Spectral Woods power through

I am so sorry. Flu-season really wrecked me.

He would have been shocked if Mabel had turned down his offer to chase the deer - his daughter was ever the spitting image of her mother's fiery and adventurous personality. If there were ever a sign that something was wrong with Mabel, it would be an unwillingness to explore the world around her. Waiting for the herd to settle back down again - having been startled by her exuberant affirmative - he nudged her head and whispered, "Go!" when it was time.

With no hesitation, Mabel burst out from underneath the protection of his body and leaped towards the deer. The animals closest to them bleated out in surprise and began to run in fear. Serach's own paws kicked into gear and he chased after Mabel, watching her and the scattered herd closely to make sure that nothing went awry.

When his daughter got a little too close to a braver buck, Serach was quick to intercept the pair. Even as Mabel tripped on own paws, Serach was there bristling and snarling at the buck in a serious warning that he'd better warn. The buck shook his antlers at Serach once, but then took after his family and away to safety.

Turning, Serach approached Mabel, nudging her ear with his snout while she picked herself up off the ground. "Well done," he congratulated her, his smile beaming and his tail wagging, choosing not to comment on her accident. "You just herded your first deer, sort of." He chuckled and nudged her back towards the direction they had come. "Next time, I'll show you how to separate out one from the herd and how to herd it towards the rest of the pack so we can hunt it."

One more post from you and I think you could get teacher skill lp?

Mabel spit the dirt from her mouth promptly, ignoring the way some grit still littered her tongue and between her teeth. Embarrassed she stood and stretched her legs out as subtly as she could, not wanting to call any additional attention to her fall. The sound of her father’s snarls and the retreating hooves echoed in her ears as the child got her bearings again. The fall had been brief and had done no harm but it had happened so quickly she had not even realized it was happening until it was already over.

Thankfully, her father knew better than to fawn over her and fuss about any minor bruising the pup may have earned. Just a minor nudge on her ear and seeing how he reacted Mabel beamed back at him, her tail waving a mile a minute. ”We’re smarter than any deer aren’t we dad?” It was perhaps an overconfident statement for a child who just ate dirt after being scared by the beast. In her mind there was nobody smarter than her dad, not even her mom (not that she would ever tell anyone that).

Besides, they ate the deer so they had to be better than them. Stupid deer.

Sounds good. @Mabel let me know if you want to reply again otherwise I can add in a fade here. :)

What bumps and bruises that might have resulted from Mabel's fall were seemingly not serious. She was smiling and wagging her tail, and with the sounds of the deer herd fully retreating behind them, Serach felt his own body begin to relax as they began the walk towards home. Laughing loudly in response to her question, he couldn't help but think back fondly on his own memories of learning how to hunt. There were certainly times where he had not been smarter than the deer, that's for sure. "We've certainly got sharper teeth than they do," he reaffirmed. His sides still shaking a bit with residual laughter, he continued, "We are generally smarter, yes. But that doesn't mean the deer aren't. So you have to promise me that when you're hunting, you don't underestimate them." It was easy to forget sometimes, when the thrill of the hunt grabbed hold of your entire being and rational thinking basically disappeared.

She seemed to understand, but it would be a lesson worth repeating as she and her siblings became more involved with their pack hunts. But for now he was content to see her happy and proud of her accomplishment for the day.

Fade out.

(This post was last modified: Mar 08, 2018, 02:53 AM by Serach.)