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 Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:51 pm
Cyclops considered the best way to capture the elusive critter. He needed Squall to feel that he'd helped, but he also needed them to succeed--not an easy task to balance, with such a pup, or any pup, for that matter. The roles he could offer were either dig up the vole, or wait to catch it when it ran. He decided to give Squall the former.
"There's an animal under here," Cyclops explained. "If you dig, it'll run out, and I'll grab it so you can bring it to your mother." Digging offered little chance for failure. Cyke hoped his ears were honed enough that he could successfully take down their tiny prey.
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:11 pm
Squall watched as the big blue wolf seemed to think about what to do. What to do with him in tow, that is. Squall sat there, tail brushing the earth, grinning like the cat who'd eaten the canary. Maybe there was a chance he'd be better than Rumor afterall!!
An animal. He could dig! Digging was fun! He pranced to his feet, shifting his weight to one side and then the other, placing his claws against the spot where he was to dig. "Okay," he murmured jovially. He could do this. They'd catch the little prey and he'd take it home to Momma!
"Ready?" The word was whispered, the pup's excitement was obvious but he was trying to keep it down. Without waiting for a reply from the other, his claws began to dig furiously at the burrow hidden underneath them.
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:34 pm
Cyclops didn't offer an answer to Squall's question, and obviously the pup hadn't needed one. Dirt and rotted leaves flew into the air, soil made loose by the many root systems and decomposers. It wasn't long before the night was pierced by a tiny, high-pitched squeal, as the mother vole leapt out of her collapsing burrow and into the air. If Squall had been a jackdaw, she may have stayed to fight, but he was not, and she instead raced into the underbrush. In the tiny den below, the mute babies continued to twitch and squirm over each other.
Cyclops was pressed into motion the moment her heard the squeal, tracking his prey by the noises she made. He moved as a mass of fluid blue fur, needing only a few steps before he dipped his head and caught the small creature. No matter how delicate he had tried to be, he would have crushed it instantly, and he was not trying to be delicate.
Cyclops laid the vole at Squall's feet. "There," he said. "You see? Hunting isn't so hard."
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:15 pm
Squall's paws dug at the earth as quick as they could go for being so small. Stuff flew behind him and under him, but he paid it no nevermind. Suddenly, with a shrill squeak, -something- popped up out of the hole. Something...odd! He jerked to the side, suddenly unsure of what to do.
That's when the bigger male swiftly crushed the little creature, then dropped it at the pup's paws. Squall stared at in for several minutes, ears swiveling forwards to focus on it.
"I see," he agreed, carefully taking it within his jaws with a wide grin. If he had known of the mother vole's children, alone and helpless, down in that den, he wouldn't have been so happy. But he didn't. "Leth go! To Mum!" he barked over the mouthful, prancing away.
Except for the fact that he wasn't quite sure where Gomorrah was anymore.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:29 pm
"Well…" Cyclops had been planning on eating those same vole babies for a midnight snack. He didn't need the food, however, and it wasn't as though they would go to waste--another night hunter, like a raccoon or an owl, would find them. He hadn't planned on having to follow the pup back to his packlands. He didn't know how Gomorrah dealt with strangers.
If Squall were his pup, though, Cyke knew he would appreciate a stranger making sure he made it home safely. There were still many dangers in these woods, and the pup would be a more tempting target now that he carried an extra meal with him. It wasn't as though Cyke would necessarily have to actually enter the lands and meet his mother; he just needed to see him safely to the border.
"Okay," he said, following the pup at a more sedate pace, using his ears to follow him. "Show me where we're going."
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 1:27 am
Squall gazed up at the blue wolf with kindness and respect, his stormy-colored eyes shining in the little slips of light from the moon. His tail wagged, no doubt Cyclops could hear it, as he pranced to his feet with a big nod. He carried the vole proudly, careful not to squish it between his jaws. His little paws carried him over the earth, nose twitching as he followed his own scent.
First, he followed it in a circle. Then, he followed it in a squiggly pattern. This is why he wouldn't make a good hunter. He frowned, finally recognizing a rock on the border of the pack and crossing the territory. He dropped the vole and smiled up at Cyke. "Thank you!" he beamed. "I know where the dens are from here. Momma would be surprised if she saw a stranger in the middle of the night." He had common-sense at least. His tail wagged jovially. "Thank you!"
Scooping up the vole, he raced through the dens, between where Kurosage and Gerda both slept with their litters and down to the main dens. He found his mother curled up around his father, his two remaining siblings between them. With a big, beaming grin, he nosed his muzzle into Piper's fur. He dropped the vole. "Momma! Momma look! Look what I caught."
Piper opened bleary eyes and stared at him. Then stared at the vole at her feet. A smile spread over her lips. "Did you...catch this?" She sounded startled, surprised. He grinned and nodded and she curled him close to herself. He wiggled against her, nudging his vole. "Eat it, Squall," Piper mused. "Eat it and be proud."
And he ate it. And he was proud.
{FIN}
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