Croatoia woke with the sun and closed her eyes against its assaulting light. A sigh escaped the cub as she rolled onto her side. The side which her sister should have been on. That sneaky cub had gotten away again. Served her right for sleeping in. She had raised her head to peer over her side and the empty space where her sister should have been came into view. "Darn it." Croa muttered to herself and dropped her head back down to the hard rock surface of their den. Her entire body ached argumentatively as she pulled herself to stand. Her morning rituals were simple in comparison to that of her sisters. Wake up, find their mother, have a meal, and move onto adventures. The adventures with which she had been sharing with Sabia prior to her newest engagements. Engagements that rendered the vibrant yellow cub alone.

Grrr. The reminder that her sister was off and playing with their father was stirring up a number of feelings. The primary one being rage. She was finished with her mother and happily full to the brim. Croatoia wondered how Sabia made it through days where she had to be up at first light to see their father. Clearly her mother wasn't roused enough to help feed her. Perhaps her father took on more of a parental role than she had anticipated - amazing.

The trip to find her estranged father and sister was a little more difficult this time around. She couldn't strut about like some shadow, following her deep red sister through the grassy bushes and brown tree trunks. There was no paw prints either. Perhaps she had been out far earlier than even Croa could fathom. Had there been rain? Her sky blue eyes cast to the ground and noticed the droplets that had been drying up on some of the tall grass. The rain had helped bring the grass back to life following being crushed by cubs that were far too playful and two that had it in their minds that sneaking away was fine. Set on finding them she scampered away from the small field and disappeared into the brush.

Croa paused in her step only when she thought she heard something. Her ears twisted to her right and she lowered herself. Of course her pelt gave her away regardless of how low she may get, but she tried nonetheless. When silence fell over the scene she closed her eyes and raised her golden nose to the sky and inhaled slowly. The smell was faint and getting fainter, but she was onto them. Another sound in the brush revealed that a hare had been digging about. With no motivation to hunt she carried on towards the path with the strongest scent.

With exhaustion starting to overcome her little body she very nearly gave up. Fortunately she had stopped near a well rooted tree with a small nook to rest in. Her eyes began to flutter closed, but not before she caught sight of some movement not far from her. Soon the stark red pelt of her father came into view and shortly after she spied her sister. Now she was limping, what could have happened? The rage wouldn't let her think on that long when she saw her sister playing with the huge figure. How dare they have these secret get togethers without her. Brandishing a new found bit of energy she was up again and watching. Not before long she heard her father, in his booming words, tell her sister that it was enough for the day and that he'd have to send her on her way early. The blue gaze, much like her own, had drifted from her sister and eventually fell on her.

How had he known? He couldn't.

She was startled by the sudden attention and found herself falling back to her rump in the rush of emotion. Croa heard the cheery farewells of Sabia heading away from her and then she was suddenly alone with the beast.

"Hello?" No, that didn't sound right. What would she even say to him? The hate she had established was not beating out the fear she felt for him. The fear compelled her to stay away, the hate compelled her to do something about it. Either way she felt herself almost pinned under the two emotions. Fortunately for her the male didn't pointedly change his attentions to her. No. He turned away from his daughter that had scampered off and tended to a meal that had fallen to the wayside.

Would he just talk to her already?

The answer to that was no, his actions made that abundantly clear and so she decided to approach him. "Father." She said with a tone that suggested her she was uninterested in any conversation. Obviously her appearance showed otherwise. "Daughter." A red brow raised at the appearance of his golden hued daughter and a smile broke his blood dampened faced. "Care for a bite?" He shoved a hare towards the tiny girl that had approached him, but she turned her nose up at the offering though it did explain how Sabia was remaining fed. "So you're teaching her how to hunt?" She asked him with a small whimper.

"Yes." Was the answer he offered before taking a bite of his own meal. She watched the flesh of another hare give up at the pressure of the bite and blood poured free from the lions mouth and the preys body. "Well that's not fair." Immediately as her words were out she regretted them. His blue gaze turned towards her and although he remained silent she could feel the burden of those eyes on her. "I mean.. I want to learn too." She tried for a more confident look, but failed it miserably.

"Oh?" Red brows shot up at her response. "Alright." He finally came around to the idea of teaching not one, but two of his daughters in secret. This one didn't sit well with him, there was a spark behind her eyes that he caught a number of times even when he caught her stumbling through fear of him. She was much stronger, emotionally, than she let on.

"Where do we begin.."