Dragoncrest Cliffs I'm growing into my paws

tryin to get theo a hunting trade!

The boy was really growing into a young man. He's gone from a small pup with big paws to nicely grown young man, with a lean yet muscular and large, strong build. He had scars from the bear on his sides, and bruises as well, but he otherwise looked well abled, and he was. He flexed his muscles, and looked around for someone to go out hunting with. With the pack in a state of mourning, they needed food.

Coming home set Suzu full of mixed feelings. Fear, grief, relief- each came in waves and fought for her time and her feelings, which left her feeling very tired and disinterested. Wherever her train of thought went, it typically ended up in a dark place. Would she ever see Swordfish again, and was he a coward just like Njord? Would Erzulie become one of the stars up in the sky, and would she ever know which one? Would Grandma Rosalyn come home? She should have spent more time with Sobo, learning more about plants from him. 

She knew to be grateful, though, that she still had her mother and her brother. She sought Theo out to see how he was doing, and saw him looking better than she'd expected. She gave him a faint smile, and gently touched her muzzle to his shoulder, in a place which did not look as though it had been hurt. "How be you doin', Theo?"

i love the way suzu talks 'how you be doing theo', just warms my heart its so sweet <3

Theo turned to Suzu when she approached him. He smiled, knowing she and Eti had stayed safe and were unscathed from the battle. He appreciated her touch and returned it. "I'm ok. My wounds 'ave scabbed and are scarring, my muscles still be sore and so do my ribs be, but i'm 'oing to 'e alright." He promised Suzu. "I t'ink i'm ready to start 'unting again, want to 'ome wit me?" He asked.

<3 thank you!

She hated hearing that he was still in pain. it was not something she thought she could help; the gashes, healing, were still hard for her to look at. She was grateful she had never seen him torn and bleeding, but seeing him scarred was going to be hard as well. She had never been cut out to be a medic, though her heart very much wished that there was something she could do to make him feel better. 

His suggestion did pick her spirits up, though. Despite his wounds, he still wanted to hunt with her. She nodded, though she was unsure of exactly how hard he could, or should, be pushing himself. "Of course! What do you want to hunt?" She asked. She was much more comfortable scavenging in the tide pools- but she sensed her brother would want to try land prey. It was not her favourite- but if it would make him happy, she would do it.

"Rabbits and weasels are easy for me, I was hunting dem with Eti a few days before the battle." Theo said. He recalled learning how to fish with Suzu before the battle too, but he definitely enjoyed his hunting with Etienne more. "Can we 'unt someting like doze, if we can find em?" He asked

Rabbits and weasels- both animals were fast, and had big teeth…And deep red blood. Suzu primarily ate seafood, and did not have to face the gore of blood as much…But Theo was enthusiastic and was hoping to hone his skills. Maybe she could help him flush the prey, and he could handle the messy parts.

”Sure. Where did you see dem last?” She asked

"I'll lead you to dem." Theo said, and he started off, albeit limping a bit. He'd need Suzu to do the harder bit of the hunting now that he was injured.

She saw the pain in his step, and cringed inwardly. They’d likely be better off just scavenging along the beaches, but he had specifically requested to hunt land prey. She didn’t want to imply that she thought he wasn’t capable of it, though, for fear it’d hurt his feelings.

”You know…I don’t t’ink Swordfish will be comin’ back, so…Mebbe someday, you might like to help me wid de fish trap we made?” She asked. It made her heart clench to think of Swordfish, but she had to accept the fact that he probably wasn’t coming back. ”I’ll share de fish wid you, if you want.” She could use a new partner, after all.

Theo didn't take the hint. He responded but kept walking. "Yeah I could definitely help you with dat, you know that land prey is more my t'ing though." He said. He noticed that Suzu spoke much more like their mother than he did, though he did try to make an effort to change his words a bit, though he was growing out of it some. He spoke in those ways much more as a pup, missing h's and replacing t's. Now he was able to speak them properly for the most part though. He wanted to fit in with his littermates at the same time as not sounding immature so he was partially torn.

He shook his head to clear his mind off this. Soon they reached the place he'd smelled the rabbits. "Here." He said. The scent of rabbit spoke for itself but he felt he should bring it up anyway. "You know the basics of hunting rabbits?" He asked. Etienne had but he wasn't sure if Suzu did.

"Yah," She replied, though she still found it unusual that he would prefer a meal that cost him way more energy. It was likely how he'd managed to stay much more trim than she- as she spent the majority of her time lounging and waiting for prey to come within sight, or scavenging from one tide pool to the next. "I just like what is easier," She said with a light shrug and a laugh. 

She investigated the scent, and found it fresh enough to merit a good deal of interest. She still felt herself brimming with doubt, but she was willing to swallow it and work with Theo. It was the least she could do for him, considering how bravely he'd fought while defending the pack. She nodded, and drew in a breath. "I guess so," She said. "But uhm....What should I do best so we can catch one?" She asked, willing to defer to her brother and get another debriefing on how to hunt the agile prey.

"I need you to be de barker." Theo said. "It is a bit harder because den you have to run wit the rabbits, but I don't know if i'd be able to run with them as well because of my injuries." He said. "So can you do it? All you'd need to do is go around to the back side of where the rabbits are and I'll go around to the front, and when you bark, you send them running to me and run with them, catching the ones you can while i catch the ones I can." He said hoping that made sense.

Her head tilted at the mention of the title 'barker' but she quickly came to understand. Theo was a pretty good instructor, she thought- she grasped her role easily with his explanation, and nodded along thoughtfully. "Ya, I can do dat," She said. At least, she felt certain she could spook the rabbits, and chase after them. Keeping up with them would also be a struggle for her- but as long as she got them heading toward Theo, she'd be doing her part of the job. 

"I'll go around. See you in a few minutes!" She said, bumping her nose gently against his shoulder, before she began to sneak her way in a wide arc. The last thing she wanted was for the rabbits to suspect they were being hunted before the hunt even began- so she took a longer route than she'd necessarily need to take, to make up for her heavy footfalls. She wasn't particularly graceful, either- and found that she needed to go a bit more slowly than usual, so that she could make sure she didn't snap branches as she went. 

She was relatively good at orientation, though, and kept track of the arc she was taking so that she could circle around the thicket and be roughly on the opposite end of it from Theo. She waited a few moments before she moved- wanting to make sure the rabbits weren't suspicious if they'd heard anything, allowing them to drop their guard again. She couldn't see them, but she could smell them. 

She bolted forward, her feet scrabbling against the ground, as she dove headlong into the thicket, where she began barking and snarling. She caught glimpses of the rabbits dashing this way and that- and found their movements almost dizzying. She sent them scattering in every direction, incapable of sending them all off in one direction as a herd of deer might go- and tried her best to chase a couple of them out of the thicket and in Theo's direction.

Theo was able to catch one quickly, landing his weight onto its spine and cracking it, making it die instantly, before being able to leap at another and catch that one too, a little less cleanly. Despite his injuries and the pain being caused now he still decided to try and chase a 3rd one down. He was slower and his gait was off but he was still fast enough. He reached his jaw out and was able to grab the rabbit's butt with his teeth and stop it in its tracks. He carried the live creature towards Suzu, wanting to let her kill it. He held it down in front of her. "Break its neck." He instructed. "Force or weight will do it."

Once she caught sight of Theo, she made a snap for every rabbit that attempted to flee the scene entirely, so she might send them back toward her brother. By sheer luck, a rabbit ran across her path, and she snapped at it- catching it by the neck and its own momentum caused a break in its spine. There was no shrill scream, the creature simply went limp in her jaws. 

Theo approached with another, one that was still alive. She was still reeling with unexpected regret over the rabbit she'd killed. He instructed her to kill it, and she shook her head, before gently placing her rabbit on the ground. 
If you can't, den I will, or you can let it go since we 'ave one 'ere. I do not like the killing part, Theo," She said, teary-eyed.

Theo easily broke its neck at that, but he turned away from Suzu when he did so as not to upset her more. "Sorry, I forgot." He said. He did now remember his first hunter with Eti, and Eti telling him that Suzu did not like to see the blood. "You caught one though!" He said happily. He had brought one over for her because he didn't know if she'd get one herself and he wanted to make sure she got something, even though without her he wouldn't been able to catch more than one or two. "We got 4 in total! Dat be great!" He said nudging her in a playful and happy manor. He retrieved his two other kills, dropping one at Suzu's paws as he couldn't carry all 3 at once.

Suzu flinched slightly at the sound of crackling bones. It was not too dissimilar from the sound of shells being cracked, but for some reason, prey with fur hit a tender spot in her heart. 

She was glad the hunt had been a success- but she had to force a somewhat queasy smile when she realized he had killed three of them. They would not go to waste, she told herself, though she hated the thought of four animals all dying at once. 

But wolves were carnivores. This was their way of life. 

”Wow, Theo! Even if you are sore, you are still a better hunter den me!” She praised.

"It be my thing." He said. "Hunting doze of de sea iz your ting but 'unting doze of de land be my thing." Theo said with a small smile at the praise he was giving. "opefully fighting can be my ting too so dat i dont get 'urt like dis again." He added.

Theo was right- he had his skills, just as she had hers, and Étienne as well had his own set of strengths. Each of them were slightly different, but capable nonetheless. It made her heart ache to think that Theo wanted to learn how to fight- how cruel life was, to demand that such a thing be necessary! 

”Well, somebody do need to be able to do it.” She said quietly, with a tinge of regret. Fighting certainly wasn’t her interest, and it certainly wasn’t in Eti’s wheelhouse either. Theo had proved himself brave once already- she could only hope he would never have to put his skills to use.

”Let’s take dese to Maman, ya?” She suggested.

Theo nodded and picked up 2 of his catches, as he could not take all three and he knew Suzu could take one of them along with her own, and he started back towards Sapphique's camp.

fading here! <3