Blacktail Deer Plateau I Made a Wrong Turn to Right

Pied lay tucked into the hollow tree, her slim body curled into a ball and her nose thrust beneath her bottle brush of a tail. Her flanks moved with the slow rhythm of her breathing as she slept deeply. All the same, one of her gray ears twitched at the sound of a nearby footfall. Then both began to flick and, a moment later, her two-toned eyes popped open and she lifted her head to peer out the crevice of a doorway.

She remained very still, listening as the footsteps came nearer. When a figure stepped into her field of vision, she jerked slightly, then laughed quietly to herself. Recognizing Vires, she pushed herself onto all fours and stepped out of the tree. She stood just beyond the threshold and shook out her coat, then chuffed quietly in case Vires hadn't noticed her materialize from within the tree.

"Hey, Vires, how are you?" she queried, long white tail waving slowly.