Sun Mote Copse Yeah, it's easy to get colder and it's easy to forget

She'd been taking it easy ever since her meeting with Artaax, but her headache just wouldn't quit.  Eljay had been giving her things to help, but the pain made her irritable, and she kept mostly to herself since most packmates didn't really appreciate her lashing out at them on meet.  Currently she was lying in her usual sleeping spot with her eyes closed.  Lucky for her the share kept most of the painful sun well away.

She hadn't had another episode (spoiler alert) since that first night, but she knew she needed to rest.  Resting gave her plenty of time to think, though.  Plenty of time to dwell.

Nomi's gone.

She couldn't get Artaax's face out of her head.  He'd been so defeated, so lost when he said it.  She remembered feeling that way back then, before, and knew she didn't feel that way now.  She felt a void, nothing.  This was better, by far, she surmised.  This meant she could excel while, she imagined, Artaax failed.

She hadn't been very receptive of talking with Wildfire since bringing the news, since again, she didn't share in any part of the emotions.  Luckily she had Eljay to help her through now, and Kiwi could look towards leading the pack while she had more children.  Children who would learn from her some of what Artaax taught her, but who would also learn that relying on mentors was dumb.  She wouldn't let them down like so many had let her down, but she would make sure they knew the only one they could really rely on was themselves.

"I commit my soul to any god that is there to claim it..." Wraen had played with this line last night before going to sleep in her attempt to deal with the freezing temperatures. And, when the morning finally had come, someone had heard her plea (but, hopefully, out of goodness of their heart, leaving her soul intact), whisked away all of the clouds and the sun was shining bright against the bright-blue backdrop. It was still cold, but it was easier now to come up with warm stories to keep her cozy and warm. 

Maia had already left and Wraen in the absence of her personal heating element did not lay around doing nothing. She was thinking about a hunt and maybe aim for something bigger than a meager rodent or rat. So, a company would be welcome. And of all people Wildfire was the first that came to her mind, because she had conveniently forgotten that the alphess was in no shape to run around and engage in "cat and mouse" games. 

However, when she did not find the lady of the house in the Nest, she stumbled upon the next best thing - her daughter Kiwi, who was sound asleep in the sunlight. She approached, careful not to wake her, and alerted her with a quiet "woof". Then settled down to wait for a response.

Luckily for herself and for Wraen, Kiwi wasn't completely asleep.  If she had been, likely she would have offended the woman straight off.  Instead she lifted her head and blinked, then turned away to yawn.

Yeah?  It was more curious than annoyed, but she assumed since Wraen had made a sound she must want something.  Hopefully not anything that made her move, but she'd go if she needed to.

"I am sorry for waking you," Wraen apologized, but did not look that remorseful at all. "I am going to fetch a lunch and wondered, if you would like to join me," she went straight to the business without the usual eloquent way of speaking she liked to employ. She also had a feeling that Kiwi was a bit like a Treason-in-the-making, no nonesense person - in other words. Therefore keeping business straightforward and simple was important. "There are some interesting tracks I found earlier, but I could not quite decipher, what was the animal," she added, just in case Kiwi came to the assumption that they were simply going to raid a cache.

You didn't,  she said, getting up and stretching, then wincing.  She'd gotten up to fast again.  Slowly she sat back down, making an appearance that it was because she wanted to listen to what Wraen had to say.

A hunt!  A part of her figured that was probably a really bad idea, but another wondered if it wouldn't help.  Yeah, sure, okay.  She was still a little leery of Wraen because of her oh so good friendship with Sequoia, who was her best friend thank you.  But as Wraen correctly guessed, her businesslike and adult minded way of approaching it tickled Kiwi in just the right way.  She found herself grudgingly appreciating the offer.

How big were the tracks?  She asked as she slowly stood, this time avoiding feeling the pain and vertigo.

"I would say it was a muskrat, but the size did not fit. Or the animal was huge," Wraen explained, showing the way to the clearing, where she had found them first. She was oblivious to the fact that the hunting companion of her choice had some health issues, being too immersed in working out the mystery. 

"Could have been a beaver too, come to think of it. The river is nearby," she offered. "Or... or... what was the name of that grey-white-black striped beast?" she turned to Kiwi, trying to recall the animal's name and feeling sorry that she was unable to project the image of it, which she saw before her eyes.

If it was huge Kiwi wasn't so sure she wanted to mess with it, but since Wraen seemed pretty gung ho about it she couldn't let herself seem less confident.  She was a leader after all.

Badger? She asked, looking at the ground as the walked because she didn't know how soon they'd get to the spot Wraen was talking about. She'd never fought a badger before, but the memory of the porcupine stuck in her mind all the sudden.  No way, if that was what it was she wasn't even going to try.  I hope beaver.  Those are fatter.  They made good food and had slightly less injuring bits than other prey.  Hard to catch, though, since as soon as they hit water they were gone.  

Were they going towards the river or away?  She could use a drink, actually, if they hit the river.

"Badgers can get nasty, I agree. But there is two of us," Wraen told Kiwi, without realizing that the girl, who appeared to be so bold, could have some reservations and fears regarding some species of prey. "Tails are especially tasty, but then again they are sneaky beasts too," she dimly recalled the last time she had hunted one of them with Korei Julia. And somehow the memory was such that she had been doing more of hunting and the partner had been wailing on the sidelines. Which - she now directed an inquisitve look at the new leader - did not seem to apply here. But she would see - a good way to test, what the girl was made off, without her even realizing it. 

"What other small prey you have experience in hunting?" she asked to fill the silence, because they were nowhere near their destination at the moment.

I'm not worried, she replied abruptly, although that was a bit of a lie.  She didn't want Wraen thinking she needed reassured like some kind of kid though.  

Shed never seen not tried a badger tail.  She didn't even know they had tails, but now she filed it away in the definitely know now category.  I've hunted a lot of rabbits, and fish.  And some goats, and deer.  The bigger game she had trained in but hadn't actually taken often.  Mom wants me to lead a hunt soon, she added, with a definite note of pride.  This was a good tryout for Wraen actually.

"That's a lot of responsibility," Wraen commented, recalling her own experience at leading a group hunt in Sunspire and being part of several others as a team member. It was both interesting and difficult to work with many people together, especially, if you did not feel confident at times that all of them had enough trust in her abilities. Having an additional strain of proving herself valuable in an already stressful situation was hard. So... in a way she was glad that the task was up for Kiwi and on her side she would try her best to have faith in the young girl's skills.

"I never had a chance to try fishing - maybe you can train me in the summer, when the weather permits that," Wraen suggested, because neither of her parents had known, how to do it, or, if she was mistaken in this assumption, then the fact that they had lived in an area, where this skill was not necessary was definitely true. A pungent smell hit her nostrils then, making her stop and test the air, until she found the offending source. A fresh pile of fox poop. "Ain't they cheeky bastards?" she turned to Kiwi with a half-grin and then went on. They weren't far now. "Coyotes have not been a nuisance here?" she asked, having not seen any herself, but recalling that the little canids (except for I-am-not-a-coyote rest-in-peace Coelho) had caused some trouble at Sunspire.

Yeah, She said casually, but she knows I can handle it.  Kiwi knew too, and made that very clear by tone.  

Wraen's request took her completely by surprise, and she felt a little more of her stubborn grudge disappear.  There was no better way to get in Kiwi's good books than to ask her to train - it stroked her ego and piqued her interest all in the same go.  She'd almost forgotten at this point she even was annoyed.  Yeah! Sure, I can.  We did a lot of fishing on the cliffs. Not a lot lot, but more than here she bet.  

Kiwi wrinkled her nose when they hit the fox poop, and felt her fur lift defensively.  No, we take care of them if they come around, she said with a smile.  Niamh's real good at chasing them too, it's fun!  But this one we have to keep away, right?  From the pups.  She eyed the scat, but it wouldn't have to derail their hunt.  She could go track it down later.

"Well then, when the ice melts, be prepared. I will be there," Wraen sealed the mutual agreement of fishing lessons. She had no illusions about being able to catch anything, but she would give her best. After all part of the fun was the learning process itself.

"I will keep an eye for it and warn Maia too," as she said this she also made a mental note to do so in the evening. Though it was very likely that the fox would cross her mind again only, when she encountered the beast next time.

"And here we are," she announced, going a bit ahead of Kiwi to inspect the mystery tracks once more. "What do you think it is?"

Grouse tracks in the snow - https://www.123rf.com/photo_3418985_some...-snow.html

Kiwi contained her reaction when Wraen mentioned warning her sister, though she would have bet that wouldn't to any good.  There was no way Maia could catch a fox.

Luckily before she could voice such an opinion, Wraen showed her the tracks.  Kiwi had never seen such clear ones, though she'd definitely encountered grouses before.  She just didn't recognize this snow pattern because in the dirt the wings didn't leave the same marks.

Whatever it is, looks like it got into a fight with a bird.  I wonder if it got picked up? She said, inspecting the wing patterns.  Looked like a sizeable bird, but the tracks continued, with a weird kind of regularity.  They fought for a while!

It was a good thing that Kiwi did not voice her opinion on Maia to Wraen of all people. This would have changed the balance considerably and not in favour of the aspiring Queen-Bee to be. There is this age-old rule that states: "Siblings and siblings only can trash-talk and criticize each other. Anyone else is not at liberty to do so." You could hardly expect to get in Wraen's good books by speaking ill of Maia. Even if it was a truth.

Luckily this dangerous moment passed without either of them realizing it. Thanks to the odd-shaped bird tracks. Wraen did not say this aloud, but when Kiwi suggested that these were bird-tracks, she had this "I am an idiot" moment. How much time had she spent on studying birds and hunting them and - now - this! But she did not let this show. Instead, she followed the tracks carefully, inspecting them thoroughly along the way, until she came to a tree and happened to look up. "And I think we have our mystery animal there," she said smiling. A grouse was perched on the branches, eating tree buds and paying no attention to the two hunters below.

She'd been picturing a mouse or a rabbit or something with a bird consistently swooping down, but instead the animal Wraen pointed out was a bird itself.  Oh.  Of course!

How do we get it? She asked, looking up.  It might be a lost cause (she assumed so) but if Wraen had a trick for getting the birds she was definitely interested in knowing it!  Maybe they could scare it down?

"I don't think we can without scaring it away completely," Wraen replied, watching the bird with a longing of a hungry person, who is salivating by the hot-dog stand. Birds in general were more trouble than they were worth, but they did taste a whole lot differently. Especially, if it had taken a particular cunning and planning in the process.

"But, where there is one, there should be others as well," she turned to Kiwi, offering an alternative plan. "In my experience those birds like to flock together, unless this is an outcast or a deviation from the norm," she explained. "With his smell, I think that we can find, where the rest of the group is hiding. Shouldn't be that hard."

Nice grouse in the snow reference video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQkNVgBBnTc - I think that they can find smth like this in few more posts.

That made sense, but scaring it was the only way Kiwi could think to make it move.  She'd never encountered this particular variety of prey and didn't know about their grouping habits.

That seems smart, she answered, too caught up in the hunt to be her usual touchy self.  She began to sniff the marks, trying to catch a sense of what it smelled like.  There was something unfamiliar, and she guessed that's what it was.  Smells feathery, She said, glancing over.  Let's follow it!  Without waiting, She bounded off, though once she hit another section of tracks she slowed to be sure it was the right smell and direction.

Kiwi took the lead eagerly and Wraen followed her at a leisurely pace. Having two years more of experience in hunting birds and in life general had tamed her exuberant, all-consuming enthusiasm for an upcoming hunt, making her more prone to save energy and consider each step carefully.

This did not mean that she let the young wolf do all the job - there were times, where she too stopped at well-chosen spots to sniff around and deliberate some details of a plan in making. Here and there she stopped in doubt of Kiwi's chosen direction, but she decided to let the girl make her own choices and give her own suggestions only, when asked. 

So, for a while she followed the girl, who was more or less making the right twists and turns on the scent path and therefore did not need any corrections.

Kiwi wasn't familiar with this sort of birds, but she was luckily at least familiar with birds in general.  So she slowed down her enthusiastic roll after a bit and quieted down, just in time to crest a rise and have a whole flock before her.

W-  she caught herself before she actually said anything and flattened down again, then turned to Wraen who had seemed content in letting her take point.  Major bonus points to her, Kiwi adored taking point.  We found them,  she said quietly, but her smile was already lighting up with the prospect of a hunting challenge.  I think we should just rush in and get the closest ones.

"Let's do it!" Wraen agreed and positioned herself right for action. They did have a good half an hour, which resulted in one bird down, one with thinned tail and wing feathers and a flock that had scattered everywhere and were chattering among themselves anxiously.

Good day for two hunters, even if the bird was just enough to feed them only.

Wrapping this up. I need to narrow down on the number of threads I have, but this will do nicely for Kiwi's hunting specialty anyway. :)