Blacktail Deer Plateau hey man,

Kindle didn't really mind the chatter. It reminded him of his younger siblings, who he very much missed. But, as was often the case when his siblings were younger and more prone to babbling, Kindle didn't really understand much of what was said to him. It was just that, this time around, it was not a skill issue on the part of the speaker. It was just that the concepts were strange and the vocabulary confusing, and Cosmo was dropping an awful lot of knowledge.

His head spun, and it seemed they were nowhere near the end.

"Cosmo!" he called, hiding his confusion with a laugh. "You gotta be a little quieter while we're hunting. And keep an eye out for trails. And use your nose."

He lifted a paw and settled it on the dog's head to push their snubby nose gently toward the ground.

"Sniff," he instructed, or maybe ordered. (Semantics!) "We're looking for food smells. Deer, turkey, rabbits — you can't pick any of that up if all you're smelling is your own breath."