Welcome to Gaia! ::

Jove gave King a curious look, and then shook his head. He didn't know much about the plants in the forest, and although he had read books and seen pictures he wasn't very good at naming them either. It was easy for a thing to not have a name when he spoke so little, so many plants were described in his mind with titles like "spiky leafed thing" or "big twisty tree".

Now, mushrooms on the other hand, he knew very well. Mushrooms and decay. He knew rotting things, and the fungi that lived in them. So when King nibbled on the mushrooms he offered without reservations, it made the pup feel better than he had in days.

With the beginnings of a tail wag, Jove trotted deeper into the woods, only stopping to pluck another pair of pale mushrooms from the soil. One he popped in his own mouth, the other he offered to King. Almost like he was luring the other canine in.

Jove nodded, ears perked straight up. With the talk of the forest and the mushrooms he loved best, some enthusiasm was starting to peek through the mask of apathy he had started the night with. His tail swished with a greater vigor, curling up and over itself to touch his lower back. Showing King the mushrooms was a much-needed break from his worries.

Trotting a little farther, Jove crouched to brush some leaves out of the way, and then blew the dirt off what looked like little round puffs just sitting on the ground. He plucked a couple, made another attempt at blowing off the dirt, and then cracked one in half. He showed the spongy interior to King, and then held it out with a flat hand.

Jove munched quite contentedly on the other half of the puffball, tail wagging behind him. Had he known the other canine's thoughts he would have been amused. Not all the food at school was that questionable, and not all the food at school was found in the cafeteria. Jove had food brought back from the maul on occasion, and he was never one to turn down a dinner of home-baked spookies.

But when King spoke up again, Jove's curiosity was evident in the perk of his ears and the curl of his tail.

Catch... a wild hare? King could do that? Jove had chased wild rabbits before, usually just for the run. He never tried to actually catch them, only run after them. In his natural form or his human form, he was often a fair match for the little things. Although it would be quite the sight, to see a wolf as large as King catch one.

Jove's ears swiveled likewise. The rustling was a sound he paid little attention to in the past, but as he lifted his nose to the air, he realized it was indeed some small herbivore-type animal. Good for a chase!

The little pup's feet made very little noise on the dry forest floor as he padded along behind the larger wolf, a silent waif in his white nightshirt. If he were in his natural form he would stalk too, crouch down low to the ground, muscles readying themselves to leap into a run at a moment's notice. But even in his human form the excitement was getting to him.

Jove was as still as stone as the little bunny stared, and the second things exploded into movement, Jove was also on the creature's tail. He dodged King's charge and took off after the rabbit as well.

It was fast, agile, darting away from the pup in human skin, but having only two legs for running didn't hinder Jove in the slightest. He didn't have to rely entirely on ground traction, so when the rabbit swerved he used the trees and terrain to his advantage, pushing off trees and swinging around saplings to abruptly change his direction. When he grabbed a branch overhead to hurdle over a muddy patch of ground it inadvertently showed off dark bruises above the waistline of his mushroom-patterned shorts. For once the pup was too busy to care about indecency.

Jove skidded to a stop right behind King and approached hesitantly. He showed no sign of exertion after the sprint, no extra colour in his cheeks or breathing hard, he wasn't even breathing at all. One benefit of being a ghost. He would never worry about getting all red-faced and sweaty.

He leaned in to look at the rabbit. King had it by the leg, in his sharp teeth. There was blood, and the thing was squirming... Jove had never actually caught a rabbit before, only chased it until he got bored or found something better to do. He might have been a canine denizen of Halloween, but he was a tame pup. Not a hunter. And he wasn't entirely sure he liked this new variant of the chasing game.

Jove seemed confused as he watched King kill the rabbit and set it down. It didn't squirm anymore. He reached out and touched it, for some reason he was surprised it was still warm. He had never thought about it before, having experience only with things that dissipated when they died, so it hadn't occurred to him that it would retain it's warmth.

He nudged it, almost expecting it to wake up.

The wisp then made a confused little noise in the back of his throat, and glanced at King for an explanation, or instruction as to what was going to happen with it. It was clear the pup didn't fully understand what had just happened.