Panorama Peak swift as the coursing river.

Hunting thread with Uncle Reyes for @Sphinx and @griffin!  He's taken them outside of the territory (for the day, more or less).

Things could be worse.

Reyes cracked his jaw as he trotted steadily, glancing behind him for what felt like the thirty-seventh time to make sure his pair of puppies were still in tow. Only two of the three Avalon brood decided to take him up on his offer to hunt, but that was fine. It was still pup-sitting, and there were still plenty of able-bodied adults to look after Chimera until he returned with the other two. And maybe it would be easier trying to wrangle two instead of three.

Positives, and all that.

And there was more good news. He’d actually thought about this before he’d invited the kids out. Made himself a little cache outside of Rye territory the day before, so he could bring the pups. Hunting was difficult if you didn’t actually know what you were looking for, right? So he had…well, it wasn’t bait. But the prairie vole was to teach them what to look (or scent) for, and then he could put them to work in the grasses. Once they could stalk mice and other small rodents, they could worry about quicker, smarter, faster prey. Shoot, even he had started on little desert mice.

“Everyone keeping up?” he rumbled, coming to a halt near the freshly churned earth. “You two ready for part one?”

Tagging @Jessie @Askan so they are 'in the know'.  ;D

(This post was last modified: Aug 21, 2017, 03:47 PM by Reyes.)

They were going hunting! When Reyes had approached the children at play with an invitation to not only spend some time with an adult outside their rye home but to also learn more about something she had already had a small lesson in thanks to uncle Askan there was no way little Sphinx could possibly say no and the vigorous nodding of her head to answer where her words chose not to expressed all the excitement bottled up in her growing body. The young Avalon doubted she slept much last night with how eager she was to partake in this adventure and spend some time with the one who happened to be her favorite person's favorite. Next to mom and dad of course.

A giggle of excitement escaped the girl and glancing over at her brother Griffin that had decided to come along; Chimera being the buzzkill sibling for the day who stayed home, she gave his ear a playful tug which warranted the swarthy male to glance over his shoulder at them for the umpteenth time since the moment they left. What made him look back so often she didn't know but didn't he know by now that they were good little pups following like ducks in a row. Well, she could speak for herself that is.

It felt like a long time of walking before they finally came to a halt, batty ears perking when the big man spoke up and asked if they were ready, her attention quickly drawn to the scored earth by his paws that smelled like fresh soil and something else that she couldn't quite put her paw on. "Ready!" Sphinx replied, tail wagging with her excitement that refused to ebb away.

Griffin was quick to agree at the proposition of actually leaving the territory, even if getting permission and having adult supervision made it a little less exciting. Besides, he was eager to learn some proper hunting skills. So far, all he knew came from tracking frogs along the creek, and wrestling with his brother for the scraps of meat brought to them by the adults. Reyes came with a promise of teaching them how to take down food themselves, and this was a prospect that brought stars to the little daredevil’s eyes. They went out early, Sphinx tagging along as well, which might have soured the youngest Avalon alittle, if he hadn’t been so damn excited to begin with. He even took her teasing lightly, laughing and shoving a paw at her in playful retort, but keeping most of his attention on the voluminous tail, leading the way. A thrill ran through him when they crossed the border, wagging tail growing still for a few beats, before resuming its sway with increased vigor. Changing, turquoise eyes flew all over the place, trying to take in as much of this new and fascinating world as he could. So preoccupied was he, that he hardly even heard the dark man’s question at first. Only when Silva yipped her enthusiastic answer, did Gale’s attention turn back to their teacher, cheeks growing warm as he shouted - a little too loud to compensate for the delay; “Yes, yes ready!” Word Count: 245 "Speech"

dawnthieves.de

So far, so good. Neither of the puppies had wandered off – yet – even though Reyes wasn’t entirely convinced that wasn’t entirely out of the question. Thankfully, they seemed more amused by teaching and taunting each other than anything else, out of reach and out of the gamma’s eyesight. He hummed quietly, drawing to a slow halt beside the cache he’d dug earlier with this exact purpose in mind. Underneath the freshly churned dirt lay the bodies of three little voles, one for each puppy. Perhaps he should have predicted Chimera wasn’t going to be interested.

Ah well.

Sitting, he turned his attention back to his excited students. “Alright, lil’ Avalons,” he rumbled, his grey eyes dancing. “Today we’re gonna learn how t’ stalk an’ chase an’ hunt. But first, we gotta know what we’re looking for, right?” The wolf paused, mostly for dramatic effect, and watched the puppies for their reaction. “There’s somethin’ under the dirt for you two – don’t worry, don’t gotta share – and I want ya to dig it up. And while you do it, make sure you get a good smell, comprende? Because once you have your little snack--” because surely Trouble 1 and Trouble 2 were hungry by now “—that’s just what we’re going lookin’ for.”

@Sphinx @griffin -- Teaching Demo 1/3

Like a well-oiled soldier, both front limbs clamped together and batty ears pricked forward to ensure not a single word Reyes uttered would be missed as he began to inform Gale and herself about the lessons they would learn on this special outing. Stalk, chase, hunt. That didn't sound too hard to the young Avalon and when the large man questioned them about the first step and knowing what they were going after she eagerly nodded her head to answer him. That much seemed like common sense and a flashback to hunting a rabbit with Askan further solidified her confidence in knowing the answer.

After a long while; because puppy time compared to adult time was always way longer than it really was, their teacher for the day continued on with the lesson. Apparently, there was something under the dirt waiting for them and the prospect of getting a snack; because that long walk really had stirred up quite the appetite in the growing girl and the grumbles of her stomach served as proof, had her tail and rump wriggling like a whirlwind. Even better he made it clear they didn't have to share and that was always a good thing where food was involved. Her brothers ate like pigs and if she wasn't careful they even tried to steal her meal. Rude much!

Sphinx was ready to get this digging underway and grab her prize, to prove her point she lept toward the mound of dirt and got straight to work flinging soil in every direction all the while following the specific directions she was given. They were supposed to get good whiffs of whatever was in this dirt and between handfuls of dirt she shoveled away she did just that, ever eager to please the adults. The mystery item smelled pretty funky to her but tantalizing all the same. What was this thing he was intent on having them dig up?