Silver Moraine Monty Hall Door Mathematics

Spring was most definitely not sprung in Nynka's (totally unbiased, of course) little head. She had had three mice already that morning and her belly didn't even feel half-full, as scrawny and winter-starved as the little beasties still were. Practically nothing but fur and bone! Nynka could easily recall a time some months ago when fat and sassy little rodents practically seemed to be sprouting from the ground like grass, and was thusly not in the best of moods as she went bounding along with nose atwitch, keeping a weather eye out for her fourth mouthful of the day.

Far in the distance a flicker of movement caught her eye and halted her in her tracks. Her whiskers were impatiently aquiver as she stalked toward the spot she'd seen a tremor in the increasingly patchy grass, but then she was diverted by an larger and more overconfident furry brown head that poked itself up out from the rocks. Nynka scurried downwind, crouching low as she moved so that the boulders would hopefully help to hide her profile. The pika glanced cursorily about and gave its head a quick little shake before climbing up on top of the rocks, closing its eyes and tilting its head happily up into the sunshine. It was like having several nestfuls of mice combined into one in this much more sizeable rodent. A small, wicked smile spread across the stalking weasel's face as she thought this was almost going to be too easy.

Then, just before she moved into pouncing distance, the pika squealed shrilly in alarm and dove for cover. Nynka cursed aloud and went diving after it with clws outstretched, even as the air skirled closer and brought the selfsame odor to Nynka's little black nose that the pika had caught wind of first. A distinct stench of wolf, of course. Nynka grimaced but didn't let it stop her from stuffing her front end into the burrow's entryway setting about digging furiously at the rubble, sending small flecks of sharp scree flying behind her as she hastily tried to dig her escaping meal free. Why'd you have to show up right then and there, you monster?! she shouted behind her, though it was more of a venting of frustration than a serious question she expected a real answer to. Half these wolves were downright rude anyway and never properly answered even the most courteous of weasel questions, so really, in a lot of ways it was better not to try very hard with them to begin with. Privately Nynka suspected that there wasn't actually much room for gray matter in those brutish thick ugly skulls of theirs anyhow.

Darkmoon crouched low among the rocks of the boulderfield, trying his hardest to stay hidden from view. His eyes were focused on the brown & white of the weasel, itself focused on the even smaller pika. He moved along as slowly and quietly as he could manage, one paw placed ahead of the other so, so carefully. He unconsciously held his breath with the concentration of the hunt, and when he noticed this he paused and exhaled slowly so as not to give himself away. Most of the time he failed, but this time he was determined to secure himself a meal.
    It was not to be, however. A rogue breeze blew his scent straight to the pika, and in barely a moment its rotund body had disappeared into the burrow. His own target launched itself after it, but to no avail. This would have been no issue for Darkmoon, who was not interested in pika as a meal anyway, but the weasel had caught his scent also, and was apparently not one to let things slide. As the weasel voiced its frustrations at him, he could not help but pause in surprise. This was definitely a first, being called out by his prey; what had emboldened this particular creature he could not guess. To add insult to injury, it began burrowing and bombarded Darkmoon with a spray of stones. "Hey!" he said in indignation, trying to shield his snout and eyes from the projectiles. He could not help but wonder silently to himself just how he had managed to find himself in this situation.

Nynka darted a quick glance under her arm, and had to fight down a sneering little leer of a smirk as the wolf tried to cower away and protect himself with a fending-off paw from the myriad of tiny stones pelting down on and all around him. Hah-hah, serves you right! 'Hey' yourself, snapped Nynka, not pausing in her digging for even an instant. That was my lunch and you had no right to go chasing it away!

Nynka's enlargening of the burrow was probably not going to outpace that fat sassy pika, whose juicy broad rump had disappeared into the darkness ahead. She kept at it relentlessly, however, and was most of the way underground herself at this point, which doubtless helped to muffle her seething mutterings to herself about these stupid, useless, interfering wolves that plagued the land and when was a nice bout of starvation or disease going to thin their numbers out and make it easier for a decent weasel to make a living again. Sheesh. She wasn't so far underground that she couldn't sneak another look behind her, though, and angle one paw to more-deliberately let fly one of the larger stones at the wolf's not-quite-shielded eyeball. Even if it hit it wasn't likely to do much damage, to be fair, but it ought to sting pretty good if it launched correctly and there was a certain vindictive satisfaction in even that much. At least then Nynka's belly wouldn't be the only thing paining someone today.

Darkmoon had never been accused by a weasel before of 'chasing off its food', and he was dumbfounded. He was so confused by the whole scenario that he had no reply to its accusations and antagonistic behaviour. It continued to spit out vitriole as it tunnelled further undergound, although he could not make out the exact words said; by the tone, however, he could only guess it was not particularly nice. He could not even scoff at the absurdity of it all, as pebbles continue to rain down around him, preventing him from doing much other than cowering. A great look.
    A particularly large pebble - or, rather, a stone - connected with his face, and he let out a loud yelp in pain. The tissue around his left eye stung where the assault had occurred, and he whimpered at his poor luck. Flinching, he finally walked out of the way of the splash zone of rock, and breathed a sigh of relief as he found himself in the clear. He walked closer to the weasel, struggling not slip on the loose stones of the boulderfield. "Now, you," he said, as he strode forward, "I don't know what you're playing at, but last I checked, I'm a wolf and you're only a runt of a weasel." He growled then, trying to appear menacing before this creature, "That means I have the advantage over you." Whether it would fall for his bluff or not was yet to be seen. Darkmoon was, after all, almost entirely inept as a hunter.

I am so slow lately, aaaagggh, sorry! RL is being terrible.  >.<

A muffled yelp let her know her little "gift" had connected. Nynka started snickering, her pace of digging growing more haphazard and uneven as she considered whether perhaps this wolf might prove to be a more fun and fulfilling target than the hapless pika after all. The weasel squinted down the long dark tunnel with nose atwitch, considering, then doubled back on herself and reversed her previous course downward, at least enough to get a better look at the canine she'd stoneheartedly marked. She wanted to see the expression on his big dumb face, particularly if it was the only enjoyment she was going to get out of all this rather than, say, actual physical lunch.

Nynka's muffled sniggers became outright derisive laughter as the wolf backed out of range of the airborne scree and tried to recover his bravado as he cautiously circumnavigated to approach her again, this time at a less-convenient angle of approach for her. It would be difficult to throw more rocks in his direction now, with the way the burrow was facing—but that certainly didn't stop her from flinging more words. Dude, you can't even get advantage over a rock, kehehehe! And you think size is going to put you one over on me somehow?! I think it just makes you a bigger and easier target. She flashed her needle-like white teeth in a not-at-all-convincing parody of a smile.