Blackfeather Woods nothing to come to

Today was a good day for another lesson in Kendra's work towards learning about poisons. Cicero trotted towards the den, his right leg still throbbing with pain at each step he took that both obstructed him as well as exhillarated him, with confidence in his steps. He considered what he could do with Kendra this time. He had considered feeding her some poisons too, but he imagined that it would be a lot harder to sell on Burke, and it may be dangerous to teach her such things. Not all wolves were like him, after all, and not all could understand the exquisite desires that pain brought. Perhaps it was just the way he was wired, or perhaps it was because he understood the world better — and yet thought he did not understand much of it at all — than most. It did not matter, but regardless, Cicero did not think that it would be a good idea.

Yet there were others they could experiment on, and so Cicero already carried a piece of meat between his teeth which had been rigged. He intended to let Kendra find them a subject to test it on; maybe a fox or a bird of prey could be found somewhere or other. As he arrived at the den, Cicero put the piece of meat down between his front legs — he would not allow either of the pups to eat it, of course — and chuffed, " @Kendra , time for the next lesson." Then he waited, assuming she would come soon.

yay!

Kendra was curled up against her father. She still liked to use him as a pillow and her brother as a blanket. She was happily snuggled against him with her eyes closed. She was not really that tired anymore but she couldn't help but stay snuggled between the two and keep cozy. She felt very loved and wanted at the moment. The girl only opened her eyes when she heard Cicero. She looked at her father who let out a soft grunt. She remembered when Quiet woke him up, not a pretty sight. Kendra licked over his cheek. "It's just Cicero, Father. You can sleep on," she spoke softly before wiggling her way out of the packed den. They were getting bigger and soon they wouldn't really fit in their father's den anymore.

Kendra ruffled out her fur as soon as she resurfaced from the ground. Her eye instantly fell on the piece of meat. The girl licked her chops in the process, yet, seeing that Cicero wanted another lesson she had the feeling this piece was not for het consumption. The girl greeted her brother with a lick under his chin. "I can't wait. Show me were to go," she spoke a bit in hushed tones. She smelled fresh of Burke and her brother, meaning that they had been in the den too.

Cicero remained guarded in case she would dive for the meat, but he estimated her higher than that. He waited until she surfaced from the den and after a short glance at the meat he knew she understood that it was not for her. She was eager to get right into her lesson and Cicero smiled at her eagerness. She was a good student, even if he had needed to look her up himself; but at least that had given him some time to prepare. Perhaps at some point she would be secure enough so that she would awake him to show him what she had discovered now.

With a thin smile on his face Cicero explained, "Kendra will find a test subject for to try this meat on. There is a poison inside. Then, by the reaction of the test subject, Kendra can guess if she knows which poison it is." And if not, of course he would explain. "It is best to put it somewhere and observe from a small distance." Cicero picked up the piece of meat and got to his feet, then awaited Kendra to lead the way, for it was her choice which venue they would pick for their scheme. He would follow wherever.

Kendra nodded when Cicero explained about the pic of meat. He had put some poison in it? She would have never known if Cicero hadn't told her. The scent of the meat masked the scent of any plants hidden in there. Kendra was excited, normally she was not one to show many emotions. She would show her eagerness to learn, but once it came to plants she could not help to make her excitement known. She nodded once more once Cicero too her it was up to her. Kendra started to lead the way when it was clear it was up to her. The girl did not want to go outside of Black Feather, but she also did not want to poison a pack mate. Then she was reminded of the group of ravens. She lead Cicero to the group of birds. Seeing that they were of smaller body side maybe the herb would have more effect. But then, she decided against it. "Wait," she spoke and then trotted in another directions.

"Birds are very different from us, maybe not a good subject," she explained and trotted on, she was trying to locate the scent of a fox. She knew here were some around Otter Creek so she went more in that direction instead of the group of crows and ravens. The girl lead Cicero to the border close to Otter Creek, there were some fresh fox prints on the ground. "Fox!," she let out and then sat down. "I want to wait for the foxes to get it and observe them!," she explained to Cicero.

Cicero followed Kendra as she was allowed to pick a spot. At first she lead him towards a flock of ravens, but she seemed to change her mind. Cicero himself did not mind experimenting on birds for although they were different from wolves, it was still information. He enjoyed experiments of any nature, not only those that were beneficial to future endeavours of the brotherhood. Yet in silence he followed as Kendra changed direction to find subjects she found more suited.

Their road took them towards the borders on the east side of the Woods, near Otter Creek. Kendra soon found the tracks of foxes, and were it not for the prey he carried Cicero might have complimented her on her tracking skills. Kendra said that this was the place, and Cicero put down the meat. "Very well," he said, showing no positive nor negative signs towards her choice of venue. After putting down the meat he waited, for it was Kendra's party and she could direct him however she wanted; though presumably, her next direction would be towards a hiding spot from where they could observe.

feel free to pp Cicero somewhere to a hiding spot or such, he'll just follow Kendra :)

Alright! :D

The girl watched Cicero place the poisoned meat down on the ground. Kendra had the feeling this would be the perfect spot for it. The black colored girl watched Cicero for a moment and then trotted away from the meat. Close to them was a tunnel, it had been blocked from the den, making it a den end, but it would be a good place for the two to hide. The dampness of the moss and the darkness would hide them from sight and it gave a clear view of where they placed the meat.

"You can go in first," she offered. Kendra was still a bit smaller than her big brother. She went in after him and wiggled herself between his front legs, half crouching. She was comfortable and innocent enough to lay by her brother like that. She kept her pale eyes focussed on the meat, they would probably need to wait awhile. At least that was what Kendra was assuming. Maybe there wouldn't even be a fox... No! There had to be one! It took about twenty minutes before a red furred fox approached the meat. Kendra grew excited, and watched with eager eyes, trying to stay very quiet.

Cicero followed Kendra into the hiding place she had found, allowing her to keep the reins in her hands. Most others might lead the endeavour, thinking Kendra to be young and not yet experienced enough, but Cicero preferred to let her do as much as he could by herself. It would only do her good and develop her sense of both confidence and leadership, and she would learn problem-solving skills too. Yet it was not only he who strayed, for a lot of children would also hold out their hand to be held, ask the adult for advice around every corner. She did not only learn leadership because he offered it to her, but also because she took what was offered with both hands.

Inside of the hole they waited. This was the hardest part, particularly for a child like Kendra, Cicero knew; patience was a virtue many children did not have an abundance of. In the narrow hole, with Kendra wedged between his front legs, Cicero made no sound or movement but the soft rise and fall of his breathing against Kendra's fur.

Their patience was rewarded eventually, for after some time of waiting, in which Kendra waited admirably, a fox appeared. Cicero waited with bated breath, the steady rise and fall of his chest stopping momentarily. Ears cupped forward and he waited as the fox looked around, skittish, from left to right, then sniffed the meat. For a moment it looked as though the fox would realise that this was a ruse it should not fall for, but then it started to nibble on the meat. A smile curved Cicero's lips upwards as he watched the fox eat the meat.

While the fox was still munching, something started to change. The fox scratched at its stomach a couple of times while still hungrily devouring the piece of meat. Halfway through eating it, the fox stopped and stared at the meat, then turned its head to bite at its stomach. This caused the fox to lose its balance and it dizzily strafed to the side, nearly toppling over, before it started to hack and cough and eventually threw up on the ground.

Kendra has been less patient than her brother, often wiggling around or moving her tail. It felt a bit like hunting and she was not sure if she liked it. But eventually a fox came and she had something to focus on. Her pale eyes were locked on the creature that looked skittish. This was not a surprise seeing that foxes were hunted quite often, or at least chased away. The dark female watched how the fox scratched at its belly, even bitting at it. Something was clearly agitating the creature.

Kendra had stepped forward as the fox fell over. She looked at Cicero but then stepped cautiously further forward. The girl watched with wide set eyes, not because she was shock but she was super interested in finding out. Then the fox puked. Kendra wondered with what Cicero had poisoned it. She lowered herself to the ground, mentally demanding that she needed to stay in this spot. She wanted a VIP view on how the fox would suffer through the effects of the poison. Her tail slowly swaying as she watched for any more signs.

The fox puked so maybe that meant that the effects were over, to make sure Kendra kept her stare at the other. Unsure what to do now. She was not going to walk at the fox because then she might startle it.

By the look on Kendra's face it looked as though she shared the same interest in research that Cicero himself carried; he enjoyed looking at this not because he was a sadist, but because he was a researcher and wanted to learn more. She moved forward to look at what was happening, presumably so that she could identify what had caused it.

When the foxed noticed Kendra in a blurry haze, it tried to back off, but it ended up losing its balance again and this time, it did fall. With a shriek the fox fell to the ground and it lunged its head back again to snap at its stomach while retching sounds came from its throat.

Cicero stepped forward, not even trying to hide, as he said, "Does Kendra know what plant was used?" The fox did not look like it would — could — run away any time soon, so it was time for the next step of the lesson.

Kendra looked at the dazed and fallen fox. It seemed heavily affected by the berry. Her ears turned to her brother. She started to think what it could have been. Their last lesson was about night shade, and seeing how heavily the fox was affected by the poison the girl had a feeling it were the berries at play. She tried to think what the symptoms were. She was pretty sure that vomiting was mostly with every poison.

"Um... Night shade?," she guessed. It seemed logical for her to follow on their lesson, seeing that she could not really name the poison if she had not learned about it from Cicero. Her pale eyes looked curiously at the male, wondering if she was right. Then she turned back to look at the fox. It fascinated her that a berry could do this to a body.

"Yes," Cicero confirmed, "Deadly Nightshade." Though the fox would've needed to eat more of it to die, most likely. Dosages were always a tricky thing; it was evident from the fox' wobbly movements that it had received a high dosage, but Cicero did not estimate it enough to kill it unless it had already been in weakened state.

With a bob of his head, Cicero complimented, "Very well, Kendra." He looked at the fox with some fascination, though his interest was quickly begining to wane. He had seen this too many times and although the control over pain, even if it were another's, pleased Cicero in some way, there was little value the fox held now that Kendra's lesson had essentially been taught.

Kendra instantly looked super excited when she gotten it right. It had been more of a guess but on the other hand it was not a guess because she had thought logically about it. The young female looked excited and that she did well in the first place. Her tail was wagging and she looked like one excited puppy. For once acting maybe a bit more like her age. "Thank you for showing me Brother," she grinned at him. "What will we do now?"

Kendra looked at the fox. Were they just going to leave him here? She was not certain. Maybe they would watch it die or recover from his poisoning. But seeing that it was nightshade Kendra did have the feeling that this fox was not going to be well anytime soon.

She asked what they would do now, and Cicero rolled his shoulders in a shrug. "Not eat it," he shared, as that wasn't a good thought. It actually made Cicero wonder what one would get if they were to eat it. Would the poisons be equally strong used so indirectly? And could someone smell the poison on the corpse? He may have to try it some time. Perhaps effects would even be stronger still.

Yet an answer to Kendra's query did not truly come, and he had nearly forgotten she had asked at all. "This is one of many ways to test poisons' uses. It is always good to test toxins on others first." He continued the lesson while looking at the fox, curious if it would survive or not. It could yet go either way.

Kendra let out a snort in amusement. She had not been planning to eat the fox actually. The young female looked at her brother as he continued about the poisoned fox. She nodded. "But if he dies we just leave it?,' she questioned. Not sure if her brother would give it a burial or if he would do something else with it that might be of her interest.

Maybe she would linger around the poisoned fox just to see what would happen to it. She was curious if it would die or not in the end. Maybe the fox would barely survive it.

want to finish this soon? :)

"Yes," Cicero decided after giving Kendra's question another moment of thought. He did not really care what would happen to the fox, truthfully; smart pack mates would smell that something was wrong with it and they would know to stay away. Food didn't just show up or appear out of thin air, after all.

Giving the fox little second thought, Cicero turned away from the scene of the struggling fox and he made to return to the darker parts of the woods, waiting to see if Kendra would follow or if she would stay here and experiment a bit more.

Yes! I will archive!

Kendra nodded at her brother. It was clear that this fox had no importance to them. Kendra might come back to see if there are any other signs, or if it died in the end mainly because she was curious. The young female followed her brother. She felt powerful with this new information. If she wanted to kill someone, rob them of their life, she could and that without the fighting skills her brother had. Kendra was amazed.

- end-