Ouroboros Spine Could it shine down here with you?

He couldn't put a paw to what it was exactly, but Ludovic felt like a weight had been lifted off of him. Between the heart-to-heart with Angel Oak, fully accepting Raindrop, and the new sense of normalcy he felt.. everything was looking up. That was for certain.

Maybe it was the new relief he felt that gave him the confidence to be where he was now. In the tall grass, crouched with his belly fur to the ground, watching a heron as it stood neatly in the lake.

It's legs were long, beak delicate yet terrifying, and the feathers were just breathtaking. He could already imagine the meat on his tongue, but more than that.. the potential for gifts! He wanted to take this bird down, and he wanted it badly.

Opening his mouth to better take in surrounding scents, he prepared himself to charge.

Though he ought to be past such childish games, Valiant was hunting the hunter. He'd come looking for Ludovic with plans to whisk the boy off on a longer hunt, but when he'd spotted him crouched in the grass, a rare spirit of mischief descended on him. He crouched low, too, and began stalking the boy through the grass.

He was silent, even with his bad leg paining him. He was slow, methodical, coiled tight and ready to pounce.

But he didn't pounce. He only watched, interested in seeing whether or not Ludovic would make his kill.

The strange feeling of eyes on his back sent shivers up Ludo's spine, and then he flinched. Grass rustled, and the heron flew away.

Completely heartbroken for the moment, he entirely forgot about what he should have been investigating as he stared up to the sky. Damn bird, he would have to try again another time.

Turning his head after a brief moment, Ludovic thought he could see someone in the grass. Squinting for a better look, he couldn't help his fixed frown. This was totally embarrassing.

Is someone there?

The bird's flight had him scrunching down on instinct to hide himself better. He tracked its flight through the air, and when he looked back Ludovic was peering in his direction.

"Just me," he replied, emerging from the grass. "Did I spook it?"

He looked past Ludo, hoping to see more gathered nearby, but his eyesight wasn't what it used to be. If there were any, they were too far in the distance for Valiant to easily spot.

"I was comin' to see if you wanted to go hunting," he told the boy, rose gold eyes finding his young face once more. "But I can see you were already hard at work. Sorry about that."

For now, there were no more herons on the lake. Another would appear sooner or later, though. Ludovic could try again then.

It's alright, He reassured Valiant with a smile. Ludo had found himself in plenty of failed hunts, he didn't take it too harshly anymore. But, I could hunt.. what did you have in mind?

He was always happy to hunt with Valiant - the older male was his favourite mentor by far. He rarely disappointed Ludo; even if they didn't catch something, he still found himself learning.

Valiant's tail wheeled in coltish excitement. He'd taken to Ludo very quickly, and had him fitted neatly into the family tree already. Though it had had few enough chances to shine in his six years, Valiant was a Morningsider through and through — which meant that a flashing "FREE BABY" sign had appeared over Ludo's head and Valiant had slapped his wallet down on the table anyway.

"I thought we could go on a little camping trip," he said, his voice pitched to make this a conspiratorial conversation. "Just us men. There's somethin' I gotta get for Raindrop. See, I've asked her to marry me. Which means I gotta have a weddin' pelt for us to wed under."

He gazed steadily at Ludo.

"I was hopin' you'd help me hunt somethin' up," he told him. "Make it a new tradition. That all the men in the family hunt for somethin' white together."

His brain had fixed to one part of Valiants request.

You're marrying Raindrop?

Ludovic's brow furrowed, but mostly out of confusion. When had that happened? It was the first he was hearing of it!

Though, any observant wolf had likely noticed the blossoming romance. Whether because of his own troubles, focus on hunting, or because he was simply oblivious to romance.. it had completely slipped by the boy.

Valiant inclined his head: "Yup."

Angel and Rosa had been given veto power not because of their blood relation, but because of their age. They were adults in this family, even if they were still Raindrop's children; he'd thought that their voices needed to be heard. Ludo, however, was still just a boy. These weren't decisions he needed hanging over him —

And Valiant felt rather strongly that it was in his best interest to have two parental figures who loved each other as well as they loved him.

"We ain't told everyone yet," he went on, watching Ludo for signs of discomfort.

Well.. alright.

There wasn't more he could say about it than that, he didn't feel that there was anyways. He liked Valiant, and what Raindrop and he did in private really wasn't any of Ludovic's business.

When do we leave for the hunt?

He'd expected more conversation than this, somehow. That was usually what happened with these things. Dutch in particular had been able to talk just about any subject to death.

So it was refreshing when the subject was open and shut so easily. Valiant felt a further sense of kinship rise in his chest. It seemed that he, Ludo, and Arrluk were all men of few enough words.

"Right now, if you don't have anything more pressing to tend to," the isbjorn replied, his tail wheeling. "Angel was sayin' she saw a white elk out on the plains the other day. I wanna check it out."

A white elk? Ludovic couldn't help raising a brow at that, but he wasn't one to doubt something just because it sounded strange.

We can go now. He agreed, his smile returning. He hadn't visited the plains before, at least not that he knew of. Even if there was no elk, he would have a good time exploring something new.

Should we fade out here?