Porcupine Ridge Skipping Stones

Illea yawned wide as she forced herself to wake up in the makeshift den she and @Vuk had made.  It was quite comfortable in her opinion.  Very much so.

Illea padded out of the den and found herself curious about where Vuk was.  The silvery and white female padded deeper into the Ridge searching for the other grey female.

vuk was by the stream once more, practicing her speech as always. the patterned girl realized that the depth of her abilities was becoming greater, and while she did not ever think that she would be able to converse with the fluidity of the others, her words would be heard. "illea!" the girl exclaimed as she caught sight of her den-mate. stepping to the other's side, vuk nudged the other's shoulder. "how ... you ... sleep?" she asked haltingly, turquoise eyes alight.

Illea felt excitement race through her pelt.  Her den-mate was speaking!  That was a good sign.  The female’s tail gave a happy wag.  “I slept excellently, how did you sleep?”  Illea responded, then asked.  Happy that her friend was trying to put up a conversation, even though it seemed hard for her, at least the girl was trying.

the excited pride her friend and denmate showed then pleased vuk into a smile. "good!" she rejoined brightly. "what ... doing now?" came her quick query. she would happily accompany illea on whatever tasks or errands she had today, overjoyed with her own progress and comforted by the presence of her companion.

“Actually I was looking for you.”  Illea told the other girl with a smile, happy to be with her friend.  “I was wondering if you would like to go on a hunt?”  Illea asked Vuk.  Her eyes light up brightly and happily.  Illea sat down, wagging her fluffy tail as she awaited her friend’s response.

vuk nodded brightly, reaching out to nip illea playfully. "yes!" she trotted in a circle around her friend, using her forepaw to toss snow at the kindly denmate, then barked once and waited for illea to lead off on their hunt.

Illea continued wagging her tail excitedly and laughed playfully when her friend batted snow in her direction.  She batted snow playfully back at Vuk with a bright happy wolfish smile.  Then the girl began to lead the way, then paused for a moment to search for scents.

“Check for any prey scents.”  The pure white female commanded in an enthusiastic tone.  As she continued to scent the air and ground, searching for any scent she could find left over from any type of huntable prey.

vuk gave a sharp nod, lowering her muzzle to the snow-covered earth. there was too much of the whiteness, in her humble opinion -- she would be pleased when spring arrived. the wolfess continued to sweep the ground for prey, and her muscles tensed as she beheld the patched winterpelt of an ermine. she chuffed gently, intending to garner illea's attention.

Vuk did catch Illea’s attention as Vuk chuffed at her the girl turned her head to see the ermine.  It was cute in a way... but that would never stand in the way of her helping Vuk ultimately kill it!  She nodded.  Then with a few flicks of her tail, she told Vuk that she would circle around and scare it towards the silver and pale eyed girl.

Illea slunk into a very slow, yet extremely quiet stalk as she circled around the ermine.  After a while she slipped into her position, as she got ready to chase the ermine to Vuk.  The pale and brown eyed female just had to wait for the perfectly right moment...

vuk watched with bated breath as her friend maneuvered skillfully behind the ermine, and waited tensely until a clear path was revealed. then, with a lunging speed and a flash of her teeth. vuk leapt at the slinking creature! her fangs missed their mark by mere centimetres -- the pale girl gave immediate chase, as much for the diversion of it all as for the kill.

Illea dashed forward, scaring the ermine straight towards Vuk.  She watched as Vuk missed it by just a few centimeters but then saw the silver pale eyed girl start chasing it with determination.  Illea felt glad to have such a determine friend.  Her tail wagged happily.

“You’ve almost got it!”  Illea yipped to Vuk in an encouraging voice, as she watched her friend chase the ermine.  Illea ran around Vuk and the ermine, quickly blocking off the direction it was running.  Soon it would be surrounded with no where to go, unless it changed direction within a few seconds, which she hoped it did not.

the two wolves worked in tandem, illea shouting praise to her friend and vuk responding with a flick of her tail as she dashed madly after the wily little creature. as luck would have it, her denmate darted into the thing's path; it hesitated for only a fraction of a moment. unfortunately for the ermine, those few seconds were all the vuk needed to reach out a paw and shove the mustelid into a deep drift, breaking its spine.

ducking her muzzle, the girl surfaced with the dangling body and trotted proudly back to illea. without her denmate's help, however, the kill would not have been made, and so vuk nudged the carcass toward her friend. "thank y-you."

Illea saw Vuk push the ermine carcass towards her, as if to say.  Here, you have it.  Illea perked her ears as her denmate told her ‘thank you’.  She shook her head and pushed the ermine back towards her friend.  “You caught it.”  Illea reminded Vuk, with a playful grin.

she may have caught it, but the wily little creature would have gotten away if illea had not been there. remembering diane's decision, the patterned wolfess nodded. "share?" she lowered her muzzle and bit the long body in two with a few movements of her angular jaw, looking to her denmate with a grin when she had finished.

Illea nodded as Vuk asked her if they should share.  She enjoyed the pale silver and pretty blue eyed female's quick, smart thinking as her friend sliced the prey in half.  Illea bent down her head to eat her half, enjoying the savory taste of fresh caught meat.

After finishing, Illea straightened her posture and lifted her head.  Then the pale white girl sat back on her haunches with a satisfied sigh.  “That was the best meat I’ve had in forever.”  She commented, contentedly, then met Vuk’s grin with her own.

the patterned wolfess nodded -- the ermine had definitely carried the taste of spring gaminess, though the flesh had been tender and succulent. "very ... good," she rejoined, licking the last of the weasel's blood from her jaws. presently, she had a thought -- she gathered herself together and looked pointedly at illea. "you ... h-help me ... sp-eak?" practice, really.

Illea was at first surprised to hear Vuk ask her, her out of all the wolves her friend could have asked to give her voice lessons. Soon though, shortly after Illea felt honored.  She gave Vuk a nod.  “I would love to!”  Illea told her friend enthusiastically.  She almost felt like she was about to burst with pride.  “What would you like to begin to learn.  Good grammar use?  Smooth speaking?”  Illea asked her friend, throwing out a few category’s that could help Vuk with speaking.

“I could also teach you some French if you wanted.  Me, my sister Spring and my brother Kalik used to speak it when we were little for practice, since I’m from Canada and we spoke both English and French.  I still remember it if you wanted to learn it too.”  She told her friend excitedly and proudly, but quickly realized that she just had talked about her siblings... wow.  She hadn’t though much of them in forever.  Little did she know her sister actually happened to be in a kind of nearby pack.  She wondered if her sister still remembered French, probably did.  She didn’t think any of her siblings could forget it with all those fun puppy memories that went along with it.

vuk understood much of what illea was saying, the gist of it anyway, and gave her friend a sharp nod. "y-yes ... french. g-grammar. all ... of i-it," she stammered before she paused, exhausted at her longer sentence. whatever illea wished to teach, vuk would try to learn. the enormity of having her own teacher was not lost on the pallid girl; she was pleased, grateful, elated.

Do you want to do the lessons in a separate thread or this one?  :)

Illea found her pulse quicken with excitement.  “Okay.”  The white furred female purred.  “I would love to teach you beyond words.  So let me think, where shall we begin...”  Illea slipped off into her thoughts, as she considered on what she would teach Vuk first.  French would probably be after grammar, since Vuk needed the most work on her grammar.  French would probably be something that the girl would really enjoy teaching, when the time came.

Illea decided that she would probably be teaching her denmate and friend, smoother speaking first.  So that the pale grey and blue eyed girl would slip out of the habit of using her more broken sentences.  It would be a good start for her friend, she was sure.

how about a separate one?

illea grew silent and vuk sat before her, waiting for the lesson to begin. she was excited to see what her friend would teach her -- the prospect of understanding two languages was one she was anticipating as well. her tail thumped against the ground; she smiled silently, eyes bright beams in the direction of her denmate.

Okay

Illea watched her friend intently, very excited to begin the lessons.  Although on second thought, maybe it would be better to begin in a few days... so that she could gather her thoughts and plan out her lesson.  “The lessons will start in a few days time, so I can get everything prepared.”  The white furred female explained to her best friend.  Her thoughts began to process in her mind as she began the process of laying out what tomorrow would bring.

fading here <3

vuk grinned, leaning forward to lick along illea's cheek. "yes." however, in those days' time, much would change, and the poor pale she-wolf would be left without a pupil.