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Post by Cael on Apr 2, 2008 5:37:58 GMT -5
Involved: Miakoda, Lazuli beta; Echo, Miakoda's son Place: Lazuli Packlands, densite Time: Mid day **** Time has passed, as it does, and Echo and his siblings and packmates have grown along with it, and the white pup of Miakoda and Thorne has realized that though he is different from the others in one particular way, he is no less than a wolf. He utters no sounds, that much has been established, but that does not mean that he cannot speak. In fact, he speaks quite often, and as he grows daily and begins to move away from the chubby years of pup-hood, he has become much more defined and much more desisive in his mannerisms. At present, he is outside of the confines of the den, tired of the dull and cramped space, instead enjoying the cool autumn breeze as it floats by him, taking in the rich scent of earth and dying leaves and feeling the change in the air. He stands out against the dark earth and the bright foliage, but when the winter comes he will be a difficult wolf to spot, indeed. He's kept miraculously clean, though, as Miakoda sees to that. The pup wanders to and fro, examining small pebbles and turning them over with his nose, snuffling the bugs that scurry away from the daylight. He bats at the occasional falling leaf, and digs up some of the soft loam to see what's there. He's curious, that much is certian, but he's wise enough to keep his wits about him. His large ears are kept forward, listening, and every so often he picks up his head to let his bright blue eyes survey the densite.
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Post by Ahiga on Apr 5, 2008 11:25:45 GMT -5
How early is too early? The pups are growing wonderfully, to that Miakoda is certain. Her children are each unique in their own way. Shikoba, headstrong and curious. Moonbird ... well. He'll be a grand story to tell someday. And then Echo, the bold and silent one. She has come to realize that the pale cup likely will never speak a word, as while Shikoba and the other youngsters of the pack could chat up a storm from dawn til dusk, he sits in reverberating silence, always listening and communicating in his own way. Mia has come to terms with this, and she loves her son no less. His .... difference is just yet another uniqueness of one of her offspring.
And so the what once was constant worry for Echo has eased off her shoulders as time passed. Currently, the beta female has left the densite in search of something, all the while with the aforementioned question whispering in the back of her mind. How early is too early? Well, she'll soon find out, as what she set out to find has been found, and she heads through the forest home with a half-grown hare dangling from her jaws. Lunch! But lunch isn't quite ready to be devoured yet, as the brown and white splotched prey still seems to be alive, though injured with a useless hindleg. Miakoda's ears prick forward as she densite finally comes into view, and the obvious sight of Echo has her tail quickly swaging from side to side. With her mouth occupied, a growled noise announces her presence before she sets into view, the scent of rabbit's blood strong and tempting. And, with no further adieu, she lowers her head down and sets the terrified rabbit down.
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Post by Cael on Apr 5, 2008 12:51:46 GMT -5
It's the low chuff from Miakoda that distracts the boy's attention from a particularly interesting bug;a squirmy, hairy looking thing with a bunch of legs that doesn't quite seem to know where it's going but is definately certain that it needs to get there. He had been reaching out a paw to touch the furry thing, but it is set down when he hears the familiar sound of his mother. Setting his paw on the ground, he turns his large ears, head following, over his shoulder to spot Miakoda emerging from the deep woods with dinner in maw. Not yet aware of his mother's plans, Echo greets her with a series of slow tail wags, punctuated when he lifts the tip to end his, 'Hello.' Distracted, though, the little furry bug with a mission found its way on to Echo's forepaw and he looks at the creature with indignant surprised. He snuffles at it a moment, then shakes his paw and sends the unfortunate bug tumbling into the fallen leaves. With the bug forgotten, Echo turns and bounds a few short strides to greet his mother but he stops short when he sees that the meal he had been expecting isn't quite done yet. Pausing, glancing quizzically at the hare that, nose twitching and eyes wide, sits in a small ball with one of its rear legs clearly broken and useless, Echo approaches dinner with caution. He stretches out his neck, sniffing at the air around it; smelling of dark loam and something he can't quite place. The boy blinks, maw slightly agape, as he glances at Miakoda with a low tail twitch and his ears pricked forward, 'Mama?'
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Post by Ahiga on Apr 5, 2008 18:41:10 GMT -5
Poor bunny. Two wolves. One very large and one small, but both larger than itself. The instinct to flee is strong, though it's one that fails pathetically as the young hare fails and fails again to stand. Toppling over, it tries to scramble away. It's a slow retreat, but it's getting somewhere. Miakoda seems largely undisturbed by the prey's attempt at getting away. Her attention is on Echo, and the youngster is regarded with a broad grin. "Food," Miakoda says to her son, nodding towards the struggling hare. "But it isn't quite food yet. You will have to make it ready to eat.." She stoops down to nuzzle Echo fondly, taking in his scent and washing her tongue over his muzzle and face a few times. "Watch," she says as she touches her nose with his smaller one. Her head lifts after that and dull-gold eyes turn towards their prey again. Only one pounce is needed for her large self to overcome it, and she slaps a broad paw down on that same lame leg, holding the morsel still while her jaw widens and she sinks her teeth around the neck. The hare struggles wildly, flailing its unbroken legs with wide and petrified eyes. Mia's grip isn't strong enough to puncture the skin though. That's Echo's job ... maybe, if he catches on. What she does do is lift the rabbit up and turn towards Echo again. See? Her brows lift up questioningly before she promptly drops the hare again.
It must suck to be that rabbit...
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Post by Cael on Apr 8, 2008 6:02:47 GMT -5
A calm but quizzical look is offered up to Miakoda before the movement of the soon to be tortured hare catches his attention. For a brief moment Echo closes his eyes at the quick face wash from his mother, nuzzling back up at her jaw before she moves away to bring his potential dinner back where she left it. Like her, the boy is quite undisturbed by the herbavoire's predicament, and instead he is much more interested in making said dinner ready to eat. Behind him his tail twitches a few times in thought, his ears slowly rotating forward, then backward, then prick themselves to the front again. His full attention is on the creature's broken hind leg, realizing that it can't get away with a leg that's hanging useless, and at an angle. He bounces forward once and sniffs at the hare again, slowly coming to the realization that the second scent on the back of his palatte is the sense of adrenaline and fear, radiating outware from the creature before him. It doesn't, however, disturb the pup. Instead, with a glance to Miakoda, he rears up with to stiff front legs and lands on the hare's broken hind end, grabbing with his small maw at the lifeless back foot.
Not all is lifeless, though, as the hare feels the wolf slam heavily down on the broken leg, it screams a bloodcurdling scream and uselessly flails its other three legs in a last ditch, desperate attempt to flee. The noise causes Echo to reel momentarilly, eyes wide and stuned that such an awful noise could come from such a small creature. He wrinkles his dark nose at it, and huffs out indignantly, but the noise has his heart beating rather strangely, wildly, and without promting from Miakoda, he pounces again at the creature, gnawing at a meatier part of the leg.
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Post by Ahiga on Apr 9, 2008 21:09:20 GMT -5
Miakoda takes on the stance of a silent observer. She will offer no help with this, as her demonstration has already been given. Now is the time to see whether or not Echo catches on, or if in fact she's started this lesson a bit too early in life and needs to wait a little more for development. But, as it turns out, the mother needn'tve worried, and a slow smirk curves her muzzle as she watches Echo's interest in the meat ignite. Her ears press forward and she takes a half step back before settling still again, eyes dancing from the hare to her pup. Her head lifts with a small and quick jerk as he makes his move to pounce on the rabbit. The scream, one that she's likely heard a countless number of times before, phases her not, but she notes his vague hesitation. She's ready to console and urge him on, but the breath is taken and released without a word, for Echo acts on his own without her help at all. Her chest swells in a visible show of pride, and she slowly falls back onto her haunches, legs folding neatly beneath her.
With this kind of torture, death is going to be slow coming for the hare. Being pounced and gnawed on is no fun, and blood loss will soon take its toll. But, it doesn't come quickly enough.
"Remember what mama did, honey," Miakoda coaches softly from the sideline, quivering slightly but expertly resisting the urge to jump in and finish the job herself like any seasoned hunter would. "Where did I hold it? Where were my teeth? If you hold it like that and you are strong in your hold, it will stop moving and you will have what you want."
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Post by Cael on Apr 11, 2008 18:03:14 GMT -5
He knows that now there is a task that has been set before him, though the full point and purpose of that task has yet to reveal itself to the white pup. In his maw he can feel the rabbit, still alive, he can sense the scent of blood welling in his nose, and feel the noise of the creature's rapidly beating heart thrumming in its chest. He tore at the broken back leg for a moment or two, ears splayed flat against the occasional noise that the rabbit would make, slowly growing accustomed to such a strange and yet fascinating sound. For the rabbit himself, death could not come soon enough, though as time passes it seems more inevitable that he will remain as a teacher's aid for a while longer.
Silent observers have good intentions, but mother's are never very silent for long, and the brief prompting from Miakoda causes Echo to pause and lift his head to regard her with wide blue eyes; eyes that drink in knowledge and sink into a kind of deep and pensive thought for a moment. Echo swishes his tail once before he leaps over the rabbit, using its lifeless back end as a stepping stone, and approaches Miakoda at a light trot. He nuzzles up at her chest and closes his eyes, enjoying her company, before moving off with a tip of his ear and the slightest nods of his head. He remembers what she did. That said, he pounces at the prone rabbit for a third time, grabbing it by the scruff of the neck and pulling, as if he were going to bring it home for the rest of the pack to eat. He doesn't get very far, though, his neck muscles aren't really strong enough for that, but he tugs and tugs and tugs a few times more before dropping that hare again. Staring at the creature, its chest slowly heaving up and down in paralyzed agony, Echo furrows his brow, opening and closing his mouth, realizing that it's more work that he thought. There is bone in the way.
A second try, without a glance at his mother, the pup grabs a hold of the softer, more vulnerable part of the neck and gives a great tug backward.
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Post by Ahiga on Apr 15, 2008 19:00:19 GMT -5
Miakoda's ears prick forward as Echo momentarily abandons his what could be kill to approach her. Her muzzle curves into a smile as she receives his affection, and she lowers her head down a bit and half closes her eyes, inhaling his familiar scent and rubbing her nose against his pale fur. As he steps away, she grins and gives his rump a gentle nudge before she raises her head to watch his pounce. Her ears flick back comfortably as he wrestles with the task of robbing the young hare of its life. Can she remember ever doing the same at his age? She tries and fails. How many winters ago was it since she was a pup? Six? Seven? She doesn't bother taking the time to remember, she might miss all the fun. Blinking, her gaze refocuses on Echo as he tries again, and she gnaws at her tongue, forcing herself quiet. She's given him guidance, now she needs to back off and give him the room to explore. But that doesn't mean that she can't be his silent cheerleader.
You can do it, Echo!
And apparently, he can. The rabbit barely fights anymore. If not due to injury, it'd surely die of shock and fear with the amount of exploratory torture it has endured thus far. But mercy's hand soon settles upon the young thing, for as Echo's teeth find the soft flesh of his throat and the youngster gives that final tug, the meat tears, blood pours, and there is a sickeningly dull sound of a popping something in the neck and the hare hangs limp.
Wooha!! Mia's on her paws instantly, tail waving briskly and puzzle stretched into a wide and happy grin. Her baby boy has made his first kill. "You did it! Ah, I knew you could, there was no doubt. Your father will be so happy!" Though perhaps only partially as happy as her.
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Post by Cael on Apr 23, 2008 18:28:56 GMT -5
There is a strong satisfaction in the achingly dull thud caused by the hare's vertebrae separating, and the when the pup feels the familiar taste of meat and blood on his palatte his knows that he has accomplished the task set before him. Just to be sure, he gives a few more good, strong tugs but by all accounts dinner has been served. Dropping the carcass, now still and lifeless, relieved of its mortal duty, Echo turns to his mother with a wide grin, tongue lawling from his maw and the tip of his chin stained pink; his red badge of courage; a mark of things to come. He breathes out through his nose in a sure sign of calm satisfaction, and his happiness eventually oozes into a kind of smug contentment as he looks back from the hare to his mother, and again to the hare.
After a moment, Miakoda is given a straight and sure look, with eyes that say so much with so little sound, a confirmation of what he is. He is wolf. He is her son. He is alive.
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