During one of her patrols she noticed a snake near the edge of the island's lake out of the corner of her eye. She almost missed it as it slithered away into the brush near the lake, but she turned to look just in time to see it disappear. A one off appearance of a snake wouldn't concern her since she knew they were plentiful enough anyway, but now that she had noticed one she was naturally on the lookout for more and found quite a few of them around the lake. She imagined they probably came out now that the weather was warmer, keeping to the softer lands and the grasses that were easy to hide in around the lake. Perhaps she would have left them be if their upcoming litter wasn't so fresh on her mind. She was still very early in her pregnancy, only just to the point where Irilyth could confirm it with any kind of certainty, but that just meant that she had plenty of time to take care of things that would inevitably become dangers for a young pup learning their way around the island.

She could have simply dispatched the snakes on her own, but it seemed like a good learning opportunity and a good reason for her to spend some more one on one time with her son. Manea retrieved her bracers and the knife tucked along the inside of her leg since they would inevitably come in handy for this and instructed Saracyn to do the same before she started leading her now tall and lanky son down to the lake. The fact that he and Avacyn were already yearlings still felt unreal to her even though she could see how much they had grown before her own eyes. It only felt like yesterday that she was bringing these two special fireflies into this world and now she was already getting ready to have their second litter. Time was flying by far too fast.

With Saracyn in tow, she came down to the edge of the lake where she had seen the snakes most often. "Tracking these guys is a bit more difficult than most prey since they won't have a noticeable scent trail to follow," she told him, keeping her voice down and her steps careful and quiet while she kept her aqua gaze peeled for the slithery creatures. "We're going to have to look for trails in the mud, holes that might be their burrows, or spots around rocks where they could hide."

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

Saracyn felt the days drag on after summer had shifted into the coolness of fall. All around the island, the deciduous trees had begun to shift colors, being farther north than most of Boreas, the air had also become notably cooler especially in the evenings. He quite liked the way the trees looked like they had burst into fire all around him, with the exception of the evergreens that remained... well, ever green. Alias was ablaze with autumn colors, and the now yearling was enjoying the weather significantly more. He had been outside the familial den amongst a copse of the changing trees when he saw his mother stalking by, greeting her with a simple bark. After his parents had returned from their fornication trip to make him some more siblings (that he didn't really want in the first place), life had seemingly slowed down and become more mundane for him. No more responsibilities leading in their stead, nothing to assist Avacyn with since she was also doing her own thing. Just... nothing.

So when Manea instructed him to follow her, he was swift to rise, now at his adult height and just slightly taller than his own mother, and follow her into their den. He gathered up his weapons and strapped them on before following her back out, not asking any questions until they were halfway to the lake. Snake hunting, she told him, was what they were up to today. Sara raised a curious brow. He'd hunted many sorts of prey animals before, but snakes? This would be a new one for him. Giving a whistle for his raptors to follow, the two Stygian avians took to the sky to trail their master while the wolves made it to the lake. Manea filled him in on the tracking methods they would need to use to find the snakes since scent hunting was out of the question.

"What do snake trails even look like?" he asked, the red-furred wolf peeking beneath a large rock to find nothing. "Snakes don't have paws or legs."

"Saracyn Mendacium"

Saracyn was quick to follow up with a completely reasonable question of what a snake's trail would even look like since they didn't have paws or legs, but even though it was a good question it still made her chuckle. "More or less like a smooth divot in the mud where they've been sliding along. If they're big enough they'll be heavy enough to leave an indent wherever they've been. The baby snakes are actually more dangerous because their venom is more potent, but the adults are easier to find." She glanced up at his raptors that were lingering overhead, following Saracyn as he went, and she added, "Your birds can be a big help when looking for snakes. Their sharp eyes are good at spotting movements in the grass and some predatory birds hunt snakes naturally anyway."

With her advice given she began looking in earnest herself, peeking carefully under rocks and and in tall patches of grass for any that might be hiding while also looking at the damp areas of the ground near the water for any signs that snakes had passed through there recently. Snakes always seemed to pop up when she wasn't ready for them, but always seemed to be hiding if she was actually wanting to find them. It didn't help that the weather was getting cooler so they were sure to be hiding out without the energy to move around like the cold blooded creatures they were or perhaps they would get lucky and find one sunbathing somewhere.

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

Manea laughed but answered his question either way, telling him how to locate snake trails in soft earth. Smooth divets like little trenches where they’ve been. Saracyn nodded and began to scour the ground in earnest. The cold fall weather had started to harden the earth, meaning a trail may not be as easy to spot, but he wouldn’t give up. His mother commented on his raptors being able to assist them in locating the serpents as well, to which Saracyn flashed a wide grin of his wicked sharp teeth in much the same way that Alastor smiled. "I’ve been training Veior and Vindr to help me with my hunting. They’ll be great at wrangling snakes too."

With that, the two dire wolves began their serpent hunt. Saracyn wasn’t as skilled as Manea was at tracking yet, but he had the heart and gumption to go to whatever ends to bag his kill. He was a born and bred hunter, just like his parents before him. The agile adolescent swerved between trees and clambered over fallen logs, searching all over for any sign of snakes. He saw his mother start to disturb some hiding spots and decided to follow her inspired idea, sniffing about hollowed out logs and nooks amongst roots. As he drew near a hollow log, Saracyn rolled the old rotting wood aside—and was greeted by a hiss and a distinctive rattling sound.

He almost didn’t see the timber rattlesnake at first, it was so well camouflaged amongst the fallen autumn leaves, but when he saw the movement of its head and tail as well as the threatening flash of fangs, he froze where he was, eyeing the serpent down, less that a foot from the venomous serpent. "Mom…" he called out to his violet dam in slowly drawn out words, his eyes never leaving the deadly snake. "I found one."

"Saracyn Mendacium"

Manea continued her search and was just beginning to get a bit frustrated with the fact that she had been spotting them here and there, but now that she was actually looking for them they were getting to be impossible to find. She supposed that was always the way these things went and was about to call off the hunt when she heard some rustling and movement from the direction of her son soon followed by a very distinctive rattling sound. Her head popped up and she looked toward where Saracyn was standing several feet away, her expression dropping as she realized what was going on even before he called to her to tell her what he had found. "Back away from it," she told him firmly as she started quietly moving toward him, not wanting to startle the rattle snake he had happened upon. She hadn't been sure about what kind of snakes had taken up residence in the brush around the lake, but now that she knew there were rattlesnakes involved she regretted getting Saracyn involved. "Just back away quietly and carefully."

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

Saracyn was frozen in place, almost hypnotized by the waving rattle of the venomous snake currently hissing and baring its fangs at him. He didn't know what to do, if he should move or remain still. Did he dare try to move faster and kill it first? No, that was a stupid idea. Fortunately, his words had caught his mother's attention, and she gave him a very clear and curt order—back away slowly and quietly. Maintaining eye contact with the snake the entire time, Sara slowly lowered his paw backwards and began to backpedal from the rattlesnake, moving a fraction of an inch at a time. The snake hissed again, its warning rattle continuing without end. Not once did Saracyn's eyes leave the serpent, and only once he was a few feet back from it did he dare to rise back up and breathe a heavy sigh of relief. The rattlesnake slowed its rattling, shifting its gaze from yearling to adult, then slithered off through the dry underbrush to find a new hiding spot. Sara blinked a few times, his nerves frayed and heart racing with adrenaline. "Fuck..." he muttered under his breath, trying to shake off his shock. "Should we go after it and kill it?" He glanced back to his mother, still trying to get his nerves back under control. They couldn't leave a deadly snake like that on the island, right?

"Saracyn Mendacium"