Re: Family life ~Private, me and Kit~

by **Roo12** 27/01/14, 01:26 pm

Rhea snorted disapprovingly, but kept quiet. Hunting couldn't be too boring, could it? Either way, she'd have to put up with it for now until combat started.

Orion continued, ignoring Rain and Rhea, who clearly weren't impressed with hunting. "Now, the first thing you must learn is how to read the terrain. You can tell what animal it is, where the prey has been, which direction it was coming from and heading to, how long ago it was here, even how fast it was travelling.
"But most importantly, you must be able to tell how old it is, is it travelling in a group and is it injured. That way you can judge whether you can take it on by yourselves or you need to call the pack."
Orion could see he had been able to keep Seren's attention, and hopefully Splinter's too. Splinter, in particular, showed excellent promise. "All okay so far," he asked?

by **Kit** 27/01/14, 07:54 pm

" Yes Sir!" Splinter yipped.
Rain nodded his head.

by **Roo12** 31/01/14, 01:45 pm

Orion's tail wagged slightly at Splinter's enthusiasm, "Good. Now, Splinter, come with me." He led the pup over to a tree that had a little branch growing out of the base. "Can you smell that?" he asked his pupil, hoping he would pick up the scent of blood smeared on the bark and the leaf of the trunk.

by **Kit** 31/01/14, 04:19 pm

Splinter's nose twitched as he sniffed the air. " I smell a faint scent of blood, it smells like deer blood."
he barked.

by **Roo12** 01/02/14, 02:42 pm

"Very good," Orion praised, before calling the other pups over to watch. Once they arrived, the Alsatian continued, "And can you tell met if it is fresh or stale, Splinter?"

by **Kit** 01/02/14, 10:14 pm

" Hmmmm It smells like it's been here for a few hours." He barked, unsure

by **Roo12** 02/02/14, 06:20 am

"Not quite that long," Orion said gently, "But it's certainly been a little while. But the amount of blood here suggests it was a big wound, no doubt slowing the animal down. Now... come with me everyone."
Orion began to walk a bit further out of the little ravine, head down and tail up as he tested the scent.
"Look here, pups," he barked, indicating at the tracks he had found, "See how these deer tracks are inconsistent? That means it was very injured. I think if we follow these tracks we'll be able to catch up with it. Come on."
Orion began to lead the way further into the forest, tracking the injured animal as he went.

by **Kit** 02/02/14, 06:26 am

Splinter looked at his paws before following. He sniffed the deer tracks, catching the scent. Splinter followed the scent quickly.

by **Roo12** 03/02/14, 11:30 am

It wasn't long before the hunting party had found the animal, drinking from the river a little way downstream. Orion had kept everyone pretty far back from the deer, an old doe, the Alsatian concluded, so as not to scare it off with the pups' excited chatter.
"Does everyone see it?" Orion checked with the pups, "Over by the river? Now children, listen closely. A deer is far too large for you to take down yourselves. So, your mother and I will catch it, and you will observe our techniques with the up-most vigilance. Is that understood?"
When he received a nod from each of them, Orion began to stalk the deer, approaching it from the left. He had calculated that the animal would not risk jumping over the river here. It was much wider than before, and with its wound it would never make it. He trusted Frostbite to know this too, she was a very smart dog. The thick amount of ferns would conceal them from the prey, at least for a little while.

by **Kit** 03/02/14, 04:30 pm

Frostbite was crouching behind the herbs. She looked at Orion and nodded her head for him to come.

Splinter whispered " AWESOME! We get to see Mom AND Orion hunt!"

Rain roles his eys, yet he watched closely.

by **Roo12** 05/02/14, 12:32 pm

Rhea was just as bored as Rain was, though she had to admit this was a little more exciting than just talking about prey. Briefly the pup considered chasing the deer herself, just for the fun of it, but she was hungry, and she did like deer meat. And besides, Orion would kill her.
So instead, much to her disdain, Rhea sat and watched the adults hunt.

Orion was drawing very near to the animal now, the doe's head up, ears swerving with suspicion. Then, once he decided that both he and Frostbite were in prime positions, the Alsatian leaped out of the undergrowth towards the deer.
petrified of the sudden danger, the animal sprung away from Orion, evidently slowed down by the severe gash on its hind leg. What the poor creature didn't know that it was running straight into Frostbite's path.

by **Kit** 07/02/14, 05:59 pm

Frostbite leaped off the ground, her body curved to the side and her jaws were gripping the deers neck firmly. Her weight brought it down to the ground, she sank her claws into its wound, making it squirm frantically beneath her claws. Blood was soaking her fur but it didn't matter to her.

by **Roo12** 07/02/14, 06:14 pm

Orion joined Frostbite and bite down hard on the back of the doe's neck until he heard a crunch. The deer went stiff, but then, at last, excepted its fate and its head hit the ground with a soft thud.
The Alsatian licked the doe's forehead once slowly as a mark of respect and gratitude towards it for feeding him and his pack. He then called the pups over to give them a lesson on what to do after the kill has been carried out. "Pups, come and join your mother and I. This part is important."

Rhea got up and slowly walked towards her mother, Orion and dinner, knowing exactly what painfully long and tedious thing was about to come next. They were going to sit around analyzing how the hunting of this deer was carried out while Splinter acted as though it was the most fascinating thing ever, Seren tried to be grown up and herself and Rain would sit, bored to tears.

by **Kit** 07/02/14, 06:35 pm

Rain huffed and trotted over, he say down promptly.
Splinter, frozen in awe, eventually ran over. " That was so awesome!" He tipped before looking at the deer. " Orion, Why did you lick the deer?" He asked. Frostbite chuckled at his pups interest in hunting and fighting.

by **Roo12** 08/02/14, 10:09 am

"Well Splinter, it's a sort of little ritual every dog most perform after a kill," Orion explained to the eager pup, "Its a sign of respect to the animal for giving up its life to feed us."
Orion then began to address all the pups now, "After you make a kill and pay tribute to the animal, the next thing to do is break it down into smaller pieces so you can carry it back to the den. With most prey like rabbits and hares, birds, fish, all those smaller animals, we don't need to bother. But with a full-grown doe, it's best to remove the legs and some chunks of meat from the body, and hide the remaining food for another time."
The Alsatian then proceeded to tare a leg off the deer carcass after telling the pups to try and get some meat off for themselves. Seren leaped onto the back of the deer and began to to bite at the meat on its side, whereas Rhea just got into an imaginary fight with the fluffy white tail of the doe.

by **Kit** 08/02/14, 10:12 am

Rain slowly began raring chunks of meat off. Splinter, meanwhile was about to fall over with chunks of meat in his jaws.

by **Roo12** 08/02/14, 11:59 am

Once all the limbs were off and everyone had taken off some meat of their own, Orion dragged the remaining meat away and hid it beneath the roots of a tree. Then he returned and ordered all the pups to take a piece of meat each as he took the two hind legs.

Rhea grabbed one of the chunks Seren had ripped off and followed the Alsatian back towards home.

Seren did the same, clasping an enormous hack of food and struggling endlessly through the undergrowth with it, trying to make it look as though it had no affect on him.

by **Kit** 08/02/14, 04:44 pm

Splinter walked stiffly, his jaws were full and h was balancing meat on his head and back. Frostbite took the meat off of him and some from his mouth, smiling as his body relaxed.

by **Roo12** 09/02/14, 08:54 am

Eventually the hunting party arrived back at the den, whereupon Orion ordered for all the meat to be put in a pile, untouched by the pups. "Before you eat," he explained, "You need to learn how to stalk, pounce and kill. So get into a line and copy me."
The Alsatian proceeded to demonstrate a hunting crouch, with his body low to the ground, ears flattened and hackles raised.

Rhea copied him, a little more interested now as this exercise played into her imagination. Her little white body clung to the ground as her shoulders shook and swayed with excitement.

by **Kit** 09/02/14, 06:08 pm

Splinter stood beside Orion, eager to copy his exact position and movements, also he was expecting to get a second praise out of him. His position was excellent, except he wasn't balanced very well.

Rain rolled his eyes, he'd noticed what Splinter was trying to do. He knew the problem in his brothers crouch, but didn't say it. He wanted to see what would happen, it might be funny. Rain copied Orion"s example of a crouch, except he was next to Rhea.

Frostbite watched Rain examine his brothers crouch, but was disappointed when he didn't say anything.
" Splinter, dear. You need to balance yourself better. Bring your hind legs in a bit. " she said, nudging his legs inward.

by **Roo12** 10/02/14, 11:55 am

"Yes, that's better Splinter," Orion remarked, "You must find your center-point of balance. That's how you keep steady whilst stalking and how you fly straight when you pounce. Let's start moving.
"In order to stalk prey successfully, you must be absolutely silent, so with every step you take, you must check with your paw first where you're about to step. If, say, there's a lot of twigs and leaves everywhere, you must avoid rustling them too much. See?"
Orion demonstrated this maneuver to the pups as they copied, Seren with the up most precision and concentration, and Rhea... well, though she seemed lees interested in the silent part, she did look ready to kill.

by **Kit** 10/02/14, 03:44 pm

Splinter watched Orion before trying it himself. He did it slowly, but steadily, he then did it a little faster a second time. He looked up Orion, expecting his praise now, he was like a house dog, he wanted a treat for what he did.

Rain looked just as disappointed as the look his mother gave him. He copied the move rather easily, though he crunched loudly on a few leaves.

Frostbite set an example as well. She wanted to be useful somehow in this training.

by **Roo12** 10/02/14, 03:54 pm

"Very good, Splinter," Orion remarked, "Just remember to be patient. Don't get over-excited and move too quickly."
The Alsatian observed the rest of pups. Rain looked as though he had grasped it well enough, though he couldn't look more fed up and bored if he tried. Rhea at least looked as though she was having a little fun, but her ears flicked with impatience as she waited to pounce.
Seren, however, was trying way too hard. The pup's grey fur was bristled up like an angry cougar, his body and muscles were as rigid as rock, all showing clear as day that he was trying hard to be the best in the class.
Orion sighed. He decided that perhaps Frostbite could tell Seren to relax a bit. He knew she would have picked up on it too.

by **Kit** 10/02/14, 06:07 pm

Splinter stopped, noticing Orion's look. He relaxed knowing he did well.

Frostbite's tounge smoothed down Seren's fur. " Relax little one." she said softly. " Orion why dont we let the pups rest and eat? Plus, the pups can only learn so much at once." she barked.

Rain looked relieved at his mothers words, he doubted Orion would refuse.

by **Roo12** 11/02/14, 03:07 am

Orion hesitated for a bit, analyzing the pups. They did seem a bit tired. "Alright," he said, "You pups rest and have a bit of the food we caught today. Then we'll resume training."

Rhea leaped in the air with excitement, "Yes!" she howled, before sprinting over to where the fresh meat was piled by the cave.

Seren shook himself and followed his sister much more reservedly, still a little frustrated that he hadn't succeeded in the shunting lesson yet.

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