The boy had been wandering here and there for the past week or so, not quite sure what to be doing but sure he needed to be doing something. It was not a secret that Spieden’s pups had been born, a visit having been earned or at least a quick pass and mumbled congratulations from likely every member in the pack. Now, there were two more mouths to feed and Naira and Aponi would likely be bedding down for the long haul just the same before too long. He’d tried to catch as many rabbits and other small prey as he could, filling and creating new caches here and there and going along the borders. Anything to keep him busy and to make him feel more comfortable with the invisible weight that had suddenly collapsed onto his powerful shoulders. Instinctually, after he had come back with Hal from the lake, he had felt his shift in ranks like a powerful gust of wind in his face. He was no longer a pup, he’d braved an entire year of life and with such a feat came even greater challenge.

Out and about as ever, finding it difficult to stay in one spot for any long period of time even if it were to sleep, he was passing through the territory on his way to the outer borders farthest from the communal den. It tended to be his favorite place to go, farther away from the hustle and bustle of others and somewhere that he could spend time in peace. As he was going, the scent of Hal’s father blew across in the wind.

Kino had yet to have any real formal conversation with the man, and it was something that he had also been partially avoiding for reasons he didn’t quite understand. Of course, now that the man had risen into the rank as the patriarch he knew sooner or later he’d have to have a confrontation. So, after pausing for a moment he’d decided to follow the trail and see what the man was up to. He came across Triell paused in the wood with a particularly displeased look on his face. For what reason, the silver yearling had no clue though it seemed that he might have been scenting for something. A low woof was given in prior greeting, alerting him to his presence as he approached.

Having not been up close to the king before, the lad had had no clue about the true size of the man. It seemed that they matched eye to eye in height, both of them of larger build but while the dark man was broader and brawnier Kino was more barreled and lean of stature. Still, there seemed to be a length that the king had on the boy and it made the ex-prince wonder how he could have produced such a tiny girl as his daughter. A bow of his head was given as he came to a stand-still, posture relaxed and lowered accordingly to their ranking differences. “Sir,” he addressed, before lifting himself up again. “Is there anything I can help you with, perhaps?”

Kino waited to see what kind of reaction the man might have, waited to see if he’d managed to do something right for a change. Instincts and common sense had told him what to do when greeting a leader, but Triell wasn’t just a leader. He was also a father, specifically the father of the boy’s best friend and he wanted to make as many good impressions as possible. The king had seemed like a good man from the impression that Kino had gotten from afar, and as the meeting progressed he was able to get the same impression. The dark man smiled, and the yearling knew with no doubt in his mind that this was definitely, in fact, the father of Sahalie Tainn. A small grin of his own settled onto the corners of his lips and his auds swiveled forward attentively as he spoke.

Ah, so he’d been attempting to hunt. It was a task the boy was very familiar with, having felt like he’d hunted down every last rabbit and squirrel within the spectral woods. Yet, they still kept managing to pop up. He had no complaints about it of course, considering they had many new mouths to feed. Or, rather would once they were able to eat solid food. His brows rose in surprise as Triell asked for his opinion on the matter, stunned that he would be asking him such a question. Still, this was a chance to prove himself and he wasn’t going to blow it. Stilling, he opened his jaws slightly and took a deep breath, sorting through the hundreds of scents he picked up from the world around them. Big things they needed, not the stupid little rabbits and squirrels like usual. No, they needed something actually worth something. He honed in on a woodsy scent that he knew, like sweat and grass. It was a deer, its exact age he couldn’t possibly know without looking at it directly, but he could tell that it was female. The next was more musky, like freshly rubbed bark and…something he couldn’t quite pinpoint. It was a sharp scent, something he would describe likely as bitter if they were to use taste. But, it was discernably caribou.

He turned to the king, tail giving a small swish behind his lean silver frame. “There’s a deer, I don’t know how old it is or anything but it seems pretty fresh. There’s also a caribou but I think it smells a little funny. Kind of…bitter?” While there was a lot the knowledgeable boy knew, this was not one of them. Sickness was not something he was too familiar with.