Silver Creek red sky in morning

Nothing if not optimistic, Ole was eager to plunge into the woods to see what treasures lay in waiting.  Would the meat taste differently? Logically he knew there was no reason for it to, but hey, the guy was excited. Being away from home was both riveting and terrifying, but while he was out he had intentions on experiencing everything. Ole wanted to sniff every flower, drink from every stream, climb every rock. He wanted to do all the things and with Mauti by his side, he felt capable of doing every single one.

He glanced to her from the corner of his eye as she spoke a subtle self deprecation. Ole doubted she'd meant it as such, but he took it to heart considering how feelings for her. Even if he wanted to hunt for her for the rest of their lives, Ole knew there was a strength in being independent. Mauti needed that independence and he would help her every step of the way.

"Yeah, of course.  Hale could hunt pretty well, I think.  Nothin' huge but none of us went out of our way to bring him food.  He was gettin' it from somewhere." He would have been quite an asset in helping Mauti learn, but being dead certainly put an end to that.  "I think stealth is gonna be your ticket. They can't run if they don't know ya comin'." Ole moved to bump her shoulder with his muzzle and flashed a reassuring grin.  "First let's try trackin' somethin', doesn't matter what.  Can you smell anything?" He'd picked up on the faintest scent of deer in the distance, but he wasn't sure how trained up her sense of smell was at the moment. Ole gave a few encouraging wags of his tail, hoping he had any talent whatsoever in teaching someone to hunt.