Blacktail Deer Plateau somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond

✹☾❂

 

Eleuthera hunkered down as Umi crept to make her concealment on the far side of the herd of deer. The cat, once a distinct shape and moving form in front of her, seemed to take on the golden and green hue of the grasses around her — the shine of the earth indistinguishable from the shine of her pelt — and then she was gone, blended in completely with her surroundings. It was as if Umi had never existed.

Immediately, Eleuthera recognized the whole thing was at risk of imploding due to a severe lack of foresight on her behalf. She had no damn clue where Umi was. In her mind, Eleuthera figured that she would have some knowledge of in which direction she must herd the deer — but in reality, the cat was far too camouflaged for Eleuthera to have any clear idea. The lilac wolf just figured that she trusted Umi to be in the general direction in which she had gestured, and she hoped that she would not make a move a moment too early, or a moment too late.

Eleuthera lay, unmoving, in the same spot for many moments. She was watching the herd, then watching for any sign of the mountain lion. Of the latter, the wolf saw nothing — but of the former, the deer had continued to move in their grazing and threatened to move entirely out of her realm of direction. It was now, or never. The woman picked herself up and moved conspicuously into view of the herd, hoping that the sight of a single wolf would be enough to gently encourage them in the direction of the thicket in the back, and not incite panic. Eleuthera attempted to look as non-hungry and non-threatening as possible.

Her tactic failed. A mother deer caught eye of the wolf and instinctively bolted, causing the others to follow suit. Eleuthera stood frozen where she was, entirely frustrated by the whole thing. It was more than likely that the herd of deer might bound away, entirely untouched by a predator’s fangs, unless Umi was somehow in position and had anticipated the herd’s bolting. If not, well, Eleuthera really screwed the pooch on this one.

roll here, oopsies haha