Morningside Cuesta enter, pursued by a memory

The deer staggered under his weight, and then jolted when Widow hit them, too. Persia couldn't help but admire the doe's incredible strength and dogged determination to live — and he felt just a little bad, as he always did, for cutting her life short.

But not that bad.

As soon as he tasted arterial spray on the wind, Persia wrenched himself away from the doe, spring-boarding off her side.

"Hop off, cottontail!" he called to Window — "You got her, girl, she's sank!"

Sure enough, the doe's strength quickly failed her whether Widow hung on or not. Persia was inclined to follow at a distance until she lost her strength. A kill could be made more safely this way, at the cost of some lost time and a little further walked. He hung back, keeping an even pace in the doe's bloody wake.