valette takes the lead; dawn veers off to move within the first, parallel to her. occasionally, the forest comes between them and for a few moments, she loses sight of the woman. when she hones in on the matriarch's location again, she shifts nearer, until once again they drift apart.

in this manner they comb the forest, dawn pausing briefly when some sign of the herd is noticed. and then, quite suddenly, she stares into the soft dark eyes of a doe. she realizes three things rather quickly; the deer is young, perhaps a season old. she is relatively thin, and from her comes the smell of infection. and third, she is alone, here, curled up among the undergrowth.

with the advent of the quakes the deer and likeminded prey had fled. this group, however, had gone east; far enough so to infringe on the lands of humans. this one had been snared by a trap meant for a coyote, and escaped through some stroke of luck. but luck faded, and now she was here, surrounded once again by hunters and falling prey already to infection.

the wolf dove, jaws aimed for the soft hide. the doe is already moving, and so dawn's jaws connect with a rear haunch. hoof strikes her chest and she relents her grip, allowing only a heartbeat to elapse before she's hard on the heels of the deer, issuing a clipped call for Valette as she cuts the doe toward the matriarch.