ORIGIN - Lesson Number One!

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Ari

Hope is but a waking dream

Aristotle couldn’t help the look of adoration and love that settled on his face as he gazed down at the beaming wolf cub. In such a short time he had come to adore and love the little girl as deeply as any parent could for their child. She may not have been given life by him, but he loved her just as much as he possibly could.

Every once and a while as he worked on skinning the rabbit, his baby blue eyes would flick to catch the little girl’s stares, as she watched him work with swiftness of practice and ease of time. His sharp claws made quick work of separating the rabbit from it’s pelt. ”Would you like me to teach you how to skin them? I’m sure we can keep those claws of yours sharp enough to do it if you try.” This had been something he had taught himself through trial and error, he thought maybe it would be good to teach someone else how to do this. Perhaps he could find Sun a sharp rock and teach him how to do it as well, so he would never be without something soft and warm to lay on or cover up with.

The girl eagerly accepted his offer to share the rabbit. Though it no longer had fur on it the rabbit was still covered in its dense delicious muscles. A light smile spread over the lion’s muzzle as the little girl ripped off only a single leg of the rabbit and began to devour it. The lion leaned down and devoured the rabbit in a mere three bites. He didn’t even leave behind bones, instead opting to eat those as well.

A light laugh left the lion as the girl burped. ”That was just the snack I needed. So how about we practice some tracking?” This time they wouldn’t kill, merely track the prey. There was no need to kill this time they had just eaten after all, that would just be wasteful.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet didn't notice Aristotle's occasional glances at her. Her eyes remained focused on his claws, memorizing, taking in every motion. "Yes!" she replied to his offer. She flexed her own claws, they weren't very sharp right now, but perhaps she could try sharpening them on a rock. She was pretty sure she remembered every motion, but there was somethings that you could only learn from experience. Even if it took a lot of practice she still looked forward to learning it.
Comet watched the lion gobble down his own rabbit meat in only three bites. Her own rabbit leg took her five bites to finish. Then, now that only the bone was left, she chewed it down to a stub and swallowed it. She found that when she chewed bones they helped clean her teeth.
"Sure!" she noticed he said 'track' and not 'hunt'. From her experience, she knew that Aristotle did not like wasting things, so he probably didn't want to kill for no reason. She agreed with that. Once again, she lifted her nose up to the air, hoping to catch wind of a scent. A moment later, the strong smell of rabbit hit her nose. She followed the scent around several rocks and lost it at ruin. There were too many overlapping smells here of many different animals, and it was hard to distinguish which one was right. Comet looked up at Aristotle for guidance in such a situation.

@Aristotle

Ari

Hope is but a waking dream

A light smile slid into place on the lion’s muzzle at the eager response to him offering to teach her. He knew that at one point she would be able to do these things well on her own. With a few lessons on how to do it, and showing her first hand and guiding her through a few. The lion was sure his beloved daughter would be an ace at skinning and hunting in no time. He couldn’t help the swell of happiness and pride that wormed its way into his chest. She was such a good little girl.

The lion looked down at the girl adoringly at her eagerness for their next step of today's lesson. Now that they had eaten they wouldn’t be tempted to kill again, this time they could focus on the long part of the hunt. They could focus on teaching her how best to track.

As the girl picked up a scent and followed it, the lion walked at even pace behind her. Then she lost the scent at a crumbling blackened ruined building. Here she looked to him for guidance. The lion himself began investigating the area, sniffing the ground, his mouth half open and his muzzle scrunched. The lion scented the ground finding nothing he looked for tracks or any sign of which way the rabbit had gone. However it would seem to him that the track was lost in the jumble of tracks of passing gembound in the dirt. ”I think we lost this one. There are too many tracks here to determine exactly which way the rabbit went.” The lion admitted calmly. Even he knew when was best to give up a hunt.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet watched the lion investigate the area. It seemed that even he didn't know which way the rabbit had gone. The many overlapping scents must've messed up the scent trail of the rabbit really badly, because Aristotle was the best hunter she knew, and if he couldn't find it, no one could. He had given up the trail, and knowing when to give up was a valuable lesson for Comet to learn. Sometimes you have to know when you have failed, because you would not earn anything from continuing.
"Okay, I'll look for another one." Since there were so many tracks here, it was not a matter of finding a track, it was finding the right one. She lowered her nose to the ground and tried to find a good trail, a fresh one. Rabbit, again. The scent hit her nose, and she could tell it was a different rabbit than the last one. Her nose twitched from side to side as she followed the trail out of the crumbling building. Eventually the trail started to become more erratic, and another scent was mixed in. "I wonder what that other scent is?" asked Comet, she had never smelled anything like it before. Perhaps another thing was also tracking the rabbit.

@Aristotle

Ari

Hope is but a waking dream

The lion smiled down at Comet as he gave up looking for the scent and trail. He was a good hunter, but the track was gone and there was no picking it back up at this point in time. It wasn’t often that his quarry got away from him, but it did happen from time to time, and this just so happened to be one of those times.

He couldn’t help the little smile that spread over his muzzle as the little wolf eagerly accepted his challenge to find one last trail for them. The lion watched as the little girl made rounds and trails around the area, as she searched for a new scent. This bit didn’t take her long as she seemed to easily pick up a new scent.

As the girl started off so did the lion, his pace slow and even as he strode easily at her side. He made sure to let her be the one to lead as she tracked the scent. Aristotle inhaled deeply once more opening his mouth and flaring his lips as he took the scent into the olfactory receptors in the roof of his mouth, almost as if he were tasting for the creatures they were tracking. The lion perked up and tilted his head. ”That would be another predator my sweetling. Another hunter is on the track of this little bunny besides us.” Aristotle whispered leaning in close as he spoke.

@Comet

The scent was dusty, but clean: a strange and musty odor, one belonging to rodents of some kind (if either of them had smelled rats before, at least).

At first, nothing was visible.

And then, from somewhere in the distance--in the dark--came a somehow twisted, oddly-mispronounced cry.

"He-eelp..." it called, a tragic, broken tone.

It was coming from the Ruins--from somewhere deeper within. Desperate, the word half-swallowed.

"He-elp... me...ee..."

@Aristotle @Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet listened carefully to the lion's words, while keeping her nose to the trail. For some reason, the situation sounded a bit ominous, she wasn't sure why, but something just wasn't right about the whole thing. Usually such a competition between who got to the rabbit first would give her a thrill, but not this time, she just couldn't place what it was.
Then it hit her. The predator's scent smelled like a mouse, but not exactly. It was like a bit more-- strange. Why would a mouse like animal be hunting a rabbit? Weren't mice prey? She wasn't sure, but as they approached the Ruins, she pricked her ears. "He-eelp... He-elp... me...ee..." The sound sent a shiver down her spine. Someone was obviously asking for help, but the sound-- it was... just wrong. A sound that no animal should be able to produce. "Do you hear that?" said Comet, "We should go help them." The same sound echoed around and around her head, she needed to go help them! Her mind was no longer on tracking down the rabbit, it was on whoever had made that call. "I'm coming!" Her legs carried her away, and she pushed herself to run her top speed towards the Ruins.

@Aristotle

Ari

Hope is but a waking dream

The lion inhaled the scent instantly recognizing it as the second sized prey he had started hunting. It was a rat. The scent was clean and clear if not a little dusty. It was mixed with the rabbit but still easily picked out. ”It’s a rat.” Aristotle whispered softly his head bent down close to Comet’s ear so he barely had to whisper, being sure that he wasn’t heard by what they were tracking.

Rounded audits swiveled and perked catching the strained cries for help. Aristotle looked to Comet and set himself between the girl and the cries.The lion lunged, placing himself in the girl’s path so she couldn’t go any farther. ”Easy Comet. We’ll help them, just don’t rush into it.” Something about the cries was off, he couldn’t place his paw on exactly what was wrong. But something was just rubbing him the wrong way. ”Let me go first.” Aristotle said sternly making sure that he would be the first to go.

Slowly but at a faster pace than before, his body crouched close to the ground. The lion made his way forward making sure to keep himself between what was to come and Comet. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Slowly the lion came upon the area of the darkened ruins where the cry was coming from. The lion cautiously lifted his muzzle sniffing the air.

However lifting his muzzle and scenting the area simply told him that whatever was calling for help was close by as the scents were much stronger here.

@Comet
Note: I have sent in Gm request.

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

violence

The Echoing Grays had prepared their ambush: spreading out among the ruins in a sort of box, dead-end shape, with one at the far end calling in a mimicry of a Gembound's distress cry. It had not been a perfect imitation, but it had worked well enough: Aristotle was creeping in.

The Grays numbered only twenty-three in number, but they were cunning creatures, and quick: the first few that darted out went straight for Aristotle's most vulnerable parts, from the sides and from behind. Teeth aimed for any soft tissue, especially the belly, but no single rat hung around long enough to make a stationary target. That wasn't to say that killing one would be impossible: but they were small, only a foot or so in length (or two, if their long and stringy tails were counted) and fast. Taken in groups, the Echoing Grays were perhaps the most dangerous Lesser Gembound in Origin: a lesson hard-learned by those who survived it.

In the dark of the ruins, the swarm sprang its ambush.

@Comet @Aristotle

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Aristotle clarified that is was a rat. Comet had never seen rats before, so she guessed that they were sort of like mice. She imprinted the scent in her head, it would prove valuable later on if she ever came across them again.

She started running towards the sound, but she slowed to a stop when the lion jumped in front of her. He was right, she shouldn't rush into it. She might get herself hurt. Comet cursed herself for her recklessness and trailed behind Aristotle, she noticed that he had been bothered by the cries too. Trailing behind him, she kept her ear pricked for any signs of danger.

Comet fell into a crouched position alongside the lion, and kept her muscles bunched and ready. As the ruins came closer, the air seemed to have a tension to it, anything could happen. The strong scent washed over her nose in this area, but like Aristotle, she could gain no more information from it. She watched him go in first to the ruins, and that was when the air exploded.

Comet watched as the rats broke their formation and fell upon Aristotle. They were quick, and they were many. Coming from all directions, they swarmed the lion. The wolf pup immediately sprang into action. Running into the horde alongside Aristotle, she worked on keeping the rats away from his belly and legs. Then she got an idea. If she made the place slippery, the rats would have a much harder time being quick.

@Aristotle
@Game Master Dark

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