I walked the opposite direction that Byrd, Adolfa, and Lupus went. I stopped by a berry bush that wasn’t very far from where I had said to meet up. To my luck, they were juniper berries. I can bring these back in case someone gets a bellyache. I ate some of them and wrapped a few in some big leaves. Then, I walked back to where I said to meet up. It hadn’t only been 5 minutes so I prepared to wait.
Byrd nodded, and padded off into the woods.
Lupus tailed Byrd closely, looking around and hopping in puddles as they went.
Byrd smiled at Lupus. "Okay, copy me." She said, crouching low.
He did so, watching Byrd and making small adjustments to match her posture.
Adolfa sneaked through the forest and listened for any movement. She sniffed the air and smelled a raccoon. She softly padded to the raccoon and pounced. She bit down hard on its neck, killing it. She decided it was enough, it was a big raccoon.
She stood, and pushed his tail lower. Then she made him flatten his ears, and straighten his paws. She got back into the position, and started whispering. "Lift one ear to listen for anything. Rustling, moving, sticks breaking."
Lupus pricked his ears, instantly hearing a small rustle from fairly far away. He wasn't sure whether Byrd could hear it, since his hearing was above average, but he crawled as silently as he could towards the sound, placing each paw carefully so that it wouldn't make sound.
Byrd heard the noise, and smiled as Lupus crept toward it. "Avoid branches and leaves!" She quietly commanded.
The noise had been a mouse walking through a bush, and Lupus came up behind it, unnoticed. He paused for a moment before pouncing on the small animal and carrying it back to Byrd proudly. It seemed unharmed, and was squirming in Lupus's grasp.
Byrd laughed. "Lupus, you have to kill it." she said softly.
Lupus seemed confused, and he set the mouse down, keeping it in place by holding its tail with one paw.
"Lupus its food," Byrd told him. "You have to kill it."
"But why?" He looked down at the wriggling mouse, cocking his head to the side.
Mara pounced on the mouse, killing it. "Here" she said.
Lupus flinched a bit when Mara snapped the mouse's neck, shying away from the body.
"Here, eat it. I already got something to eat earlier!" she said, happily.
The wolf pup was hesitant. It was one thing to eat food brought to him by someone else, but another to see that food killed right in front of you. He wasn't sure how he felt about it.
"Well, eat up. Mum and Dad always said, 'If you don't eat it now, you eat it later!"
Lupus just quickly ate the mouse and waited for further instructions, trying not to think about how it had been killed so casually. He imagined a larger animal doing the same to him and shuddered, rather glad that he was at the top of the food chain.
"Well, anyways, gotta go. Theres a competition between me and some friend on who can run fastest."
"Okay." Lupus got distracted by a bird, watching it fly above him.
It had been 40 minutes and Sofie was waiting patiently, thinking of the things she should tell them about her plan and the juniper berries.
Adolfa made it back with her big raccoon and a squirrel she had snatched on the way back. She dropped her prey in front of Sofie and howled.
Lupus joined in, unsure why they were howling. His howl sounded a bit high pitched compared to Adolfa's.