Ravensblood Forest It's in my blood, my bite

Perhaps @Asara and @Violante II?

The Harbinger and the young Scion Vale had left for neighboring packs, Winterglade and Moonglow, to secure friendships, perhaps more. Thanks to their hunt, the pack's caches were padded, and they could rest for a short while. Noir wished to travel, but with two of their number gone, she knew it best to stay. Sacrarium came before her own wishes.

So, Noir took the day to seek out the other Scions, the aspiring huntresses, and when she found them, she asked, grinning, Hello. Care to spend the day with me? She looked between the pair, adding whimsically, We can do whatever you'd like!

YES YES YES! Asara burst into a run darting off then circled back around, she was learning to control her energy better, but somethings called for a celebratory run, but she knew it was rude to just leave people behind now, so she looped back around. She shifted impatiently foot to foot. I wanna go somewhere! Or hunt Or um I don't know, Vi?

Young Violante eyed Noir with interest, but before she could speak, Asara started being... herself. Violante huffed, rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched in a smile all the same. Sure, we could hunt, she hummed after a moment. Wanna check the berry bush ridge for fat pheasants? She could not help but giggle a little. She was feeling divine today.

Noir grinned broadly at both pups, showing her teeth. What if I show you somewhere new today? There was more to the forest than just the one hunting location. She beckoned to the girls, saying, Come, come, I think you will like this spot. And she led them away.

Some miles from the sunrock, and just a little south, there was a small, irregular clearing with tall grasses, lots of bushes, and a small pond. Insects buzzed about lazily in the late summer air, and Noir told the children, Birds also love insects. Why don't you try looking around for tracks?

Not one to waste time, Asara scanned the ground. There were all kinds of prints around, but she knew bird prints well enough. She bounded over to them, Vi, you know what grouse prints look like, right? They have three weird toes. The girl giggled.

Noir led them to an area of the forest she'd not yet seen, and the young huntress took a few minutes to explore it. There were definitely plenty of bugs, which she disliked, but she couldn't deny that there were also a myriad of bird prints absolutely everywhere. Clearly, this was a popular spot. While examining the tracks, she said, Asara, lots of birds have weird toes. The tracks crisscrossed and looped about, and it was almost impossible to tell which way they were going.

Violante huffed, then grumbled, The tracks are all over the place. There's too many. They would just have to reply on scent, for now.

The girls were quick, intelligent, just like their mother, and Noir could not help but smile to herself. She examined the area more closely; there were indeed bird prints everywhere, and as Violante II had said, they crossed paths and made it very hard to read. Noir moved away from the pond, heading to a quieter place where a tree was downed. Here, she found a birds nest, sitting in the downed branches, complete with three small eggs. Girls, come look over here! Perhaps the huntresses would have better luck here.

Asara approached Noir quickly. Woah! Asara distracted by the new discovery of the nest and eggs took a few moments to sniff around and gently nudge them with her nose. They're alive?! She glanced around to see where Violante was, was this as interesting to her too?

At Noir's calling, young Violante loped over curiously. She shared a glance with her sister, then moved closer to examine the eggs more closely. They smelled interesting, so she took one into her mouth and crunched into it. It was very fragile, crunchy, and filled with some sort of tasty goo. You gotta try that, she told Asara with a laugh. Then, she moved away to search for more tracks, and she had some luck — a few feathers were caught in a bush. She woofed lowly at her sister, wondering if she could find more.

They are alive, Noir agreed, nodding once. They are also food, she continued, as the Vicera's namesake ate one of the eggs. Laughing softly, she said, If you leave them, they will be incubated by their mother, and hatched. Gesturing widely, Noir told them, But, we're here for live birds, aren't we?

We can't eat them, then we won't have anything to hunt! What if we kill it's mother? What will happen to them? Asara was becoming concerned now, she didn't want to leave the eggs alone, then they would surely die. She paced in front of the nest whining.

Her sister was growing concerned for the lives of their prey, and she scoffed, That's life, Asara. We eat birds, and hares, and pretty much everything else in this forest. She could understand not eating the eggs, but worrying over them... it did not make sense to her.

Noir did not have the mind to feel badly for her prey, so when Asara began to whine and question, the Outrider found herself at a loss. Gently, she said, Your sister is right, young one. It does us no good to feel sorry for our prey. A call came, then, some bird that Noir did not know. She looked to the girls, asking, Why don't you go find that bird, hmm?

Asara walked reluctantly but asked one more question. If we kill all the birds and none of the eggs hatch, what will we hunt? Maybe it was a silly question to ask right now, but it was still a concern she was starting to come to understand. As she moved farther away from the eggs and the scent of the bird grew stronger once more her mind began to shift back onto the hunt. She scanned the ground again for prints, and noticed a feather on the ground. She sniffed it, taking the scent with her before continuing onward.

Mom was telling me about keeping tabs on the local bird populations, make sure we aren't overhunting... she trailed off with a shrug, then fell silent as she found a new set of tracks in the mud, which looked very fresh. Psst! she hissed to Asara. I got tracks!

Asara asked good questions, but before the Outrider could say anything, young Violante spoke of keeping check on the bird population. Your sister is right, but never fear — your mother keeps a close eye on everything in Sacrarium, she told the girl, smiling softly. Then she fell silent, as the other spotted tracks. Best to let them work it out on their own from here.

please feel free to skip noir for a couple rounds!

Frowning, Asara decided she'd ask her mom later. Her concern was quickly forgotten when her sister found prints. She darted forward to her side. She put her nose directly to the prints, inhaling the scent. They were leading directly into a set of bushes. Asara shifted her body lower to the ground.