Arrow Lake Deerly Departed

The wolf was moving smartly along with Nynka's meat, just as ordered. Not quite fast enough for the little weasel's tastes, though; she aimed another nip at the wolf's retreating bone-white heels for good measure. Though really, one would think she'd be grateful the haunch of meat was moving in the right direction at all, given that only a few minutes before it had had any forward motion at all stalled out entirely, with only weaselteeth at hand; a wiser weasel might have shown a little more gratitude, or at least forethought. But that wasn't really a habit of Nynka's, obviously.

She traveled over at least three times the length of ground that the wolf bitch did, in the process of both leading and herding the canine. Her eyes darted suspiciously about for any other creatures, too, who might think of stealing what ought to be 100% her rightful bounty. But besides a lone hawk, for whom Nynka paused for just a second beneath the sheltering branch of an evergreen to give a menancing glare, few other beasts seemed to be about, much less paying the odd pair any attention. Hurry, muttered Nynka as she whipped by Wraen again, however—in a quiet tone of voice almost entirely civil, and slightly conspiratorial. I think that bird's eyeing it up now. She growled, just in case anyone might even for a moment think that Nynka wouldn't leap into battle to defend her stuff at the first opportunity, to make any would-be thief pay as dearly as was weaselishly possible for the prize.

Nynka shot a quick suspicious glance over her shoulder, but didn't see the feathery fiend in the air behind them. Good. Over here, she said to the wolf quickly. Hurry, hurry...! Nynka darted around a small boulder and over a grazzy tussock to dance impatiently before a small hole in the earth. Her eyes glittered with a hint of renewed suspiciousness as she looked back again at the wolf and the meat, but she did look away for a quick instant as she scrabbled at the earth to widen the entryway just a little. In here! She gazed again at the wolf with a guarded expression. Would the canine change its mind? Was it possibly secretly in league with the hawk, as crazily far-fetched as such an alliance might sound? Was Nynka going to have to fight the canine to get back her hard-won deer haunch after all? She hoped not, but better a wolf than a hawk at least, she supposed—no wolf was going to lift off into the air with her precious cut of meat, at least, after all. Put it in here. A final scuff of a brown foot at the den entrance pointedly indicated the long tunnel once more.