Breaking Into New Territory

Malik loved listening to his father's lessons and as he explained the ins and outs of the difficulties hunting in winter brought he looked up to his dad dutifully and absorbed it all. When Kane pointed behind them toward the paw prints that they had left in their wake in the soft snow, Malik turned his head to look behind him, his gaze following the trail of prints all the way back to their paws. It was kind of like the paw prints that they would leave in the sand on the beach where they had stayed when they were younger, but even more distinct. Bringing his attention back up to his father's face he listened while he was told about how they could use tracks like that to help track down prey that had passed through the snow covered region as well and how they could take advantage of the snow masking their scents as well. A little grin tugged at his lips at the realization, a soft sound of intrigue escaping him while his tail wagged.

His interest and intrigue quickly turned into barely contained excitement as his dad gestured ahead of them and told him to take the lead to see what he could find, making his chest puff out proudly with an even wider, toothy grin across his lips as he was called a 'little hunter'. All he really wanted was to be as good as his dad one day and live up to the hunter title and skill that he had so getting to be in the lead of a hunt to track down their prey was a big responsibility for him that he was very eager to rise up to. He gave a firm nod and turned his hazel gaze out toward the land that stretched in front of them. He focused in and tried to remember everything his dad had taught him so far as he kept going, making sure to stay extra quiet and move as carefully as he could, leaving just the soft crunch of the snow under their paws as the only sound that came from them as they moved.

He kept his eyes peeled for any variations in the smooth surface of the snow, hoping to find prints like theirs that could lead him to something of interest, and after a bit of searching he finally spotted a bunch of hoof prints that made a trail through the snow, their paths mixing and crossing over one another in places so it was difficult to find one trail in particular to follow. But, that meant there was a whole herd of whatever this was! With his tail wagging gently behind him, he studied the prints for a moment, his head tipping to the side while he tried to figure out which way the trail was leading to. Finally he found a set that were clear and distinct enough in the snow to see the shape of the hoof print where he could tell which way its pointed 'toes' were facing. He grinned and gave a glance back at his father before he forged ahead, following the mess of snow prints toward what he hoped would be their prey.

When they crested a small hill, he stopped when he saw the figures of maybe five or so deer all clustered together, some of them with their heads down grazing off of a small bush that had managed to hold on to some of its leaves. A couple of them had their heads up, looking around and watching, but they traded off occasionally to snack on the bit of foliage.  He was so excited that he had tracked them down all on his own that he could hardly contain himself, but he didn't want to give away their position so he managed to do just that! He looked up at his dad with a happy grin, looking to him to see what they should do next.

WC: 664
Total: 1534 / 1500

"Malik of the Sea"