Title: Patience

Prompt: Written for a 100 Themes Challenge: "67. Patience."

Summary: "A lesson in hunting for Toboe quickly becomes a test of patience for Tsume."

Music: Drunk—Ed Sheeran

Disclaimer: Don't own Wolf's Rain, but if given the chance to keep the characters in my basement, I would not hesitate.

A/N: I don't think anyone has done this idea before. And I don't recall them doing much hunting in the anime (I think Hige only hunts for hot dogs). So, this oneshot was written!

I really don't know much about wolves' hunting habits; forgive me if this doesn't sound realistic.

Reviews are appreciated :)

Patience

"Sit still," Tsume hisses, and Toboe stops his eager tail-wagging to shrink back, ears flat.

"Sorry," he whispers. "I can't help it."

"Try to help it," Tsume retorts. "Prey won't lie down in front of you and wait to be killed. Remember that if you ever want to learn how to hunt."

"I know, I'm sorry."

Tsume rolls his eyes. "If you're ready to actually focus now," he says, letting his irritation show in his voice, "use your nose. What can you smell?"

Toboe closes his eyes in concentration and scents the air. "I can smell…pine trees, and us, and Kiba and Hige, and water…"

Tsume resists the urge to heave a sigh. He didn't ask for an entire list, but he supposes it's his fault for not specifying.

"What can you smell that's edible?"

"Oh," Toboe muses, eyes still closed. "Um…this is harder… I can hear birds," he says hopefully, opening his eyes to look at Tsume. "And they're close by."

"I'd prefer we hunt what's on the ground," Tsume says, his patience beginning to wear thin. When the pack stumbled upon this stretch of forest, he figured that this would be as good a time as any to teach Toboe how to hunt. It'd be good for the pup to learn how to survive on his own—maybe then he'd realize that he shouldn't need to rely on humans or his pack mates to get by.

Now he's wondering why he didn't just make Hige or Kiba teach him.

"C'mon, runt," he urges. "Your hearing's great, but use your nose. I can scent something. Figure it out."

Looking determined now, Toboe closes his eyes again and lowers his nose to the ground. Tsume flicks his tail ever so slightly; the enticing scent is practically begging him to investigate it, but he's got to wait.

"Rabbits!" Toboe suddenly says, opening his eyes and giving Tsume a triumphant look. "That's it, right?"

"Took you long enough," Tsume grumbles, but he nudges his shoulder against the pup's. "All right, stalking. Figure out which way the wind is blowing and stay downwind of your prey until you're ready to pounce—you don't want it to be able to smell you. Your bracelets are going to be a problem"—he casts a disapproving look at the silver metal around Toboe's right foreleg—"but if you're careful and set your paws down right, it won't matter as much. Got all that?"

Toboe nods earnestly. "I think so."

"All right, show me your crouch."

The pup drops down low, balancing his weight evenly. His tail still wags excitedly, though, and Tsume gives a short growl to tell him to stop.

"Not bad," he says. "Can you move forward like that? Pretend you're stalking something."

Toboe carefully extends a paw and draws himself forward step by step, taking extra caution with his right foreleg. He keeps his tail low to the ground but not brushing it, and Tsume particularly notices the way Toboe's gaze never wavers from a fixed point in front of him. The runt actually has a half-decent crouch, and he doesn't need to be told not to rush; he moves slowly and quietly, which means a better chance for success.

It's like he's always known this stuff, he's just never used it, Tsume thinks. He could actually be a decent hunter if he doesn't—

His rare moment of optimism is, sadly, short-lived. Toboe, who had begun to tremble with suppressed energy, suddenly takes a flying leap forward. His bracelets clatter noisily as he lands on a twig about six feet away with a yell of "Gotcha!", startling Tsume and making enough noise to scare off every living thing in the forest, Kiba and Hige included.

—do that.

Toboe sits up, the twig in his mouth and his amber eyes alight with excitement and mischief. "Did I do it right, Tsume?" he asks, his tail wagging furiously.

Tsume wants to kill him.

Gritting his teeth and willing himself not to yell—if they're ever going to catch anything, they don't need even more noise added to the situation—he tries to form a response.

"You did," he growls reluctantly, "but we're not hunting twigs. And if you don't stop messing around, that'll be all you'll have to eat tonight—if I let you eat anything at all."

Toboe's ears droop for a second, but he drops the twig and nods seriously. "Okay. What should I do now?"

"Go try it on your own," Tsume says. I'm done. "Just don't go too far. I'll go this way, and let's meet back here in a while. See if you can manage to actually catch something."

"Got it!" Toboe says as he gets up and dives headlong into the brush before Tsume can stop him. "Bet I can catch more than you!" he calls teasingly over his shoulder.

Tsume watches him go, resisting the impulse to tackle the pup and snarl at him for being so stupid, but conscience wins out and he stalks away in the opposite direction, reminding himself, Patience…