"I am sorry for your losses." The male tiger said before turning back to the way he had come from. "We must part here. We are travelling westward, towards greener pastures. May both of our families thrive." He continued before padding away from the two female wolves. After some minutes of discussion, the family disappeared further into the woods and away from Vandrow territory.

Robyn turned to Tikaani, "Good work maintaining composure Tikaani. A lot of wolves in our pack don't particularly enjoy conversing calmly with them." She then gestured for her to follow and then made her way back to the clearing as she had to report back once more. "You can do whatever you like in the spare time. You can hunt if you'd like. I'm going back to report though." She pointed out. While they can spend more time patrolling the border, she had to do something before that.



Avir nodded as Saaba agreed to cross the border between them and the Vandrow territory. While he also didn't think it was a good idea, they needed to feed the cub. And as uncharacteristic for him as it may sound, he would rather take on wolves than leave a cub starving. He was fine, for the most part, as he already crossed over earlier when almost no wolf was awake and caught him some birds. They may not have been enough to make him full but it should last him a day. It wasn't long until Saaba returned and dropped the dead birds near the cub. "There kid, you can eat that." He said with a kind voice before looking back at his fellow fully-grown tiger.

"I'm alright, I already ate." He said. He'd rather not make her work for him. "If we follow this stream, it'll lead us to a bigger river. While there are other competitors there, it's our best bet for food that's actually going to fill us up." Fish was one of his main diets. He's not the type to feed on smaller game that scurry around the forest so he almost always makes an appearance downstream.

Chincf

Chincf paused, waiting for Carek to argue further against his instructions. But he was glad when the other wolf dropped the subject and returned his focus to tracking the rabbit scent. With his tail up, Chincf took the lead heading towards where the scent was strongest. Dark holes in the snow betrayed where the openings of the rabbit's warren were. "Alright, spread out and sit on the holes that are most used." He instructed the hunters, only to realise Shadow wasn't with them. ".....Carek, where's Shadow?"

Tikaani
Tikaani's shoulders relaxed as the tiger family parted ways without any further hostilities, wagging her tail at Robyn's praise.
"Thanks. I really think we should make more effort to be less pushy with them, if we did we might get on better. Heck, we could even share prey when it got short and one had more than the other." She sighed, knowing Reaver and many other members of the pack wouldn't share her views. She dipped her head as they returned to the clearing, and headed out to follow the trail of her brother's hunting party. Shadow'a scent veered off from the others towards the rocky foothills so Tikaani followed it, keeping downwind and just watching at first. She wouldn't give Shadow'a position away and would only watch unless the other she-wolf needed her help.

@Polaris North
Saaba
The tigress' ears flattened uneasily. "I er....I'm not good at fishing..." she admitted awkwardly. She would take whatever food she could get if it meant not starving but she hadn't fished since she had left her mother's territory to go out on her own.

Lila:

"The White Woods tigers have an agreement to stay out of Vandrow territories, it's a tentative one, but an agreement nonetheless. And what makes you think you wouldn't be missed if something were to happen? You still have so much to give the younger generation by your wisdom and stories," Lila said. "If a new agreement needs to be reached with the tigers than it should be handled by Reaver and Cahira, Reaver needs to learn how to be a diplomat anyways," She added, muttering the last sentence mostly to herself but it could still easily be heard.

Pups:

Anum jumped around for a bit and started sniffing, her nose close to the ground before she stopped. "Umm... Which one is a rabbit trail?" She asked. "And that's why you're supposed to wait for directions Anum," Kita said, cracking a small smile at her sister's eagerness. Anum huffed and put her nose back to the ground, determined to find the trail on her own now. She didn't recognize anything though, that is until the wind shifted. "Hey! I smell something!" She exclaimed. "I think it's a wolf!"

Axel:

Axel chuckled at the eagerness of the pup, content to just observe how this little hunting and tracking lesson went. He'd never heard of pups learning skills like this at such a young age though. He wasn't even paying attention to the wind until the pup said anything. "Oh great," He muttered, unable to run to a new spot while they were so close.

Carek's head perked up. "I thought he was with you" he said, clearly not knowing where Shadow was. It was just an excuse to satisfy Chincf's question. He was much more interested in the hunt and gladly followed the directions. He ran over to a hole in the snow and sniffed at it, taking in the scent of the rabbits. He sat right next to it, ears and nose on full alert for any activity.

Kato walks thru forrest silently he is following a scent of deer but it is also mixing with a rabbit. As kato creeps thru the land a scent caught his nose, as he sniffs he tries to pick out what it is. *sniff* *sniff* " it seems someone is also trying to track my prey either i find my prey or i find them" kato thinks in his head as he now follows the smell of what appears to be wolf. The more Kato moved thru the forrest the stronger the scent became, he now starts to get lower to the ground as he can hear what appears to be a couple voices threw the trees.

Avir couldn't help but smile as the tigress admitted that she didn't know how to fish, or wasn't good at it. "Leave it to me then. Fishes are my favorite meal. Just wait here and I'll bring back a dozen." He exaggerated the latter part. He couldn't carry that many. He'll eat his share and then bring back at least three to the tigress. "And I'm off!" He cheerily said before running downstream and reaching the river. Unexpectedly, there weren't any other tigers around. He started catching fishes and then placing them on the bank. Once he had three, he carefully carried them by the tail. Boy, this was hard. He needed to be careful not to rip it out.

He reached Saaba and dropped the fishes in front of her. "There 'ya go! Eat up. I already ate mine while hunting."

@Aristocles
Chincf
Chincf's hackles begun to bristle and his ears curve backwards as a growl builds in his throat. "I thought she was right behind you!" He snapped somewhat frustrated though he was clearly trying not to take it out on the other hunter too badly. Of all the times to lose a pack member, it had to be on the first spring hunt when their food was drastically low. The beta paces back a few paw steps, glowering into the treeline. There was nothing for it, they would have to go back and look for her. The beta huffed out an angry breath. "We'll have to backtrack, but let's not waste the time we spent tracking these rabbits and see if you and I can catch some on our own first." Chincf muttered, padding towards another hole that has fresh tracks scattered around it, indicating the rabbits had recently used it. Peering into the dark opening, he discovers two rabbits huddled in the tunnel. Growling, Chincf snaps his teeth and sends them running, hoping they will dart for the exit where Carek is waiting and not one of the others that are unguarded.

@Polaris North
Saaba
Saaba was quite relieved that Avir didn't openly tease her about her lack of fishing ability, sinking down to lie on the ground as he darted off downstream. While she watched over the cub and waited for him to return she suddenly realised how drained she felt. She had cut it close this time, a few more days and she wouldn't have been able to hunt at all. With the snow melting now, hopefully prey would be easier to find in a few weeks' time. Avir returned with some fish, dropping them beside her. Her mouth watered just from the smell and she looked up at him for a moment before gladly tearing into the fish. They didn't last long. Licking the stray scraps from her whiskers, the tigress nodded. "Thanks..." the question was...what now? They couldn't leave the cub on her own, but travelling with a male permanently? Saaba wasn't sure she liked the idea of that.

Avir sat down as the tigress began eating the fish he provided. It was a long time since he had hunted for another tiger. Actually, more like this is his first time. He only ever travelled with his family and they had died when he was young so he never had the chance to show off his hunting skills to them. It felt unnaturally good. He guessed giving things to others elicits this kind of reaction. It felt nice.

"So what do we do now?" He asked. "I can't leave this cub alone but if you're willing to take her then..." He wasn't at all against raising the poor cub. He lost his family when he was old enough to hunt but this one isn't. So he had the urge to protect her.

Ezy stalked a squirrel that had been climbing a tree she was just about to pounce when she heard some voices off in the distance and she perked her ears up and looked around to see two adult tigers eating fish. Ezy rolled her eyes and went back to the squirrel who had climbed pretty high in the tree away from danger as it would seem. She quickly jumped sinking her claws in the wood then again a bit higher until she reached the first branch, the squirrel smacked nut after nut on the tree unaware of the young tigress. Ezy finnaly balanced herself and then lunged for the squirrel, she caught it by the tail in her mouth, she happily scraped her claws agenst the wood to get down. once she was on the solid ground she ripped into the squirrel and ate it quickly leaving behind nothing but fur and meatless bones. she laid on the ground and yawned listening to the conversation between the two adult tigers .. something about cubs and fish.. she yawned again and felt herself drifting off to sleep.

@Polaris North@KiraChan
Saaba

"Well, she'll die if someone doesn't take care of her." The tigress pointed out, sighing. She hadn't really planned on taking care of a cub so soon but it wasn't as if anyone else could care for her. "I suppose I don't have much choice, she'll be alright once she learns to hunt but until then..."
Saaba paused, hearing the sound of claws scrabbling in a nearby tree. Tail lashing, she crept carefully forward. Peering past the trunk she could see another cub lying on the ground. Saaba looked back over her shoulder at Avir and sighed. "Hey, there's another one over here!" she called.

@KiraChan@The Elvenqueen



"I can take her if you want. I mean, you don't look too willing." Avir said before placing a paw on the cub's head. The cub was pretty cute and he only needed to teach her how to hunt and they should be fine. If it's only this one, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. "You know what? I like the idea of taking care of her."

He then turned back to her as she crept off to somewhere. Avir cocked his head to the right and placed his paw back on the ground. Then she called out that she found another one. "W-What? Another cub? Bring it here." He actually sighed. How many cubs were left alone at this part of the forest? This place was too near to Vandrow territory and not someplace for cubs... especially orphan cubs.

@KiraChan@Polaris North
Saaba
"Yeah, another." She repeated, bending down to grasp the sleeping cub by her scruff. She lifted Evy off the ground and trotted back to where Avir sathe, placing her beside the other cub. "I didn't see any adult tracks, she was either abandoned or orphaned too."
The tigress twitched her tail, trying not to appear too agitated to avoid upsetting the young ones. "Well...I guess we're parents for now." She chuckled, remaining light hearted about the matter in the hopes of relieving some of the tension. She couldn't leave him on his own with two cubs, it wasn't fair to him.
"The name's Saaba, by the way. I uh...guess we should introduce ourselves if we're going to end up sticking together for now."

@KiraChan@The Elvenqueen



Avir watched as the tigress came back with yet another cub. Similar to the other one but he could guess that it was slightly older. "Well, I shouldn't be too surprised. I lost mine on winter too." He pointed out. Well at least this new one looks like it has eaten, so it probably knows how to hunt prey. Hopefully, please. He then looked back at Saaba as she said that they were parents for now. "The idea rubs me the wrong way but..." He looked back at the two cubs. "If it's just taking care of these two, then I suppose it's fine."

"Avir's the name. Yeah, guess so." To think he would be living with others now... now that was something he did not expect. Considering the fact that he had thinking of staying as a lone rogue until his life ends, this was something surprising. But he can't leave these cubs alone with Saaba. It would be too unfair.

@Polaris North @The Elvenqueen

She felt herself being picked up and voices echoed through her mind ones she had heard before but also ones she recognized. She kicked her legs in her sleep and groggily mumbled "Got.. the tail" and her eyes fluttered open when she saw the adult tigers she backed up and growled lowly. Adult tigers scared her, watched her own mother attack a family member they couldn't be any different. "Who are you!" She said and planted her feet

Calypso:

She watched as the adults spoke to each other, staying where she was, just too tired to move right now. She put her head down and started to close her eyes, zoning out until some birds were dropped before her. Calypso's stomach growled and gurgled loudly at the sight of them, pulling her weak body over to start gorging on one of the birds given to her, her little belly quickly filling until she was stuffed and couldn't eat another bite.

"Thank you for the food," She said softly, licking her lips and starting to clean her paws.

The adults went back to talking but that was okay, Calpyso was getting sleepy again and so she went over so she was between to two adults, curling up with a yawn and about to doze off when she felt a heavy paw on her head, letting out a soft mew of annoyance, looking up at the male as he called to the female, seeing that she had brought another cub like her. Tilting her head, she looked at the other cub curiously. What was going on?

Pups:

Anum and Kita looked back to Aleu with confused looks. But weren't they learning how to hunt? Kita started padding back, Anum following shortly after a bit more nosing. Was this wolf bad? They never met a bad wolf before. "Aleu, are we going to wait for the others?" Kita asked.

Axel:

It was a shame he had been caught, it obviously spooked the female and it had never been his intention to frighten her. He was really a big softie at heart but that was alright, she didn't know that and she had pups to think of first. After she and the pups had put some distance between them and stopped to look back, Axel stepped out so she could see him, his tail wagging to show he wasn't a threat before he turned and left. Heh, maybe she would find him later.

Lila:

Letting out a relieved breath, she nodded and stood, moving to walk beside the older wolf. "You may leave Kai, be careful and please let Chincf know I'll be back at the dens if you see him.," She said, nodding to him as they started to make their way back home. She looked back to Desaius when he spoke next and shook her head, lightly nudging his shoulder. "That is where you're wrong, I would miss you a great deal. After all, I still need someone around to cuff my ears when I get too stubborn," She said. Lila always had a soft spot for the grumpy old wolf, especially since she spent so much time with his mate when she was younger and just learning to hunt or starting to work on her leadership skills.

Carek raced to the rabbits, exhilarated at the prospect of finding food at last. His fangs bared, the wolf charged at the scared herbivores, biting down on one of them with his fangs and crushing its neck with his strong jaws. Then he picked it up again in his mouth and trotted over to Chincf, dropping the dead creature at his feet. The change in his mood was striking; the vicious wolf now acted almost like an obedient dog. Almost.

"Well, got that out of the way. Now, what say we deal with this tiger problem?"

@Aristocles
Chincf

Chincf nodded his head slightly as Carek drops the dead rabbits at his paws. Just looking at them is making his mouth water, but there are pups back at the camp, and they need to be fed first. Grunting softly, the beta male shakes out his fur and turns towards the border. He sighed heavily. Carek was way too eager to go marching over there to put the cats in their place, and that worried him. But he couldn't very well refuse, since he had promised. Chincf heard Shadow's howl faintly on the wind and his ears perked up. Relief spread through him, at least the she-wolf wasn't hurt. He'd cuff her ears later for wandering off without telling him where she was going, but at least she was alright.
"Alright, alright, fine." he caved, padding towards the last place they had found tiger scent. "Let's go and talk to them." he narrowed his eyes at Carek, putting extra emphasis on the word 'talk'.

@A Tattooed Girl
Tikaani
Tikaani sat up straight as Shadow stopped in her hunt and tipped her head back to howl. Tikaani knew she was probably calling for her littermate, Kai, but Shadow wanted help and she figured another extra set of paws wouldn't hurt, right? She'd come out here to help the hunting party bring back prey after all. Keeping low to the ground, she stayed downwind and crept around to join the dark coloured she-wolf. "Hey, Shadow." she whispered, crouching beside her packmate. "I know you're probably calling for Kai, but I was nearby so I figured I'd come and help too. What do you need me to do?"

@Polaris North@KiraChan@GhostWing
Saaba
The tigress' attention is diverted from Avir back to the bigger cub as she stirs and leaps backwards. The cub planted her feet and her fur fluffed out, indicating that she was afraid. Saaba twitched her tail and dropped down to Ezy's height, looking her calmly in the eye. "Take it easy, cub. It's alright. Avir and I won't hurt you." she promised, looking between Ezy and Calypso. "You're both very very young, it's far too early in your life for you to be out on your own, especially just after winter. Prey is hard enough to find even when you're big like we are and you know how to catch it." her whiskers twitched. "We don't have to talk about what happened to your families if you don't want to, but Avir and I can teach you to hunt, help you to get stronger so you can go out and survive properly on your own."