Dragoncrest Cliffs do you like this setup i have.

Artaax grinned as he slid backwards upon tensed limbs, his breaths heaving from his chest. His opponent spun to face him again with a similar look of pleasure upon his own face. Energized as they were by this morning's spar, Artaax had grown enough to know when to call it quits for the day. With a chuff, he relaxed his posture and gave a shake of his coat that was cue enough for @Hush to recognize that the exercise was over, and it was time to begin the real work of the day. The two males parted, the mute one to the East and the silent one to the West. Just like every morning.

Thus far, it was promising to be a rather dull and uneventful trip round the borders. The scents he smelled were no different than those he expected to smell. The sights were no different than those he had expected to see. Clouds were gathering overhead, but the yearling could not see any rain yet in them. The day was dull, gray, and dull some more.

Artaax felt his muscles twitch with frustration. He did not appreciate dull.

Kiwi was back and that was a relief. Life went back to normal, more or less, though Bat sensed something amiss. She couldn't put a finger on it—and didn't try too hard, for that matter—but there was a strange tension she noticed especially when spending time with Wildfire. Although she didn't do it consciously, the Goufa wound up avoiding her mother by spending most of her time in Hougeda, lazing about in the cave's cool, dim interior.

The cicadas hummed loudly when she emerged from the underground rendezvous site into the late morning air. She had finally grown bored enough to venture outside for a little while. Bat skirted the area where Wildfire slept, meandering aimlessly for a while. Only when gray clouds began to gather, darkening the sky, did Bat light up disproportionately. It was going to rain soon, possibly storm.

She sped up a little, her steps purposeful now as she sought a good place to watch the incoming weather. As she scouted, Bat found herself crossing paths with her older brother. Her big ears wobbled atop her head as she slowed, then stopped. Bat liked Artaax well enough, though she wasn't particularly close to him; he was rather an aloof and standoffish sort, not personable like Blixen. She hesitated to call out to him, instead simply tracking his movements with wide, mercurial eyes.

Artaax was not immediately aware of the fact that he was being followed. That would've been godmoding and as much as he might think he's a god, he's like way not. He carried on as usual, pausing periodically to inspect an out-of-the-ordinary scented bush and a slightly-interesting-shaped rock. Nothing yielded him anything that took his attention any deeper than the surface.

Until.

He found.

The feather.

The white wolf had hunted many different types of birds in his day, including the great golden eagle. So, he wasn't moved by just any old feather. This one, though, struck his interest. It was not one that he recognized immediately as one being native to the home he had grown up in, and so he was intrigued. It was not long or large, so he assumed quickly that it was not from a predator (he's wrong), but still. He was intrigued. And so, he was unaware of his long-eared stalker.

Judging from her older brother's movements, Artaax had found something. She couldn't see what from here, which decided it for her. Bat shuffled forward, closing the distance and announcing her presence with a loud, "Yo!"

When she came to a stop a few feet away, her attention immediately drifted to the object of his discovery: a feather lay on the ground a few feet from Artaax's nose. It took her a moment but she recognized it. "Where's the rest?" Bat wondered, perhaps a little dumbly.

Artaax was busy inspecting his feather and plotting his soon-to-begin hunt, so he didn't notice immediately when his sister made her final approach. He heard the shuffling only in the last few moments before the girl appeared and he whirled to face her, settling quickly when he saw it was only Bat. He frowned at her, but said nothing to reprimand her for sneaking up on him, almost as if he realized how hypocritical that would've been for him considering how often he stalked others even still. That was not at all the case, of course, but it was almost like that. Not really. Anyway.

"Somewhere," he answered in his typical helpful fashion, "Flew off, but maybe not far." Artaax looked up at the tree limbs overhead thoughtfully, assuming it would be up high if it was anywhere. And since I don't at all remember what type of bird it was supposed to be, I have to think he's probably onto something there.

Bat blinked in momentary perplexity, imagining a cluster of feathers randomly flying off somewhere. Her mind then put the pieces together for her, adding a head (complete with a beak), claws and a tail. The image streamlined itself into a bird and she realized this single feather must have dropped off from a living, breathing avian who was still sporting the rest of its plumage.

"Oh," she acknowledged. She was often physically slow, not mentally, and she wondered if Artaax had caught wind of her brain fart at all. "Are you going to hunt for it?" Bat guessed, hoping he hadn't. She knew her brother was a hunter. Bat was perhaps even aware that he enjoyed capturing birds specifically; she vaguely recalled a proud Wildfire going on about a dead eagle at some point.

The feisripa thought little of Bat's interest in his antics. Had she not spoken, he would've promptly forgotten she was even there beside him. He shifted his weight as he meandered a few steps this way and that, his eyes focused on the tops of the trees and not at all on whether or not he was nearly stepping on his little sister. He only offered his attention to her when she posed the dumbest question ever asked of anyone ever.

Artaax shot her a look out of the corner of his narrowed eyes. "Of course," he murmured, his tone conveying bluntly that he thought she was a moron for ever asking, "We do not give up before we even try." His lip peeled back slightly as he said it, but he brushed off the annoyance after a moment as he went back to his hunt. He dipped his muzzle low to inspect the feather further, working harder to implant the scent within his mind before he set off into the woods.

He took about ten steps before he stopped again and gave a glance backwards to his sister expectantly. He gestured forward with his muzzle, summoning her to join him. Dumb as she (and he) was, he knew there was no way to combat that other than to train her to do better.

There was something disdainful about his response, which stumped Bat. She felt a little embarrassed about her mistake, though it went further than that. She got the distinct feeling that she was annoying him with her mere presence. Although it didn't quite hurt her feelings, she decided to fall back and leave him alone. Bat went still, remaining motionless even as Artaax took several steps away and making absolutely no move to follow.

But then he stopped and motioned for her to come along. She was torn. Did he really want her to come with him? He seemed so bothered. But it went against Bat's instincts to disobey a direct order, especially with the aloof Artaax. Uncertainly, she padded after him, staying mum for several steps.

But then the first few drops of rain spattered her muzzle. Surely that must impact Artaax's hunt. She froze and looked up at him, her eyes then wandering beyond her older brother's shoulder, to the darkening skies overhead. She was suddenly sure it would only be moments before the heavens dumped a whole lot of ice cold water on them.

Bat was, unfortunately, not wrong in her belief that he was annoyed with her. But to be fair, Artaax often found himself annoyed with everyone except for Thuringwethil and (every once in a while) Blixen. So really, there was no need to feel embarassed over his regard of her. It just meant she fit in with everyone else in his world. That was a good thing, really. Better to fly under his radar than to be at all esteemed. Being esteemed more  often than not just meant his standards were even higher. And that's why Blixen was only sometimes not annoying.

But I digress.

Artaax didn't flinch as the rain began to fall. In fact, his eyes glinted with eager pleasure as the first drops began to soak into his pale fur. He glanced at his small counterpart, noting the fact that she had paused. His ears flattened in another pang of annoyance, but he tempered it as he spoke softly to her. "Rain makes prey seek shelter to hide in. It means they stop moving, making them easier to find," he said softly in his deep, rumbling voice, "They are weak, but we are strong. We hunt in the rain and dig them out of their holes. They may be dry and we may be wet, but they are not safe, and soon, we are fed."

His tailed swished to show his smug eagerness before he stepped lightly forward again, having picked up the trail before he even began to speak.

Bat didn't mind the rain—she rather enjoyed it, even when it was a little cold for comfort—but she really couldn't predict how Artaax might react to this particular development. He didn't leave her to wonder. She swallowed as he delivered an arresting soliloquy. It was almost poetic.

And the youth's response was anything but. "Birds live in holes?"

It really was a toss up most days as to whether his siblings would prove worth his time or not. Artaax paused to glance at his young sister now, his usually stoic expression hinting at how not at all impressed he was with her at that moment. Briefly, he considered how lucky Thur and Wildfire must have felt that he had never plagued them with such idiotic comments.

"Yes," he answered in a dead-panned voice that was not at all unlike his usual tone. He went back to ignoring her for a bit then as he continued to seek the trail, only adding to the conversation again when he came to a conclusion about what species they were after. "Some hide in brush," Artaax said softly as he slid into a hunter's crouch, silencing his pawsteps as he moved more carefully forward.

Remember the time we drew out that Finley + Wildfire thread for a year? We should try to beat our record, lol.

She should've kept her trap shut. Artaax didn't sound like he was in the mood for her questions. But Bat was still young, with a lot to learn, about her big brother and otherwise.

"Why would a bird hide in brush? Why wouldn't it just fly so high nobody could reach it?"