A few days after the rockslide was discovered, Thunderheart was sure she was destined to be a mother. She had lost three cubs, but from Ursa herself, she had gotten three more. a blessing, the bear thought. a blessing and a curse, she added humorously as she watched Silverwolf and Faolan playfighting. Raven, sitting nearby and watching a butterfly, started as the two bumped into her and she immedietly jumped into the air. Thunderheart chuffed with laughter. Maybe one day I could get a rouge smith to teach her flight, she pondered on this for a bit, then decided against it. Not only did the bear not know any rouge owl smiths, the bears and the owls didn't really have a close relationship, unlike with the wolves. Bears were loners in the Beyond, and so didn't usually seek out the night birds or the swift canines. she'll learn one day. The bear also looked at Silver's wings thoughtfully. The pup obviously didn't like to use them.
Thunderheart paused. I called her a pup! She knew that, whatever creatures Raven and Silverwolf were, they weren't pups, cubs, or hatchlings. She had never seen animals such as this. They were four-legged, but they had hooves and obviously they were capable of flight. If they were taught. Thunderheart grunted as a cool breeze stirred the air, again bringing her attention back to an important fact; autumn was coming, and she had to get her young fatter if they were to rest all winter. But Thunderheart was curious; wolves didn't hibernate, did they? Being asleep all winter, she wouldn't know. And what about Silver and Raven? Did they go into longsleep as well? All Thunderheart knew was, she needed to teach them to hunt. There wouldn't be berries, grubs, or leaves in winter. That she knew.
"Silverwolf, Faolan, Raven! Come here." All three came over to her, and, immedietly assuming they were going into the forest, started heading that way. Thunderheart gave a gentle growl and butted them in the side with her head. "This way," she said, directing them to the river. "What are we doing here?" Raven asked curiously as they sat on the bank. "Are we swimming?" questioned Silver. "No, little ones. You need to learn to hunt to survive. you must grow fat for the winter." The grizzly explained. "Now, catching fish can be easy during some seasons, such as this season and the springtime." The grizzly indicated the river, where salmon were jumping out of the water, heading downstream. All three nodded. "Food won't always be easy to catch, though. you must learn to catch them under the water." so Thunderheart indicated that they be silent, and stared at the river. The three waited awhile, and soon Thunderheart heard Raven and Faolan whispering. She knew that pups and cubs could get impatient. Faolan gave a whimper and glanced over at a bush longingly. Thunderheart gave a grunt of approval and the two bounded over to the bush to harvest berries and grubs, a favorite of the bears and also a favorite of Faolan and Raven.
Silverwolf remained silent by the great grizzly, watching her carefully. In a few more minutes, the grizzly saw a trout and slapped her paw into the water, plunging her muzzle in and pulling out a writhing fish. she dropped it on the bank and bit it in the back of the neck, blood spilled. Faolan and Raven looked over at the smell of the blood, walking over slowly. Silver stared at the catch in amazement. Faolan, once coming over, crouched and laced his ears back, looking from the fish to Thunderheart. The other two did the same, although Thunderheart wasn't sure if they were mimicking or if that was what they did. what in the name of Ursus do they want me to do? I caught them the fish. They need to eat it. The three were looking from the fish to the grizzly. Thunderheart stumbled upon a realization suddenly; they want me to eat before them! She stared at the pups in amazement for a moment, then bit off the fishes head and ate the meat that was on the skull. Now the three surged forwards, gulping at the fish eagerly and enjoying the meat. How will they survive if they wait for the greater to eat first? they need to serve themselves! The grizzly fretted as her young gulped at the fish.
The day had been rather eventful after the fishing lession, teaching her own how to do it. Faolan's splayed paw proved good at this, and Thunderheart came up with the idea for Silverwolf to use her wing like a net, catching the fish in it and furling the wing to hold the slippery body. Raven's horn was used to stab through the fish at the precise moment, and so all three now had their own way of hunting. After this, Thunderheart had taken them to her territory border and taught them to mark. Thunderheart realized that the two fillies couldn't do this, and decided that they could watch the other two do this. Raven quickly came up with the idea of using her horn again, scratch marks on the tree from it's sharp tip, and Silver scraped at the ground with a hoof. Thunderheart was proud of her daughter's clever ways of thinking. The winter came closer still as the leaves turned from green to orange, from orange to gold, from gold to brown, falling to the ground helplessly. Thunderheart knew that winter would be coming in a few days, and worried again about the protection of her pups. They hadn't fattened, and Thunderheart had taught them all ways of hunting; from hunting fish to caribou. Raven had amazingly taught herself to fly; when she jumped one day, she flapped her wings for extra boost to get to a high place, and amazingly found herself soaring effortlessly through the air. She knew what her little ones could do, and they could most likely survive the winter without her, but that didn't stop the grizzly from worrying. I'll just have to hope for the best, the grizzly thought.