As promised, one of the first things he wanted to do once he got settled into a den within Ashen and got the lay of the land was to take Ike out hunting. Hunting was something that he knew how to do well enough to keep himself fed, but hadn't really found a whole lot of enjoyment in. Although, now that he knew that Ike liked to hunt his tune about the activity might change at least a little bit. He walked away from the pale trees of the Alabastrine Shrine, moving out toward the near by open area of the Tall Grass Plains. This area seemed a bit more promising as far as a hunting ground went so off they went in search of something to hunt. He was just happy to be doing some kind of activity that was both beneficial to his new pack that he was working to find his place in and gave him an excuse to spend time with Ike.

As they crossed into the wide open field of tall grasses, he kept his ruby and emerald gaze peeled for any kind of prey, but he knew he'd mostly be defaulting to Ike's expertise. "You just point me toward what you want to hunt and I'll help you take it down," he told her with a chuckle. He had no problem just being the muscle to her brains in this scenario. In the meantime, he let his attention wander a bit to the land itself. There was a surprising lack of any kind of tree cover out here and the land seemed to mostly just be choked with grasses. It was probably a good thing that he and Ike were both fairly tall since the grasses had grown significantly with the heavy rains Boreas had been getting recently so seeing over them would be a challenge otherwise.

"Remus Armada"

Had she had any idea how big of a comfort and how enjoyable having Remus in the pack was she wouldn’t have ever hesitated for so long to invite him here with her. Most of what she felt was the support he showed her, no matter how she failed he was there to help her back up again. To dust her off, or dry her off in some cases, and help her back on her paws. In other ways she still felt nervous and frightened, especially with her arriving into full womanhood. Ike was no stranger to the theory behind her body’s changes, but what she was struck by was how she felt and acted around Remus.

Mostly the princess could ignore the strange new feelings within especially as the two of them were focused on the task at hand. Hunting. The skill she lacked in. Or thought she lacked. Ike was becoming a great huntress, really she was refining her skill now. Not that the under confident young woman could accept or see that fact yet. She walked along with the horned dire wolf, her dragon like form taking on an innate grace as she finally grew into languid form. Ike’s hard work was beginning to pay off despite her being blind to the fact. There wasn’t a single misstep from Ashen to where they rounded on the old Armada lands.

"Alright,” She answered him softly after he gave her his vow to be some muscle to back her up. Ike scolded herself internally as she glanced towards said muscles, but he was so distracting and she couldn’t stop thinking about when he’d held her after she fell in the water…

With her features flushing Ike shook herself and focused on the scents around her. "There’s pronghorn further out,” those were a bit fast for just two of them. "And a small group of mule deer even closer. They could be does with fawns.” She encouraged him as she began to take the lead without even realizing.

"Kiyohime Shuriken Ōritsu Abraxas"

If it hadn't been for the pause that came after she agreed to his offer of being her muscle to take down whatever prey they picked then he might not have noticed her wandering gaze and the way she shook her head to get her attention back in the right place. He happened to look her way from the landscape around them just in time to notice her flushed cheeks and he had to keep himself from grinning at the realization. He didn't know a ton about females and their heat, but he knew enough to understand that Ike had crossed that threshold. It was actually crazy to him how much he had watched her develop in the time he had known her over the last year or so. She had caught his eye and had been beautiful to him when they first happened upon one another by the river, but now that she had begun to mature even more he had a difficult time keeping his eyes off of her. He wouldn't distract them from the task at hand—at least not yet—but he certainly wanted to.

When she began to talk about the options they would have around here he tore his gemstone gaze away from her elegant features to look out across the plains again. She picked up on the prey's scents much more easily than he would have and as he took in another sniff of the air he began to pick up on what she was pointing out. There wasn't much cover here in the way of trees, but the grass provided it's own kind of cover. If they crouched down a bit they'd probably be hidden entirely. "Whichever you think is the best choice is fine by me," he replied, keeping his voice down just in cause there was any prey nearby. In a small way he wanted to force her to take the lead whether she felt confident in it or not. He could have just voted one way or another, but he knew her well enough to know that she needed the opportunity to prove to herself that she could make these calls and be confident in her skills so he was going to make her have those experiences one way or another.

"Remus Armada"

Ike had her moment of distraction, but she was still more child than woman and confusing feelings were easily brushed aside as she shook herself to regain her composure. She didn’t notice that Remus had seen her blushing cheeks. He didn’t bring attention to the tension between them so Shuriken could put all of her focus into the hunt that lay before them. There was a task at hand and Ike wouldn’t let anything get in her way, even if the urge was stronger than even she had ever expected.

She told Remus about her observations, the two species they had to pick from and tried to get him to weigh in, but there was no decision made as he returned her words. Ike was the one leading this expedition, and he was going to make sure that remained the case. She gave him one more glance as her mismatched paws carried her forward through the grass. The care free look he wore bolstered her confidence, he was ready to follow and back her up wherever they went. Part of her knew that fact went much deeper than this little hunt.

"Alright. Lets try for the mulies.” She decided with a confidence that wasn’t often stirred within her. So Ike led the pair of them through the grasses, her joints were bent so the tall grass would hide the way she crept through the grass. Thankfully they were heading into the wind, so they had two advantages. When they were finally close enough to peek at the beasts from the grass she realized she was mistaken. There were no does or fawns, but instead they found a bachelor herd. Their antlers were gone so she couldn’t accurately tell their ages, but there was one with a silver marked face and slight limp. A buck long past his prime, and ripe for their larder. "Let's start running them, the old one will quickly fall behind and we can make our move.” She whispered, her dual toned gaze meeting his before she led the pair of them forward, bursting from the grass at the last moment to take the deer by surprise.

"Kiyohime Shuriken Ōritsu Abraxas"

Remus nodded and smiled when Ike gave them a decision, directing them toward the mule deer. Lead the way!" And lead she did, guiding them through the tall grasses in the direction of the deer. He matched her and crouched a bit to hide himself in the grass as they moved and eventually he noticed the scent of the deer in question getting stronger and more noticeable. He stopped beside her as they paused to peek up at the deer they had found, seeing that the small herd was actually a group of males. He picked up on what she had noticed about the older, silver-marked deer that hung toward the edge of the herd and at her instruction to run the deer till the older male fell back away from the rest he shot her an eager grin, replying, "You got it, boss." He wasn't much of a hunter, but when he was doing it with Ike it was suddenly much more interesting and enjoyable.

The two wolves crept forward and then bursted forth out of the grasses they had been hiding in, Remus charging forward with growls and snaps of his jaws to get the deer moving across the open plain. Their prey scrambled away from them and went bounding off through the grasses with long, leaping strides, through the older deer that was their target was a bit less nimble than his brethren. They ran them down for a little while until they reached a stream that crossed through the territory and while the others leapt over it without much issue, the deer they had their sights on hesitated and got hung on the side of the stream with them. He took the opportunity and lunged forward, grabbing one of its back legs in his jaws and yanking back, forcing it to topple to the ground and leaving the opportunity wide open for Ike to make the kill.

"Remus Armada"

Remus gave no disagreement as she made her decision to take on the deer instead of the antelope. Remus was making himself more of an extension of herself than he was another wolf. He gave her full command and seemed to move just as she did. He crouched in the grass, following her lead before she brought his attention to the herd of deer they were following. Again, he accepted her plan with ease, she would fly or fall by her own measure and not from Remus’ interference.

The two of them continued to creep along until they were as close as possible, adding a startle to the beginning of their assault. Then everything happened almost all at once. Mule like ears fell to the deer skulls as they took flight and adrenaline burst through her veins like their prey burst through the grasses. The two dire wolves took off behind them, putting on a burst of speed but slowing afterwards. They didn’t have to run them too hard to reach their goal. Sooner rather than later the old buck would falter.

They reached the stream before it tripped or worse, and the younger stags leapt the gap with no problem. The elder was left hesitating, the debate between potentially breaking a leg, and facing teeth anyway caused enough of a pause for Remus to grab their prey. Ike was hot on his tail and as the deer was pulled ot the ground she was there to skillfully dispatch their prey with little struggle. It might have been the smoothest hunt she had ever been a part of.

Panting the Princess leaned back onto her haunches, pride filling her breast as she caught her breath and looked up to Remus. The evidence of her kill plain in the smile on her face as much as the blood stains decorating her fur.

"Kiyohime Shuriken Ōritsu Abraxas"

As he had expected, Ike finished the kill quickly and cleanly, finishing off their successful hunt. It had gone so smoothly, but somehow he wasn't surprised. It had been easy to follow Ike's lead and find his rhythm in the hunt even if this wasn't his usual activity of choice. After the elder mule deer was laying still he let go of its leg and lifted his head to look toward Ike with a pleased grin, panting lightly as well to catch his breath from the sprint. His gaze landed on her as she was settling back onto her haunches, their eyes meeting while they grinned at each other, and he felt that skip and flutter in his chest that was slowly becoming familiar the longer he spent time with her. Seeing her like this, so in her element and so at ease, made him proud and happy in a way he couldn't really describe. This is how he wanted her to be all of the time and in a way it had become his mission to make that happen without really even deciding on it.

Unable to help himself, Remus stepped over to her after they had caught their breath a bit and grinned as he tipped his head down to swipe his tongue over her pale cheek to clean away a bit of the blood that had stained her fur in the process of her kill. The side of his muzzle ever so lightly brushed hers as he pulled back again and as his two toned gaze found hers again it was difficult for him to move away. This magnetic attraction he felt for her wanted him to stay, wanted him to finally find out what it felt like to kiss her, but she was too special to him. They hadn't discussed it, but he had a feeling that it would be her first kiss and he wanted that to be special for her. She deserved the world and that most certainly included a special and romantic first kiss. So instead he gave her a grin, his gaze revealing a little bit of the affection he had for her as he rumbled quietly, "That was a lot of fun. I like hunting with you." Forcing himself to step away, he nodded to the deer they had just killed and started carrying it back to Ashen's lands with Ike's help, all the while trying not to let his mind wander to other things it shouldn't.

"Remus Armada"