It hadn't been long since his nephew came to join the pack. Acere couldn't deny feeling excited to have his nephew back and living with him, so of course, the first thing he wanted to do was spend some time with his long-lost nephew. Spring had hit the lands, giving them a break from the harsh winter that had previously marred the Northlands. The alabaster titan was eager to get out and see what the surrounding lands had to offer in terms of food and resources, and what better place than the mile-high woods? The trees there were usually teeming with life and herbs after the winter season, so with his foxes and nephew in tow, they headed out to see what they could find. His fox children raced each other when they reached the forest, both yipping as they chased each other around, over and under, and every which way they possibly could. Acere stopped for a moment to observe them, and then made to turn to Casso before he heard Lumi speak up. "Do you hear that, Finn? It sounds like bees! And bees means honey, right!?" Acere turned in time to see Lumi and Finn disappear further ahead of where one tree leaned against another. "Hmm...if there is a hive around here, that does mean honey. It's quite useful, have you ever had honey before, Casso?" It had been a long time since he'd had any himself. And if they could find the hive and harvest it, they could take it home and store it away to use for all sorts of different things. Drifa might like some for her tea's and perhaps for its other medicinal purposes...his kids might like it for a treat (along with himself of course), and perhaps, if there was enough, they might even be able to trade it for other resources. Now that he was entertaining the thought, he figured it was worth searching for now. Word count: 325/1,500 "Speech"

The darkly colored man readily agreed to spending time with his uncle. He had honestly thought it would be more difficult to get used to being around other wolves more often, but something about being around his family made the transition much easier. Even though it had been difficult to admit to his uncle what he had been going through in the end he was glad because it made these moments when they were alone together that much easier. He didn't feel that constant need to keep up any sort of facade around his uncle and for at least a moment he could fully relax. As they moved through the tall, twisting trees of the Mile-High Woods, he carried a small smile on his lips while he watched the pair of foxes that Acere kept with him run ahead of them. They seemed so incredibly energetic and it was quite amusing to observe them. His ears perked forward to listen when one of them spoke of hearing the buzz of a bee hive up ahead and his head tipped slightly to the side with curiosity. His dual toned gaze turned to look at his uncle when he questioned whether he had experienced honey before. He thought for a moment before nodding and replying, "A long time ago. I'm pretty sure mother used it to help me take some herbs when I was a pup." He was used to the bitter taste of the plants and treatments these days, but back then was another story. He never tried to cause her any issues when she was trying to give him medications of some kind, but she still tried to make it a little more pleasant when she could. He turned his attention back to where the foxes had disappeared before giving a small nod with his head. "We should go see if they're on to something... It would probably be worth harvesting if we can find a safe way to do so," he added, unknowingly echoing his uncle's thoughts. He padded forward, following Lumi and Finn's lead. Sure enough, as they made their way through the woods a short ways, he began to pick up on the distinctive hum of a bee hive as well and he began to scan the trees as he tried to follow the sound. Word count: 713/1500 "Talk" Think

Casso explained that he had tried honey a while back, that Zuriel used it to help him take his medicine as a child. Acere laughed a bit at that, "Yes, it is quite useful in helping young pups take their medicine. Adults too, as most herbs are terribly bitter." He wrinkled his nose at the thought of having to take any of those bitter herbs, but luckily he'd been in good shape for quite a while since he took care of himself. At most, he'd take something for pain when his wounds hurt too much from fighting, but even then he'd rather endure the pain than take meds. "We should go see if they're on to something... It would probably be worth harvesting if we can find a safe way to do so," He nodded as he trailed after the foxes, the buzzing growing louder and their excited yips growing louder than the buzzing. It wasn't long before he spotted a rather large hive practically growing out of the base of a tree with a large swarm of bees buzzing all around it. "Well, at least we won't need to climb for it," The hive was ground level, so it'd be a lot easier to try to harvest than if it was higher up in the branches. He stopped a couple yards from the hive, mind working to figure out how they were going to get close enough to harvest without getting stung a million times. "Any ideas?" It had been a long time since he had messed with a hive, and while he had a couple of ideas, he was curious to know if his nephew might have any.

The sound of the bees grew more and more distinct until the hive finally came into view. He was a bit surprised by where it had formed since he always expected hives to be up in the branches of trees, but this one seemed to be much farther down on the trunk of the tree instead. It certainly made reaching the hive far easier than he had expected, but that didn't mean that it made the bees any less dangerous. He wished they could just walk up to it and pull off a piece, but the bees would certainly not be quite so willing to share. He nodded in agreement when his uncle mentioned that they wouldn't have to climb for it. He was about to ask Acere if he had any ideas on how to get to the honey when the question was posed to him instead. He chuckled softly and replied, "I was about to ask you that." Eyeing the hive thoughtfully, he added after a moment, "I think I've heard before that they're a way to make the bees more calm... Maybe it was with smoke? Or a scent of smell of some kind? If we could just calm them down enough to maybe break off a piece that would probably work... We could probably even use a couple of long sticks to break off a piece instead of having to get really close." He hoped he remembered correctly about how to calm down the bees, but it was a very vague memory so he wasn't certain. He looked toward his uncle to see what the older man was thinking and to see if he had any ideas as well. WC: 1276/1500 "Talk" Think

"I was about to ask you that." Acere chuckled at his nephew's remark, "I guess I beat you to the punch then, hm?" "I think I've heard before that they're a way to make the bees calmer... Maybe it was with smoke? Or a scent of smell of some kind? If we could just calm them down enough to maybe break off a piece that would probably work... We could probably even use a couple of long sticks to break off a piece instead of having to get really close." Acere nodded along before launching into what he knew about calming bees. "Yes, smoke can be used to calm them down, and lucky for us, we have plenty of material to use just that," He barked to Finn & Lumi, instructing them to fetch a bunch of dried pine needles and some tinder he had stored in his cabin. "They'll start the fire when they get back if there's one thing those two kids are good at, is starting fires...must come from the mischievous side of their genes, being foxes and all." He grinned with humor before moving around the tree, giving it a wide berth as he inspected it. "The sticks are a good idea, though we should be able to get fairly close while they're calm. We can use the sticks to pry open a section of the hive, and potentially even use them as pokers to harvest some honey. If we're really adamant - and if you don't mind a few potential stings - we may even be able to extract some honeycomb."

He returned to his previous position near Casso, "Go fetch a thin - preferably bendable - stick if you can. We don't want them to be too stiff or it'll be more difficult to maneuver the way we want. Something strong but that will give a little. I think perhaps the branches of a young pine tree? Just don't forget to strip the needles off. Though if you find something better, feel free to use it." As for him, he was going to get a thin branch off one of the young pine trees and prepare it for when Finn and Lumi returned with the other materials.

WC: 1645/1500

Casso was glad to hear that the knowledge he remembered wasn't completely off. He couldn't recall where he had heard it from, but it was helpful knowledge all the same. He smirked a little and chuckled at the statement about the two mischievous foxes being good at starting fires and then nodded in agreement to his uncle's assessment of his plan with the sticks. He certainly didn't mind a couple stings here and there, he just didn't want to get completely covered in them. Once he was given an assignment to go find them a slightly bendable stick to use for their task he nodded and turned to trot off into the woods. There was no shortage of pine trees here of course, but finding a newer growth branch that would serve their purposes was a little more tricky. He did find one eventually that seemed to bend moderately easily when he tested it and wasn't too high for him to reach. Breaking off the branch, he brought it to the ground and began to pull off the clumps of pine needles until the branch was cleaned off and ready to use. Coming back to where Acere was waiting, he sat down the branch he had collected and looked toward the hive again. "Okay... I guess all we have left to do now is harvest some honey, huh?" "Talk" Think