Water slipped over the rocks, down the stream and into a lake dotted with the twinkling of fireflies as the warm summer sun began to set. It was a beautiful view but Aerndis could not take the time to focus on it. No, she had other matters to attend to. Citrine eyes narrowed at the mallard ducks that floated calmly on top of the water. Every so often one would flip it's butt in the air as it did… well, whatever ducks did when they did that. Slipping quietly through the reeds she sized them up, then with a mighty leap she leapt forward. She was grace! She was poise! She was- splat! Aerndis crashed hard into the water, practically belly flopping as she missed the mallard and got a mouth full of water. Aw hell! The ducks took to the air as she resurfaced spluttering. There had to be a way to catch those things! She sighed and paddled toward the shore. "Talk" "You" Think

There was a loud splash and frantic quacking that suddenly woke Philomena from her nap. The long haired female perked her ears and slowly opened her eyes, bright blue orbs shifting to the source of the disturbance. It didn’t take long to spot the other from the reeds -- especially due to her rather unique coat. The other was younger, and perhaps naturally so smaller than than the massive female. Putting two and two together Philomena got to her paws, slowly peeking her head out from her hiding space by the water.

“Trying to get them in the water is too hard, I find. You’re better off looking for them as they waddle on the shore.” Philomena wrinkled her nose. “Though the feathers are a pain…” Realizing the other girl might find her odd, a stranger just half standing in the reeds and giving her some half-assed advice about hunting the ducks, Philly emerged completely and cleared her throat awkwardly.

“A-Anyway… sorry to just babble. I was taking a nap here and happened to hear the commotion.” She glanced to the sopping wet individual with sympathy, her blue gaze softening. “Maybe I can help you get one?”

The Easter Bunny hops on by!

On her way through, she drops an egg at the paws of Philomena.

Aerndis climbed up onto the shore and shook out her coat. The ducks landed not far off and stared at her for a moment before making their way back toward the water, the message clear. A lone wolf pup was more of an annoyance than a threat. Now she was wet… she glared out at the ducks when she heard a voice and turned to see another girl. She grinned and bounded over to her. "Whoa! Your fur is so long! How did you make it do that?" The other girl's words registered and she nodded. "Yea, that didn't work at all, I've never hunted ducks before. My name is Aerndis, what's yours?" The girl explained she'd been napping when she heard all the noise and then she offered to help Aerndis catch one. Aerndis was glowing, her tail wagging. "Oh yes please! What do we do first?." "Talk" "You" Think

Philomena couldn’t help but smile at the other girl’s enthusiasm. “I’m Philomena. As for the fur I was born with it. It just kept growing… Just like my papa’s.” The girl faltered for a moment, but tried to squash the sadness that was rising in her heart. Her gaze shifted towards the ducks, deciding to focus on the new task at paw rather than dwelling on losing her parent. Her blue gaze was thoughtful as she regarded the ducks.

“To be honest I’ve never exactly hunted them before either… but I imagine it’s not that different from regular hunting. Like I said, I’d wait for them to be closer to the shore. Water is their element… so getting them there is going to be near impossible I bet.” Philomena glanced back to Aerndis. “Do you know how to stalk quietly? Even through tall grass or reeds?” Philly was smiling. It felt nice to be interacting with someone closer to her age… especially if she could teach her something.

So her name was Philomena? That was a nice name and apparently her hair just grew like that. Rats! Aerndis didn't think her hair would do that, her mama and her papa didn't have any long fur patches but that was ok she supposed. She had a lot of colors other wolves didn't have. Aerndis listened as the older girl spoke and mentioned that they should wait for the ducks to come closer to the shore. She nodded. "Ok, that makes sense." She'd already tried the water way and it certainly hadn't worked out well for her. Philomena asked if she could stalk quietly and she nodded. "I can be quiet well… I guess I haven't had much practice stalking through reeds. Is there a trick to it?" She kept her voice low as she noticed the ducks landing in the grass nearby. She could hear quacking and wondered if they were going to walk back to the water. "Talk" "You" Think

Was there a trick to it? Philomena frowned, furrowing her brow. “I suppose there is.” She answered after a moment. “You know how they move… well… it’s kind of like if you step on a twig. It’ll make a lot of noise, right? So you gotta be careful not to break them. Slowly ease past them, carefully stepping in the spots in between the reeds. If you’re careful they won’t break, and they won’t make noise. It’ll be like the wind was moving them.” Philly explained. Gods, she wasn’t the best at explaining hunting techniques but hey, at least she was trying.

“Most important thing is watch your footing and step lightly. Stalk close to them and then judge when you’re close enough to close the distance.” Philomena smiled again. “Do you want to give it a shot?” She asked, gaze shifting towards the ducks. “I think you could get one before they ease back into the water.”

""

Aerndis listened intently as Philly talked about the movement of the reeds. She liked the idea of being like the wind moving through the reeds. She nodded. "Yes," she whispered eagerly, she was ready to give this a shot. Carefully she started slipping through the reeds. Aerndis focused on each placement of her paw and letting her body slide through the foliage instead of just barreling through like she had before. The ducks were happily floating and her eyes fixed on a mallard duck that was drifting closer and closer to the reeds. She bunched her legs gently beneath her, appreciative for the cover the reeds gave her. She felt like she'd been waiting forever when the duck finally floated into a comfortable range. Her muscles tensed then her legs uncoiled as she launched herself toward the duck. She hit the water with a splash but her aim was dead on. Just as the bird took off she caught it around the neck. There was a flash of feathers and quacking, an explosion of avian movement as the birds burst into the sky. Aerndis shook her head violently back and forth, snapping the duck's neck. She paddled back over to shore, shaking the water out of her coat and dropping the duck and she coughed and sputtered. Water had gotten up her nose and left an awful burning sensation. "I did it!" She managed to say as she grinned at Philly. A low moaning, growling sound made Aerndis fur stand on end and she stumbled back as a large black bear waded through the reeds, its eyes focused on her duck. Had it been foraging nearby? Did it want her duck? No! She worked hard for her prize! "Talk" "You" Think