Word Count → 377 :: Prompt #3: Teach a puppy about the upcoming winter and give them a lesson in survival, such as hunting or making a fire. Alternatively, learn or practice skills related to raising children -- talk with a parent, read a book, or interact with a non-Inferni puppy.

Châtiment grazed on the patches of grass that grew near the stream in the forest while Willam splashed the water up onto her face. She ran her claws through her fur as she cleaned herself. She was silently going over her prayers while she made sure to get rid of any clumps or tangles in her coat. She had once again taken to sleeping in the forest and so she was getting rid of any traces that she had yet to find out where she was to stay. She had to quit putting it off and Willam knew that. Still she couldn't gather the courage to request a meeting with leadership. Of course, with her upbringing, she assumed that it was the leadership that gave out the assignments for living arrangements as well as daily tasks that were expected of them. It was why she knew that the meeting was required but she wasn't used to taking the initiative where it concerned leadership.

Once Willam was satisfied with how clean she had made herself, at least what she could see of herself, she stood up and stretched. The large female moved over to where Châtiment was. A hand was lifted to pat the equine's neck before she knelt down near him. Willam directed her gaze to stare into the water. She was watching the movements of the aquatic life, light catching against the scales of those closer to the surface marking their progress.

Willam ended up wading out into the water, scaring the fish in the are as she did so. though once she got to the middle of the stream she stilled and continued to stare down into the water. Once again she was watching for the fish. She slowly eased her hands into the water so that she could be ready whenever a fish came swimming near. She wasn't really adept at this and it took her quite a few misses before she was finally able to toss a fish up to the shore. Unfortunately it landed too close to the water and flopped back in so she had to start the process all over again. It really was a lesson in the virtue of patience, plus she was really craving the taste of fish.

Word Count → 320 :: I am so going to try not to be slow with this thread like I was with the other one so that 1500 words can be reached quickly and just see what happens after that, if you want to continue or not.

Willam was so concentrated upon the water, and the fish that were hidden away beneath it, that she didn't realize anyone had approached until the voice had sounded. It had surprised her enough to cause her to start and quickly lift her head to glance about for where it had come from. She smiled when she noticed that it was only Helotes's daughter, Azucena. The manners of the young girl amazed her. "Willam." She offered her name in case the young girl had forgotten, and if not then it could also serve to reassure her that it was fine to call her Willam rather than ma'am.

"I am fishing." Or well, she was trying to actually. "How are you Azucena? Are you out here alone? Where is your brother and father?" Willam glanced out behind the young girl in order to look for her male family members. Honestly Willam was a bit worried about being left alone with a pup. She didn't know what to do with them. She already had trouble trying to figure out how to react around adults, pups just made that worse since she didn't want the young girl picking up on anything that her father didn't want her to know about.

Willam brought her gaze to settle back on the pup once again. "Are you hungry? I can toss a fish up to you. All you have to do is catch it and keep it from flopping back to the water then you can eat it. Wait, you do eat meat, right?" Willam had no idea how old the little girl was or if meat had been introduced to her diet yet or not. And well, she didn't even know if the child had ever had fish before or if she even liked it. Willam figured that this was just something that she could get away with and not get either of them in trouble.

Word Count → 842 :: Out of Character text

Willam had simply not expected anyone else to be around and so it had come as a surprise to learn that there were others in the area. Not to mention that she had been intently focused on the task at hand. She had been devoting all of her attention to the aquatic life that she had paid no attention at all to the land dwellers. But the shock had only been a mild one and she had gotten over it quickly enough. After all it was all her fault that she hadn't been paying attention. There would have been nothing that Azucena would have been able to do differently.

Willam also turned her head to look in the direction that the pup was. She was relieved that her family was nearby and that the young girl hadn't wandered too far away. She didn't want the child in trouble for having gone too far. But then again she wasn't certain exactly how far too far was for a pup. But Azucena was at least within earshot of her family since the girl had admitted to hearing Willam. Maybe Helotes wouldn't be too upset should he learn that Azucena was still nearby.

The large female couldn't help but to smile at the child's enthusiasm. "That is all anyone can do is their best." Willam certainly wasn't expecting perfection since she hadn't even managed that when trying to catch fish. It would be hypocritical for her to expect Azucena to get it right on the first try when she was unable to do so herself.

"We have to be really still and quiet when fishing." Willam explained in soft tones. "Fishing is about patience. You have to focus on the water and them move around. You put your hands in the water and keep still. Then you wait. Sometimes it takes a long time and sometimes it doesn't but eventually a fish will swim close. It might even nibble on your fingers. It is when it is close that you have to be quick to catch it. If you aren't quick enough then it will swim away and you have to wait again. The fish are fast when they swim away so that it why it is better to wait until you are certain that you will catch them instead of trying to grab them as soon as they get close to you. Once you have caught a fish and have it in your hands you have to throw it up on land and not let it get close to the water. It is going to flop around and try to get back to the water once you throw it on land. If it manages to get to the water then it will swim away and you have to start over again. Of course if it doesn't then you have something to eat." Willam gave a smile to Azucena after she had gone over the whole process of fishing. Or well she went over exactly what it was that she was doing. Willam could only explain the way that she fished as she could speak for no one else.

With the tutorial out of the way Willam focused intently on what was going on below the surface of the water. She remained still and silent as she just watched and waited. After a bit Willam felt nibbling against the tips of her fingers but she didn't move just yet. She waited until the nibbles became a bit more frequent rather than a couple of nibbles then the fish swimming away to end up and come back to nibble again. When the fish came back and stayed for a bit longer she quickly closed her hands around it and lifted it out of the water. "Okay, ready. Don't let it get back to the water." Willam called out as she tried to keep hold on the slippery and squirming fish so that she could throw it up to where Azucena was at. She tried to make it a bit behind the pup so that the fish wouldn't be able to get back to the water quickly and to allow for Azucena to be able to help out and have something to do.

Once Willam had launched the fish up onto the shore she watched over the young girl. She also ended up returning her hands to the water to begin the waiting process all over again just in case the fish got away. And even if it didn't get away it still wouldn't hurt to have a second fish. After all both of the females could most likely use the practice. Plus Willam thought it would be a good idea for Azucena to have multiple fish to take back to her father so that the girl could show what she had been doing while away and hopefully it would ease any tensions that might arise. How could anyone be upset when their pup had brought them something to eat once they woke up from their nap?

Word Count → 396 :: Out of Character text

She couldn't help sharing the girl's grin with one of her own as the pup had managed to keep the fish from getting away. It had been better than what Willam had been able to manage. After all her own fish had gotten away and so she had to start the whole process over again. But Azucena hadn't suffered that. No, the younger female had managed to keep it from getting away from her. "That is really good Azucena. My first one got away from me." She figured that it wouldn't hurt to let the pup know that she had done better than Willam had. It wasn't like Willam didn't already lament on all of the things that she did wrong.

"Are you ready? We are going to try to get a couple more so that there is one for each of you." The large female figured that a fish a piece would work well enough as a snack for now. It would put some food in their bellies for the time being. Certainly Helotes couldn't get upset about that. It was one less bit of food that he would have to get for the three of them.

But she wasn't allowed to speculate on such things as she felt nibbles on her fingertips and had to quickly trap the fish and toss it up on the shore, hoping that the pup was ready to receive it. The nibble on Willam's toes had her reaching further into the water to try to grab the fish, ending up having to dunk under the water to get a firmer grip on it. She fought to keep hold of the fish and bring it up to shore to put with the one fish that they already had once it had stopped flopping about. "You are going to want to wake your daddy and your brother so that they can have lunch." She spoke the words as she placed the fish that she had down, not having glanced up to see whether or not Azucena had managed to capture the second fish that Willam had tossed up or not. If Willam had to she would get back in the water while the young girl went to get her family and try to get another fish while she waited for them to gather so that they could all have their own.

Word Count → 374 :: Out of Character text

Willam was glad to have managed to snare a single fish for each member of the small family but she was worried that it wouldn't end up being enough. She watched the small girl run off to get her family before she slipped back into the water once more to see if she couldn't end up doubling the meal if possible. She wasn't certain how much the trio usually ate when they gathered for a meal and so Willam was worried about offering meager portions. She'd rather have too much than too little.

The family ended up back before Willam could catch anything else. It seemed that they weren't so far off after all. She ended up glancing from the pile of fish and then back to the family once more. Was it enough? Would the father be upset because she had been entertaining the child without his permission? All manners of things that she could have possibly done wrong ran through her mind. But what he ended up saying surprised her. He didn't seem upset at all.

She returned the smile that was given to her and climbed out of the water in order to sit on the shore near the stream. "I didn't really do too much. I just tossed the fish to her and Azucena did all of the hard work making sure that they didn't escape. She had even managed it on her first try. She is already better than me because my fish had already gotten away by the time that she found me." Willam's inability to receive any sort of praise, no matter how round about it was, had her speaking up and downplaying her entire involvement in the situation. She would rather the pup garner all of the praise and just have herself left out of it.

"I apologize if you had wanted to teach her yourself. You still could since I only gave a basic overview of what to do." She just had to make sure that Helotes knew that she hadn't meant any harm and wasn't trying to replace him. The large female tilted her head down in order to stare at the ground, contrite for what she imagined was a misdeed on her part.

Word Count → 795 :: Out of Character text

Willam had grown up learning to speak the praises the others while downplaying her own. A humble heart was a cherished thing. Willam had certainly excelled at that point. She was over critical of herself ad would never list all of her abilities as skills that she possessed unless she could perform them with a hundred percent accuracy rate. Because of that fishing wasn't something that she would say that she was able to do since she wasn't able to secure a fish each and every time that she tried for one. But the same could be said for hunting, the one skill she would claim. She might not catch she she tried for each and every time but she refused to give up and come back empty handed. it would have been the same with the fish. If Willam hadn't had the help of the female pup then she would have still been in the water and attempting to secure them on her own well throughout the day and on into the night most likely.

"She had only happened across me when I was in the middle of fishing and was curious about it so I only told her of how I did things." But still she had enjoyed the company of the young girl. It had been especially enjoyable to see how proud the pup had been when she had managed to catch her first fish and keep it from getting away from her. It had made Willam feel good to know that Azucena had been able to do it on her own. She was glad that the task she had proposed to Azucena hadn't been too difficult for her to manage. She was prouder still that the girl had been able to secure enough food to feed her family with. That was one skill that would be needed above others. To be able to feed yourself meant you could survive from day to day.

Willam smiled softly as the boy spoke up and watched the children for a moment, at least until Helotes was speaking to her again. "I wouldn't mind it so long as it was something that Azucena would wish to do." She wasn't about to force the child to do something that she had no desire to learn. While Willam was strict with herself she couldn't be the same way with others. She was more forgiving over something that someone else did even if she would refuse to forgive herself for making the exact same mistake. So just so long as the pup was eager and willing to learn then Willam would pass on whatever knowledge that she possessed. Oh, and so long as it was okay with Helotes as well since she would not dare think that she could take over for him and his job as a parent.

Willam quickly ducked her head as she was being praised once again. Certainly she couldn't be the best. There had to be someone else that could do a better job than she could. There had to be someone more knowledgable. Willam had even opened her mouth to say as much when the sudden hand on her shoulder had her stopping. He was right, her first instinct was to deny dinner. She even had a ready made excuse of having caught nothing for herself but that was canceled out when he said that he already had food readily available. "I am sorry about your mate. I'm certain that she is still watching over them, and you as well." It was Willam's assumption that the mother had passed on and that was the reason that she could no longer be present in their lives. Willam simply could not imagine just getting up and walking out on your family.

Willam glanced up at Helotes before quickly turning her head to stare down to where the water met the shore. "You don't..." She started but cut herself off. A hand reached up to wrap her fingers around the crucifix that she always wore. Just the simple action showed there was unease in her mind and heart, that some sort of internal conflict was going on. "If you are certain that it would make you happy and that your children wouldn't mind then I will." She finally gave in and accepted the offer. It had been him saying that it would make him happy that had made her even consider it. It spoke to her and her desire to never disappoint if she could help it. But still she had to have the consent of all the involved parties first. If the children didn't want her presence then she would have to deny since she couldn't force herself on them.