Chapter 6: Hold Your Horses Now

With Ame agreeing to teach Izumi how to hunt for the six weeks of summer break, the two would have training sessions in the mountains every other day. Sōhei was nervous about having his daughter go out into a potentially dangerous area at her age, but Yuki said she would be supervising the whole process, though mostly it was because she didn't want Izumi potentially getting too carried away with anything. Izumi had her first session a couple of days after their agreement; she and her mother met up with Ame, all of them in wolf form, and he started to go over the basics.

"So, Izi, you think you're ready to learn to hunt?" He questioned his niece. "It's really important that a wolf knows how to do so if it wants to survive, but it's quite the process. As you are still a pup, you can only start small, but you will eventually learn how to tackle much bigger prey as you grow bigger yourself."

"I'll do what it takes, Uncle Ame!" Izumi excitedly responded.

"Well, this is serious business, you know," Ame instructed her. "This follows in line with one of the most important rules of being a wolf: you are the boss of the woods. You shouldn't let any other animals push you around; if one tries to take away your food, order that animal to stay back."

"This doesn't mean you should be a bully to them, though," added Yuki. She hoped Ame wouldn't try to counter that statement, but luckily he didn't.

Ame had Izumi practice this by giving her some of his scraps. As she ate some of it, Ame acted like he was going to take it away. He had her learn to stop that from happening by showing her how to intimidate through the use of snarling. Izumi tried her best, even though she couldn't do it as strongly as Ame hoped. She also learned about marking territory, though she thought that to be just gross. Yuki told Ame that her daughter didn't have to learn everything just yet since she was still wanting to be a human as well, so he reluctantly backed down from most of that lesson.

The next lesson took place days later, where Ame had her learn about tracking.

"A wolf's best tools aren't its weapons, but rather its senses," he instructed. "As a wolf, your senses are much more powerful than a human's. You can feel changes in the air with your fur, hear things from miles away, and see much more clearly in the dark. The most important sense, however, is smell; once you've picked up the scent of prey or anything else, you can easily tell where it has gone off to and follow its trail."

Izumi practiced this not with live prey, but rather with more of Ame's scraps. He hid some around various places in the mountains, had Izumi memorize the smell of it, and then had her search for them. She liked this lesson a lot since it was similar to Hide-and-Seek. Ame had to remind her that even though it seemed like fun, it's still serious business when it comes to what she's learning about. More days continued with this lesson, which became more challenging as the hiding locations became more widespread. Izumi was able to nearly ace this lesson since she liked it so much.

With Izumi now able to track down things by scent, Ame had her now actually try and use it on live animals.

"Pups are able to hunt down much smaller animals like rats and snakes," he went over with her. "The best way to find them is to look for their homes and find their scent there, then follow it to find where they could possibly be. I know your mom has had experience with this, right?" He looked over to his sister.

Yuki replied uneasily, "Well, yes; that was so long ago, though."

Ame turned his attention back to Izumi and whispered to her. "Don't worry about what she says; I still believe in her like I do with you."

Izumi then got right to executing the lesson. She was able to track down a rat easily enough, though she was unable to catch it. Ame had to remind her that she shouldn't just rush one down; she needs to be sneaky with it. Izumi then tried again with a more stealthy approach; while she was able to sneak up easily on it, she couldn't quite get it once she tried attacking it. The next try, she was able to catch one, though she did so by changing her paw into a hand and grabbing it. Yuki applauded her for using tactics like she has done before, but Ame said while this is acceptable for now, she shouldn't get used to doing it that way since it's not natural for a wolf. Izumi complained but was told that the next lesson will involve how to properly attack one.

"It's important you know how to catch prey using only what you have in your full wolf form," Ame said in the next lesson. "Your claws are strong weapons that can easily harm your prey. If you are able to strike an animal with one while sneaking up on it, it won't stand a chance. Also, your teeth are major weapons since your jaw is stronger while closing it."

Izumi took all that information in and tried using it on a snake she found. Crouching down at one, she managed to successfully pounce on one and use her claws to incapacitate it. She felt bad for it, but Ame reminded her that she shouldn't feel bad for her prey, only animals that she considers equal enough.

Ame decided the next lesson should be much tougher now that she's gotten the hang of the basics; the next lesson would have her train her stamina.

He went over this at the foot of a hill: "While you now know how to properly find and attack your prey, it's nothing if you don't have the energy to go after them. You should try to increase this by running up steep slopes as much as you can."

He then had Izumi race him to the top of several hills. Izumi was told she shouldn't worry about actually beating him since that was basically impossible but rather just try to keep up. This lesson continued for several more days with the slope increasing in difficulty. Izumi tired out fast in the beginning, but she eventually built more stamina up as she continued, naturally.

Now that he had taught her mostly everything she could learn as a pup and with only so many days until school started up again, Ame decided to put Izumi to the ultimate test by assembling an obstacle course. This consisted of an uphill run where multiple targets had to be found and hit along the way. Izumi was told she needed to get a certain amount of the targets and finish in time in order to pass; this made her a bit nervous, but she approached it with determination. Her attempts at it weren't passable enough, however, and her confidence was slipping.

"Izi, don't give up!" Ame encouraged her. "You've come so far already!"

"I just wish I had what it takes," Izumi dejectedly said. "I feel like I need to see how to do it well myself."

"What, do you want me to go through it?" Ame asked her.

"No, I want Mom to do it," responded Izumi.

"ME?!" Yuki exclaimed. "Why me?!"

"Uncle Ame believes in you," Izumi told her, "so I should too."

"But I'm nowhere near as good a hunter as you, bro," Yuki told Ame.

Ame walked up to her, "I had no skill initially and had to find someone to train me; you, on the other hand, were already capable of hunting when you were just a pup. Also, don't forget what happened to me right after my first real attempt at hunting and who it was that saved me." Ame brought her to the start of the course. "Just try it, sis; your daughter wants to see you in action."

Yuki nervously approached the course, closed her eyes, and focused on wanting to please both of them. She started the course and went through it with flying colors. Izumi stood in amazement as she saw how great her mother was at it, while Ame just smiled. Yuki completed the course perfectly by hitting all the targets in record time. Ame asked Izumi if she was ready to try again, and she agreed now that she had regained confidence. Izumi went through the course, and this time she did much better by hitting almost all the targets and reaching the end just in time. Even if it wasn't quite as good as her mother could do it, Izumi managed to pass. Both Yuki and Ame congratulated her on passing it, which filled Izumi with immense joy. She celebrated by letting out a victory howl, and the two others joined in with her.

##

Satisfied over the results from the test, the three wolves decided to have a leisurely walk back to the farm. Izumi happily walked ahead of Yuki and Ame, who were talking together.

"Thank you for all that you've done to help her," Yuki said to her brother. "She really feels like a real wolf now."

"Thank you too, sis," Ame said back. "This definitely makes up for what I was planning to do with Inari before she ended up leaving me. Of course, you didn't really have to come to me; you could've just taught her yourself."

"I really thought you would've been the better teacher since you know all about being a wolf." Yuki remarked.

"Did you see how well you did in the course?" Ame told her. "How did it feel when you completed it?

"It felt amazing!" replied Yuki. "I had no idea that I still had it in me, considering that as an adult I've only used my wolf form for fun."

"As I told you, you're a natural," complimented Ame. "You've always been a better wolf than me; you just don't realize it."

"Well, you did beat me in combat," reminded Yuki.

Ame then looked glum at being reminded of their dark past, "To tell you the truth, you starting a family wasn't the first time I was envious of you; part of the reason, at least, of why I decided to dedicate my life to being a wolf was to be better than you."

Yuki looked sorrowful at her brother, realizing how much emotional pain she had caused him. "Ame, I'm sorry."

"Please, don't be," Ame calmly said back. "We're still family, and we all want to put the bad stuff behind us."

Yuki cheered up at that, "I just hope Izumi will still respect her family in the future."

Ame then looked around. "Speaking of her, where is she?"

Yuki suddenly began to worry as she realized her daughter had gotten too far ahead, and they were too close to other farms. She detected her scent and began to follow it.

Izumi had wandered off the path due to her excitement distracting her. She soon found her way into a field of crops. She was unfamiliar with where she was since she knew it wasn't her family's own farm, but then a sound caught her attention. She heard a group of crows that she spotted perched on a scarecrow that was obviously not doing what it was intended to do. Since she had just been learning to go after prey, her instincts made her want to try and get the crows herself. She stealthily approached the scarecrow so as not to frighten off the birds too early. Unseen to her, Yuki and Ame had finally caught up and spotted her. Yuki saw what her daughter was doing, but then she suddenly saw the farm's owner drawing a shotgun pointed towards her. Fear suddenly kicked in, and she ran to pick up her daughter with her jaws and safely drag her away just before a gunshot was heard. Yuki scolded Izumi for running off ahead of them and into danger; then she told her that they need to head home right now. As the two were hurrying back, Ame heard another shot, but this time he also heard the farmer shout out what seemed to be curses directed towards the crows. He soon realized that the gunshots were not aimed at them and tried calling back out to Yuki, but she had already gone too far ahead to pay attention.

##

Yuki and Izumi soon arrived back home; both of them had already switched back to human form. Once they walked inside, Sōhei took notice of them and realized something was up.

"Is everything alright?" He asked the two of them.

"I passed the test!" Izumi tried saying.

"That's good," Sōhei said to her before turning attention to Yuki, "but you seem distressed. Sounds like something bad happened."

"No, nothing important," Yuki nervously answered.

"Don't hide anything from me," Sōhei demanded. "I'm constantly worried about the two of you going out into the mountains as wolves when the rumors are still afloat. Tell me, or I'll find out myself."

Knowing there was no way out of it, Yuki reluctantly told the truth, "Izumi walked into another farm while in wolf form and nearly got shot."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Sōhei. "How could you let this happen?!"

"She just got ahead of us and tried hunting down some crows," explained Yuki.

"Izi! How could you get in danger like that?!" Sōhei scolded his daughter.

"Sorry, Dad," Izumi sadly apologized.

"Don't worry about it now; just please go get ready for a bath," ordered Sōhei.

Izumi then headed to the bathroom as she was told; Sōhei then turned his attention back to Yuki.

"I told you it's too dangerous!" he said to her. "This is even worse than being spotted by tabloids!"

"As I said, I wasn't keeping an eye on her, so blame me for that." Yuki responded.

"That doesn't matter," Sōhei said back. "I don't want any more of this; she's not allowed to train out in the mountains anymore. You should do the same too."

"Are you saying we should repress our wolf selves like I tried to do?" an annoyed Yuki asked. "This seems very hypocritical of you!"

"No, you can still be wolves, just not outside the farm." Sōhei replied. "I was only worried about you getting exposed to the public, but now I know that there are still people out there that will willingly shoot you."

Yuki became more exasperated at the conversation, "That's why I wanted to supervise Izumi, to prevent that from happening. I know how afraid you are, and until now we've managed to keep away from anybody."

"That's all beside this new point now!" an agitated Sōhei continued. "You only wanted to supervise her because you were afraid she could end up like your brother; I'm afraid now that you'll end up like your father!"

Yuki suddenly silenced herself in shock at how her husband once again brought up her father's demise; she started to tear up and ran into the master bedroom. Sōhei realized that he hurt her feelings badly again, but he knew that there was truth to it. He then heard someone approach the front door; he looked and saw it was Ame, who had rushed to the house and was now panting heavily.

"Sōhei! You need to know something important!" Ame urgently told him. "There was no danger after all; I stayed behind a bit and heard what the farmer was saying. He wasn't shooting at Izumi; he was only shooting blanks at the crows just to scare them."

Sōhei paused for a few seconds and thought about what Ame had said, then responded, "This changes nothing."

Sōhei then headed toward the bathroom to prepare his daughter a bath. Ame stood at the entrance for a while, staring him down. He realized that the whole episode had caused his brother-in-law to lose some trust in him, all because he had potentially jeopardized not only his family's secret but their own lives as well. He then left the house, unsure of what the future held for his relationship with them.