October 8th; Afternoon; Gray skies, slight chill, biting wind; Light rain; 37° F/3° C

While Mapplethorpe had much to worry about with keeping Aponi, Mercy, and Nova within their caretakers' boundaries, the grizzled man had thought of something a little more important than keeping an eye on three bustling five-month-olds. As their (adoptive) father and mentor, he ensured they knew the rules that had been laid out; though he knew absolutely nothing of Sagacity and Mercy's rows and adventures. Regardless of whether or not the cubs kept to the Pass, Mapplethorpe knew for fact that they had learned what they needed to know to survive apart from actually hunting. He would get to the bottom of that soon enough, but such a task was for another day. Today, actually, was for making sure @Aponi had been keeping her word in staying away from the Ghastly Woods. With Winter soon to come - and the early October rains being a clue to its forthcoming - he wanted to be sure her curiosity in such a thing as the Yeth Hound had been quelled by time.

All along the tree line he meandered with his nose to the cold, wet ground, checking every wilted plant and every gnarled tree root. At roughly an hour into his investigation, none bore the distinctive smell of the young Aquila's perfume which was a very, very good thing. It made him smile inwardly, while on the outside his vibrant goldenrod eyes scoped out the land with a grim stare. Truth be told, it had been days since Mapplethorpe had eaten; the hunger had only just begun to lightly gnaw at his insides but the feeling was not yet enough to warrant from him the need to fill his stomach. It had also been days since Mapplethorpe had smiled. Even though everything had been well, the pack had been kept in decent health, and his affections had been returned by @Naira, the masked brute just... somehow had no need to grin or even smirk.

Continuing along his aimless path with the dense forest on his left side, he briefly eyed the mountainside where he knew the pack was safely being kept sheltered from the worst of the biting winds. Down on the forest floor, everything seemed manageable enough to continue along his walk but it was with a stinging, near-frozen nose that he persisted making his round along the edges of his and Naira's territory.

In his head he had started to count the number of caches he tended to and checked up on. Down the slope from the communal den, the first gnarled tree on the left leading into Red Fern Forest, one by a pair of scrub pines, one by Naira's old den, one by Rhysis' old cave, two by his old dead tree... and a couple others scattered about the stone-embellished lands. He recalled having emptied the hoard of rabbit parts he had stowed away by Naira's birthing den that had been used nearly half a year ago, but that had been roughly eight... eight? No. Twelve days prior to today. Mapplethorpe took a deep breath, now simply aware of the emptiness in his stomach and pleased the hunger pains had not yet struck. Over these past few days he had been very busy in keeping a mental checklist in his head:

1. Fill all empty caches.
   
2. Think about organizing pack hunt. Or maybe not.
   Filling the pack's caches should do for now... Hopefully.
   
3. Organize tracking assignment for cubs.
   
4. Hunt. (Rabbits, marmots, anything...)
   
5. Check on Taima.
   
6. Check the caches near the dead tree.
   
7. Check in with Naira.
   
8. Eat something. (Hungry or not...)
   

With the wind against his face and in his ears Mapplethorpe was barely made aware of his daughter's presence. Even the light pitter-patter of the rainfall was enough to mask Aponi's slight giggle. Ears forward and eyes carefully assessing the path before him, he strode onward, casting his gaze behind him just once to make sure he wasn't being followed. In his task-oriented state of mind, he had failed to notice or even sense anything or anyone that might have been out of place and started to move onward...

Everything seemed to be going along smoothly when something leapt towards him in a blur of black fur. His eyes widened and his lips drew up to reveal his clenched teeth. His attacker had been quick and he barely had time to catch himself, soon toppling over on his side to find that his limbs were also entangled with another set of legs. "Gotcha!" an all-too-familiar voice hollered, followed by the sort of giggle-fit that suggested utter happiness. The mottled man's head came up to look at his assailant but he did not need to look twice to realize that Aponi had been the one who had gotten him fair and square... as usual.

She beamed up at him and her look alone with the sound of her chortling had been enough to make exchange his vexed facial expression for a gentler, exasperated, and ultimately relieved one. Water droplets fell from his nose and ears as he attempted to right himself, shifting about on his side to try a sort of half-twisted sphinx-like position. He raised a whiskered brow at her, half a smile tugging at his masked features. "Apparently..." he mused.

He steadied himself on his left elbow but remained in the grass, still rather amused by the growing cub at his side. A part of him was still amazed that she had come quite a way from the small ball of black fur that constantly needed a bedtime story to properly settle down for the night. Though, noticing her coat lighten with a distinctive silver had helped him come to terms that she wouldn't be his little girl forever. She was maturing fast and he could only hope that moments like these would last for a while.

At long last the other half of his smile came up and he reached over to bump her nose with his before withdrawing it. "That was pretty good, could probably catch a decent meal with a move like that."

She sang out in triumph and Mapplethorpe had to stifle back a chortle that was building up in his throat. Though he would never admit it aloud, even to Naira or Aponi herself, Aponi was his favorite. Even during the times in which she reminded him sorely of his sister Cézanne, he loved her the most. There was a certain air about her, a sort of passion that seemed as though it could never be stamped out. For that, he admired her and adored her above the other youths in their pack.

"You mean like a real hunt?" she trilled. "Will you teach me?"

"Uh," the Consort stumbled over his words, already weighing the benefits of teaching her and the consequences that would become the fallout of such a feat soon after - mainly, how Mercy and Nova would be prone to becoming easy "target practice."

"Oh pleeaaasseeee, please please please, I promise I'll be really good and won't get in the way!" she persisted and the grizzled man let out an audible sigh. He arched a brow as he righted himself, sitting up so that he could finally get a decent look at her, to see up close the becoming silver and grays of her adult coat that were beginning to mark her as an upcoming young lady. "In the rain, Princess?" he asked, as though the rain had begun to bother him so. "Perhaps another day..."

He braced himself for the disappointment and the rebellion that could have marred her comely face any moment. "The does are tucking their families into the thickets and the foxes and rabbits are all snug in their dens by now," he explained, hoping that his daughter would not be too crestfallen or cross with him. "I can take you to one of the rabbit holes I watch, though," he hastily offered. "Maybe you can help me keep an eye on it; perhaps by Springtime it will have grown into a developing warren."