Snowshoes

Boreal’s scales shivered  as he stepped out into the late winter cold. His mate nudged him forward into the snow and gave him a sharp grin when he looked back scowling. 

“Time’s wasting,” Glory told him, looking back to where their two hatchlings were following behind. Yukihime took the lead between the two as she always did, with Pardus following behind her with his eyes narrowed suspiciously. It was early in the morning and it was the ideal low light for their children to learn how to hunt. It was a practiced tradition, with previous clutches finding their feet in the late winter snow at the end of their first year of life. Boreal had tempered his expectations for this first outing but he was quietly excited about how well he believed Yuki would perform. She had already been asking how to hunt, while her brother was happy to be fed by his parents. He worried for the boy sometimes, his passive nature made him a pleasant child to raise but he wondered if he lacked the ambition to make it in the world.

Glory trampled the snow beneath her feet, leaving her steps in between the footprints of her mate. She knew the nature of their lifestyle and colouring lead to most of their offspring living in the highlands like they did. Therefore, she knew they had to brave the cold eventually, but something in her instinctively protected them from wading through snow up to their knees. Boreal led the way to a flat plain that would become a grassland once the snow melted, the ideal hunting ground for tutoring the art of hunting small prey in the snow. He explained as they walked, telling them how to listen out for the sounds of prey under the powder, how to recognise the smell of live animals through the fresh, icy scent. He knew they would only be half listening as they concentrated on making it through the freezing cold, but that was fine, they would learn through demonstration.

**

Boreal stood over the deep snow and tilted his head to the side to listen. He remembered this being so much easier when he was a hatchling, closer to the ground and closer to his prey. With the eerie silence of morning, he could just about hear scratching under the white powder. He lunged forward and snapped his jaws shut around the small, warm body hidden within. He pulled back and shook the snow from his mouth, revealing barely a mouthful of a small, brown mammal. He didn’t care to classify them, just showing it briefly to the children before tipping his head back and swallowing it. 

“Like that,” he said, like it was self-explanatory.

Pardus looked at him with wide eyes and glanced over to his mother for help.

“It takes practice,” she reassured him, “Your father has had a lot of that in his life.”

“I feel like you’re calling me old,” Boreal grumbled, making the hatchlings giggle. Emboldened by their typical grouchy father, the youngsters waded out into the centre of the snow and waited. Glory wanted to correct them, to advise that both of them standing together would probably deter anything from burrowing under them, but she held her tongue. These pearls of wisdom would come with time, and if nothing else the two of them were keeping each other warm as they stood hip-to-hip in the snow. As expected, the eldest of the two struck first, plunging her face into the snow at full speed, no hesitation. She seemed to be stuck for a moment, before digging her feet into the ground and tugged.

Yuki pulled her nose back with a grimace and shook the snow from her snout.

“It’s cold!” she complained loudly. Boreal resisted the urge to be condescending and leaned down to nudge her instead.

“You have to get used to it little one, the snow won’t stop being cold just because you’re hungry,” he informed her. She sighed loudly and dramatically but returned to her post, not moving from her original spot at all. Pardus considered her for a moment and decided to move away, earning himself a scowl from his sister as he disturbed the peace while doing so. He stood quietly for a long time, occasionally thinking he could hear something, but he didn’t want to take the chance and come up with a noseful of snow.

Yukihime didn’t have that same reservation, diving in repeatedly and not losing an ounce of enthusiasm with each attempt. She figured if she simply tried over and over, one attempt had to succeed. She didn’t notice the way her parents hovered over her, faces pinched in concern. When Pardus chanced a look over at his parents, all he could see was the two of them standing over his sister. As always, Yuki was clearly outperforming him and drawing their full attention. He sniffled a little, blinking back tears that threatened to fall and facing the ground again. He had to at least match her, to avoid falling behind in something else. His sister was the first to hatch, the first to talk, the first to venture outside of the cave (without permission), the first to attempt hunting by herself. Everything they did, it felt like he was being left behind in the dust she left as she surged ahead. He listened harder, straining his ears to hear anything over the sound of Yuki going head first into the snow.

Pardus finally dove into the snow, the shock of the cold around his head making his jaw go slack instantly. He forgot entirely about grabbing whatever he had heard and pulled back instead. He shook his head like Yuki had, his teeth chattering and heart thumping in his chest. The shock of the cold left him completely stunned, reeling in place as hye tried to control his frantic breathing. For a moment he had thought he wouldn’t be able to pull himself out of the snow, and it terrified him.

“Good try! It gets easier when you get used to the cold!” Pardus jumped at the sound of his father praising him.

“I didn’t get anything,” he responded reproachfully.

“Neither has Yuki,” Boreal shrugged, “It’s all about giving it your best try, your mother and I will still hunt for the two of you until you learn this.”

“I got one!” Yuki’s muffled voice came from far away. Pardus followed a trail of holes in the snow until he reached his sister’s tail sticking out, her legs kicking furiously trying to free herself. He grabbed onto her tail near the base to avoid amputating it with his teeth and pulled, freeing her from the icy prison. She grinned around her mouthful of rat and dropped its motionless body onto the ground between them. “Nice!” she enthused, “We can split it since you helped out!” Pardus didn't get a chance to reply, watching her sever the rat into two vaguely equal pieces. Yuki kicked the head towards him, “Since you’re the brains of the operation,” she explained gleefully, delighted with her own pun. Pardus didn’t want to take charity, but his stomach grumbled and he swallowed his half down reluctantly.

“If we can combine the two of you we’ll have a competent hunter already,” Glory joked, nuzzling the top of their heads. 

“We’ll head back and try tomorrow, good work kids,” Boreal said, his tone gruff as always but an undeniable tone of warmth shone through. Pardus felt like something had been stolen from under him, even though he was going back to the cave fed.