Silvertip Mountain You Follow me i'll do my best

Rodyn had taken what Kukutux had said to his heart and he was on his way to silvertip mountain. it was a bit aways from their home, but he felt he and @Kivaluk would have their best chances of catching a goat or two here, high above the lands.

So with russet muzzle tipped back he called the younger male, who he had told to follow his scent. It was both a test in a way, and a way to fully understand what the other male was made of.

He hoped that Kiva would understand what he was trying to do. Rodyn was an avid hunter. Loved hunting.

when rodyn's call rises this time: it is for kivaluk specifically and comes from a direction outside of the moonglow's claim. courtesy bids kivaluk to dutifully make his way towards rodyn, despite that nerves bite at his heels like hungry hellhounds with each step closer he takes. he worries he is trouble for his awkwardness at rodyn's wedding.

but, even through that worry, kivaluk holds steadfast and readies himself to say that perhaps it should've been a private moment.

with his heart thrumming in his throat his steps slow as he approachs rodyn, taking note of the older man's scars that spoke of his experience. what's up? kivaluk asks, wishing his voice hadn't been so hesitant.

There had been no thought on Rodyn's mind the day of his and Samani's mate ship, except Samani herself. He had noticed no one else, on purpose. She had been what the call had been about and it was for her he spoke the words he did.

Kivaluk made haste to him and he grinned, a ear lifted forward.

I"m glad to see your face this day Kivaluk. I am unsure if you are aware, but Shikoba has become Star Hunter and I first hunter in her stead. I was tasked with training you to be second hunter. You know of this honor?

despite kivaluk's slight hesitation upon approach, he is greeted amicably and the tension begins to melt from his shoulders. his tail gives a small wag as he takes in rodyn's grin, taking it to mean that if kivaluk and his awkwardness had been noticed at all at his wedding that it was not held against him.

the purpose of the call is quickly made apparent: shikoba was promoted and so, too, was rodyn. ...and he was to be trained to be second hunter.

this surprises him, if only because he knows he is young. for a moment, doubt clouds him and he wonders if there was someone older and more experienced that the prestige should go to.

kukutux explained the hunter tiers. third and second and first when we were discussing trades a few days ago. that he'd been a consideration for any of them was not something kivaluk had been expecting. but i hadn't expected i was in consideration for any of them. he admits; sheepish.

The boy's tail wagged slightly and Rodyn felt his smile grow. It was good to have friends, a home, a mate. A mate. Whew. that was a lot. Though he wasn't sure if they could be considered as such. Samani had asked him to take it slow and thus he would.

Rodyn smiled at him. Kukutux asked me to train you personally. So do not worry if you feel any doubt. She sees more of us than we see of ourselves.

A lift of his head as he looked around. What is second hunter to you? What do you want to get out of and give back to our pack as Second hunter?

Perhaps it was a bit of a nosy question, but if Rodyn could understand where the boy was a skill wise and thought wise. Then he could help him quickly to learn.

most of kivaluk's worries are assuaged by rodyn's assurance that kukutux had asked him to personally train him. i don't doubt that i can do it, kivaluk tells rodyn, hoping that he wasn't toeing the line between being confident and being narcassistic. i guess i just thought that i was too young for those kinds of ranks.

a soft shrug is given. he is not interested in lingering in those thoughts as they were, obviously, proven to be wrong.

uh, kivaluk hesitates, feeling like he's been put beneath a spotlight. uhm, i don't know. kivaluk replies, feeling like it was an easy cop out despite that, truthfully, he hadn't ever thought about it. i just...wanted to be like my dad. maybe, in that, he strove always for kigipigak's approval. i guess...knowing that i'm doing my part, ensuring everyone's bellies are filled.

Ears forward, a calm listening presence. The boy stated that he didn't worry he couldn't do it. I was just 2 when I came here. Had not been out of my yearling age long. If you prove worthy and fit to do the job, age shouldn't matter. Though, be careful not to let it rule you.

Rodyn chuckled. I remember those days. I wanted to be exactly like my father, but it is important to be our own wolves.

Rodyn nodded. As second hunter you may also need to protect the borders at times. Teach the younglings to hunt as they grow. Fill caches. Follow herds.

There were many things to being a hunter. It wasn't just to feed those you cared for. Especially not to Rodyn.

To me hunting is sacred. It is almost like a worship for me. I learned how things move and flow. I use all my senses, I hunt everything I can.

though kivaluk understands the point that rodyn is attempting to make, he pushes down the desire to point out that there is a big difference between not yet being two — a benchmark age he's begun to understand though the why still remains unclear — and not even being a year old. though it was only a smattering of months now until he hit a year old, he is still a boy.

i know, kivaluk assures rodyn, words heavy with things that kivaluk leaves unsaid; letting those two words hang for a moment as if he was going to continue only to use it as a spring board segue into the next topic: of what would be expected of him as second hunter.

i had told kukutux that i wanted to trade scout for mercenary. he admits. i do not mind patrolling and protecting the borders. was the point he'd been leading into with the admittance of a trade switch. he falls silent then, listening to how rodyn describes what hunting is to him: religious almost. kivaluk does not comment because he cannot relate: to kivaluk, it is a duty. his duty. that wasn't to say he didn't enjoy it only that he bore it with the same solemnity of a sworn knight's oath.

Rodyn knew that there was a difference between the ages. But Kivaluk was mature for his age mostly. A lot of it was circumstantial, but he was doing the best that he could. As was Rodyn.

Rodyn tilted hi sears at the heaviness of the words, and he frowned. Did Kivaluk not want this? He seemed almost reluctant to do it. Rodyn didn't wish to push him into a trade and a position he didn't want. That felt unfair. But he was tasked by Kukutux. So his job was to do so. He may need to ask.

Mercenary is good. Callyope and Aiolos would be good to train under for that. Though I can certainly help. Shall we hunt some goats? I told Kukutux that was the task we would do. The fur will be nice for dens. and the meat for our caches.

kivaluk offers a swift nod at the information given to him on who to ask to train him for mercenary ...though kigipigak had given kivaluk his own list, though as he has not seen the woman his father had brought back from his homeland as of late he gears more towards rodyn's suggestions.

alright, kivaluk says, eager to get to the root of their trip out here. training. hunting. i've never hunted goat before. he admits a bit later, gaze intent upon rodyn, ready to follow where ever the older man led.

Rodyn hadn't seen Tulukiri either and he wasn't too fussed about it. He hadn't known her well, and frankly put she wasn't Moonglow. She hadn't accepted their customs so he hadn't been to worried when she had grown scarce.

Rodyn chuckled. It's a lot like the caribou you hunted, only smaller. Two of us can easily take one down with a pincer move. They smell musty.

Rodyn bent to his the task of following a trail. he had already routed one out as he had called for Kivaluk. He motioned towards the hoofprints that took up some of the softer areas. Though he did speak.

The thing with goats though. You don't want to drive them near a mountain or rock face. They are able and more agile than you or I at running through rocks and up mountain faces.

ok. kivaluk says, following along rodyn's path though he keeps his own eye on the hoof prints they follow. musty? he asks, after the word playing around inside his head for a bit. what smell is musty? likely, he already knew what a musty smell was but simply didn't have a word to put to it ( until now ).

oh, kivaluk murmurs as rodyn informs him that they had a chance of taking down a goat so long as they didn't corner them near anything climbable. that doesn't seem fair.

Rodyn had to think for a moment how to describe it. yes like wolves smell after they go in the water. That damp, almost pungent smell.

He wrinkled his nose. That was one downfall to fishing. Sometimes, especially when it was hot and wet, the smell could be overwhelming. He didn't mind the smell as much as it made it difficult to hunt.

Rodyn chuckled. No it doesn't, does it. But I guess this is the universes way of giving them a fighting chance against predators such as ourselves.

kivaluk couldn't say for sure that he realized they had a smell when they came out of the water but then again can't say that he's ever actually swam ( he hasn't ). huh. he offers, not necessarily wanting to offer that tidbit of information for it didn't seem overly pressing as far as he was concerned. after all, it wasn't as if he lived in a place where he needed to know how to swim —

his thoughts are directed towards their quarry and the unfair advantage they, according to rodyn, had over them in the realm of climbing. i guess. kivaluk murmurs, tone contemplative. i suppose it wouldn't be very fair if they didn't have some sort of chance.

Rodyn actually enjoyed swimming, but he also loved to fish. There was a separate skill set that came from fishing that he liked to utilize. It honed other parts of his body and mind. It was more a hunt of the mind than body.

No it wouldn't, though it does make it frustrating sometimes, but then again. It is a challenge. A thing to relish your skills at attempting.

Rodyn veered towards a track in the ground and lowered a little further to the ground. Pointed with his nose. Ahead of them were a few goats searching for tidbits of greenery to eat.

it's a straight forward enough idea: that if there were no challenges to life that there was nothing to learn, nothing and no way to improve. kivaluk, older now and much more understanding of things, understands that challenges even if failed offered an opportunity to grow.

you couldn't improve if you didn't try, if you didn't fail.

he is quiet then, gaze sharp as it follows rodyn's gesture towards the hoof tracks and then to the backs of the goats ahead. what's the plan? kivaluk asks.

Rodyn weighed the options and then nodded. The easiest and most normal would be to pincer it, but that felt so tried and true. Though he didn't want to scare the youth either, if he hadn't ever hunted goats before, then tried and true would be better.

You have done a pincer before yes? WHere you go one side I go the other. I will head towards the rocks. Push them towards you, you get one down and end it. Which one would you like?

This was his lesson, and therefore his choice of quarry.

i have, kivaluk replies with a sage nod ...and even if he hadn't: it certianly sounded simple enough. he takes one side, rodyn: the other. kivaluk draws in a breath, mentally picturing the way this could go: how rodyn would do the herd, the chasing and kivaluk would make the kill. he is surprised, albiet pleasantly, that rodyn is allowing him to be the one to make the kill.

alright. i'm ready when you are.

A small smile simmered on Rodyn's face. A look of delight. They were doing what he loved to do and he found a newfound love in teaching.

So with a nod, he bent to the ground, adopting a stance of stealth and slid towards the quarry. There was much to be weighed. They headed towards one that was not quite too old, but no more young enough.

With a small growl he rushed forward, herding the creature away from the rocks. Placing his body between the rocks and the goats. It was a dangerous place to be, but that was okay. Paws skidded along the pebbles beneath him.

He snapped at the creatures withers and hocks, forcing it away.

with his heart beat thudding in his ears like a surefire war drum, kivaluk follows rodyn's lead, crouching down to peer above the dried and dying heather grasses, ignoring the soft tickle of them as they brush against his muzzle.

he releases thought and settles into instinct.

rodyn charges and kivaluk takes off, mentally picturing how they might close in on it: now that rodyn's chosen quarry is selected and known by kivaluk.

separate it. keep it away from anywhere it can climb.

the herd scatters; frightened: a symphony of hooves beating the earth. but aside from dodging a frightened lost goat, he keeps his focus locked on their quarry: teeth snapping for flesh, hoping to incapacitate it so it would be an easy kill.

The youth kept in time. Good form he had. There were a few things he could work on with his stance, but this was his first time. So Rodyn wasn't too concerned about it. Most of hunting would come with time.

Rodyn slows his breathing and hones in on the target. A small smile on his maw. This was one of the things he lived for. The hunt. The ability to thrive and take care of those he loved. This was the one of it all.

Rodyn cut the creature off near the rocks, Keeping his body between the goat and the mountain he snapped at the creatures side, pushing him further towards Kivaluk.

their quarry is pushed towards him and kivaluk's snap of his jaws finds purchase. he tastes the flesh, the blood, can feel the falter in the goat's steps as it tries to kick itself free and fails. kivaluk releases it, though it swings it's hip hard against his muzzle. whether it was accidental or an attempt to shake him off, he wasn't sure.

didn't care.

he staggers back a bit, trying in the thrum of blood and adrenaline to regain his footing and pushes forward: snapping again. his teeth snag at the goat's flank, shoulder, tearing into sinew before their prey collapses with a panicked noise and heavy panting.

a quick death: a desire to end it's suffering.

a glimpse is spared towards rodyn before kivaluk goes in for the kill.

It was both too long and not long enough, before it was over. The adrenaline still pressed, as the creature lay dying beneath the tongue and teeth of Kivaluk. Rodyn gave a soft little growl of happiness, his tongue lolling out.

That's the way to do it! HE crowed happily. He couldn't help the smile that spilled from his maw. And his laughter that filled the air.

Eat your fill, just be mindful not to destroy the pelt if you can. You killed it, you get first bite.

the goat goes limp beneath him and kivaluk releases his hold, blood smearing across his muzzle. he draws back to catch his breath, flanks panting with the effort of the run, feeling like he could fy off the ground from the excitment and the thrill as it mingles with the adrenaline coursing thru his veins.

he lingers in the euphoria of a successful hunt; letting pride color him with a hue of gold at rodyn's praise.

kivaluk gives a small shake of his head. no, he says. we will take it back to moonglow. i will divide it among the caches. you can take the pelt then, if you'd like it.

Rodyn smiled at the youth and then waited. Letting him revel in his pride and accomplishment, this was a big one. A goat felled. They would have meat for days now. And it was thanks to Kivaluk and him. They had done well.

Very well. Do you want to separate it or shoulder the burden together?

They could do this two ways. They could carry it together, close, or they could tear the skin from it's back and separate the halves. They could also make more than one trip, but Rodyn was not a fan of that unless it was a must.