Stone Circle Nutcracker dance

Her sickness had vanished in its entirety, a great relief to the little girl who today found herself wanting to pursue one of her favorite pursuits. But alas, she could find no small game animals, and when she wandered to the great circle of stone that she had watched the herds with Valette in a great while ago, she found them to be few and far between, and distant. 

Concerned, she tilted back her head and howled once as she had heard the adults do, but it took her one more try for a strong, somewhat melodious howl to break from her muzzle and call for @Valette.

Valette life had turned around fully by now. First her only task was to get food for the pack and perhaps if she was lucky with a day of free time she could do her scouting duties. But ever since she had become a mother to the two pups her life was wrapped around theirs. Not a day went by when she was checking on them or just trying to take care of them. If she was really honest? She loved it. Especially with the added bonus of being allowed to snuggle against Steady each night.

Keoni howled, and even though she didn't show any signs of being ill anymore Valette was still lightly worried. She trotted to her daughter with a quick pace to find her by her own looking spot. Valette greeted her with a woof and a lick over her head. "Is something wrong?," she asked.

Valette greeted her kindly, and the girl smiled, but her focus was on the prey animals. Or rather, lack of. "Yes." She said simply, peering out at the distant remain ants of the herds once more. "Where did the prey go? I couldn't find anything!" She told Valette with worry, twisting to look at her with a concerned gaze. How was she supposed to learn if all the prey was leaving? How was the pack supposed to eat? Most importantly, why was their food going?

Valette chuckled as the female's crisis was food. In that way Keoni really could have been her daughter. Valette looked out over the empty plaines. She knew that some prey would return but others would have bedded down for the winter. "Most of our prey, raccoons or squirrels sleep more during the winter to preserve energy. It tends to be cold and when they sleep in their warm den they use up less energy instead of being out in the cold. But the bigger prey animals are still around," she assured her.

"The bison will be mostly in this valley. I am tracking them to see if they are truly staying, they push away the snow to find grass. The deer move away from the open plains into the forest to eat the bark of the trees when they can't find enough food," she explained to the youngster. "The winter makes food scares, but that doesn't mean we don't get anything to eat. The winter is very hard for animals who eat plants. If they are weak the cold would get to them and then we can eat them without having to work for it." But that was a very ideal situation.

Valette explained that the animals slept through the coldest of times, and Keoni, incrediblous, asked, "All winter?" Her eyes were wide of she contemplated this concept, wondering should wolves have to go through the same ordeal. She liked sleeping, but all winter ought to be horribly boring. "But- won't they be hungry? Thirsty?" She asked, peering at Valette. 

Her ear mentor proceed to explain about the larger game animals, and Keoni followed along intently. Less animals meant less food, so hunters like Valette would have to work much harder, she reasoned. "Do they come back in Spring?" She asked with a hint of worry. They couldn't leave forever, could they? She knew of the seasons, and their order, yet having never experienced summer, or spring, knew very little of them.

Valette chuckled. "Bears do hibernate all winter. The other animals just sleep more, they come out, but it is a rare thing for them to do. But they do need to drink," she explained to the young female. She could see her mind rattling and thinking about these things. Valette thought it was really cute. It was good that she already realized that prey might not always be abundant.

"They do, and in spring most babies will be born too, which means food is plentiful. Though mothers can be protective so it is not all a piece of cake," she explained to the other. "Deer are around here, but I'd like to focus on the bison this winter. They are in this valley and they are big enough to feed us for weeks. It will be hard to take them down though."

She listened intently, storing information and furrowing her brow in thought. Now that she was bigger, she reasoned, she could help too! Bison, she knew, where bigger and more dangerous than deer, but surely Valette would be fine. She was the greatest hunter the girl knew, after all. "I can help?" She asked eagerly, for she wanted to d her part in the upcoming winter. She had a few questions about the prey, but those could be answered later.

Valette chuckled at the female. "Well when spring comes you can most definitely help," she winked at the other. Keoni would need to build stamina for chasing bison and she would need to be bigger. Because a kick from those beasts would even kill an adult. The female nudged her. "Tag you're it!,' she spoke and then ran off playfully. Valette decided that they could work on the other's stamina right away.

At this she smiled, for surely spring couldn't be that far away! She decided that she ought to eat as much as she could, for surely then would she grow bigger, and quickly. Her tail wagged, and moments later, Valette wanted to play, which suited the girl just fine. She was on her feet and chasing after Valette in an instant, a burning laugh coming easily as she chased her idol.