Heron Lake Plateau i can see a heart-sized hole inside this bottle, where i'm pondering a midnight swim

It seemed Caiaphas would hang back to guard her pups while the other two forayed forth to deal with the wildcat. Towhee merely nodded and prepared to begin walking again. Then she paused and glanced at the older woman again to say, "We won't rest until it's gone."

Turning to Tegan, she raised her brows as if to ask whether he'd heard that. She took his nudge as acknowledgement and began moving. Her head dropped to comb for their quarry's scent, the fur along her streaked shoulders and spine prickling as its stink filled her nose.

-This way,- she signed to her cohort, shifting course slightly as they trekked across the green grassland that—along with its namesake lake—made up most of their territory. Towhee never lost the trail, though she didn't catch sight of the bobcat and her jaw dropped as the odor led her to a ledge and she experienced anger, confusion and frustration in equal measure.

-It must've climbed down,- she said to Tegan, flashing him an angry look (although it wasn't directed at him). They, of course, couldn't follow. And she saw no sign of the cat, anyway. It was as though it had run off the edge of the plateau and vanished into thin air.