Little Huntress

Jynx will be introducing Aleris to the basics of hunting, starting with some practice!
Dec 28th. Cloudy, Light snow.


 

Reach for the stars

Jynx had been feeling much more like her old self recently. Enough so that she was willing to drop her newly adopted guard today and try out some active hunting of her own. But nothing too ambitious of course. And she did not plan on doing it alone, either. She had been keeping a watchful eye on all three pups as they had grown over the months, noting their progress. They were coming along very nicely indeed. What's more, was that they were at the perfect age to begin capturing their own prey. For any predator to be a successful adult, you had to tune your hunting instincts from an early age. And with her surprisingly protective, nurturing streak over the Alpha's brood, Jynx would be damned if the future heirs of the Notch were lacking in this key life skill.

A small, barely noticeable smile was on her lips as she glided through the ankle deep snow with ease, on her way to the communal den. The day had been quiet so far, but not in the uncomfortable way. Instead, Jynx was enjoying the peaceful, almost mystical silence that came with a crisp winters day. With the ground and trees cloaked in white like this, she couldn't help but admire the otherworldly look the land possessed. This use of her time today (provided any of the children were willing) would be productive. She would be back on the job without over doing it. Her role would be different, as both hunter and teacher, demonstrating her skills with minimal effort, physically. The cozy den tucked into a hill came into view, the crunching of her paws giving away her arrival outside. Pushing her muzzle inside the shadows, she chuffed gently, seeing if any of the kids were awake or better yet, curious of what the hunter may have in store.

 

There was a quiet crunching throughout the den, punctuated occasionally by a louder snap. The eldest Lieris child sat with her back to the gravelly wall; a thick bone pinned between her forelegs and inside of her jaws. She was working diligently to open the stubborn thing with her teeth, an activity that might have chased off anyone in the den that was trying to nap, and who's sound had definitely annoyed her siblings enough that they weren't home when Jynx stopped by. With the meals she was given becoming slowly less frequent, the child had been told to crack open the leftovers and get whatever marrow she could; partially because it meant she would be occupied for a while and unable to pester the adults as they tried to hunt, and partially because it was all they could give her for the moment.

The same went for @Ryker and @Lucia. The girl had a few bone fragments beside her in a little pile, which she had taken to knocking over when bored or when her jaws were tired. It gave her something to do, at least, when she wasn't out trying to find her own food. Rodents were most of what they ate now, and at her age, rodents were the kids' specialty. Even they were dwindling in number, though, and the deep snow made catching the little vermin a chore.

Jynx's chuff sounded at the precise moment the great leg-bone finally snapped, cracking under the pressure of the determined child's jaws and revealing its tasty innards. Eris' ears shot upwards and she froze, clinging to the bit of broken limb as her green eyes peered into the light. She began to wag. The fragment was quickly spit out in favor of coherent speech. "Hey Jynx!" she greeted, nose quivering for any sign that the huntress had meat with her. Sadly, it didn't seem so, but the youth was hopeful anyway. "'Ya catch anything?" As she waited for a reply her hungry teeth reached down to nibble once more at the exposed marrow.

(This post was last modified: Dec 28, 2016, 08:07 PM by Aleris.)