Hanging Around

Chade’s ears pulled back as Ricin spoke feeling embarrassed.  He’d been able to catch enough food to keep them going and whenever he got a meal there was plenty of self-pride at the achievements.  Not the last few days though, and here they were begging someone else for a meal.  Chade was proud of the fact they’d managed to survive and now the achievements seemed trashed and they were just two helpless kids.  What mattered right now was getting food though.  Pride didn’t mean much if you died.  

Ah damn.  Now Ry was crying. Chade looks to Ricin, a flicker of a smile to try and offer confidence that he wasn’t really feeling.  Chade would go to comfort but not when he had to keep most of his focus on an adult.  She was talking to a bird and sending her daughter off.  Her daughter got a kiss before leaving.  Chade thought back to their mom, rough and sharp-edged of their mom seemed nothing like the picture of what this kid got with her mom. Well, who cares?  He had Ry and Ry had him.  They didn’t need kisses no matter how nice it looked.

The dark blue pups' ears shot up high fast when Manea mentioned getting them food.  He could smell that meat, imagine the taste of that meat, even the texture when chewing on it.  The second clearance had been granted Chade glanced to Ricin to make sure he was coming before running towards the corpse.  It wasn’t his kill.  Restraint forced Chade to slow down so that Manea was t the corpse first.  They were getting a portion of this kill and it was up to this wolf to decide how much.

CHade watched Manea as cautiously as any hawk with her every movement.  When the meat was placed before them Chade did quickly take his first bite fast, explaining as he did, “gotta eat fast, make sure no one steals it.” The words were quite mumbled as there was no way he’d let go of his food to make a statement.  It tasted wonderful.  

Since the wolf was still there Chade reluctantly slowed down the speed he chewed at.  Eating slower sounded nice and if she was next to them it was unlikely something would try to steal their food.  How long was she staying there though?  The moment she left their food would be easy game for other large predators.

Chade kept his paws on either side of his meat, claiming ownership of what was his.  He could make himself chew slower but the moment a piece was swallowed he’d be grabbing the next bite.  Food in his stomach today meant hope for tomorrow.  He’d be stronger to have better odds at hunting.  One day at a time, that was life.   Into that second bite, he thought to add in a, “Thank you,” again mumbled around the food in his mouth.

"Speech"