Blacktail Deer Plateau the holiest of altars

The adults had begun to take the pups on longer and more frequent jaunts lately, sometimes even spending all day (save for early morning and late evening) away from the rendezvous site. They still weren't allowed to go out on their own or even in pairs just yet, so an adult always escorted them. For now, the nine-week-olds didn't mind; they happily embraced their newfound freedoms.

Today, Hawkeye led her two biological daughters on a hike across the plateau that led them past the waterfall. The Delta stopped there and let the girls play in the water a while, then eventually called them to heel and continued their walk. They reached a clearing not unlike the one they used for their home base and Hawkeye commanded Osprey Jr. and Tytonidae to stay put, then ventured away to pick up a midday meal from one of the plateau's caches.

Junior tried to get Ty to play with her, yet the ashy whelp flopped to the ground, evidently exhausted from their field trip. She didn't move even when Osprey obnoxiously tapped her upside the head several times. Snorting, Osprey gave up on her sister and began to roam around the clearing, sniffing here and there. It was smaller than theirs and she quickly grew bored of it.

When she heard footsteps nearby, Osprey shouted, "MOM!" at the top of her lungs and ran to meet Hawkeye, knowing her mother wouldn't mind it much if she went just a few yards into the woods... except it wasn't Hawkeye loping through the trees. Osprey Jr. stopped short when she nearly ran into a perfect stranger. Small body stiffening, she backpedaled and looked up at the she-wolf, her mouth working noiselessly for a second before she loudly blurted, "STRAEJER DAEJER!"