105th of Vhalar, Arc 713
The presence of a second person made the stray skittish, it seemed. The barghest had appeared when Praetorum and Cassius had arrived, but was now hovering just out of arms reach, apparently trying to figure out if it was comfortable with Prae being here or not.
"I could go, set those snares now." Praetorum offered, studying the nervous animal. Somehow, he had a feeling that arriving with freshly killed food in hand would very quickly endear him to the creature.
"No, it's okay. She's suspicious, not upset or scared just yet. If we just sit here, that'll show her you're not a threat, and she'll probably calm down. If she doesn't, then you can go off and set those snares."
Prae nodded slowly. "How can you tell?"
"How she's feeling?" Praetorum nodded. "She's standing tall, leaning forwards to keep an eye on you. Tail and ears are pricked up too. There's a bit of whale eye— that's when, with a dog or barghest, you see the whites of their eyes— so she's a little scared, but mostly she's trying to figure you out. No growling yet, good sign."
The two waited a few bits, until her body started to relax a little, and she took a few steps closer to them. Then, Cassius slowly passed the food satchel to Praetorum. "Here, just place this, maybe an arms length in front of you so she sees you giving her food. Just dump it out. Maybe get some of your scent on it if you can. Get her to associate your smell with. You know. Good things. "
Praetorum nodded slowly. In a way, it was like the exact opposite of hunting; instead of making sure the animal couldn't smell you, you made sure it could, just before it had a good experience, like eating. Interesting. Somehow though, he thought the comparison might make Cassius a little uneasy, so he kept it to himself. Maybe he'd make a note of it in his next letter to his parents. Vitaria would get a kick out of it, for sure.
Slowly opening the satchel, Praetorum scooped out a handful of food scraps, lightly squeezing them into a ball out of habit. Easier to dispose of in a compact ball. He and Ri used to compete, to see who could lob theirs further into the lake.
This one, he elected not to throw. Instead, he leaned forwards, very slowly, and placed it on the ground, almost dead centre between himself and the barghest. There was a slight tension in the set of her shoulders as Praetorum came close, but she didn't retreat, instead settling back on her haunches, ears flattened, until Prae was away from her again.
She stared at him suspiciously for a few moments , then padded forward, sniffing suspiciously at the food. She looked from Cassius to Praetorum, then down at the ball of food again, visibly torn. After a few trills, she finally appeared to give in, dropping her head and starting to devour the food laid before her. Once he was certain she was sufficiently distracted, Prae scooped out the rest of the food from the satchel, setting it down even closer to himself.
This time the stray didn't hesitate. As soon as she was done with the first meal, she drew closer for the second, not even looking at the two Ithecal in her hunger. Now that she was within arms reach, Prae could see that Cassius had been right; her left hind leg was lame; healed over, but combined with her malnutrition, it was clear she was in no fit state to hunt.
"You know," Cassius said suddenly, watching the stray eat hungrily, "I think you might be the only person I know who hunts without an animal."
There was definitely a question in that statement there. Prae shrugged, considering. "It's just the way I was raised, I suppose. Think my mother might have considered it cheating, to have something else helping me hunt. And I suppose it never really occurred to Ri and me to want a pet, or a hunting animal or anything like that. I think in our minds, because we only really hunted with our mother or uncle, either you hunted alone, or you hunted with a Karem gifted wolf pack."
"Hmm. I can't imagine." Cassius gently patted the dog at his side, scratching lightly under her chin. "I've been around animals all my life; my mother actually owns a kennel. I got my first dog when I was four, and bred my first pup when I was nine. Cassiopeia and I have wanted to go work in that kennel practically since we were born."
Prae laughed, careful to keep his voice down to keep from spooking the stray again. "I see your family has a theme." He commented. "Why join the legion then? No offense, but you seem like you would be happier at that kennel. Cassandra's made for this life, but you..."
"Well, it's not as if I'm unhappy here, you know." He leaned over to nudge Prae's shoulder lightly. "And I'm happy to serve the empress. But mostly, it's just that the kennel's fallen on some hard times recently, especially when my parents had a third clutch coming. Nothing too bad, but it just made more sense for me to join the legion for a few arcs, send the coin back to my family. Especially since Cassandra was planning on joining as well, it seemed like a good move."
The bargest finished the food they'd brought her, and hesitantly inched forwards hopefully, drawing both of their attentions. Prae hesitated, then held out his hand, still a little greasy with fat from scooping her food out onto the grass.
With only a trill of hesitation, the barghest closed the distance between them, and began to lap at his fingers, searching eagerly for the last scraps of food and flavor that she could find there. "What do you know." Cassius murmured. "I think you're starting to grow on her." He reached out as well, gently placing one large hand over her back. Praetorum made a face when the stray froze at the contact.
"Please don't startle her while my fingers are this close to her teeth." He mumbled, as she apparently decided this was an acceptable amount of touch, and returned to lapping at his fingers.
"Sorry." Cassius said, beginning to pet the barghest slowly, his hand smoothing over her spines. "But I think this is a really great opportunity, to definitely prove we're not dangerous. Go on, give her a pet."
Praetorum studdied her spikes and spines skeptically, then stared flatly at his companion. Cassius rolled his eyes, a grin tugging at his lips. "Oh, come on." Cassius sighed. "Just put your hand on the back of her neck, and stroke back, along the direction of her scales. Make sure not to put your hand on her throat or underbelly though; barghests are very protective of their soft parts, and you really have to build up trust before they'll let you pet those. Just stay along the back for now. Maybe scratch the space between spines, that's a classic barghest grooming behavior. Don't worry about scratching her back too hard; barghest hide would turn a dagger"
Prae did as he suggested, reaching over with his other hand to begin to stroke her neck and back. He couldn't quite get at her spines from this angle, but he kept the suggestion in mind for next time, and contented himself with rubbing the back of her neck, and scratching the top of her head. The stray seemed rather content to let him do this even after she'd determined that she had eaten everything from Prae's hand, standing there with her tongue lolling out and her tail wagging slowly.
"Oh, she definitely used to be a house pet." Cassius laughed, petting along her spines. And to both their surprise, the barghest let out a contented little huff, the first noise either of them had heard from her since they'd started feeding her.
Then she pulled away, and bounded off, seeming quite invigorated. Wiping his slobber covered hand on a nearby leaf, Praetorum stood. "Alright," he said. "Let's go set up those snares now. Get some meat on those bones."
Cassius stood as well, stretching. "Sure. And Prae, thanks again for this. For coming with me, I mean, as well as the hunting."
Prae blinked, then nodded, smiling back. "Anytime." He said, and found that he meant it.
"I could go, set those snares now." Praetorum offered, studying the nervous animal. Somehow, he had a feeling that arriving with freshly killed food in hand would very quickly endear him to the creature.
"No, it's okay. She's suspicious, not upset or scared just yet. If we just sit here, that'll show her you're not a threat, and she'll probably calm down. If she doesn't, then you can go off and set those snares."
Prae nodded slowly. "How can you tell?"
"How she's feeling?" Praetorum nodded. "She's standing tall, leaning forwards to keep an eye on you. Tail and ears are pricked up too. There's a bit of whale eye— that's when, with a dog or barghest, you see the whites of their eyes— so she's a little scared, but mostly she's trying to figure you out. No growling yet, good sign."
The two waited a few bits, until her body started to relax a little, and she took a few steps closer to them. Then, Cassius slowly passed the food satchel to Praetorum. "Here, just place this, maybe an arms length in front of you so she sees you giving her food. Just dump it out. Maybe get some of your scent on it if you can. Get her to associate your smell with. You know. Good things. "
Praetorum nodded slowly. In a way, it was like the exact opposite of hunting; instead of making sure the animal couldn't smell you, you made sure it could, just before it had a good experience, like eating. Interesting. Somehow though, he thought the comparison might make Cassius a little uneasy, so he kept it to himself. Maybe he'd make a note of it in his next letter to his parents. Vitaria would get a kick out of it, for sure.
Slowly opening the satchel, Praetorum scooped out a handful of food scraps, lightly squeezing them into a ball out of habit. Easier to dispose of in a compact ball. He and Ri used to compete, to see who could lob theirs further into the lake.
This one, he elected not to throw. Instead, he leaned forwards, very slowly, and placed it on the ground, almost dead centre between himself and the barghest. There was a slight tension in the set of her shoulders as Praetorum came close, but she didn't retreat, instead settling back on her haunches, ears flattened, until Prae was away from her again.
She stared at him suspiciously for a few moments , then padded forward, sniffing suspiciously at the food. She looked from Cassius to Praetorum, then down at the ball of food again, visibly torn. After a few trills, she finally appeared to give in, dropping her head and starting to devour the food laid before her. Once he was certain she was sufficiently distracted, Prae scooped out the rest of the food from the satchel, setting it down even closer to himself.
This time the stray didn't hesitate. As soon as she was done with the first meal, she drew closer for the second, not even looking at the two Ithecal in her hunger. Now that she was within arms reach, Prae could see that Cassius had been right; her left hind leg was lame; healed over, but combined with her malnutrition, it was clear she was in no fit state to hunt.
"You know," Cassius said suddenly, watching the stray eat hungrily, "I think you might be the only person I know who hunts without an animal."
There was definitely a question in that statement there. Prae shrugged, considering. "It's just the way I was raised, I suppose. Think my mother might have considered it cheating, to have something else helping me hunt. And I suppose it never really occurred to Ri and me to want a pet, or a hunting animal or anything like that. I think in our minds, because we only really hunted with our mother or uncle, either you hunted alone, or you hunted with a Karem gifted wolf pack."
"Hmm. I can't imagine." Cassius gently patted the dog at his side, scratching lightly under her chin. "I've been around animals all my life; my mother actually owns a kennel. I got my first dog when I was four, and bred my first pup when I was nine. Cassiopeia and I have wanted to go work in that kennel practically since we were born."
Prae laughed, careful to keep his voice down to keep from spooking the stray again. "I see your family has a theme." He commented. "Why join the legion then? No offense, but you seem like you would be happier at that kennel. Cassandra's made for this life, but you..."
"Well, it's not as if I'm unhappy here, you know." He leaned over to nudge Prae's shoulder lightly. "And I'm happy to serve the empress. But mostly, it's just that the kennel's fallen on some hard times recently, especially when my parents had a third clutch coming. Nothing too bad, but it just made more sense for me to join the legion for a few arcs, send the coin back to my family. Especially since Cassandra was planning on joining as well, it seemed like a good move."
The bargest finished the food they'd brought her, and hesitantly inched forwards hopefully, drawing both of their attentions. Prae hesitated, then held out his hand, still a little greasy with fat from scooping her food out onto the grass.
With only a trill of hesitation, the barghest closed the distance between them, and began to lap at his fingers, searching eagerly for the last scraps of food and flavor that she could find there. "What do you know." Cassius murmured. "I think you're starting to grow on her." He reached out as well, gently placing one large hand over her back. Praetorum made a face when the stray froze at the contact.
"Please don't startle her while my fingers are this close to her teeth." He mumbled, as she apparently decided this was an acceptable amount of touch, and returned to lapping at his fingers.
"Sorry." Cassius said, beginning to pet the barghest slowly, his hand smoothing over her spines. "But I think this is a really great opportunity, to definitely prove we're not dangerous. Go on, give her a pet."
Praetorum studdied her spikes and spines skeptically, then stared flatly at his companion. Cassius rolled his eyes, a grin tugging at his lips. "Oh, come on." Cassius sighed. "Just put your hand on the back of her neck, and stroke back, along the direction of her scales. Make sure not to put your hand on her throat or underbelly though; barghests are very protective of their soft parts, and you really have to build up trust before they'll let you pet those. Just stay along the back for now. Maybe scratch the space between spines, that's a classic barghest grooming behavior. Don't worry about scratching her back too hard; barghest hide would turn a dagger"
Prae did as he suggested, reaching over with his other hand to begin to stroke her neck and back. He couldn't quite get at her spines from this angle, but he kept the suggestion in mind for next time, and contented himself with rubbing the back of her neck, and scratching the top of her head. The stray seemed rather content to let him do this even after she'd determined that she had eaten everything from Prae's hand, standing there with her tongue lolling out and her tail wagging slowly.
"Oh, she definitely used to be a house pet." Cassius laughed, petting along her spines. And to both their surprise, the barghest let out a contented little huff, the first noise either of them had heard from her since they'd started feeding her.
Then she pulled away, and bounded off, seeming quite invigorated. Wiping his slobber covered hand on a nearby leaf, Praetorum stood. "Alright," he said. "Let's go set up those snares now. Get some meat on those bones."
Cassius stood as well, stretching. "Sure. And Prae, thanks again for this. For coming with me, I mean, as well as the hunting."
Prae blinked, then nodded, smiling back. "Anytime." He said, and found that he meant it.
And aww that awkward thank you at the end <3