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Ash finished tying off a loop of rope and stood to examine his work before covering over the loop with a scattering of the various forest detritus that was laying along the path. After he was sure that the snare was secure and properly camouflaged he picked up his back pack and moved a little further off into the woods. He glanced around as he walked marking the trees, the rocks, anything that could serve as a landmark and kept moving in his current direction until finding a spot seemingly at random and coming to a stop so that he could go to his knees.

Ash glanced around again seeming to make sure that he was alone and then took some supplies out of his backpack. He supposed that there were probably rules against setting traps in the forest but he had his reason. Unfortunately not all those reasons revolved around his hunting and that might prove to be the point that got him into real trouble if anyone found out.

Ash was suspicious. He had been ever since the run in with the hunter girl. He had seen her a few times since their meeting in the forest and made sure to give her a wide berth when he could but he had been watching her ever since and made note of some of her habits. He didn't have any hard evidence of course, at least nothing yet but ever since she had made her grandiose threats Ash had gotten an intuition that something was up. Nothing that he could be for sure on but it had been a sharp intuition nonetheless, as sharp as a bee's ass his grandfather would have said and that meant she bore watching.

It also meant that he should probably make a few preparations like he was doing now. Granted if anything was going to happen it was probably going to happen at camp but if something did happen he wanted to have a place where he had the upper hand and that's what this forest was to him. No one would know it better and if something did happen he would try to insure it was drawn towards his place, the one where he would have the upper hand.

Fortunately if anyone came along he had the good excuse that he was setting game traps, which in a sense he was, but on a whole Ash wasn't very worried about it. He was off the beaten trail in paths that few besides himself even knew about. He had been out here several times over the past weeks and hadn't run into anyone yet and he didn't think that this would change any time soon. He could be wrong of course but for now he thought it was safe to continue setting his snares which was precisely what he was doing as he began to dig a shallow trench and cover it over with leaves.

"I would agree with you there. I have had trail reasons more appetizing." Ash glanced back at her as he consisted her offer of a meal. It had been a while since he had anything close to what he considered a real breakfast but then add on top of that the fact that it was coming from Dakota and he couldn't resist. "A real breakfast though. You are turning out to have all kinds of hidden talents Dakota. Somehow I think I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn't take you up on that offer."

Ash nodded as he got the approval he needed. "I think she has a lot to show us if we let her." He said and then gave Blue Sky a little jerk of the reins to have her put on steam. The pegasus took the signal and as they came into a long stretch of the yard they began to pick up speed like a run way. Before long she had spread her wings, there was that brief heart lifting feeling as they took off and then they were climbing. "Hold on tight," He whispered to her ear giving her that same warning he had on that first ride "but know that I've got you."

The boy wasn’t even listening. Ash could tell and that made him madder than any of the events this entire gods forsaken evening. Perhaps he didn’t understand his little brother because he had never had the privilege of not listening when someone was trying to tell him something. Back home he knew he would have been cuffed on the ear so hard that it might have drawn blood or worse. Ash’s grandfather was a hard man and as much as Ash tried to avoid becoming as cruel and cold as his grandfather was he had certainly picked up the man’s extraordinary lack of patience foolishness.

Currently that patience had been frayed to its breaking point and he was beyond done with his brother's antics. So when Lucas shouted at him and ran out the door Ash made no move to stop him. There were some things you had to learn the hard way and trying to drive a point home did no good if the person you were trying to teach was as stubborn as a concrete wall. If Lucas wanted to get himself in trouble then Ash would let him. What he wouldn’t do was let the blame for his little brother’s rashness fall squarely on his shoulders.

With a sigh more akin to an old man than a boy the age of fifteen Ash walked over to his bed and collected his things. There was no telling what Lucas was up to but Ash wasn’t going to get in a situation where he was unprepared to face whatever trouble his younger brother might stir up. Grabbing his bow, backpack, some extra clothes and other supplies the son of Apollo turned and began heading towards the door. He had only wanted a nap but he supposed a hunting trip would have to do. Thankfully little boys running from their brothers were a lot easier to track than wild boar and deer.

As soon as he was in the saddle Dakota wrap her arms around him and pressed herself close causing Ash's pulse to get just that much quicker for a moment until they both settled in. This being the case it was no wonder that he missed the veiled suggestion in her comment. What he didn't miss was the feeling of her close to him and just how excited she seemed to be as well.

"I see." He said distractedly. "Certainly something pretty at that hour I have no doubt." Trotting out slowly at first Ash gave Blue Sky a chance to stretch her legs and wings before requiring too much of her. There was certainly no need to rush off to anything as Ash was pretty comfortable where he was at the moment. "Perhaps I'll stop by and see you some morning. I'm still used to waking up before the crack of down, probably always will be. Old habits are hard to break."

"You aren't in trouble yet." Ash clarified and then added in an off handed manner. "I think that's the problem." He had not expected to have to play councilor today but here he was so he would at least give it a shot. The problem was that conversation wasn't one of his strong points, compassion even less so, still, sooner begun, sooner done. "We weren't being mean. We are trying to teach you responsibility and that there are consequences for everything we do."

Ash sighed hoping that something he would say would get through to the little boy but suspecting that it would not. Now that he had begun however there was little choice but to find some way to finish. "Just because you can do something doesn't mean that it is a good thing to do. Taking candy without asking is one of those things. Throwing a fit and acting like a spoiled child when we don't get our way is another. Obviously you can still decide to do those things but when you do you'll have to deal with people getting mad at you. The reason Charlotte hit you is that she was trying to get you to learn not to do those things in the first place."

Ash patted Blue Sky down as he finished attending to some last minute preparations for his evening ride with Dakota. He had already saddled and fed the pegasus wanting to spend a little time getting to know her before she had to carry them out on another trip and currently he was just waiting for Dakota to show up. He figured she might be late and had taken the liberty of packing them something to eat just so they wouldn't have to grab something before they left. He didn't know how she would feel about the little picnic he had fixed but once he had thought of it the plan made a lot of sense, at least to him.

Ash had thought about it for a while and he wanted to do something special for the girl. She had done a lot for him since they met and she deserved something in return. Granted that wasn't the only reason. Ever since he had met Dakota she had been on his mind. Not only that but after that first ride with her it had given him a lot to think about and it already seemed like he was developing quite the crush on her...maybe even a little more. He didn't know. Only time would tell but one thing was sure he couldn't get her out of his head and he didn't really want to either.

Shaking himself from his thoughts Ash clicked his tongue at the pegasus as he dug into his pockets for a few sugar cubes. He still had a few from when Dakota had given them to him the other day and he planned on putting them to good use now. "Are you going to help me make this picnic ride a good one girl?" He asked the mare quietly. "I'm counting on you."

Dakota King