Hanging Around

It was good to see Ricin was going along with it, well, right up to the part of his suggesting Chade tell hunting stories.  Hunting stories?  Sure, Chade had merrily told his brother some details about the hunt but they might not sound as great to another wolf.  What if it sounded silly?

A moment later it didn’t even matter.  The smell of fresh meat came to his nose and he could feel the saliva collecting in his throat without even seeing it.  When the adult showed up Chade took two cautious steps back, lowering his head cautiously but it only took a second to remember the deal they’d tried for.  Wariness became mered with a bit of hope glancing to where she’d left the meat.

It would be a lie to say he didn’t think of just running to the meat and seeing how much he and Ry could swallow down before they might stop him.  Eating was always best done fast in case something decided to steal the food. Her motion of pulling the other pup to her caused an unexpected pang in Chade’s heart.  A small gesture, one that dad might have done.  The sadness was shoved away quickly, preserving life was more important than memories that no longer held relevance.

“Hello,” Chade swallowed back some nervousness.  She looked nice but she also could kill them if they were wrong.  “We were striking a bargain,” Chade pushed out, “She broke our snare,” flicking a glance to the pup, “accidentally, maybe it wasn't strong enough” he added to not sound like it was harsh blame, before glancing back up at Manea, “So, in return for the broken snare that you’d share some of the food.”  Chade tried to speak evenly, formally like an adult to an adult, well aware of how far he was from it.

Puppies got killed trying to live on their own so he and Ry weren’t puppies, just still growing adults. “Please?” The statement had been given but considering their situation it seemed a good idea to still remember who the strongest one was here.  It definitely wasn’t Chade or Ricin.


"Speech"