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[biteoffherhead]

[Just another day, another time for Moro. Though usually quite content to keep her distance from humans (despite her growing fondness and affections towards the captives of Luceti, she was still incredibly hesitant to be trustful), today it seems she's lounging around just outside the village boundaries. She's even stretching and rolling around, participating in very casual behavior, not very typical of her usual demeanor.

Of course, these slightly embarrassing behaviors are only viewable from a distance, as she quickly regains her dignity and sulks into the cover of the trees when someone approaches too close.

The second half of the day is spent idly hunting. Because it's best to stock up on fatty reserves for the winter anyway. You might get that funny feeling of being followed...]

Comments

[tsuntrader]

[...Oh, those were just- hey, wait- why are you--]

[biteoffherhead]

Ah hah hah hah! I did not think I was teaching a hare!

1/2

[tsuntrader]

[tsuntrader]

[...Hey.]

[biteoffherhead]

How untrained your senses are! To be so unable to recover from a broken focus? Laughable!

[tsuntrader]

[Hey!]

[biteoffherhead]

[Congrats, Silver, you're the first person to make it hard for her to stop her chuckle fit.]

Ah, hah. You will learn. Eventually.

You must be able to focus, without becoming vulnerable.

[tsuntrader]

[But he can do that. He's always alert. How alert can he be without being vulnerable?...]

[biteoffherhead]

As you grow more keen to your senses, you will see, hear, and feel anything that is moving, and as you grow familiar with these sensations, they will be as second nature as the pathetic excuse for your senses are now.

[tsuntrader]

[...She wants him to be even more in tune with his senses than he is now. Okay, fine. Being reasonably alert isn't alert enough? Then he'll fix that. That's all there really is to it.

Another nod.]

[biteoffherhead]

[She moves on, expecting Silver to follow, until she finds a spot where she hears hares grazing.

She looks at him, gesturing vaguely to the small field. The rabbits aren't immediately visible, but you're to catch them.]

[tsuntrader]

[...But he won't be able to immediately catch them because he can't see them, and it's going to be a lot harder to catch one of them if they start running...

It would be one thing if Sneasel could help chase them out and herd them over to him, but- no, there's no point in ifs.

...He's at least going to climb up the closest tree he can find and try to get a better view from above before trying this.]

[biteoffherhead]

[Moro lies down silently, simple waiting and watching, and will remain silent until a hare is caught or they are all chased away.]

[tsuntrader]

[...Well, he could use ice to enclose them, then- no, can't use Sneasel. What if he- damnit.

...Oh.

That could work.

Silver's searching the ground for... Rocks?... And he'll take two or three of them back up to the tree he was looking at the rabbits from.]

[biteoffherhead]

[Moro simply watches with mild interest. The rabbits are stirring, a bit, but are relatively undisturbed.]

[tsuntrader]

[And then, after a deep breath, Silver throws a rock towards the group of them. It's a pretty hard toss, but lacks precision. Which is fine, because it scatters them, and the second one runs within Silver's range, he pelts one with a rock with perfect accuracy. It's like tossing a Pokéball at a Pokémon, only vastly easier, and it's simple to catch one once it's injured.]

[biteoffherhead]

[Clever. But Moro stays silent, keeping her ears trained on the rabbit and her gaze locked on Silver.]

[tsuntrader]

[Gotcha. Alright, Moro just wanted him to catch one, right? He can just grab a potion or berry out of his pocket and from there, it's no harm-

... ...No.

He can't. Not here...]

[biteoffherhead]

[Nope. She's waiting for you to catch it with your bare hands.]

[tsuntrader]

[Hopping down, heading over to it, and catching it in his hands. But it's squirming. Injured. Bleeding.

Because of him.

Exclusively because of him.

He did this with his own hands.]

[biteoffherhead]

[There.

Moro gets up, approaching.]

Before you kill it, take a moment to revere it. Show appreciation for the life it is holding, that you are taking.

Then kill it, swiftly and painlessly as you can manage.

[tsuntrader]

[...He's seen Sneasel do it before, with his claws. A knife is more or less the same, right? He can do this. It wouldn't be fair for him to hesitate and be above it if it's something he would make his Pokémon do. Something they'll have to do. Something he wants to be ready to do when he has to.

That doesn't mean that he won't blanch a little as he kills it, or that he won't look away immediately afterward.]

[biteoffherhead]

[Moro growls, sternly.]

Do not look away. Watch. Witness as its life expires. Give it that respect.

[tsuntrader]

[And immediately, before he can think about it, he listens and fixes his gaze back on the rabbit.

...It's dying. Is it dead? If it's not, it will be. There's no way it could survive that...]

[biteoffherhead]

The forest offers its bounty to all. Your obligation is to respect the life that you take. To feel, in the depths of your heart, a true appreciation of what the forest sacrifices for you.