Sex: MaleUnitas had a wolfish grin plastered upon his face while he looked over the trail. Iopah was quick to appear by his side while the boy mulled over how much he really wanted to be here trailing after prey or not. He was already full so he had no want to chase the big deer, but socializing with pack mates once in a while felt nice. It was why he hadn't simply wandered off yet, because Tas did not often socialize with Iopah other than when she watched Unitas and his siblings around the den. Pacem on the other paw he saw all too often, so Tas felt rather neutral to the idea of hanging with his dear brother. Tas had barely heard Iopah speak to Pacem about their prey. He noted the information she gave with only slight interested in the facts about the animal's prints. Instead he moved away from them continuing along the path that the deer had taken. The boy was silent as a ghost picking through their brush strewn territory with ease. He kept to the shadows of the trees and bushes while following the bucks trail. One velvety black ear twitched backwards as Unitas sensed Iopah still slinking along beside him. At times she slipped behind him, but mostly the she wolf's pale gray form was at his side watching carefully. The crunching of leaves in the distance made Unitas stop in his tracks to listen. His ears strained forward while his body tensed. The smell of deer, of prime adult buck no less, swamped his senses while the breeze drifted their direction. Tas wasn't sure if their prey had spotted them yet, or if it had heard their approach. One thing he was sure of, it had been the one making noise in the thicket. Deer were not silent creatures as they stomped through the dried leaves of their home. However even if one could hear them that did not mean you would see them. For Tas knew that they were fleet footed in the woods. Every other time he had come across a fresh trail of one in the past he had always been found out by the deer due to his inexperience. The things had always darted off never to be seen by the black pup. Tis why he had begun chasing the smaller more dumb creatures like rabbits as of late. They were an easier target than the sharp deer that shared their forested home. |
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Well... they weren't side by side, but at least the two boys were both in her field of vision now. It was an improvement that she was going to have to be satisfied with. She was once again trailing after when the deer gave it's presence away. Iopah came to a smooth stop; ears swerving in it's direction and eyes watching Unitas. What she would have done in this situation was likely to be in stark contrast to an experienced energetic youth. But this was their hunt, their lesson. Iopah forced herself to hold her ground, letting the boys do what they wanted now. She was here only if the situation became dangerous, but she didn't expect the boys to catch it, much less the deer to let them corner it.
To her surprise Unitas did not race forward in a flurry of activity. His ears swiveled and she saw his nose lift to the air. A swell of pride rose as golden eyes turned to find Pacem doing the same. She waited for several long moments, attention switching from the deer to the pups. This was their hunt, she was determined not to make their decisions for them. It wasn't until she glanced over at Pacem that she realized they were waiting for her.
She eased forward, the sound of her steps the same volume as her voice. "The easy part is finding and making it run." Glimpses of slow, carefree movement through the thicket told her this deer had not started to run. A check of the wind showed it was in their favor, so the deer didn't even know yet. "The hard part is part is bringing it down without getting kicked to death." There was no malice or sarcasm in the warning, but she didn't glance at either child to soften the words. She cared too much for them to mince her words. This was a lesson and they had to know that wolves sometimes died while hunting. "If we approach together from this direction it will run from that thick brush and we can chase it." That is... if they still wanted to after the grisly warning Iopah had given.
Unitas didn't keep an eye on where his brother Pacem was or what he was doing. Instead he concentrated on the location of the deer and on Iopah's voice. Her warning was noted, but like the naive youth that he was Unitas could only think ...that won't happen to me, I'm too fast... as he scented at the air. He had not gotten seriously hurt from chasing something ever in his life and today was not going to be the day that he got hurt by his prey. The boy thought himself as practically invincible. The doe still didn't realize that they were there. A cruel smile played upon his ebony lips as Tas slunk forward readying himself for the chase. A bird high up in the trees chirped loudly in alarm causing Unitas to stop in his tracks. He fell silent and still as a the shadows of the tree trunks surrounding them. The doe looked up from its place alert for the impending danger. Tas was close enough to see her ears swivel back and forth listening for the creatures she could not yet smell or see. After a few moments the doe went back to browsing through the undergrowth. He steps forward a few more paces tensing his back and leg muscles ever so tightly until... "CRASH!" The sound of exploding leaves to Unitas's left sent the dark lad chasing after the creature who had fled from his presence. A rabbit distracted the young Hervok so badly that he had begun chasing it instead of the doe. Then when he spotted the doe's white flag of a tail bouncing away through the undergrowth he turned and began to chase her instead of the measly rabbit. The boy was far behind though, and in the back of his head he knew that he wasn't going to catch up to the frightened deer. He was enjoying the run though, and so decided to not stop the chase until Iopah commanded it. "Speech" |
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Iopah froze at the unexpected rustle of leaves, tawny ears sweeping forward as body crouched to hide in the foliage. Her body leaned ever so slightly to the left and she peered through the sparse brush for their prey, wondering what the hell was going on. The doe seemed just as shocked as her, it stared with unexpressive brown eyes at the forest. The huntress eased a breath out and moved to creep forward again. She wasn't sure what that noise was, but it might make the hunt easier. The doe was distracted now. Slender legs stepped wide, hoping to come from an angle the deer wouldn't expect.
Only one foot had been carefully placed before another crash made her ears swivel. This time the deer did not hesitate. It sprang away with a sharp strike of it's hind feet to the ground. The deer ran one way and Unitas ran the other. Iopah started in both directions, tempted by the sight of their fleeing quarry and intrigued by whatever Unitas was pursuing. She took three steps towards Unitas, until the lad stopped and raced in the opposite direction. Iopah didn't follow him.
This hunt had become a bust and she wasn't going to waste energy while the youth figured out his mistake. The deer was far enough ahead, that she knew he would never catch up. There was no risk of the deer kicking him. She let the deer vanish from sight, running deeper into the thick brush that she'd meant to chase it from. The chase was hopeless and he would learn that soon enough. Patiently, and with and enduring sigh, she sat to wait for Unitas to return.
Unitas had continued chasing the deer until it was long out of sight. He had expected Iopah to call for him or make him stop but that never happened. So when the boy became bored of running he began to slow. Eventually his paw steps ceased as the dark wolf's sides heaved for breath. He glanced around behind him and found nobody there. Once again he was alone. He heaved a sigh between heavy breaths before looking around to see where he had run to. The deer had led him to the northern border of the wolves territory. The trees grew thicker here, and the sounds of woodpeckers banging on the trunks resonated through the forest. Not entirely unhappy with the way things had gone, Unitas turned around to wander slowly back towards where he had last saw Iopah. She would probably be angry with him, but then again was it really his fault? Every wolf would have been distracted by a rabbit fleeing from practically right under their nose. At least, that was the way Tas saw it. He didn't want to blame himself for the failed hunt. As he meandered back through Secret Woodlands territory, Tas enjoyed the sights and smells of the forest. It was very nice out today. His senses tingled as the noises of smaller creatures crashed through the leaf litter around him. The smells of rotting wood and mold filled his nose while an owl hooted not too far off. Maybe he could find where that rabbit went. It would surely be an easier target than any deer. Though the idea of hunting in general now bored him despite the fact that prey was around. The urge to roam gripped the youth once more as he continued forth decreasing the distance between Iopah and himself. Then he stopped. Do I really have to meet with Iopah again? It's not like she called me back... The idea of slipping across the border and looking around at the neighboring lands became much more tempting. His head turned to look into the direction he had come from as Unitas debated on what to do next. (Unless Iopah goes to get him Unitas will probably wander outside of the territory for a while as his exit) |
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After several long minutes she finally realized Unitas was not coming back as expected. Iopah had long since let Pacem return to his own activities; there was no sense in him waiting with her. She expected Pacem had seen enough to realize the mistake of chasing after mere distractions, he didn't need to be present when Iopah explained what went wrong to his older brother. The Barberi woman was alone -still sitting on the cold ground- as too many minutes ticked by. Finally she rose and swiftly darted into the brush after the youth.
Perhaps she'd underestimated Unitas and he'd managed to catch up with the fleeing buck? Her pace was swift through the forest, worry pushing her along. Anything could have happened after she'd let the boy race out of sight. An image come to her from the past and the winter-bare tree branches slapped her face as the woman hurried faster. Please let him be alright!
Finally she caught sight of a moving, shifting patch of black fur and stumbled to a stop. Heart thudding in her chest and throat thick with worry, Iopah said nothing. Her eyes scoured the boys limbs and flicked to the snowy ground around in a panicked inspection. No blood, no injury. Good, good. Pale ears flicked forward and a confused smile bent her lips as she watched. So then, what was he doing? Maybe, perhaps, he had found something else to track and hunt? It was a worth-while excuse and the smile lingered as she glanced around for some sort of prey. Again nothing. The smile faded and ears slumped back when her gaze landed on Unitas again. Was he just... leaving without word?
The air was cold as Iopah let Unitas wander out of sight. His earlier distraction was not nearly as bad as him leaving her in the midst of a hunt. How could she trust a wolf that might abandon his packmates during a chase? She couldn't, it was a dangerous situation that she would never allow. Iopah wove between tightly growing trees, thoroughly discomfited with the incident. The youth could have all the time alone he wanted, free of any further hunting lessons, until he proved himself as trustworthy.