Bearclaw Valley why does tragedy exist?

they are my herds.

imperial gaze volleys to the stranger, ears cupping forth; alert at the possession in the simple sentence. in a manner that newt cannot explain he peers around — cautiousness renewing — as if given new insight before his gaze flickers back to the other male where it lingers.

it is only now that it sinks in that perhaps this male means to claim this territory ...perhaps he has already begun the process and the whole reason newt fails to notice ( beside his own distracted failure to pay attention ) is because of the sequestered tunnel he's been using. always seeking to protect hearth & home despite that he doesn't really agree with what's been happening lately he has no intentions of letting the tunnel connecting their territories be known.

it's a secret that would go to the grave with him ...provided someone else didn't find it first. regardless, he wouldn't utter a single word about it.

i'm more of a bison man, personally. newt offers as a subtle way of communicating that he wasn't going to infringe upon claimed herds. the easthollowians were more focused upon the bison herds anyway and for that newt's suddenly grateful. you seek to claim this place then? asking it aloud, giving voice to the thought that his excursions here might end real soon, fills him with a sort of sorrow.