Verdigris Ravine and the rest hope for a shoulder

qiao peered from the cool shadow of a resplendent red arch. the man must have felt the burn of her stare, for eventually he writhed like an exposed earthworm under the careless heat of sunscorch.

at length the recipient of qiao's interest rose, slender ears canted back. 

a grunt; qiao could parse any manner of meaning from that singular, devastatingly eloquent utterance. her gaze fell now to the sharpened bone at his sides, traveling back to him.

she rested a paw upon the chipmunk skull at her feet. it hissed with the mindless chatter of madness.