OOC: This hunt lesson will be for anyone Student age and younger. I know many of us are on absence/scarcity right now so I won't rush this one - join in at any time, I will wait roughly 2 weeks from now for the first round (April 2nd - unless everyone is still on absence and needs more time).

Bright Moon had spent days alone, unsure of who to approach and nervous of meeting anyone new. So, as usual, she kept to herself, hunting just enough to sustain herself. But she knew that her place in this pack was an important one, and she needed to follow through on her responsibilities. The others were depending on it while they fulfilled other duties - they needed a fresh caught meal to await them after border patrol, herb hunting and anything else they were up to. Bright knew that she needed to stop pitying herself and get to work, just like everyone else. Though anxiety clung to her heart and dragged her downward, she knew there was something she could do. Today would not be the day to provide a large, filling meal for all, but the task she set for herself was important all the same.

She would teach the young wolves of the pack how to hunt. It would be a good place to start, as there were many pups and plenty of younger members in the pack that needed attention. Bright had raised so many young ones, whether her own litters or pups she had adopted, that it came as second nature for her to interact with and teach pups. She could give them a strong foundation to work with, to improve upon their scenting, tracking and stalking skills. So, the silver, fox-coated woman would tilt back her head, her lips forming into the shape of an 'O' and she released a howl that called for the pack's youth. This was something she could look forward to, and she hoped to see some eager students showing up soon.

The bratty Agatsuma hadn't ever taken a liking to lessons, and learning in general, though perhaps that was because she hadn't been exposed to any as a child. There were bound to be plenty of pups there - annoying little critters tumbling about, being absolute nuisances. Oh, if only her friend could come with her, but no, he was the Archduke now. Such jealously. She didn't feel like attending, to be honest, though somehow she ended up dragging her heavy, spiritless paws to the lesson. Learning felt like such a babyish thing to her, and she wasn't even remotely "old". She had matured so much in the past few months; a whole jumble of emotions flustering her. The grief, depression and remaining self-blame over the loss of her family and her gradual fall for the boy she had grown up with. Could she even learn? Maybe she could. Maybe it would take her overwhelmed mind off of everything. The green-marked girl was the first to arrive, surprisingly. Perhaps the pups wouldn't come at all, but then again, she didn't want to be left alone with the silver-furred woman. That would be too awkward. "Uh, hi," she greeted the older female as she seated herself close by, trying not to sound too casual as she usually was. "I'm Zeph." Oh, she should have said her whole name, not just her nickname. It didn't matter, surely? After all, everyone had a nickname. If only she could remember this woman's name. Did it start with a B or M? "Speech"

It didn't matter to him how little the task was. He may not have been a student anymore, but he was not yet an adult by physical terms. The archduke would show himself to show that he could put the effort into anything. The male after feeling a little better, had shown himself here. Looking at Bright Moon he smiled and dipped his head. Automatically hovering over towards Zephyra. Of course he would want to be by her side every moment he could - unless she told him otherwise. "Have you come to show them that you're awesome." he whispered towards her, sitting close as he let his tail aim to touch hers. As he looked towards Brightmoon, he wondered if the kids would be here. That would mean all of his cousins. He waited patiently, and of course he and Zephyra towered even over the adults half the time. It was only a couple of wolves that reached their height. Outside of Fiori many of them existed - and even those larger like Amachi. It didn't matter anyway, food was food. He also did enjoy learning as much as he could from others. "Talk" "You" Think

Roza's pale ears perked curiously at the howl when it reached her. She had been playing outside of their den when she heard it, pausing her hopping from root to root of the mangrove's trees to listen. She quickly turned her pale blue gaze toward her father to see what was going on and she smiled when he motioned for them to answer it. They got to go all on their own?! She wiggled excitedly and hopped down onto the ground, giving herself a quick shake to get the dust off her pale fur. The russet spotted pup hurried to trot toward where the howl came from, not waiting to see if her siblings were following her. She didn't want to be late! When she got there she looked at the three wolves that were there already curiously. They were a lot bigger than her. But she could still learn stuff too right? She gave the black and silver lady she recognized from the meeting her daddy had called a huge smile before coming to sit near her cousin Riv. She gave him and the green lady next to him big smiles as well, her ivory tail wagging cheerfully against the ground behind her. She hoped more pups came so she wouldn't be the only one! "SPEAK"

Heather had been bugging a ladybug when she heard it. Boredom crawled on her in that exact moment so she was of course thankful. Giving in a deep breath, her tail wagged vigorously behind her. Getting off the tree stump she started to wiggle her way towards it, a lesson! She hadn't been taught anything in her life before. Well of course besides for when she bombarded others with questions. Coming out of the grass she spotted her sister with her cousin. The large boy who was the archduke. A small frown appeared at her face for a moment before she hurried over. Sitting directly next to her sister and puffing out her chest. She was going to own this lesson, and she was going to be the best at Hunting wasn't she! Her tail couldn't help but to continue it's wagging as she smiled determined. Hoping that her other siblings would show up, and maybe the other pups as well that she had never seen before aside from the recent meeting.

Her eyes caught sight of the baronet with a group of young pups of the pack and it almost made her wonder if as the one who answered to BrightMoon in the hunting grounds, if this might concern her in any way possible. Tail suddenly rose and begun wagging while claws clicked against the rocks she walked on to the darker female. Paying no mind to the children was only done because if she was in no use of service, she wouldn't be asked to stay just so to please the youger ones and maybe feel more confident. "Hi, Bright! I see you have a little party here. Could I be albe to assist in any way?" There really wasn't much to do now that her den was all cleaned and decorated, so she might as well do her part in the pack and do whatever she could to keep her rank.

She was hesitant to arrive, as per normal. With her fear of practically everyone, there was a chance she wouldn't have showed up at all. However, the howl she recognised - it belonged to the huntress Bright Moon. Was it a hunting call? She didn't know her too well, and she was hopeless at hunting, at anything really. She couldn't even keep her rump still when she crouched, let alone successfully catch prey. Oh, she was going to regret this. She was even more hesitant in her steps when she approached the crowd. The faces she recognised from the meeting though they remained total strangers in her emerald eyes. And they were scary-looking strangers. There were two huge wolves - one of them flipping green if she could add - another smaller adult, a few pups she definitely didn't want to mix with, and of course Bright Moon. Seeing as the latter was the only canine she was familiar with, she found herself reluctantly sitting beside the silver-furred female, too nervous to speak a word. Where were her mothers? Was she supposed to be here? Speak Thought Others

Jayne perked up when she heard someone calling for her- well, not just her. All the young wolves like her. She trotted toward the call eagerly and when she got there she saw that there wasn't very many wolves she was super familiar with. But Rivaxorus was there so that made her happy! She recognized them from the meeting, but she just didn't know their names. Of course she immediately went to sit next to her sister, plopping down on her haunches with her side against Di's. She was sure Di wouldn't be nearly as impressed with all the strangers as she was so she was quick to comfort her. After all, if her sister wasn't haven't fun she wasn't going to have any fun either! She was eager to learn whatever it was that the older woman was going to teach her. Speak Thought Others

OOC: Okay, let's get this going! No posting order needed, but I'll make sure to give everyone a chance to join in before moving on!

As the lead huntress waited the arrival of younglings, she was first approached by two much older students - though both were quite young, they towered over the older huntress. Her heart skipped a beat and she took in a deep breath as the first approached. She felt a strong jolt of nervousness when the green-coated woman's red eyes met hers. To the huntress, red eyes had always meant trouble. But, the young lady greeted her quietly, a little awkwardly, before falling silent. So Bright nodded at Zephyra, remembering her face from the last meeting. "I'm Bright Moon, but just call me Bright," she said softly in reply to the younger female. Next to arrive would be Rivaxorus II, a relative of Leo's. Bright greeted the boy with a quick nod, letting the two youngsters settle beside each other to chatter quietly, while her silver eyes scanned the distance.

At last, two much smaller students would arrive, ones she'd hoped to see. They were pups of Leo's, which pleased her. She smiled in welcome to the youngest members of the lesson. She wondered where Ama's young ones were, but before she could think more on that, her friend Nala appeared. She was surprised to see the hunter at this lesson, but not disappointed at all. She could actually be of good assistance, since there were quite a few students and this was her first group to lead in Fiori. "Hello Nala," the silver-coated woman would say, dipping her head, "I'm actually glad you're here. Sit tight, and I'm sure I will find a job for you!" She smiled at her friend, the black tip of her tail waggling, before she noticed one more to approach the group.

The lead huntress noticed Diana coming, and tried to offer a smile to the sweet girl, hoping she would notice the welcoming gesture amongst all of the scary faces. She was pleased to have the girl sit next to her, and though she wouldn't say anything of the nature, Bright Moon was also anxious about the crowd she'd drawn. But, feeling confident enough in her ability to teach hunting to these youngsters, she would not shy away from this task. Lastly, Jayne would appear, coming to her sister's side immediately, a sight that brought a smile to Bright's face.

When everyone had settled, Bright would clear her throat loudly, standing and waving her tail in a very obvious, attention-drawing manner. Once she was sure she had attracted some attention, she began to speak. "Welcome, young hunters of Fiori," she called out, attempting to project her normally quiet, soft-spoken voice, "I am Bright Moon, Fiori's Baroness, or lead huntress. You can all call me Bright for short. Today we will be learning and building on our foundation for strong hunting skills, such as tracking, stalking and chasing or pouncing. Now, we're all at different levels of hunting skill, so we'll break into groups after some warm up." She would glance around to each face, hoping to see eagerness to learn, and wondering what the skill level of each student was - this made her glad for Nala's presence, as having an extra paw available would be a good way to split the different aged students into groups.

"Let's all spread out a little bit," she called out, waving her tail, "We're going to start first with our hunter's crouch." With ease, Bright Moon would drop into a crouch to demonstrate precisely what she meant. "Bend your knees and elbows, in such a way that you can feel an easy spring in your step," she advised, showing how fluidly one could move in a crouched position if the joints in one's legs were loose and bendy while muscles were taught, ready to leap, "Keep your body low with tail closely aligned to your spine - never let it drag on the ground, otherwise you'll make too much noise and alert your prey to your position. If your tail is held too high, your prey might spot you more easily. And your ears, keep them low unless you must pause to seek your target by sound. Never shuffle your paws along the ground; lift each paw carefully as you move, so you don't disturb the environment. If you kick over stones or break twigs, you'll scare off your prey. Everything about your movement must be quiet and stealthy if you wish to hunt successfully. Everyone give it a try - don't worry if you've never done this before, Nala and I will help you get it right." She glanced over to the snow white female with blue eyes, nodding to her with a smile, knowing the woman would lend her a paw in supervising each student as they worked on their crouch.

The warm welcome slammed the doors on the dreaded feeling of being unneeded just with a simple "Hello" from her boss' maw and a respected dip was given and gifted between the two. It was a nice change to be useful to somebody, not just someone who floated along with everyone else's hard work. The crisp snow white female just remained in her spot, tail going berserk with the wagging while listening to her best friend's speech. If this was her first presentation to hunting skills, she was doing one heck of a job!!

While Bright was telling all the young ones what to do, Nala thought of a funny and perhaps catchier way for them to remember the lesson. It may not be the case for some of the elder aged ones, but the littler ones learned by images, or at least she did. When the baroness said what to do or not to do, she acted like a silly bunny, reacting the way one would if any of these things were performed. First, when the dark-hued she-wolf spoke of the stance that was ideal, the angelically furred one kept her tail straight with her spine and made a crouching, jumping jog around the children and returned to her spot.

Eyes widened and facial expression was hilarious as she mimicked a rabbit who was alerted by an inaudible sound. She sat on her rump and sat up, paws behind her actual ears, creating make-shift stalky ears of a lagomorph. Each expression and ridiculous action were for the sake of the young learners, hoping to seem funny and optimistic instead of dumb and awkward. But the charade was finally over when Bright called her name. A smile and wave told all the youngsters that she would be the Baroness' assisting Baronet who would help the young ones who were having difficulty or needed to see if they were doing alright. Blue sapphires looked over everyone, seeing that so far, everyone was paying attention and would begin trying the stance out.

The older woman introduced herself as Bright Moon, though added that she preferred Bright. She nodded her ebony head, continuing to sit in an awkward silence. Okay, maybe she didn't want any pups to attend, but she didn't want to be the only one either. In anticipation she chewed her bottom lip, casually scanning her surroundings for the sight of another canine. Anyone, she wouldn't care. And it was just her luck to find the russet form of her friend. Surprise and faint amusement twinkled in her scarlet gaze as he took a seat beside her, resting his tail on hers. What was he doing here? Ensuring she wasn't the eldest and the largest? "Says you, Mister Archduke," she commented with a grin, tilting her muzzle to touch his nose with her own. Ah, now she felt much better. Even though plenty more pups tumbled into the gathering, as well as a female not much older than herself, she was relieved to have the Adravendi by her side. Once everyone had gathered, the training began. Bright Moon reintroduced herself, this time including her position of baroness. Oh, so this was the lead hunter - interesting. It seemed the lesson would start with a warm-up followed by group activities based on skill. That didn't sound too good. Was she even experienced in hunting? She could recall a couple lessons back in Borealis as well as her hunt with Riv. Surely that was sufficiently enough to not be grouped with the pups, because that would be too humiliating. When they were instructed to spread out, she took a few steps back though remained by her friend's side. With inquisitive eyes she observed the huntress' demonstration of a hunting crouch, explaining each vital technique that ensured a successful hunt. Wow, she never thought a crouch was this difficult, let alone the rest of the hunt. How had she even been able to catch her prey before today? Must have been luck, she supposed. Lowering her body to the ground and sticking her rear into the air, she quietly repeated to herself everything the silver-furred woman had said. Her knees and elbows were bent, good, tail aligned with her spine, good, and her ears were pinned, also good. She took a few steps forward, practicing her silent stalking. Perhaps she was better at this than she thought. "Speech"

At the sight of a taller, ashen pup, the timid girl's mood and overall day improved by seventy percent. Her sister always made it better. Always. Whether it was nerve-racking meetings like these around thousands (okay, maybe not that many but it felt like so) of her pack-mates or just out and about around the mangrove and springs, she felt more comfortable, more safer around her sister. She felt so vulnerable, so exposed on her own, even if the adults would never lay a paw on her. And though there were times she stuffed up and the embarrassment overwhelmed her, leading to tears, she knew there was her sister who she could lean on and cry a little over. The session momentarily commenced, and as the silver-furred woman went over introductions, the ivory pup shuffled closer to her sister, pressing her side against hers. She didn't want it to look like she was alone. Together with her sister, she was invincible (or, well she dreamed she could be) and could do anything if she put her mind to it. If only she could stay in that confident mindset, for when the instructions were given for everyone to get into a hunter's crouch, her heart fell. Uh oh, she wasn't good at this. She couldn't do this at all. She couldn't keep her rump till, nor her tail, and she always fidgeted and this and that. Seemed like everything she did was wrong. As everyone else lowered their bodies and looked absolutely perfect in their crouch, she tentatively glanced at her sister, watching what she would do. What if everyone looked at her failing? What if they made fun of her? No, she didn't like this at all! Speak Thought Others