[Blessing] Preparing for the Hunt

[Anhelisk]

There had come a point in Red-Tailed's life where the hunter had lost touch with the thrill of the hunt. Maybe it was habit– maybe the grounds around him were too familiar, his marks either too wary to be caught, or unfamiliar enough with the terrain that the challenge was gone... but travel to farther corners of the swamp had not yielded better results, either. It wasn't that the meat was unpleasant– he rather adored it, and Huntress rather adored him for it when he worked alongside her. No, it turned out the fault was his. His life had needed a change of pace.

It wasn't too difficult to find it, either– all he had needed to do was linger around his mother, her twin, and their half-sister. He needed help getting something too heavy to swim in with into the bramble (in the end, it took Huntress's help to manage it), she needed someone to help get a scared muskie pup out from the dragon cave, the foals needed looking after...

...foals. Memories of an earlier tryst struck him, and a faint pang of regret crossed over him. Had she wound up foaling from that? Sometime, he'd have to track that doe down, and ask her. Still... the idea had struck, and like the most stubborn of worms, the notion of finding a doe to raise foals with– or at least have them for him– had taken root in his mind.

And why should he not? His parents had done it. His siblings, too. And even his adoptive grandmother stopped by the mangrove caves whenever she was heavy with foal, so that the foals could grow up with family. Even the one time Huntress had wound up bearing young, he'd quite enjoyed the experience as a whole– he'd go as far to say that he liked having foals around.

Teaching them how to be less awkward, encouraging them to hone their hunting skills, being looked up-to for even the most modest of accomplishments... there was just something endearing about their perspectives, and how they made the most of even the smallest accomplishments.

HIs mind made, there was really only one thing to do– hunt himself down a doe pretty enough to make his mother proud. A delicate, dainty little thing like his mother or honorary grandmother would probably have attractive children with him. And his family held strong stock in the thought of having good-looking foals, at least, by the way they went on about the colts and fillies brought up around here. Someone small and spry, then– agile enough to give him a run for his meal.... yes, this idea quite appealed to him.

Mind made, the buck got moving. A croon and a nod of the head was all it took to get Huntress to follow.

 

[Anhelisk]

Birds were usually prey. Most were the kind that were okay to eat... and one in particular was the kind that wasn't. This bird, however, was neither the special bird, nor for eating. Huntress stopped dead, craning her head to look onto her back, blinking owlishly at the new hitchhiker. When this didn't stop Red-Tailed from continuing on, she turned, giving a low call.

That was enough to have him turn. "What do you have for me, sweet-..." He trailed to a stop, staring at the strange little bird. "Hmm." Fearless, this bird was. And pretty, too... and Huntress didn't seem to be upset by her presence.

"What can I offer you, little bird?" he asked rhetorically, stepping forward. "A free meal? Protection?"

anemosagkelos

 

[Anhelisk]

For a moment, it seemed like the bird was alighting to land on him, but no. It seemed addressing it had offended it somehow. Red-Tailed watched it flutter away... and then a mare, eyes and pelt aglow, walked forward.

"Changing sizes like that, would be surprised if you didn't." His voice was really more of a mumble than proper speech, a little run-together, but possible to make out if one paid attention. The buck looked her over, stepping forward.

"You still have... twigs. May I?"

Anemosagkelos

 

[Anhelisk]

Well, she certainly knew a lot about him. Mares and Stags could mind-read? Or was it the swamp whispering secrets to them?

Fascinating thoughts to consider... in the future. He leaned forward, moving to start teasing those sticks and leaves out of her mane. "Talk, then?" he suggested, "Seem to know more than... I do."

anemosagkelos

 

[Anhelisk]

That was a pause, and a bit of a nod, before the buck went back to grooming her. She was right– of course she was. The legendaries were... something greater.

It didn't take too long to fish out the last of the leaf litter from her hair– and to set the mothwing back to a semblance of rightness. Still, there was one question nagging at him. "Will I need it? Reassurance." He hadn't thought he would, but now that she mentioned it, he wasn't so certain.

anemosagkelos

 

[Anhelisk]

So strange, to be put on the spot like this. His family would love any foals he had, no matter what. They'd be loved, and looked-after, and grow up with ample food and no fear of predators... and he'd seen that his siblings didn't all value the same things as he did in life. What could he ask for that they wouldn't have already?

He paused, thinking of the that Totoma doe again. At the discipline they taught and learned, and the fact that they all strived to accomplish something noteworthy enough to find their names by, and how many found them at happenstance, and not doing something they loved. He didn't know if he'd find another totoma doe, but...

...but that had struck him as almost tragic.

"I..." he paused, shaping the sentence in his head, carefully counting through and ordering the words, to make sure they came out in the right order, without any missing. "I want them to succeed at their passions," he said. "To... with hard work and practice, to someday become noteworthy at what... what they care most about." It was something he was working towards, himself.

"Or... or beauty, if... that's too much," he finished lamely.

anemosagkelos

 

[Anhelisk]

It was over practically before he'd finished parsing what she'd said– she was off with a flash of wings, cartwheeling in the sky before she disappeared for good.

"...thank you." A shame, that... he'd had half a mind to ask if she'd be the doe he was seeking... or if she could help point him in the right direction. Oh, well. Maybe he'd find her again, someday.