With the winter starting to fade into spring, the snow was nearly completely melted in the southern part of Boreas. He wondered if the snow was still heavy and thick in the northern regions, though he hardly cared enough to find out for himself. Instead, he'd decided to take Mortis on a hunting trip to the river and see if they could catch anything. His intentions were to teach the boy to fish like he had promised, though wanted to avoid any nasty saltwater fish the beach had to offer. Frankly, he was terrible at fishing but hoped the boy could at least learn something from what he had to offer. Besides, maybe with his wings he would be able to trap the fish into a smaller area, making them easier to catch.

He led the boy to the river up north from the Ashen and Armada lands, though it was a bit faster than he had expected. It would really only make catching the fish more difficult, but the turn out was still better than stinky ocean fish. They hadn't been walking up the riverbank long when he had noticed the prints of a large cat pressed into the sands. He'd reached down to sniff at them and found them to be rather fresh, the scent of the large mammal still lingering.

"I don't think we'll be fishing today, but how about hunting a tiger?" He smirked at the boy, a slight glint in his eyes at the simple thought of it.

"Speech!"

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Magnus, like many other before him, had kicked his fluffy ass. His father had told him the man was a warrior, one one that had already impressed the Warlord. So really, what had Mort been thinking, that he could beat him? He chuckled at himself, and took it as a learning experiance. He was happy to follow Mags around any time he got a chance, and learn from the warrior. When the older wolf had proposed a hunting trip, the pup had leaped on it. He was more then happy to follow after the man, looking to him as an authorative figure, more knowledgable in age and experiance.

Mags led him from the pack with the promise of a fishing trip, and took him to a place he had never been before. It was the widest river Mortis had ever seen. The quickly moving water was a tad intimidating, but the boy trusted Mags to keep him safe. He sniffed at the edges, and caught the scent of fish and mud and many things he couldnt identify.

Shortly into their scouting, Mags would point out a pair of paw prints, and the winged boy obediantly dipped his head forward to obsorb the smell. He crinkled his nose. It smelled like Bast, but... not. "Tiger?" He asked, tail swishing behind him in excitement.

At least he had the intentions of keeping his promise to the boy, but today looked like it wouldn't be that day. Perhaps he was a bit thankful to avoid fishing, especially here since the water was much faster than he had expected, but he enjoyed his time spent with the boy anyway. He was growing to be quite large so it felt weird still referring to him as a child, but he was still just not in size.

"A big cat," he started, emphasizing on the size of the animal. Larger than the panther he'd hunted with Sirius, but slower. Bigger teeth and claws, though, of course. Based on the scent of the tracks and the erratic footing, it appeared the tiger was older and perhaps had a limp. If Mortis was any younger or smaller, he wouldn't have proposed the idea, but he knew they had the strength combined to take down an already injured animal, even if it was only arthritis that caused the awkward spacing between steps.

"Orange, sometimes white, with black stripes all over. But this one seems injured, or old. Notice how some of the prints are spaced differently than the others?" He asked, nosing towards the prints that looked closer together than the others.

"Speech!"

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"Bigger then Bast?" He asked, knowing Magnus would know of the snow leopard that followed his father since before the boy had been born. Magnus explained the irregularity that could be seen in its footprints, and Mortis followed them for a few steps, considering the odd spacing, and nodding. He understood what Mags was getting at.

"Think we could take the coat home?" He asked. Maybe Mags would let him keep it, and he could gift it to Asla. She had been down a bit llately. Already he considered the fight won, the problem of being the son of Sirius. Sometimes he forgot that not everyone (including himself) was as invincible as his dad.

He stuck his nose to the tracks, memorizing the scent of it. Prepared to begin the hunt, but following Mags lead, knowing the older wold was in charge of this expedition.

"Much larger." He smiled at Mortis, picturing the leopard and mentally comparing it to the last tiger he'd seen. The hunt for the cat wouldn't be as easy as fishing, but would be far more rewarding and the kid would likely learn more from it. Cats this large weren't too common, especially near the pack lands. Pushed out by the scent of hoards of canines, this was likely as close as they were willing to get, especially if they were old and injured.

"Of course. It will be quite heavy, though." He mentioned, but he was sure the child could manage carrying it while he took what he could carry in meat. The rest would be left for the other predators in the area, hopefully keeping them distracted while they took what they had back home. "Tigers fight differently than wolves. They tend to go for the throats, back, or kick with their powerful claws near the stomach." He warned, wanting to make sure Mortis knew what to expect as they followed the trail of prints down the riverbank.

Magnus fell into silence as the scent grew stronger and before them was an aging white tiger reaching into the river to catch a fish. The breeze was pushing their scent away from the predator thankfully, so Magnus crouched and motioned for Mortis to do the same. With the aid of a large rock, Magnus spied on the cat for a moment. "I'm going to sneak behind it and distract it. While it's focused on me, come at it from the side if you can." He waited a moment before sneaking off to distract the tiger. Once behind the beast somehow without catching its attention before, he reached and bit the tail of the tiger and pulled hard to spin the animal around. While it pivoted on what seemed to be it's bad leg, Magnus ducked to avoid the swipe of it's massive paw and lunged up to bite it's throat, hopefully giving Mortis enough time to come from the side and get a surprise attack in.

"Speech!"

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A huge coat? He tried to image Asla buried under tiger fur and chuckled softly. Of course, not having a reference for a tiger, he pictured the orange as bright as flowers. He brought his mind back into focus as Magnus continued on, instructing him on him what to expect. The fighting style of the tiger would be different to what he was accustomed to, and his friend didnt wany his caught unawares.

When they found the tiger, orange it was not. He ogled the majestic white and black creature. Its face and paws were enormous. It immediately solidified how badly he wanted to being home the coat to his sister. She was going to love this.

Taking his cues from Magnus, he crouched, jumping behind the boulder and pairing out from the aide opposite to the older wolf. He watched as Mags sneaked forward, and the tiger touched a paw to the water, perhaps in preparation to snag a fish. The giant paw brought a wrinkle to the reflection, and it was clearly lost in concentration. Perhaps it was a hunter that did not expect to find itself as prey.

When Mags grabbed its tail, the boy shot forward. Missed in the excitement of its spin and attack, it didnt seem coming. He leaped at from the side, spreading his wings out wide as he lunged for its side. His cat-like claws struck and dug in deep. He wasnt as big as the tiger, but he was too big for pony-rides on its back. With the winged boy dug deep in its side it bellowed, movements restricted.

As he bit into the throat of the tiger, his head shook to rip the flesh and tear into the arteries and trachea and hopefully end this battle soon. The massive cats paws begun to wrap around him and attempt removing him, but the cat quickly became distracted by the winged wolf digging it's claws into it's side and roared in pain and anger.

Magnus shook again and tore free from the tigers throat, bringing a piece of it with him and spitting it out onto the ground as he dodged the cat stumbling with the weight of the boy against him and hardly having any strength to begin with to sturdy itself. The cat was stiff and old, thankfully, and could hardly put up much of a fight against the stronger and faster wolves. Magnus lunged again, this time for the side of it's neck just off to the left of where he had originally taken hold. He used his forelegs to push against the tiger while his grip tore at the flesh some more and severed the major artery in that side. The cat wouldn't last much longer now, and was beginning to get weaker with the loss of blood. Magnus would let go as it began to fall, and stepped back to allow Mortis to take the final blow and end the beasts suffering as he spat more of the feline's blood from his mouth and onto the riverbank.

"Speech!"

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Aa tbr tiger staggered and bellowed, Mortis held on for dear life. His wings flared out behind him like a dark angel of death as he fought for balance. His claws digging into its flesh and leaving great weeping holes of red in its wake. He breathed heavily from the excitement and effort. Mags kept its head from the pup with his teeth in its throat, and when he tore a chunk of it free, he knew what was expected of him. Resin often left him the killing blow.

Releasing his hold and hitting the ears hard, he lunged forward, wings buffeting its body as his dire sabers sought its life blood. He found its throat, its attempts to shake him free and fight back were feeble. Mags had already done a number on him. Likely in a short amount of time it would have bleed to death, or suffocated by the damage to its throat. Mortis didnt leave it with time to suffer, pulling out its throat in bloody movement. The body of the tiger fell hard to the earth, and a panting, exhilarated Mortis turned to Mas. "Wicked." He commented with pleasure.

Magnus stood as Mortis delivered the final blow, ending its suffering in more ways than one. No longer would the animal limp around in pain and they were even given the decency of a quick death. While Magnus enjoyed the thrill of the hunt and even the kill, he definitely didn't like watching anything suffer. Panting and catching his breath from the endeavor, he smiled at Mortis when he commented. Now, they just had to skin the beast and take care of the hide, which would be much more time consuming than the kill itself.

"Good job," He didn't wait long before rolling the cat onto it's back to begin the skinning process. Without claws as sharp as Mortis', he searched for a stone that had a sharp enough edge to get the job done better than his own teeth and claws. It didn't take him long to find a broken shard and he grasped it between his teeth. Assuming that if Aslatiel knew how to skin that Mortis would too, he began cutting around the paws of the cat on his side to separate the flesh from the body and settled into his work to finish it soon before something else got interested in the scent of fresh blood.

"Speech!"

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Mortis grinned at the compliment, wiggling and jumping forward to kiss Magnus's check. He was a very affectionate pup, and wasnt embarrassed about showing it. "Thanks Uncle Mags" so many adults in his life unrelated to him had become his aunt or uncle by word of Sirius. It was easy to leap to the unvoiced conclusion that every respected elder was his Uncle, and he respected and liked Mags.

He watched as the man inspected the cat, and then gave him a hand to push it over. The older wolf would go in search of a rock, needing tools in the place of claws. sometimes Mortis forgot that such things were necessary. So mnay wolves in his life seemed to have the claws he was born with.

Well Mags came back with the stone, the boy would take a side and begin the tedious work. It was boring, and grimy but it would be worth it to see Aslas face. "I know you have equal right to it, but can I have the coat, Uncle?" He asked as his claws punctured tiger flesh and began to separate it.

Magnus had never had a family that cared much for him, and he hadn't stuck around long enough to develop any nieces or nephews from his siblings, so being called something so personal literally made his heard skip. While he might have told Azure he didn't believe Mortis to be a good leader one day, if Sirius could believe Malalia to grow into the position, he could believe Mortis could as well. Of course, most of his words to Azure were with the intent to irritate him and might not have been exactly the way he felt, but it had done the job. While Mortis and Azure seemed to be polar opposites, neither one would make a good leader on their own. Of course, Magnus had no way of knowing what would come of either child as they grew, but he certainly hoped they leveled out or found a way to work together. That didn't mean he didn't have a soft spot for the eldest son, however, especially if he was going to run around calling him an uncle all the time.

They had begun to work on skinning the hide from the tiger when Mortis asked him if he could keep the skin. Not being particularly fond of the stiff, scratchy fur of a tiger, he was of course willing to hand it off to him. The panther skin he'd acquired on his hunt with Sirius was scratchy enough, he didn't need another despite the uncommon coloring of the white tiger. Besides, how could he say no when he called him uncle again? "Of course you can." He smiled at the kid around the stone he held between his teeth and continued his work, eager to get the skin and what meat he could carry back before lunch. Maybe they could also enjoy some roasted tiger meat if they could manage to carry enough back with them.

"Speech!"

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His tail gave a welcoming wag behind him, dragging in the earth as he sat before the kill. His claws working through the tough hide with more effort then it took to skin a deer. Once he finished one side of the cat, he looked up to watch Mags drag the stone through the skin. He waited a moment, and then the older wolf was ready, and together they rolled the cat onto its other side, and started the work again. Matching up his cuts with the side already done, he got to work.

Once he and mags had carefully sawed through the pelt and began to lift it free, he caught sight of eyes watching him. Getting to his feet in a flurry of movement he darted forward. Wings out spread for maximum impact. "Get outta here!" He yelled at the coyote, chasing it away. He knew it would be back, and it was welcome to the scraps, but he didnt feel comfortable with the stavanger watching his back.

He returned to the hide and helped Mags pull it free, so they could drape it over a branch to drain, and they could start on the meat. "So where did you come from before this, Uncle?" He wondered, already falling into the comfortable endearment he had decided to call mags.

They were working on the skinning together, but Magnus hadn't been paying attention enough to notice the pair of eyes watching them and had been lightly startled when Mortis jumped up and scared the peeping tom off. Magnus blinked a few times and laughed a bit before settling back down to work. Where there was one coyote, there were often more. He wondered if the one he had chased off was a scout or just a loner, but he hardly let it bother him. They had just taken down a tiger, he hardly thought coyotes would be stupid enough to try and challenge them.

When the skin had been laid over a branch and he made his way back to the carcass to strip what they could carry, he thought back of where he came from when Mortis mentioned it. It wasn't much of a home, but it was his homeland. Hopefully one day he wouldn't have to say that anymore. "A place far more south and warmer than the Armada, but no where near here. In fact, I'd only heard of snow until I came here. It's a simpler place, but I wouldn't trade my life here to go back to it." He hardly cared for his family and the place he came from, but it often found it's way working into his dreams and thoughts. He much preferred his life here, even if everyone was a mutant.

"Speech!"

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Hefting it over the branch was a job and a half. In the end, Mortis ended up scrambling up the tree. Showing off a little with how his cat like claws gave him grip, and his wings granted him balance. He crawled a little ways onto the branch and Mags tossed the skin up to him. He grabbed it and feed it across until it was draped evenly along the branch.

He leaped back down wings flaring, but too heavy to offer him much of a break from the heavy landing. He shook it off, and trotted back to the meat with Mags. "I really like snow. The first time I saw it, me and Asla had a snow fight" he explained cheerfully. "Your family now, so I'm glad you dont want to leave" he said it without hesitation, unabashed, naked truth. Moving on without realizing how much it meant to his Uncle.
"Mags, I think the coyote is back" he said standing up beside the meat. This time, the coyote had friends. Hungry friends.

Watching Mortis scurry up the tree with far more grace than Azure seemed to have was interesting and he wondered what gave him the better ability to do so. Of course, there was a difference between their paws, but Magnus hardly knew how such differences effected the two boys. Once the skin was strung up and Mortis was back on the ground, he sighed a bit in relief, thankful the boy hadn't managed to hurt himself while on his watch. Well, yet anyway.

"It's definitely interesting." He smiled, listening as he mentioned the snow fight he and his sister had had. He kept quiet then, absorbing the words of family and that he held some amount of importance to Mortis, and even Sirius if he'd felt the same. He hardly assumed Azure would hold him to the same standard, or even Aslatiel, but he didn't let it bother him. He wasn't true family afterall, but the sentiment was nice and he enjoyed feeling included, even if only by the eldest child.

His attention was grabbed from his thoughts when Mortis spoke of the coyote and he turned, eyes casting on the approaching pack of pesky scavengers. A snarl rippled through his clenched teeth as he held back obscenities he feared saying in front of a child. His fur bristled as he charged at the approaching canines before skidding to a stop and baring his side, tail flagged high into the air as he warned the dogs. The tiger was enough of a risk for one day, he didn't need these mongrels jeopardizing it any further.

"Speech!"

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Taking his cues from the older wolf, Mortis glanced over at him as he began to growl. After a moment, Mortis picked up the warning. Letting it ripple out from his fangs with the same level of menace. The winged boy got to his feet, spreading feathered appendages over their kill to shield it from coyote-eyes. If this intimidated them, they didn’t show it. Or, perhaps they were simply too distracted. Mags was charging forward them, crashing into the midst of them with warning growls.

Mortis abandoned his sentry by the tiger meat, and moved closer to Mags, the coyote’s hadn’t given up. If anything, they were extending their circle, spreading outwards. Perhaps hoping to cut one of the wolves off? Mortis didn’t wait to find out. He lunged forward, picking out one of the coyotes, and initiating his attack.

His eyes were taken off of Mortis but not his ears. He heard the boys snarl as he himself lunged forward, but it had done little to scare them off. Instead, the pack was widening it's arc around them to circle them and confuse the wolves. Magnus wasn't having any of it and lunged towards the closest coyote, grabbing it by it's scruff and easily lifting it off the ground. In an attempt to toss the creature, he swung his head to the side before tossing the coyote at another and sending them both rolling across the ground. The coyote he'd grabbed had managed to take a chunk of his neck fur with it, but he hardly felt the sting of plucked fur at the moment.

He kept himself positioned as best he could between the carcass and coyotes, but they were far outnumbered to keep his eyes on everything. He trusted Mortis to battle coyotes as they were much smaller than even himself, but worried a bit about their numbers. He glanced towards the child, only to be torn away when another coyote lunged between him and the carcass. Turning, he snapped for it's legs, but sent it running off a few places instead, eager to start the advance again.