The small family camped out beneath the awning branches of a tree, the night sky barely concealed by the swaying branches, and the cool air rustling their coats. It was good, it meant the three of them had to huddle close for warmth. He would not nurture hate in his boy's heart, as much as he might thrive on having them challenge each other. After all, in the end, they would both get heir. They just didn’t know it yet.

He let them sleep in until the sun had broken the horizon. It was more of a sleep in then they had gotten the day before, but at least they would be able to function on what sleep he was allowing them to have. He got to to his feet, cracking the knuckles of his paws as he rolled them against the dirt, spreading out his claws, and looking to the sun with a smile. Ah, but he loved a challenge.

He nudged Azure first, the boy being closer to him. “Wake your brother and meet me by the stream in five” he ordered, before strolling away.

Azure groaned loudly, flipping from his stomach to his back in his sleepy haze as his father tried to wake him. Like his mother he did not wake easily in the early mornings. A few more grumpy noises peeled from his shut mouth, and then he remembered what was at stake and let his eyes shoot open. It took real, genuine effort to lift himself up off the ground but by god he managed it. Anything for that crown. It was a good sign that his father had chosen him to wake first and then to wake Mortis, and he took his responsibility seriously. "Mortis, WAKE UP." He demanded, lifting both bear paws onto his brother's slumbering shoulder and shaking him violently. "Dad says we gotta go!" His head turned quickly in the direction his father had gone, and then back to Mortis. Once he was sure the boy was awake and conscious enough to understand, he lifted his paws away. "I'll beat you there!" With that, Azure turned tail and bolted down the prairie towards the stream. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Mortis woke quickly with the sudden and surprising weight of Azure’s bear paws upon him. He jolted to, blinked, and realised it was his brother. He groaned groggily, already feeling a little beaten up from their travelling and exercises the day before. Still, he didn’t want to disappoint. “Alright, i’m up, lets go” he agreed, staggering to his feet

He didn’t expect Azure to turn it into a competition, and with a delight cry of surprise (without seeing Azure as competition he was still just a brother he loved) he took off after the other boy. He bolted, not actually sure which way they were going, and not having time to find their scents. He found their father by sight as they got closer, and pelted his way towards him. He collapsed, panting at his father's feet a mere few seconds after Azure had. What a way to wake up.

“You sound like a herd of buffalo” he said dryly to the two boys as they arrived in a kick of dust and panting. The Warlord had been scouting the herds from the stream. It was a good place to start, since it was the most frequented part of the territory. More than a few larger prey had lifted their heads and shyed at the sound of the running boys. “Lets head back to the tree line and melt around them so they don’t stampede” he ordered, eyeing the buffalo closest to where the three wolves stood.

Order given, Sirius began to move to the trees, expecting them to follow. Once they arrived, he turned to the two boys. “One of you will be in charge of tracking and picking the herd, the other will be in charge of strategy and how we take it down. Decide quickly.” He ordered.

Azure let out a chuckle as his father compared them to a herd of buffalo, shrugging his shoulders agreeably. Perhaps in the future he'd have to have less races if ever a hunt like this was given to them again. At least the herd hadn't scattered, and the boy let out another soft laugh as he saw that buffalo was indeed their prey. It seemed a little risky to go after such a dangerous animal, but he trusted his father entirely. "Let Mortus do the tracking, I'm not great at it." He admitted. Not only did the boy have too large and loud of paws to silently stalk along a trail, he didn't have the patience to follow a scent without getting bored and deviating. As a plus, if he was in charge of strategy he'd be able to subtly test the waters on how to take down an animal and whether or not Sirius would disapprove of his methods.. the one's that didn't always end up with a clean, merciful kill. "Good luck." He offered his brother good naturedly. Damn he was rocking this heir thing. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Their father gave them a choice, and Mortis remembered navigating the dark crypts with his brother what felt like a long time ago. He remembered Azure hadn’t been quite as sensitive to subtle changes in the air as he had. It didn’t surprise him when Azure suggested him for tracking, and he was glad. He felt it played on their strengths, and hadn’t really wanted to plan out the actual hunt. “You too” Mortis shot back with a smile, and let himself consider the scents and movements around him. He already knew where the buffalo herd was, but judging by the previous day's hunt, their dad probably wanted something smaller. That was okay, that worked for the boy. He stuck his nose to the ground, after ordering the Kea to search by air, and got to it. After a time he led them around the prairie, and found the evidence of horses. There was a young horse near the middle of the herd, and it was lying down. It didn’t look like it had been born quite right, and Mortis knew from vague listings, that it probably wouldn’t survive more than a few days out here. Maybe not the most interesting kill, but it followed their fathers directions. “That one” he said, pointing it out to his family. "Speech"

Sirius led them into the trees, and further away from the buffalo that the boys had almost scattered. That wasn’t their prize for the day, but no point having every herd for a hundred miles running at the perceived thought of a threat.

Azure and Mortis came to a quick conclusion to his orders, and Sirius nodded his head, following the small winged boy through the foliage. The Warlord gave a silent nod of approval when he sent his strange green parrot searching through the air, making use of what he had available to him.

It wasn’t long before Mortis led them towards the small herd, and the foal near its center. “Alright Azure, how do we proceed?” he asked, the point of the lesson was to get the points to taste some hint of authority, and to make decisions for themselves. He could critique and train as they went.

Azure let out an unintelligible noise of disapproval but quickly clamped his mouth shut. Buffalo hunting would have been so much cooler than a horse. Taking his position at strategist seriously, he frowned out across the prairie towards where his brother had found the creature and it's herd. "A horse could easily kill us." He observed, seeing the power in the beast's hooves as they stomped idly against the grass. "Dad, you should keep the adults distracted and off us. Mortis can use his wings to look big and scary and hopefully scare the foal out of the group, and then I can be waiting in the bushes to catch it." He realized suddenly that he'd given himself perhaps more than his father wanted from a teamwork exercise, so he relented to further include his brother. "Then Mort and I can kill it, while you make sure nothing kicks us in the back of the head." It sounded like a good plan to him, and he looked up at his father to await his response and opinion. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

He caught his brothers frown, but he buried it quickly. Mort shot him a curious look as he began his strategies. Mort wouldn’t have had the first idea how to organise a group hunt against a larger prey. Azure seemed to have a pretty good handle on it, however. He knew Az had been going on a lot more hunts with Asla then he had, and it was starting to show. Interested in learning what his brother knew, he hunkered down and listened to his brother's plan. It involved Mort scaring the foal, dad distracting the horses, Azure in place to take down the creature, and then Mort to come in and help him finish it off. The boy nodded, showing he understood the plan. When their father moved, and snarling, took off after the herd to make them scatter, the boy ran after, getting himself into place to catch the foal’s eye, and spread his wings wide, rearing up on his back legs to make himself big and scary. The foal spooked, scrambling to its feet uncoordinatedly, and ran. Mort began to herd it. "Speech"

Sirius listened to the boys planning, and it had merit. He got an approving nod, and Sirius added nothing to it. It put the Warlord in the biggest spot of danger, which was exactly as it should be. He was the biggest and most experienced, he should be doing the hard part. If Azure had tried to put himself in that spot, Sirius would have accused him of biting off more than he could chew.

With that approval given, Sirius moved to scatter the herd, and clear the way for Mort. he would ensure none of the horses interfered, or went close to Azure’s hiding spot, or Mort who was creeping up near him to get into position to scare the foal.

When the herd scattered, it was chaotic, and the Warlord had his work cut out for him to keep them off Mortis.

Azure was pleased to see that his father did not disapprove of his plan. He added nothing which must have meant it was perfect as it was, right? The boy's tail wagged hard behind him and he bounded into the foliage to get into position, slowing and lowering himself as he got nearer to his hiding spot and towards where the creatures might hear him. He had given Mortis a very important job, and the brown and blue boy watched carefully through the bushes to see how his brother might pull it off. If he was to trust him he had to know that the winged wolf would not cower or balk. Mortis 'flew' out of the bushes with his wings spread wide to spook the foal. It succeeded, and smoother then Azure expected his brother was herding it towards him. He had little time to look and see how their father was doing, he had to remain focused upon the job he'd given himself. Surely the warlord could handle a few horses. When the foal came near, Azure leaped out of the bush and threw himself onto it's neck. His wide paws came around the horses' shoulders easily and his jaws clamped hard upon it's cheek. The weight of the growing boy toppled the young foal without much difficulty, and it cried out painfully as it hit the ground. It kicked out and struggled hard beneath him, and Azure did his best to remain in his position above it and keeping it down while Mortis joined him for the kill. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Mortis herded the foal, using the full width of his wings to try and keep the baby on the right path. The silly little creature stumbled about every which way. It looked defromed, and Mortis wondered if that meant it wouldn’t have survived if they had let it be. Azure lunged from his hiding place, canines flashing, and huge bear-like paws passing Mortis by as his brother went for the foal. Mortis took a second to be impressed and flash his brother a grin, not sure if his brother would see it, distracted as he was. He jumped in after that, going for the foal. He needed to take the kill shot well Azure was busy holding down the bucking creature. He went for the neck, biting in with his extended fangs. It took him a moment to get the angle right, and then the creature collapsed. "Speech"

The Warlord fainted to the left, avoiding the flailing hooves of the lead stallion, who had found him and taken offense to his attack on the herd. The Warlord knew that no matter how sturdy he was, a good kick from this heavy hitter could cave his head in.

The rest of the herd was still running, and his son was off the prairie and near the treeline. The Warlord snaked forward, swiping his claws across its flank, and then rolling free before it could tramble him. He got back to his feet, staring it down. The rest of its herd had passed by now, and the foal was lost to them. The stallion flared its nostrils, pounding the earth before it, and then turned, racing after its mares.

Sirius let out a breath of relief, and turned, trotting to where his sons took on the foal. By the time he arrived, it was dead. His boys had shown a measure of teamwork, and he nodded his head, pleased. “Good job, now we need to see to the pelt. Mortis, I want you to start snipping from here, to here.” he demonstrated where he meant. “Azure, start peeling it as he goes”