Ever since the raid Asmodeus had a fire in his belly for battle, an eagerness to be able to stand beside his uncle and father and defend this glorious home. It beat the Deluge in every single way and the pup was not sure if he'd ever stop being thankful for him, his sister and his mother being allowed to stay. Like everything else he loved (naps, snacks, and most recently bees) it was something to be protected. As an Abraxas he'd need to learn to be strong and mighty, but as a Nightingale he'd need to learn to be soft and gentle. It was difficult, and Deus was currently able to be found practicing that balance upon a poor squirrel that had trapped itself under a fallen branch.

His mother wouldn't want him to hurt it, that much the boy knew. So instead he settled for practicing his stalking, perfecting his pounce. Each time he'd fall short of the creature - earning a frightened squeak from it, but not harming it in any way - and then back up and try it again. In the end he intended on freeing it, of course. Never again did he want to earn such a disappointed frown from Riva like when he smushed the bees.



"Speech"

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

After visiting with his boyfriend, Aureus was feeling much better. His injured paw was still sore, forcing him to walk with a limp but it was no longer bringing him to his knees when he stepped wrong. The day was lovely enough, clear and warm. He worked his way down into the ravine for some shade when frightened squeaks caught his attention. Hmmm… lunch? He stalked toward the cries when he saw one of his little nephews stalking a squirrel pinned beneath a branch. He grinned and nearly chuckled to himself at the sight. To think he was an uncle now. It had come as such a surprise to him when he learned his brother was having pups. He hadn't even been aware that Pyrrhic had found a woman of interest.

Well, it all worked out well for him. With a fresh generation no one could get on his case about adding to the Abraxas population. He figured he'd have a few good years yet before anyone started to wonder why he wasn't tending to his duties.
Aureus padded closer to the pup. "Nice find. Seems Abraxas is blessing you with an easy breakfast. I'm Aureus, one of your uncles. I don't think we've officially met."

A soft gasp was pulled from the pup at the man's words. He whirled to face him, an argument on his lips. "I'm not gonna-" Deus was prepared to hit the man with all the finger-wagging of his mother, at how the critter was a precious thing and how you shouldn't hurt things for no reason. He wasn't hungry, so why would he kill it and risk his mother's sadness? Though his retort died upon his lips - squirrel forgotten - as he looked over at this so-called 'uncle.'

Tiny brows furrowed deep, a crease forming in his forehead as he stared the man down. His confusion was plain to see on his face, as if his whole world had been shaken. This man looked exactly like his Dad, but smelled way different then his Dad and no matter how hard Deus sniffed he could not scent Pyrrhic's mate upon him. He crouched forward slowly, giving the doppelganger a suspicious and much-closer-to-the-fur sniff. Manners had been long forgotten in the face of such confusion, and though he'd been taught to politely introduce himself to new wolves the lesson was instantly for the moment forgotten.


"Speech"

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Aureus cocked his head to the side as the boy began to speak. He wasn't going to what? Wasn't going to eat it? Aureus thought it strange to pass up such an easy meal but perhaps the boy wasn't hungry. He grinned in amusement as the boy stared at him with confusion, the little eyes sweeping over his frame and trying to connect dots that Aureus could well guess at. The pup scooted closer and sniffed at him, eliciting a chuckle from the older male. "Pyrrhic and I are twins. That's why we look the same."

He turned his attention to the squirrel. "Well, if you're not going to eat that, can I? I've just gotten off a patrol and wouldn't mind a bite." The patrol had been painstaking and long and he wasn't even sure what meal this would be. Breakfast? Lunch? It didn't seem to matter much to him.

The suspicion in the boy's young face did not exactly disappear as his uncle explained away his concerns, his brows squeezing downwards tighter in further confusion. "Does.." He began, before glancing around to see if Uncle Eli was nearby. "Does that make you more special then my other uncles?" Surely if Abraxas was to put another Pyrrhic upon the earth it was a meaningful choice. Like Deus was given two dads instead of just one. Had anyone told Danta yet? He reminded himself firmly to go see her afterwards and hear what she had to say on it.

Deus' attention was returned to the squirrel and with a dismissive distracted glance towards it his answer was quick to come. "Yeah, sure." He started, then suddenly the fur upon his body bristled with alarm and the pup panicked to take back his approval. Tiny paws were thrown skyward and waved rapidly before the man as if Deus had the power to prevent Aureus from moving towards the critter. "No, wait! It'll make my mum said, nobody can eat it." That was close! The doppelganger had distracted him enough to make him forget why he couldn't eat the squirrel in the first place.


"Speech"

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

The boy's skeptical gaze continued and then in a hushed voice he asked if Aureus was more special than Eliphas. Aureus let out a laugh. Oh, he wanted to say yes! "I'm not sure what you mean by special. I think it's pretty cool. A blessing from Abraxas to be sure." Though what that blessing exactly was was difficult to ascertain. Why did he and his brother look identical? What was the purpose for it? He didn't always have the most spiritually inclined mind and so the answers to such questions continued to be elusive.

The pup agreed to let him eat the squirrel and as he moved toward it the pup suddenly changed his mind. Aureus cocked his head to the side. "Make her sad? Why would it make her sad? This is our nature isn't it. To eat the sick and injured so the healthy may prosper? Surely your mother eats meat…" Concern laced his voice at the final sentence. He didn't know much of Pyrrhic's choice in mate but he was very quickly wondering if her mental state had been properly vetted.

Aureus did not confirm nor deny that he was more special then Uncle Eligos, and Deus assumed that 'blessing from Abraxas' was just a polite way to agree without being offensive to his brother. Deus nodded thoughtfully. Abraxas had a plan for his dad and his uncle-dad-doppleganger, and whatever it was he knew that the man was destined for great things as Pyrrhic was.

His uncle's concern did not go unnoticed by the boy, and he stared at his paws shamefully - feeling thoroughly lectured though still wanting to defend his mom. "She didn't like me beating up the bees, so I don't think she'd want me taking advantage of a poor trapped squirrel." The agreeable and helpful part of him desperately tried to come up with a compromise, when suddenly it hit him. "Don't you think it'd be more fair if maybe you let the squirrel go, and then caught him? Then it's just hunting, right?"


"Speech"

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Aureus pondered over the boy's words for a moment then shrugged. "If it would make you feel better you may let it go before slaying it. However, keep in mind that when we hunt we take the sick and the injured, we slay the unfortunate. It is not in the nature of the wolf to target the healthy or to wait for them to get well before attacking. In a way this is a gift for you. There is no shame in simply accepting the gift and thanking your fortune." In his eyes they had been gifted an easy meal by Abraxas and it seemed odd to not accept it gratefully but he would not press the matter too much. After all, he did not know Riva and she certainly seemed to be an duck, however, she was the boy's mother. Either way Aureus was intent to see the squirrel slain. It was the way of the world and an important lesson.

His uncle's logic seemed.. actually quite reasonable. After a hard moment of thought the boy gave a firm nod, then stepped toward the squirrel. "If Abraxas left him for us like this, then I shouldn't let it go." Deus decided, though his young voice still seemed unsure. The boy Abraxas was still new of age and his ideals mostly fluid, each encounter was a lesson and he intended to absorb every one of them to be the best Abraxas he could be for Aerie. "I was gonna just practice on him and have him teach me how to hunt and then let him go, but now that you're here I guess you can teach me instead Uncle!" Behind him Deus' tail began to wag, the excitement of learning something that had been drilled into him from the day her was born, even if his attention span wasn't always suited to listening.

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Aureus watched the boy quietly as he absorbed the older man's words. It was good to see the boy knew how to listen and even better to hear that Deus agreed with him. He considered the boys request for a moment and he nodded. "Sure, I can try. This is a bit different than the usual hunting process. Normally you have to start with tracking and finding prey. However, this will be a good lesson in chasing."

Aureus glanced about for a moment as he worked out what he wanted to say before turning back to his nephew. "Ok. When you are ready I will remove the stick and you can give chase but first a few things to point out. When chasing prey it is important to know where they are at an advantage over you and what terrain will give you the advantage so you can steer them towards it. In the case of this squirrel, where do you not want it to run? Where would you like it to run?"

His uncle was willing to play the part of the teacher, and so Deus settled his excitable butt down onto the ground to listen as intently as he was able. Generally when he was posed a question by his elders it was one he was expected to think hard about, and so the pup made a show of putting his small paw to his chin and staring the stuck squirrel down with consideration.

"Well... I can't climb trees." He started, shooting a glance back towards Aureus to see if he was on the right path with his train of thought. "Do you think if I was between him and the tree if he would go somewhere else? Or maybe he'd just go underneath me..." It was feeling like a trick question already, and the boy's wagging tail slowed as he thought harder. "This would be a lot easier with Danta to help, cause she could block the tree and I could be ready to catch it when it went the other way." His head slumped into his shoulders and he observed the ravine again, hoping to see some obvious answer that he'd missed the first time.

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Aureus grinned as he watched Deus puzzle out what the squirrel would do. Of course no method was a hundred percent but in time he'd start to gain an instinct for where prey might seek to run and thus be able to plan ahead or cut them off. Aureus nodded. "Exactly, the minute I lift that stick the squirrel is going to try to get to safety in the tree, or if you're there, it will seek another tree." Aureus padded closer to the squeaking creature and knelt down near it. "However, since you have an idea of what to expect you can prepare for it. I would suggest standing a bit to the side so the squirrel is not deterred. Let it make a break for the tree if it wishes, just be quick enough to pounce before it gets there." He set a paw down on the stick. "And of courses, the squirrel probably won't go in this direction since I'm standing here. So it's either left to the tree or right down the ravine. Ready?"

Aureus flicked the stick off the squirrel with one of his massive paws.

It seemed Deus' assumptions weren't too far off from correct, and the little pup's tail wagged excitedly as his uncle painted a picture of what was to come next. He hadn't considered using the expectation of where the squirrel would run but allow him to do it to make the catch easier. Had Deus had copies of himself he merely would have scattered them all throughout the ravine in every place the squirrel might go, it sounded very tricky to manipulate the critter's movements and then use that to catch it. Maybe that was why his family were so skilled at hunting and killing.

As his uncle prepared to move the stick, Deus ran into position. He put himself off to the side of the tree but infront of the squirrel, so that if he did miscalculate and scare the prey the wrong direction, that it'd run towards Aureus and maybe the Abraxas-given meal wouldn't be wasted. He hunkered down low and watched the squirrel's eyes and tail, trying to anticipate it's movements. Then Aureus kicked the stick and Deus leapt.

His paws landed with a thunk on either side of the squirrel, though it manuevered through his legs and headed back towards the tree. With one last dash of energy he sprung, forepaws landing solidly upon the bark and his teeth catching the thing by the tail. It flailed and squeaked angrily, and Deus peddled backwards in alarm. He didn't release the flailing creature, though he did give his uncle a panicked gaze that screamed 'what do i do??'.

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Aureus chuckled quietly to himself as he watched the hunt unfold in a matter of moments. The squirrel was quick. The moment Aureus moved the branch it darted toward the tree, weaving its way through Deus' legs. For a moment Aureus thought the hunt might be lost but Deus reacted quickly, managing to catch the squirrel by the tail. He seemed surprised and looked at his uncle with a questioning share. Aureus grinned. "Good work, Deus! Try lowing it to the ground and pinning it with your paws then fasten your teeth over it's neck. Move swift and hard when you bite. You will minimize its suffering this way." He knew the boy seemed a bit sensitive about killing so he focused on instructing in the most humane way he could think of for a wolf .

Through the frenzied squeaking Deus could somewhat hear what his uncle was saying, though the step of putting it on the ground took a heck of a lot more work then it sounded. While Deus expected the squirrel to simply hang from his mouth, it kicked and flailed and scratched the entire time he held it. His head bowed to the ground and mentally he encouraged the squirrel to stop freaking out and just stay still, but instead the critter bounced it's paws from earth to his nose still doing it's best to escape it's impending death. Each time Deus swatted a paw upon it he missed; it was hard to see when your nose was practically in the dirt and an animal the size of your muzzle was fighting your snout for dear life.

Eventually he managed one paw upon the flailing torso and then another. He thought hard, concentrating every effort upon his muscles until finally he released the tail from his jaws and shot his head forward to bite instead upon the critter's skull. It squeaked painfully and Deus startled, released his jaws once more, and then repositioned towards its neck where he bit down as hard as he could until it stopped squirming.

After a few quiet moments he stepped off the squirrel, staring it down in case it somehow managed to come back to life between his paws. When it remained silent, the pup flopped onto the ground beside it with a huff, rolled onto his back, and slapped his head onto the ground. "That was so hard." He insisted, his paws dramatically splaying in the air and then onto the ground on either side of him. "I don't think I have any energy left to eat him."

"Speech"

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Aureus resisted the urge to laugh at the scene playing out before him. Deus struggled with the squirrel, it was not intent on simply being put to rest but such was the case with all animals. No one wanted to be eaten, he could admire the animal for its bravery and willingness to fight. Eventually, though, Deus got the creature pinned and dispatched. He beamed proudly at the boy, padding towards him. "Good work! Don't worry, it get's easier with time. One day you'll be able to slay deer and bison to help feed the family and keep your pack strong."

"I don't think I have any energy left to eat him."

Aureus though for a moment. The boy's appetite would likely return and while Aureus could eat it himself he had a better idea. "Say, Deus, you know what? You should take this squirrel to your father! I bet he'll be really proud to and I'm sure he would appreciate the snack."