Neonatal Care

Ezra walked back up the castle path with four rabbits tied up by their hind legs and draped over his back along with a peafowl that he carried by its neck in his mouth, making his way back up to the main focal point of The Hallows with today's spoils in two. Aquila and Canis had actually caught the majority of the rabbits so he was going to have to make sure they both got a treat of some kind later when it got to dinner time. As he stepped into the castle the eagle swooped off through the sky to go to his usual perch near Ezra's window and Canis turned to go return to his usual post near the alpacas. That just left him on his own to walk down the castle halls and into the main dining hall so that he could head to the cellar to stow away his kills for later.

Everyone in the castle was gearing up for the birth of Artorias and Briar's first litter, bulking up their stores of supplies to compensate for the extra mouths to feed and making sure the castle was ready for the invasion of tiny pups. He was certainly no exception and he had been doubling down on his hunts since Fern and Rudy had left for a trip, leaving him one of the few experienced hunters left in the pack. It did mean he had to bring home mostly smaller game, but his companions were good hunters in their own regards so he was usually able to bring home quite a collection of them each time. He hoped they would be prepared by the time the pups got here, but he knew they would figure it out. The Hallows was nothing if not resilient.

As he neared the kitchen he picked up on Syanna's scent along with the sound of her grinding something with a mortar and pestle—a sound he had grown familiar with after all the times he had sat with her while she worked. A little grin tugged at his lips around the game bird he was carrying and before he went into the room he quietly sat down the peahen and the rabbits just outside the kitchen door so that he could sneak into the kitchen, creeping with the practiced, sure steps of a master hunter as he made his way behind her, hoping that the sound of the boiling water and the scrape of stone on stone might keep her distracted enough for him to slip up behind her and surprising her with his forelegs wrapping around her sides and his lips pressing firmly to her cheek with a comically loud kiss.

"Ezra Adravendi"