WE - Creepy Crawlers - Arron and Vosh (FIN)

[Aukai Oceansoul]

His mom and sister had left, but he and his Dad would be going out in a separate group to help rid the land of the creepy ones. It sounded like a grand adventure, not the least because he got to do it with his father. It wasn't all that often that he could have some alone time with his Dad. He had finally gotten the courage to ask. He was very proud of himself and delighted that Votzhem had been open to it. It still felt like there was a rift between him and his father that he knew had not always been there. It had to do with being separated for so long in those early years he knew. But knowing did not change the fact that it still existed.

He did not like having any barriers in his family and this would be a good opportunity to try to tear that one down. Besides chasing mongrel animals was what he wanted to do for a career, good practice in his opinion.  

[DraconicFeline]

Duke Edward Drake

Votzhem was a little awkward around his son, and he knew why. He was not used to males.

He'd been raised by two mothers, tried lived with a tribe of amazons, been isolated in the middle of freezing nowhere with his Sister, and had returned to be surrounded by his wife and newly reunited daughter. And Sisters again. His experience with men had been mainly bandits. His son would not be a bandit. He hoped.

But in order to parent in that way, he actually needed to get to know him... but what did boys like to do? Votzhem felt like he was failing at being a father.

So when Arron had asked him to join him - separately from his mother and sister - to investigate the strange beasts that had been appearing in Jauhar lately, Votzhem said yes. This, he knew, was a valuable oppurtunity.

"So," he said, opening the conversation as they walked through the dense twilight of Jauhar, "I hear these beasts are fairly small, so footprints aren't going to do much good. They'll be hard to track... did Mom teach you how to do that?" And already his foot was in his mouth because of course she had.

"... What about traps?" She'd probably done that too, but at least he could ask.  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

"Mom taught me to track yes, but seeing as she was out most of the time finding the biggest scariest beasts to battle, we have yet to cover tracks. It wasn't long after she came around and was with me more often then not when we found Volka and everything changed decidedly for the better. I mean she was on the mend, getting back into parent mode again already but it was better when Volka and Rue came. Now I gather she is back to her old self with you here."

He thought traps were a fantastic idea and was shocked at how much he had already talked to his father. He was only used to talking like that to his friends or his sister. Most of the time he was pretty quiet recently..but then there had been that girl too..not that he could hope to pronounce her name..so he would remember her as Beula. Beula was so gentle..he got a somewhat misty look in his eyes and hoped his father hadn't noticed before he shook his head.

"I would...I would like to try the traps..I think that it is a good way of catching small prey." His father of course would have lots of experience just like his mother, oh to be that smart one day. He was excited to grow up.

DraconicFeline

 

[DraconicFeline]

Duke Edward Drake

It stung more than it probably should that Ruelash had raised his daughter AND had been the first man to return to his wife's life, but it couldn't be helped. It flustered him enough to miss the classic signs of a crush - something he should have recognized, but he didn't. "That's good." he said. What else could he say to that?

"Traps." Right, traps. "Do we want to eat these beasties, or look at them first?" he asked, "Because theres two kinds of traps - the sort that hurt and the sort that imprison. The hurting sort is slightly easier to make and much easier to hide, but..." he hesitated, "You actually want to tame beasts, right?" That was what he had heard, anyway...  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

"I would very much like to look first, then decide if its edible or not. At least I can rattle some notes off, Sezarra lent me her journal again you know, and its my duty to fill it with creatures while shes off earning her whip as it were."

He looked down, "How long until I earn my whip father? How long did it take you to earn your weapons?" He eyed the gleaming steel that was part of his father but not quite as bad as Uncle Rue and his weapons.

"I'm so ready to be out there and taming, but I feel too short still somehow, do you think I'll get as tall as you?"  

[DraconicFeline]

Duke Edward Drake

Earning his whip? "... well, that depends." said Votzhem. He'd not really earned his blades, exactly, nor had Kaalnia or Ruelash for that matter.

"My mother - Lakishmi - bought mine for me when she felt I was ready, just before she let me travel here" he said, "I think Ruelash just picked his up - I hear he was fighting with a knife for a while. Kaalnia... your Aunt Kaa... she was training for the spear since she was a kid, so her actually getting a spear happened..." After she'd met him, actually. Because of him... "When they officially made her a Blade."

"So, really, its up to who's training you... Is Sezarra training you?" it was actually kind of strange to think of his son as being trained by someone Vosh had known during thier childhood. "Then it's up to her, in a way... and has nothing to do with your height." Which meant that, clearly, Arron needed to impress her. Which meant that he needed to look at the beasts first. Which meant imprisoning traps.

Arrons height was an... odd question. Votzhem picked up one of his wicker bug-traps. "This will trap a creature without hurting it - you weave a box, basically, and hide it. Then you put bait in the back, on a lever and, when the animal takes the bait, the door closes. Theres also pit traps and net traps. You don't need to be very tall at all to manage them." he looked at his son teasingly and it struck him how very much like Iroia the boy was. Only his dark eyes and blue hair marked him as something other than leaf. He barely looked his, and yet it was there in those dark eyes, that hair, that subtle sense of shared heritage that he felt when among his Sisters.

"I'll teach you how to make those as we go, too. We'll put this down and stop by the riverbanks to see what reeds we can grab for the traps."  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

His father was so ..oddly calm compared to his crazy hyper mother that Arron had to pause for a minute to just consider the differences. Vosh explained himself slowly and thoroughly where his mother would be half done doing the thing she had wanted to do in the first place by now. It was refreshing in a way and reminded him more of his sister. He figured he was somewhere in between the three of them closer perhaps to his father and sister then his mother in energy level.

"I saw a big clump of them down there last week, a good size hopefully they are not too thick to weave."

He started to stride off in that direction. It was a little awkward with his father yet, but he hoped with time that they could close that gap.  

[DraconicFeline]

"Perfect." Votzhem said, heading in that direction, "Those should be good. Lets keep an eye to the ground - we might find a good place to set this trap..." he lifted the wicker basket, "On the way." He assumed that Iroia had taught the boy to track. He would expect no less from her.

It was odd how much the boy made him think of himself. They were very similar... but different. Arronthain was a little cheerier than he'd been at that age - Votzhem had always been a somber child, which had earned him much ribbing from Mama-Laki who was... not. He had clearly gotten it from Vennan, who had been quiet and retiring.

Perhaps Arron's temperment was a mix between his and Iroias? Or was it something new, something more than the sum of it's parts? He would find out.

"It's probably for the best if they are a little big - so long as they don't let the creature out, they'll give it more air and light. That would make them more comfortable, I think." He didn't claim to be an expert on beasts. He only had a maglardilla and Seri, his hunting sailscale, which he hadn't brought out today so that he could focus on his son better. Maybe next time. "Oh?" he stopped and knelt by a tree, "These gouges are fresh. If we set up a trap nearby and bait it, we might have luck here." He moved a few paces away and put down the trap. "Here, lets set it up - I'll show you how."

He ran through the steps slowly and carefully, explaining each step. It was less like he was talking to his son, though, and more like he was talking to a Sister - a peer.

"Now, we leave it. We'll go make a trap or two, set those, and then check on this one. How does that sound?"

Duke Edward Drake

 

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

Arron decided that he really liked this slower, deliberate pace that his father set, thoroughly negating the need to repeat questions, unlike the rapid fire freak out fest that was his mother's version of teaching, half way through his mother would end a lecture by stopping her words and showing him physically what she meant, whearas his father was infinitely the better teacher. Calm, methodical, reminding him of his sister but with less ruthlessness.

It was downright relaxing this way. He had always loved learning and he knew his father had much to tell him.

"That sounds wonderful father," Arron paused, "I want to thank you, I am really excited to learn all of this.." among other things maybe he could convince his father later to give him the "Talk" about well the birds and the bees, his mother had tried once, turned bright scarlet and had given up.  

[DraconicFeline]

Duke Edward Drake

Votzhem smiled, a little shyly. No, thank you. he wanted to say, because he was grateful that he could be with his son at all. And that his son seemed to like him.

They went to the river which was, as promised, full of useful reeds. Votzhem walked his son through how to make a trap - a fishing trap too, since they were there - and had Arronthain do it along with him. It was best, Votzhem knew, to learn in three ways: by instruction, by example, and by hand. That way, when one failed the other two would step in. There were things about crafting - anything, really - that he knew he had only learned from practice, and things too that he only learned because he heard his mother's voice echoing in his head telling him how to do it right.

Or Arron's mother, because Iroia had taught him more, perhaps, than Votzhem would have liked to admit.

Once he was satisfied that Arron's traps were at least moderately functional (he'd get better in time), the next step was setting the traps. He showed Arron where to go and how to set a trap.

"... Something you must always remember to do..." Votzhem said, feeling uncannily like his mother Lakshmi, "Is to check your traps frequently. It isn't fair or right to leave something trapped for long, especially if there isn't any food as bait. Or, if you aren't using a sheltering trap like these." He regarded the latest trap - one that Arron was setting himself with only observation - and nodded. "... It is also not entirely fair to put a trap right in front of a den like this, even if it is a very good trapping strategy. However, Since you only want to observe the animal I think it would be all right, morally speaking. Especially if we brought food to this trap when we check it later." Votzhem smirked, not unpleasantly, "Compensation, you see."

Votzhem stretched his fingers, listening to the sounds of the jungle for a moment and, with the antennae his son was not blessed with, feeling the jungle as well. "Well." he said, after a moment, "That was the last trap. How are you feeling about your trapping skills at this point?"  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

His father had a wonderful teaching method, that went through all the tough bits a few different ways so with practice it was much easier in the end. "Pretty good, I'm sure if I do a few more at home that I won't forget how to do them properly."

He peered intently at the den, perhaps it wasn't fair setting it up this close but the critters had been disturbing folk after all. They were doing them a favor by relocating the animals taken. They were not going to hurt them either which made Arron feel a lot better..he was a boy trapping was always fun, but it was better when potential pets wouldn't be harmed.

"So we hide now right?"  

[DraconicFeline]

Duke Edward Drake

"Good." Votzhem smiled, pleased. This was good, very good. He felt like an actual father, not just some pretender to the title.

"No - we do something even more productive: we are going to leave this trap be and go to visit the first trap we put up. Perhaps there will be something there, perhaps not. Ready?" Votzhem adjusted his pack on his back.  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

"That seems like a good system," his son said. Dad was a very fair person whearas hi mother was more conk it over the head and ask questions later. Together they seemed to balance out rather well.

They returned to the first trap to a surprise, two of the strange cats were held all squished together in the trap. "Well this makes things easier Dad, we can carry them home and continue with their training, or should we harness them and try to walk them home?"  

[DraconicFeline]

Duke Edward Drake

Well. Votzhem hadn't been expecting such success. Two in one trap... how had that happened? And what were they? He had never seen anything like them.

"So these are the creatures that have been plaguing the jungle as of late?" Votzhem said, "I'd say we carry them home. We should pick up one of the other traps and use them as cages until they're more tamed." He hesitated, uncertain. "... That is how you tame a creature, right? With Seri, I just hatched him and fed him. I think this would be different. But..." he studied his son thoughtfully, "I'm not the beast tamer."  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

"Well we should spend time with them, feed them, water them, eventually show them affection, you know kind of like you dated mom." Arron laughed. "She told me when I asked."

"These are Perzi, usually they live in Oba, desert cats." He scribbled some notes down in his book. "They are kind of cute if you can get past the hairlessness."

The pair got another trap and headed home to their family.