Domhara

          The gray she-wolf lifted her face to the wind that whistled over the plain in front of her. She smelled absolutely everything being blown across the vast expanse of grass from miles away. If her brothers weren't calling to her to return to the edge of the forest where they were lurking, she could have stayed there for hours. Instead she did as they asked of her, and trotted back into the underbrush among the trees. One brother nudged her and grinned. She nudged him back playfully and they took off running, kicking up leaves in their chase. Later that night in the den she shared with her siblings, she dreamed of the moor, running where there were no trees in her way.
         In the morning she was on hunting duty with a smaller group. They spent all day watching and waiting for small prey, using cover and surprise to capture their next meal. She was quite happy hunting anywhere, but she had seen packs on the moors hunt by chasing enormous prey for hours on end. She was thinking of this and hoping to see it once again as she carried part of the day's take past the edge of the forest, and to her surprise she saw a pair of wolves there after all. They were bickering, and one was bloodied, likely by an elk's massive antler. Clearly they were having trouble hunting, and she took a step toward them instinctively before looking back at the same brother from the day before. He returned her gaze with a searching look, sighed, and nodded with a slight smile.
         "Go. It's what you've always wanted. I'm sure I'll see you again," he said, and paced forward to touch her nose with his own, "come back to visit any time."
         Sadness flashed across her face for a moment, then she replied, "I will, brother. I'll bring you a whole elk!" Grinning, she bumped her forehead to his, picked up the food she had caught, and went flying toward the two struggling strangers on the moor.

-

         "Alright, Celwynn, we don't need to argue with the pups we're teaching. We know how to hunt and they don't, and that's that," the gray she-wolf told her grumbling counterpart, then turned toward the crowd of eager puppies gathered in front of them. She drew herself up, looked at them with a glitter in her eye, and asked, "now, who knows where to stand if you don't want an elk to smell you? Anyone? Right, you there in the front."
         "Up... on a hill! They can't smell you if you're on a hill."
         The big, dark gray female rolled her eyes so hard several of the pups watched intently to see if they would go back to normal or not. Domhara, however, just gave the pup a quizzical look and explained to him that, though one would have a great vantage point from a hill, to avoid being smelled one must stand downwind of an elk. She went on to explain some more of the basics, then told the pups to get up and follow her and Celwynn out of camp to practice finding where to approach from when hunting. After about an hour of practice had gone by, the training had devolved into a great game of chase. Celwynn watched Domhara lead the gaggle of pups around and around until they all staggered back to camp tiredly and collapsed in a great heap with the happy gray she-wolf right the middle.

-

          The gray she-wolf ran alongside a younger white wolf, breathing deep and even as they made long, ground-eating strides toward their prey. The herd of deer sprang forward ahead of them, slower now than when the chase started. Just another mile or so and they would be able to pick off the slowest and corner it so that their finisher could do her job. The white wolf glanced over to her older chase partner with a grin and Domhara grinned back.
          "They're almost finished, we'll get them before long! Don't fall behind now!"
          "Don't... worry, I... wont! I learned... from the best!" The young wolf's breathing was more labored, this being one of only a few hunts she had been on thus far.
          Domhara heard her daughter's determination underneath her ragged breath, though, and continued on at the same pace. She was glad to have Erinne on the team alongside her at last.