Gossamer bounded through the grasslands with a pheasant secured between her teeth. It had taken some coordination between her and Ásta to flush the bird out so the princess could catch and slay it. She was proud of her catch. It was a male, ringneck pheasant and its long tail feathers would make lovely decorations for her den and Gossamer was sure the meat would be delicious, even more so thanks to the work she put in.

Gossamer settled back down at the heart of the den sites in the tallgrass plains. The sky was cloudy and gray but the wind was still, making it as good a day as any to fix some hot tea and enjoy a picnic. Ásta started getting a fire going while Kylfa curled up for a cat nap. Gossamer got to work plucking the feathers off her catch.

He'd awoken early that morning to explore the pack lands some to see what prey they offered. The prolonged winter weather limited what he could catch, but he could happy say that the animals were easier to track with the snow still in place. He'd managed to snag a simple rabbit to skin and eat for later. The fur he would stock pile in the den he'd spent the last two days working on. He'd managed to find a hilly spot to dig out an make comfortable. He supposed he could have found a cave or something of the like to den down in, but the work had given him something to do. It made this place start to feel more like home. After not having been a part of a pack for seven-something years, he needed to activity to feel like he actually belonged here. It was strange to think that the pack he joined would not be one with blood related family. Despite that fact, he was sure he could call them family after time. With the rabbit skinned and the fur and meat left in his den, he scouted the pack lands to try and glean how many members were in the pack. Judging by the scents it was a fairly large one and Valor realized it would be a while before he would be able to learn all their names and faces. A pack meeting was always the quickest way to do so, but he didn't know when one would occur. He'd just have to do this the hard way. It didn't take him long to run into someone. A young wolf was crouched next to a fire plucking feathers from a beautiful male pheasant. He approached her taking note of her companions. His gaze kept flickering to the fire that was made before he came to a halt a few feet away. "That's an impressive catch." He said, not even needing to feign how impressed he was. He eyed her long teeth with a fair amount of curiosity. She immediately reminded him of Sirius, but he didn't trust his judgement. Such mutations were obviously far more common than he was accustomed to. "I'm Valor. Do you mind if I join you?" Walk, "Talk" Think

Gossamer happily ripped the feathers off the pheasant and spat the smaller ones into the air. She removed the long tail feathers more carefully and tucked them under a rabbit hide so they wouldn't blow away. Kylfa chuffed, one slate eye opening and eyeing the older wolf that approached. Gossamer looked up and spat out the latest clump of feathers, tongue flailing a bit to dislodge the last one before she replied to the man. "Thanks! I'm Gossamer, and sure. Though I promised to share the pheasant with Ásta and Kylfa. I don't think I have enough for one more." She knew she should probably share. She could tell by his scent he was a pack mate but she and her companions had worked hard for the meal and she honestly didn't want to share unless she absolutely had to.

It was almost comical how she spat feathers out of her mouth before answering him. He'd never really enjoyed having to pluck feathers from birds before he could enjoy them. That and, depending on what bird you decided to hunt, they weren't all that fun to catch either. Too much work for such a small amount of meat to feather ratio. No, he would stick to the furred animals if he could help it. Rabbit skin was much easier to tear off of a carcass. His ears flicked as she explained to him that she'd been expecting to share her catch with her companions. Far from insulted, he offered her a smile and sat not too far away from her near the fire. "It's quite alright, I'm more interested in the company than I am your food." He said reassuringly. "I just joined not too long ago, so I'm still trying to learn names and the faces attached to those names." He explained. Mostly curiosity had gotten the better of him. The mutations wolves displayed nowadays had him confused. He was absolutely certain that it wasn't such a common thing when he'd been in Boreas years ago. He supposed enough time had passed now that they had time to show up in the wolves genetics. It was all musings of course, he had absolutely no idea how it had bloomed into such a high concentration. A bunch of wolves could have migrated here with such abnormalities and he would probably never know. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Sirius, would you?" He threw the question out there. He had high suspicions they were related, but then again his assumption that the two long-fanged wolves he had met in this pack would be family could also just be highly wrong. "Or are longer teeth just more common than I realize?" Walk, "Talk" Think

Gossamer was relieved that the man didn't want her food. With the knowledge that she didn't need to share she dove more aggressively into her meal. As soon as enough feathers were removed so she could gain access to the flesh she started to eat, listening as the man spoke. He explained that he had joined not to long ago so that made sense.

Gossamer licked the blood from her lips, grinning as he asked if she was related to Sirius. Her little chest puffed out proudly. "Yea, he's my daddy! Though, there are some other wolves with fangs. Though they aren't as nice as ours!" Ok, she was definitely biased but she didn't care.

Valor sidled closer to the fire as she chowed down on her meal. He found himself staring into it, mesmerized, for a brief moment before his attention returned to his younger companion. He smiled softly at her exuberance. He'd forgotten how cheerful, optimistic, and just downright pleasant pups could be. Of course, to a pup, her family's teeth were the best. He distinctly remembered when he was younger, he had been quite proud of his father and his lineage. It hadn't helped that the Ancora family was fairly large. Children's egos were an interesting anomaly. He certainly didn't believe that he was anything overly special now, but as a kid he'd believed to be ten feet tall and that he could conquer anything. With his curiosity satiated about that certain topic, at least for now, he glanced back at the fire once more. The fact that a pup could start one had initiated a desire to learn more about it. As a kid, he'd been under the impression that a fire could only be started by things like lightning or, in rare cases, by a wolf's companion if they were lucky enough to have a monkey as a follower. "If you don't mind telling me, how did you start the fire? When I was a pup we didn't have things like this." He questioned her. It felt strange to be asking a pup to teach him something. He figured it was supposed to be the other way around, but he wasn't opposed to trying to learn something new. Old dog, new tricks, that sort of thing. It would probably be a useful skill to have if the weather got any colder than it already was. Walk, "Talk" Think

Gossamer watched as the man scooted closer to the fire and she felt another bolt of pride at what she and her companion had been able to make. It had taken a lot of work and a sore mouth but the results were well worth it, especially in the colder weather. Valor asked her how she made the fire and Gossamer bounced up, scooting the pheasant toward her companions for them to finish. "Sure! Let me get my shinies." She bounced over to a scrap of hide that was wrapped around an assortment of items. She dug around until she emerged with a piece of flint and a steel stick in her jaws. She set them down. "Found the steel in the Veteran's Plateau. It's the secret! If you strike them together you can make a spark and light kindling like dried leaves and grass on fire. You want to try?" If he needed instruction on how to stack up logs and such she was happy to help.

She sprung up with an overzealousness that could only seem to come from a younger wolf. He chuckled to himself and watched eagerly as she pulled some things out of a pack. He stored Veteran's Plateau in his brain for later use and paid attention as she explained the flint and steel. It was strange to think two tiny objects could make something so warm and bright, but here they were in front of his face. Of course listening to her explain how to do it was all fine and dandy, but accomplishing it seemed to be a far greater task. He'd never done anything like this in his life and he couldn't deny that he was ab it apprehensive that he might not get it right on the first try. "Yeah I'll give it a shot." He couldn't fail if he didn't try. He took the flint and steel from her and positioned the steel in between his paws and gripped the flint firmly between his teeth. It was a little strange and definitely uncomfortable, but he attempted to strike the flint against the steel. He fumbled with it at first until he figured out the correct motion and, after a few rather hilarious attempts, he was able to see sparks fly from the materials. Due to not wanting to start a second fire he hadn't bothered grabbing kindling like she'd said, but he was still rather pleased he'd managed to accomplish that. He dropped her flint and steel by her feet and wagged his tail feeling rather pleased with himself. "How hard were these to find? I might make a trip out there so I can practice some more at another time. A fire would definitely be nice to put right near the mouth of my den." Walk, "Talk" Think

Gossamer was proud of everything she'd learned and she was eager to see Valor give it a try. How cool was it that she was teaching an adult something? She watched intently as Valor practiced, giggling a bit a first as he fumbled with it but when he finally made sparks she let out a cheer. She could remember the thrill when she first made sparks on her own and then when she started her first fire. There was nothing like it.

Gossamer thought for a moment on his question. "Uhhh… medium? There's scraps of metal all over the place but it takes some time to find ones that aren't sharp and hurt your mouth." She glanced over at her companions who had finished with the pheasant. Kylfa had likely already disposed of the bones and remnants of the carcass so as not to attract other predators into the pack lands. She yawned.

"Well, I better get going. It was nice to meet you!"

-end?-

At least the metal wouldn't be too hard to find. She hadn't said it was nigh impossible at least. He would have to remember to find ones what wouldn't cut his tongue and gums. He wasn't particularly keen on tearing up his mouth for some warmth. At least making the trip down to Veteran's Plateau would give him something to do in the mean time. Perhaps he'd make a detour to see if he could track down any of his siblings while he was out that way. It'd been years since he'd seen any of them. Were they even still around? It would be worth checking out. "It was nice to meet your too Gossamer, thank you for the lesson." He dipped his head as she left before he got up and headed back to his den to go finish the rabbit he'd caught earlier. Walk, "Talk" Think