Golden Glade upon the moment i could talk, i was ordered to listen

"daddy?" sionnach's voice piped up between the ferns, which rustled their bright little fan-like leaves as she brushed through them. "where'd breccy go?" sionnach's expression converted from one of exploratory delight to something a bit more crumpled: breccan had left, without even saying goodbye -- and if all the siblings to leave, why'd it have to be him?

why couldn't it be the mean bitey one she barely knew?

slumping on top of the clutch of ferns she had just materialized from, sionnach gnawed on a lime-green stem, her chestnut gaze inquiringly placed upon her father.

Rannoch frowned; he hadn't been looking forward to this conversation. As much as Rannoch had encouraged Breccan's independence, his presence was sorely missed. "He wanted to go and find his friends," Rannoch explained, oblivious of the can of worms that he had potentially opened. "But he won't be gone forever," he promised, "He said that he'd be back to visit. And when he comes back, we'll get to hear all about his adventures." 

Rannoch watched Sionnach gnaw the fern's stalk, and he forced a weak smile. "You'll be sure to lead the welcome party when that happens, right?"

sionnach's viper teeth pierced the fern's fronds; in seconds, the stalk was broken and a milky gleam rose where the stalk had snapped. sionnach's expression wrinkled: either out of distaste of the plant's taste, or by the news rannoch reluctantly imparted upon her.

friends? what about her? was she not breccan's friend? sionnach's face contorted even more, pouting in a convoluted, dejected way. "i don't like it." she grumped under her breath, diving for the fern again. unsurprisingly, it still tasted nasty -- her muzzle wrinkled immediately in disgust, and she spat out the fern. "what if he doesn't come back?"

Sionnach's dejection of the situation didn't phase Rannoch. "You know, I'm not too happy about it either," he replied, seeing no need to hide his feelings. "I miss Breccan a whole lot, and I wish he would have stayed." Rannoch sat then, watching as Sionnach's fast twisted in disgust. 

She then posed a question that he wasn't ready to answer, and he hesitated for a moment as he considered the possibility of his son never returning home. "I... don't know," he replied; Breccan was a smart man, and Rannoch was confident that he'd keep out of harm's way. "I don't like thinking about it, you know?" But, there was always the chance that it could happen, and the thought alone drove a sourness to spur in the pit of his stomach. "But I would think that we would go and find him if he didn't come home for a long time."

following the posing of her difficult question, sionnach watched rannoch shrewdly. she recognized a subtle shift in his features as he sat -- distress -- her eyes narrowed.

for perhaps the first time, it occured to sionnach her parents did not control everything. so much of the trek had been out of their control; the loss and then reunion of her strange sister, the meld of two families, the sudden and painstaking disappearance of breccan.. she signed, pushing away the fern the way a child might push carrots from their plate.

she had nothing to say. for once, the frostfur child remained sullenly silent, inspecting the blades of grass underneath her father's paws.

Sionnach had nothing to say in reply, and Rannoch became concerned. She was never quiet. He lowered himself onto his haunches with a sigh, watching as she inspected the grass that surrounded his paws. 

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?" Rannoch asked. Although they were mostly settled in from the move, he wasn't sure if she had gotten the chance to apprehend all of the changes that had happened. "You know I'm always here if you have anything on your mind."

there was plenty on sionnach's mind, but very little of it came to the surface. never a very stoic wolf, sionnach looked fretful -- but, true to her disposition, she managed to soon reel in her emotions and steeled herself with a flinty, overcoming glare of an expression. "no." sionnach grumbled, committing the conversation to the dirt.

her father's willingness to help her, to talk to her, was not ignored -- but sionnach did not need help sorting through these emotions.. not in the way that he could help her. she was bound to have to suss through this mire herself.

like any troubled child or teen, sionnach looked for an outlet. "can you teach me to hunt, daddy?" the girl asked hopefully, lifting her gaze with a pouting look that said i'm sad so you better not say no.

Rannoch masked his defeat with a smile. Sionnach wasn't obligated to disclose what peeved her, and he had to accept that. "Okay, sweetie," he replied. "Just let me know if you ever do want to talk, and then we will." 

It did not take Sionnach long to change the subject, and when she did, Rannoch was pleasantly surprised. "Of course I will," he answered, his tone bright. With a newfound excitement radiating through his being, Rannoch stood, his tail wagging. "The first thing we'll go over is probably the most important—we're going to learn how to stalk prey." This, he assumed, she'd have the most difficulty mastering. Stalking prey required patience and silence—two characteristics Sionnach had room to improve on. 

"Now, do you know what stalking means?" Rannoch asked.

rannoch's emotional availability was lost on sionnach. someday, she might take advantage of her father's willingness to talk things out -- but today, the girl was ready to march onto new endeavors and forget all about being sad.

while breccan was not far from her mind, his departure stung a little less now that rannoch had agreed to teach her to hunt. buoyed by this new development, sionnach excitedly scrambled to her feet and then roughly slammed on the brakes: stalking?

stalking wasn't hunting! she was about to remind rannoch of that, but then saw he was apprising her carefully. if this was a test, she'd have to tread carefully. nodding, sionnach answered with confidence: "stalking is when you follow behind someone without being detected." she announced, recalling she was great at stalking aengus when it suited her.

Rannoch was impressed with Sionnach's answer; she sounded so... grown up. "Great answer, sweetie! That's correct." he praised, his pride evident. "So, knowing what stalking means, do you know how that relates to hunting?"

oh, sionnach had a long way to grow .. all the same, she practically preened with pride under her father's praise. she deserved that praise, more than stinky aengus did: that's because even though she was loud, unnecessarily boisterous and way too rambunctious, sionnach was also motivated.. even if it was out of spite (like be better than everyone else).

flagging her tail over her round hips in importance, sionnach considered his question. dare she answer, even if it meant risking an incorrect reply? "umm.." she guessed that being detected was bad.. but... "so you don't get caught?" sionnach knew all about not getting caught.

"You're on the right track, sweetie," Rannoch encouraged. "Can you think of any reason why you wouldn't want to get caught while hunting?" Sionnach was on the cusp of being correct, and he would do what he could to coax the rest out of her.

god, all these questions and thinking! sionnach's countenance fixed into one of concentration; why did it matter to not be detected? well, she could tell you in the case of aengus and other bovine pursuits, when they saw you, you often got gored.

any time she had tried to stalk after a bird, or even a hare, they had always seen her and gotten away. realizing she had known the connection all along (but had just never thought of it) sionnach replied dutifully: "so's they can't get away."

"Yes!" replied Rannoch. "That's right! Great job, sweets." 

With the lesson completed, he felt that it was time to get to the fun stuff. "Now, since you understand why we stalk while we hunt, let's practice it." Rannoch pushed himself to a stand and looked to the area that laid behind Sionnach. Ferns littered the ground for a few yards until they gave way to a clearing, and he felt that the foliage would challenge her ability to keep quiet. "I'm going to go sit in that clearing," he said, motioning to the clearing with a wave of his snout. "Once I say that it's time, I want you to make your way to me without making a sound. Up for the challenge?" Rannoch tipped his head and grinned; he did not doubt that she would deny him. 

Once an agreement was established between the father and daughter, he moved past her and made his way towards the clearing. Once Rannoch reached his destination, he sat with his back turned from Sionnach. "Alright," Rannoch called, "Come and get me, sweetie."

sionnach could barely sit still as rannoch instructed her of their game. she nodded vigorously, plopped her butt into the dirt, and swore she'd be the stillest motherhecker on this side of the teekon. she'd be so still rannoch might think she was dead; she was gonna ace this still-test, truly.

but two seconds after her dad turned around sionnach felt like a ball of buzzing anxiety. if you took a hundred angry hornets, put them in a little mason jar, and then shook the hell out of them -- well, that kind of buzzing cacophony would describe sionnach in that moment. she was positively rippling so much her skin might as well take on its own form and crawl away.

no sooner had rannoch announced he was ready did sionnach surge off to battle in a dashing advance that would have made napoleon's marengo snort in admiration; but then she remembered, she was supposed to be quiet. she halted clumsily, causing an absolute racket.  "WAIT! DO OVER!" sionnach yelled over the clearing, going back to her spot. once there, she flattened herself to the ground. even her ears airplaned out to her sides. taking in a deep breath, sionnach took one step and then the next - marveling at how damn hard it was to step quietly. she didn't even realize that walking through grass was ever this damn loud -- it was all she could do to not growl with frustration as her stupid paws made the most noise ever.

Anticipation stole through Rannoch's essence as he expected Sionnach's charge. It did not take his daughter long to create a ruckus, and at the sound of her clumsy advance, Rannoch glanced over his shoulder to look at Sionnach. "That's okay, sweetie," he reassured her, unable to mask his amusement. "Go ahead, try again." 

He turned away from her then, wondering how she'd approach her second attempt.

HMPH - this being quiet thing was not up in sionnach's wheel-house. it required extraordinary impulse control, and sionnach was a girl that lived for pursuing her whims. she huffed loudly as a piece of grass tickled her nose, and tried again under her father's encouragement.

this time her heavy steps became audibly lighter - but it was no covert operation here. she was still audible, still easily detectable.. with a frustrated grunt she tried harder, but then, deciding there were better things to do than skulk (she was SIONNACH! she was MADE to be seen and heard, damnit!), sionnach launched at the back of her father's nape and yelled "GOTCHA!!"

Sionnach's second attempt was more promising than her first; her footfalls progressively became light, and almost undetectable. Rannoch waited dutifully for the eventual charge, an easy target for the inexperienced child. 

"Ah!" he exclaimed, feeling her razor-sharp teeth latch onto his nape. "You did it, my girl!" Gently, Rannoch shook his head to and fro, hoping to shake her off.

turns out, if you concentrate super hard on something, you tend to do just a little better. sure, it was no glorious hunt -- but sucking at something was the first step to succeeding at something, and before sionnach reached a year of age she would find some talent in hunting. with fur between her teeth, the wild babe shook at rannoch's scruff, inciting a bout of play from her father.

she grew tired in short order -- mostly because as gentle as rannoch was, he still well outclassed her in the strength department. announcing she wished to nap, sionnach's tail bobbed as she trotted behind the heels of her father, ready to sleep off the rest of the lazy summer day and wake up to terrorize aengus later that evening.