Blackberry Fields watch me move

Though nervous — reasonably so, too — Junai entered the herd with confidence, covering her small fear with nonchalance and though it was only a mask Indru knew the confidence would start to worm inside her too. He watched her prowl through the herd, remembering what she had been taught as a puppy, the questions the adults had quizzed them on helping them to identify which were weak and which were strong. She's not bad, Indru called to Ruiko, keeping his voice low enough for Junai not to hear, after he had closed the gap between them slightly, eye not leaving his younger sister in case she got too confident and chased the wrong deer and risked injury.

After a while Junai left them and Indru saw them settle almost immediately though many of them had not forgotten the presence of the wolves on their side, waiting. As Junai spoke he turned his eyes back to the herd, searching for the one she had found and gently lifting his nose to scent the air. Indru inhaled, analysing it for a moment before he nodded, the scent from that area gave away hints of worms and though he was not certain which the scent belonged too he wanted to show he trusted her. Yes, okay. Turning to Ruiko he nodded, knowing his brother would be following the conversation and be aware of the deer in question. Yet Indru's eyes held his own question and with a short lift of his shoulder he delegated to Ruiko to decide, his brother held the most muscle after all and at her age Junai would merely act as a runner, chasing the deer in her two brother's direction where they would both tackle the scared deer. It made sense for his brother to place himself where he felt he would be most effective and Indru to work around him in this case.

And so the instinctive dance for the wolves began. Indru had darted amongst the herd, revealing to Junai the most effective way to determine the weakest of the herd. The beasts were nervous.. shifting, their eyes straying to the danger of wolf every so often, and yet arrogantly confidant that it was not them who would be on the menu. It was the natural way of life, and the solid male stood stoically, his eyes boring down upon his siblings, his muscles tense and ready to spring in to action when needed.

The dark yearling was quick to try her own paw at the task, and the Tainn brother watched her through expressionless yet gleaming golden eyes. Her slender body was perfect for agility, though he watched her hesitate. She was seemingly trying to capture the weakest with only her eyes, and the tawny wolf recalled the day Rihael had taken he, Indru, and Niija on one of their first hunts. The great wolf had explained the natural balance of life, and how the wolves kept the sick and dying prey from hindering the strong. It seemed like a life time ago, now.

Indru’s words drew him from his reverie, and the brother cast a sharp glance to his leader. A derisive snort was given; the brown wolf shrugged his shoulders slightly, not willing to give the girl a compliment until she fully earned it. As Junai returned, having made her selection, Ruiko kept his stoical silence, his eyes falling upon the beast she believed to be one of the weakest. Indru gave his go, and Ruiko gave a nod of compliance. His first choice would have been the elderly deer – but his young sister was seemingly too proud to try for easy pickings, and Ruiko could only hope none of them would sustain an injury because of her will to try to please Indru. As he knew Indru waited for him, the Tainn brother’s eyes instead fell upon Junai. “And how do you think it would be best to proceed our hunt?” This was, after all, a lesson, and he was curious to what her hunting tactics would be. His expectations of Junai had greatly improved in these small moments, and giving a traded glance with Indru, the two males continued to teach the yearling, only realizing how late the day was growing when the sun began to drift lower in to the sky.

(This post was last modified: Jan 12, 2011, 12:52 AM by Ruiko.)