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Another shadow got a duck and disappeared into the forest. The two shadow seemed to look at each other before falling back, disappearing quickly. Aria dismissed her weapon, jamming the totem-form back into the sheath on her leg. "Damnit!" She cursed, shaking her head. "Come on, Cass. Let's go. There's no point in chasing them down now."

Aria began to walk up the path, stopping to turn and look at Cass. "Also? Don't mention this to anyone else. If the rest of the Council catches word of this, it's possible that they'll try to shut this place down. Or clean it out."

"Good." Aria turned and began to lead the way forward. "With shadowlings in the area, the hunting dogs are going to be useless. Beau is probably in a blind panic right about now. With luck she'll come to and find her way back home, or else-" Aria caught herself, bringing herself up short to glance towards the forest as if she heard something. Cass seemed to like Beau. Better not mention that. "Or else she'll be stuck outside for awhile," she finished. "Beau's a good dog though. A bit spoiled, but she'll survive."

Maybe. Now was also not a good time to tell Cass that Beau was the eighteenth in a long line of hunting dogs named Beau. Lance liked that name. There was something about the amount of vowels that tickled his fancy.

Aria stopped as soon as they were within sight of the cabin. "Speak of the devil..."

"Heeey! You ladies catch something good?" Lance called, waving from his position on the porch. "Great! I'm starving!"

Lance put on a hurt expression. "Good? Aw, c'mon Cass. You know I'm the very epitome of goo- I saw that Aria." The woman in question held up her hand, showing that she was unarmed save for the ducks she carried. Lance turned his attention back to Cass, leaning forward. "Ahh, you shot them yourself? Nicely done! I'd invite you inside in order to show you how to prepare them, but there's a teensy little problem."

The door was right behind him. And Lance was blocking it. What could it be?

Lance beamed at Cass. "I knew it! You look like you're a pretty good shot Cass, what with eight in your bag. Figuratively speaking, of course." He gestured towards the ducks, glancing at Cass a second time. Could he...? No.

At her assessment, Lance grinned. "This time? Nah. I didn't lock myself out either. To be honest..." His grin faded as he glanced down. The hunter hoisted his mist coat up, revealing a form coated in mud and huddling under his chair. His voice grew firm as he spoke, "To be honest Beau won't let me move. Something spooked her good. What happened?"

Beneath the chair the cowering form let out a long whine. She attempted to scramble back, stopping when the chair prevented her progress back.

Lance drummed his fingers on the armrest, watching Cass. While he normally didn't mind a woman kneeling in front of him, this particular context resulted in irritation. "Beau is a good girl. One of the best I've ever trained. Now she's scared and won't budge from under my chair. Something had to have happened. I want to know what."

As the ducks were offered, Beau gave another pained whine and tried to scoot back further. The dog jostled the chair, shrinking back down as soon as she encountered resistance before giving another pained whine. "What did you do?"

"She didn't do anything," Aria cut in, striding forward. She rested one hand on the armrest, touching his arm. "Beau just needs to rest and calm down. But not here. You're a bit... in the way of things. We're going to lift you up and try to get Beau out from under you, move you to another place, then let her go back under until she feels better."

"Cass?" Aria turned her attention to the trainee. "I'm going to lift Lance up. Do you feel comfortable pulling Beau out? There's a chance she might bite..."

Having Aria right there watching both of them with a close eye most likely did not make the situation any easier. Either way, two and two together came and clicked in Lance's head. He looked from the hunter to the trainee and back again before hazarding a guess. "Bear and cubs?"

"Nope. Coyote." Aria grabbed hold of the armest of Lance's chair and hauled up on it, forcing a startled curse from him before he grabbed hold of her to steady himself.

With her safety hidey-hole gone, Beau stood up in an attempt to press herself further back against the chair. Cass easily grabbed the dog and pulled her back, freeing her from out from under the chair. For the moment, at least. As soon as Aria set Lance back down the dog wiggled free of Cass' grip and darted back towards Lance.

At least the dog decided to jump up onto Lance's lap instead, muddy paws and all. "Hey girl, shhh it's okay," he cooed, hugging the dog as she attempted to smush her face into his chest. He ruffled the dog's fur, tossing his head towards the door. "Come on. Let's head inside and I'll show you how to prepare the ducks. Or," he corrected himself, "I'll tell you how to do it and walk you though the process that way. Looks like my hands are going to be occupied."

"Or," Aria broke in, "We can place the ducks in the freezer and take care of the coyotes. They aren't supposed to be in this area, and the sooner we take them out..." The coyotes in question were not the usual kind of coyote, if the look Aria was giving Cass was any indication. "It's your choice."

Aria shook her head, waving towards the cabin. "This particular rifle caliber is more suited for water fowl than coyotes. I'm going to go switch it out for a more... specific rifle."

"If you're sure, go ahead and run the ducks inside. Just place them on the counter -- I think Draven is around to give a hand with cleaning them, and we have more than enough to share." She opened the door behind Lance, allowing the assistant to go in first before following after.