That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari had been watching the muskrats for hours. He'd been keeping an eye on the trails and paths they used to move in and out of the water. He was hungry and his companions were off doing whatever it was that foxes did when they were left without supervision and he hadn't seen much other than small prey so musk rats it was! Plus there was something about the novelty of it. He hadn't had cause to practice much with snares but the quick and clever rodents were definitely out of reach for his larger slower frame. Unless he got really lucky.

Dómari laid out some sine and a pair of think branches chewed down. He set the items near a large boulder which rested on the edge of small cliff near the waterside. He set his shoulder behind it and began to slowly scoot it forward.

Just once Azure wished he could wander a distance from home without one of his father's companions to follow him. It was frustrating feeling babied, especially when now he had companions of his own who could do the babysitting. Occasionally Marshal's shadow crossed over him on the ground, and he'd glare up against the sun towards where the bird was circling. The prey in Tall Grass Plains was becoming too stale and boring for the boy, he and Asla had had their fair share of tiny creature torture and they were running out of new and exciting things to find and kill. Azure was becoming fascinated with the past-time, how each creature had it's own unique appearance and sometimes oddities like the tail of a beaver. Speaking of beaver, Azure was on the hunt of a very special beaver. He'd spotted it fleetingly, a smaller one then the other he'd killed, and without the odd paddle-shaped tail. He was convinced that this was some sort of new, mutated beaver. And he was going to be the one to find it, kill it, and hang it as a trophy in his den for all to see. Unfortunately the thing was way too fast for him. He scurried after where he saw the tail disappear, but the thing had vanished. Every time he thought he was getting close, he failed. The pup let out an angry battle cry of a snarl, and tore through the grove at full speed hoping to finally catch the stupid rat. The boulder and the sticks leaned against it came into view just in time, and Azure skidded to a halt just in time to not be scratched or impaled. "Phew." He breathed, eyeing the supplies carefully. He didn't see anyone nearby, so perhaps he could just... steal... one. He leaned in to nearly grab a stick, when the bat on his back caught sight of the wolf on the other side of the boulder and gave Az a soft thwack. "Oh, hi." Crap. Innocently - so the wolf could never say he was about to steal from him - Azure followed through with the motion and instead gave the stick a lick. Gross, but cover-story achieved. He pulled away, sat, and licked his lips to rid himself of the taste. "Whatcha doing with such nice sticks?" "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari's ears flicked back at the sound of something rocketing through the underbrush. He whipped around just in time to see a young, odd-looking pup skitter to a stop right in front of his things. He peered quietly around the boulder and gazed at the pup. There was something about the pup that reminded him strongly of Mortis and then the little squirt grabbed one of his sticks. "Hey, I need that!" Cheeky little scamp! The pup apologized and Dómari reached down to grab the stick and set it back. He really didn't want to have to chew another one into the right size.

"I'm trying to catch one of those musk rats. What are you doing all the way out here." Dómari repositioned himself behind the boulder and scooted it a bit more until it was just teetering on the edge. He glanced at the pup. Actually the pup could be useful. "Say, if you help me set this trap for one of them I'd be happy to give you the muskrat. I just want a little taste."

He settled down in front of the pup, moving the sinew between his paws.

Damnit he was caught. Azure tried to look contrite, but the expression only lasted long enough for him to hear the friendly offer before he forgot about his attempted theft entirely. "Oh, yes I'll help!" He agreed enthusiastically. The man asked him what he was doing out here, and for a moment Azure considered not admitting it. Would the stranger try to steal his special mutated beaver? He narrowed his eyes at the man for a moment, looking into his face for any sign of a treacherous thief and saw none. "I'm hunting a beaver, except it has the wrong tail. It's okay, I'll find it after we get your muskrat." He settled down as Domari did, staring into the man's paws and what he moved between them. "I've made a couple traps before, what kind are we doing? You've got sharp sticks I made some once but they broke easily." He wanted to ask what a muskrat was, but figured asking too many questions would make him seem too silly and inexperienced to be allowed to help. Azure did not want to be sent back home. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari grinned as the pup agreed to help. "Ok, great. Take this end of sinew rope and tie it around the boulder here." He passed over the supplies. It was really more of a large rock than a boulder but boulder sounded cooler. "I'm going to make a loop on this end of the sinew for the muskrat to go through." He bent his head and carefully took one end of the sinew in his teeth. While holding down the sinew rope with his paws he carefully tied a knot until he had a good sized loop. "Huh, are you sure it wasn't a muskrat? Sounds like you're describing a muskrat." He was impressed though that the kid had managed to take out a beaver.

"Well… I'm not entirely sure. I'm kind of making this up as I go, but here's the idea. I'm tying this loop so that when the muskrat runs through and I pull it will tighten around it and hold it still long enough for someone. You. To go and kill it. Having it tied around the boulder will prevent it from running off if there's just you or if I lose my grip." Dómari had never made a snare before. He knew the idea was to create something you could leave and come back to later but he had to start out somewhere.

Azure listened intently, grabbing the rope and tying it around the boulder as he'd been told to. Snares were tons of fun, especially because they eliminated the need to chase down the animal. The boy was still growing into his massive paws, and was not the swiftest of the litter by far. "No, no, it was definitely a beaver." He responded quickly, though the seed of doubt was planted. "I know what a beaver looks like, I killed one with my sister. This beaver just has a long thin tail, but it's definitely a beaver not a muskrat." The prideful pup would not be caught in his lie, if it turned out the beaver was actually a muskrat he'd just collect his prize and pretend it was not the one he'd seen. That made sense to him. Though the adult was doing a good job at shaking the very foundations Azure built to make himself look all-knowing, he grew to like him much more when he designated Az the killer. That was right up his alley, and he was even more excited for the upcoming capture. "Alright it's tied. Do we go find it now?" He still wasn't sure on how the trap would work, though all the others he'd made involved spooking an animal into it to be caught so that was what he expected. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari chuckled. "Ok, I believe you, a long tailed beaver." He double checked his loop to make sure it would close when the muskrat ran through it. Ok, this would do. Dómari grinned at Azure. "We won't need to find them, we just need to wait. Go hide in those bushes over there while I set this loop up." He trotted down a short ways to the trail the muskrats used to go in and out of the water. He carefully propped the loop up with the sticks and then on the other side, away from the water he set a few snails he'd picked up earlier as well as a few cattails. A little muskrat salad for the wily creatures. Satisfied he quickly slinked away to hide in the foliage behind the boulder. He kept his jaws near the sinew in case it didn't catch. It didn't need to work perfectly, just enough to catch them the time they needed to catch the little rascals. So far the wind was on their side, blowing towards them but it might take awhile for them to feel safe enough to go where he hoped they would.

Az was pleased the adult believed his story, and nodded solemnly. It was a long tailed beaver, and he'd find it right after he found this muskrat. it was odd that they'd not need to go looking for the creature, but the adults typically were more skilled then he was in hunting so he believed it easily. "Alright." He whispered, incase the thing was nearby and could hear him. He scurried away to the bushes to hide, peering out to watch what the man was doing. The baiting technique was something he recognized, as his father showed him how to bait rabbits similarly for their trap. It was boring to wait, but while he did so Azure could familiarize himself with all sorts of new smells. While he sat and sniffed and waited, one grew stronger and he recognized it instantly as the special mutated beaver. No! He wanted to find that one himself, the stupid muskrat was supposed to be caught in his trap not the beaver. His face contorted with annoyance, but he still waited patiently in the bushes regardless. After all, if he had to he'd simply just fight the man for the right to the corpse at the end whether it was a beaver or a muskrat. Was it getting closer now? He wanted to peek out of the bushes to see, but didn't want to startle it. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari waited patiently. He'd had plenty of practice waiting when he had to hunt on his own and rely on surprise to get himself a meal. It took some time but soon the muskrat emerged from the water and started wandering onto shore along its usual path. It paused as it got within a few feet of the snare. It's little head raised, sniffing the air. Dómari wished he could get behind it and scare it forward but he knew that would never work. He'd have to be patient. Ugh!

Minute by minute ticked by and the creature finally started moving toward the bait, deciding that the wolves had passed through. Besides, wolves weren't its main concern when it came to predators. The muskrat surveyed the surrounding area and sky again before darting forward toward the bait. At that moment it tripped the loop which tightened around it. "Now!" Shouted Dómari, resisting the urge to spring forward himself. He wanted to pup to get the experience.

Waiting patiently was not Az's strong suit, and more than once he wanted to simply spring from the bushes and scare the little thing right into the trap. He couldn't see very well through the foliage, and so when Domari called out the command to go now, he was not expecting it. He darted out towards the trapped creature - seeing it for the long tailed beaver it was, and not a muskrat at all - and dove to catch it in his paws before it could wiggle free of the trap. Once he had it pinned, the pup reached down and enclosed his jaws over it's throat to squeeze it until it stopped squirming. It didn't take long to die, and Azure's tail was wagging furiously the whole time. He stood over it and watched it for a moment, incredibly proud for his part in the kill. Then he remembered he wasn't alone, and shot a distrustful glare towards the stranger. "OK you can have the meat, but I want the tail to show my sister." He bargained, not hungry enough to need the snack but interested enough to collect the trophy. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari reached out and seized the sinew rope, quickly putting his paws on it to make sure it was synched tight. The last thing he wanted was for the dang rodent to get away after all the work they'd put into setting the snare and waiting. The musk rat flailed and twisted. Each pull and flail simply pulled the sinew tighter and in a moment the boy was on the rat. His strange fangs latched onto the rat and in moments it was dead. Dómari let out a cheer and trotted over to the boy. "Nicely done."

He grinned and nodded at the boy's offer. "It's a deal, thanks for the help! Here, let me get this off." He bent down and worked his teeth under the loop, carefully using his paws to push it back so he could slip the rat out from the loop. "Ok, you do he honors. The tail is yours." He'd let the boy sever the tail and officially finish their little hunt. Dómari hoped it tasted decent after all that work.

The compliment on his kill made the boy beam, his tail wagging harder. "Thanks!" He was glad the man didn't want the tail, and quickly got to work gnawing it off. It was not as clean a sever as Asla would have done, but without any skinning experience the only way he knew how to remove the appendage with was brute force. After a few hard chews the tail was off, and Azure held it proudly in his jaws. Wait until Asla saw the mutant beaver tail. "You did good too." He mumbled around the tail after a moment, knowing polite wolves returned compliments when they were given. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

That Sea is just a Gambler at Heart

Dómari worked on cleaning up the trap while the boy took care of severing the tail off the rat. He had worked long and hard to braid his sinew rope and he wasn't going to leave it if he could help it. He trotted back over to the stone and carefully worked the boys knot free until at last he had his makeshift rope. Working to roll it back into something he could carry he returned to the boy who had the rat separated and ready to go.

"Well, maybe we'll run into each other again some time. You have the makings of a great hunter!" He set the sinew down on top of the rat then worked his jaws so he could pick up both. He felt pretty confident there was a pack nearby or else the child would not have been out this far.

-exit?-