd only tried it once, and although she'd succeeded in capturing the fish and have (eventually) eaten it, she didn't think she'd be trying it again very soon.

Something in Catori's phrasing made Easy pause and think. It sounded like she had some experience in fishing. "Are you good at fishing?" asked Easy, ears perking. That would be cool. Catori was already cool in Easy's eyes - especially when she had to simply look at the water and flick her paw to get one of the crack bugs out.

"Will you teach me?" Easy begged, looking up at Catori with shining eyes.

Catori knew the lesson that Easy had yet to master. It took time, and patience, and for most children that was something that they did not have in spades. She smiled gently and gave a nod, reaching out to nudge Easy in a friendly manner on her shoulder. "We can try. Those are catfish - and those barbs absolutely hurt when they hit you." Nothing Easy didn't know already but it was still good to hear that validation from someone else, Catori thought. 

"I grew up along the coast and half the time I'm more comfortable in the water than out of it." She wouldn't lie, but, she didn't want to brag either. There had to be a certain level of humility. "There's a river not too far from here and we can spend a day practicing fishing if you'd like. I bet your Dad would be excited when we come home with some fish." Grayday had already expressed an interest in getting all methods of hunting and catching food - and fishing was a resource not many knew how to utilize. It set them ahead of others already. 

Barbs, thought Easy, filing the word away for later use. Much more sophisticated than calling them 'pokies'. She was glad that she wasn't the only one to be hurt by a dumb fish, though. If it could happen to even Catori, then Easy wasn't as upset that it kept happening to her.

"Are there fish without barbs?" she asked curiously, intrigued by this idea. The way Catori had phrased it caused the dark girl to think it could be true. It sounded like fish without barbs would be a lot better to catch. Would they taste different?

Her eyes shimmered with excitement when Catori agreed to teach her - especially when it was implied that her father would be pleased with her, if she did manage to master this skill. She sought Grayday's approval above all else, at this point in her young life. "Can we go tomorrow?" she asked, giving Catori he best puppy-dog look.

 

Catori nodded quickly to Easy's query - there were so many fish after all and so many types that when they did manage to sneak off from the Plateau there would be so many options. "There's fish without barb, there's fish that are even flat - we'll see what we can find." She promised, mirth in her milky eyes. It was a fine line wanting to genuinely build a relationship with the girl and wanting to make sure that she also found a better foothold for a place in Grayday's family. If she didn't fit....well, she wouldn't have a place obviously. 

"Tomorrow would be perfect. We can leave at sunrise." Catori was excited about the trip too - for the chance to get to know Easy better and to see just how many fish they could actually snag. She gave the girl a conspiratory grin, tossing a wink her way. "I say we scope it out and then challenge the boys to a contest. Fish finding, girls against boys. Think Lav would want to play too?" Maybe they'd make it a family day even, if it all worked out well. 

After setting their plans the pair made their way back towards the rendezvous, set to lay down their challenge.