The northron had first encountered the bighorn flocks the summer before, when she still ruled the Plateau. They had never journeyed to the treacherous cliffs for the purpose of hunting the sheep - they'd subsisted mainly upon the blacktail deer herd they shared the stately forest with.
Now the sylph claimed the Vale - which had no such lingering swarm of deer.
Sheepeater Cliff provided an opportunity to be scoped which led the healer to the crumbled ridges upon a sunny and fair moment. The huntress had not expected to sniff out a scent trail so early but even from the summit - the recent odor of a ram set her mouth to watering.
It was with great care that she picked her way through the boulders - a slip meant maiming herself on the way down or even death, to disturb a stone with her paw meant to alert any nearby sheep to her presence.
Dark eyes lifted as she neared a grassy knoll, peeking out at the ram who played lookout for his flock from behind a wall of loose shale.
The aspiring Viking was formulating a plan in her mind when the silent wings of a golden eagle swooped in. A flash of talons, a bleat of fear and both vanished over the precipice.
A swear burst from her lips, for the others had scattered regardless.
By the time Liri reached the ground, she found the ram crumpled upon the ground - eagle perched atop and picking at the still warm carcass with hooked beak.
Liri stalked forward, teeth bared as the eagle spread its wings in warning.
The climb up the steep cliffside had been pressing. A challenge that Keyni accepted with silent determination. She had not been raised amongst grand, mountainous peaks and did not know the terrain as intimately as some. But the aspiring young wolf found that each time she was perched at the top of a summit, her breath was stolen away. There was so much beauty. The views were like none other, never to be found in the flat lands or the forests. The sheer feeling of isolation and wholeness engulfed her every time. But the hardened rock beneath her paws and the occasional tumble of a loose stone always reminded her that one miscalculation would lead to a wolfs death.
She had come up all this way out of curiosity, with the slightest of hopes that a vulnerable youngster would be in amongst the rams. But the big male was on guard, a formidable sentinel there to watch his herd. With a silent sigh, Keyni prepared to resign herself and move on. To possibly find a peaceful spot where she could soak up the view. But then a bleating cry of distress and the swearing voice of another. She turned just in time to see the flash of golden eagle feathers and wooly fur tumbling down the edge. Another wolf had bore witness to the murder, quick to descend. Seemingly unhurriedly, Keyni approached the ledge and peered down with calm green eyes, watching the standoff between avian and canine. Eagles were not to be trifled with, but against two wolves, a single bird might back off. Picking her way carefully down to the site, the Tundra mix approached from behind the eagle, effectively pinning it between herself and the three legged white female. The picture of stony composure with her head held low, she uttered a hollow growl.
Her attention was drawn to the eagle - a formidable opponent for any wolf. With a wing span that could stretch as long as six feet, wicked talons, and a beak designed to shear through flesh, an eagle was no bird to take on lightly.
Liri knew her chances of overpowering the raptor were slim but perhaps a few darting, well placed snaps would intimidate it away from the fallen ram.
She did not notice the stranger until her dark eyes slid past the golden eagle briefly to lock upon jade orbs opposite with a flash of surprise.
Northern was she, leaning towards tall and athletic as was the norm for their subspecies (Liri was a rare exception, the runt of her tribe on account of an early birth and poor care) though her pelt hinted at a mixed heritage - a canvas painted with the colors of a shaded forest.
The rumble that escaped the woman's throat leads the eagle to turn its head towards her with a sharp chirp meant to intimidate. The healer took its distaction as an opportunity to rush forward, fangs snapping together with a mouthful of wing clenched tightly between. The fae was out of reach just as quickly as she had delivered the harsh bite - dancing away on fleet paws as the eagle cried out in pain, whirling to face her.
Her dark gaze slid back to her company and a daring grin broke across her face as if to say Hey, wanna play bait the bird?
Keyni widened her stance, muscles stiffening as the great bird turned to her with high pitched chirp. In return, her lips tightened, pulling back to snap displayed teeth in a threatening click on empty air. Her fellow wolf...who she had noticed was missing a leg, took advantage of the lapse in attention and lunged.
Agily, she leapt back as a powerful wing was clutched between white jaws. Through narrowed jade eyes she watched as the raptor struggled, crying out in pain to confront it's attacker. She was quick...despite the handicap to her body. A surge of satisfaction ran through her nerves and she caught the grin offered. One to mirror it slid over her lips; she got the idea loud and clear. And she was happy to join in and show the eagle who was the more superior predator here.
With it still distracted, focused on Liri, Keyni timed her pounce perfectly. With a growl and bared teeth, she moved in. Her jaws fixed themselves squarely around the back of the avian's neck, so it couldn't turn to pick her apart with it's hooked beak. A slender foreleg draped over it's right wing, her paw landing down on the outer feathers to hold it down. Enraged, the eagle struggled, screeching and writhing, talons outstretched, swiping blindly.
The huntress felt her eyes widen, impressed by the maneuver Keyni gracefully carried out. The Yukon she-wolf had effectively pinned the bird in place, leaving it vulnerable to attack.
Liri circled to its opposite, unoccupied side and lunged - jaws closing around the joint above its foreleg and her head whipping side to side as she shook it savagely.
Something about the motion brought to mind memories of Kelina, leading nausea to swirl in the pit of her stomach and bile to flood her mouth. Suddenly disgusted, she spat the screeching eagle free.
The raptor seemed to reconsider its defense of the ram, now that it had been accosted by two vicious lupines, and after a moment struggled free of their hold.
With a last angry cry, it fled - hopping away into the underbrush given the injuries it had sustained. Liri turned to watch it go, knowing it would wait until they had gone to pick at the scraps of its own kill.
At last, Liri turned mahogany optics upon her unnamed comrade - smiling in both gratitude and welcome.
"Thank you for helping me," she murmured, "I'm Liri."
Sorry for the wait here!
Her intention had never been to kill the majestic raptor; just to injure it enough to drive home a point. And the white female who had zeroed in to deliver crunching jaws around it's outstretched leg, seemed to have the same idea. She held on firmly to the nape of the eagle's neck while it struggled and screeched, but did not bit down to sever it's spine.
When at last, Liri had enough and the raptor was thoroughly humiliated, did Keyni release her hold, spitting out a few stray feathers that had become lodged between her teeth. As the bird hobbled away, she stood tall with a cool glare in her eyes, huffing sharply.
Then a set of eyes were on her, warm and accompanied with a smile. Her face smoothed, softening easily while her tail now swished freely behind her. She dipped her head politely. "Anything for a fellow lupine." She looked briefly at the carcass of the ram, smirking. "Would be a shame to let such a fine delicacy go to waste." Feeling completely at ease in her presence, Keyni took a few steps closer to Liri, approaching her as if a well known friend. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Keyni."
The fae smiled in gratitude - thinking to herself that an attitude like Keyni's was pretty rare in these parts. It always seemed a coin flip when meeting the rogues of Teekon - kindly stranger or dark-hearted foe.
"Yeah, take as much as you'd like - or can carry anyways - I doubt I'll be able to return all of it to my pack," she offered, head tilting this way and that as she considered the best way to butcher the carcass. "That damn bird will just get whatever we leave anyways."
"Liri Blackfoot," she returned with a smile and nod, "a pleasure to meet you, and doubly that you're an adroit hunter."