White Fir Notch Horse to Water

@Hawthorne sorry this took so long but I finally got it up. Let me know if anything needs changed.

The seagull had decided after a check of the caches that a hunt was in order. With the pups growing bigger with each passing day and starting to eat more solid foods it was important they kept the supply of food stocked. She felt a few nice sized rabbits would be a good addition to the caches. They would also be big enough a couple of the puppies could get their fill from just one.

Nauja had not seen Sylva taking Hawthorne out for any lessons and felt the girl had grown big enough to have a go. So she thought she would help Hawthorne out and take her hunting herself. She could teach the child some of the things she'd learned and she thought it would be fun for the Riverflow girl.

She started her search at the communal den before going to look for the child at the den Sylva called home. She hoped to find Hawthorne there but hoped she wasn't napping. Chewing that stick she'd seen her with would better since she'd be nice and alert for what the sea wolf had planned. When she reached the den she called out for the girl. “Hawthorne are you around?”

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Hawthorne Riverflow

The lovesong of the buzzard in the dogwood tree

The young Riverflow girl had been happily romping near a tree not too far from the Riverflow den. She was playing around the base of one of the many fir trees in the Notch territory. Her usual chewing stick had been left somewhere between here and the den, a sign that she was nearby for she never left her prize unattended for too long.

Her oversized front paws had been up on the tree's trunk as her nose shoved through some foliage when she heard a familiar voice calling for her. Excited to have company she dropped back down onto all four paws and ran out from under the tree. She was getting bigger each day it seemed and her eyes had started to turn into their orange adult hue while her coat began to show signs of her adult markings with her underside graying. It would become more prominent in the following weeks of course.

Hawthorne wasted no time in running right up to the dark sea wolf with a joyous call. "Nauja!" This adult was indeed her friend even if they hadn't spent an awful lot of time together. While the dark female may not have been Hawthorne's absolute favorite, she was certainly up there. "Whatcha doin'?" The young girl asked with a wide smile as her tail whipped about behind her.

Nauja hadn't thought much past getting Hawthorne and going out, she hadn't thought about where they would hunt or how. She felt they could figure that out later, all part of the lesson she planned to give Hawthorne. She felt that to learn the child must start at the beginning from picking the place to hunt and finding the track to the actual kill. She didn't know if Hawthorne was ready for the last bit but they could work on the rest. She found she was rather excited to have the chance to actually teach in if the pups something she'd learned.

That was what drive her to quickly search out the pup, she wanted to get started as soon as possible. When she didn't find Hawthorne at the communal den she went to look at the den she shared with her mother. Next stop would he Jynx's den in case she was playing with the other pups but luck was in her side. She heard her name from a short distance away and a smile crept across her face. “Here you are,” she called back to the child happily.

The sea wolf only hoped that her little friend would be up for a good hunt, or practice hunt anyway. Nauja couldn't help but feel that the pup was just as happy to see her as she was the pup. Her duties didn't allow for a lot of time to spend with the pup but she did try when she could. “Well I came to find you actually, I thought if you were up for it we could go in a hunt. What do ya say?” She proposed and waited to see what Hawthorne thought of the idea.

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Hawthorne Riverflow

The lovesong of the buzzard in the dogwood tree

Hawthorne's tail whipped about behind her as she gently butted her head against Nauja's dark leg. She was indeed here! The young girl hadn't wandered too much today and was a fair bit glad she hadn't. If she had been out exploring then she would have missed company! There were very few things that were better than company.

Her dark furred ears stood tall as she listened to the female Second explain what she was here for. "Hunt?" A small smile crept onto the Riverflow's face. She hadn't been out hunting yet. She wasn't even really positive what hunting was except for the fact that it brought back food for her and her mama. "Sure!" Hawthorne agreed chipperly. Mama would be so so soooo proud of her if she brought back food. Of course, Nauja was helping too and Hawth would be sure to include that when she would tell her mother all about it. There wasn't anything that the young girl didn't really share with her mom.

"Wheres we hunt?" Masked head tipped upwards to look at the taller female with a wide and eager smile. She looked around the den area for a moment. It didn't smell like there was any food here. Which likely meant they couldn't hunt here. Where did one find the food that her mother brought her?

Finding Hawthorne so quickly was a blessing, they could get started sooner and then she would be able to have more practice. Nauja bumped the girl's cheek and she butted her head against the sea wolf's leg as a show of affection. She'd really grown to like the pup despite her experience being so limited before. She liked Elyan and Arwyn too but there was something about Hawthorne that set her apart which Nauja felt it was because she was older than the other two. She did need to spend some time with Emrys wns jynx children, get to know them and maybe take them on some kind of adventure or something like what she was doing with Hawthorne.

When their greetings we're over Nauja set to explaining why she had come in search of the pup, trying to keep her excitement under control. She nodded, “Yes, hunting so one day you can catch your own food and help the pack.” Knowing to hunt was one of those things that was so important in a wolf's life. Nauja wanted to help make sure that Hawthorne had all the knowledge base could so she would be okay if something happened. Her tail waved furiously behind her and her smile widened if that was possible when the young girl agreed to hunting. “Brilliant,” she said letting her excitement show, “It's going to be fun,” she told the child. How could it not be, she would get to spend time with Hawthorne and teach her something.

That was the question, where to hunt? “Well if you like you can pick the place or I can show you. Since this outing is for you I will let you pick,” she explained to the pup. They would of course have to decide that first and if it helped, “You should pick a place where you think we might find prey.”

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Hawthorne Riverflow

The lovesong of the buzzard in the dogwood tree

Catch her own food? That didn't sound very appealing to the young girl. She very much expected mama to keep bringing home food for her. Hawthorne decided she would need to have a talk with her mother about this! Not right now for she had company but perhaps this evening.

Despite her sudden ill feeling towards having to catch a meal, she trusted Nauja's words. This was going to be fun. Right? No one had lied to her before and she heavily doubted that an adult would lie to her. They were good wolves.

Hawthorne hummed softly and looked around before aimlessly wandering off in one direction. This food would have to be somewhere so why not here? Wherever here was. Her oversized paws carried her off into the Fir's heart. She had seen others dig up their food from these special places. Perhaps that's what Nauja meant by catching and hunting! Her pace quickened for a moment as they closed in on one of these special places. Before she could be stopped her paws went to work on digging through the dirt to expose an old, half eaten rabbit. Well it looked a little gross compared to what she usually had but oh well!

"I hunts!" The Riverflow declared as she looked back towards the dark sea wolf.

derpy hawth

The sea wolf remembered that when she lived in Bella Coola she was a Fisher, it was what she did every day and she was good at it. Then she ended up in this place, the lore, and she had to learn to hunt on dry land. It had taken some time but with a lot of work she had gotten a lot better. She wanted to pass what she had learned on to Hawthorne because she didn't want the girl to end up like she had. If there was one thing she had learned in her life, the future couldn't be predicted. The things she learned now could prepare her for something bad happening to her.

After explained what she had planned to the gray and black pup Nauja also explained how they were going to go about it. Well how they were going to start so that Hawthorne could try and do everything from the beginning. Knowing the best places to find prey was just as important as actually catching it.

With it all sort of laid out for the child it was time for them to get started. Nauja let Hawthorne take the lead so that she could understand the process as it took place. It didn't take long for the pup to set herself on a course to find the prey they were searching for. Nauja followed without a word, she wanted Hawthorne to figure it out in her own. It seemed that the child was in to something when her pace quickened as did Nauja's so that she could keep up. The sea wolf recognized the area as she had brought food to the cache plenty of times during the time she'd been in the notch.

As Hawthorne looked up at her after digging and exposing a half eaten rabbit and declaring she had hunted Nauja had to stifle a laugh. “That is certainly prey,” she commented as serious wasn't could considering, “However, it's not exactly what I meant. Let's cover it back up and I will show you what I mean,” she said moving to help in recovering the rabbit.

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Summer will end soon enough,
and childhood as well.

Hawthorne Riverflow

Adults could be really confusing. Hawthorne was understanding that the more she interacted with them. They had such complicated ideas all the time and these big elaborate plans. The Riverflow had felt pretty positive that she had done what Nauja had said. She had found food that might not feed the whole pack but it could feed someone. Wasn't that what the sea wolf had wanted?

Her face scrunched up as she did her best to cover back up her work (really someone else's work but that wasn't the point here) with the help of the dark female. Once the old rabbit was covered back up her eyes looked up towards Nauja's face. What now? What had the dark wolf really wanted her to do? "Mmm where we goin'?" Because if this hadn't been the food that they were looking for then they would have to go somewhere else. Kind of sucked that this hunting business seemed like it was gonna be more work than the young girl had originally thought. Her mom made getting food seem so easy with how often Hawthorne had something to gnaw on or how much her mother came back with. The girl never really went hungry. Something she didn't understand might be a blessing.

Pulling out of her thoughts the girl shifted her weight around, eager to get going and learn more about this whole hunting thing. Maybe her mother would be proud to hear she learned something today instead of goofing off with Elyan down at the creek.

While she had not meant for them to end up at a cache uncovering an old half eaten rabbit it was good that Hawthorne knew what prey was. Perhaps that would make the process of teaching her to hunt easier? The sea wolf wasn't sure since she’d never taught anyone to hunt before. This was a new experience for both of them and she hoped that she would do a good job and that the young pup would learn something from her.

So Nauja helped the child recover the rabbit so that it would be there for later. The sea wolf made sure that it would be safe until someone was ready to eat it. Then she looked down to Hawthorne to see the child looking up at her. “We are going to go out into the forest so I can show you what I meant.” The sea wolf had every intention of making sure the child understood and what better way than to show her.

“Let's go,” she said as she turned toward the trees and waited for Hawthorne to catch up with her. “The first thing we have to do is find a trail of the prey we are looking for. Has anyone showed you how to do that?” She asked almost certain the answer would be no but it might help jog something in the child's memory of the answer was yes.

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