Heron Lake Plateau Film the whole thing

WC: 404
@Bat

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As the sun began to set, the prey began to move, and Niamh found herself tracking something highly unusual- a lone deer, which had tracks that led her to believe it was either injured or dying. The hoofprints were fairly large, but one foot, at least, seemed to drag through the very shallow snow. Niamh hoped that it was an adult, but not one that could run or fight her off if its leg was injured severely enough. It had likely left the security of the herd, or been left behind, as the weak would only draw attention to a herd of strong deer and this one was flagging quite a bit behind the rest- so much so, that it had seemingly given up on trying to follow along and had strayed straight into the line of danger, and past the Redhawks’ borders.

As with any trespasser, Niamh followed with the intention to cause harm- but in this case, she was also looking for a meal. Coyotes and foxes were generally chased, injured and sometimes killed if they’d trespassed enough or had stolen something, but a deer...This was a delicious opportunity, especially when it moved as though it had been injured. She trailed along, tracking its hoofprints and scent, drawing closer and closer to it until she caught sight of yet another set of tracks tagging along the deer’s trail- smaller than hers, but she knew the scent and followed it, pushing her pace a bit quicker so that she could catch up and assist in the take-down.

She caught sight of Rory’s profile moving forward in the distance- her lean hindquarters and narrow build, and even though her head was lowered as she tracked along, Niamh could still see the tips of her obscenely yet endearingly large ears peeking over her rolling shoulderblades. They were still far enough behind the deer that they were out of sight, and likely out of earshot as well, so she picked up a lope and approached Rory without having to worry about her footfalls attracting attention. She brushed her shoulder against Rory’s as she caught up with her, and assumed that she was likely tracking the deer with hopes of bringing some of it back to Tegan. Niamh appreciated the care she’d given Tegan; after all, he was her nephew now that she’d married Colt...Though she had yet to bring that fact up to him

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She didn't fancy herself a hunter, though Bat couldn't resist the opportunity to develop her tracking skills. When she came across the strange trail in the snow, it took her some time to determine the details of what she was seeing and smelling. She wanted to confirm her suspicions, so she followed it, her mouth watering at the thought of fresh venison. Of course, even if she had been an adept huntsman, she would never go after an ungulate on her own, not even a likely wounded one.

When she heard the crunch of footfalls, Bat stopped and turned, tail waving when the pack's Beta joined her, their shoulder blades brushing. "Hey, Niamh," the youth greeted, dipping her snout in deference. She motioned to the tracks, sure Niamh had noticed them too. She opened her mouth to make an observation and then thought of the woman's missing brother. Really, she should be out scouting for him, not some gimpy deer. But the leader herself had put a kibosh on that.

After a brief hesitation, the youth said something else entirely. "Hey, I know we don't know each other that well," Bat began, "but could I talk to you about something?"

WC: 240

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Niamh found her hunger growing the more she thought about the chance they could bring down a deer, if it was injured enough. They might even be able to injure it further, rally a couple others and then simply pursue it until they caught up and took it down. The only issue, of course, was that there were now two other packs in the neighbourhood, and there was a chance it could get snagged by one of those two, if it wandered far enough. Presently, it was far enough inside their territory that there was no chance an outsider would get at it...But she was bound and determined to make sure that it would not leave the plateau.

Rory seemed game, but wanted to talk as they tracked along, which was fine with Niamh. The tracks were fresh- but they might have another half hour or so before they even caught sight of it, at least. Any conversation they had during that time would definitely not be heard by the deer, unless it had foolishly decided to double back on its own tracks. She wasn’t terribly concerned that she and Rory didn’t know each other very well, and simply figured that Rory might want to have some shop-talk about her trade, or something along those lines, so she nodded easily. ”Sure thing- fire away,” She commented, secretly flattered that the younger female chose her to confide in.

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Nearly the instant the words left her mouth, Bat second-guessed herself. As she'd said, she barely knew Niamh. They were on good terms, yet did she really want to unload this on her? Although the Beta told her to fire away, the youth didn't speak for several beats as she contemplated. Well, she'd already said she wanted to talk, so she supposed she'd better just come out with it, or at least come up with something else to discuss...

She began by hedging a bit. "You know Tegan, right?" Oh em gee, what a stupid fuckin' question, the teenager thought to herself, bending to awkwardly sniff at the imprints in the dusting of snow.

WC: 230

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It took Rory a few minutes to pool her words together, and Niamh felt a little bit of anxiety rise in her chest as she wondered if Bat might ask her why they weren’t putting out a search party for Ambrose again. She didn’t want to have to spell it out again, but she would have said what she’d said before, as she still hadn’t completely rejected Quixote’s logic. She didn’t like it- but if perhaps his logic had saved someone in the pack from getting attacked by the same cougar, then maybe it had been right. They’d never know, because no one had taken the chances.

Instead, though, Rory asked about Tegan, which caught Niamh by surprise. She chuckled softly and nodded. ”Of course; he’s one of the first wolves I met when I joined the pack.” She said. She was also aware that Rory was spending a lot of time with him- especially now that he was concussed, and she finally caught on to what Rory might have been wanting to talk about. She decided not to pry, though, and instead would let Rory talk as much as she wanted to...But she couldn’t help a gleeful little feeling that maybe Rory had taken a bit of a shining to him. Not wanting to scare her off, though, she inquired calmly. ”What about him?”

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Of course she knew Tegan, possibly even better than Bat did. She doubted that part though. Ever since coming here, she'd spent countless hours with him, in- and outside the territory. Hell, she'd been attached to him since he'd stumbled across her climbing that glacier. The juvenile exhaled through her nose as she recollected that fateful day, her lips twitching into a smile. She'd met him prior to that—when she was really no more than a little kid—but that had been the real start of it all, hadn't it?

Eventually, she lifted her nose and pointed it in Niamh's general direction again, though she avoided the leader's gaze, mostly out of respect but also out of a sudden and uncharacteristic shyness. Now or never, she thought, still not entirely sure she should confess her feelings about Tegan to Niamh. But if not her, then who? Bat was desperate for a sounding board.

"I'm in like with that shithead," she blurted rather abruptly, a declaration which was followed by a high-pitched, somewhat hysterical-sounding laugh and then, "for some unknown reason."

WC: 309

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Niamh’s reaction to Rory’s words came swiftly and suddenly. It wasn’t the content of the message that caused her to laugh suddenly, her day being brightened considerably by Rory’s comment, but just the way she’d phrased it. Her laughter wasn’t cruel at all- but surprised and pleased at the same time. She wasn’t entirely sure she’d ever heard someone use that sort of phrasing before- but if she could have expected it from anyone, it wouldn’t have been Rory; no, those were exactly the kind of words that Tegan would have used, and that was why Niamh was tickled so much by Rory’s statement. She brushed her nose against Rory’s shoulder apologetically and shook her head. Both of them had laughed at the same time, though Rory’s was much more high-pitched and nervous sounding than Niamh’s. There was just a bit of tension hanging about Rory, which Niamh assumed was just uncertainty. She was telling something important and personal to someone she didn’t know very well. Niamh, though, was touched, and wanted to make sure that Rory knew she was safe to talk.

”Sorry. But you sounded just like him, then,” She replied brightly, hoping that that might suffice as an explanation for her gentle laughter. ”And it’s OK, to be in ‘like’ with a shithead. Hell, I’m in love with one,” She said with a snicker. ”But as far as shitheads go...Tegan’s one of the better ones,” She said. It was possibly more than Tegan deserved- considering his history of bringing home pretty females that were sort of a fling of his and then being pissy when they wandered off. But still, she did care about him, and didn’t want to speak too ill of him behind his back. Especially when this beau of his actually seemed fairly enamoured with him.

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The Beta seemed rather amused by Bat's confession and the youth laughed again, this time a little self-consciously. It was all rather ridiculous, wasn't it? She waited with bated breath for some words of wisdom to pour forth, anticipating how Niamh might take the information beyond her knee jerk reaction. As it turned out, she seemed charmed by it, especially Bat's similarities to Tegan. Having this pointed out to her made her flush with quiet pleasure.

"You are?" she asked dumbly when Niamh mentioned her very own shithead. "Who?" It turned out she didn't know the Beta's amour at all, though Bat made a note to seek him out, not just because he was the leader's mate but because she wanted to meet this so-called shithead.

"The fuck do I do about it?" Bat wondered next, shooting a wide-eyed silver stare at the Beta. "Like," she added before Niamh could get possibly get a word in edgewise, "I think he thinks I'm an uggo." She was really laying it all out there today, wasn't she? Bat felt weirdly vulnerable, yet also relieved, as she stared at the little furrows in the snow.

WC: 536

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Rory didn’t seem to believe her when she’d spoken about Colt, so she winked and nodded. Ironically, she considered the relationship between Colt and Tegan, which amused her. Naturally, she’d thought, when she’d first joined the pack, that all the Blackthorn women were psychopaths and all the Blackthorn men- save Elwood, who really was a dear- were more or less tools. Still, the women eventually were capable of pulling their ego down from the clouds, and the men...Well, they could actually be kind of nice now and again. So all in all, they weren’t too bad.

”Colt,” She answered. ”He’s Tegan’s uncle. We just got hitched about a month and a week ago,” She answered. ”He made fun of me for falling down the side of the plateau the first day I met him….But this is where we are now, I guess,” She said with a dry laugh. Sure, she hadn’t thought much of Colt when she’d met him- but he sure had grown on her. It seemed like Rory was fairly enamoured with Tegan though, and she didn’t mind that; just as long as she didn’t have to give him some stern talking to make sure he didn’t ruin her. The other women he’d had traipsing around with him hadn’t seemed quite so invested- save perhaps for Blackbear...But she’d seen that an end had come to that relationship. This time she was going to tap out and let them handle it themselves, though Rory did seem to want a bit of counselling.

She snorted when Rory made a comment about her appearance. She was a bit disproportionate, with a fox-like narrowness to her features which were unabashedly contrasted with her large ears. But Niamh wouldn’t have called her ugly, necessarily; she did have a lovely, soft coat with markings that made Niamh envious, as she prized looks that made a wolf unique. She didn’t want to make Tegan seem too shallow, but she doubted very much that Tegan would have kept Rory around if he thought she was ugly. Instead, she chose to rephrase that thought. ”Tegan’s picky about who he keeps close,” She said. While he wasn’t picky about who he kept in his entourage, not many were kept around at any length. ”He must like you...I don’t think anyone else has been around him as much as you,” She admitted. She was close to Tegan, as was Towhee- but none of them had been as glued to his side as Rory was now. She nipped playfully at Rory’s cheek. ”You’re not an uggo. I wish I had leg bands like yours.” She said, gesturing toward the markings Rory bore on each foreleg. ”I think with guys, if you just act like you think you’re hot shit, they’ll think you’re hot shit. But they like compliments too…” She said, and remembered something. ”I was with Tegan the day he got that scar on his lip- I think he’s actually pretty proud of it.” She said, offering Rory something she might use as a topic of conversation that would make Tegan feel good about himself.

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Although Niamh offered reassurances directly (by complimenting her looks) and indirectly (by inferring Tegan's affinity for her), Bat nibbled at her lip, unsure. She had never really given much thought to her appearance before, for better or for worse. Now, though? Now that she had to think about whether she was attractive to Tegan, she felt very aware of herself: her large, floppy ears, her overly sharp snout, her strange proportions. She wasn't classically pretty, the way Tegan was classically handsome.

Another thrill went through her, though, at the thought that Tegan was choosy when it came to company. They'd spent so much time together, surely he didn't find her repulsive. But how did Tegan see her? Was she just a buddy to him? Maybe he even thought of her as a little kid still? Her nose wrinkled at the thought and she froze in her tracks, having long ago stopped paying attention to their tracking endeavor.

With all these insecurities heaping on top of her, it made it seem impossible to follow the Beta's advice: act like you're hot shit. Bat didn't know how she'd go about doing that—she'd either have to think on it or press Niamh for more specific suggestions—but her head cocked at the next bit of advice. Paying Tegan compliments was doable, even if it was a lot of fun ragging him. She could do both, right? Flirting often included teasing, surely? Not that the adolescent was any kind of expert, far from it.

"Yeah? How'd—" she rejoined, wondering if Tegan had told her this story only for Bat to forget, when suddenly something came over her and she went wide-eyed again. "You—won't tell him I told you any of this, right? Don't tell anybody," she commanded before remembering to add a squeaky, "please."

WC: 473

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Niamh was perhaps not the best wolf to ask when it came to dating advice. After all, she had only really explored a few crushes, but very lightly so. She’d blatantly offered herself to Screech but had ended up starting a fight with him that had lasted...Well, basically it was still ongoing. Kodlak had been very kind to her, but he’d been such a wandered, she’d never been able to act on her attraction to him. Quixote...Well, as soon as she’d realized she’d been attracted to him, he’d been snapped up by Raven (and a good thing, too), and then there was Colt. Their relationship was an odd one, especially considering that the age between them was more of a Grand Canyon than a small gap, but at the same time, she’d never been more honestly herself than she was when she was around him. It wasn’t necessarily a good thing, as perhaps another lover could have made her a better person, but they were happy- and that was tangible, and enough for Niamh.

She wasn’t experienced in the art of seducing a man, or knowing how to read one, either. With Colt, she hadn’t exactly had to try- and that was the beauty of their relationship. She’d simply been herself and he’d been into it. But she did have the idea that sometimes, one had to try, and put a little bit of a shimmy on just to keep interest up. In that area, though, Niamh’s moves were flimsy and rough, and she simply didn’t have the experience or coordination needed to seduce someone. If only Bruges was around- she might have been able to ask his advice, but then again….She felt fairly certain anything he’d had to say would have been inappropriate to tell Rory.

What she could do, though, was keep her trap shut. Towhee was the only one who might get the details out of her, and perhaps Colt...But in this situation, she felt fairly certain that she could, should and would keep the details to herself. The pack sure knew how to gossip, after all, and all gossip seemed to find its way to Tegan, who was exactly the wolf meant to be kept in the dark about all this. So in response, she shook her head and looked at Rory strangely. ”Tell who what?” She asked, voice full of incredulity as though their whole conversation had not happened at all...Until she cracked a grin, and shook her head. ”No worries, Rory. The story stops here.” She said, and she convinced herself that she meant it. ”If you really wanna know what to do...I’d just say be yourself.” She said honestly. ”That’s all I did, and it seemed to work.” She said, shrugging simply.

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A sigh of relief escaped her when Niamh indicated that she wouldn't be sharing this with anyone, least of all Tegan. Bat bobbed her head as the she-wolf dispensed a final few words of advice. The youth wanted to know if she should tell him, at some point, but she knew the answer to that question: it was entirely up to her.

"Thanks for the talk, Niamh," the juvenile said, "and sorry for getting us off track." She peered down and noticed that they'd literally strayed from the trail, so she began to shift back in that direction. "I figured we wouldn't try anything, but it's good scouting practice." Bat blinked, wondering if the Beta had other plans in mind.

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Rory seemed a bit more calm now, likely because she had less on her mind and less being bottled up inside of her. Niamh tried to remember a time when she’d been busting at the gills like that- but she couldn’t. Anything that made its way into Niamh’s mind usually made its way out pretty quickly, if it was a notion that she’d come up with. She hadn’t been long telling Towhee about Colt, and had nattered on and on about him to her friend, so she supposed she didn’t know what it was like to be in Rory’s position. She was still relatively new to the pack, and from what Niamh could tell, she kept herself fairly busy. She was a juvenile still, but hardly seemed much younger than Tegan was, and definitely seemed older than the Quixotes...So Niamh couldn’t tell exactly where she fit in. Regardless, she was pleased that one of her packmates had chosen her as a confidente.

Rory mentioned the tracks again, and Niamh opened her mouth in surprise. Rory didn’t seem to want to track the deer, but Niamh still wanted lunch. ”Nah, c’mon. Dang thing’s got a hurt leg, I think,” She said, steering them back toward the deer’s tracks. ”I figure we may as well give it a try, I’m hungry,” She growled softly, a toothy smile on her lips. ”Oh, and no prob, Rory. Any time,” She said, trying to transition from starving morde to sincere mode, though she didn’t quite pull it off. ”Now let’s see about this walking buffet,” SHe said, lowering her head to sniff their way back to the tracks they’d left behind.

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Niamh seemed to scoff at Bat's caution. The youth's lips parted in some surprise, though she didn't protest when the Beta indicated they should give it a try. She said the deer was injured, a fact which was definitely corroborated by both the scent Bat had been tracking, as well as the strangeness of the trail in the snow. Still, her heart began thumping nervously in her chest.

"Are you a hunter? By trade, I mean? 'Cause I've got, like, no experience," Bat said, although she tried to show her gameness by prancing closer to Niamh's side as they set off along the game trail again.

Rory seemed a bit nervous, to Niamh, about hunting down the deer, and sought some validity which Niamh was happy to provide. "Oh yeah," She said, with conviction. "That's how I keep Colt so fat." She joked. Her specialty was definitely hunting birds, but deer weren't an issue and they also couldn't fly away, which was always an asset. Her ears flicked as they tracked the deer, which had begun to head south, toward the area where the edge of the plateau was a bit steeper. Picturing where they were headed, Niamh was hit with an idea. 


"Hmmm...If this fella keeps going this way, it'll come to the edge of the plateau. Like...The highest, sharpest edge. D'you think if we maybe spooked it at just the right point that we might be able to herd it right over the edge?" She asked. If its leg was injured, she wasn't sure it could handle the slope. Plus with the layer of snow on the ground, it could also slip and fall and tumble down the slope, if it wasn't expecting it to be there. "Worth a shot anyway, I think," She said, thinking ahead to other possibilities. If they could make one deer rush over the edge to its doom....Imagine herding a group of them.

It was only a matter of time before the trail led them toward the fringes of the territory. Upon noticing this, Niamh wondered whether they could possibly spook the deer right over the ledge. Bat didn't answer right away. She was no hunter, yet the idea seemed really far-fetched. How goddamn dumb would the deer have to be?

Before Bat found her voice, Niamh said they should take a shot regardless. Because she was more experienced, not to mention a leader, the youngster kept her trap shut and simply nodded, sticking close.

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Rory didn't disagree, so Niamh simply nodded. "Ma talked about this place, up North, with plateaus like this. But they had like...Buffalos, or something like that." She said. "Apparently they'd hunt them this way up there," She said, though she'd never seen it happen and nor had she learned the particulars about running a bunch of animals off a cliff. Nor did she realize that there was a big difference between what went on upstairs for buffalo versus deer...As a charging herd of buffalo were much, much more inclined to simply go than a deer was. But she'd heard the story, and Niamh was game for giving anything a shot. 

They continued on for a short while, closing in bit by bit, until Niamh caught sight of the deer grazing ahead in the distance. She stood still, watching with ears flattened as the doe picked her way forward slowly, snuffling and trying to find something edible underneath a thin layer of snow. The doe lifted her head to pick at a few dead leaves still hanging to a bush, and as it did so, it seemed to have picked up on the danger that was close at hand. 

Using that moment, Niamh nodded vaguely to Rory and then sprang forward. The deer bolted directly away from them, and Niamh pursued. "Gotta keep her on a straight-ish-line in this direction," She called out between paces, continuing to press the deer forward with the hopes that her head-smashed-in-deer-jump idea would actually work. 

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If wolves could sweat, Bat would've broken out in one when they finally caught up with the deer. She swallowed, heart thumping nervously in her chest. She liked to think she was pretty adventurous, up for anything! But even from a distance, she could tell that the deer, injured or not, was several times larger. Bat had actually never hunted large game, nor watched it being done.

When Niamh took off running, Bat incoherently thought something similar to, Oh, shit. On wobbly legs, she gave pursuit too, trying to follow the Beta's shouted directions. Bat's silver eyes flipped rapidly between the leader—trying to emulate her movements—and the fleeing ungulate.

Demonstrating that her pine allergy wasn't the only thing she'd inherited from her mother, Bat tripped over her own feet and went tumbling to the side with a series of pained grunts.

The deer, unlike a bison or buffalo, seemed to know what was up and lurched this way and that, wanting to rid itself of the wolves who chased it. Niamh, however, was keen on trying the experiment to see if it would work, and if the head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump idea could also be played on deer. Unfortunately, it seemed to be harder to steer one deer than it would be to steer a herd, and she hadn't exactly counted that into her equations. The one deer had an independent mind, and wanted to swerve this way and that, though Niamh put on an extra burst of speed, leaving Rory behind a bit, in order to keep the deer from bolting in the wrong direction. When it careened away from her, she assumed Rory would have it, and steer it back- but when she looked, Rory was nowhere to be seen. 

With a huff, Niamh had to make the decision to leave the deer to run off on its own, and circled around to try and find Rory. She'd left her behind some time ago it seemed, without noticing. She was a bit confused- assuming that Rory would be a better hunter than she'd turned out to be, so with a quizzical expression on her face, and still panting softly, she wandered back down her own path until she saw the collapsed female. "Somethin' getcha er wha?" She asked with a short laugh.

By the time Niamh trotted over to her, Bat had collected herself enough to push into a seated position. She gave herself a good shake to rid her body of dirt and debris, then stilled as the Beta came closer. Her expression was an odd mixture of apologetic and bemused.

"I told you I was inexperienced. I think I'll stick to scouting." Her words came out a little grumpy at first, though quickly morphed to sheepish amusement. "Sorry about the deer. I think I'll go put myself in timeout." Bat climbed to her feet with a lopsided smile. "Thanks again for the talk, Niamh."

Niamh's ears flicked forward at Rory's apology, but she shook her head. Not every hunt was successful, so the failure rolled off Niamh's shoulders easily. It had been a new technique- one she would likely want to try again- and though it had failed, it had taught her a bit about what she would possibly need to do in the future in order for it to work. "No sweat- practice makes better,"  She encouraged, though Rory looked a bit tired and ready to hit the hay. She'd almost completely forgotten about their chat, and tilted her head to the side quizzically when Rory thanked her for it. 

"What chat?" She asked, almost serious for a moment before she winked. Naturally, she'd do her best to keep Rory's secret about Tegan. She cracked a grin, and nudged Rory's cheek. "Nar prob Rory. Have a good timeout," She said, before she trotted off- still content to track the deer to see where it had ended up.