Hoshor Plains double huff

Spica had been exploring outside of the territory a little. She found the territory of Hoshor Plains absolutely boooo-ring and loudly proclaimed this to Acheron, @Speedy and @Syrma often. Too flat. And where did all the food go? She was trying to learn how to hunt, but wasn't really getting along well because there had been nothing to hunt for so long. And at the time of her life where Spica wanted to do all the things all by herself because she was totally a mature person it was frustrating that she didn't get to be as good as all the other mature persons at the hunting thing. Huff.

She was practising the hunting thing on a stick today, watching it with squinted eyes and pouncing it time and time again, hoping that she'd learn. But sticks didn't have legs, and somehow it was a lot harder when the thing you chased had legs. Catching the stick was pretty easy and after catching it five times from different angles, Spica was back to being super bored.

Double huff.

Returning to the plains from an unsuccessful search for Castor, she had caught the scent of her daughter and decided to follow it and find out what she was doing. She knew seeing her lively, curious Spica would lighten her mood and distract her from her worries over her missing son. The trail was easy enough to follow, even with the snow, and she soon found herself watching Spica leap towards a stick on the ground. Speedy smiled at the adorable display, but was soon frowning as she got closer and saw that her daughter seemed displeased by something. 

What's wrong, sweetie? she asked as she came to sit in front of her too-quickly growing child. She offered her a sympathetic smile and reached down to gently nuzzle her cheek in greeting, hoping also to ease her frustration some.

Spica wasn't as worried about her missing brother because to her, it seemed like he'd just return anytime soon. Her mother was prone to overworry -- that time that Acheron was gone she'd just gone up and found him, too, and so Castor would turn up soon enough too -- and anyway, Spica didn't have time to worry about her brother who was probably just out adventuring when her own life was so dramatically boring. Speaking of which, as their mother approached, Spica looked up at her, contemplated pouncing her, and then decided that there wasn't any use. It wasn't anything like a real food.

I wanna practise hunting but I can't find anything, Spica said with a flair of drama to her voice, as if it was, well, It's literally the worst. She frowned in a pouty manner to emphasise the unfairness of her life right now.

She wanted to chuckle at her daughter's dramatics, but she could tell she was seriously bothered by her problem. So no matter how cute her display was, Speedy put on a thoughtful expression. At least it was something she could help with. She smiled at Spica. Hmm well, why don't we see if we can find something, she offered, glancing around them. She began to walk towards the borders, turning to her daughter. Come on; if we find something, I'll teach you what to do, she added as she took a few more steps. A hunting lesson was the perfect way to take her mind off things, and it was a good skill for Spica to start practicing. She would be an adult soon enough, and it was definitely time to start teaching her useful skills.

Mom was pretty patient and hopeful as per usual, even though the situation was pretty bad (alright, maybe not as bad as the picture Spica herself painted). I've been looking all day! Spica interjected. But sure, whatev, we can look. She didn't have much faith that they'd find anything good, but she was fine with looking anyway because doing nothing was even worse. Spica quickly abandoned her practise stick and looked at her mother to lead the way into their hunting venture.

Speedy smiled at her daughter's exasperated words. Sometimes, it takes a second pair of eyes, she explained. Especially of you're frustrated. She walked slowly and quietly through the grass, her more experienced gaze scanning the area for any sign of prey. She turned to Spica. First, you have to look for any signs that prey might be around, she whispered. Things like droppings or scents, she continued, her voice still hushed. She lowered her nose to the ground and began examining the scents. This process continued for a few quiet minutes (unless interrupted by Spica). Eventually, she found something promising, and she paused and turned to her daughter. Pointing at the area of bent grass, she whispered: Right there, you can smell the fresh scent of rabbit. She gestured for Spica to smell the area. Here, inspect it for yourself and tell me if you smell what I smell, she instructed, a reassuring smile on her face.

The problem was that there just wasn't any food. Obviously it could not be the case that Spica wasn't looking well enough. She rolled her eyes as her mother suggested such a thing was possible and that this could all be deduced to frustration. That wasn't the case at all! It was just that there literally wasn't any food most of the time so like.. where was she even supposed to look! Anyway, even though it cost her some frustration, Spica still managed to keep attention and listen to her mother's instructions. Obviously Spica had tried doing the smelling and searching thing but there just wasn't anything, and --

Just as Spica was thinking all of this her mother said that she had found something and Spica looked with interest towards the bent grasses. Though she was loathe to admit that she was wrong, it was easily overshadowed by her eagerness that ohmigosh they'd found something so Spica got into focus mode pretty easily. Cool! she said loudly and she went over to sniff the blades of grass. It's a rabbit, right? she said, not realising that her mother had mentioned it was a rabbit's scent already and trying to be clever.

Yes, very good, she said when Spica identified the scent. She had just said what it was but assumed she had been too focused on their task and hadn't heard. But you have to stay quiet if you want to find the rabbit; their hearing is good like ours, and they're easily startled, Speedy explained. She glanced around and then looked back to Spica. Can you find the scent anywhere else around here? she asked. That way we can try and figure out what way the rabbit went. It would be a good way to start teaching her to track, which was an important part of hunting. She watched her daughter with patient expectation, waiting to see what she would do next and rooting for her to successfully find more of the rabbit's scent.

Spica's tail wagged at being praised and she looked at her mother when she further explained. It had been a long time, if ever, that Spica had been this focused on just one thing. She nodded rapidly as Speedy explained that she should stay quiet. Not exactly one of Spica's better qualities, but she was pretty confident that she could totally be quiet if she absolutely had to, like now. Alright, yeah, I can do that. Tell me about it, Spica thought in relation to rabbits being easily startled. That was one of the problems in the first place. At first there had been nothing, and now they were just impossible to find.

Speedy explained further that they should look where the rabbit went. She frowned thoughtfully and looked around. Spica sniffed here and there but she wasn't really focusing on one area -- staying only about 0.34 seconds at every spot -- and so she didn't find anything just that easily. Besides, it wasn't just rabbit there; there were a lot of other scents too and it was hard to distinguish every one of them just right and take out just the rabbit scent.

She watched as Spica moved from place to place, spending not nearly enough time at any of them to be able to properly sift through all the scents. She knew her daughter's attention span was not very long, which meant learning to hunt would probably be a challenge for her considering it required a lot of patience and planning. She wondered if there was a different approach they could take to learning this important skill. Speedy began to searching carefully around them, slowly moving her nose through the snow and grass. After a few moments, she stopped and looked over at Spica. Come here, sweetie, she said gently. She had managed to find the scent they were both looking for; it was not the freshest, which probably meant the rabbit was long gone, but it would help teach her how to pick out the scent she wanted. Come smell around over here and tell me if you can find the scent, she instructed. Make sure you take your time and inspect everything thoroughly, she added. It wasn't the most exciting task, but it was important to learn how to do this properly.

An ear fell back as she heard her mother's voice. What? I'm trying to concentrate, mom, Spica said with all the tact of a frustrated teenager who just didn't have time to put up with her parent right now. She lifted her head and rolled her eyes for good measure while she made her way over to her mother.

Her annoyance wavered as soon as she reached the spot and her mother instructed her some more. She sniffed the spot, which smelled a lot more like rabbit than where she'd been so far. Yeah yeah yeah, Spica quickly sifted through the instructions and she lowered her nose to smell the spot. She glanced from left to right and moved her paws to shift her weight in a gesture of impatience while her nose did the work.

I think.. Spica squinted her eyes and sniffed the air, then took a step. This way? She sniffed the air again after taking a few steps and it felt like she was still on the right track. Just to be sure though, she looked at her mother for confirmation.

Spica's attitude had become somewhat of a challenge for Speedy. She often chose her battles with her stubborn daughter because otherwise, she would be reprimanding her most of the time. Plus, she knew her strong will would help her as an adult, and she tried very hard not to squash it. Still, the tone and the eye roll quickly elicited the "mom look" from her—a raise of an eyebrow and a warning look before moving on.

Tracking is one of the basic skills you need to learn before you can hunt with the pack, Spica, she said as her daughter seemed annoyed by her instructions.  But then she seemed to actually concentrate on what she was doing and when she chose a direction from what she had scented, Speedy smiled. Yes, that's good, she praised. You lead the way, she said with a nod. See if you can find the scent again and I'll follow.

Mom was in one of her moods again and Spica knew better than to taunt her further. She found some focus in focusing on the tracking however, and this in turn seemed to calm's her mother's nerves as well, for some reason. Anyway, Spica looked expectantly at her mother who then confirmed with words of praise that she had it correctly. Spica's tail waved and a proud smirk appeared on her face as her mother confirmed that she'd been right, and she continued to sniff again right away. While her mother's words of encouragement weren't necessary, they were still appreciated.

Nose to the ground Spica followed the scent, occasionally stopping and sniffing the air to figure out where to branch. After a while they reached a rabbit's hole in the ground where the scent lead. Oh... Spica said, blinking, and then she poked her head inside of the rabbit's hole. Her tail wagged as the scent became really strong, and she started to dig, driven purely by instinct.

She followed quietly behind Spica, letting her lead the way as promised. She wouldn't interject unless absolutely needed. And it turned out that once her daughter put her mind to it, she easily got the hang of things. She was so proud that she thought she might cry, but she kept herself under control. Besides, it was then that Spica came upon a hole in the ground. She had tracked the scent and led them all the way to the warren. You could tell that there hadn't been much activity here lately, not like there should have been anyway. The prey was still mostly missing, and that included the rabbits. Still she watched and waited as Spica let her instinct take over and start digging deeper into the hole. Speedy knew the chances that something would turn up were slim, but she still scanned the area just in case. Make sure you keep an eye out around you, she instructed. If there are any rabbits here, then they'll start trying to escape from other openings, then you can try and catch one. They're fast, so you can't let them get much of a head start. She sincerely hoped that something came out of one of the other holes soon. It would be a good learning experience either way, but she she really wanted Spica to be able to give hunting a try. Some parts were just better taught by doing.

Honestly, Spica wasn't even entirely sure what she was doing anymore as she was digging and digging and digging. The high was uh-may-zing and it filled her head entirely. Very far away in the distance she heard her mother's words about keeping her eyes about her. It took her another five seconds or so to fully register what she was saying and she withdrew her head and looked around. But there were no rabbits there.

Once more she pushed her head into the hole and while it smelled of rabbit like, a lot, Spica's teeth came up empty whenever she would try and snap about. Had she been more experienced, rather than born just before the famine, then maybe she would've realised that there weren't a lot of fresh scents inside of the hole right now, but as it were Spica didn't realise that she was digging to a dead end, pretty much, and that the rabbit that she'd followed was either holed up somewhere further away, or had already gone.

She could tell Spica was having a lot of fun, and so Speedy let her continue to dig around in the hole even though she was pretty sure there was nothing there at this point; she didn't have the heart to tell her just yet. But after a few more minutes of indulgence she walked over and sat next to where her daughter was still digging. I don't think there's anything here, sweetie, she finally said. The scents seem old, and the commotion should have sent a rabbit running out of another opening by now, Speedy continued. You did a really great job tracking the scent, though, she assured Spica. If there had been anything here, you're tracking might have earned us a meal. She smiled down at her daughter, hoping that her confidence wasn't bruised. Hunting just took practice and it didn't help that they had just gone through a famine and winter on top of that.

Spica kept on digging, completely consumed by her hunting instincts. Boy, this was fun! She'd never felt a high like this before! When her mother told her there was nothing there she snapped out of this rush (or she might've spent all day digging up the entire rabbit colony) and she looked back at her mother, her snout covered in dirt. Aw man, she said, disappointed. But her mother's praise soon made her forget that they hadn't found anything, and she beamed proudly, clearly doing very well on the praise.

Cool! I'll get us one next time, Spica said boastfully, eager to prove her worth as a hunter; even moreso because prey had been so incredibly rare in this first year of her life.

Speedy grinned down at her daughter, glad to see her confidence was still intact even if their hunt had been unsuccessful. I have no doubt that you will, she assured Spica, grin still in place. Alright, let's go see what's in one of the caches. She nuzzled Spica and then turned to trot towards the nearest one. She was a little hungry and figured Spica was too since they had expended a good amount of energy. I'll race you, she said over her shoulder, laughing as she continued to trot forward. She knew her daughter would love a good race, and Speedy would probably let her win. 

wrap up here? <3

Speedy's confidence in Spica's hunting capabilities only further bolstered her own, and Spica proudly followed her mother as they moved towards the nearest cache together. In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Speedy then invited Spica to run. Hey! Spica shouted. That's cheating! But she was already laughing as she raced forward to catch up. She nipped at her mother's shoulder as she closed in and then started dashing forward as fast as she could, eager to race but even more eager to win.