Baby, you can't stomp me out,

The eagle was something to admire and to fear — drilled into her head as their first meeting was given. A near death experience and yet continued to awe', and be a bit bold. She sometimes slink out of the den within the days, a hopeful prowl of silence where her mother may not notice.. Though the matriarch always knew when she tried, @Hydra wasn't a fool to let a mere' pup out of her sight. Though it didn't stop Ara from skulking through, a curious step toward the Eagle as she eyed it so.

Avoiding eye contact though, whenever she saw @The Eagle glance at her she would play a cat and mouse game — making a quick dash to hide herself away. To the nooks and crannies of boulders and bushes to the piles of the leaves that danced to the earth itself ; she would hide away and watch in a curiosity.

Drawn to, yet knew in her heart, to fear it.

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The wolflets had grown some, but they remained tiny and helpless. These were the days that their eyes and ears were opening. The more rambunctious they grew, the more they began to venture beyond the confines on the den's entryway, near where he perched.

The day was chilled and windy on the mountain as he pulled at the remains of a dove. It was an item he had caught for himself, dumping most of it for Hydra and her nest out of graciousness. She had not touched it, either for having had her fill or because it was too meagre a meal for the growing young. His descent and subsequent feeding was quickly interrupted by one of the young.

He did not know their names — he had a hard time telling wolves even at an adult stage apart, and had virtually no sense of smell to define them. When the eagle spotted the cub, he eyed her, blinking with his third eyelids before continuing to pull apart the lesser feathered creature.

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Hydra watched her daughter as The Eagle came. For her own part, Hydra gnawed at the bison skull Leta had brought upon coming to meet the cubs. Ara was preoccupied, having noted the presence of the beast nearby. Wisely, she made a bid to an area that The Eagle could not grasp her. Pausing from her own activity long enough to speak, Hydra hummed to her daughter, “do not grow comfortable with what you might think is inaction. It easily could be a way for any to lure you near, not merely The Eagle,” she educated. “Some think that when all is calm and quiet, all is well. Remind yourself in those times that it can also be quiet before a great and terrible storm,” in other words, always be careful, and never be thoughtless.

Rising to all fours, Hydra drew nearer to The Eagle. He had brought much to her, and in turn she had left much for him; when any animal she thought might prove a threat (sooner or later), she dealt with it and left him the remains. Between the two of them, nothing seemed to go to waste. She was grateful to him for more than that, though. He exercised a great deal of patience and in the battle between his baser instincts and her request, the latter had thus far won out. Each day, Hydra was cognizant that this too could change; all of her children, as far as she was concerned, should know better than to test it.

And if they were foolish enough to, and those instincts of his won out on that same day, she would not hope for them to be saved—only that he was quick about it. Nature was a ruthless thing, and there were worse ways to go. To know them more, to love them more, would cause her more heartache in the end to prolong what would only ever be inevitable.

Hydra hummed, “that one is Ara,” she drawled. Whether or not he cared to know the girl by her name, he still would. No doubt he had heard it said several times before this day, though he might not have known then who was being spoken to.

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It couldn't be denied Ara was thinking about going forward. The Eagle showed no movement toward her presence around, and she wanted to draw just a bit closer to observe. To see the feathers closely, the talons and beak — and the surprising blink of what was his eyes.. Though her mother came forth, and she turned her head with a flicker of her ear and listened honestly. It was a surprise to think if the eagle was drawing her forth to eat, as Hydra had mentioned before in lessons previously.. Golden eyes looked back toward it with a wonder — for why didn't it just eat her now?

An easy swoop to give, and even if it did have a 'contract' with the Matriarch, she wondered why it even listened in the first place. She was helpless, held no power and had no choice but to listen to her mother and sometimes fearful presence. Her father was a more gentle man, but at the time Ara saw him as the weaker of them all. A kind nature and a smile that brought a warmth, but her mother had far more lessons to give and ways where she could improve bullying her own siblings, and even soon to be packmates.

"Why does it listen to you?" It was probably the first time Ara actually spoke to Hydra. She didn't speak often — and no one really knew, not even herself. Words seemed not needed often when it came to but playing and otherwise. She would acknowledge when others spoke to her, but many times didn't respond when she felt an answer was not needed.

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