Blacktail Deer Plateau Once Upon a Time I Sighed

Peregrine counted silently in his head, then braced himself. When he heard Blue Willow's noises in the near distance, his attention focused solely upon the burrow's entrance. His nose quivered, his ears twitched and he had to bite back a whine of eagerness when he picked up some scurrying within. Someone was home and that somebody was most definitely panicking about the intruder at the door.

Muscles coiling, Peregrine hovered much like a bird of prey, swooping down and crushing the mink with his forepaws even as it fled from the tunnel. It was much too small an animal to aim for the jugular; instead, he simply severed its spinal cord with a precise bite. Peregrine then plucked up the limp body and carried it over to Blue Willow.

Dropping the carcass momentarily, he said, "I'll show you where the nearest cache is. We'll stash this, then I'm gonna give you some homework while I go do some other stuff." He paused, making sure she was paying attention. "I want you to partner up with someone else and do what we did, only reverse the roles so you get do the killing. Once you've mastered minks, we'll move onto actual large game. Sound like a deal? Oh, and then you can teach me some stuff about herbs if you want."

He led her to a nearby stockpile buried at the foot of a tree. He dug up the top layer of soil and debris, deposited this latest kill, then reburied everything and marked the spot by lifting his legs and urinating on the roots. Turning, he faced Blue Willow again, hoping he'd taught her something useful.

"Well, I'm off. I'll catch you later, Willow," he said simply before nodding to the subordinate female and loping away into the trees to take care of various other tasks.