As days passed, Lorelai grew more confident with the world beyond their den. She knew all the best rocks to snuffle under, and which shrubs threw the best shade for napping. She often watched with eager eyes as Fireside wolves went about their business, ever hopeful one would turn their way and drop off a tasty snack. Lore couldn't wait until she was big enough to go get her own snacks, and tossed out the occasional promise to the universe that she would even share 'em with her siblings and the little pups if it just meant she could get a little bit bigger a little bit faster. So far, it hadn't worked out. Dad said they were all pretty big for pups, but she wasn't big enough. Lore harrumphed and sat in a slump, momentarily miserable. Of course... Lore's head cocked sideways, ideas crawling in between her ears. Of course, maybe if she practiced a little bit now, she would be more than ready once she got bigger. She'd be the best hunter anyone had ever seen! Lore lept back to her feet, spirit rekindled, and wheeled around in search of a target. Grass? No, grass was boring and couldn't run away even if it wanted to. That was no good. Same for rocks. Beetles were probably too slow. A flit of motion caught her eye, and just like that Lorelai was zeroed in on the perfect target. A few yards away a plain white butterfly hovered a moment before dipping down onto an early summer wildflower to do whatever it was bugs did. Perfect. Lore sank down into her best approximation of a hunter's crouch, belly fluff tickling the ground beneath her. Closer.... closer... Until a breeze set the grass wiggling and off it went. Back at square one Lorelai groaned. It's probably because hunters work in groups, she reasoned. It wasn't that she was a bad hunter, right? She was just a small hunter all on her lonesome. Lore strengthened her resolve and sat real still, waiting for a new target to make itself known. She'd get the next one for sure. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Beorn had made a mess. It was an accident; he hadn't meant to track mud across their bed, but he had. He didn't see much of a problem with mud on the bed, really, but Pop had made his dad take the bedding outside and beat it clean the other day, so mud couldn't be good. Because the bedding was too bulky for Beorn to take out on his own, he'd come up with a plan of his own. He had in his mouth the rim of a bowl full of water that he'd collected from the stream. Getting it back to the den was quite the chore as his tusks made gripping the bowl difficult, but not impossible. Patience and creativity were his friend.

His steps were slow and careful and he shuffled back to the den, but not quite careful enough. "Oh," he murmured in dismay as water splashed over one side. In trying to look at how much he'd spilled, Beorn tipped his head too far the other way and splashed water out the other side. "Mm!" he squealed while shuffling to the side in a panic. Thus began several rounds of overcompensating, each ending in a little bit more water hitting the ground.

Finally, blessedly, he succeeded in reaching the den. There, with a sigh of relief, he was able to dribble the last of the water onto the mud. Beorn then set out wiping it clean, but to his dismay, the mess only spread. Afraid now that Pop or Dad would be upset with him, he began to wipe the mud around with both paws. Big smears soon marred the pale sheepskin. There was no way he could fix it! Oh, this was bad, this was really bad.

In a panic Beorn fluttered his paws over the mess as he tried to figure out what to do. He glanced around and seized upon a similar hide. Quickly, he slid the clean hide over the dirty one and boom, just like that, problem solved. Sorta.

Terrified he was going to get in trouble, Beorn fled the den. He slowed when he reached the surface and peeked around to make sure no one was looking before he climbed out. There, he breathed a sigh of relief. Now all he needed was an alibi. And lo and behold, a familiar dark shape was sitting not far away doing nothing in particular. Beorn made his way over to his sister quickly. "Lore! Loooryyy! What are you doing?"

Lore was doing a pretty great job of focusing, if she said so herself. It had been like three whole minutes and she had barely even blinked! … Ok maybe she had, but not that often. Not often enough to miss anything. In fact, her focus was so intense that the arrival and mishaps of her brother Beorn had gone entirely unnoticed, so when the tusked pup hollered out she almost jumped a foot in the air. At first she was frustrated; couldn’t he see she was in the middle of something? But logic fell in line soon after, and she didn’t wanna be mad at her siblings if she didn’t have to be. This was a blessing in disguise. "I’m hunting, duh! What’s it look like?" She rolled her eyes. "Or trying to, anyways. Next butterfly I see is mincemeat. Do you wanna help?" Lore grinned, flashing her teeth. Beorn was just as big as she was and always had good ideas, he’d be a great addition to her hunting party. "They’re super fast and total scaredy-cat cats, so I figure if I can catch a butterfly I can catch anything!" Lore puffed her chest out, taking a private moment to imagine herself as big as a mountain, striking fear into the hearts of prey everywhere. One day… Just as she was starting to add battle armor and hordes of adoring fans to her mental retinue another butterfly fluttered into view, settling to drink on a big pink flower. She gasped and dropped to the ground. "Get down! Our prey is in sight." Lore didn’t know how you were supposed to act when you hunted in a group, or all the right things she ought to say. That sounded pretty cool though, and whatever else she was sure Beorn could help her improvise. Lore began to creep forward, starting to close the dozen or so yards between them. "Talk" "Listen" Think

"Sitting," he answered truthfully. "Looks like you're sitting to me." That's what she was doing when he first saw her, anyway. Didn't really look like hunting but he wasn't going to argue with her about it. If she wanted to sit and call it hunting that was fine with him. He just needed her to stay out of the den and be his alibi until someone else stumbled on the mess he'd made.

Before Beorn could answer her question Lorelai gasped and hit the ground as though she expected to take fire from enemy projectiles. Instinctively Beorn did the same. He was on his belly on the ground with his tail tucked before his sister's words registered. Oh. Prey. Well, he was game for butterfly catching.

He brightened at the prospect and fell into the game quicker than he'd dropped to the ground. "It is," he confirmed in a whisper. Lorelai slithered ahead and Beorn quickly fell in behind her. The target fluttered to a nearby flower with lazy, looping movements. "This one's smart." He thought about it for a second, then offered, "I'll sneak around behind it and cut off escape." With that the boy scuttled off through the grass. He made every effort to hide behind things as he went, but with a bright blue coat and zero stalking skills he was visible to any observer the whole time. In his mind, however, he was one with the grass.

See, she knew Beorn was the perfect pup for the job! With their keen senses and innate abilities put to the task, there was no way they could fail. He was right too, this was one smart bug. She could sense it plotting and scheming, but against their combined wit that sort of overconfidence would become the butterfly's final mistake. As Beorn began to slink off to one side, Lore continued forward. She knew she had to be strategic about this, because she was not about to let this one slip through her paws. Weaving between clumps of grass to keep out of sight was a bit of a chore, but she wasn't going to let a little hard work and dirt deter her. Closer and closer she crept, but as anticipation began to surge she was constantly reminding herself to keep her rump down. Eventually the butterfly's lair was clear before her, their quarry motionless apart from the occasional lazy wingbeat. A ploy no doubt, to lower their defenses. It was pretty far up there too, but she was certain it would be within her reach if she jumped as high as her tiny legs could manage. Lore frowned. With prey this wily it would take teamwork. A coordinated effort. Her blue eyes raked through the grasses in front of her, trying to find Beorn among the brush. If he was ready to charge, it was go time. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Beorn felt very panther-like as he slunk through the grass. He took his sneaking very seriously. This wasn't a game! No, this was serious business. The butterfly was a serious adversary. Only the most sneakiest with the very best hunter skills could catch them. That was why, he reasoned, he never saw any of the adults go after them. They'd given up trying to be the best!

Once in position Beorn peeked through the grass at Lorelai with wide eyes. He was ready. Did she see he was ready? He began to charge up his pounce with a butt wiggle and when he finally met Lorelai's eyes he knew it was go time. Beorn charged out of the brush with a whoop, intent on scaring the butterfly towards his sister.

"Speech"

Finding Beorn's bright silver eyes through the undergrowth was tricky, but once she managed it she found her brother ready and waiting. Lorelai bunched up her legs when she saw him doing the same, switching her focus back to their devious prey, and exploded forward. She leaped upwards as mightily as she could manage, and for a second might've even forgotten that hunting was serious business, because in the moment all she could think about was how fun it was. For the sole heartbeat she was upright, time both slowed and rushed all at once. Her outstretched paw was close enough to brush against one pale white wing, but the darn thing was so small she could barely feel it. She must have gotten closer than she thought though, because as she fell back to earth the butterfly came down with her. Problem was, her stupid paws couldn't exactly hold on to much. Turns out all she'd really managed was to bat it out of the air and onto the dusty brown earth between them. It flapped frantically against the ground, whether wounded or just discombobulated she didn't know, so she yelled out, "Get it, Beorn, quick! It's gonna get away!" "Talk" "Listen" Think

To avoid meeting Lorelai in the middle in a teeth rattling bonk Beorn skidded to a halt after scaring the butterfly her way. He watched with bated breath as it fluttered into his sister's range. This was it, she was gonna get it! He sucked in a tiny gasp; the tip of his little blue tongue sticking out as his butterfly focus made him forget everything else.

She- oh! He gasped again as the fast fiend evaded his sister. Lorelai urged him to try and that little command sent a bolt of panic through him. His eagerness to please and the pressure of the situation compelled him forward with nary a thought. Beorn moved as though picked up by an invisible hand and tossed; it was less a focused pounce and more a full body flail.

As it had with Lorelai, the moment his paws touched velvet wings time slowed way down. He saw the little critter get cupped to the underside of his paw; one wing curling over the side of his toe as he brought his paws down. Knowing he had it broke his focus and snapped him back into real time. Beorn's paws struck ground with the butterfly pinned under them. "I caught it? I caught it! Lorelai look, I-" he lifted his paws to peek at it and- uh oh. The butterfly's little mangled body was stuck fast to his toes. "Oh no..."

"Speech"

With the thrill of the hunt coursing through her veins, Lore was keyed in to single-minded focus. She couldn't tear her eyes away from their prey. Beorn swooped in in a blaze of glory, paws clamping down on the tiny winged demon. She watched as he lifted his paws and... Victory! The battle was won and the day was theirs! Lore barked out a burst of congratulations, bounding over to get a closer look. "You did it Beorn, that was amazing! You were so quick, our prey never stood a chance!" She danced in place for just a moment before realizing... Beorn wasn't celebrating. Huh? That didn't make any sense! They were practically heroes, as far as she was concerned. Well... maybe the butterfly did look a little mangled and smushed. Kinda gross. But it was just a bug, there were hundreds around, and what good were butterflies anyways? All they did was flap around and poke at flowers. She opened her mouth to say as much but thought better of it at the last moment. Maybe he was just upset its guts were stuck on him, but if he was having second thoughts that would probably make things worse. "You okay, Beorn? That was a really good hunt! Just wait, I bet we'll be taking down bears in no time." She moved to give his shoulder a little bit of a bump. Lore still thought the whole thing had been pretty fun, but only as long as he'd had fun too. "Talk" "Listen" Think