[Aeneas]

    He had been practicing.

    Well, perhaps it was more accurate to say he'd been splashing about in the water and getting frustrated, and occasionally having something to show for it. But that counted, right? The waiting and the patience parts he had down, really-- he'd only fallen asleep once! But it was the being fast and quick and dexterous enough to scoop the fish out of the water that was proving to be the tricky part. There were just so many things that went into it! You had to be faster than the fish, you had to get your paw under it just right that you scooped it before it swam away, and you had to do all of that while aiming for a bit of the bank where the fish could land and you could pounce down on it before it flopped itself back into the water.

    He'd seen it done without the scooping and the flinging, where a wolf might plunge his head into the water and come out with a fish in his jaws. But he'd also emerged with nothing but a stick in his mouth on more than one occasion, and the indignity of it had pushed him to perfect the scooping method instead.

    And so here he was. Aeneas had his thinking face on, staring hard at the water with one paw raised above it, ready to move. He watched several fish swim closer and closer, unaware that statue above was alive and ready. As a fish came within reach, Aeneas's paw flashed into the water and found the fish's belly before it could get away, and scooped it from the water and out onto the sandy bank.

    "YES!" The boy danced in a giddy circle as the fish flopped, land-bound. "I did it! Finally! Oh yeah now I have to--" He pinned the fish with one paw and delivered a bite to its neck, ending its flopping. He'd done it! Perhaps it was sheer dumb luck, but he'd caught his first fish.

[Pawprint]

His dad sense was tingling...

So the older wolf ambled around the forest in search of his children.  Letting them roam made him nervous, but they were grown enough.  Eventually they were going to have their own hole in the catacombs and move from home.  Oh he was getting old thinking about it!

He missed Rapture, Aeneas, and Beatrice curled around their parents, a mix of white, dull browns, maroon, and black showing their heritage.  Sometimes Buckshot would watch his children the first few weeks they were alive to make sure theu were okay, especially his son.  His birth scared him and Sara, considering he wasn't breathing for a harrowing few moments, so pappa was nervous whenever he slept.  He didn't want to be accused of nepotism---if there was such a thing as low-key hypervigilance, Buckshot practiced it.  It turned out, besides the big move, the runt of the litter was just fine.

The sight of Aeneas fishing no less, twinged his heart with fatherly delight.  Buckshot was never so still in his efforts, relying more on fish traps his old pack made to do the heavy lifting of his stalking.  His son was more focused than he could be!  And it was rewarded when he splashed his paw in and came up with a grand prize flopping on the shore.  A Plus Scoop.

[Squeee-ee-e-e-wee-eee]

It was a long 15 second wait before pappa emerged from his hiding spot all full of exicted body language.  As much as he wanted to shout and cheer, Aeneas deserved to bask in his victory.

"Amazing!"  Buckshot playfully nipped his son's ear.  "Ahhhh, congratulations, you're a fishing wolf, son!"