gathering acorns

Laisren's arrival drew her from the thoughts and vaguely formed plans and ideas, and Brandr's arrival moments later. She smiled at them both. "It's all right, Brandr," she told him quietly. "This isn't terribly urgent. You are the two most experienced hunters in the pack, and with winter coming, I wanted to speak with you both about getting preparations under way. Do either of you have any amount of experience with preserving meat? With the children, both yours and mine," she nodded to Brandr, "still growing, we want to be able to have a steady supply of food and not depend so much on what we can hunt during the winter months. The animals will be fatter now than they will later on anyway, and goodness knows we'll need that extra fat. Some of us aren't as good at putting on winter stores anymore," she added wryly, with a vague gesture at her body. She was built on sturdy lines, true, but age and her recent litter had taken away much of her fat stores and left her with little but wiry muscle stretched taut over her bones. This winter would be hard on her, she knew, and there was a very good chance she wouldn't make it through to see spring. But she'd do what she could to get the pack - and her children - prepared before then.