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 Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 10:48 pm
She smiled at him, and it was a genuine sort of smile, not tainted with her usual smork. "Well...thanks," she said, uncomfortably. And then, to get her mind off things, added, "hey...you like fish?"
Chayton smile broadens and his stomach suddenly growls loudly. He flattens his ear and chuckles. "Yes, I like fish." He says, wondering if there were any that could be caught in the area.
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 10:49 pm
"I saw a river back that way," she said, inclining her head in that direction. "We'll catch a couple. One thing the Kapu'Moana wolves know how to do, is catch some fish."
Stretching, she rose to her paws and proceeded to pad away, fish on the brain.
"All right." Chayton says, sobering up and padding after her. He comes up along besides her and pads just an inch or two behind her, as a sign of respect. He found the she-wolf interesting, but he wasn't going to bug her with the fact. Now he was the Hunter on a Hunt, even if the prey was only fish.
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 10:50 pm
She seated herself at the bank, staring thoughtfully at the water below. She wasn't as skilled a fisher as some of her packmates had been; in fact, the wayward Prince had been one of the best anglers in the pack, perhaps because he had nothing but freetime on his paws.
Still, Kamiya was more skilled at it than most forest-dwelling wolves, and as she caught a glimpse of the fish's silvery-shadowy body beneath the current, she thrust her paw deeply into the waters, compensating for the distortion, and flinging the fish smoothly onto the bank, where it flopped and gasped about.
"The trick," she said, looking quite satisfied with herself, "Is to use your paws. Wolves try to go in with their maws first, all they get is a mouthful of water and river-scum in your eyes."
Chayton sits down next to her, first watching the gently gurgling river and then back up at her. He watched her carefully, wanting to figure out exactly how to fish since he thought it was a useful trait. He blinked when suddenly there was a fish flopping on the ground besides them. He looked puzzled for a moment, then nodded. "Paws? All right, I will try it then." He sat in front of the river, watching as the ripples her catch had made slowly smoothed out. For a few minutes there was no fish, but then a few started to appear. He watched with interest as they flitted around, almost mesmerized by the fluid way the fish moved. Then he snapped back to attention and leaned forward a little, making sure his shadow didn't go across the surface of the water. His paws darted in lightning fast and half caught a fish in the air. His eyes widened as he watched it and was afraid he might lose it, so he snapped it mid flop from the air and fell on his back, the wriggling fish surely in his jaws.
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 10:52 pm
She smiled proudly, watching his progress. "See?" She said, calmly keeping her own dying fish still with one paw. "Nothing to it."
"Very interesting. Thank you for showing me how to fish." He says with a slight smile before crunching the fish between his jaws and killing it instantly. He puts it down, licking his chops before saying a small silent prayer to the spirit of the dead fish. "Do you mind if I eat now?" he asks curiously.
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 11:12 pm
"Why would I?" She asked, in her usual blunt manner, tucking into her own fish in a rather unladylike way. Her brow furrowed, though, because she noticed his action over the fish. "What was that you did there?"
"Just checking." He chuckled before starting to eat his as well, not really seeming to mind the scales or fins all that much. He paused mid chew when she asked him a question. "Did what? When I paused you mean? I prayed for the fish's soul. Habit." He chuckles, licking some scales off his chops before starting to eat again.
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Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 11:39 pm
Religion intrigued her. She didn't believe in much of it, but still it interested her, especially because it was something simultaneously alien and familiar -- seeing as her own pack was so full of superstition and ritual. "Oh. I see. After something does, it goes back to the wind, I suppose?"
"Hm, no. It goes to Mother Ground. Father Wind breathed life into us, but Mother Ground shaped our bodies from her. We return to her when we die." He says with a shrug, explaining this in a sort of monotone voice since he knew religion could be a touchy issue with other wolves.
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Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:58 am
"Ah. I can see the logic in that," she said, thinking it over. It made as much sense as anything did -- but then, that was the sticky thing about religion. it wasn't really meant to make much sense. "We send our dead off into the sea," she said, conversationally, gnawing on her fish's head. She enjoyed the crunchy texture. "There's a particular short cliff that overhangs the water. We have to have the ceremony at a particular time, of course, or else the tide will bring the body back into our cove, and that's terrible luck. And sometimes, when things are going poorly for the pack, we make offers there. Usually a ritual kill...one of the only times we ever go out as a pack to bring down big game from the woods inland."
She paused to swallow an awkward mass of scales, bone, and fish-meat, and then continued as though it was nothing of importance. "I've heard, during the bad times, when the pack went through a famine once, it made sacrifices of some of the slaves, sending the wolves over the cliff while they were still alive. But I never saw it."
Chayton paused in his eating of the fish to listen, since he always liked listening to other people's religions as well. He was, as he considered himself, a Story Collector. Occasionally he'd take another bite of his fish, not seeming to mind the scales or bones of it at all. His bright green eyes could be unsettling when they were focused on something for two long, but he wasn't aware of this as he listened to her. When she was finished he nodded. "Every pack does something unpleasant in bad times. All the ones I've come across have anyway." He says softly, then bent over to lick the remains of his fish and take another bite.
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Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 11:23 am
"Makes sense, I guess," she said, sucking the last of the meat off the fish's spine. "Fewer mouths to feed, looks flashy for the commoners..." She sprawled out on her side, looking quite relaxed and satisfied with her snack. "Don't know if it really works, though."
Chayton nods as he nosily crunches into the spine of his own fish and lapping up what he could from the bits left. Then he shook himself and settled down, glad to have something in his belly again as he blinked lazily at her. "I suppose it does on some level." He says, referring to what she'd already said. "It just depends on the Pack." He says with a shrug. He knew life was tough, and he didn't get squeamish about things that needed to be done in hard times.
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Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:37 pm
"Yeah..." She fell silent for awhile, as though in thought, and then dismissed it. She shrugged, and stretched, glancing up at the sky. "I should probably be heading back," she said, with a nose wrinkle. "My friend that's traveling with me, she's probably going through separation anxiety now. Best not to leave her too long alone or who knows what kind of trouble she'd get herself into." She grinned. "It's been good talking to you, though, Chayton. You've got a good head on your shoulders. I like that in a wolf and haven't seen a lot of it out here."
She rose to her paws, holding herself with all the grace and dignity inherent to her species. "You going to be around these parts for awhile? I'll try to break away and visit again, next time Marion drives me nuts, if you are."
Chayton had lapsed into a now-common silence of his own and gave his head a little shake when she spoke. His ears pricked forward and he stretched a little himself before chuckling. "A head is a head, but thank you. I enjoyed talking to you as well." He says in his pleasantly deep voice. "Yes, I will be around here for a few more days at least. This place is pleasant." He says offhandedly, his eyes drifting off to the unexplored depths of the forest before back to her. "I would like that." He says with a slight smile on his muzzle. He stood then, so he wouldn't offend her by lounging on the ground. He dipped his head in a friendly manner in good bye before he sat down again, the slight smile still on his face.
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Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 3:29 pm
"Yeah," she said, lingering a brief moment as though about to say something else, then shrugged."Well. Be seeing you, then." She gave him a last glance over her shoulder before sauntering into the wood, tail waving low behind her.
The chocolate colored wolf watched the brighter one go, a slightly wistful look on his face. Then he stretched out on the ground and yawned hugely, his eyes half closed as he watched a butterfly land on a flower a few feet away from him. With that pleasant sight, he smiled and closed his eyes, then drifted off to sleep.
[FIN]
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