fa'liya keeps her pace easy, matching his stride without thinking too hard about it. the woods open a little as they move—thin birch giving way to darker stands where the wind cuts less sharp.

at his question, her ears tilt, thoughtful. yes, she answers, after a beat. a calf. she glances up at him then, blue meeting blue, gauging his reaction.

i am learning, she adds, quieter, as if that part matters most. her tail lifts a touch, confidence flickering there despite herself. want to be useful.[/i]

It is here that Fa'liya is given a smile from her brother. The change in her disposition shown in little ways. Any attention from their father was a gift from the cold chieftain. Caan refrained from commenting that his first hunt with their father was an old bull. Any hunt, any success, meant they were alive. Meant that they were a part of their father's clan.

Want to be useful.

Caan nodded to the sentiment, understanding it completely.

Their path through the grove followed the scent of caribou. The environment should signs of the animals' passing. Bark stripped from trees, deep furrows made in the snow. The caribou made due with what they had.

Caan believe that he and his sister could too.

When the animals came into view he looked to his sister.

Would you like to pick?

fa'liya slows when the herd comes into view. caribou move through the trees in loose shapes of brown, breath fogging in the cold. their hooves scrape crusted snow, digging for whatever the winter has spared beneath it.

would you like to pick? no, no she would not—she is a poor judge, she thinks, but the offer is to her benefit. it is a chance to prove both her competence and what she can handle.

her gaze moves through the herd slowly, carefully, the way she saw mother do it. she had no interest in the broad-shouldered cows or the thick-necked bull standing watch—instead on one nearer the back; a yearling, maybe. nothing strong enough to outrun them, small enough that the herd would abandon it should they succeed.

that one, she murmurs, nose tipping toward it.

fa'liya shifts her weight, pressing her paws deeper into the powder as she lowers herself instinctively. her tail stills behind her. when she glances back at caan, there’s something tight in her expression—not quite fear, not quite excitement. perhaps both.

Skill — Hunter ( 1 / 5)

The rain boy's gaze trailed that of his sister. Sweeping past those adult beasts that which would prove challenging for the young wolves alone. The bull's head is raised high and strong. The cows forage through the snow. Carving furrows into the powder in search for the sparse tips of green grass that would await them underneath. His sister's eyes landed upon a young animal. Perhaps only a little only than the hunters that waited in the treeline.

Fa'liya's body moves before she looks to him, and his body reacts in turn. Ears flaring forward and head lowering into posture primed to stalk forward. Matching eyes lock for a moment, and when they break, Caan breaks cover.

Powerful strides take him from the treeline and into the open clearing. Storm-black coat cutting a hard line through the powdered snow. He moves with purpose, with a loud, thundering yell to incite the herd to move. Angling toward the yearling his sister had marked, he leaning toward the caribou that fled, feinted at the ones that hesitated, and snapped at those that held their ground.

His gaze remained set ahead, but his ears curved along his skull, searching for the footfall of his sister.

---

annnndd this is officially a year old thread feel free to electrocute me

the suddenness of his departure catches her ill-prepared. fa’liya startles at the great shout that sends the herd into motion, her ears flattening briefly before she remembers herself. then she is running, too, breaking from the shelter of the trees several strides behind her brother. snow gives beneath her paws, deeper than she anticipated, and she must bound through it where caan seems able to cleave a path with little effort. already, the distance between them begins to widen.

the herd scatters before them in a great confusion of limbs and antlers. fa’liya keeps her eyes upon the yearling, struggling to distinguish its smaller shape among the fleeing bodies. there! she veers sharply, taking a wider course to discourage the young caribou from rejoining its elders. instinct offers some guidance, though she has little experience by which to judge her own movements. she knows only what she has watched others do, what her father once taught her. a sudden turn from the yearling nearly sends her sprawling, but she catches herself and presses onward, snapping at the animal's retreating heels.

already, her heart is laboring terribly. its uneven hammering makes itself known beneath her ribs, and every breath seems to bring less air than the last. she swallows against the familiar tightness in her throat, unwilling to surrender so quickly. caan is somewhere ahead, and she is determined that he should find her useful.

fa’liya gathers what strength remains in her narrow limbs and lunges toward the yearling's flank, teeth flashing in an attempt to turn it back toward her brother. whether she finds purchase or merely frightens it further, she cannot tell. there is scarcely time to think before her paws strike the snow again, her breathing reduced to a thin, audible wheeze as she struggles to maintain the pursuit.