Blacktail Deer Plateau catch a hot one!

joining thread for @Dawa and @Tenzin to post first and then asking for @Hawkeye ;> Any others of BDP are welcome to pop in I guess tho if they are curious

A beast, lurching, first appeared over the edge of the plateau. Dark fur crested the rock and then came ears, and face, and the rest of his hulking form. Behind him, two others; they kept their distance, as though the beast emitted some forcefield to hold them at bay. The sun was high in the sky, just past its zenith as it shed its afternoon warmth. A respite from the winter cold; despite this, he could breathe out and see steam still wrap from his lips and tongue into the air. Not that the cold really concerned him. His skin was tough, an impenetrable hide that bore scar and debris alike. It would seem that his pelt shook with each step; the hairs were long and oily, hanging from him like an old rug. Raheerah had never traveled such distances before, and they took their toll on him. Like his companions, he was tired, and he was hungry.

A grunt escaped him as he leveled himself on the very edge of the plateau. Before them, plains and a distant forest cropped up from the rock, bathing in the pristine afternoon sunshine. A single eye narrowed, hot like flame; it rose from the plateau to the cerulean skies yawning above them, and his upper jaw followed, leaving behind his chin. His mouth parted and a bellow rang from his throat. It was hardly a canine cry at all; a roar, hardened with age and malice, spilled up into the sky and called for whatever mortal called this place home.

His companions were eager to find shelter. They'd asked for paradise, and though this place was furthest from it, it would have to do. Raheerah could travel for days more, but Dawa could not. Their paws were all scathed and bleeding, their muscles sore, stomachs empty. If the creatures that crawled this plateau would not accept them, they would starve. Either that, or Raheerah would be forced to make a meal of the tedious monk behind him.