Sex: Malewith a familiar taste of poison
At least the forest didn't allow the snow to be piled balls-high. There was some comfort in that, Kagehide supposed. Still, the fact that there was snow at all didn't make for ease of movement. The silver male scouted irritably through the forest mourning the fact that it was still winter with no end in sight. Despite his internal bellyaching, there was one plus to the snow. Spotting tracks took no effort at all. Which was handy considering he wasn't the most talented hunter in the world unless it was concerning various herbs and remedies. Reading trails was beyond him, but reading terrain? Using his knowledge of how plants grew to best surmise where they would grow happily? He was damn good at that.
The herbalist trudged on, determined not to return to his apprentice until he had something to show for it. He'd sent the boy on some stupid errand just to get him away so he wouldn't know how poor a hunter his mentor really was. Kage could manage alright for himself, but hunting for another in the heart of winter? That was grunt work. Still, he could hardly expect a mere boy to hunt for the two of them. Besides, Jayseden had more important things to be learning. Like the difference between edible and inedible mushrooms. That was first on the list thanks to the foolish escapades of one particularly stupid yearling.
Kage's ears pricked as a rabbit flushed from the underbrush and dashed - far too quickly - away. "Damn it all," he growled, annoyed with himself for not scenting it sooner. If he had, he could have come from a different direction instead of stumbling right on top of it and giving it warning. "Why can't prey just fall out of the sky?" he wondered to himself as he passed by a tall boulder breathing up the monotony of tree, tree, tree.