Hunting Vacation

No matter how busy or chaotic life got for him, Alastor would always make time to spend with Kichi. The boy—no longer a boy, but a man—had been such a keystone part of his life for as long as he could remember and was veritably his son by this point. He was so proud of the wolf Kichi had become in the face of all the adversity he had faced, the trauma he had endured through his childhood, and though his time with Lurid hadn't been the smoothest point of his life, he could not regret it entirely for it had brought the mottled gray wolf into his life. Dark eyes peered down at Kichi while the two brutes made their way into the Red Forest, a fatherly smile touching his lips as he watched the experienced hunter at work, still amazed at how he had gotten to watch him grow from that feisty, wriggly little wolf pup into who he was today.

But today was not a day for reminiscing. Today was a day for fun and recreational sport! Kichi had invited the hulking dire wolf out on an elk hunt, a fitting proposition for the gray wolf. Although Alastor had once upon a time decimated an elk that had terrified a very young Kichi, now it was his turn to take some revenge of his own, and a chance to take back that bombastic pride a much younger and smaller version of himself had lost when he'd tried to take one on as a pup. With the recent reemergence of Lurid, this felt more needed than ever. Seeing the ghost from their pasts in the flesh had brought with it a number of mixed and conflicting thoughts and emotions. This would be a purge for Alastor almost as much as it was for Kichi. Alastor followed Kichi's lead through the dense forest, letting his surrogate son take point and demonstrate the skills he'd developed over a lifetime of hard work and perseverance. The two seasoned hunters moved silently despite their sizes, weaving through the sunlit woods like phantoms on the trail of a bull elk. Soon enough, they would both have blood on their tongues and a kill to their names.

As they tracked their prey, Kichi made a comment about Alastor slowing down with age, and the giant brute gave a rumbling chuckle deep in his chest. "Slowed down? No no, but my knees definitely aren't what they used to be. And my back might go out without warning. You might have to carry me back home when we're done. Oh, and let's not forget the dementia. Who are you again, you little shit?" Alastor teased Kichi back, shooting him a sarcastic smirk and nudging the younger male's shoulder with his own as he let his playful side out around his adopted son. "Lucky for you, Manea still keeps me very physically fit. If you're nice, maybe I'll even help carry the elk back to Elysium for you." Another chuckle from Alastor as the pair of wolves followed the fresh scent of elk musk through the forest, pushing through some brush in search of their prey. A few moments of silence went by, Alastor peering over at Kichi as he considered the younger brute's headspace. "Do you want to talk about her coming back?" It was an odd question for Alastor, and one he wasn't entirely sure he was qualified to handle, but he knew how seeing Lurid had shaken him up. If Kichi was feeling a certain way over her return, he wanted to reassure Kichi that he was here for him.


"Alastor"