The Warlord spent time with the new younglings whenever he could. Today, when he had gone by the healer's den to check on them, he had found Warden first and somehow, he had been conned into taking the boy on a hunting trip. It was never a difficult thing to convince the Warlord to spend time with kids.

Which led to him taking Warden somewhere new. Ducking out of Armada territory, he and Warden moved into the Red Forest, where the trees started to grow spectacularly straight, and unfathomably tall. A far cry from the almost spaghetti-style growth of the Mile-High Woods. “Alright Warden, what have you learnt so far about hunting?”


"Speech"

Rather efficiently, Warden had intercepted his grandfather. Sirius couldn't have been doing anything that urgent, right? Not too urgent to take him out exploring, out hunting. Out doing all of the things and seeing everything he could. The boy was excited, he couldn't help it! His head high, gaze burning bright, he did his best to keep up with the long legged Warlord.

There was something incredibly exciting about being off of their home turf. The red trees seemed to stretch on forever, forever and a day, even! It was exciting for the young boy, and he couldn't help but let his mind swell with all sorts of ideas. What a cool place. Right, though, Seer asked him a question. Warden's focus came back, and he thought hard for a moment. "Dad taught us about walking silently and staying down wind," the boy spoke of their previous lessons. His gaze rested on Sirius's face, looking for any sign of approval. Hoping.

"Speech"

The Warlord nodded his head gravely at that. “All of which are very important lessons” He agreed. “Today, I want you to scent prey for us, okay?” He said, crouching down beside the boy as he spoke. The little white wolf looked so small beneath the behemoth Redwood trees. He couldn’t help but let a smile creep out, despite his attempt at staying serious.

“Close your eyes and lift your muzzle, Warden.” He said, keeping his voice gentle, instructive. “Tell me what you scent around you” The Warlord did the same, touching his nose to the wind. He could catch the scent of squirrels, numerous birds, as well as the trace of a herd that had passed by here. He wondered what the boy might pick up.


"Speech"

Scenting prey... he could do that. Well, he could try to do that, at least. Warden squared his shoulders and tried to imitate the Warlord's posture. There was something imposing about him, like he wasn't even trying, he just... was. A presence. Warden decides that he would like to have a presence too. He wants to be like his grandfather. Mimicking the movements, the posture, the look.

At Sirius's instruction, Warden closed his eyes. He tipped his muzzle to the wind and took a deep breath in. One, and then another. Thinking, processing. "I can smell squirrels, a bunch of them," Warden spoke confidently. Yes, the squirrels were probably closest to them. "Some kinda bird... turkeys maybe?" That's his best guess, at least. Halo had some turkey feathers in her stash of odds and ends, the ones she'd been cobbling into toys. Eyes still closed, Warden took one more long, deep breath in. "Something big, I don't know if that's deer or moose." He admitted, one eye popping open to look at Sirius. Unsure if he'd gotten it right, but he was doing his best.

"Speech"

The Warlord nodded his head, though Warden couldn’t see it. The squirrels were the closest, and he was surprised they couldn’t hear them. Likely they had stilled at the presence of wolves in their territory. “There's turkeys and pheasants around, as well as songbirds very good” He said approvingly, urging the boy on.

“That last you can scent is deer. A herd of them passed through her not too long ago. Do you think you could track them?” He asked softly. “First, figure out which way the scent is blowing, and look for the nuances of fresher and older, to help you figure out which way they went” He advised, giving the boy space to take his time/

"Speech"

Turkeys, pheasants, songbirds. Warden figured the songbirds wouldn't be very good for eating, but pheasants? He'd have to explore that later. Could make for something delicious, probably. Maybe. He was pretty sure. His attention returned to his grandfather, forehead creasing in the middle.

Warden licked his nose, lifting it to the wind, trying to figure out which way the wind was blowing. Taking a moment to sort out which way, he finally spoke. "The wind is coming from that way, the north?" He didn't quite know for sure, but gestured to the direction he intended. Warden took a long moment to read the scent before sniffing at the ground instead. Taking a few steps in the direction of the scent, and then a few more. Taking a moment to triangulate as best he could. Though he was off by a number of yards, the boy was able to catch sight of fresh enough tracks in the soft earth. "There, some hoofprints," he dialed in, remembering what dad had taught them about not stepping on things that would make noise.

"This way smells like... fur. Fur and I think fresh poop?" Warden looked over his shoulder to Sirius, searching for approval, perhaps speaking a bit loudly for the current setting.

"Speech"