Cedar Sweep itqa

Long after the stranger left, Masquerade was still swimming in adrenaline. She poured some of her energy into a patrol around the area, then remembered she and @Riley were meant to be scouting. With some reluctance, she departed the woods. She actually found herself tracking the woman’s path of retreat, her tail as stiff as her upper lip as she pursued it across the river and into the nearby thicket.

She slowed her pace there, dropping the scent trail to assess her surroundings. There were a lot of apple trees here, the ground littered with last season’s rotten fruit. The air smelled sweet, with the occasional mustiness she associated with birds. Did Riley enjoy the taste of fowl? She wasn’t sure.

There was a plateau looming to the southwest. Masquerade wondered if it might afford her better views of the surrounding territories. She found a sort of earthen ramp that led upward and slowly climbed it. Indeed, she could see quite far and wide, though the plateau itself was so broad, she could only overlook one corner of the hinterlands at a time. For the moment, she turned her back on the sun’s glare to peer eastward.

This region was quite vast. She wondered where the pilferer had gone. Did she belong to a pack here? How many packs even inhabited this place? Masquerade found herself raising her ruddy muzzle in a howl, a sort of friendly role call. She hoped it might reach the ears of someone willing to engage in a long distance exchange.