Ab Initio Mundi

ooc: Morgan gave me permission to powerplay Domina until her internet gets back so we can continue with this thread.

Elias counted them as they each came tottling out of the cave and stood patiently in front of the food he had collected, 'one, two, three... four.' He watched as they were apparently studying it and looking up to him when it came time for their questions. His demeanor remained as stagnant as it ever did, though inwardly the proud father within was melting as they all seemed to remain respectful, attentive, and curious. He wanted to answer their questions when all of them were together, though after a moment he realized that the last pup was still inside the den. Elias didn't wait long after Ignis settled down to peek into the den and find Domina's sleeping form.

He thought it over for a moment, whether or not he would wake her up and force her to be included. Ultimately, that's exactly what he did- she could not miss out today. Today was their first day of training and none of them knew it yet, had they known... perhaps Domina wouldn't be sleeping through it. When he moved over to her, he gave her little warning before his square muzzle found her bum and started scooting her across the den floor toward the entrance. She didn't have a choice but to wake up and get to her feet or be forced to roll across the entirety of the rather large den they lived in. Finally, she picked herself up and waddled to the entrance with him.

"Dominus, Ignis- you asked what this was?" He decided to go ahead and begin, his tall form returning to the gore pile so that he could stand over it protectively while he instructed.

"This is the inside of a coyote, his stomach. Like you, all of the creatures we eat have stomachs, and the meat we can harvest from internal organs like the stomach is often more tender. It feels really good on your teeth." He grinned to them, flashing his own teeth at the end of his speech for a second as he lowered his head closer to the stomach beneath him. He nosed at it a bit, not caring for getting dirty since he was already a bloody mess. He found the pouch that was the coyote's stomach amidst the pile of entrails and tore it open with one quick movement of his head. Immediately, the remains of a rabbit spilled outward around them.

"This is why I brought this to you. For as delicious as this snack seems to be, it is dangerous if you do not take the right precautions. You can eat the stomach, you can even eat the more tender flesh attached to it- but do not eat what is inside, especially past the stomach. All food that you find inside of your kill is to be left with their discarded bones so you don't get sick. Go ahead and tear off your pieces, make sure you rip apart everything, and I'll look it over to see how you have done. Once you are finished eating, I'm taking you today on a trip around the territory border and then I have a lesson planned for us once we reach the volcano- so be sure not to eat too much, alright?" Were they old enough to listen to him and obey that? He wasn't sure, but he had a lot of faith in them. Each one of them seemed so smart and strong, he was sure they could do it. All he had to do now was patiently wait for them to follow through.