Blacktail Deer Plateau td ameritrade

he was growing quickly, upon his frame the evidence of the height he would gain when he was older. his dark fur had settled into a more consistent hue, and this evening it lent itself to his nighttime prowling. he was hoping to scare Eilidh, as Constantine was too brawny to brave -- he had felt his brother's scrapping paws before! -- but she stayed just out of sight, her pale form tucked into the denmouth at the rendezvous site.

disheartened, the pup turned away, muzzle falling to discover a trail down which he trotted, wondering what he would find at its end.

since I'm wrapping others up, gonna throw him in here :)

Dante walked towards Lasher and Blue's residence, a small ball of fur grasped in his jaws lightly.  The tail was from a recent kill, and the little puff had given him the idea of a game.  He'd always enjoyed a good game of catch and wondered if the children would prove the same.

When he came upon the clearing, it was to find Casmir alone, his little nose down to follow the trail that he was on.  Not so little though, for they were growing so quickly.

Instead of speaking, Dante turned to fall in slow step beside, a small nod given to acknowledge.  He would wait until the pup completed his current objective or his interest was lost to pursue other games.

hooray a starrlight

Dante's light tread startled Casmir, but he recovered quickly. "DunTAY!" he cooed, pausing to reach up and plant a sloppy lick to the leader's chin, body crouched in reverence of the alpha. just as quickly the boy gathered himself and ran in a quick circle around the man. "Eee-lay won' play wif me and Connie is a mean!" bright eyes inspected Dante's face, and Casmir decided this was as good a time as any to reveal the best and newest word he had learned.

"Connie issa dick," Casmir muttered conspiratorially. where he had learned the word was anyone's guess, and what a dick was, the boy didn't know. "Duntay," he began, "whassa DICK!?"

he fairly hollered the last word.  it was so fun to say. 

OMG

It appeared that today Dante was to be a sounding board for the woes of life with siblings. He nodded understandingly as Casmir intoned that his siblings wouldn't play with him, wondering internally and with no small amount of humor if he had ever said the same as a child. Likely, if he had, it had not been met with the same understanding.

Casmir's final statement, and it's quite blatant phrasing, made the Alpha's ears twitch, and it took about all of his willpower not to burst out with a laugh right then and there. Instead he stopped, studying Casmir while he struggled with what exactly he should say in this sort of situation. "Uhhm." This was not something he had any sort of experience dealing with. Should he be honest? Or inform him that this wasn't something he should be saying? Sometimes with kids that was like handing them candy and then saying 'here, don't eat it, ok?'. Of course they were going to say it. The fact that they shouldn't only made it all the better!

He decided to go with the pg version, figuring that 'the talk' could wait a few months. "A dick is, just as you used it, another word for a mean person. But not a very nice name at all. I don't think your mom would like you using it." There we go. Bring Blue Willow into it. Maybe mom guilt would cut that short, or at least ensure he didn't use the term around her. "Where did you pick that up?" Surely not from her or Lasher!?

Casmir listened as Dante gently tried to guilt him into not saying the Word. while it was probably true, knowing his mother wouldn't like him saying it coloured the utterance with tinges of forbidden joy. he gave a sly beam to the alpha. "are you gonna tell Mama?" the boy asked, hopeful that Dante would not. they were buddies in crime now; much better than mean fat ol' Connie. 

"I dunno," he muttered in answer to the man's inquiry, shrugging one feathery shoulder. "I hearded it somewhere but I can't amember." Casmir wagged his tail affably. "But if I not asposed to say DICK, what I say wh'n Connie issa meaniebutt!?" 

Yep, and there it was. That joyful glint and sketchy smile that heralded his words hadn't managed the effect he'd hoped for. Sadly for Casmir's parents, though, Dante found the expression and the hope for conspiracy far too adorable to pass up. "Not this time," he allowed, with a return on the grin.

Unsurprisingly, a source was nowhere to be found. He would have been shocked if the pup had remembered. "Hmm," the alpha mused, appearing to put much thought into the matter of a replacement. Finally, he gave a nod, as though decided. "Do you want to know my opinion? I think meaniebutt is a much better way to put it, since it is exactly what he is being. Less confusion." This was said with complete and compelling sincerity, as though it were a truly serious matter.

he nodded pluckily, shrugging off Dante's words. he didn't care about Connie anymore. "Where are we goin'?" Casmir piped, forgetting completely that he'd been the one to set off in the first place -- Dante had only been following. surely the tall alpha could think of something fun for them to do! something that didn't involve mama or daddy or Eilidh or Constantine; something just for Dante and Casmir.

"Maybe we go huntin'?" he asked hopefully, tail wagging behind his hips. his eyes alighted on Dante's face and he gave the alpha a deep grin. 

He opened his mouth to ask if the pup had a preference, but the words died as an unnecessary preparation. He thought a moment.  Hunting would be a lot of fun, but what would be suitable prey to try?  Certainly nothing big, not yet.  "A hunt sounds great," he agreed, deciding he'd wing it as they went.  Maybe they could find a bird of some sort.

"First we have to track something down." He looked at Casmir, then began to nose around, sure the other would follow suit. Even if he came across something, he'd hold for a moment and see if his young companion found something as well. It'd be good practice to have him follow the trail.

"Hmm," the boy thrummed, shoving his nose unceremoniously against the ground. snuffling here and there, presently the small ears perked and he prodded at a small heap of dung he had found not far from Dante. "Dis deer poop," he informed the alpha matter-of-factly, his eyes going bright at the idea of what this meant. "Kin we hunt a DEEER?" he suddenly demanded of the silver-gazed male, his body aquiver at the very thought. 

Casmir had no idea of the logistics involved in deer-hunting, nor that it would be nigh unto impossible for the pair of them to secure a healthy animal. all he thought of was how exciting it must be!

He was impressed. "Well spotted!" Of course Casmir would wish to hunt the large challenge, and faced with the starry-eyed request, Dante hesitated before striking it down. Was there some way they could find a compromise here? From the scent, the deer was a healthy specimen, not an easy target most likely. There was no harm in checking, though. Perhaps it was injured, or maybe they would lose the trail before they even found it. Tracking practice was just as important as hunting.

"We can see about it. But only if you cross your heart and swear to do everything I say." He looked seriously at him, awaiting affirmation. He would keep an eye out for other, more assured opportunities as well. He didn't hold much hope that the deer would prove a prize they (ie he himself, at least until the creature was no danger) could take. The only way that would happen would be if it was alone and hindered in some way.

feel free to powerplay them to their destination!

Cas nodded quickly, his tail lashing more quickly behind his hips. "Cross m'heart!" he cried, falling into step beside the alpha. this was sure to be the most fun he had had thus far, and the boy intended to make the most of it. while he fully intended to mind the man, he was still an excitable child -- there was a large chance Dante would have his paws full. prancing, he waited for the adult to lead on.

Dante set to tracking the deer, though he would at times stop and have Casmir decide their course next. The boy had a good nose and likely would make an admirable hunter one day. The alpha had been hoping to find a smaller catch along the route, but no such luck.

Instead they found the deer, set up in a dip and grazing peacefully. Dante stepped in front of the younger and indicated he get down, as the alpha crouched. Then, observing them, he asked "what do you see? Do any stand out?" He did not expect a correct answer, but asked all the same.

he lowered himself as dante directed, and stared hard at the deer-herd. his young eyes did not yet hold the predilection for assessing injury in the herd, but his sharp gaze did catch sight of a straggling fawn and a deer with grey along its muzzle. "the little deer is not walkin' right," he whispered, meaning that the fawn was limping.

he glanced at dante, ears pricked attentively. he kept his mouth wisely shut, but wondered what the alpha would do, and if he would take Casmir with him when he presumably descended to chase the deer. 

Again surprising the alpha with his astute observations, Casmir was able to pick out the weakest link from the herd. Lasher and Blue had been teaching, it seemed, and Dante nodded approvingly.

He would have liked to have rounded the fawn and driven it to the younger wolf to dispatch, for it would be a good introduction to larget prey, but he knew immediately this wouldn't be the case. A large stag presided over the herd and, cleverly, the young deer and its mother grazed within close vicinity. A group could have separated the herd, but he knew he risked injury trying to do so alone, the possibility of running afoul of those antlers real. Unless he strayed, the alpha would need to pursue this course with more than just he and Casmir.

"Do you see the protector of the herd?" He asked, guiding the observation along.

like any child, Casmir had only a partially-formed sense of danger -- while he was in awe of the antlers the great stag wore, it was bare instinct that kept him from giving chase, that and Dante's own stillness. He would need to be guided in many lessons by the adults of the pack. "yeah," he whispered fiercely. "the big one with the ... thingies," he finished lamely, the word evading him for the present.

sidling alongside the leader, he bumped Dante's shoulder with his own. "can we get the little one?" Cas asked, not to harry or to hurry, but out of mere curiosity -- would the leader's skill be enough to snatch the fawn and evade the stag?

gonna leave it to dice! If number is odd, stag isn't close enough. If even, not gonna go for it :)

4

Ah durn. But do we want to assume ooc that they had their first pack hunt? Or do we want to do a thread? It's been a while timeline-wise since this thread but so much has happened that we could easily say it was forgotten. Up to you guys!

Dante smiled at his eager explanation and the request that followed.  He watched a moment, hoping the king of the herd would stray, his attention waver.  Alas, it was not to be.

"See how close he stands? If we tried now, he would defend it.  A fawn or weaker deer alone or at the edge of the herd is what you want to look for when hunting without the pack.  If we had many wolves we could, but even for two hunters like us, there is too much risk."  He would have liked to have shown Casmir a true hunt, but this lesson was important as well.  Most of the hunt was in the setup, reading the herd and judging the situation.  

"We can't call the pack to a hunt now, or we will startle them away.  But we can return.  And then we will get it."  He looked at Casmir to ensure his words were understood.  He did not know when Lasher and Blue intended them to join the hunts, but time was near for them to begin.  He looked forward to it immensely.  There were few things better than teaching children and watching them flourish.

i dont think they have, so maybe that could be our next pack thread?

Casmir felt himself tremble with anticipation and then disappointment when it seemed that they would not be hunting this day. "Aww, shucks!" he grunted, but his eyes remained glued to the deer-herd. It seemed that they were found out, for at a raucuous bleat from the stag, the small family gathered into a tight queue and dashed off into the woods. "Dammit!" the boy shouted, tail flagging in anger; he glanced up at Dante with the hot sting of frustrated tears in his eyes. "What happened?"

sounds good! We can fade this one perhaps? This can lead into a behind the scenes hunt that the pups observed :)

Dante tensed as the deer took off, then looked with some surprise towards Casmir's dismay. "They must have been startled. Even if they did not sense us, they are smart enough to follow instinct. The challenge of hunting is that, as suited as we are for it, our targets are generally suited to avoiding it. We just have to hope we are better." It was important to remember this, and to respect prey as having their own defenses. A cocky hunter was often a dead or injured one.

"They shouldn't go far, and when we get the pack, we can track them. You saw which way they went?" He asked, smiling. The herd would move until they felt safe, and miles were nothing to a wolf on the hunt. So long as they didn't cross into another's lands, they could still take their prize.

sounds good to me!

he nodded, feeling better at Dante's gentle prodding. "yeah," the boy answered. "this way!" he set off, looking back once to see if the alpha followed, and if they would make something of this hunt.