Golden Glade saw the deer before it saw me,

In his attempt at routine, it always settled most comfortably with tracking but to his growing frustration, he could not seem to ever get a good grip on the deer trails around the Glade. Somehow, they always stayed one step ahead of him, or moved further away than he was willing to travel at the time with the snows still pretty deep in some spots. He was warming up to their games, though, even if as with everything lately, the dark Ostrega was taking his time.

This morning felt no different, and he didn't feel like he was really on his best at the start; his head felt awfully cluttery and overfull. He reasoned it would take some time to get that sensation off him for the day, so maybe, he wasn't really paying attention when suddenly very fresh deer prints were dotting the snow underfoot. This got him focusing better, a bit, so the lean yearling slid into a trot.

Finding them didn't take long but as just one wolf, he stilled and laid low to observe. Just one adult male was all he could see from here.. the best cover he could find, but tracks said at least three had been through. Worth keeping in mind.

His mouth watered but he stayed dedicated and motionless. The deer was soon looking at his direction, though, and Silas was a bit surprised; he'd been so quiet and he was so secretly confident in his abilities here but this did allow him to notice something else: the deer's noticeably glassy eye. The tracker narrowed his own back at it, unsure if it was a glare hitting it just right or not. After a few long moments of held breath, Silas got up and began to leave in the opposite direction. Again.. worth keeping in mind.

Before, he had always looked to Stark when faced with manners such as these. While their caches around here were, by no means, lacking, he couldn't help but crave the good, fresh stuff that needed strong, able bodies to rally down properly without incident. But he didn't know how.. pack hunts should go down here. He was not yet confident enough in his fellows, or even  knowledgeable in their abilities, to take the earnest lead here. Baby steps, and maybe he could be, but Silas was mortified at his still-lingering wariness when it came to every wolf around him except one. He'd have to change that for there to be any chance.

He ducked low and skulked on through the forest, wondering who could even be found first.

*waves*

Curiosity overcame the young pup once more. They were settled now in a new territory it seemed and sitting in a den was no fun. Often Tapat stayed close to his brother when his father and mother were missing. In Tapat's case his parents were missing because he would forget what they told him they were doing. Today he climbed outside their new den, even though the snows covered the ground, and was reminded again that snow was cold.

The move had some great effects on the youngster as he was less afraid to go outside. The attack was less of a terror for him, if not any at all. The traveling for days helped to soothe that terror. When some movement caught the youngster's eye he instantly chased after it. It seemed to be a squirrel that caught his eye. Tapat chased after it but couldn't really keep up. The pup stopped and looked around. Though, there was his problem. Short term memory made him forget were the den was, moving here only a short while ago didn't help either.

Tapat looked around, turning until he was lost which direction he came from. No mom, No dad and No Astik. "MAAAAAAAAA," the pup cried out loudly for his mother and then perked up his ears until he heard something. Panic was starting to form in his chest. Puppy whines sounded through the crips air, which would only make him more of a target.

ohi!!

In the confines of the willowy woods of his last home, he had learned all the best routes to take. The ones to take him to food, water, or company, his mental maps of the Keep had been well-developed and Silas found himself missing that comfort badly as he wandered, only half-certain of his route at all.

A voice breaking the silence pulled him closer to wherever it was he was going... From here, it sounded distressed, so that worried him. His ears quivered anxiously forward. When he realized how young the voice sounded, he scrunched his face.. feeling torn between turning around and going away or addressing this issue -- which was probably the right thing to do, but Silas knew it wouldn't be easy. It had to be one of Reek and Jhala's boys. They were the youngest ones around, and he was pretty sure they were near to the same age as Amara's whelps had been. Or were. He didn't know if any of their litter still survived and neither did it concern him.

He held his breath and moved in even closer until he could see the white boy (Tapat, right?) just ahead, which confirmed his suspicion -- because if anyone was going to be noisy, it would be pups. Already he caught himself starting to feel nervous about this. "Something wrong?" he called out, trying not to look too wary about circumstances as he moved from between the trees towards the pup. Nothing looked wrong here to him, but who was he to say just yet. He'd only arrived a second ago.

The pup turned around on his heels when he heard a voice. His murky yellow brownish eyes looked up at the other. Tapat for a moment didn't know how to respond because it wasn't anyone he knew. He couldn't remember if he ever met this one. His ears fell back and perked up again. He looked a bit torn with what to do. Though the pup always had a certain enthusiasm. "Hi! I'm Tapat! Who are you?," he let out, almost cheerfully which was quite the contrast with the panic he had shown before.

The pup stepped closer curiously. He used his nose, and he thought he smelled at least something familiar. So that was a mini victory for Tapat. "I don't where my home is. I can't remember....," he spoke and looked around. He had been running into the opposite direction of the alpha den. After he said those words he casted the biggest sad puppy eyes towards the male, feeling the distress of not knowing.

When the pale pup took in sight of him with a look of uncertainty, Silas stared back uneasily until it seemed to click into place for him and greetings ensued. "I'm Silas," he replied. His ears were still splayed out and only moved further away the more he heard from Tapat. This time, it was his turn to look at him like he really didn't know what to do. "Um, well. Isn't it here, now? With Reek and Jhala in Golden Glade.." And the other boy, the Ostrega almost thought to mention. He swung his snout towards the forest all around them as he spoke then settled sights back on Tapat to make sure that sunk in enough -- and to really make sure this was adding up right. Maybe this was his way of missing wherever they had come from before? Silas still didn't know the full circumstances on that..

"If that's even what you mean. If you mean your.. den or whatever, it can't be too far, right?" Immune to puppy-eyes, he frowned back and shifted his weight uncomfortably. Silas only had a vague idea of where his family was staying himself in relation to right here. Silas and Tambourine kind of did their own thing, detached just enough from Reek's brood's immediate situation, but it was close enough to track down if that was even what the kid was talking about. Silas knew he wasn't very helpful when it came to little wolves like these.

Tapat's eyes followed the direction of the other's snout as it pointed towards the forest around them. Tapat was briefly reminded that his was his home but soon forgot it again. He actually meant his den, where his bother and parents would hang out. However as he looked over the white colored forest the wolf out of his vision slipped from his mind. When he spoke again Tapat turned his head to the wolf and blinked sheepishly at him. Who was this guy again?

"Hi! I'm Tapat!," he greeted to the male again, not realizing he was repeating him. "Den! Yes! I am looking for my den! How did you know?," he asked. This guy must be a wizard or something of a mind reader. That must be it. The child's tail started to wag. That must be exciting to know what others were thinking! "What am I thinking now?," he asked curiously towards the wizard.

His expression gave a confused scrunch when the boy greeted himself again. Silas didn't really address it out loud, but he'd truthfully not spent enough time around Reek's two pups to know if this was normal for him or not. Had he... maybe hit his head somehow? Was that why he was lost? Or something else entirely? Silas eyed him quizzically although moved back on to the newer topic, and hoped to be quick about dispelling any myths of his nonexistent abilities. "Just a good guess.." he said alongside a small nod.

"Well.. uh, I don't know, probably about where your parents are? Or how you're gonna get back to that den you were looking for?" he answered quietly, teetering somewhat towards sheepishness. These were all just generic puppy thoughts, what he would be wondering if he were misplaced from his mother and father this young. "Speaking of which, you want to try to track it down?" Because at least, that he could possibly help with and lead the kid there -- where hopefully some family would want to receive him and take care of it. Sounded like a good enough start, and Silas could track, be it prey or other things.

Tapat was getting more and more confused because the man before him pointed out that his parents were probably at the den, but he didn't know where the den was. He didn't even know where his parents were. He was reminded of that now. He turned to look around, his face showing his distress. The white boy snapped his attention back to the bigger wolf when he asked if he wanted to track.

Tapat's murky yellow eyes turned big and he nodded. He never did tracking before. Maybe if he would remember tracking he could always find his parents!!! "Yes! I wanna learn!," he instantly spoke and excitedly jumped forward, his tail wagging. He stood next to the bigger male and looked up to him, waiting for instructions.

Watching the younger wolf process things made Silas more anxious about this, mostly because it was difficult to tell what was going on with him.. exactly. The hunter thought to blame himself since reference material for other puppies for him was somewhat scarce, and he knew how uncomfortable he was with this -- surely that would reflect sooner or later, or Silas would just get good at plowing through it and making do. He'd yet to master any of it.

He also couldn't tell how he felt about the pale pup wanting to learn.. as he did feel the weight of obligation to teach fall onto him. "Uhm." He awkwardly cleared his throat. Good start? He was nervous. "Well.. since in this case, we're lookin' for an alpha's den, you can probably assume there going to be a lot of pawprints going towards there, and we're in luck because snow and soft ground makes prints pretty easy to see." Silas explained with a gesture at the Glade's floor. If one knew where to look, the traveled pathways were there and he'd clear this up if he had to, understanding that tracking concepts were not easy to talk about. "Bonus points for finding any prints that smell like your mom or dad, because that just makes it even easier," he said as he began to move a few strides away to sniff the ground and hope Tapat was catching on enough to come nose around too.

Tapat looked at the ground and then saw his own paw prints. His tail started to wag and he nodded at his mentor. Who was still a stranger to him. Tapat watched the prints but he had no clue where they would lead, so he had a dilemma. He then saw the others sniff the prints. Tapat, easy-minded as he was, instantly copied the behavior and started to smell the prints. Though these were not from his mother and father.

He glanced up again then seeing the strange wolf. His mind blanked. Forgetting that he would have to find the footsteps. He let out a woof in greeting. Who was this wolf again? Was he familiar. He approached the other with a wagging tail and his tongue sticking out ready to lick him and show the submission he was taught. "Hi! I'm Tapat!," he greeted.

Silas felt his hopes begin to rise, albeit somewhat shakily, when the pup seemed along for the ride. At least well enough to mimic him, so the dark Ostrega took this as a good sign and began to roll onward with it after a soft sigh. Maybe there wasn't anything to be worried about at all and maybe they could just plod through his awkward attempt at teaching together..

Déjà vu struck him hard in the back when he heard something oh-so-familiar from the pale boy that Silas' brow furrowed instantly. What was wrong with him? Did his parents realize he was this.. scatter-headed? Had they dropped him too many times or something?? Silas had obviously never dealt with this. The tracker turned halfway to look back at him with a confused scrunch. "I'm still Silas.." he repeated, nodding slowly to see if that would sink in yet. "We're lookin' for your den, or parents. Come on..?" he reminded again to make sure that was still on the agenda. If not, he'd have to rethink this as he started to march down what he thought was the best trail towards someone else who could deal with this.

Tapat's ears fell when he heard the words 'still Silas', his face followed quickly. He looked like a kicked puppy. "I'm sorry. I forget things." Tapat also didn't know why he was forgetting certain things, he seemed to remember his family quite well. Silas. Silas. Silas. He repeated mentally, not wanting to forget the name again.

The youngster nodded. "Oh yes! Right! Tracking. Scents!," he spoke. He just needed to repeat it a lot and then he would remember. The pup put his nose the ground and found an older scent of his mother. His tail began to wag. "This way!," he let out and then ran in the wrong direction. However he stopped when the footsteps went the other way. He turned around and ran in the other direction, this time it seemed to be the right one. He wanted to remember this time.

He tried to keep his focus, though the chirping birds sometimes distracted him, though as the scent got stronger he seemed to be able to focus on it more. "There!," he cried out happily and wagged his tail.

He barely caught the fall of the pup's ears and had a good feeling his frustration had showed more than he'd thought at first. His uneasiness amplified this feeling quickly when he said sorry. "It's okay, really..." I'm just not used to it the apologetic splay of his ears wanted to add. It was pretty obvious, and somehow, Silas felt a tiny bit better knowing the boy was at least aware of his shortcoming.

That aside, they were back to scents next and Silas wiggled his tail with his nose down, although watched Tapat most of all. His enthusiasm was good, that much was certain, and the Ostrega's mood lifted gradually from there. When it looked like the pup had a pretty good plan as to what he was doing and how to execute it mostly successfully, Silas didn't interfere any.

"Good job," he said softly when he exclaimed they'd reached a there! He looked around and didn't see Reek, Jhala or the other boy anywhere immediately quite yet, although he was hopeful at least one of them might be somewhere near. Still striding forward to get closer, he nodded along. "See, it's pretty easy once you get a good start and the hang of the motions of it." It seemed once he could get it in his head, it wasn't so bad for Tapat.. but this was just his outsider opinion after spending a little time with him. "You got it from here? I'm gonna go track down my friend next.." Which probably didn't interest him at all, especially since he kept to the edges of the Glade.

Tapat was glad that he was doing a good job. His tail thumped against the ground and smiled at the other. Silas. Silas. He repeated the name and sniffed the air for his scent. Yes. Yes he would remember. He had to remember. He slowly nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "Thank you for teaching me," he hummed. "Hopefully you will find your friend," he wished.

Tapat's tail was still wagging. He had the feeling he made a new friend. And now he was back at the den, with a new lesson that might stick, he was quite pleased with himself. He had done it. He found his way back home. He wasn't stupid after all.

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