Heartleaf Creek you're gonna go far, kid

@Jessie and @Drestig if you want as well. :3 Hope this is okay!

Her clean bill of health had Pip itching to get away from pack territory. It wasn't that she disliked the cedar trees or any of the wolves within the pack. As a matter of fact, the yearling was far fonder of them than she had ever expected possible. But being stopped up in the den for healing and constantly surrounded by others with scarcely a moment to herself to breathe, the agouti female needed the space to be in her own company for a while.

Despite the cold temperatures and patchy snow on the ground which belied every other sign of spring, Pip yearned for fishing. However, her usual spots were likely to have frequent visitors from her packmates. Part of her felt guilty that she wanted to avoid them for a while. They were kind and gentle with her, though sometimes overwhelmingly so.

But not today! Today, she was after a good fishing trip! Having heard of a deeper river to the east, the yearling broke off into a fast lope, making good time. The limp which had been so prominent before was scarcely evident in her stride, though her rear left leg maintained ugly scars of her run-in with a beaver.

Pip slowed when sounds of the river reached her russett ears and trotted onward with some pep in her step. The wind wasn't enough that she felt the cold, though she knew the water would still maintain winter's bite.

The yearling froze mid-step, nose lifting into the air. What is that? A thick, musky scent was plain to smell in the air. Her muzzle tilted down to note hoof prints in the mud beneath her paws. Curiosity had the young female dropping her head to press her nose directly against the ground to follow the scent. Without the proper training for air-tracking, Pip tried the only thing that made sense to her with her limited knowledge; nose-to-ground follow the scent!

Of course, if she had any experience with air-tracking, she would likely have scented not only the hoofed prey, but wolf as well. Blissfully unaware, the yearling continued her sad attempt at tracking.

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Never in her life had she been described as an overtly clingy wolf and Jessie did not plan on changing that in the future. It was why she took respite from @Drestig  whenever their travels would allow. She cared for him deeply but the widowed Tainn knew that if they were attached to the hip that the only thing they would do was bicker and she was in no mood to do so. There was a certain amount of peace that came with coming back to the western side of the lore. It was where she had first come in her travels and it was the land that she knew best, despite the fact that she had lived on the other side of the mountains for the past two years. It was like greeting an old friend. Drestig was a different case, he had not lived over here, but Jessie did not push him to ask for help in navigating the land. After all, he was a fellow Scout, just like she and the emerald eyed woman had trained him. While Jess was wandering, the wind patterns informed her of a nearby herd of deer. She was quick to follow the scent, pleased that she had found such a thing. Of course, she wouldn’t be able to take one down with help from someone else, perhaps two someone elses, but would be a fun game for her to see how long it would take them to find out if she was there. And later on, it would benefit Drestig and her to know where they were. The pepper-and-salt colored woman moved quickly, her small body moved close to the ground, her emerald eyes sharp as they took in the herd. However, her game would never be able to start because it was disturbed by movement. Her jaws opened slightly, her gaze moving towards the wolf that was moving closer to the herd, completely oblivious! Jessie’s eyebrows creased, slightly upset by how incredibly simple this should have been. Conflicted at what to do, but too far away to intercept the other wolf, Jessie let a small growl pass by her lips in hopes of gathering the other wolf’s attention away from whatever the hell she thought she was doing. Jessie Tainn

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@Jessie <3

Other wolves made hunting seem so easy. Back in Bella Coola, Pip would watch the hunters go off into the woods and return later with game, both large and small. The entire process was a mystery to the yearling as no one deemed her worthy or intelligent enough to be a hunter. In fact, she was fairly certain no one would have taught her how to fish either had she not been spotted trying to catch a gar one day in the shallows by herself. She'd spotted an older packmate in the waves earlier that day and opted to try it out for herself. Only then did her mother think to introduce her to the mechanics of fishing. Sometimes she wondered if she'd wandered off into the woods if she would have been taught to hunt as well.

Well, she was going to learn now. By trial and error if she had to. @Yvly would teach her, no doubt. It was just communicating the desire that was the problem. Her friend had already somewhat introduced her to hunting when she asked for her help in scaring rabbits from their burrows. It couldn't be all that different.

But these things didn't smell like rabbits, whatever they were. They smelled bigger, though the only reason she guessed that was due to the strength of their scent. Or did that mean they were closer?

She didn't have time to figure it out on her own. Russet ears darted forward to catch the unmistakable sound of a growling wolf. Immediately, Pip's tail tucked tightly between her legs and she hunkered down where she stood, orange eyes scanning the trees for any hint of who had taken offense to her presence. Nervously, she let out a chirp as if to apologize for whatever it was she'd done that had made them upset.

(This post was last modified: Mar 28, 2016, 01:56 AM by Pip.)

The other wolf seemed to acknowledge her fault and crouched in place like a scared little pup. This only continued to annoy Jessie more. The older woman clenched her jaw as the other girl let out a high pitched chirp. The huntress froze, emerald eyes moving to focus on the herd. It seemed that they had heard the noise to and their eyes were wide. Jessie made no movement and clung to the hope that the child didn't either. After several moment, the deer continued their grazing and Jessie relaxed, her heated gaze returning to the ignorant child. Jessie huffed softly, doing her best not to lose her temper as to not alert the prey that she was nearby. The pepper-and-salt colored woman crept forward, keeping low to the ground and downwind of her prey. Her voice was a low hiss when she spoke, ”Come over here now.” The child must have only been a yearling and clearly did not know what she was doing. The Tainn knew that she could not do this on her own and could enlist the child as her help but she had come explaining to do before she would be able to do anything. Hopefully, the child would not make any loud noises. Her voice was still a quiet hiss, ”Be silent.” Her emerald eyes glared daggers at the other wolf, furious that she had almost ruined her chance to have fresh kill. Drestig would also appreciate a chance to have some fresh food in his stomach she was sure. After all, now that they were no longer a part of Oak Tree Bend, it was harder for them to find sustenance. Jessie Tainn

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@Jessie - Pip's the biggest scaredy cat ever. x3

Pip recognized the tone of a furious wolf. The yearling wanted very much to shrink so much that she could simply disappear from sight, especially as the gray female finally came into view. Whether from a packmate or not, the agouti female was entirely incapable of ignoring an order from a more dominant wolf. Of course, that included nearly every other wolf in existence considering Pip's meek personality.

Her paws visibly shook as she crawled with agonizing slowness towards the angry female. Upon reaching the paws of the lording woman, Pip didn't bother attempting to stand; she merely lay before her, ready to roll and expose her belly at a moment's notice. Instead, the order came for her to be silent. Unbelievably even to herself, tears pricked at the sensitive yearling's eyes. The only noise she was capable of making - hardly more than a bird's chirp - was considered even too much. Be silent. She could do that. She most certainly could do that.

Miserably, Pip rolled to her back, at a loss for any other way to appeal to the stranger's better nature. Though nerves stiffened her back, the Grizzly Hollow wolf forced herself to lay still and relaxed so as not to encourage any retribution taken out of her hide in earnest. She could only hope her tucked tail and submissive posture would be enough to prevent any unwanted bites.

The child was actually nauseating to watch as she slunk over to Jessie's side. She was a small, pathetic thing and the Tainn almost regretted her choice in asking for her assistance. The only thing that made her stay was the sharp stab in her stomach reminding herself that she was hungry and that she was no longer feeding just herself. The gray woman watched, disgusted as the yearling rolled onto her back threatened by Jessie, who was, possibly, even smaller than her. The older woman simply starred for a few moments, perplexed as to what she was to do. Emerald eyes glanced back up towards the herd that was on the move again. Agitation bubbled beneath the surface and the woman's cold eyes raked back towards the child's form. She made sure to keep her voice calm but firm, ”Get up and stop acting like a child. I could have killed you by now if I were a predator...” Her eyebrows crunched together in a stern expression, lips pressed together in a thin line. If this was what leading was like, then she was glad that she had passed the title along to Spieden. Licking her lips, she mentioned back towards the herd, but only once the yearling had gotten back on her feet. ”Now then,” she continued softly, ”would you like to help me hunt down one of these beasts or not?” Her gaze was pinned on the herd, not wanting to intimidate the child any more than she already had.  Besides, if the yearling did not help her to take down the deer than she would not have any nourishment for herself and she could not take being another let down for herself, or to Drestig. Jessie Tainn

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@Jessie - There's that 3 wolf minimum of taking down deer. Maybe if that find an injured one that can't run very well, they can get away with just the 2 of them?

This woman reminded her of Tullulah. Her Aunt was a hard woman with little love for the mute girl, often taking out her frustration on Pip's meek hide. Even if this one didn't bite her, her words stung enough to be worse than a bite. As commanded of her, the little wolf stood on shaky paws, though her back was arched and tail remained firmly tucked between her legs. With the stranger's scent now fully infiltrating her nose, Pip was certain this was no packmate. Oh, how she wished she'd not left the territory this morning. If being stooped up for weeks on end had saved her from this kind of treatment, she would willingly isolate herself again.

Though her russet ears didn't flicker forward from where they lay flat against her head, they did twitch as the wolf spoke to her more calmly. Take down one of what beasts? Confused, the girl's orange gaze managed to lift from off the floor to follow the track of the gray female's muzzle. She spotted them then, the roving herd, and understanding dawned. The female must have been hunting them before and she nearly ruined the hunt. Embarrassment left her face feeling hot beneath her fur. This was why she was best suited along the waterways. Fish were forgetful once spooked and she had more sense around them than with these land prey.

Belatedly, Pip processed the female's request. Wait, hunt them? Me? But they were huge! What if they stomped on her or gored her with those horns? She'd only just learned how to track and catch rabbit. Catching something like that seemed an impossible task, even with the older woman to help.

But even if it was phrased as a question, Pip didn't feel like she had much of a choice. Did she want to help? Well, she was honestly afraid to refuse. Was she capable of helping? Her confidence in that aspect was horribly lacking. But as an answer, Pip simply nodded. Whether she wanted to or not, she would try her best.

Also going to tag @Drestig if Puppy wants to jump in at this point.

The child seemed to finally understand what was happening and if Jessie wasn't so hungry, she probably would have made a snappy response about how oblivious the yearling was. All she received in response from the creamy girl as she took herself off the ground was a silent nod. With a small huff, the gray scout crept closer to the herd, her skilled emerald eyes scanning the deer carefully. Shooting a glance to the side, she flicked her tail to the yearling, signalling that it was fine for her to follow. From this distance, it was unclear of how healthy the herd was, but hopefully, if they got close enough, they would be able to pinpoint one that was not doing as well as the others. It was clear that the yearling could at least take her instructions of silence obediently and as they crept closer to the herd, the widowed Tainn mentioned for the child to come closer to her. She whispered softly to the child,  ”When there are so few wolves to take down a deer, it is best to find one that is either injured or sick. Now...look among the herd, do you see one that is one of those that I just mentioned?” As hungry as she was, Jessie didn't like the thought of someone being as oblivious in a hunt as this yearling was. What if it was her own child? She would have wanted someone to help and teach her child how to do something they didn't know how to do. Hopefully, the yearling understood what to look for. Jessie Tainn

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Nervously, Pip swallowed past the anxious lump in her throat. If the female really wanted to hurt her, surely she would have done so by now, right? All she wanted was help. Could have asked for it more nicely, she thought with a small frown. The look vanished immediately and meekness returned to the yearling as the other wolf glanced her way and signaled for her to follow. Following @Jessie's lead, the mute girl crept closer to the grazing herd.

The older woman's voice stung less when she spoke now. Pip thought she almost sounded mothering, but the thought was tainted by the wolf's previous anger. Obediently, the little female did as she was bade. Sedate orange eyes tracked over the herd carefully. How was she supposed to even tell if they were injured? If they were fish, they'd have obvious signs from another predator and be swimming in circles or maybe even floating. Did deer even swim? Regardless, there was no big bodies of water around to test that out anyway. So she'd have to find another way.

Well, when she was injured, she had a limp. A limp! She'd look for that.

And found none. Crestfallen, she sighed quietly. How did hunters even do this? It was so hard!

Just when she felt ready to give up hope, Pip's ears pricked forward while her eyes tracked a doe whose head bobbed oddly as she walked. It was a subtle difference in how the rest of the herd walked, but the longer she watched, the more she noticed how much smaller her muscles looked in one of her front legs compared to deer around her.

Without turning away from the doe, Pip's lower jaw quivered minutely, making her teeth click together softly to signal that she did see such an animal in the herd. She nodded once when she felt the woman's eyes on her, eyes still tracking the doe lest she lose her among the others. But now that they'd found her, what should they do?

Even as she spoke, the Scout's eyes were scanning the area for anything amiss. Her skilled eyes were narrowed in concentration. There. Her eyes tracked a doe, with obvious muscular dystrophy. Compared to the other deer, this one was obviously weaker and it would be the perfect option for their hunt, if it would ever come to that. Emerald eyes tracked the doe but were instantly dragged away from it when she heard a clicking sound next to her. The yearling did not say anything but the way her gaze tracked the animal said it all. Jessie moved to make sure that it was, indeed, the doe she had already spotted and nodded her head, more to herself than to the yearling before she affirmed it to the girl aloud, ”Very good. Now, I'm assuming this is your first hunt so I'm not going to make you go in for the kill.” She dragged her eyes away from the doe for a moment to look towards the yearling. Hopefully, this would according to plan and she would be able to get some sustenance for herself and the life growing inside of her, along with Drestig. She took a deep breath and preceded, ”So what you're going to do is lead her away from the rest of the herd and I'm going to loop around so that I'll be able to go in for the kill. Do you understand how?” She blinked at the girl. Her voice was a soft whisper and she dearly hoped they could get on with it. The widowed woman had been with a pack for so long, she had forgotten how often she needed to hunt when she was on her own. Granted, she had Drestig but sometimes it was nice to go on her own...or meet up with someone else and hunt something bigger down. Jessie Tainn

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