That was easy enough instruction for Reverend's small, forming brain. A quiet nod voiced his understanding.

The sound of something scampering away through the underbrush is somewhat dissappointing. Oh, it laments. Well, that's unfortunate. He follows as Oliver turns and slinks through the ferns in another direction. Compared to his life-giver's practiced motion, Reverend is somewhat ungainly as it tramples some of the greenery.

His eyes are bright as he tries to take in as much of Oliver's words as possible. They're confusing, and there's a lot of them, but the last thing it wants to do is let him down. "Pain?" it chirps as a question, unsure what Oliver is talking about.

Either way, the instructions to try again is easy to follow, and he cranes his neck again, inhaling deeply to see if it can find anything. The scent of the plants around him is less overwhelming the second time. Through it all, it can also smell something else, and his head snaps in the direction of something hiding amongst the foliage.

@Oliver

Oh, no! Explaining the concept of "pain"--its origins, its meaning, the very nature of it--hadn't exactly been first on Oliver's "Parenting To-Do List." He buckled down to tackle it anyway, with his typical honesty, and though one couldn't say he sugar-coated it at least he wasn't brutal.

"Pain is... a bad feeling, one you really don't want. It happens when your body gets... damaged, somehow," he tried, with an almost apologetic glance back. He tried to focus on scents, on any signs of prey, half-distracted. "So pain's a bad thing, and making more of it's bad, too." Caves, but he hoped Reverend didn't ask him what "bad" meant: Oliver's ability to define words was already being stretched perilously thin. Any further, and it might snap, leaving him helplessly babbling to the kid.

As he crept through the underbrush, it occurred to him that he had another way to search: to reach out with his magic and sense those little creepy-crawlies that lived throughout the caves. Bacteria--though he didn't know them by that name--were everywhere, but differed a great deal from soil to tree to living Gembound.

He paused, one wing-paw lifted in the air, nose scenting and magic working. After a moment, he dropped his voice a little lower, and angled off to one side. "This way. There's something small-... I think near the base of that tree. The big one up ahead. See it-? If we can get close, maybe we can catch it." He glanced back at Reverend, to see if the child gave any indication of wanting to try for himself--or to let Oliver continue to lead.

@Reverend

Oliver's explanation makes enough sense for little Reverend, who nods again."Pain... pain bad. Don't cause pain," he repeats back. Seems simple enough. Another thing to file away in it's expanding knowledge.

The scent gets stronger, and Reverend finds itself turning to the underbrush just as Oliver guides them with gentle wing-paws and a magical eye. The tree pointed out yawns above, and while he can't see the prey from here, Reverend is ready to believe it's there.

As such, he nearly takes another step towards the tree, but stops himself. Be sneaky. Don't be loud, he remembers, hunkering down in the bushes, before beginning to creep forward slowly. But as he advances, one of the bushes' branches breaks with a Snap! as it pushes past it.

@Oliver

The sound of something scampering had Oliver wincing, a little. He couldn't help but feel faint relief that the critter had likely escaped--and then guilt. He couldn't have his kid go hungry.

It was looking, more and more, like he'd need to make a kill himself. Maybe that's best, he thought; then I can show him how it's done?

Still, he offered an encouraging smile. "It takes awhile to get used to," he offered. "But you get the idea? You can always practice sneaking! Maybe we can play a hide-and-seek game later, to try more. Let me see if I can find something now, though, and show you how to--um, finish it."

Oliver crept forward a bit, peering up--and, hoping the critter (whatever it was) had run up the tree, he leapt. His wings weren't good for true flight--but they were okay for a quick flap upward, and a glide. If anything, Reverend's own limbs promised far more useful movement later on. But for now, Oliver hoped that it would do. He supposed he could have taken owl form--it was accurate, deadly so, and perfect for hunting small prey. But it was still excruciatingly painful for him, and he didn't want to confuse his child unnecessarily, either.

Still, something of the owl's hunting methods must have stuck with him--his pounce, carefully calculated from within the underbrush, sent him shooting out of the foliage and smacking claws-first against the trunk of the tree. He fell backward, then--tumbling into the dirt shoulders-first--but he'd caught something in his claws. Quickly he turned, showing his catch to Reverend; it was a Cat-Squirrel, a small and gold-streaked rodent creature with a long, fluffy tail.

Oliver didn't stop to consider, didn't let guilt or hesitation creep in. He had to do this, so he did--he gave it a quick snap of the neck (wincing as he did), and grimaced as the moment of startled fear in the Lesser's eyes faded into nothing.

"...Like that," he offered, softly. "Next time, you can try. But--for now--you can eat that. You--have to get past the fur," he explained, gesturing with his claws before setting the dead prey at Reverend's feet.

@Reverend

Reverend's expression flops as the critter scampers away. He'd been trying his hardest, hadn't he? At least Oliver doesn't seem to be mad.

The promise of hide and seek brightens it back up. "A game? We can... play game?" he asks, intrigued. It sounds... lively. Like making the most of time. But it's getting distracted, and Oliver has moved on.

Reverend watches with eager eyes as their life-giver creeps forward, before bursting from the underbrush. His excitement fills his eyes as Oliver lands in the dirt - in a heap, but with his prize nonetheless. It scampers up to Oliver as he shows the small rodent, before quickly and easily snapping its neck.

His eyes are wide and vibrant with amazement, and it stands there a moment as the body is set in front of him. "Wow..." he mutters, before snapping out of it, and looking down at the rodent.

He was hungry, and had let the excitement get to him.

First he nudges it with its snout, (yep, its dead), and then tentatively wraps his jaws around it. A mouthful of fur prompts him to spit it out. It sits there for a moment, before Reverend cuts a hole in the skin and starts prying it off with his claws. Then, once a decent amount has been peeled back, does it take a bit, crunching through bone and meat alike.

This is much better than those berries.

@Oliver

A soft smile--as close to one as a bird-dog could manage--laced Oliver's face as he watched Reverend take his first bites. He himself sat back, relieved that--for now, probably? unless the kid turned out to still be hungry--his work as a parent was done.

"Is that better-?" he guessed, light humor in his tone. He could already see as much, himself. There was none of the dislike that the herbivore-oriented foods had been shown.

And as for hide-and-seek? "We can play, yes. It's where one of us hides, and the other one has to find them? It's good practice, for... well. Hiding, and seeking; hunting, really." Warmth was flooding him. Something soft, protective--something he'd never really felt before these last few days. He waited, patient, eyes brimming with this emotion, as Reverend ate. Oliver hardly noticed the blood, even; his gaze was locked on the child intently eating.

"Or we can do... anything you like, really. We can explore, if you want? Visit other caves. Or rest. We could meet Venari-?" He had whole lists of things that they could do, really. But best, perhaps, not to overwhelm the child, at first.

He paused, and then--in no hurry; patient and content--he spoke again. "Let me know if you... find your name," he suggested quietly.

Then, he'd have something to call his child.

@Reverend

The squirrel is devoured quickly, most of the larger bones being spat back out, but the rest disappearing behind Reverend's jaws quickly. It stares up at Oliver for a moment once it finishes, but quickly responds, "Yes!" with a smile.

It clambers closer to Oliver, blood still smeared on its snout. "Game. Game! Find!" Seems Oliver has the answer to his next question, as Reverend chants, "Game! Game! Game!"

He does stop for a moment, on hearing the name Oliver speaks. "Ven... rary?" it tries, unsure exactly of what it means. A curious cock of the head underlines its confusion.

Reverend does perk back up when Oliver asks about his name. "Name... Name..." He's not sure what he's looking for, but surely it would come in time, right? "Not yet."

@Oliver

Oliver gave a little laugh. "Venari's... our neighbor," he explained, though it was a tossup as to whether Reverend would understand that word, either. "She lives in the cave next to where you hatched! She's very nice, and she has a collection of shiny stones. You came from one of those stones!" He beamed brightly.

He didn't mention the fact that Venari was a massive, exoskeleton-clad bounty hunter with a third eye that could find her targets wherever they would hide, but, well... that's because it didn't matter to Oliver. That might have been what Venari was, but it wasn't who she was, to him.

As for games-? He grinned, tongue lolling. "Let's play a game!" he agreed, confirming. "Go run and hide somewhere--and I'll count to ten--and then I'll come find you!"

He wanted to do... whatever the kid wanted, really. Part of it was the magnolet taking over--perhaps insidiously--his own gem, crowding his thoughts with the desire, or need, even, to "help" and to serve others. But part was just the parent, the father with a new child who wanted to play a game--and what dad could turn that down?

@Reverend

"Neigh...bor. Neighbor," Reverend tests, and he decides he'll figure it out later. What matters is that Oliver clearly trusts Venari, which means it's happy to do the same. "My stone..,"he thinks, bringing a claw to the suglite in his chest.

Poking at it does get old quickly though, and Oliver's invitation to play is much more entertaining. "Hide! Hide! I'll go hide!" it chirps, before scampering off into the underbrush.

It looks around, and finally decides on up. Testing his wings, he jumps up into the air, throwing himself at a tree, only to land in a tumbling heap on the ground. It whimpers sadly as it struggles to right himself.

@Oliver

"One... two... three-"

Thud.

Oliver's feathery ear-tufts pricked upright and he jolted, wide-eyed, at the sound of his child first faceplanting a tree and then, the ground. He rushed forward, discarding his hide-and-seek count (it wasn't cheating if your kid had hurt themselves) and crashed through the foliage to Reverend.

"...What happened?!" Oliver cried out, alarmed. He looked around--even up--and saw no sign of danger. He'd just heard a thud and then another thud--had someone attacked Reverend?!

He bristled a little, drawing protectively closer. "Are you okay?" he asked, worried, sparing a wide-eyed glance down.

This... wasn't how hide-and-seek was meant to go. Not in Oliver's experience, anyway. Which... admittedly, was limited, but still!

@Reverend