Post by Azoto on Jun 23, 2011 20:54:18 GMT -5
Players:
Niyt (f. wolf)
Kachini (f. wolf)
Tariro (m. wolf)
Haze (m. wolf)
Anoki (m. wolf pup)
The yellowing grass of summer, that on the steppe comes in lean clusters, is far different from the lowlands that he'd so far grown up in, and knowing his sister is likely throwing a fit for lack of her beloved 'GRASS!' isn't helping Anoki any in his current problem: Momma isn't feeling well, and keeps asking him to go bug someone else for food. Since Momma is the one who makes food, this is a connundrum! So the troubled pup is wiggling his way through a sagebush, sniffing around for things that might smell like food.
Kachini brings in a couple of hares she caught. She didn't realize she had to move again but once the pack did, so did she. In the land they are meant to be in, she puts down the hares in front of her, spying Anoki. "Hello, Anoki? Did you have a chance to spend time with mouse friends? Or have you been playing in the mud?" She chuckles, "I did meet your uncle who taught you such a thing. Just please don't get mud all over me while I'm sleeping." Great put more ideas into the wolfpup's head!
Ears twitch, and Anoki emerges from the scrubbush with leaves and sticks here and there, looking at Kachini. Wait, there's an adult. Adults mean food, right? Yeah! He starts her way eagerly, tail wagging some. "You got food right, like momma gives me, right, I'm so hungry an' momma don't wanna get up and she keeps tellin' me go ask someone else!" He starts to bounce about Kachini eagerly, but when he thrusts his snout for her belly he.. finds no sign of Momma food. Ears lay back, and he frowns, plopping into a sit.
Well, it wasn't easy but Tariro has made it back to the Steppe and with a few bruises to prove it. It had been so long since home had been seen, but was it really home. Would the windy steppe and plain below really make up for the grassy plains that comforted them. Suppose it was better than nothing. Making his way to the Cactus then the Oasis beyond the wolf doesn't make it real far before hearing the voices of others around him. Coming to a halt and taking a look around, Tariro is put at ease that atleast some of the pack had made it back safe. A soft howl to greet them, he makes a course change to meet up with them.
Kachini giggles, "Oh, Anoki! I can't provide you food the way your mother did. You'll have to try the hare I have. The meat is good. I can rip you open the pelt so you can get at the meat." She does this without saying anything further. The scent on the wind brings the smell of the pack's Alpha to her nose. Her head looks back, "Tariro!" She doesn't wait but bounds towards him, "How are you?" a little nudge of her nose is given to his shoulder not noticing the bruises yet, far too excited.
Haze has had issues with the idea of 'home' since he can remember, so he doesn't seem too bothered overall by the pack's migration all over the prairie...then again, at his age, and with his history, there isn't much that really bothers him too much these days, either. His ears perk at the sound of a familiar howl, and he slowly rises to all fours to begin making his way towards the source. After a short while of walking, he happens upon the small gathered group; his nephew is certainly familiar to him, but the strange female is not, and the as-yet-unknown pup is presumed to be one of the new litter that Niyt had mentioned recently. "Evening," he calls out simply to announce his presence as he slowly approaches the other wolves.
A howl! And Tariro's presence is made known. Anoki turns, peering toward the sound of his uncle, and answers back with a puppy howl: "Awooooo!!" high pitched and squeaky, but still a howl, so there! When Tariro comes closer, his ears pop and he yaps. "Unca Tariro! You can gimme food, right? Like mommy can?" He bounces that way, but when he shives his snout there, he finds nothing, too! ... Ears back, he looks ovet to Kachini with the absolutely worst, saddest look in all the /world/. "But.. but Momma.. makes the food, doesn't she? Adults are suppossa make tha food.." .. And then Haze approaches, and the wee pup stares at the other wolf warily, before backint up to hide among Tariro's paws.
Tariro just manages to hear Kachini as he looks down to little Anoki. He felt bad for the little guy; a big change was in store for him and it would all have to come so suddenly. Meeting up with the two, met most of the way, he nuzzles Kachini in greeting. "I'm good, Kachini." He tells her. "Hows yourself?" He looks down to Anoki only briefly with a chuckle before his attention shifts to the nearing elder. "Evening uncle, its certainly been a long time." A long time indeed; he wonders where the old timer has been keeping himself. Back upon his nephew Tariro frown. "I'm sorry Anoki. Seems about time you tried something else to eat. Wanna try something else?" He knew the answer would likely be no, but he had to try.
Kachini laughs softly, "I'm doing good! I have two hares. I was trying to..." Oh the uncle of the Alpha. She turns to Haze, "I'm Kachini! New obviously." She grins. "I have the hare ready for him, but not sure if we should try that first. Umm, what is good to start Anoki out on?" She stares at Anoki, "Your mommie on'e be making anymore food for you, Anoki. We have to hunt for food now. That is what you eat." trying to be soft and caring to the pup.
Haze dips his head in a polite greeting to the unfamiliar female. "Haze. Welcome to the pack," he answers simply. To tell the truth, Haze has been mourning the loss of his beloved mate, and as the brindled male doesn't like to display his emotions in front of others, he's been keeping it to himself instead. Indeed, if one were to look at him, it'd be hard to discern the emotion buried deep within his eyes. Unfortunately, and unknowingly as of yet to the elder, there will be more tragedy to come...but at least there is still the blessing of new life present among the Cerulean. Turning to look at the small pup with a friendly smile, he offers a friendly greeting: "Hey there, little guy. What's your name?"
Niyt pads slowly along a small gully, out of the wind for once. Her ear twitches when she hears voices - and she hesitates, before turning her measured steps in that direction, though still keeping to the low places, to the spots where earthen walls shield her from the wind. She doesn't want it ruffling through her fur, or to hear the news that it brings her today.
Tail tucking between his legs, and butt sagging to the ground a little, the pup replies, ".. I'm Anoki." With slight bravery. Mostly because his uncle Tariro is here! .. And he supposes, if Tariro is calling this wolf Uncle, it means like, this wolf is his uncle, too. He wiggles slightly.. But then siiighs, sliding into a sprawl on his chest. He is most adamantly NOT ready to try eating something that isn't MOMMA FOOD. He lays his head on his paws, and mumbles, "But Momma makes the food. Why does we gotta look for it?" sullenly, before he considets Tariro's words. ".. Dun' wan' try summin' new, I want momma to gimme food. Why's momma bein' so mean? She's always tellin' me to go ask someone else now."
Tariro knew it wasn't going to be easy, he just wished it wasn't going to be hard either. With a sigh he looks up to Kachini then her offering. "A hare is a good place to start but..." He really had no idea. When his pups where young it was Aika that showed them their first real meal. If only he'd of been there. Followig Anoki to behind him, he tries to encourage the pup with a few noses. "We all can't rely on Momma, Anoki. One day we have to find food ourself. You wanna grow up big and strong right?"
Kachini gives a bow of her head to Haze, "Thank you. But if you have any words of wisdom to help Anoki here, right now would be the perfect time." She barely notices Niyt but her attention falls on Anoki and Tariro. "Please, Anoki, try some, you'll feel strong this way too. Like your uncle Tariro says if you want to be big and strong, you'll need to eat what you catch." She gives a few nods to Tariro.
Haze smiles down at the small pup, lowering his head to be more on his level. "Well, hello there, Anoki. I'm your...great uncle, I suppose," he answers after a moment of consideration. At the boy's small tantrum and the female's words, he tries to respond encouragingly. "Don't want to try something new? Why not?" he asks, his tone one of utter disbelief at such a notion. "Why, when I was your age, I was getting in trouble for trying something new /too much/," he adds with a little chuckle. "Not that I'm saying you should follow in my pawsteps, but how do you know you won't like something new until you try it out?"
Niyt sighs softly, and she pads over to her brother, nuzzling at him gently. "Oh, little moon. Do you think she wants to?" she asks Anoki quietly. "She can't help it. That's why." The wolf sighs again, and then lifts her head, sightless eyes gazing at nothing as she nods to the others around, recognizing their voices and feels to her other senses. "Hello," she says, and then goes silent as a breeze ruffles between her ears, her head lowering slightly as she takes a step away again.
Another pout. Face it, Anoki is a stubborn Momma's boy.. who doesn't know what his future holds. Instead he grouses, "But MOMMA is supposed to make the food!" Again, with growing puppy annoyance! ... Although haze does have a point. New things usually turn out to be fun, don't they? .. But.. but he doesn't care about FUN, he cares about HUNGRY. He sniffs grumpily, then tries to cover his ears with his paws. "No no no no no, I want Momma food, because Momma is the best food and--" His tummy grumbles at his obstinate nature with a gurgle, and he frowns. "... All this food talk is makin' me more humgry than evers!"
Tariro didn't actually think eatting a hare would make you big and strong, but it was a start; a start to something bigger. A smile follows Haze's words to the pup as he looks to them both, blinking a few times with Niyt makes a sudden apperance as if our of no where. "Hello Niyt." He'd ask how she is, but the expression she carries is all he needs. Looking back down to Anoki he sighs. "Not even going to try, huh. Guess you wont be all big and strong then, like momma would of wanted." It wasn't fair to use his mother as a taunt but if it made him try even just a little it'd be worth the trouble.
Kachini looks to the new face near Anoki. "Hello, I'm Kachini." telling Niyt. She nods to Haze, "Thank you." saying softly. Now she sees the pup has his family around him, not needing much of her help. She quietly moves over to the hare she readied for him, then takes it up in her mouth gently. A moment later she turns around to pad back over to him, dropping it at his paws. "Just a little nibble, please?" She lays down on the other side of the hare with her tail wagging.
"You know what will help make you not so hungry, Anoki?" Haze asks, before nosing at the hare dropped between them both. "Some fresh, warm, tasty food." As though to prove his point, the elder wolf leans in to carefully tear a small strip of flesh away from the carcass, noisily chewing on it with exaggerated sounds of pleasure. "Of course, if you're not gonna eat it, that just means all the more for me..." he mumbles around a mouthful of meat, trying to goad the young pup into trying a bite through reverse psychology.
Niyt nods to her uncle, and to an unrecognized voice from Kachini - she's not worried about the stranger, not here surrounded by her pack, but neither is she in the mood to meet people - and then slips back a few paces from the rest, and tucks herself against the side of a boulder, where the wind can't reach her so much. She leaves the others to argue with Anoki, for now - her brother is in no danger of starving, yet, and there are plenty who want to try to feed him. She sighs, and lowers her head to her paws, still listening but not responding.
Ears lay back, and eyes narrow. "...That's no fair!" Complains Anoki at the goading and taunting, but he siiiighs, and then, making a face, stands, and stomp stomp stomps his way over to the hare, poking at it with a paw, before he licks at it, and then says, sourly, "There, I tried it, I want Momma food!" Stubborn! ... But .. well, he licks his mouth again, and then pokes at the hare once more, and then licks again. Absently, though still trying to be adamant, he announces, "I'll try a bit more but I'M NOT GOAN' LIKE IT EVERS." ... Kids. He tries to tug a bite off, but ends up just gnawing and chewing bits of meat c'os he's not got teeth strong enough to shere away like the adults, yet.
Tariro was about to move to the hare himself but when he sees Kachini do so then bring one back he decides not to. Looking to Haze as he hears the tearing of the hare his eyes grow wide. That was his next idea. Saves him time now dont it. Niyts shuffle away seemed just as sudden as her arrival and it made him worry. Knowing the dispare she must feel, he'd at least think she'd want the comfort of family to bring ease rather than keep to herself. Everyone is different he supposes. Listening to the sounds of eatting, Tariro peers down and lets out a smile as Anoki stubbornly licks at the hare. "He says that now." He murmurs to one side.
Kachini steps back in her laying down crouch. She watches Haze take a good bite of the hare offered to the pup. Her tail still wags, laughing at Anoki's words, "You don't have to like it to know that you need it to grow up big and strong. But when you want to learn to hunt, you can always follow me out there to show you." She offers but a slight peek at Niyt causes her tail to stop wagging.
Haze can't help but chuckle at the pup's reaction, slowly pushing himself upright once more as he swallows the bite of meat. Feeling his work here is done, he starts to wander off once again - something he's been prone to since he was young and never quite grew out of - though he turns in Niyt's direction before leaving the area entirely. Passing close by the younger female, he murmurs a brief phrase of hope before continuing on his way. "The night may be dark, but the light of dawn will soon come." It may not be the magic words needed to snap her out of her sadness, but hope is all he has anymore, and perhaps it will provide even the slightest bit of consolation she needs.
A soft smile as Anoki begins to eat penetrates Niyt's general gloom, but it fades quickly enough. She's not so far that she can't still hear the conversation of her family and pack, but she's not inclined to join in. Another gust of wind pushes its way over the top of the boulder, reaching down to her, and her ears start to flatten at its touch - but then pause, slowly lifting again to catch Haze's words. They bring a quirk to her lips, a little duck of her head and splay of her ears. "Light. Hah."
"Nope, don't like it, at all," Anoki continues to protest, though he's finally managed to saw off a bite of food from the meat, and is now chewing it exaggeratively with his mouth open, before he swallows. Well, yeah, okay, that wasn't so bad, and he has to admit now he's even hungrier after that taste. "It's yucky! Like uhm.. Like eating grass!" he makes a face. ... But is already trying to gnaw another piece of meat off the hare. "Yuck yuck yuck.." he's trying to be stubbornly adamant!
Tariro honestly thought the taste of hare was gammie and the meat tough, but sacrifices are made and you eat whatever crosses yur path. Would he of made it if he was picky, probably not. Watching Anoki, gaze popping up with Haze stands and starts to head off, he head shakes. Providing no question, his ears fall back to Niyt's disbelief in Coming Light. It was sad knowing his family was falling apart in slow increments; however, he had his own hope that things would improve. Attention drawn back to the pup he chuckles. "You'll get use to it.. promise." It was all they had, so he better.
Kachini goes back to the other hare she had, taking it up and bringing it over to Niyt, "You want some?" She makes the offer. From how distant Niyt was behaving, she doesn't stay long for an answer. She turns quick and heads back over to Anoki and Tariro. "Well I see you're eating it, Anoki. Afterwards we can go look for a mouse for you to play with." She smiles at Tariro.
What good does light do for Niyt, even if it comes? Her eyes stare sightless into the distance, covered with that same grey fog. Darkness and dawn are all the same to her. One ear flicks at Kachini's approach, though she can't see it, and she shakes her head softly. "I'm not hungry," she replies, and then lowers her head to her paws again.
Still gnawing and occasionally yanking, Anoki works on taking a few more bites, soon tugging the hare with him, yank yank yank-tear, he yanks a hunk off, and tumbles, then sits there chomping a few times to try and chew it into something a smaller bite he can swallow. It's not easy, but he eventually manages to chew the larger hunk of rabbit meat into smaller bits for him to chomp down. He gulps, and licks his jaws a bit. He snorts. "Yucky yucky yucky.." .. But his attention turns to Niyt then, and he frowns, before toddling her way, and poking at he rnose with a paw. "... Niyt.. You o'tay? You don' look so happy. You ain' been playin' wif da black bird has you?"
"A mouse, that sounds like a great and fun idea." When was the last time he played with a mouse, Tariro cant remember. Anoki was going to need all the energy he could get, that is if the hare didn't put him to sleep like most food tends to do. He chuckles to himself. Niyt's refusal to even eat brings concern, "Should you change your mind, it'll be there, ok Niyt." Quiet now he just watches unsure of what else to do.
Kachini steps away from the siblings to let Anoki care for his older sister. She looks to Tariro. "I think you may need to try to cheer her up?" She sighs, "I know how hard it can be. I do know but I also understand that those we lose are still with us in a way. I tried to tell your son that. I know you also understand me, Tariro." She looks past them, "I'm going to get more food for us." She nudges Tariro on his shoulder then bounds off.
Niyt lifts up her head a little at the pawbump, and noses at her brother gently. "No. I don't want to play with those birds," she tells him firmly. "I just..." she sighs. "I can't help hearing. I don't want to hear those things. But I can't close my ears to them." She shakes her head, ears flapping, and then adds in a quiet murmur, "Maybe I should have let the shadows take those, too." One not-taken ear flicks to her uncle's words, and she gives a slight nod. "Okay," she says in a voice that entirely fails to sound it.
"Those birds are scary," agrees Anoki, before he frowns, and then paws at Niyt's face again, saying, "... You're not angry like Momma is all the time, are you? I mean, she's always.. grumpy now.. Doesn't wanna get up an' stuff." he says, softly, frowning. He then frowns, and pads over, trying to catch and tug at an ear with his mouth, "Nuh uhn, I like your ears, they're fun to pull!" He whines softly though. He can tell something is wrong. His sister is .. wrong, and his mom is.. wrong, and there's something wrong in the shadows at night, too. "... unca Tariro... Maybe this place is bad for us?"
Niyt bumps her nose against her brother's side as he tugs at her ear, letting her head tilt to the side. She smiles, just a little. "Then maybe I'll keep them, little moon. For you." Her posture lifts, just a little, as she gets a little smile for her younger brother. Light means nothing to her. But warmth? That has more meaning. So she'll keep walking, for now. For Anoki, if nothing else. But that means she has to try to explain what's wrong. "Mama..." She sighs softly. "She loves you. Loves all of us. But she can't stay. The wind... I keep hearing it calling for her."
"... Why is the wind calling her name, Niyt?" he asks, looking at his older sister, with concern. Anoki isn't sure about the wind really, but he knows sometimes, when the wind blows, and he's had a full tummy, and the sun is so, he sees things that no one else sees. He knows there are things there that aren't there for anyone else to see. Sometimes it's a little scary. "... Tell the wind it can't have her, she's /my/ momma," he says, firmly, before looking about, brows furrowed, for this wind of Niyt's, to growl and snap, and tell it off, for thinking it could take their mum away.
There's the wind, blowing along and scattering small leaves in front of it. It pays no attention to Anoki's posturing, though - and why should it? It's one of the forces of nature, those same forces that are taking Niyt and Anoki's mother away, and it doesn't listen to wolves. Not even ones that see the things nobody else does. "I don't know why it wants her," she replies softly. "I don't know why it's taking her away from us." Her voice has a soft whine, now, as she lets out some of that pain. "I don't know why. But I can hear it, and... _I can't stop it_." She whines, and lowers her head. "I don't know how."
"... Taking her away.. But.." Anoki frowns. Is that why his mum is so.. different now? Why all she wants to do is sleep, and why she keeps telling him to go ask someone else for food? He frowns, and looks at the scattering leaves, squinting his eyes, trying so hard to see what it is that is sending them tilt-a-whirl along, before he frowns, and looks at Niyt again. Then he says softly, "... But... She doesn't want to go, right? So why is it making her go?" He says, frowning. He starts to clamber over Niyt, trying to climb to her back where he can lay down on her and listen to her breath. "... She'll be back, won't she? She can go, see what the wind wants, and come back."
Niyt lowers her head to her paws again, shifting a little to let her brother clamber on top of her, where the slow rise and fall of her breath can lift him. "I don't know why," she says softly. Why does there have to be death? And especially why her mother? She isn't ready for any of this yet, not for herself, and not to be explaining to her brother, either. But there's a question to be answered. So she answers it. "I don't think she can come back. Not really. She'll be like... like the little spirits you dream."
It is now your pose.
"... She'll be like the mousie?" Asks Anoki softly, "She'll be a shadow.. Like the rabbit and the birdie.." He frowns, then sighs, shaking his head, ".. She doesn't have to go, the wind can take uhm.. take someone else. Like Krisha, she's not important, she's just a sister!" he says, as he turns to look again for that breeze spinning the leaves, but not finding it.
That's right. Anoki's got it; explanation successful. Niyt doesn't feel very happy about having gotten the idea across, though. "The wind won't listen," she replies. "And even if it did... mama wouldn't be very happy if it took away Krisha. She'd want for all of us to be here, and happy, even if she can't be anymore. Don't you think we should try to do what mama wants?"
A sigh, "Yeah, I guess we gotta keep Krisha, even if she's weird and likes grass," Sighs Anoki, as he lays his head down on his sister's back. "But what about Dad? What's he gonna do without mom? An' where are we gonna get our food?" Though he's already half looking the way of the picked at hare he'd been gnawing on earlier. It wasn't AS bad as he put it out to be, but he still wants his momma... even if the wind seems to want her more. "... Is dad going to go with Momma, too?"
Niyt smiles, just a little, and nods. Sisters can be a pain, but they're good things too. At the question of their father, though, she sighs. "I don't know what's going to happen to dad," she says. Seems like she's saying that a lot, today. "The wind... it's not calling for him, like it is mama. But... he might not let her go alone." She's seen how close her parents are, destinies entwined and true love and being inseperable and all that stuff that seemed so wonderful and romantic - up until it may mean that their children lose two parents together. "We'll still have our pack, though... uncle Tariro and Auntie Em and all the rest, and they'll bring you hares and mice until you learn to catch them on your own."
"You aren't going to go with the wind, are you, Niyt? I mean.. You're like, the best sister ever. You'd only better if you was the only one," though he smirks slightly. Anoki is just joking; he loves Krisha, but.. Kids are kids. He sighs a little, then says, ".. Don't you think Momma would want you to eat food when people bring it to you? Like Kachini did?" He asks, looking to her pointedly, somehow managing to catch the worry of his packmates ven at his young age. "... Dad will be here too.. Like mom. We'll see'em, I'm sure of it."
"I'm going to stay here as long as I can," Niyt promises. "I can't stop the wind... but I won't go following it until it _makes_ me." After all, as she's just reminded Anoki, they still have her pack - and she still has him and the rest of her siblings. Somehow, explaining all this to her brother has made her realize it herself. Then, at his reminder, she laughs a little. "You're right. She would." The wolf reaches over and tugs the hare closer, beginning to eat.
Anoki smiles, tail wagging, as his sister starts to eat. "Good," he murmurs, as he lays his head on her back again, before he murmurs, "We're gonna need everybody to be strong. Those birdies are scary, and I think they might come back." He says, frowning a bit.
Niyt eats slowly - she still doesn't have much of an appetite. But she's eating. She pauses, licking her muzzle clean. "Do you think they're looking for something?" she asks, before taking another delicate bite of the hare.
".. I think they're hungry. You said they were chasing the rabbit... Wolves chase rabbits when they're hungry, right? I mean, you're eating a rabbit.." He considers. "Maybe they're hungry. And they want to eat stuff. But I don't know why they would eat a wolf, do you?" Anoki frowns at this thought, and paws at his snout a wee bit.
Niyt's ears splay, as a thought strikes her. Crows eat carrion, for one. Things already dead. Which means... yeah, there's certainly a time when they'd be eating wolves. She doesn't want to share that thought, though, and instead says, "Then we should tell them wolves are for eating things, not being eaten. And if they don't believe us... we'll bite them." She makes a little 'grr' noise, and chomps down on one of the rabbit's legs, making the bone snap.
Considering the carrion said birds might find would be their mother, yes, good idea not to mention it to Anoki as he thinks about things. "Yeah.. Yeah that's what I'll do if I see a birdy, I'll tell'im that I'm a wolf, and I /eat/ things, so they shouldn't eat me, an' then I'll bite'im to keep him away." Anoki grins, rolling over-- and sliding off her back in the process. He lands roughly.. then squeaks, "Imeanttodothat!" to try and save face. He rolls over, and then creeps closer to the hare in Niyt's paws, peering at it. "... You like that stuff?" he asks, softly.
Niyt nods. "And if he has lots of birdies with him, then you'll get your whole pack, and we'll /all/ bite them until they go away," she says. After all, an entire flock of crows could be dangerous to a little puppy. She tenses at the sound of Anoki falling off her, turning her head despite the fact that she can't actually see anything, then relaxes when he tries to save his dignity. If her brother is worried about dignity, then things like his bones are intact. She smiles at the question, and takes another little bite. "I do. Some bits are better than others, though. You can find different flavors, like you do different smells, and figure out your favorites."
"... I dunno, it's all kinda tough and hard to chew," Anoki admits, considering he'd had some trouble. But, he has puppy teeth, he'll work it out yet. By the time he's Niyt's age, he'll be able to fare rather well with dead things as food. Hopefully. He then hmphs, "I betcha I could scare a lotta birdies off just by lookin' at'em," he says, firmly, attempting his best to seem extra fierce, even if he knows his sister can't see him where he sits. He reaches a paw out to poke at part of her hare, then sniffs. "It has different tastes? Weeeeiiiird."
Niyt takes another bite of hare, and then she considers herself well-fed enough. Only about half the hare is gone, but she doesn't have the appetite for more. She smiles. "It does. Just like it has different smells. Think about it. When you get food from mama, it's mama-food. When you get food from this hare, it's this-hare-food. A different hare would be different-looking, different-smelling... different-tasting. And a mouse is even more different, almost as much different as we are from a hare."
"But it's all good food for us, right?" Asks Anoki, peering at the half of hare still laugh, before he crawls a little forward, and begins to pick at it lazily, pulling away another bite of meat, chewing it messily with mouth open in thought. Smack smack smack. Chewing it to mushy bits, he gulps down, then asks, "Still tastes weird, though," granted, he'll get used to it.
Niyt nods. "From little mice to big deer," she says, and smiles. "Now you know how the big wolves eat. And you can show Krisha, too! She's probably just as hungry as you were... let's bring the rest of this to her, so she can have some dinner." With that, Niyt rises to her feet, and carefully picks up the half-eaten rabbit to carry off to her other little sibling.
Niyt (f. wolf)
Kachini (f. wolf)
Tariro (m. wolf)
Haze (m. wolf)
Anoki (m. wolf pup)
The yellowing grass of summer, that on the steppe comes in lean clusters, is far different from the lowlands that he'd so far grown up in, and knowing his sister is likely throwing a fit for lack of her beloved 'GRASS!' isn't helping Anoki any in his current problem: Momma isn't feeling well, and keeps asking him to go bug someone else for food. Since Momma is the one who makes food, this is a connundrum! So the troubled pup is wiggling his way through a sagebush, sniffing around for things that might smell like food.
Kachini brings in a couple of hares she caught. She didn't realize she had to move again but once the pack did, so did she. In the land they are meant to be in, she puts down the hares in front of her, spying Anoki. "Hello, Anoki? Did you have a chance to spend time with mouse friends? Or have you been playing in the mud?" She chuckles, "I did meet your uncle who taught you such a thing. Just please don't get mud all over me while I'm sleeping." Great put more ideas into the wolfpup's head!
Ears twitch, and Anoki emerges from the scrubbush with leaves and sticks here and there, looking at Kachini. Wait, there's an adult. Adults mean food, right? Yeah! He starts her way eagerly, tail wagging some. "You got food right, like momma gives me, right, I'm so hungry an' momma don't wanna get up and she keeps tellin' me go ask someone else!" He starts to bounce about Kachini eagerly, but when he thrusts his snout for her belly he.. finds no sign of Momma food. Ears lay back, and he frowns, plopping into a sit.
Well, it wasn't easy but Tariro has made it back to the Steppe and with a few bruises to prove it. It had been so long since home had been seen, but was it really home. Would the windy steppe and plain below really make up for the grassy plains that comforted them. Suppose it was better than nothing. Making his way to the Cactus then the Oasis beyond the wolf doesn't make it real far before hearing the voices of others around him. Coming to a halt and taking a look around, Tariro is put at ease that atleast some of the pack had made it back safe. A soft howl to greet them, he makes a course change to meet up with them.
Kachini giggles, "Oh, Anoki! I can't provide you food the way your mother did. You'll have to try the hare I have. The meat is good. I can rip you open the pelt so you can get at the meat." She does this without saying anything further. The scent on the wind brings the smell of the pack's Alpha to her nose. Her head looks back, "Tariro!" She doesn't wait but bounds towards him, "How are you?" a little nudge of her nose is given to his shoulder not noticing the bruises yet, far too excited.
Haze has had issues with the idea of 'home' since he can remember, so he doesn't seem too bothered overall by the pack's migration all over the prairie...then again, at his age, and with his history, there isn't much that really bothers him too much these days, either. His ears perk at the sound of a familiar howl, and he slowly rises to all fours to begin making his way towards the source. After a short while of walking, he happens upon the small gathered group; his nephew is certainly familiar to him, but the strange female is not, and the as-yet-unknown pup is presumed to be one of the new litter that Niyt had mentioned recently. "Evening," he calls out simply to announce his presence as he slowly approaches the other wolves.
A howl! And Tariro's presence is made known. Anoki turns, peering toward the sound of his uncle, and answers back with a puppy howl: "Awooooo!!" high pitched and squeaky, but still a howl, so there! When Tariro comes closer, his ears pop and he yaps. "Unca Tariro! You can gimme food, right? Like mommy can?" He bounces that way, but when he shives his snout there, he finds nothing, too! ... Ears back, he looks ovet to Kachini with the absolutely worst, saddest look in all the /world/. "But.. but Momma.. makes the food, doesn't she? Adults are suppossa make tha food.." .. And then Haze approaches, and the wee pup stares at the other wolf warily, before backint up to hide among Tariro's paws.
Tariro just manages to hear Kachini as he looks down to little Anoki. He felt bad for the little guy; a big change was in store for him and it would all have to come so suddenly. Meeting up with the two, met most of the way, he nuzzles Kachini in greeting. "I'm good, Kachini." He tells her. "Hows yourself?" He looks down to Anoki only briefly with a chuckle before his attention shifts to the nearing elder. "Evening uncle, its certainly been a long time." A long time indeed; he wonders where the old timer has been keeping himself. Back upon his nephew Tariro frown. "I'm sorry Anoki. Seems about time you tried something else to eat. Wanna try something else?" He knew the answer would likely be no, but he had to try.
Kachini laughs softly, "I'm doing good! I have two hares. I was trying to..." Oh the uncle of the Alpha. She turns to Haze, "I'm Kachini! New obviously." She grins. "I have the hare ready for him, but not sure if we should try that first. Umm, what is good to start Anoki out on?" She stares at Anoki, "Your mommie on'e be making anymore food for you, Anoki. We have to hunt for food now. That is what you eat." trying to be soft and caring to the pup.
Haze dips his head in a polite greeting to the unfamiliar female. "Haze. Welcome to the pack," he answers simply. To tell the truth, Haze has been mourning the loss of his beloved mate, and as the brindled male doesn't like to display his emotions in front of others, he's been keeping it to himself instead. Indeed, if one were to look at him, it'd be hard to discern the emotion buried deep within his eyes. Unfortunately, and unknowingly as of yet to the elder, there will be more tragedy to come...but at least there is still the blessing of new life present among the Cerulean. Turning to look at the small pup with a friendly smile, he offers a friendly greeting: "Hey there, little guy. What's your name?"
Niyt pads slowly along a small gully, out of the wind for once. Her ear twitches when she hears voices - and she hesitates, before turning her measured steps in that direction, though still keeping to the low places, to the spots where earthen walls shield her from the wind. She doesn't want it ruffling through her fur, or to hear the news that it brings her today.
Tail tucking between his legs, and butt sagging to the ground a little, the pup replies, ".. I'm Anoki." With slight bravery. Mostly because his uncle Tariro is here! .. And he supposes, if Tariro is calling this wolf Uncle, it means like, this wolf is his uncle, too. He wiggles slightly.. But then siiighs, sliding into a sprawl on his chest. He is most adamantly NOT ready to try eating something that isn't MOMMA FOOD. He lays his head on his paws, and mumbles, "But Momma makes the food. Why does we gotta look for it?" sullenly, before he considets Tariro's words. ".. Dun' wan' try summin' new, I want momma to gimme food. Why's momma bein' so mean? She's always tellin' me to go ask someone else now."
Tariro knew it wasn't going to be easy, he just wished it wasn't going to be hard either. With a sigh he looks up to Kachini then her offering. "A hare is a good place to start but..." He really had no idea. When his pups where young it was Aika that showed them their first real meal. If only he'd of been there. Followig Anoki to behind him, he tries to encourage the pup with a few noses. "We all can't rely on Momma, Anoki. One day we have to find food ourself. You wanna grow up big and strong right?"
Kachini gives a bow of her head to Haze, "Thank you. But if you have any words of wisdom to help Anoki here, right now would be the perfect time." She barely notices Niyt but her attention falls on Anoki and Tariro. "Please, Anoki, try some, you'll feel strong this way too. Like your uncle Tariro says if you want to be big and strong, you'll need to eat what you catch." She gives a few nods to Tariro.
Haze smiles down at the small pup, lowering his head to be more on his level. "Well, hello there, Anoki. I'm your...great uncle, I suppose," he answers after a moment of consideration. At the boy's small tantrum and the female's words, he tries to respond encouragingly. "Don't want to try something new? Why not?" he asks, his tone one of utter disbelief at such a notion. "Why, when I was your age, I was getting in trouble for trying something new /too much/," he adds with a little chuckle. "Not that I'm saying you should follow in my pawsteps, but how do you know you won't like something new until you try it out?"
Niyt sighs softly, and she pads over to her brother, nuzzling at him gently. "Oh, little moon. Do you think she wants to?" she asks Anoki quietly. "She can't help it. That's why." The wolf sighs again, and then lifts her head, sightless eyes gazing at nothing as she nods to the others around, recognizing their voices and feels to her other senses. "Hello," she says, and then goes silent as a breeze ruffles between her ears, her head lowering slightly as she takes a step away again.
Another pout. Face it, Anoki is a stubborn Momma's boy.. who doesn't know what his future holds. Instead he grouses, "But MOMMA is supposed to make the food!" Again, with growing puppy annoyance! ... Although haze does have a point. New things usually turn out to be fun, don't they? .. But.. but he doesn't care about FUN, he cares about HUNGRY. He sniffs grumpily, then tries to cover his ears with his paws. "No no no no no, I want Momma food, because Momma is the best food and--" His tummy grumbles at his obstinate nature with a gurgle, and he frowns. "... All this food talk is makin' me more humgry than evers!"
Tariro didn't actually think eatting a hare would make you big and strong, but it was a start; a start to something bigger. A smile follows Haze's words to the pup as he looks to them both, blinking a few times with Niyt makes a sudden apperance as if our of no where. "Hello Niyt." He'd ask how she is, but the expression she carries is all he needs. Looking back down to Anoki he sighs. "Not even going to try, huh. Guess you wont be all big and strong then, like momma would of wanted." It wasn't fair to use his mother as a taunt but if it made him try even just a little it'd be worth the trouble.
Kachini looks to the new face near Anoki. "Hello, I'm Kachini." telling Niyt. She nods to Haze, "Thank you." saying softly. Now she sees the pup has his family around him, not needing much of her help. She quietly moves over to the hare she readied for him, then takes it up in her mouth gently. A moment later she turns around to pad back over to him, dropping it at his paws. "Just a little nibble, please?" She lays down on the other side of the hare with her tail wagging.
"You know what will help make you not so hungry, Anoki?" Haze asks, before nosing at the hare dropped between them both. "Some fresh, warm, tasty food." As though to prove his point, the elder wolf leans in to carefully tear a small strip of flesh away from the carcass, noisily chewing on it with exaggerated sounds of pleasure. "Of course, if you're not gonna eat it, that just means all the more for me..." he mumbles around a mouthful of meat, trying to goad the young pup into trying a bite through reverse psychology.
Niyt nods to her uncle, and to an unrecognized voice from Kachini - she's not worried about the stranger, not here surrounded by her pack, but neither is she in the mood to meet people - and then slips back a few paces from the rest, and tucks herself against the side of a boulder, where the wind can't reach her so much. She leaves the others to argue with Anoki, for now - her brother is in no danger of starving, yet, and there are plenty who want to try to feed him. She sighs, and lowers her head to her paws, still listening but not responding.
Ears lay back, and eyes narrow. "...That's no fair!" Complains Anoki at the goading and taunting, but he siiiighs, and then, making a face, stands, and stomp stomp stomps his way over to the hare, poking at it with a paw, before he licks at it, and then says, sourly, "There, I tried it, I want Momma food!" Stubborn! ... But .. well, he licks his mouth again, and then pokes at the hare once more, and then licks again. Absently, though still trying to be adamant, he announces, "I'll try a bit more but I'M NOT GOAN' LIKE IT EVERS." ... Kids. He tries to tug a bite off, but ends up just gnawing and chewing bits of meat c'os he's not got teeth strong enough to shere away like the adults, yet.
Tariro was about to move to the hare himself but when he sees Kachini do so then bring one back he decides not to. Looking to Haze as he hears the tearing of the hare his eyes grow wide. That was his next idea. Saves him time now dont it. Niyts shuffle away seemed just as sudden as her arrival and it made him worry. Knowing the dispare she must feel, he'd at least think she'd want the comfort of family to bring ease rather than keep to herself. Everyone is different he supposes. Listening to the sounds of eatting, Tariro peers down and lets out a smile as Anoki stubbornly licks at the hare. "He says that now." He murmurs to one side.
Kachini steps back in her laying down crouch. She watches Haze take a good bite of the hare offered to the pup. Her tail still wags, laughing at Anoki's words, "You don't have to like it to know that you need it to grow up big and strong. But when you want to learn to hunt, you can always follow me out there to show you." She offers but a slight peek at Niyt causes her tail to stop wagging.
Haze can't help but chuckle at the pup's reaction, slowly pushing himself upright once more as he swallows the bite of meat. Feeling his work here is done, he starts to wander off once again - something he's been prone to since he was young and never quite grew out of - though he turns in Niyt's direction before leaving the area entirely. Passing close by the younger female, he murmurs a brief phrase of hope before continuing on his way. "The night may be dark, but the light of dawn will soon come." It may not be the magic words needed to snap her out of her sadness, but hope is all he has anymore, and perhaps it will provide even the slightest bit of consolation she needs.
A soft smile as Anoki begins to eat penetrates Niyt's general gloom, but it fades quickly enough. She's not so far that she can't still hear the conversation of her family and pack, but she's not inclined to join in. Another gust of wind pushes its way over the top of the boulder, reaching down to her, and her ears start to flatten at its touch - but then pause, slowly lifting again to catch Haze's words. They bring a quirk to her lips, a little duck of her head and splay of her ears. "Light. Hah."
"Nope, don't like it, at all," Anoki continues to protest, though he's finally managed to saw off a bite of food from the meat, and is now chewing it exaggeratively with his mouth open, before he swallows. Well, yeah, okay, that wasn't so bad, and he has to admit now he's even hungrier after that taste. "It's yucky! Like uhm.. Like eating grass!" he makes a face. ... But is already trying to gnaw another piece of meat off the hare. "Yuck yuck yuck.." he's trying to be stubbornly adamant!
Tariro honestly thought the taste of hare was gammie and the meat tough, but sacrifices are made and you eat whatever crosses yur path. Would he of made it if he was picky, probably not. Watching Anoki, gaze popping up with Haze stands and starts to head off, he head shakes. Providing no question, his ears fall back to Niyt's disbelief in Coming Light. It was sad knowing his family was falling apart in slow increments; however, he had his own hope that things would improve. Attention drawn back to the pup he chuckles. "You'll get use to it.. promise." It was all they had, so he better.
Kachini goes back to the other hare she had, taking it up and bringing it over to Niyt, "You want some?" She makes the offer. From how distant Niyt was behaving, she doesn't stay long for an answer. She turns quick and heads back over to Anoki and Tariro. "Well I see you're eating it, Anoki. Afterwards we can go look for a mouse for you to play with." She smiles at Tariro.
What good does light do for Niyt, even if it comes? Her eyes stare sightless into the distance, covered with that same grey fog. Darkness and dawn are all the same to her. One ear flicks at Kachini's approach, though she can't see it, and she shakes her head softly. "I'm not hungry," she replies, and then lowers her head to her paws again.
Still gnawing and occasionally yanking, Anoki works on taking a few more bites, soon tugging the hare with him, yank yank yank-tear, he yanks a hunk off, and tumbles, then sits there chomping a few times to try and chew it into something a smaller bite he can swallow. It's not easy, but he eventually manages to chew the larger hunk of rabbit meat into smaller bits for him to chomp down. He gulps, and licks his jaws a bit. He snorts. "Yucky yucky yucky.." .. But his attention turns to Niyt then, and he frowns, before toddling her way, and poking at he rnose with a paw. "... Niyt.. You o'tay? You don' look so happy. You ain' been playin' wif da black bird has you?"
"A mouse, that sounds like a great and fun idea." When was the last time he played with a mouse, Tariro cant remember. Anoki was going to need all the energy he could get, that is if the hare didn't put him to sleep like most food tends to do. He chuckles to himself. Niyt's refusal to even eat brings concern, "Should you change your mind, it'll be there, ok Niyt." Quiet now he just watches unsure of what else to do.
Kachini steps away from the siblings to let Anoki care for his older sister. She looks to Tariro. "I think you may need to try to cheer her up?" She sighs, "I know how hard it can be. I do know but I also understand that those we lose are still with us in a way. I tried to tell your son that. I know you also understand me, Tariro." She looks past them, "I'm going to get more food for us." She nudges Tariro on his shoulder then bounds off.
Niyt lifts up her head a little at the pawbump, and noses at her brother gently. "No. I don't want to play with those birds," she tells him firmly. "I just..." she sighs. "I can't help hearing. I don't want to hear those things. But I can't close my ears to them." She shakes her head, ears flapping, and then adds in a quiet murmur, "Maybe I should have let the shadows take those, too." One not-taken ear flicks to her uncle's words, and she gives a slight nod. "Okay," she says in a voice that entirely fails to sound it.
"Those birds are scary," agrees Anoki, before he frowns, and then paws at Niyt's face again, saying, "... You're not angry like Momma is all the time, are you? I mean, she's always.. grumpy now.. Doesn't wanna get up an' stuff." he says, softly, frowning. He then frowns, and pads over, trying to catch and tug at an ear with his mouth, "Nuh uhn, I like your ears, they're fun to pull!" He whines softly though. He can tell something is wrong. His sister is .. wrong, and his mom is.. wrong, and there's something wrong in the shadows at night, too. "... unca Tariro... Maybe this place is bad for us?"
Niyt bumps her nose against her brother's side as he tugs at her ear, letting her head tilt to the side. She smiles, just a little. "Then maybe I'll keep them, little moon. For you." Her posture lifts, just a little, as she gets a little smile for her younger brother. Light means nothing to her. But warmth? That has more meaning. So she'll keep walking, for now. For Anoki, if nothing else. But that means she has to try to explain what's wrong. "Mama..." She sighs softly. "She loves you. Loves all of us. But she can't stay. The wind... I keep hearing it calling for her."
"... Why is the wind calling her name, Niyt?" he asks, looking at his older sister, with concern. Anoki isn't sure about the wind really, but he knows sometimes, when the wind blows, and he's had a full tummy, and the sun is so, he sees things that no one else sees. He knows there are things there that aren't there for anyone else to see. Sometimes it's a little scary. "... Tell the wind it can't have her, she's /my/ momma," he says, firmly, before looking about, brows furrowed, for this wind of Niyt's, to growl and snap, and tell it off, for thinking it could take their mum away.
There's the wind, blowing along and scattering small leaves in front of it. It pays no attention to Anoki's posturing, though - and why should it? It's one of the forces of nature, those same forces that are taking Niyt and Anoki's mother away, and it doesn't listen to wolves. Not even ones that see the things nobody else does. "I don't know why it wants her," she replies softly. "I don't know why it's taking her away from us." Her voice has a soft whine, now, as she lets out some of that pain. "I don't know why. But I can hear it, and... _I can't stop it_." She whines, and lowers her head. "I don't know how."
"... Taking her away.. But.." Anoki frowns. Is that why his mum is so.. different now? Why all she wants to do is sleep, and why she keeps telling him to go ask someone else for food? He frowns, and looks at the scattering leaves, squinting his eyes, trying so hard to see what it is that is sending them tilt-a-whirl along, before he frowns, and looks at Niyt again. Then he says softly, "... But... She doesn't want to go, right? So why is it making her go?" He says, frowning. He starts to clamber over Niyt, trying to climb to her back where he can lay down on her and listen to her breath. "... She'll be back, won't she? She can go, see what the wind wants, and come back."
Niyt lowers her head to her paws again, shifting a little to let her brother clamber on top of her, where the slow rise and fall of her breath can lift him. "I don't know why," she says softly. Why does there have to be death? And especially why her mother? She isn't ready for any of this yet, not for herself, and not to be explaining to her brother, either. But there's a question to be answered. So she answers it. "I don't think she can come back. Not really. She'll be like... like the little spirits you dream."
It is now your pose.
"... She'll be like the mousie?" Asks Anoki softly, "She'll be a shadow.. Like the rabbit and the birdie.." He frowns, then sighs, shaking his head, ".. She doesn't have to go, the wind can take uhm.. take someone else. Like Krisha, she's not important, she's just a sister!" he says, as he turns to look again for that breeze spinning the leaves, but not finding it.
That's right. Anoki's got it; explanation successful. Niyt doesn't feel very happy about having gotten the idea across, though. "The wind won't listen," she replies. "And even if it did... mama wouldn't be very happy if it took away Krisha. She'd want for all of us to be here, and happy, even if she can't be anymore. Don't you think we should try to do what mama wants?"
A sigh, "Yeah, I guess we gotta keep Krisha, even if she's weird and likes grass," Sighs Anoki, as he lays his head down on his sister's back. "But what about Dad? What's he gonna do without mom? An' where are we gonna get our food?" Though he's already half looking the way of the picked at hare he'd been gnawing on earlier. It wasn't AS bad as he put it out to be, but he still wants his momma... even if the wind seems to want her more. "... Is dad going to go with Momma, too?"
Niyt smiles, just a little, and nods. Sisters can be a pain, but they're good things too. At the question of their father, though, she sighs. "I don't know what's going to happen to dad," she says. Seems like she's saying that a lot, today. "The wind... it's not calling for him, like it is mama. But... he might not let her go alone." She's seen how close her parents are, destinies entwined and true love and being inseperable and all that stuff that seemed so wonderful and romantic - up until it may mean that their children lose two parents together. "We'll still have our pack, though... uncle Tariro and Auntie Em and all the rest, and they'll bring you hares and mice until you learn to catch them on your own."
"You aren't going to go with the wind, are you, Niyt? I mean.. You're like, the best sister ever. You'd only better if you was the only one," though he smirks slightly. Anoki is just joking; he loves Krisha, but.. Kids are kids. He sighs a little, then says, ".. Don't you think Momma would want you to eat food when people bring it to you? Like Kachini did?" He asks, looking to her pointedly, somehow managing to catch the worry of his packmates ven at his young age. "... Dad will be here too.. Like mom. We'll see'em, I'm sure of it."
"I'm going to stay here as long as I can," Niyt promises. "I can't stop the wind... but I won't go following it until it _makes_ me." After all, as she's just reminded Anoki, they still have her pack - and she still has him and the rest of her siblings. Somehow, explaining all this to her brother has made her realize it herself. Then, at his reminder, she laughs a little. "You're right. She would." The wolf reaches over and tugs the hare closer, beginning to eat.
Anoki smiles, tail wagging, as his sister starts to eat. "Good," he murmurs, as he lays his head on her back again, before he murmurs, "We're gonna need everybody to be strong. Those birdies are scary, and I think they might come back." He says, frowning a bit.
Niyt eats slowly - she still doesn't have much of an appetite. But she's eating. She pauses, licking her muzzle clean. "Do you think they're looking for something?" she asks, before taking another delicate bite of the hare.
".. I think they're hungry. You said they were chasing the rabbit... Wolves chase rabbits when they're hungry, right? I mean, you're eating a rabbit.." He considers. "Maybe they're hungry. And they want to eat stuff. But I don't know why they would eat a wolf, do you?" Anoki frowns at this thought, and paws at his snout a wee bit.
Niyt's ears splay, as a thought strikes her. Crows eat carrion, for one. Things already dead. Which means... yeah, there's certainly a time when they'd be eating wolves. She doesn't want to share that thought, though, and instead says, "Then we should tell them wolves are for eating things, not being eaten. And if they don't believe us... we'll bite them." She makes a little 'grr' noise, and chomps down on one of the rabbit's legs, making the bone snap.
Considering the carrion said birds might find would be their mother, yes, good idea not to mention it to Anoki as he thinks about things. "Yeah.. Yeah that's what I'll do if I see a birdy, I'll tell'im that I'm a wolf, and I /eat/ things, so they shouldn't eat me, an' then I'll bite'im to keep him away." Anoki grins, rolling over-- and sliding off her back in the process. He lands roughly.. then squeaks, "Imeanttodothat!" to try and save face. He rolls over, and then creeps closer to the hare in Niyt's paws, peering at it. "... You like that stuff?" he asks, softly.
Niyt nods. "And if he has lots of birdies with him, then you'll get your whole pack, and we'll /all/ bite them until they go away," she says. After all, an entire flock of crows could be dangerous to a little puppy. She tenses at the sound of Anoki falling off her, turning her head despite the fact that she can't actually see anything, then relaxes when he tries to save his dignity. If her brother is worried about dignity, then things like his bones are intact. She smiles at the question, and takes another little bite. "I do. Some bits are better than others, though. You can find different flavors, like you do different smells, and figure out your favorites."
"... I dunno, it's all kinda tough and hard to chew," Anoki admits, considering he'd had some trouble. But, he has puppy teeth, he'll work it out yet. By the time he's Niyt's age, he'll be able to fare rather well with dead things as food. Hopefully. He then hmphs, "I betcha I could scare a lotta birdies off just by lookin' at'em," he says, firmly, attempting his best to seem extra fierce, even if he knows his sister can't see him where he sits. He reaches a paw out to poke at part of her hare, then sniffs. "It has different tastes? Weeeeiiiird."
Niyt takes another bite of hare, and then she considers herself well-fed enough. Only about half the hare is gone, but she doesn't have the appetite for more. She smiles. "It does. Just like it has different smells. Think about it. When you get food from mama, it's mama-food. When you get food from this hare, it's this-hare-food. A different hare would be different-looking, different-smelling... different-tasting. And a mouse is even more different, almost as much different as we are from a hare."
"But it's all good food for us, right?" Asks Anoki, peering at the half of hare still laugh, before he crawls a little forward, and begins to pick at it lazily, pulling away another bite of meat, chewing it messily with mouth open in thought. Smack smack smack. Chewing it to mushy bits, he gulps down, then asks, "Still tastes weird, though," granted, he'll get used to it.
Niyt nods. "From little mice to big deer," she says, and smiles. "Now you know how the big wolves eat. And you can show Krisha, too! She's probably just as hungry as you were... let's bring the rest of this to her, so she can have some dinner." With that, Niyt rises to her feet, and carefully picks up the half-eaten rabbit to carry off to her other little sibling.