Blacktail Deer Plateau best of you

@Spiritwalker!

 

Dauntless woke to the sound of music; a chatty songbird sang in the distance. Unfortunately for the bird, the song fell upon unappreciative ears; Dauntless groaned as he stirred, voice his amusement in the disturbance. "Oh, come on," he mumbled, shifting his forearm to shield the early-afternoon light that had briefly touched his tired eyes. "Lemme sleep." 

The journey to Easthollow had taken a noticeable toll on Dauntless; when mobile, his movements were indolent. Any energy that he exerted was restored in tenfold, yet Dauntless had yet to reap the benefits of his excessive rest. 

He sighed; in a dramatic attempt to find comfort in his curled position, Dauntlees flopped onto his side and closed his eyes once more, hoping to quickly fall asleep again.

 

Since they had returned Catori had felt a bit more relaxed. The first separation from Grayday and the sudden absence of both Easy and Dauntless meant that things had been particularly quiet around the packlands. There was still plenty of things going on - the brewing tensions elsewhere in the valley, the back and forth of just daily life, all of it should have been enough to distract her. It wasn't. Having the steady presence of the family reunited and in the packlands meant that everything seemed to be better and on the path back to normal and Catori was grateful to wake up and know they were all there again. 

She'd gotten up a little early and ran down a thick hare. It was enough that depending on who was awake they could share it and as she headed to the common stomping grounds to see who was aware and who wasn't, she just barely caught Dauntless' muttering about the singing birds. She laughed beneath her breath, the sound mostly muffled by the hare in her mouth, and gave a low chuff. Hopefully the smell of meat might be enough to make it worthwhile to actually give in and wake up. 

despite dauntless’ best attempts to fall back asleep he struggled and ultimately failed to tune out the winter songbird’s songs; he squeezes his eyes shut tighter taken by a swell of stubbornness and holding to his guns with certain defiance. he throws a foreleg over his eye and slides it down his muzzle with the reluctancy of a teenage boy not wanting to get up to go to school. the ear not pressed against the cool, hard earth instinctively perked as he heard catori’s chuff and his nose twitched as he sniffed at the air, catching the scent of the hare; that wasn’t fair. dauntless’ stomach is predictable of any growing boy’s: it rumbles and growls at the inviting scent of fresh meat and saliva pools in his mouth involuntarily as he unwittingly thinks about it. he tries not to but it’s futile because he has it’s scent now — and the truth was he wasn’t getting back to sleep anyway. he rolls onto his stomach and stretches, tongue curling as he yawns widely. dauntless stretches as he rises and pads towards his mother. “mornin’ mom,” he murmurs sleepily, offering her a bump of his muzzle to the side of her’s and a lick to her cheek in greeting before he eyes the hare betwixt her jaws as discreetly as he can manage ( which is not all that discreet, admittedly ).

 


Catori wouldn't admit it to anyone else but the offered moniker made her heart stammer. She'd never seek to replace the children's actual mother, but, being accepted into the fold still made her feel wonderful. She grinned around the kill as she spotted his hungry eyes, lifting the meal in a silent question of how much he wanted it before she dropped it at his feet. "Morning sunshine.' She offered with a chuckle, taking a seat as she expected the boy to waste no time in tucking in. 

She didn't have much on her mind as far as the rest of the day went but that didn't matter too much - she was sure between the two of them they'd certainly find enough trouble to get into. Maybe they'd find some new and surprising way to harass Grayday or the girls.