Fallen Tree Cove Lesson No. 1

No worries, it's been the same with me.

There had been many times in the past when he had come to the lake to think things through, even now that he was with Fallen Tree Cove. Some of his more important decisions had been made by the lake and he thought that one day it could serve the same purpose for Moonshadow when the time came. It was the reason that he had told her that, he felt everyone needed a quiet place to think. Being so new to the pack she might need some time to herself, especially after having been on her own. He himself knew what the adjustment could be like. Kajika smiled when she made her comment about fish, he knew just how true that could be. “I know what you mean. Having only rabbit and squirrel can become very boring at times. Are you good at catching fish?” He inquired.

Kajika had to give her next question some thought since so much had happened in the time that he had been in Fallen Tree Cove it seemed like he had joined forever ago. “Nearly a year,” he finally stated, “Though it seems much longer than that at times.” Though he foresaw himself staying with the pack for a long time to come he wondered if that would be possible, things he thought couldn’t happen had. Which lead him to believe anything could happen but he felt as long as the pack stuck together as they always had they could get through anything. Glancing over at Moonshadow he wondered what would happen with her in the future.

(This post was last modified: Apr 21, 2016, 05:26 AM by Kajika.)

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OOC! Out of character comments here

“Well I'm not entirely sure I’d say I was good. I’ve never had anyone around to tell me if I was or wasn’t. I can catch ‘em though” she stated matter-of-factly with a light chuckle at her last comment. Losing her family at such a young age had forced the ebony girl to self-teach most of her known survival skills. She had learned how to hunt field mice with her father and big brother but anything larger than that she had learned through trial and error. Not knowing any better Moonshadow was content with self-teaching but now that she was a part of a pack again she hoped that she could have someone else teach her skills.

“Wow, a year huh?” she inquired “you’ve must have seen quite a bit in a year. I remember lots of wolves coming and going from my birth pack, especially between end of summer and beginning of spring” she explained with a sigh. Remembering her family was usually bittersweet; she loved to remember all the good times but then the realization that they were no longer with her becomes the forefront of her thoughts and she has to shake it away. The dark girl smiles at Kajika, she doesn’t want to bore him with her past.

Even though Moonshadow wasn’t sure how good at fishing she was he felt she had to at least do well enough to be able to catch them still.., “Well, would you like to try and catch some here and then maybe I can give you some advice?” He asked. They did have to have breakfast so why not make it a learning experience as well. The fish in the lake were pretty easy to practice on which would make helping her to improve the skill if she needed to. He wouldn’t know for sure if she really needed improvement until he actually saw her catch a fish. It also wouldn’t be the first time Kajika had used the fish in the lake to help someone improve their fishing skills and it was one of his better liked skills to teach.

Kajika nodded at her inquiry, “Yes, I have seen quite a bit while I’ve been here,” he agreed. He didn’t want to go into too much detail as it wasn’t necessary just then. Also he didn’t want to put too much on her on her first real day in the pack. He thought that they could get to what the pack had gone through in the time he’d been there later since he did feel that it was important for her to know the history of her pack. “That’s the way it is in a pack though when they are family, going through the hardships and good times together right?”

(This post was last modified: Apr 22, 2016, 01:25 PM by Kajika.)

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OOC! Yay! Let the teaching commence XD

His offer to help her improve her skills filled the young girl with joy. Jumping up her dark figure quickly closed the distance between her and the water’s edge. “Would you?” she asked eagerly, looking back at him with a smile. Silver eyes found their way back to the water. The ice was melted only a couple paw lengths from where she stood. “But uh – to be honest I’ve only ever fished in rivers with flowing water. So I’m not entirely sure what to do when there’s ice” she stated with a tilt of her head in confusion. Her ears then proceeded to flatten against her head in shame. She felt a pang of shame because she felt that she should know these skills by now, since she was almost two years old.

“That’s the way it is in a pack though when they are family, going through the hardships and good times together right?” Family…it was something Moonshadow had been without for so long. “Ya, that’s what family is for” she agreed turning back to her newly found teacher with a smile. “Families stick together through thick and thin. That’s the great thing about them” she stated with certainty.

“Of course,” said Kajika with a slight chuckle when she asked if he would help her with her fishing technique, “What sort of a teacher would I be if I brought you into the pack and left you to work things out for yourself? Huh.” Kajika thought that in her case he would resort to his usual way of improving technique since she already had some experience. “Well we will have to break through the ice first but fishing in a lake will be much easier since the fish are moving a little slower,” he stated. With a lake the fish didn’t constantly have to be moving at a quick pace to keep up with the water.

Though Kajika had spent the first part of his life with his birth family he now considered Fallen Tree Cove his family. They were the kind of family that he wished he’d had and now he could as long as he stayed with his pack which he had every intention of doing. Kajika smiled, “Yes they do and Fallen Tree Cove is that kind of pack. I believe that you find it to be as much of a home as I do once you’ve gotten settled in. Don’t worry if things don’t go as you would like it at first it takes a little time to you to get used to the others and for them to get used to you.” It was the advice he’d given to Des and what he had followed and it worked so Kakija was sure that it was valuable advice to give her.

(This post was last modified: May 12, 2016, 04:05 AM by Kajika.)

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OOC! So sorry about the wait

His comment made the dark girl giggle. “Ya that would make you a pretty lousy one” she teased. Break through the ice – seemed self explanatory but the yearling didn’t know exactly how to do that. Maybe you just jump on it? She wondered looking at how deep the water was at the edge of the ice. “Easier huh?” she mused “Well that’s good news! Let’s get started”.

Large dark paws wade slowly into the icy water reaching the ice’s edge with a few steps. The water was still and wasn’t rushing past her like it does in rivers. The sand beneath her toes was silkier and less rocky than what she was use to. She liked the lake shore much better than the swift rivers she’d experience before. She lifted one of her paws and broke the thin ice along the edge. After she was done there wasn’t much extra room and she let out a huff. How do I break the ice more? It’s all too thick to use my paw. Looking around see spots a sizable rock near her back paw. Sticking her muzzle in the cool water she picks the rock up and tosses it gently onto the ice’s edge.

Success! The ice broke so there was a sizable gap for her to fish. She stood still waiting for the fish to return after the disturbance from the rock. Eventually she could see narrow shadows slowly swim around. The fish showed themselves from under the ice and Moonshadow scanned for the perfect catch. Silver eyes spotted a hefty looking one slightly to her right. Locking onto her target the dark yearling waits for the perfect moment to strike. Slowly leaning in so that the distance between her muzzle and the fish was minimized the girl drove her muzzle into the water making contact with the fish. She quickly pulled it out of the water, brought it to the shore, and dropped it at Kajika’s feet. Smiling she backed up a few steps and sat down.

"Exactly," he agreed with a smile. If there was one thing he was sure of it was the fact that he wasn't a lousy teacher. Had that been the case he would not have asked Namid and Vespertio if he could pursue that role. Kajika nodded, "The fish don't have a current to worry about but keep in mind the water will be colder," he advised. He wasn't really worried about Moonshadow having a success on this day. It was clear she had caught fish so she had to have a technique that worked for her. He was however curious to see what it might be. "Whenever you’re ready," he said sitting back on his haunches prepared to take note anything that might help Moonshadow.

As the dark girl made her way into the water Kajika kept a close eye on her so that he could give her the proper advice. He watched as she make an initial break in the ice and then use a rock to make a second. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his maw at the ingenuity she used to make more room to fish. He didn't say anything just then about though since he didn't want to break her focus. There were many ways to break the ice but the fact she'd used a rock made him more confident he'd made the right decision bringing her into the pack.

Finally she seemed ready to start fishing as her body stilled to allow the fish to return. That would have been his first piece of advice since it didn't do to try and catch fish that had already scattered from the breaking ice. She also seemed to have good patience when it came for waiting for the right fish to appear and then waiting for just the right moment to strike. His smile remained etched across his features as he watched her come out of the water with the fish firmly in her jaws. He waited till she'd dropped the fish in front of him before speaking. "That was very good," he finally told her, "I especially liked the way you used the rock to further break the ice. To be honest with you I think you have a very good technique and you were able to catch that fish pretty quickly," he explained, "And he is certainly a nice size for breakfast. Would you like to see my technique?" He needed breakfast too after all.

(This post was last modified: May 27, 2016, 03:17 PM by Kajika.)

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OOC! Sorry bout the reply I just got a new job and just got my schedule settled

The yearling was pretty proud of her catch. She hadn’t ever had anyone to watch, help or teach her any of the few skills she possessed and was eager to finally have that. His praise caused her dark tail to wag quickly behind her. A smile crossed her maw as he commented on her choice to use the rock. “Thank you, the rock was kind of a last minute decision” she explained “I didn’t really want to use my feet and get even more wet than necessary”. It was still the middle of the winter and getting soaked was not something one wanted to do in this weather.

Her tummy rumbled as Kajika complimented the size of her catch. It was certainly one of the bigger catches that she’s ever made. “Would you like to see my technique” he asked her. Her eyes lit up instantly at the thought of seeing it done another way. “I would love that! It’ll be cool to see someone else do it cuz I’ve only ever known the way I came up with” she beamed. She got up and walked back over to her new pack mate. She picks up her catch and moves it a bit further away from the water. It faintly wiggled in between her powerful jaws as it took its final breaths. She set it down gently and took a seat next to it facing the water so that she could watch and learn from Kajika.

No worries, I have been there

Kajika nodded agreeing to her reasoning for using the rock to break the ice, “You’re quite welcome and yes in this weather it is important to keep yourself as dry as possible as impossible as that might seem while fishing. The rock was a good example of thinking on your feet which will also help in the future.” It was starting to become very clear how she’d made it so long on her own at such a young age but that didn’t change the fact that he was glad to have brought her into the pack so that she wouldn’t have to go through the things that he’d had to as a loner.

A smile crossed his maw as she stated that she would like to see his technique since he thought that it was important for youngsters to see different methods to do something. That way they could learn from what they see and pick and choose what they might want to use for their own technique. It would also give him the chance to get his own breakfast. “Great, you wait here and I am going to use the hole that you created,” He told her before stepping onto the ice and making his way out to where she had fished before. Positioning himself so that there was a shadow over the as much of the hole as possible he watched the fish swim past. Getting his nose as close to the water as possible he waited until he had picked his target and just as it swam past the hole his head disappeared into the water like a shot before quickly reappearing with the fish held tightly in his jaws. With his catch he made his way back to where Moon Shadow waited on the shore. “So what did you think? Did you find anything helpful or do you have any questions?” He asked wanting to make sure that he covered everything that she wanted to know.

(This post was last modified: Jun 09, 2016, 03:46 PM by Kajika.)

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OOC! Maybe we can wrap this up and start a new one where Kajika teaches her how to patrol the borders? :)

Her smile brightened when he said her ability to think on her feet would come in handy in the future. It was nice for the young girl to get some praise – or any feedback for that matter. The dark male made his way to the hole that she had created. He positioned himself so that his shadow covered the hole. She soaked everything in like a dry sponge. She liked the way that he used his shadow to make the fish think they were under the ice again. It was a more effective way to get them to swim in the open than simply waiting.

Her silver eyes watched him intently and just like that his head shot into the water and pulled a huge fish out. Her tail thumped as he made his way back to shore. “Nice catch” she complimented noticing how it was just bigger than hers. He asked her what she thought and if she had any questions. “I really liked how you used your shadow. I saw that it made the fish swim near you faster” she noted happily. “I do have a question though. Is the ice strong enough to hold our weight?” she was curious to know if she had to get into the icy water at all or if she could avoid it altogether and fish while keeping her feet dry.