The fall of thick and heavy snow made it hard for Elias to justify beginning Imp training as early on as he would have liked. His own birthing had been in the dense coverage of a jungle, far away from any possibility of snow. The mountains held an entirely different climate than what he was used to in his upbringing, and being a man of tradition made these changes slightly.. frustrating.

He hadn't been around the den for the past week, unlike how he had been during their infancy. He had been hunting, setting up his traps in the rock garden.. and keeping his eyes on the other dens in the mountains, ensuring no other unwelcome inhabitants were lurking in them nearby. During the night he had cleared an infestation of coyotes, devoured most of two and left the inner organs of them as intact as he could provide, as the tender tissue was perfect for young teeth to chew through. Now, just before the sunrise, he made his way back home.

His face was a sloppy mess, covered in gore and blood as his teeth did the best he could to hold on to the casserole of coyote organs held inside his mouth. Intestines fell from either side, though he could not drop his clutch and rearrange.. so he simply let them trail and break off as he worked the best he could to bring the rest home for his children.

The snowfall was light today, though prolonged exposure to the cold would still have to be something Elias was observant of in these imps. Just at the mouth of the den, he dropped the meal he had planned for them. A light wind carried the aroma of copper and iron into the den as Elias released a demanding bark to gain the attention of any that were deep in slumber. His thick neck twisted as he looked behind him, over the smoke of the volcano resting beneath them and toward the east. The sun's rays were starting to light up the sky, though its face was still masked by the horizon. Perfect.

Another sleepless early morning. She was restless and anxious to leave the den. Since her meeting with the large male like her father she was interested to do more exploring, but didn't want to get in trouble for doing so. The danger that Draken spoke of had made the girl drift into stewing over his words. She was young and worthless, unable to fight back. She was intelligent enough to know that and for now she had to play it safe. In order to be able to safely learn and continue her young life. She did have plans to try and convince her father to let her go out with him, let her explore under his watchful eye. She wanted to get out and about with the protection of her father. Although Draken seemed trustworthy so far maybe, just maybe she could ask him. She had shoved herself far away from the pile, neatly curled in the corner staring at the wall. She was thinking, or stewing about recent events and what she could do going forward. She was extremely bored and was looking for anything to curb it. She quietly stirred, moving to stand and quietly moving through the den towards the entrance. She settled back down beside the exit of the den and looked towards the exit. She so badly wanted to leave, so tired of hearing the sleeping forms of her siblings. Nose wrinkled as she sniffed, trying to take in the outside world that came wafting into the den. Though soon a tantalizing scent came upon the wind. It made her salivate, for reasons she was unsure of. She crawled into the exit, moving slowly and quietly. Just to the entrance to see what that smell was, but before she could reach it her father's commanding bark rang out. Up on all fours she went and raced out to him. Once she hit the exit and saw the mess on the ground she stopped and moved to the side so she wouldn't get bowled over by her siblings. She sat down and looked to the things her father brought, visually studying them, then she looked to her father curious at what he was drawing them out for. Was he going to teach them something? Her eyes held curiosity, but her outer facade remained calm and collected. She had a thirst for knowledge and prayed that this was what father was planning today. As she waited for the others to join she bent down to the entrails closest to her and sniffed it, taking in the scent and memorizing it, but she dared not taste it yet, wondering if this may be something dangerous they would be taught about. "Actaea Talk", & 'Actaea Think"

His father's presence in the den was something the young child always subconsciously noticed but never really paid any mind unless it was accompanied by the smell of food. Elias seemed constantly in and out enough in his life thus far that his appearance and disappearance had no real effect on the boy anymore, though it generally meant that food was on its way. The growing titan seemed to inherit the same metabolism as his father, and so far in his young life.. his hunger and staying warm in the cold of the past winter were the only real struggles that he knew.

He had been glued to the side of whatever siblings were still okay with the idea of cuddling, using their warmth as a habit both leftover from infancy and one that was necessary to make it through the colder nights of winter. Once the smell of the gore at the doorway drifted in on the incoming breeze, however.. he was much more willing to give up the warmth and comfort of his siblings in favor of a delicious snack.

Almost right as Actaea moved out of the way, Dominus barreled through and stood over the smell of the gore pile just inhaling and drooling- saving the girl from the collision of her giant brother. His black tongue lolled out of his open mouth and his bright blue eyes couldn't look away, though he knew better from his last attempt at being the first to eat that he had to wait for permission to be granted from the alpha, his father.

"What's this?" He asked, curious about his food. He was beginning to realize that all food that arrived had once been living, and he was growing more and more curious about what animals it came from.

His dual colored eyes were still hidden from the world, but he was very much awake. His ear twitched toward his sister when she shifted away from the group and followed her as she moved toward the den. He had a tendency to sleep in small bursts rather than through the night, but he kind of liked silently keeping a tab on his family like this. In a way it was like being a spy and seemed like his own secret little game. Soon though he caught the smell of fresh blood when his father entered the den and his eyes opened, his head turning to look at their father. Once he saw his brother get up to join their father and Actaea, Casso untangled from the rest of his siblings and their mother so that he could follow along behind. He knew more or less that this food that was brought to them came from animals and that they were hunted and he had even learned a little bit of what all that meant from their mother, but it didn't stop him from being curious about it every time. He wanted to go hunt with their father right now even though he knew that he was still way too small to do so. He waited patiently next to Dominus while he looked over his father's face and the heavy about of blood that was still all in his fur. One day he'd be able to take part and look just like his father... For now, he let his curious gaze drop to pile of intestines that were just out of reach while he waited to see what was in store for them this morning. "Speech" "Mind"

Ignis was walking the fine line between consciousness and unconsciousness. Red eyes slowly opened as he easily felt the bodies of his siblings shift beside him, legs and tails untangling themselves to obey the command of their father. He wasn't quite sure what to think of him if he was honest. He knew their father was an alpha and that he was often busy, but when he did visit them it usually meant there would be food. As if to further give proof to his thoughts, he smelled the stench of blood and it was thick in the air. Their father had brought back food, and Ignis was eager to find out. Rolling onto his feet, he gave himself a soft shake and yawned before slowly moving to the mouth of the den. He didn't immediately come out like the others, instead, he hung back in silence as his ears listened to his siblings. He watched them, observing them. Then his gaze drifted to the odd-looking entrails that sat on the floor. His head tilted with slight confusion and his brows came together, what on earth was that? Slowly, he slipped out of the shadows and wedged himself in between Casso and Dominus, gaze lingering on the bloody heap before them. His stomach rumbled, and although he was pretty hungry, he didn't dare take the first bite...he remembered what had happened the last time someone tried that. "What's that?" He questioned, head reaching forward to sniff at it. "Speak"

ooc: Morgan gave me permission to powerplay Domina until her internet gets back so we can continue with this thread.

Elias counted them as they each came tottling out of the cave and stood patiently in front of the food he had collected, 'one, two, three... four.' He watched as they were apparently studying it and looking up to him when it came time for their questions. His demeanor remained as stagnant as it ever did, though inwardly the proud father within was melting as they all seemed to remain respectful, attentive, and curious. He wanted to answer their questions when all of them were together, though after a moment he realized that the last pup was still inside the den. Elias didn't wait long after Ignis settled down to peek into the den and find Domina's sleeping form.

He thought it over for a moment, whether or not he would wake her up and force her to be included. Ultimately, that's exactly what he did- she could not miss out today. Today was their first day of training and none of them knew it yet, had they known... perhaps Domina wouldn't be sleeping through it. When he moved over to her, he gave her little warning before his square muzzle found her bum and started scooting her across the den floor toward the entrance. She didn't have a choice but to wake up and get to her feet or be forced to roll across the entirety of the rather large den they lived in. Finally, she picked herself up and waddled to the entrance with him.

"Dominus, Ignis- you asked what this was?" He decided to go ahead and begin, his tall form returning to the gore pile so that he could stand over it protectively while he instructed.

"This is the inside of a coyote, his stomach. Like you, all of the creatures we eat have stomachs, and the meat we can harvest from internal organs like the stomach is often more tender. It feels really good on your teeth." He grinned to them, flashing his own teeth at the end of his speech for a second as he lowered his head closer to the stomach beneath him. He nosed at it a bit, not caring for getting dirty since he was already a bloody mess. He found the pouch that was the coyote's stomach amidst the pile of entrails and tore it open with one quick movement of his head. Immediately, the remains of a rabbit spilled outward around them.

"This is why I brought this to you. For as delicious as this snack seems to be, it is dangerous if you do not take the right precautions. You can eat the stomach, you can even eat the more tender flesh attached to it- but do not eat what is inside, especially past the stomach. All food that you find inside of your kill is to be left with their discarded bones so you don't get sick. Go ahead and tear off your pieces, make sure you rip apart everything, and I'll look it over to see how you have done. Once you are finished eating, I'm taking you today on a trip around the territory border and then I have a lesson planned for us once we reach the volcano- so be sure not to eat too much, alright?" Were they old enough to listen to him and obey that? He wasn't sure, but he had a lot of faith in them. Each one of them seemed so smart and strong, he was sure they could do it. All he had to do now was patiently wait for them to follow through.

One of her brothers came barreling out right behind her, luckily she had gotten out of the way in time. Keeping herself away from the den entrance in fear of being trampled over by her siblings. She was still currently the smallest and would be for a while since she was what one considered a 'late bloomer'. All three of her brothers were quickly out of the den and she noted her sister had yet to come out. Before anything continued her father went into the den to fetch the remaining sibling before starting. She was eager to learn more, but patient and waited for her father to begin the lesson. She watched his movements as he began to speak, standing over the interesting pile of mushy organs while beginning to tell his children what it was he had brought. She explained that these were the insides of a coyote and the meat was more tender on their teeth. Curiously she watched as his large head lowered and he nosed at the odd, but decent sized stomach. She assumed that was in fact the stomach because of what her father stated. She stood and stretched her neck out to get a better look, taking in it's shape and form. Then her father ripped it open and out splattered a sticky pile of wet fur and remains of a rabbit. She wrinkled her nose as the smell of stomach acid lingered in the air. Elias said the contents were dangerous to ingest, it would make them sick and with that smell she could understand why. Then he instructed them on their lesson and she repeated the instructions back within her mind. She looked to what was closest to her which was a bit of the large intestine. With her mouth she grabbed a hold before using both her left and right front paws to help her rip a section out. Then stepping back she dropped the piece on the ground and used her right front paw as the anchor while she let her sharp puppy teeth rip open the section with ease. She then looked at it as the contents seeped out onto the ground. She gently picked it up and moved it away from the drained contents and sit it back down for her dad to look over. Once it was approved by him she would eat. "Actaea Talk", & 'Actaea Think"

He couldn't help but think it was a little funny when his father pushed their sister over to join the group, but he did his best to not to anything more than smirk. He didn't want Domina mad at him or anything for laughing at her. It was easily forgotten when his father moved back over to the intestines that had been brought to them. Casso was intrigued by the whole explanation and even more fascinated when he watched Elias tear open the stomach so that all the not so yummy stuff could spill out onto the floor. His ears stayed perked forward as he paid close attention to the instructions so he wouldn't get it wrong. He got up and found a piece of intestine that looked particularly tasty and went to work tearing it off. He tried the follow the not eating too much rule, but it was kinda hard to keep from tearing off a bigger piece. He wasn't really all that hungry, but it seemed more impressive and fun to rip off a bigger piece than a smaller piece. He wanted to do what his father wanted though so he made sure to only take a moderate sized piece and then moved to the side so he could tear it up more like they had been instructed to. Once he was satisfied he looked up to Elias for approval, secretly hoping that he had blood on his muzzle and chest to show for his work just like his father did. "Speech" "Mind"

The dream world she was living in began to crumble as an earthquake brought disaster to it, turning the entire universe that her mind had created into darkness. In actuality, it was her father's incessant nudging and shoving that caused her to awake from her slumber. Domina stumbled out of the den in a stupor, even going so far as missing a step with a front paw. Luckily, she was able to catch herself before falling face first on the earth and making a fool of herself in front of the siblings. She settled in line with the others and examined the gore of a presentation that their father had provided with half-lidded eyes. Having not woken full up, she blinked hard a few times to get the fog out of her vision.

As her father explained the guts to the siblings, Domina unconsciously let out a soft yawn in attempts to get oxygen flow to her brain. Despite the struggle of waking up, this lesson was actually pretty interesting for the lass. When Elias sliced open the coyote's stomach to expose the rancid insides of partially digested hare, she found the smell strong- but not overly sickening. The pup's nostrils worked as they further took in the pungent aroma. Fascinated by the anatomy lesson that her father was giving, her ears perked forth as life sparked in her eyes.

With the command of her father to dig in, she'd happily oblige. With a wag of her tail, Domina would make her approach after Actaea and Casso, eyeing up the innards for an ideal piece. She took a portion of the large intestine much like Actaea, but found it to be quite stretchy and tough to easily tear away from the rest. To assure the meat-noodle tore away, she placed a paw on either side of the intestine that poured out the sides of her muzzle and pulled upwards and away. With a sickening, slick squish and slapping noise, the chunk of intestine broke free but not cleanly. A line of blood splattered up her muzzle, across an eye and came to a stop just before the ear opposite to the bloodied eye. A smirk cross her lips as she trotted with her prize over to her father to show him her handiwork. Sure, it wasn't cleanly obtained- but wasn't getting dirty a part of it?