Blacktail Deer Plateau baby, can you focus on me?

He had been chasing small game all morning, and he was tired. The pursuit of a hare exercised different muscles than those exerted on a deer hunt, muscles he wasn't quite used to using. Thus, a small nap was in order, and Shale dozed in a quiet corner of the rendezvous site, eyelids fluttering slightly as he dreamed fitfully.

The sound of pawsteps nearby woke him, and he opened his eyes, finding a pale woman meandering about, nose low to the ground in search. Raising an eyebrow, he clambered to his feet, stretching with a half-audible yawn, and watched her for a silent moment.

"Something wrong, ma'am?" he asked, flicking an ear curiously. She was slim and pretty, good-looking for someone around his age, which he was guessing she was. Her eyes held the secrets of maturity and a life well-lived, something found in the depths of his brothers' gaze but of few others he had encountered in Teekon.