Ravenshook Cliffs Lassie 2.0

The yearling stepped to the side to make room for the alder as Niamh lowered it, her heart nearly stopping when her hind foot slipped over the edge. She recovered quickly, though her heart was still racing as the branch came to rest beside her. Towhee felt X's talons dig even deeper into her flesh and she grabbed onto the branch, clenching her teeth against the pain.

It took a moment to maneuver into position, though finally she felt ready. "Pull!" she called, voice probably indecipherable between her naturally clunky cadence and the branch currently jammed in her mouth. Once she felt the limb begin to shift, Towhee braced herself. When it cleared the ledge, she reared up onto her hind feet, scrabbling for anchorage.

Meanwhile, X resumed the beating of his wings. There was no way he would ever lift Towhee, though his feathers caught some of the updraft and there was the tiniest semblance of lift. Simultaneously, the burly she-wolf attempted to scale the sheer rock wall while maintaining her clutch on the branch and avoiding allowing her full weight to drag on it, lest she yank Niamh over the cliff. It was quite the exigent balancing act (literally).

By some miraculous stroke of fortune worthy of a Disney film, they managed. Towhee was suddenly up and over the cliff's edge, clinging to the ground and drawing in hitching breaths around the alder, which she couldn't seem to let go. X had released his own grip on her back—she could feel trickles of warm blood, sticky in her fur, likely staining her white streaks—and settled nearby, neatly folding his wings, his own bloodied breast puffed up triumphantly.