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 Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 6:43 am
Mu'sha had been happy and relieved when Cora had finally come to her. She'd been worried that her stubborn daughter wouldn't come to her for help, would continue to insist she didn't need help with anything. Kalain had insisted they let her come to them, that their interference would only push her to insist further that she could do it all by herself.
His patience was grating...
She knew he had been right, though - since Cora had asked her, she was doing her daughter a favour and not pushing her to do what was right. Her daughter's mate and her youthful pregnancy was still a bit of a sore point between them since Mu'sha had insisted Cora was stupid to have gotten herself in such a situation. Still, things were getting better and she was happy to have little ones around her feet again. Grandchildren, already! She needed to talk with Kalain, again... She was getting old for having another litter and she didn't want to leave it too late.
She put that aside for today, though, she and Jove were escorting the gaggle to the lower plains to learn a bit about the herds who were starting their winter migrations.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 1:31 am
 Dubhe was, to put it mildly, a bit rowdy today. He couldn't help it! He was excited, and his excitement flooded him with energy, the sort of energy that he could not contain.
It was a problem, to be sure, and one that tended to generate exasperation and exhaustion among whatever responsible adult was left in his care. It's not that Dubhe was trying to be difficult, simply that he seemed to be born with an overabundance of enthusiasm and a certain disregard for subtlety.
"Where we goin', Gramma?" He asked, bounding ahead and nipping playfully at Mu'sha's heels. "Are we there yet? What are we doing?"
He pounced ahead, weaving in between his grandmother's paws, disregarding the possibility that he could trip her, and then scampered to Jove, tail waving enthusiastically. "Are you taking us hunting? Really-really? With a herd and everything? And you'll let me kill one, right?" He yipped, and jumped, trying to get Jove's ear but finding it too high; he fell back to his paws with a pout, but didn't let it get the best of him, and continued bouncing along between the older wolves like a vibrating ball of energy.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:47 am
 Antares was typically a bit more reserved - in that he was one of the pups less likely to be bouncing off the den walls...but the combination of spending time with his Grandma and Jove and his brothers rather infectious energy had him quite worked up and ever the one to take advantage of a situation he bounced forward to try and tackle his leaping bouncing brother while he was in midair - it made sense to Antares I mean he couldn't run off or dodge in midair right? "Not if I kill one first!" He crowed to his sibling a bit of friendly competition leaking out through his voice.
They just had to be taking them hunting right? I mean what else could they possibly be needing them for? And of course with the typical fearlessness of all pups it didn't occur to Antares that the beasts in the herds were quite a bit larger then both he and his brother combined.
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Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 7:37 am
Jove's mouth quirked up in a grin as he listened to the eager chatter of the pups. It seemed at least a few of Mu'sha's grandchildren would be additions to the ranks of hunters when they grew up. It was a pleasure to him to take little minds such as this and teach them the hunt, to see them grow and flourish nurtured by generations worth of skills handed down. Even if he had no actual pups of his own he felt that, in this way, he was passing a little something of himself on.
Still, spirits bugger this much introspection. He flexed bulky muscles as they walked at a pace suitable for the little ones and eyed the boys with a faux serious expression.
"Think you're ready to take on a reindeer by yourself, do you?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. He couldn't keep from letting a smile creep back across his features, though, infected by their cheery rambunctiousness. "We'll see. Now, why do you think it's important to know when the deer move about?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 10:48 pm
"Ack!" Dubhe stumbled, having been bowled over by his brother, and fell head-over-heels, leaping back up almost as though uninterrupted by the tackle. He was back on his paws and bouncing along beside Jove in a heartbeat.
"Cuz, cuz, cuz," he said, stumbling over his words in his eagerness to deliver an answer first. He took a deep breath. "Because if we don't know where the deer will be, then we won't know where to find them!"
His brow furrowed. That answer didn't sound quite as good out loud as it had in his head.
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Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:58 pm
Rather pleased with himself for tackling his brother in such a fashion Antares trotted along beside the two adults in a strutting fashion for a few steps until Jove's question caught his attention and his brow furrowed in thought. His brother's answer made sense but Antares thought it might need a bit more elaboration "And we need to know the best times to go looking for them too!" he added to his brothers comments
I mean they were bot important right? both the place and the time? Otherwise they'd go looking in one spot and they'd be in another! That wouldn't do at all.
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Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2010 3:45 am
Jove nodded seriously, hiding his amusement at their rambunctiousness "Aye, it's important to know when and where they are - if we don't then we waste time. It's also important to know where they are because sometimes they leave our packlands and go too far away. If we don't know where they are and when they should be there then we might waste time that we could use to stalk other things".
It would be nice to have sons of his own to train.
"Now, if you two keep running over your own feet you're going to scare them. Before we get there, I want you to practice walking quietly, like this" his own feet padded softly over the ground, naturally avoiding the ground litter so as to avoid sudden snaps and scrabbles of rock. "Do you boys think you can do that?"
Mu'sha watched with grandmotherly pride and love, becoming even more aware of the link to her future that these little ones represented. The skills they learned today and in the months and years to come would make them productive members of the pack in the future.
Being as Jove was taking the lesson and she was mostly along to spend time with the little ones, she mimicked Jove's movements as if she were taking the lesson too, leading by example.
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Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 4:37 pm
Dubhe beamed, excited to have gotten a right answer. He resisted the urge to pounce on his brother, though, just in time for Jove's request for quiet.
Quiet? He could be quiet! He could be the quietest wolf in the whole world! Like a mouse!
Were mice quiet? He couldn't remember. He thought he'd seen one once and it had been very noisy indeed, scrabbling around in some dead leaves and squeaking in alarm when it saw him. He wouldn't do that.
With great effort -- contemplating the placement of each paw very, very carefully -- Dubhe slowed his strides to a creeping pace, carefully laying each paw down on dry ground. He glanced sidelong at his brother, not entirely sure if he was doing this right.
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Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 4:57 am
"Why do they leave? Where do they go?" Antares fired back the questions almost as soon as Jove finished his explanation, ears perked up for the answer as he trotted along beside the older wolves for a few steps, clumsily scattering pretty much anything in his path with the grace and care of a rampaging moose until Jove went and pointed out just how noisy they were likely being.
Furrowing his brow Antares tried to mimic his grandma and Jove, it was harder then it looked and gosh it was slow too. Maybe he was being too careful now? Shooting a glance at his brother for a clue he found his brother looking at him for hints which meant that he wasn't sure he was doing it right either! And of course looking at Dubhe ment he wasn't looking at the ground - which was obvious with the tell tale snap of a twig. "Da.." He started to curse before recalling he was in the presence of his grandma and redirected his words as he put his attention back to the ground "Drat!"
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Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:56 am
"They leave for many reasons - foremost is food. When the grass is buried deep under the snow many animals can't get to it, so they move south where the winter is softer and the grass has only the littlest touch of frost. They sometimes go to have their calves and come back after and once in a while they move because they fear us." His voice was still the usual slightly rough, warm tone but lowered to a soft tone.
He watched their antics with a practised eye, letting them to to find a crouching gait on their own. "You don't need to be right on your belly - pretend your shoulders are loose and carrying you and let your body drop beneath it, your head and neck too. It's a good stalking pose for when you have to still cover distance - you can go lower when you get closer". They'd made not a bad job of it, anyway, until the twig snap.
"You shouldn't curse your mistakes" this was said with a little knowing smile on his face "you might be lucky and an animal doesn't hear or doesn't see you. If you snap a twig stand still and quiet for a moment and your prey will think it was only a bird of a squirrel".
Jove was a confidant hunter and teacher, explaining each thing as if it was natural to do so and with no real hint of reproof in his tone.
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 12:35 pm
It took every fiber of Dubhe's being not to prance around in delight that they were, apparently, doing a great job at being sneaky.
He allowed his muscles to relax, slightly, following Jove's directions about loosening his shoulders, and felt immediately better. Somehow, this felt...oddly natural, for the pup, and he slunk forward comfortably. He could do this all day! He could do this longer than his brother, he bet!
He turned to challenge him to such, caught himself halfway, and let out a feeble sort of squeak as he stopped his words partway out of his maw.
Maybe he should just resign himself to not talking at all, to prevent any outbursts....but it was so hard! Gah! He wanted to run around and pounce on things right NOW!
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Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 9:49 am
Antares' ear docked back slightly as Jove spoke - sure he hadn't seemed to be angry at the twig snap and slip of tongue, but he didn't have to be. Antares was upset enough at himself. And worse! Dubhe seemed to be doing better then he was!
Antares simply couldn't have that - not at all and screwing his face up he concentrated on doing what Jove had advised and attempting to remain silent, which is when Dubhe let out that odd little squeaking sound...which made Antares snort out a half muted giggle because really his brother had sounded like a strangled mouse there and he was trying so very hard to not dissolve into boyish giggles by this point.
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Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:23 pm
Not bad, not bad at all. He could see the puppyish eagerness - that was to be expected - but there was a good hint of natural ability in there. If that was nurtured, in time, the pack could perhaps have another two strong hunters instead of more mouths to feed.
As they walked, they came to the place at last - a vast shallow lake which held beast, fowl and all they could want to eat. It wasn't too far from the den to tire the pups before they got there, but far enough that the animals weren't disturbed by the scent of wolf nearby.
"Why don't we see how close we can get without making them run off, then, eh?" he smiled, whispering quietly but with a hint of challenge to his tone. They might do well, but more likely their prey would scatter quickly. It was a good lesson to learn, either way. Best to learn by doing, anyway, the big wolf thought.
The alpha nodded, nudging up beside her grandchildren and adding to the whispers. "What do you say, boys, think we can prove our wits against the deer over there?" she selected the particular group because they were far enough away that the silent 'chase' would be able to go on a while before they'd be likely to chase the creatures off. It'd give more time to learn and, also important, more time to have fun in.
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Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:28 am
Dubhe froze stock-still, a light shining brightly in his eyes. What was this? Real prey?
All his exuberance faded as he focused his attention sharply on the scent in the air, on the prospect of a real chase. Somehow, the whole game had become very real and very, very interesting. Dubhe, always so over-eager and rowdy, seemed to have found precisely the one thing in the world that was worth focusing on, and he fell still and silent as he contemplated it.
He glanced up sidelong at Jove, awaiting direction, his body crouched so low to the ground that he felt the grass tickle his underbelly.
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Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 7:40 am
Antare's eyes went wide as they came across this promised hunting ground, pausing he let his gaze wander over the land, so entranced by the sight that he nearly missed both Jove and his grandmothers words. Almost, but not quite and Antares wasn't about to miss out on a challenge like this.
Turning he regarded his stock still brother for a few moments "Bet I can get closer then you" He whispered, lowering himself into a stalking like pose and eying the bushes around them - he was pretty sure that if he stuck to the underbrush he could sneak in pretty close before the deer took notice of him. Without waiting around for any more words he skittered off into the underbrush, keeping low and trying to move as silently as possible to keep from alerting the animals..
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