Bitterroot Valley ✢ With the holes in his sneakers

No worries at all, if I'm involved in a thread, it was already destined to travel in the slow lane. xD

Veteran nodded at the man's words. The valley was breathtaking and a prize in its own right, but he believed it was the unseen things that made a home most valuable- the bonds of friendship and family in particular. Veteran wondered if this man kept guard over any such treasures, or if he was as alone as their still surroundings suggested. 

Brothers had been the choice he hoped for, but he kept his relief hidden. He tore one last strip of flesh from the kill and then moved a few paces away to finish the morsel, allowing the stranger space to feast directly from the carcass. He looked out over the foothills as he chewed, surveying the marmot burrows with a keen eye. 

His attention snapped to a small movement within one of the burrows, and he watched as a curious nose poked up out of the burrow. A short whistle sounded from the creature, no doubt a warning to the marmot's kin that there were predators lurking. 

It needn't have worried. The valley prey were safe from him; he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.