Shy Deer Steppes Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown

The lioness settled onto her haunches, looking rather calm. Neither wolf relaxed much, though. Wildfire swallowed when the cat pointed out that she would have already attacked if that had been her intent. Perhaps it was true that she didn't have any desire to harm them right now, though the young Warrior didn't trust that the feline's attitude might change at any moment.

The cat seemed to want to make conversation, though Magpie remained tight-lipped. Wildfire guessed that her young aunt was trying to work out a way to make a safe escape. The pup tried to catch the yearling's eye and shake her head. If they did leave, she didn't want to head right back to the caldera. Sure, they would be safer there but she was still worried that Peregrine would never let either of them out of his sight ever again.

"We'll go over there," Wildfire repeated, once more pointing her smudged snout at the waterfall pooling into a small lake below, "unless you don't want us there either." She was being very careful to avoid saying or doing anything that might trigger the cougar's predatory urges. Wildfire still didn't trust that she wasn't on some sort of hair trigger that might go off any second without warning.