Moonspear I only see what matters

Open! Heading to the upper reaches, moving through Crescent Grove.

 

Hydra navigated the Spear, her eyes closed. Easy to do when she knew it as well as she did, to be sure, but not without its challenges; it had taken her some time more to travel than it would have taken her otherwise. The rest of her senses guided her; her nose forewarned her of all that surrounded her, and her ears too. Hydra had nearly careened into a tree along the way, though was able to avoid it in time; her shoulderblade scraped against it, and a small tuft of fur was left behind. 

Her other senses seemed to heighten, though that could very well be her imagination or the way that she now employed them more actively. Hydra circled the tree tightly, stepping back and facing it; she could smell the scent of it, and imagined how close she might then be. She slowly inched forward, and her ears, too, told her much even about her proximity. Then she could feel the echo of her breath against it, and her nostrils flared as she turned away, eyes still closed. 

The matriarch moved on, and then began to seek any one of her packmates; her mind was quick to come to the idea of sparring this way, and knowing how one such as Fen might fight and survive. It was decidedly different than moving around with one eye (which she had done and practiced, both to know how her enemy saw things and then, her father); that was a challenge but this! When all spots were blind ones, how did one know what to defend except for the basics? The question was one she was determined to find an answer to.

First, he followed from a good distance, trying to make sure that none of his siblings caught wind of his separation as well. They would blow his cover all too quickly, and where was the fun in that?

His range across the mountainside had increased thanks to all of those who allowed him to rove with them, however not often towards here, at least not from this angle that he did not yet recognize entirely as he let her guide him. However, he was not discouraged by any of this, simply eager to move forward in finding out more. His dam's trail was very, very fresh, so he wasn't worried. Occasionally, he had been able to catch a glimpse of her, but, that had been a while since the last chance. He didn't know where she was leading him, though it scarcely mattered; he kept his focus on the goals, though, in laying low and stalking after her until he could find out more about what she was doing.

Suspicion had long since come that she was up to something, so much so that even he could tell.

Antares soon caught up to her to see for himself, and thought she was moving oddly, which was confirmed when he dared to duck out of cover long enough to get a good look. He held his breath, though, knowing that he needed to mind all of his lessons if he intended to spy what she was up to on his own...

After that, he stayed low, letting her move on ahead again before he dared to make any move.

This once, Hydra did not hear her sons approach; she knew their range had increased, though, and so typically sought them in other ways. Her nose worked actively and the rest of her senses worked in overtime; the sixth sense of being watched took hold of her, and Hydra paused entirely. Her weight was evenly distributed then as she squared herself, lifting her head. 

If it were predator, Hydra wondered what it might be like to fight it with her eyes closed; not smart, given her inexperience with it. Then she might really lose her faculties. And so begrudgingly, Hydra's eyes opened and she squinted against the light as her eyes adjusted again. Licking her chops, Hydra's gaze surveyed her surroundings. There was no scent of cougar, nor bear... but if the cougar was old, and wise, it would know to be downwind. Her ears pricked forward too for good measure, and her hackles lifted slowly, appearing sharp as quills. It was now she looked quite like her wild-furred mother, and Hydra prowled forward.

If she was being followed, she could entice it after her.

Indeed, she was being followed. Antares was a set of beady eyes from a good way back but he was still able to keep to it. The mountain had always been their domain after all, and he was very much a part of that himself. That was no different now as stride after stride he kept trailing after her, onward, deeper into where he had never quite put his own paws--but when he found the flow of the pathways, it felt easy, and came all too naturally.

But absolutely, as it should. Every piece of him was meant for this as he lowered his head and gained enough self-assured boldness to pick up his own pace, into as close to a "glide" as all of the youthful angles were going to take him. He didn't pause long enough to consider just how far true familiarity had fallen away well behind him, not so long as he still had good momentum guiding him forward.

Eventually he did start to feel a bit distracted. It was more because he wanted to see what else was around in such a new stretch of mountainside--but mom wasn't going to go easy on him, and he was a willing victim into her bait. He scraped together that concentration immediately, determined to follow after her--wherever she was going to lead him, but he tried to stay covert about it (to varying success). At least.. he never set out to advertise that he was coming after her.. since half the question still remaining was what she was doing at all, and where she was going with it, but he ducked low and stalked on.

Hydra had yet to discern what, exactly, it was that trailed her. She only knew she was being trailed; the wind was in their favor, whatever it might be. Subordinate or otherwise, she would play the game for a while and decide a course where she could shift all into her favor. Perhaps it was one of the children training... or any of her subordinates. Eyes opened, now, Hydra's navigation improved; the matriarch turned a sharp corner and, seeing the rocky face beside her, decided her own plan.

Stealthily Hydra ascended only some of the way up; her inky coat blended perfectly well with the shadow and flat grey of the stony slab she lingered upon. From her perch above, Hydra was utterly still and crouched so as to not be seen, waiting for the being that stalked after her to present themselves in this way. The tables would turn once she did; the firm snow would not have betrayed her maneuvering, though the questionable and abrupt end of her scent-trail might be cause for concern. 

A good one, too; she would be swift to act once she had her own visual.

Harried away at by curiosity trying to pull him away towards new stretches of the land, he needed a solid blend of confidence and focus to keep gaining any ground properly. That greedy desire to chase after his dam and show her what he could manage still underlined it all for him, keeping him enough on task as the moments slipped by beneath his paws.

So forward he went, towards a stone-face that rose to greet him then shifted his route. He liked to think he had honed in well. His nose quivered eagerly over the trail--so fresh! But, seemed as soon as the thought occurred to him with a joyous flutter to the motivation, there met the dead end only a few lengths later.

Perplexed, toeing lightly towards annoyed in that second it occurred to him.. he slowed a notch to think about it and kept prowling along the edge of the slab, nose low, ears up though. He tucked close to the rocks, well into their shadows if he could. He knew that should be worth exploiting if he could, but that wasn't helping him find the trail again and neither was all this newness encompassing his every direction. In fact, the further he went, the more the trail only seemed to cool. Before frustration could catch up, he answered with a pivot to return back to where he had last knew the traces told no lies. He'd just retrace his steps to the last spot he had known, and restart there. Perhaps?

But now he was really feeling suspicious, and increasingly wary for every second his heart beat. His skin prickled, and he wondered if he was being watched now. That.. didn't help.

He came upon the scene soon enough. And it was her son, no cougar or other strange, elusive wildlife that stalked. Stray, starving bear defying the season, for example. Hydra was pleased to see it was her son. He had done well for the most part. Though now, the stalker became the stalked. She watched him move ahead and remained where she was; smartly, he retraced his steps again when he discovered her trail came to an end. Atlas she had taught this lesson once, and Antares would learn it a different way. 

Hydra came for him from above, lunging silently from the place she had blended well to with open arms to snare him in a wolfish hug and bowl him over, if he noticed late enough. Hydra would defend his likely defensive reaction with parrying teeth to catch his blows as they came, though otherwise Hydra did not attack more than her playful maneuver.

His brow scrunched with concentration and he alternated his nose down, then up again, for deepening sniffs while the uneasy rise to his hackles persisted. The mystery proved more difficult to solve than he had thought, suddenly, and when he feared some defeat may be looming, it was very much not the case.

In what was surely a practiced silence, she rained down on him suddenly.. leaving him little room to react, and no time to feel any sorrow for his reaction time that didn't get there fast enough. He simply had to move, first trying to spring abruptly out of reach to no avail; he managed to turn his rump-end out of the way, but the rest.. he was forced to practically meet her head on. Once almost stabilized enough and though he was well on his way to smothered by her, he attempted to tangle his forelimbs with hers as she tumbled him down, and he had to answer with a low, playful growl now that the initial startled of his motions had gone away.

If she was going to get the jump on him like this, he was not going to go down without making it difficult. He tried to snap his teeth playfully (with some decent exaggeration) towards hers, aiming to use that as a distraction to try to get his legs back underneath him properly. Nothing was going to go anywhere but down for him if not, and he would not be felled so simply!

She had surprised him. Good, she thought, pleased with herself. And now he would learn to look everywhere when he could not find what he sought. Better to learn this way than when he truly could have been in danger. Such lessons would be done to each of her children so that they could live and learn both. And it would be a good tactic for him to keep; some never did come to get this lesson in their lifetime. 

She had not come down with enough force to topple him—the goal had not been to hurt, after all, but to strike. Her eyes caught sight of his limbs set to snare, and she answered in kind with the whole of her weight to show him the error of his ways, coming down upon him in the fashion a raptor might as she drew her forelegs in a measure so as to not be caught by him and come into a tangle. It was a kamikaze sort of method without the fatality; it would knock the wind out of her as much as it might him, but at the very least she could be on her feet while he, ideally, stayed down for a beat or two. Her tail waved behind her in a happy little arc; this was her sort of bonding, and now her children were able to partake in it.

When it was inevitable that he would not exactly maintain the upper paw here, he made sure not to stay down long. When his balance failed, he simply rolled with it, and took care to get back to his feet quickly, then try to put a little distance back between them once he had a chance. A nimble body, one used to twisting and turning for offense and defense both against his family and their home, he was able to put to good use.

But although the shadowed youth was up, he had to mind himself long enough to get his breath back and recover from that. Defensively he danced back, panting, and happily waved his tail back at hers now that the surprise was wearing off. He was still on guard, and feeling riled enough by that to possibly keep it up, his navy eyes searching for a sign or a chance, any sign of a shift. Hydra was definitely worth the whole focus, but he still couldn't help but still be drawn by the unfamiliar vista she had lured him into.

Can we.. explore here more, too? he panted in his quiet voice, but by then, he lunged playfully back at her for more--wherever it may take them. He trusted that the scenery was not going anywhere, and wanted to make full use of this every opportunity, willingly at his mother's mercy. Hopefully she would agree, and then, they could cover more ground. He was eager to see it.