Where've you been?

Hunting in the mountains was hard, but that didn't mean that these wolves didn't do it. During the Winter, the only readily available prey was in these mountains and so long as Elias kept himself below them and didn't mind bleeding pawpads at the end of the night, he guaranteed a meal for at least his teething children and Zuriel.

When it came to hunting, Elias rarely came back home empty-mawed and accepting a failure. He was an experienced hunter and trapper, and tonight he had made his rounds to the cold upper peaks of the Maw where his hair-trigger traps lay, strong enough to hold a goat. Had the thought of growing and breeding his own food ever occurred to him, he might not feel so proud of his own intelligence but as it was, he was radiating pride as he carefully descended the mountainside with one young goat in his jowls. Tonight was an easy night, though if it hadn't been.. he would have been very persistent.

It was hard to smell much over the scent of the goat, but he could swear he caught the scent of one of his sons and his brother. He shifted the goat in his maw, teeth snapping to its leg to let it dangle from the side of his skull as he tried to free more airflow so that he could read the air. Yes, it was Acere and Ignis. His curiosity had been piqued by far, wondering what his brother was teaching the youth and how progressive their day had been. It was becoming clear to him that he wasn't quite exactly the readily available teacher his father was, but at least he had the help from his brother, Zuriel, and even Drakan's presence with the pups had been noticed. Living in a dangerous land with seasons that could not go ignored made it difficult for him to achieve all of his ambitions, but tonight he had the simple ambition of finding his son and hearing all about what he learned today.

The stranger's howl that broke the silence of the mountain air made his heart skip a beat when he heard it. He could tell Ignis' trail cut off from Acere's some time ago and that he was alone. His children were getting bigger now, big enough to run from any immediate danger and howl if they needed help... but they hadn't had many encounters with outsiders yet. Elias was immediately panicking as his talons gripped every little curve and piece of raised, rocky terrain that they could as he practically flew down the mountain on muscle memory.

When he arrived, his paws were bloody again and his chest was visibly heaving, the fur of the goat in his maw flowing through the billow of his strong lungs as his eyes narrowed on first the stranger and then his son. He did not stop moving until he stood directly over the red boy, dropping a goat in front of him to box him in underneath his tall presence.

"Ignis, it is not your duty to answer to strangers. They could be dangerous. You hide when you see them and wait for your family, is that understood?" His voice started off quiet and at a stern whisper, not wanting to embarrass his son in front of this stranger though he wanted these words prominent in his son's mind if he were to attempt to do this again. Elias took one step back and his neck craned down, skull tilted slightly as he looked to the child at his paws much like a crow inspects its favorite coin. 'Please listen,' he thought to himself. 'Please don't be reckless like Ace and I were.' It was as if the mere thought of his youthful rebellion brought the pain of the scar on his chest back to life.

He cracked his neck as if that would take away some of the uncomfortable burning the deep scar tissue was causing after his strenuous run and looked back up to the wolf in his presence, eyes narrowed. It didn't take him long to realize the resemblance between Zuriel and this wolf before him, and as he started to wonder.. his eyes started to round and lost their look of hostility.

"Say your piece."