Blacktail Deer Plateau The forgotten

His mate, chronically exhausted and borrowing z's whenever and wherever she could, did little more than stir. Osprey, however, veered toward her father and cousling and bounded over with a raucous volley of barks. Peregrine could see that she intended to pounce the rolling Saēna and, while the young father did not intend to interfere in the natural hierarchy developing between the youths, he stepped in front of Junior before she could spring her attack.

"Look," he said, spotting a discarded bone a few feet away and gesturing to it. Before Osprey Jr. could contemplate it long, he swept it up in his muzzle, then arched his neck and flung it across the clearing. "Fetch, Junior! Get it before Saēna does!"

While the dark youngster went cavorting after the bone and began circling in an effort to find it hidden in the spring grass, Peregrine chortled to himself and turned back to Saēna. "That'll buy us, oh, about thirty seconds. Wanna go for round three or do you wanna play fetch too, Saēna-san?"