and strike the nail against the flint

He caught traces of things here and there. Smaller rodents. The hacking remains of owl pellets. Inconsequential things that were not nearly of any or more value than the greater canine scent she chased. At one point, he noticed a few snapped twigs, but a sniff in their direction left no lingering tufts of fur. Whatever had been through here hadn't passed through in some time.

They moved for a while longer before Echelon stopped. Noticing her ceasing steps, Kero turned his search inward and joined her on the truer path they followed. He lowered his nose, confirming her words as she spoke them before he turned his eyes to gaze at the nearby area. Trees. He glanced up into their bows and found nothing out of place. Lower to the ground he noted patches of the earth that were worn. "A resting spot?" he considered out loud as he moved towards the barren ground and sniffed at it. "The scents are stale."

He turned a few paces, testing out the area around them and didn't gather much more than what they'd already discovered. It was possible, that with the scraps from their kill collected, the foxes or whatever had moved out. "Think they vacated the area?"