Sanguine Cove The bond between father and son is stronger than glue

For Nash <3 father/son bonding time

Having finished a mandatory break in the infirmary, young Matos was off again. The smoke was horrendous and the inky yearling was not a fan of it. It made his eyes and nose water despite the burning sensation along with ragged coughs and what seemed like a constant headache. But alas, he pushed through, knowing it was affecting all of them. This time around Matos decided to try and add to the cache since he had already done a border patrol earlier.

There seemed to be an abundance of prey around the cove. Matos was unsure whether this is normal for summertime, since last summer he was blissfully unaware of these things, or if it was the far-off fires that drove them closer. Whatever the reason, more prey meant more food, which was something the boy didnt think was a bad thing. Now the only problem is how to hunt without cough and scaring off the prey. It wouldnt matter how many of them there were if he couldnt get close enough to catch them.

Word count: 175

Nash was beginning to develop a cough again. It worried him; he didn't want to have to step down from leadership again, especially with how low their numbers had dwindled. Tulip's arrival had been a surprise and she was in a bad way, but it had made his mother so happy. It was good to see her excited again, especially with how much she missed Kajika. Nash wondered if his godfather was okay, and where he kept going. He hoped he was beyond the reach of the smoke.

After dropping off his gifts and chatting with his mother, Nash was headed out to check on his other pack members. It wasn't long before he came across the scent of his son and the leader quickly veered off to follow him. Matos too was suffering from the effects of the poison air, and once again Nash couldn't help but think about @Chan 's words. He shook it off. He let out a quiet chuff to greet his son.

Despite the abundance of prey the young Eastfall-Slayer couldnt seem to find any at the moment. His coal audit flicked back when the chuff met his ears. Matos turned to greet his father. "Hey Dad!" he called out, his banner waving excitedly at his hocks. The yearling loved being able to spend time with his father. Knowing that the Vuesians had lost theirs and with Nash having gotten sick once already made Matos very eager to spend all the time he could with his sire.

"I was lookin' for something to fill a cache with." he explained with a toothy grin before a small cough made it's way out. Maybe his father would know a better way to track down prey. He had to right? He was alpha after all.

Word count: 132

We coulda used the SC RE for this one

Matos's greeting was quick and enthusiastic, causing warmth to curl in Nash's chest. He didn't spend nearly as much time with his children as he should. Sometimes he wondered if Al ever felt this way when he'd been leading... then again, he'd been able to spend a lot of time in the den while he'd been sick. Nash would rather be healthy, though, and get to know his kids as they got older.

"Hunting, hm?" he mused, thinking. He too had noticed the higher abundance of prey animals on the mountain; interesting that they would climb the slopes rather than go around. Maybe he should organize a pack hunt when Leo and Magg got back. For now, however, there was plenty of small prey he and his son could tag-team. "Why don't we see if we can find some rabbit warrens? I can chase them toward you and you can catch them. If we can get at least three or four, we can feed almost everyone fresh tonight." He'd just brought his mother a fish, but the rest of the pack would certainly appreciate fresh food when the air felt so stale.

im sorry this took me so long :'( <3

Of course, just as he thought, his father had an idea for how to catch something. Matos' excitedly nodded his head instead of responding as another cough crept up in his throat. He wanted to keep his coughing to a minimum for fear of being made to return to the den. He wanted to help with the pack duties. He was getting older and felt he should be contributing more.

"That sounds like a great idea. Everyone will love that!" the inky boy finally voiced once he got his lungs under control. How proud would his mom and grandma be if he helped feed everyone?

"How do we find one Dad?" he asked as dual colored gaze scanned the hazy terrain. He had a hard time keep track of a hare in clear conditions. How were they supposed to do it in all this smoke?

Nash watched his son closely, waiting for the cough. It didn't come and Nash narrowed his eyes slightly, wondering if Matos was hiding it, or if he truly was as unaffected as he seemed. He gave a long pause, but when the boy spoke again Nash decided to let it go. He'd make sure the kid got plenty of rest after their little hunt. Instead he turned and gestured for Matos to follow him.

"Last I checked, there were some warrens by the border along the lake. Since rabbits are so small, I'm hoping they won't be taking shelter against the smoke the way we are." Or that other predators hadn't had the same idea they did and already picked off the more careless prey.

That cough lingered in the young boy's throat until he couldnt stand it any longer. A small cough followed by him quickly trying to clear his throat unassumingly. Dark fluffy audits flicked back in a silent apology for interrupting his father's explanation. The warrens were along the lake and the rabbits were hopefully not taking shelter like they had to. Did being smaller mean the smoke didnt affect them as much? It had affect Eclypse though...

Matos let the question slip away as he began to wag his tail. "Thats not far!" he chirped. If the location of their prey had been further then it was possible his father would have decided to postpone the hunt. Bounding in the direction of their water source he looked over his shoulder to see if his father was following. In truth he should be leading since the yearling didnt know where the warrens were. "How do we catch multiple if we scare them all at once?" the boy mused out loud as he fell into step next to his near look-a-like. The inky child knew he wasnt fast enough to catch one and finish it before the next one ran by. So how could they catch many?

Nash's ears flicked back as his son coughed, but not because of the interruption. He certainly wasn't as bad off as Eclypse but still, Nash worried. He knew his wife did too, for all of them. He didn't know how they would handle it if they lost another child. Mona wasn't dead but they didn't know how she was doing, and all the death they'd had this year... Nash wished he could protect them from the smoke the way he could protect the from a cougar or a bear.

He was fortunately offered the opportunity to huff out a low laugh as they moved. "Who said anything about all of them at once?" he said wryly. "That's part of the challenge - getting one at a time without alerting the others." And part of the fun, he thought. Hunting rabbits in a pair was almost a game - one he hoped his son would enjoy as much as he did.

The ebony child was thankful that his father didnt scold him for interrupting and for not calling off the hunt because of his coughing. Instead the cove leader let out a laugh in response. Dark audits stood to attention atop his skull as he looked almost up - seeing as he was almost the size of his dad now - to him with surprise. There was a way to not scare them all off at the same time? This new hunting skill excited the boy as they walked. He mulled over just how they were going to do that for a moment as they walked. Unable to come up with anything he opted for a lopsided smile. "This is gonna be awesome!" Looking back to where he was walking Matos swerved, narrowly missing the tree that had "appeared" in his path. His mind floated back to the memory with @Galen and how the other inky yearling had actual ran into a tree. Matos chuckled a little to himself at the memory and how that the Vuesain boy would have enjoyed not being the only one to have trees jump in his path.

It was crazy how quickly the children grew. Matos was well over a year old and nearly full grown, and yet it felt as though only yesterday he'd been so small. He wondered if @Eclypse would grow so fast. She'd been robbed of her puppy-hood by the smoke... perhaps she would have a better winter.

He was here to spend time with his son, however, and shook off thoughts of his youngest. He wanted to focus on Matos while he had him to himself. He smiled at the boy's enthusiasm and beckoned him onward. "Well, first, you need to be quiet," he whispered, as they were nearing the warrens. "They have excellent hearing. Now, creep forward and see if you can smell any still here, and listen carefully for signs of them in the brush."

Nash hung back, gesturing for Matos to carry on ahead of him. He wanted to see what his son would find.