Willows

Her paw to his forehead was met with a deep, easy chuckle and playful flail of forepaws. He hadn’t much chance to really play as a pup, with all the colds he’d been fighting. Sure, there were the occasional rough and tumbles with Artur when they were really small, but a lot of that was the slightly larger, older pup throwing his weight around, chewing ears and tails and essentially being that typically bratty big brother.

He grinned and remarked affably, “If you happen to run by Valhalla you might just see me go sailing over the wall if she throws me hard enough.”

His grin was definitely joking as he threw a cheerful wink between sniffs. At her agreement of parting out the deer, should they be lucky enough to bring one down was met with a wag of his tail. “I can show you. I’m still learning myself, but it’s pretty simple.”

He nodded as she professed herself ready, scanning the clearing a last time and picking a spot. Nodding with his muzzle he murmured, “I’ll be at the base of that really gnarled willow across and to our left, there.”

He grinned and added as he began slipping away, “You’ve got this.”

He vanished into the shadows and willow fronds, one eye on the ground at his paws, the other watching the deer as he paid careful attention to the wind, praying to Luneil that it wouldn’t shift and give them away to the target. It seemed that the day would be in their favor, because the wind stayed steady, blowing their scents away from the deer.

He reached the tree he’d pointed out, poking his black-masked brown head around the base and looking for his green-eyed hunting-partner. He waited a beat, then another as the young deer browsed along, until it was facing away from Malalia’s position, then barked and readied himself to leap as soon as the deer was in range.

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think