Sunbeam Lair well, the world might cut you down again, but you know the way back home

He could tell the man was thinking. Merrit was, too.

When his companion’s eye locked upon him, Merrit thought of gesturing towards the weaker one - knowing, too, that the healthy ewe was the easier shot, but knowing in the order of life, she would need to be preserved. Funny, he thought, how different we consider kin and prey. For he thought of Yakone and his children, how he was certain the world might look on them. Weaker, in a sense, yet he loved them. Protected them. Preserved them.

He gestured to the weaker ram, for prey and hunter were different, and if they could separate her from the rest of the herd, she would bless their lives by the giving of her lifeblood.

So he would move counter to the way his companion went, seeking to wedge himself between ewe and ram, or skirting along the outer reach to catch her when his companion might drive her towards him.