Swiftcurrent Creek Vivec

They'd started to get more independent now that they had a pretty full vocabulary of words at their disposal -- not too independent in Akatosh's case, he only left to explore after one of his siblings wandered off first so he could blame them if anything happened.  He was a pretty obedient boy, but kids had their limits and there were kind of four of them so keeping track was probably pretty difficult.  Let's be real, it was normally Talos causing the problems, wasn't it?

A few of the other members of the pack had probably noticed his escapades.  Most of the time he'd watch them from a distance, hiding behind a tree or similar for a few minutes before sprinting off to who-knew-where.  Totally social of him, but he'd been afraid of getting in trouble for getting caught on his own but that fear was starting to recede.

Right now his nose was leading him towards something edible maybe?  It kinda smelled like it.  He wasn't exactly a good tracker at this age, but he was doing the equivalent of a kid following the smell of cookies to the kitchen.  Not that he knew it, but he was heading towards a cache, one that had been recently disturbed by someone burying something or digging it back up.  Akatosh's stomach growled a little -- he was a growing boy and food sounded good.

fishing had become commonplace to mahler; first his time upon the coast and his stay at the creek had taught him a good deal. it was a trout laid against the dirt while the musiker uncovered the cache. the summer would soon be at an end, and the man suspected winter would come upon its heels, perhaps earlier than expected.
he could not know how he pictured such things, but reacted to it as any godly beast might: fattening oneself on riches to provide strength for the journey ahead. he pressed down the mound of loam over the trout, turned to backscratch over it with long strokes; mahler's hard lilac stare alit upon a figure pressing through the wood, small and yet unfamiliar to a degree.

Akatosh had taken up position behind a tree, watching the adult go about his business.  He'd spent basically all of his time under the watchful gaze of one or both of his parents and hadn't exactly gone tromping off to meet everyone like his sister might have (he hadn't found her every time she made herself scarce).  Yeah, sure, this guy was part of the pack, but he was still worried that he'd get in trouble for wandering off at the wrong time.

His nose twitched rather like a rabbit's.  This was certainly where the scents were coming from.  But there was someone there, and ordinarily he would have scampered away, but there were so many delicious smells coming from over here.  He didn't want to leave.  But yep, he'd been spotted.  He made a kind of mournful huff in frustration and ducked from his tree of choice to a slightly closer bush, peering through the skinny branches as he tried to figure out what to do.  Akatosh wasn't exactly hiding very well, but being branded a rulebreaker wasn't too appealing.  Maybe he'd forget that he was here and just leave and then Akatosh could go take a look!  Yeah, there's the ticket...

a child, and one belonging to the leaders if he was correct. mahler appraised the multi-toned boy with a lingering eye, noting the new-coin sheen of the eyes. constantine; yes. the man did not move for a moment, but soon returned to his work. and yet ... 
he glanced back upon the place where the child had attempted to secret himself. "come," the gargoyle intoned; it was not a request. he exhumed the length of the trout and lay his gaze upon the royal boy, wondering if he would be heeded.

It was only the fear of doing wrong that kept the pup from rampaging out to investigate -- it apparently had quite a hold on him, even if they were only rules made up in his mind, previous warnings that had been built upon in his daydreams rather than reality.  Kept him out of trouble, at least.  Akatosh assumed he hadn't been seen when at first the guy continued on with what he was doing (sigh of relief right there).

It was short-lived.  Akatosh was summoned, and after a moment he did scoot forward shyly.  It didn't seem like he was getting in trouble but then again, he could be wrong.  He was definitely uncertain, even if it did smell delicious here and he wanted to either dig into the pile or just roll around in it -- either was a passable decision.  Y-ees?  His nose wiggled some more.

as the boy drew near, mahler stepped back. "vould you like to have this?" he saw no reason  to turn the child away from the kill. it was for the children of swiftcurrent that the gargoyle hunted, after all. settling himself to one side, mahler waited to see what the young royal might do. 
he himself, keeping one ear trained on the boy, mentally inventoried the remaining tasks he had left to do. a thought occurred to him, and he brought his attention back to the child. he did not yet speak, however, allowing his gaze to first be noticed.

cameo.. ! unless he's pulled back.

The children were more adventurous now that they were older. He still wasn’t sure how they had come to be so big – he was pretty sure all he did was blink and it had happened. Talos was by far the most ruthless in her insistence to dominate the entire land and then some with her presence – but today it was Akatosh the regal caught scent of away from the den.
 
The rumbled words of Mahler flitted through the air, and as the swarthy Mayfair wove to view, he still held himself a far distance back, keen eyes studying the ashen wolf with his son. He knew little of the male with the thick accent – only that while others had begun to disappear, he was one of the few that remained.
 
His muzzle dipped if eye contact was made,  quiet acknowledgement that he trusted the Delta with his youth, and with an idle flick of his tail, Constantine began to weave away, though lingered just outside of view.

He was still a wary kid, and figured that only by putting on his best face would he actually be given the food.  Not necessarily true in reality, but it couldn't hurt.  Uh huh.  Then he continued, trying to put all his brainpower into saying a lovely coherent sentence, Can I have some?

He was, however, pretty focused on the fish and didn't notice that Constantine was lurking about not too far away.  The fish was far too tempting and the smell was too overpowering for an untrained nose to pick out much else.  There would be plenty of time for him to refine his skills as he grew.

a suspicious creature by nature, mahler kept a sharp eye upon the shadows around he and the young royal. constantine's presence was regarded with an expression of recognition. and when the alpha dipped his crown, mahler too rejoined with the same. the regal man moved off into the underbrush and the musiker turned back to the boy.
"yes, you may." returning to his mental perusal, mahler let several moments pass before he spoke again. "after this, i am going on patrol. vould you like to come vith me?" he desired silence and solitude above all else, but children must be taught the ways of their kind, even if mahler was a poor teacher in many regards.

Though still a bit leery of this all being some kind of test, Akatosh moved closer and finally dipped his head down to grab the now-uncovered fish and pull it out of the hole.  He started to eat it and was pretty sloppy about the whole ordeal, as kids were often to be.  He was bout to give up and consider himself full (there was still quite a bit left on the trout), that was when he was spoken to again.  

His ears perked up.  That sounded at least kinda interesting, and since he hadn't been scolded through this process he was now much more open to the idea of doing stuff.  Um!  Yeah.  Akatosh looked down at the fish again, studying it.  Much like giving a kid a lamb chop, he just didn't have the dexterity and knowledge how to get the most meat off of it yet, and instead aimed for the easiest.  Either way, he was pretty much done, taking one more bite and leaving the remaining probably-a-snack sized remains there as he took a step back and looked to Mahler for instruction.  He was much better at just following instructions rather than instinctively figuring out what to do.  After all, Akatosh was doing the equivalent of leaving a dirty plate on the table at the moment.

sorry for the wait! small PP to get them moving<3

the child confirmed, and mahler moved off into the wood. the boy traveled at his side, and from time to time mahler looked down at his young charge. birdsong rang through the forest, and the low, eternal rush of the creek could be heard echoing lowly in the distance, a crystalline rush. "i am mahler," he introduced, opening the way for the child's name.
if it was not granted, no matter — mahler was not one for many words. they were now halfway to the nearest border; his paws found the soft-beaten trail of a deer herd, and he loped along it, lowering his muzzle to scent how close the ruminants had come.
presently, mahler swept his gaze to the royal pup. "do you know vhat animal made this path?"

With the fish eventually disposed of, they went on their journey with the pup trailing at his heels 'til they got to the borders.  'M Akatosh.  And he was not great at conversation.  He was paying attention to all the sounds and stuff that were going on along the borders and beyond, ears pricked up and swiveling at the slightest foreign sound.

To a certain point Akatosh was pretty much a chicken.  He preferred to not go near the borders without an escort of some kind -- it had been made clear that they were a rule to not cross, so he wasn't going to try.  It might as well have been a cinderblock wall in his mind, because it was there to keep things on the proper sides of his reality.  Because that's what borders were for, right?  Keeping out monsters.

Umm.  He had learned the scents of things more by finding things to chase than being outright told.  They were still a month or three off from having big serious hunts, but a little chasing stuff that ran away was definitely in the cards.  It was fun after all, and the fact that it happened to line up with the fact wolves were predators just happened to be secondary.  However, most of the things he chased, and thus immediately recognized, were smaller than he was.  His guess was more process of elimination than for sure -- and it was wrong even then, Um.  A moose?   They were both impossibly big brown things with antlers to him.  He was totally close.

sorry for the wait! <3

mahler shook his head, but gave akatosh a fond glance. "it is close. but moose are much larger." he lowered his muzzle, demonstrating a deep sniff, and indicated that the boy should do the same. "deer." after mulling over the scent a moment longer, the musiker paced off into the wood. he expected that akatosh would follow.
however, his steps were cut short; mahler drew up sharply, glancing to his charge with a pointed expression that suggested the young royal stay silent. for not thirty feet away, a stag paraded magnificently through the wood, his antlers striped with blood from a fight outside the usual rutting season. mahler observed the animal silently, appreciating its power even through his powerful draw to give chase.

As was suggested, he studied the scent a bit more closely, trying to commit it to memory.  Scent was kind of complicated and there was certainly more information there than he could currently grasp.  Gender, health, and all of that was buried within, but at least he'd gotten as far as "ungulate" which wasn't too bad for a pup his age who hadn't gone hunting them.  It would come in time, but for now they were going to continue on.

Or at least they were until perhaps the owner of that scent showed up.  Coming to a shuddering and sudden stop, the boy's ears swiveled forward.  You see, creatures like that stag were part of the reason that Akatosh had mixed the two.  They were huge, they were brown, and they had some fancy pointy accessories attached to their heads.  At least right now, that beast was completely unapproachable to him as prey and some part of him was wise enough to recognize it.  Too big, too dangerous.  Too pointy.

His glanced flicked to Mahler a few times in quick succession, wary of looking away from the stag, but wanting to know what the heck the plan was here.  Were they just gonna stay put?  At the very least, Akatosh was far more obedient than a certain sister.

to his credit, the young royal did not dance forward, or make any sort of noise. he looked to mahler for instruction; the beast glanced back with a steady expression that implied wait. it was not long before the ruminant passed, but several moments after that slipped away before the gargoyle stepped from the underbrush. "that vas a stag. it has longer and sharper antlers, but is smaller than a moose." his tone was unemotional, directive; truth be told, he was taking some amount of pleasure in the teaching. "vhen you are young, stay away from stags and moose if you are alone. they vill not be frightened of you, like they might of me." onward he pressed, one ear trained backward to answer any questions.

He had to just stare.  Even a "smaller" stag seemed impossibly big.  Maybe in a few months it would look less impressive but from his perspective it might as well be a giant.  He was old enough to at least come along and be out of the way during hunts now, so perhaps when he got that chance it'd be less of an ominous thing.

That's already big. He said quietly.  How do you catch it when it has antlers?  Won't it just stab you?  It seemed much better to just ignore anything with giant antlers unless it was already almost dead.  He wasn't too fond of that kind of risk.  But Talos'd try to grab it.  That sister of his was just permanently trouble, so why would he expect anything else?  Who knew what kinds of trouble she got in to when he wasn't trailing along trying to wrangle her...

"it takes a group of volves," mahler explained, pressing on. "and ja; the antlers can stab and kill. that is vhy it is important not to be alone. against one volf, a stag has a chance. against five, its chance narrows." hoping the child would understand, the gargoyle picked up the spoor of another creature and lengthened his stride.
"talos," he grunted, turning his lavender eyes on the royal boy. "is that your sister?" admittedly, mahler did not know the names of the alpha pair's children. only chusi's, and only hers had mattered to the brute for some time.

It better taste extra good for bein' more dangerous and stuff. --- Does it?  It was a pretty silly question, but hey, it would totally make sense.  But honestly, he was pretty sure they all tasted the same.  It wasn't like someone had given him a special chunk of meat and said it was giant mcspikeyhead of some variety, so he better savor it.  Nah.  It was just broad categories.  He wasn't entirely sure if he was looking forward to being big enough to hunt big stags and moose though.  Small fuzzy things were less dangerous, not that he could catch those at the moment either.  And the fish wasn't bad.  Anyway, Akatosh was quick to trot along after. 

He nodded. Yeah.  She likes doing things she's not supposed to. I 'unno why. She's gonna get in trouble.  Like duh, obviously.  She was kind of dumb from his perspective.  Like why wouldn't you follow instructions?  It was so much easier and people would be happy!

fade with another round? <3

the boy's insistence provoked a soft chuckle from mahler. "that is the vay of children. that is how you learn." a bittersweet stab to the chest, to think of both his own and the duckling; he swept it away. "it is very good eating, ja. vorth vaiting for." 
presently they had come to a well-traveled footpath, down which mahler had made his own den, and he turned his eyes upon akatosh. "it is time for you to find your father," the gargoyle murmured, not unkindly. "ve vill hunt together another day, maybe."

Sounds good to me! Fun thread though! :D

I dunno, I don't think she wants to learn, he huffed. He totally was learning stuff and he didn't get in trouble (usually) because he did what he was told! Totally easier.  Maybe sisters were just weird like that -- it wasn't like he had any other samples to judge from. She just often seemed more like an alien to him.

Again the boy's head bobbed, Well someone better share with me when they catch one!  Or he'd pout, probably.  Maybe when he was big he could catch a stag too.  Some day.  Either way, Akatosh would be cooperative and accept going back to his father's care without any trouble. He wasn't like that, after all.

it is! and mahler is still close enough for them to meet up again sometime :3

the gargoyle chuckled, a rare but genuine sound. "i promise, if i help to fell a stag, you vill eat of it." and this he meant, for mahler did not make promises lightly. akatosh was a kind soul, a fierce child — the beast was happy to say such of him, for it meant that he knew the boy would grow into a promising sort. "we vill meet again, akatosh," he intoned gently.