I did not even attempt to mask the roll of my eyes as Ehiyeh suggested that this hunt would not be a challenge. She was stuck up, this little brat, one of the infinite downsides to being the child of an alpha. Part of me almost wanted her to fail so that she'd be knocked down a peg and learn to respect her superiors. Being Eden's daughter did not automatically mean she was better than me. No, no, she would have to work damn hard to ever surpass me as a hunter, and that would not be happening any time soon, much less today. Regardless, I moved to take my position on the opposite side of the pool, knowing that I could not actively let her fail - that wasn't the point of all this. And I wasn't going to let my carefully planned hunt go to waste to just show this teenager that she wasn't the hot shot she seemed to think she was.

Silence fell between us as Ehiyeh studied the tidal pool. Because she'd arrived late, we didn't have all day to sit around and wait for her to get comfortable with the idea of diving headlong into the salty water for the hunt. My tail twitched, but then she lifted her gaze to me and I knew the time had come. There was something different in her eyes, a nervousness that chipped away at the edges of that pride of hers. Good. With a flag of Ehiyeh's tail, the girl launched her attack. I rose to my paws as if to follow her into the pool, but remained on the rocks to watch her technique for a moment. The ray foundered under her, and I knew how strong their bodies could be when they went into survival mode. Eyes narrowing, I watched for a moment longer, but as the water's clouded with the stirred up sands I jumped into the water and moved to block the exit to the sea. Fish swarmed past me, but I paid them no mind, watching Ehiyeh as she struggled to figure out how to kill the creature.

The ray flung its body with every ounce of force it possessed, and then I saw its stinger break the surface and swing back to strike Ehiyeh. My ears pitched forward in alarm, thinking that getting the alpha's daughter killed in a hunting lesson would probably not reflect well on my ability as a teacher. I moved to step in and assist, but then more blood than could possibly have come from the cut on her hind limb began to flood the waters. Ehiyeh had succeeded at last, and the turbulent waters began to still. She lifted her head, hoisting the limp fish from the water and tossing it up onto the rocks where I had been sitting previously.

We both extricated ourselves from the pool, and I shook the water from my pelt once I was back on the stony outcropping. Of course the girl was now grinning and had a smart remark to make, but I managed to keep myself from rolling my eyes again. After all, she probably never would have even thought to hunt the ray if it weren't for me. She'd done a good job - I should be proud of her, shouldn't I? Ugh. Part of me was still annoyed with her attitude, though. "Yes, well done; now let me have a look at your leg." I was no healer, but I'd dealt with my fair share of hunting injuries. Still, when I got closer to the girl's leg I realized this was different than any bite from a sea lion or peck from a seagull. "Hold still," I said, and without any more warning I bit at the wound, grabbing hold of a part of the barb that had broken off in the wound. The fact that it would likely hurt like hell to have it pulled out like that didn't deter me - I knew enough to realize that leaving it in the wound would only make things worse.

Dropping the piece of barb, I turned towards the ray's carcass, investigating the tail where the rest of the barb protruded from. I studied it, eyes narrowing as I poked at the tail with my nose, careful not to touch the broken barb. After a moment I lifted my gaze back to Ehiyeh. "You'll want to let Hadrian have a look at that, he'll probably want to know the after effects; and I think I'll bring him the barb too. You good?" If she was looking for more praise than 'well done,' she wasn't going to get it from me. I waited for her reply, then turned to the carcass and began to chew off the tail, intent on bringing the entire appendage to Hadrian to study.