The Set-hunting degree^ approaches. The Rise provision-pack is prepping provision for transport back to Pack. Life has had a rhythm the last eighth-season^. The Rise shift are up early, they hunt in the Rise-hunting degree, return to den, eat their provision and rest until zenith while the Set shift prepare our previous Set’s provision for preservation and transport. Then they prep their provision while we eat, then hunt in the Set-hunting degree. Every few days, once we have filled a large roller-cache, a small pack of 2 or 3 dogs take it to the collection point. The point is two days^ from here and two days from Pack. The routine is satisfying, and has provided ample opportunity to prepare my stealth-pack for the next phase of this mission. I have also had a chance to get an insight into how their wider training is going and how my den-pack are faring.

Provision is plentiful in this area; we do not need a degree to fill our quota. During the hunt most Sets, there is an opportunity to connect and grow our pack-bond. The provision-packs naturally split into Set and Rise dogs since they’re used to serving those hunts (and providers are not exactly renowned for their enjoyment of change). As the most experienced Set provider, I manage the Set-pack and report to Sturdy Rise. That means that we only need be wary of the two Set providers who are not actually stealth-dogs. I rarely get all my pack together except late, after a hunt, when I start telling old Set scent-stories. Both Curmudgeonly Set and Quizzical Set are for-Pack, they’re enjoying unification and being needlessly reminiscent after a hunt generally encourages them to den promptly.

These nights are the thing I look forward to. I have missed den-chats with Generous and Honest more than I realised. Still Runt^ is an excellent stealth-dog (the more I experience the other trainees the more I am aware of that). She is closed though. She doesn’t want to chat before denning. Having other, more sociable, dogs about with scent-stories to tell and information to share has been stimulating. I feel like I am a trainee along with them, like we’re doing a mock-mission on World. It is easier to pretend we’re on World now this world smells less sweet and I can smell as well as I could on World.

“OK Pack. Mirth Set, Curmudgeonly Set are you attending?” I know it is part of Mirth Set’s doga that she is chatty. It is how she has been able to keep both suspicion down and information about the provision-pack up. None of that means it is not aggravating to have to constantly keep asking her to pay attention.

“Yes, boss.”

“I think we should aim for an elk^ tonight” I feel the murmur pass through the pack, both anticipatory and determined. “I know that we are two short for another two Sets. I think this pack can manage it though. We have limited time left in which to hunt elk and it is desired provision with so many swelling. There is no guarantee that, when Still Runt and Timid Set get back, there will still be enough elk to hunt. We have managed an elk with 6 before so I think the risk is worth trying with 5. If we have not managed to acquire provision by the end of the Set hunting-degree, then I will do a small game hunt in which anyone is welcome to join. We will make our quota either way.” I am reasonably sure we can get an elk, and, if not, at least Curmudgeonly Set and Quizzical Set are likely to be tired and will den almost immediately.

“Yes, boss.” the pack-chorus tells me what the two true-providers think and how good the 2 stealth-providers are at playing their roles. We say good-Set to the Rise provision-pack, who are almost finished provision prep. They brought down an elk earlier, but they are nearly a littersworth^. They obviously think we are ambitious to attempt to bring one down with just 5. We fall in and set off to the forested areas, where elk are moving to Dry pastures and becoming harder to locate.

Quizzical Set picks up the scent of a bull-elk. The pack had relaxed into a long search, it has been about 60 cents^ and we have passed two females with young who are not viable provision if we want there to be provision next cycle. The scentscape shifts as 5 dogs train their focus on one individual.

( Guide to ravine. Aerial attack. ) The provider-pack-bond is a blunt tool. Many providers have strong, nuanced pack-bonds but we do not den enough with Curmudgeonly Set or Quizzical Set due to our late-night sessions. I am also reluctant to allow the trainee stealth-dogs to add too many layers of confusion when stealth-pack communication is not yet flawless. We have time to test their skills with another eighth-season before we return to Pack when they will be required to pass. Quizzical Set goes to harry, Curmudgeonly Set and Proud go to the ledge over the ravine, what will be shoulder height for the elk as he passes through. I go with Mirth to the floor of the ravine. We will take his legs from under him.

(( Proud, Mirth. I am going to tell ye about the history of Set while we co-ordinate this attack. You need to be able to cope with a constant stream of Pack communication while you do anything, even Heat. Do not reply. That’s a skill we’ll develop later. Good luck. )) We smell the fear and the musky smell of warm provision running.

(( Many cycles ago, there was one Pack. Pack lived on the Central Continent. Naturally, dogs wished to go as they please, to explore the myriad coats Soil wears all over World. )) Quizzical Set is bringing the bull-elk to the mouth of the ravine. He can smell the trouble he is approaching. He does not know what it is, but something is wrong. Each dog instinctively tightens their loose scent-masks. He is spooked and with only one harry he could avoid travelling down the ravine altogether. (( Some dogs wanted to follow Sun to where They rested, hoping to meet Soil. Others thought they could capture Sun if they waited for Them where They began Their journey. )) Proud has left her spot, she runs fast to join Quizzical Set in the harry. (( In-Pack conflict was huge between a choice driven by logic and a choice driven by force. Each dog went were they pleased, with those valuing thought following the Sun and those valuing brute strength travelling to make an ambush for the Sun. )) ( Proud Set, further Rise ). As the provision-pack-bond is used, the trainees both let their scent-masks slip a little. It normally takes multiple cycles of preparation before stealth-dogs are expected to be able to maintain multiple open pack-bonds simultaneously. Still Runt had much more intense training, but her scent-mask has always been impeccable. She has her own complexities of bond-ability, but she now has the bond-skills of one many cycles older. They both recover quickly; the elk is already too panicked to respond to a puff of dog concentration. (( Each new Pack travelled, without animosity to the other. In time, they each reached a big-saltwater. At this point, each Pack, finding Soil-Sentinels^ and observing Sun sink into or rise out of big-saltwater, returned to the lands they knew, ready to share their scent-stories with those who made a different choice. When the Pack that went Set returned, they found those who had travelled Rise had already returned. Each Pack had grown in their journeys. The Rises had moved into the old den and there was no space for the Sets. )) The elk is finally at the mouth of the ravine, Proud cedes to Quizzical and tries to dash back to a point of height to complete the attack. ( Proud Set, too late ) (( The Sets asked to share the den they had helped dig. Rises refused, stating they had returned to it first, Sets could just dig another den. )) Curmudgeonly Set attacks from above and Mirth and I attack from below. The elk is halted for a moment and stumbles. Proud tries to join the attack from above. (( The Sets, logically asked for assistance from the Rises, since the den they now inhabited was dug by Sets and Rises alike. )) She misses and the elk gets free from our provision-pack. He runs further down the ravine, bellowing, ensuring we will not smell another elk this Set.

The rest of Set history will have to be saved for another hunt. The pile of dogs separate and check in with one another.

“Everyone OK?”

“Yes, boss”

“Proud Set, what were you playing at? Were you asleep in training? How did you think your best Service to Pack would be to attempt an aerial attack rather than help your pack-mates on the ground?” I put plenty of rage into my scent and tone. She shrinks. I hope at least some of the sorry she is feeling is due to intentional emotional-scenting. She will not be much use to me if she genuinely takes stealth-berating this badly. Mirth is adding her annoyance to the cloud along with the true-providers. “The Set-hunting degree is over. Mirth Set, Curmudgeonly Set, Quizzical Set, ye may all return to den. Proud Set, you will be joining me in meeting our quota through small prey.” The other three break away and start travelling back to camp. I stalk off in the opposite direction with Proud Set, the scent of a chastened dog, eager to serve Pack.

Once they are out of hearing and scent range, I drop my scent-anger and am relieved how much Proud’s scent-apology discharges. It is not gone though. No stealth-dog can be that convincing without having experienced that emotion in the first place. I make a mental scent-note to investigate further. If she was being prepared to be a stealth-dog then some-dog, somewhere has made scent-notes on her life up until now.

“Well done. You have an eighth-season to get to the point where I could be screaming insults about your den-pack and it won’t impact your ability to scent-mask or do your “Service”. If you serve hard enough you could be shouting back at me while quoting provision-pack aphorisms to Quizzical Set. Headache?” the relaxing of her scent and bond-masks means her pain is seeping into my own head.

“Yeah. Honest has been practicing stealth-bond-work with us. I thought I was doing quite well but it is a very different thing in the field.”

“Learning to be a stealth-dog can be like that. Every time you master a skill in a controlled environment you realise how hard it is to maintain all the skills at once. Come on, let’s get this quota filled. Then we can go back to den and I’ll give you both a chance to try and distract me.”

I will give up and let them den soon. It is almost nadir and, even with the long nights, I don’t want to leave trainees too tired to maintain their dogas^.

( Let’s try once more. I want ye to have a bond-conversation with each other while making me believe that our provision-pack bond is empty and clear. ) Each time they have attempted this they are either closed in the provision-pack bond or their private communication leaks into it.

(( After the Rise Plague…))

( I can still hear that in the provision-pack. You have to really focus on your target. Use your internal nose, sniff the edges of your shared pack-bond. Imagine you are alone in den at night. )

( Imagine you have a secret. ) There is no way Still Runt can communicate so clearly in this bond over this distance. I sharpen my ears and nose and probe the darkness for her. I have been so used to spending time with these trainees and providers I have not had my senses alert. Sure enough, a tiny sound, no scent though. She must have been teaching Timid how to mask.

(( Well done, that is the closest any trainee has managed to get to me without my noticing in a littersworth of cycles. )) I communicate directly to Still Runt. Simultaneously I communicate in the wider stealth pack-bond, ( Yes, that can often help. Still Runt, please send a message to Mirth without it going to Proud. ) A heartbeat later, Mirth chucks and wags suddenly. Proud looks disgruntled at Mirth. Still Runt slips into the pack, followed by Timid and sits touching me. A season of forcing a pack-bond means we are drawn to touching one another when possible.

( So, Mirth, can you reply? And Proud, Timid, try to hear it. ) Proud smells so determined I think she has them. After a few moments, we all know the message has passed Proud by. Still Runt acknowledges receiving the message.

( Can I try now? ) Proud is eager to prove she is as good as Mirth. It’s not something she has to prove often.

( Of course. Send something to Still Runt. Mirth, Timid and I will listen. ) Still Runt acknowledges receiving the message. I do not need to ask Timid; he is exhausted and not ready to try this right now. ( Well, pack. I think we should call that a night. Good Service everyone. ) We all start to groom. We normally groom for the night under the sky, so we do not disturb the other true-provision Sets when we join them in den. Mirth and Proud are trying to send each other secret messages without Timid hearing. They are all tenderly grooming one another.

(( You are back much earlier than I thought. You made good progress. ))

(( We’re only here for a degree. We’ll need to go back for the roller-cache. Honest intercepted us in the forest. He had Resilient Rise and Three-paws Runt take the roller-cache on to the meeting point so I could get information to you. Braggart Set brought a new recruit to the cause who did not have the right words for Amiable First Eyes Set. Wary Set, Bold Set and Amiable First Eyes Set thought that Braggart Set was a stealth-dog trying to infiltrate the pack. The three of them waited until the new recruit was gone and they pinned Braggart Set and…))

(( Yes? ))

(( They made him a Runt. Just like that. They snapped his lower jaw and damaged his brain. He cannot communicate with any-dog. Honest has arranged for the potential recruit to disappear. Of course, that has confirmed their paranoia about Braggart Set. ))

(( So, they aren’t quite as toothless as they seemed. ))

(( Apparently not. Honest wanted you to know that we need to be careful introducing our recruits. Timid and I will be back in two days with the empty roller-cache. )) She throws her bond communication to Timid. ( Come on then. We have to make 3 days in 2days. ) As they leave, Proud and Mirth feel their bond-ache openly in the pack-bond.

( Den. ) As I take up First Eyes for the tiny pack, I hear one more thing from Still Runt. I (( Generous Set says you are her hero, and that she is sure she will smell you soon. )) My stomach fills with warmth. A gentle thought to sleep to.