Heron Lake Plateau Lots of booze, and lots of ramblin'

WC: 651

When Raleska surged forward without warning, Niamh almost burst out laughing. It wasn't that she'd gone in the direction- but she'd startled Niamh so much with her sudden action that she'd actually flinched and lowered her center of gravity. While she wasn't heading straight toward the fox's whereabouts, it wasn't altogether a terrible thing- she was going off on roughly a 20 degree angle from where Niamh assumed the fox was, so she wouldn't get too far off course if she kept running that way and aside from that, Niamh could work this into a sort of strategy. With Raleska not heading straight for the ruddy creature, she would end up flanking it, and as Niamh too burst into a run, she knew exactly what she could to do make things easier- she would rush the fox from the other side and, as an adult wolf posed a much larger threat, she would do her best to spook it to make it run out toward Raleska.

Probably not the best thing to do when puppysitting, but Raleska wasn't exactly a puppy anymore anyway; she was teetering on being a juvenile, so that put her in the right spot to begin dealing with small, manageable threats like a fox, as long as she had supervision. A fox could take down something smaller than itself, and Raleska was definitely bigger than a fox. A coyote would have had a shot at seriously inflicting damage on the young female, but then again, a coyote with a fair amount of experience and speed could inflict a good amount of damage on an adult wolf as well, if they were so inclined- which they usually weren't. Like a coyote, a fox would likely only ever attack a wolf if it was cornered, which Niamh was aware was their goal. Still, she didn't have too many reservations- Raleska's mother had charged a cougar without hesitation, so she likely expected her daughter to grow up with the same amount of gumption.

As expected, the fox heard Raleska's hasty approach and veered away from her, which meant that Niamh had more ground to cover if she wanted to be able to steer it back toward Raleska. The fox was quick, and had Niamh waited a few more moments, it would have veered far enough away from Raleska that it might have escaped Niamh too, or in the very least it might have gotten far enough away from Raleska that Niamh wouldn't be able to overtake it on its flank and herd it back toward her co-warrior. The fox continued on its path, body held low to the ground as it sped through their territory, and it was in sight by the time it realized that it was being pursued not only by one small wolf, but by an adult wolf as well. That certainly hastened its pace- but the one Niamh had set had already been dialed in to 'overtake,' so she did not slow down or change her route. Had the fox been smarter, it should have veered directly away from Raleska on a 90 degree angle, but it didn't, luckily for Niamh. She was able to cover the distance between the two of them, and cut off any escape route it might have had.

With a low growl, she snaked her head down and close to the fox, snapping her teeth together menacingly. That was when the fox made the decision to veer suddenly, directly away from Niamh. It had quickened its speed again, but already it had forgotten about the other wolf- and rather than bounding away to safety, it instead made a beeline away from Niamh- and directly toward the path Raleska would be taking if she continued going straight. ”He's comin' yer way!” She cried excitedly, and continued to herd the fox on, hoping to drive it right where she needed it to go.