After much begging and convincing that she was getting bigger and stronger Ruse finally convinced her father to take her across the stretch of water to the mainland. She had been absolutely itching to get off of the island and go see what else was out there and finally she was going to get to and she was so excited! She was practically vibrating with excitement while she sat between Chimera's paws on the ferry that was carrying them over to the opposite shore. It felt like it was taking forever to get over there, but she still sat still between his feet and remained on her best behavior. She knew she had to be good if she was going to have any chance of going out again before her first birthday and she definitely didn't want that kind of punishment.

Once they got to the main land shore she hopped off of the raft and bounded forward a couple of feet before she stopped to wait for her father, her tail wagging eagerly behind her while she took it all in. There was big piles of branches and twigs here and there along the river, blocking up the flow of the water and making larger pools in front of them. "Are those the dams?" she asked curiously with a point of her pale paw, looking back at him over her shoulder. "That's where beavers live, right?" She of course had pressed her mother for every little bit of information she could about the places outside of the island, but it was different getting to actually see the things she had heard about.

"Chimera & Rusalka"

Chimera found it difficult to say no to his tiny child, and so when Ruse asked to visit the dam, he had to say yes. He set some time apart and promised her that they would go on a little adventure the following day. Early as the sun, Ruse was up and ready to go. Chimera wasn't but he would make himself go anyway.

As they rode the ferry to the mainland, he could practically feel the excitement vibrating off of the pup. She was quite eager to get going and see the sights and he wouldn't keep her waiting. Once the ferry touched the bank, she was off. Thankfully he had long legs because Chimera definitely didn't have Rusalka's energy. As the mottled girl ran circles, he simply walked along with her.

When they came to the edge of the winding river, Ruse stopped and questioned him. Chimera nodded with a rumble. "Those are the dams and the beavers do indeed live within them," he confirmed. The brutes gaze swept over the land, looking for one of the creatures in question. He spied one, then dipped low, scooping the dainty little beauty onto his back. "There's one on the far side. See it?" A big, chunky beaver was carting an entire young sapling back to add to the dam.

"Chimera & Rusalka"

Ruse grinned proudly when her dad confirmed her observations about the dams and the beavers, her tail wagging happily behind her. Sure, it probably wasn't too hard of a thing to figure out since piles of limbs and sticks in the middle of a river was pretty distinctive, but she still felt like she had learned something and correctly applied it without ever seeing it before either way. She looked back toward the dams curiously, trying to stretch her neck to get a better view. Suddenly though her dad solved the problem as he scooped her up, making her squeak with surprise as she was suddenly lifted into the air. She wriggled and got comfortable with her head perched right on top of his, her bright pink and blue gaze looking curiously out at the world around them to see what else she could see from up here.

Ruse followed his direction to look toward the far side of one of the dams and she gasped with excitement when she saw the beaver he was pointing out. They were even bigger and rounder than she had imagined! "Wow! Look at that!" she said with amazement, wriggling further up the back of his neck to get a better look as she pushed herself up with her small paws on top of his head. She grinned while she watched the beaver work, dragging a whole spindly tree over to where its dam was. "They can cut down whole trees?" she questioned. Somehow she imagined that they just collected branches like they did for firewood, but now she saw that they didn't just scavenge sticks for their creations—they actually cut down the trees!

After watching the beaver work for a little bit she looked down at her dad with a grin, asking, "Can we catch it?" She knew they ate beavers sometimes, but usually she didn't see them until after they had been broken down for them to eat. She had actually never seen a hunt happen for real so while they were out here maybe he'd let her do that too! She didn't know if she'd like hunting or not so she figured she might as well try it, right?

"Chimera & Rusalka"

At almost a year old, Ruse wasn't small anymore, but she would always be smaller than her dad. Lifting her atop his back so that she could see the world from his vantage point was an easy feat, though he did mourn how small she'd been as a young pup for just a moment. With Rusalka coming up on a year, he knew that Dalila and Aliana would both be coming up on their heat seasons. Siren was currently in hers, but he was doing a good job of controlling himself this time around. However... the thought of more puppies running the island...

Ruse's sweet voice pulled the brute from his mental musings and he turned his attention to the beaver once more. Her surprised question brought a chuckle from the man. "Yes, they have big teeth that they can chisel the wood away with." They had strong jaws as well. It wasn't a good idea to be bitten by a beaver.

As Ruse asked if they could catch it, Chimera chuckled again. "I don't see why we can't catch one." The pack was pretty good with keeping their numbers down. Beavers reproduced fairly quickly and with the plethora of food in this area, they were thriving. Sliding his daughter gently off of his back, Chimera motioned for her to follow. Rather than cross the river to the big beaver on the other side, the man kept to the side that they were on. He patrolled along the bank, nose sniffing for signs of nearby beavers. When he caught the scent, he motioned to his mottled daughter. "There's a smaller one up ahead. Do you want me to catch it for you so that you can kill it or do you want to do it on your own?"

"Chimera & Rusalka"

Ruse grinned with excitement as her father agreed that they could catch one of the busy beavers and when he tipped a bit for her to slide off of his back she hopped down to the ground beside him. She stuck close to him as he began to patrol the area in search of one they could hunt and in the mean time her attention kept getting pulled away by looking at the scenery or the different kinds of trees that were out here compared to the ones that were on the island or the paths that the streams and river cut through the ground... Basically anything other than trying to locate a beaver's scent. Maybe hunting wasn't for her after all. Regardless, she was still just happy to be doing something with her father so he asked if she wanted him to catch it or if she wanted to do it her attention snapped back to him immediately.

"You catch it, Daddy!" she replied easily, her tail wagging gently behind her as she looked up at him happily. "I want to see how you do it and I'll try the next time we go exploring," she promised, both to show that she did want to learn and to hopefully secure a reason for them to go out into the world together again. If he had to teach her how to catch prey then that would mean she'd get to go out hunting with him sometime and maybe she could convince him to show her other kinds of prey besides beavers! She grinned and waited eagerly to watch him catch the beaver ahead of them, eager to see her father at work.

"Chimera & Rusalka"