Bearclaw Valley the beautiful know they have power

stigmata kept a careful ear out for his pursuers; listening as they paused in brief huddle, and then finding it delightfully curious when the pair of them split up their ambush, as in the true nature of pack-hunting predators.

his decision on how to best unravel their plan came in the same instance merrick chose to take the left for his attack. well aware of which youth had done the orchestrating here, the youngest redleaf had unwittingly made himself the weaker link and therefore stigmata's target. surreptitiously, he began to angle his path so that he began to drift in the boy's direction, giving nunataq more ground to cover before she could "rescue" her familial compatriot.

"now where could my prey have gone?" he asked in a hush, musing to himself loud enough for his true quarry to catch. he loomed ever nearer to merrick, still pretending to peruse distractedly among the grass fronds, until he was not, and he snapped silver-blade eyes onto the very spot merrick was hidden; and a wide, bedeviling grin split a fearsome line across his muzzle. "ah, there you are."