Bramblepoint red-hawk for dinner

She was tired, and more than that she was truly pissed off for the first time in her life. It was tough to be an optimist when everything seemed to be ripping at your pelt.

Leto had made her finaly decision to leave the Caldera with Delos in tow. Her heart called for her to return to the pass where Verapaz waited, but everything else told her to return to what she knew. Leto would run for the Taiga, travelling at night and hunting in the day. The days there would provide her son with more mercy.

Sun high over the dense forest, Leto was on the hunt for a scent worth following. Delos was safely stowed away where the sun would not reach him, and his mother, short on sleep, did not intend to be away for long. Nose lifting from the ground she had caught a peculiar scent, and despite herself followed it.

Passing through trees and bushes, it was a shock that her nose had not fooled her. A Red-tailed Hawk sat in a paricularly deep puddle, wings too soaked to take off. It felt like a bit of a cruel coincidence really, but the bird would serve as a fine meal.