Nomads Pass Fast Food

Lesson for the kids in hunting. I imagine at this point there will be a lot of pushing it over and flailing about :P Others welcome to join but will go onto round two once the kids have replied. For @Aponi, @Nova & @Mercy

life is not a song sweetling

• NAIRA AQUILA •

you may learn that one day to your sorrow

It had only been a matter of timing. The doe’s sides had been heaving for hours and the tawny leader knew the signs. She was young, it was probably her first, and as the deer left her herd to birth the babe, the silent predator had followed. She could call for back up, it would be an easy meal, but something held her back. She settled amongst the bracken while the laboring mother birthed but something was amiss. Once the fawn was on the ground the mother only turned to nudge at it a moment or two before startling and fleeing back to her herd. It left her more than confused, for the little sides heaved with breath and the child bleated for it’s mother but she did not return. Perhaps there was something wrong with the babe? Not that it would matter to her.

She didn’t even need to be cautious in her approach. The misshapen fawn flailed, struggling to get to it’s feet, already perceiving the tawny monster as a threat. She took it’s skull between her jaws much as she would with her own young, firm so as not to loose her grip but light enough that the creature would not be killed. Not yet. Life was cruel and there were lessons to be learned.

The children were growing quickly, already able to venture further and further from the den. @Aponi was proving herself in leaps and bounds, and @Nova’s eyes had begun to morph from puppy blue to a deeper shade of gold than her mothers. Every time she looked at the girl it was @Triell she saw staring back and she continued to question, had she taken some small part of him with her that night?

@Mercy was growing as well. She was sure that in time he would prove himself an asset, until then, she would continue to do all she could to prepare the boy as well as her own children to be a functional member of their pack. Her blood or not, she had accepted him as one of hers that day at the borders and while it was @Sagacity who raised him, she would fight just a fiercely for his safety as she would for her own children.

The fawn was flailing with increasing strength as she reached the small clearing outside of their new den, and she dropped the fawn, confident that even if it managed to find it’s feet that it wouldn’t be able to run too far. @Mapplethorpe had been by recently but the children were beyond needing to be watched every moment of the day. She chuffed into the depths of their den, hoping to wake them. “Time to hunt little ones.” she called playfully into the dark before moving back to guard their ‘prey’, just in time to see the fawn gain it’s feet for the first time in it’s soon to be very short life.

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Aponi Aquila The princess had woken up just a few moments before her mother's call, she had been busying herself by cooking up plans to prank her sister. She had been sunken down into a stalking pose when her Ma had called, freezing her in her own tracks, her ears cocking to the entrance of the cave. Hunt? What's a hunt? only the grown ups talk about hunts and then they come with food.......did Momma bring us food? The gears turned quickly in her head, which was much too large for her body, and the thought of food caused her stomach to gurgle noisily. Taking off at top speed she sprinted for the entrance, wobbling once or twice as her feet got caught upon the ground, they seemed to have doubled in size over the past week and Aponi still wasn't used to them. Bursting through the entrance the girl skidded to a stop, her feet scrabbling for purchase upon the rock as she slid, her eyes squinted into slits as they adjusted to the light. Once the blue orbs became accustomed to the outside they widened suddenly as they took in the sights of her Ma and that....thing. Was that a hunt? It was huge, and it was...moving, her nose wriggled as she took in the scent of the strange thing. It certainly smelled like food, but she had never seen food move like that, or sound like that, the poor thing was bleating helplessly for its mother who would not come. Maybe it was a new friend Momma had brought home, maybe it's name was just Hunt, yes that seemed like good answer. So since it was a friend it would want to play right? With this in mind Aponi launched herself towards the fawn, calling out towards it, "Hunt has to play!" Laughter racked through her body as she head butted the things leg before running away calling, "You're it! You're it!" Which didn't seem to work, Hunt just stared at her and bleated some more, it didn't chase her like any good friend would do. A tiny growl came from her jaws now, this new friend was no fun and she would have to teach Hunt how to play the game. Stomping back up to the fawn she growled once more, frustrated that her game wasn't going the way she wanted it to. Leaping upwards she grabbed the floppy ear and locked her jaws upon it, once her paws reached the ground once more she flailed her head from side to side like when she wrestled her sister. Unlike when wrestling Nova though, a sweet taste filled her mouth and the girl released the ear in surprise, a small amount of blood had trickled into her mouth. Turning to her mother her eyes practically the size of saucers she exclaimed, "Hunt is.....food!?" In her small world this was unheard of, food didn't walk or make sounds, food was brought by her Momma or Pa or the other grown ups from outside.

Oblivious to her sister's plotting, Nova whipped her head around towards the entrance of the cave as her mamma's voice filtered in towards them. The word 'hunt' didn't hold much significance to her yet, having heard it a few times before but not knowing what it meant. But often their mom brought them special things, presents of food, things to chew on, even just her presence, and Nova expected no less as she awkwardly galloped out of the den after Aponi.

It was an odd present Nova was confronted with as she blinked her now yellow-tinged eyes in the glare of the daylight. The creature smelled similar to the small scraps of meat that would be brought back or regurgitated for them, but unlike those scraps this thing was moving. It was some sort of animal, that was for sure, but with its long, stick-like legs and ears shaped like giant leaves Nova had never seen anything like it before. It kept making eerie wails as it stumbled about, making Nova take a couple steps back from it.

Nova wasn't quite sure to do with the... well, Hunt, as her sister had called it. It didn't really look like the Hunt had wanted to play, but knowing her sister the Hunt wouldn't have much choice in the matter. Nova trailed at Aponi's heels, lacking the certainty of her sister's playful movements but barking at the fawn in some combination of excitement and doubt.

Nova didn't particularly like the wrestling game, especially when her sister got the upper hand. It seemed Hunt wasn't too fond of the game, either, and in its struggles Aponi's teeth cut it's ear. The scent of deer's blood, something Nova knew, finally connected the dots for the girl as Aponi declared her identical discovery aloud. This thing was food?! Nova glanced towards their mom, yellow eyes wide and incredulous.

"How we s'posed to eat it? How we gotta hunted the Hunt?" Nova wondered aloud. Hunt was something you did, and then there was food, right? Nova couldn't see how this fuzzy bleating thing had anything to do with eating.

life is not a song sweetling

• NAIRA AQUILA •

you may learn that one day to your sorrow

It would seem that @Mercy would not be joining them today, and although the absence of not only the boy but @Asta and @Sagacity both riled and concerned her a little, the concern was quickly put to the side as her own anger grew. Obviously she placed a higher value on the true born heirs of the pack over the foundling, and while it would make sense for one woman or both to take the boy out for his own lessons, her anger that her own children had been left unattended was barely masked (although she promptly convinced herself with a cursory sniff that Asta had left far more recently than Sagacity).

Her attention was promptly drawn back to her daughters as their voices sung in her ears. Pushing her anger down and taking note to remind the subordinate of her position once she returned from wherever she had taken off to with the boy, a smile was quick to take to her face, her tail waving about reassuringly as their questions fell about her. “My darling daughters, this is a fawn, not a hunt. Hunt is what you have to do to eat. If you don’t hunt, you will go hungry.” she explained patiently, turning herself about to sit comfortably.

“Grown up deer are much faster than fawns little ones. It’s easier to catch your dinner if you knock it over first.” She suggested with a smile, deciding to leave the children to their own devices momentarily, waiting to see what other pointers they may need.

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Aponi Aquila Her mother doesn't seem at all worried about how they were going to eat this....what did she call it? A Fu-awn? Blue eyes stared at the tall strange thing and she repeated in wonder, "Fu-Awn!" Furrowing her brow she looked at the thing, she didn't like being hungry but Aponi didn't see how she was supposed to eat this thing. The girl circled around it giving the fu-awn a death stare, willing it to give up and turn into edible food out of sheer fear of her wrath. The stare didn't work so she tried a growl, a sound she had discover she could make while her protecting her father from the yeth hound. Delighted that she could still make the sound the princess made it again, shocking herself as she felt her hackles rise instinctively, this had never happened before. Taking her mother's advice Aponi charged at the Fu-Awn, ducking her head down and running skull first towards the weird thing. Slamming into its leg the princess looked upwards to see if the thing fell over, but it had merely lifted its leg and stepped over her bleating helplessly. Now she was frustrated, she had heat butted the Fu-Awn and it hadn't even moved, another growl ripped through her, a snarl much larger than the girl was herself. Well if bark wouldn't work she would have to try bite, rearing up on her hind legs the girl reached as far up the fu-awns leg as possible and latched on. Flailing her head around she tore at the skin but stayed holding on to the inside of its leg. Aponi would not let go until the thing fell.

Late, but I figured better late than never!

Grasshoppers. There was something so satisfying about catching one, but the way they crackled and crunched in his mouth was really quite unpleasant. Still, it was better than nothing and unlike other bugs, they couldn't fly away. Well, some of them could. Some had wings that they otherwise kept concealed- but there were a few which could only flutter a bit before touching down again and those he could handle. They were more satisfying, at least, than crickets, which were more of an evening critter. They were easy to hear untiil he got to a crucial distance...At which point they became damn near impossible to locate, due to their low profile and stealthy methods of disappearing in an instant. No, he'd much prefer to hunt grasshoppers.

Needless to say, the pup was quite shocked when he returned to the den area with his mother to see the hunting lesson the girls were getting. Having left not long after their babysitter took her leave, Mercy had quickly been caught by his mother who shooed him all the way back to the den area as soon as she found him wandering and as soon as he told her Asta had left the densite before either she or Naira had returned. The little boy's run came to a quick halt when he saw that Naira had brought back a fawn with her- one that looked sickly and unnaturally grim. Mercy hadn't seen much in the way of real prey, but he knew immediately that this one wasn't healthy.

Aponi was already upon the creature, which looked terrified and half dead already, though sheer terror kept it going. "Ma?" He asked with a high, sweet voice, looking up at his mother before looking to Naira,who he naturally went to greet next, trotting to the alpha female of the pack with his head and body held low, tail swinging furiously back and forth between his ankles.With a high and eager whine he greeted her, lifting his head to lick at her chin in a manner he'd been taught, one to show affection, need and respect. With his stormy and bright greyish blue eyes he looked on, hoping desperately that he would be invited into the game as well- but he knew his place and did not interfere, though it took every bit of reservation that he had.

Though it wasn't unusual for the Crowchild to do some adventuring on his own, Sagacity did not like him wandering far from the den, especially when he had no one with him. As soon as she saw him blithely hopping after a grasshopper she zoned in and went straight toward him. Her eyebrows lifted as she saw him bounce and catch the critter, and grimaced lightly when she saw him bite the thing, two legs falling from his mouth before he dropped the bedraggled, dead bug. Quick questioning brought forth the answer- he'd left the den and Naira hadn't returned, nor was Asta there. So, knowing this meant that the girls had been left on their own, she quickly shooed her boy back in the direction he'd come from, one grasshopper leg still dangling from his whiskers.

Naira had reached the den before Sagacity and she saw with relief that both girls were doing fine- and were both in the middle of hunting down a fawn which Naira had likely caught for them, unless Asta had come back and then left. By the scent of it, she doubted this highly and gave a quick look to Naira, as though to say I came as soon as I found out. Her attention was stolen by her son's flute-like voice and she nodded, watching as he went to greet Naira.

Once her son had finished making an adorable fuss over the alpha female, Sagacity moved in to touch her nose to Naira's jawline affectionately, taking her place beside the alpha female.She said nothing to her son though his eyes sought some sort of answer to his question- he wanted to hunt too, but he was held back. Sagacity was proud of her boy- he was eager to hunt with the girls, but waited for permission to do so. Truth be told, Sagacity felt that Naira loved her boy as though he was one of hers, and as far as she knew, the boy, being blood-related to no one in the pack,might as well have been hers. Had Naira decided to raise the boy on her own, Sagacity would have been deeply jealous- but as it was, she still considered herself his primary caregiver, and he called her 'ma.' Naira, however, was a second mother to her boy who clearly loved her dearly. She watched as Aponi doggedly bit down on the fawn's leg and refused to let go, shaking her head this way and that.Sagacity uttered a quiet chuff of approval, smiling as she watched. She was bold, especially when compared to her more reserved sister. She would make an excellent guardian or hunter, whereas she figured Nova might lean toward taking up a practice like puppysitting or advising.

Avatars by Arla!