Chapter 100 - Feeding The Foxes And Cubs

It was then that the little children could see the little foxes which were happily running around the place.

Some of them were playing with some things that Einar had built out of wood.

While others were lying in the snow enjoying the warm sun in the snow.

But all the foxes without exception raised their little heads and gazed with joy at Lars' wheelbarrow of meat.

So they got as close as they could, trying to get Lars's attention so that he would give him some meat.

Aila who, seeing that the foxes were ready to be fed, took out of the leather bag that had two pairs of gloves.

Which were specially made of leather and chainmail to protect the small hands of children.

"Well, kids, I want you to form two lines and stand back as they are going to start feeding the foxes."

All the children in an orderly way took their places and when they were completely ordered, Aila placed the gloves on the children who were at the beginning of the lines.

"Remember that foxes, although they look pretty, are dangerous.

So you will have to take a piece of meat and firmly deliver it to the first fox you see.

You should not force the animals to eat as they can bite you, and even if you wear protective gloves, they can get hurt. "

The two children nodded and taking the wheelbarrow a piece of meat began to feed the little foxes.

When it came to Laura and Daven's turn, with emotion and care, they put on their gloves to take a piece of meat from the wheelbarrow.

Laura, who had seen how her companions fed the foxes, designed the best she could, a technique to feed them without being hurt.

Which consisted of taking a piece of meat and stooping, when the little white fox approached to eat the meat.

Laura took advantage of the moment to caress the head of the white fox, who allowed herself to be caressed while she ate the little glove.

When the meat ran out the white fox looked curiously at the girl hoping she would give him more meat, Laura then looked at Aila.

"Teacher Aila, I can give this little white fox more meat."

Aila, seeing Laura's tender look, nodded and allowed her to give the little fox more meat.

Daven for his part was more interested in the bluish fur of the fox in front of him, as it was quite different from all the white foxes in the fold.

But unlike Laura, who was petting the white fox, Daven had a feeling that if he touched the blue-furred fox, he might bite it.

So he just looked at him while eating the piece of meat in the snow.

After a while, Aila explained to the children the habits of the white foxes and why the fox fold was specially built so that they would not escape.

Daven who was listening looked at his feet in the snow and bending down removed the snow cover so that he could look with interest at the stone floor of the sheepfold.

Laura who saw Daven's strange action just shook her head and kept listening to what Aila was saying.

When Aila finished speaking, they all left the fold of the white foxes and went to the den of the cubs, which was somewhat far from the town.

Because it had been done on an uneven terrain that had a shallow cave and a pool of thermal waters.

Which was a perfect place for the young cubs to grow while being supervised, a temporary wooden palisade was built to keep them in place.

While a stone wall was built parallel to the wooden palisade, this concrete wall would have a high area so that they can feed the white bears.

Another thing Einar did was create a rule of reproduction and prevention so that if a cub is very aggressive it will be killed so that it does not disturb the rest of the white bears.

Upon reaching the wooden palisade, Aila looked seriously at the children "Children what we are going to see next are the cubs.

They may not seem dangerous but that is because they are small, they just need to grow a little more and they will not hesitate to kill anyone who gets close to them.

According to Herald Einar, we can train them not to be aggressive towards humans, but that does not mean we can eliminate their wild and dangerous nature.

So when we enter we will have to follow Jesper and his son Joakim, the only two druids of our tribe and those in charge of taking care of and training the cubs. "

Jesper had white clothes, marked muscles, a rather aged face, and white hair.

He looked at the children seriously as they stood in front of them "Children, these animals are not your friends, much less will they be your pets.

During the time that I was in Miklagard, from the Jarl Eero's first expedition to the final expedition where I returned to our land.

I was trained by a merchant who sold lions, elephants, tigers, and any exotic animal you can imagine, I traveled to countless arid places where there was only sun and sand.

But I learned something from all this, and that is that any animal can be subdued to follow our orders, although we will never be able to control its heart. "

With a smile on his face, Jesper spread his hands "Although that is not entirely true as Herald Einar showed me a whole new world.

Now, children, we will enter the white bear's den, for the moment the little cubs are almost completely harmless.

But you will only be able to approach them when I or Joakim are close, whoever does not obey will be punished and reported to the herald Einar.

I hope you understand these indications. "

All the children nodded, and it was then that Jesper opened the door to the bear pit.

Like the fox fold there was a double door, but with the difference that the space between the main door and the secondary door was larger.

This because there were some crossbows, lances, and ropes in the place, Joakim, seeing the curiosity of the children, held the crossbow in his hands.

"These weapons and ropes are a backup plan in case the white bears go wild and stop following our rules.

At the moment, the only thing we'll need to keep the little cubs in order is this. "

Joakim put down the crossbow and took a stick that was covered in leather, Jesper also took other sticks like the ones his son had and handed them to Aila and Lars.

"You too take one of these sticks. If a cub comes dangerously close to a child, don't hesitate to hit it.

Because the stick is covered with leather, the blows will only hurt the animal and will not endanger it. "

Aila gripped the stick tightly as she did not want any child to suffer an accident, while Lars also prepared herself as he did not want to see any child hurt.

Jesper, seeing that everyone was ready, opened the second door and everyone entered a beautiful snowy place where the cubs were playing in the hot water of the thermal pool.

Unlike the foxes that had run when they entered, the cubs simply ignored everyone and kept playing.

Laura swallowed some saliva as she felt that the cubs looked very pretty. For his part, Daven simply wanted to run and ride one of the little bears.

But sadly he knew it was too dangerous, so he just sighed silently. But this didn't stop him from imagining that scene.

When Jesper saw the children's joy and some sad faces, he just laughed.

"Let's start with the process of feeding the cubs, we will feed these little animals a little differently than you fed the white foxes."

Taking a piece of meat from Lars's wheelbarrow, Jesper made a strange noise with his mouth and all the cubs started running towards him.

When all the cubs were together, he used his wooden stick to knock on the snow, causing the little bears to stop.

Seeing that the cubs had understood his order, he smiled and threw the piece of meat he had in his hand.

All the cubs looked ecstatically at the piece of meat, but one of them was faster and standing on its two legs managed to catch the piece of meat.

With the piece of meat already in the cub's small jaws, Jesper hit the snow again, making all the cubs calm down.

"How could you see every time you come to feed the cubs, you must hit the snow.

This because it works as a signal that indicates that they must calm down, then they must throw the piece of meat, and finally, when any cub eats the meat they must give another blow in the snow.

That way they will keep control of these animals, but it is very important that they remember to throw the piece of meat. "

All the children nodded and began to pass in order to feed the cubs.

When it was Laura's turn, she passed with some fear and curiosity to Lars's wheelbarrow.

Where he took a piece of meat and walking towards the cubs, he swallowed some saliva when he was in front of them, but enduring his emotions, he struck the snow with his foot.

This made the cubs that were somewhat restless calm down and look at Laura.

When she saw that the cubs were already calm, she threw the piece of meat as best she could, and when she saw that a cub had caught it with its jaws.

He took another blow in the snow, to later sigh in relief as he had done everything correctly, so with his spirits improved he left his place and headed towards Daven since it was his turn.

When Daven walked by, he did the same to Laura, but unlike her; he used his hands to clap his serious face to keep control of the cubs.

Jesper seeing Daven's action only smiled, since what he had done was a good way to show that he was the boss.

"Joakim I think the little boy has the character to be a tamer, we should talk to Herald Einar so we can train him."

Joakim looked at his father and later saw Daven with a smile as he agreed with him.