Broken Boulder the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.

AW, deerstalker #5 (prey: mule deer, successful @Wintersbane @Iana @Tzila @Rye @Lane @Zephyr last tag, i promise! )

 

Imaq had managed to catch the young buck by surprise. For all the world, it had seemed as if the creature had never encountered another predator -- perhaps in its youth, it hadn't. Imaq had always supposed that mother animals taught their offspring just as wolves did but maybe this was not the case. The fawn, who was a few moons shy of a yearling and just budding his antlers, had allowed Imaq to creep closer and ever closer -- until the shaman was close enough to reach out and touch her nose to the deer's.

Until she was close enough to tear at its throat.

It had reared back from her in panic, surprising her by catching her in the left shoulder with one of its deadly hooves and slicing her flesh in a deep curve -- though not so much that she feared permanent damage or death. The merle limped after the creature, stopping only to dress the wound with basic herbs she found in the thick tangle of Bracken Woods. 

She was determined to finish what she'd started, following the buck's staggered footprints along a small stream. To not go home wounded without bringing back the prey that had done wounded her.