Heron Lake Plateau i.x : who was only a stranger at home

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Just as Niamh had hoped, the female- only smaller than Niamh in height more than anything- crumpled and tucked herself low rather than trying to run. She'd made the right judgement- Niamh loved to chase, and with the paw the stranger had, she probably wouldn't have been able to outrun the spider-legged blonde. Niamh stood over the female as she protested, but she didn't much care for the excuses she was being given- and she still didn't believe it was the truth. Niamh didn't care that Screech was potentially dead, nor did she believe it for a moment. Not because the female hadn't been convincing- as her grief had been as honest as any that Niamh had ever seen- but unfortunately for Maegi, Niamh was in denial, not over Screech, but over the loss of her own brother to a cougar. Her own grief had clouded her vision, and it was all she could see. All she wanted to hear now was not excuses- but what she hoped dearly was the truth. 

"You didn't see it," She hissed, not understanding the strange words Maegi spoke, and assuming that she was yet again referencing Screech's death. Niamh had a one-track mind, and had streamed herself directly into tunnel-vision. "He's not dead, you're lying. ADMIT IT!" She barked loudly, lowering her mouth and baring her teeth above the female's nape, snapping her jaws together as a threat. "Admit it now, damnit!" She seethed as a final warning, but unexpectedly, she suddenly got the chilling feeling that what Maegi had said was the truth, and though she held her position to deal with whatever Maegi said next, her own conviction had been rattled. By what, she couldn't tell. But something frigid and terrifying had crept into her, and it felt like something had just brushed along her spine, causing the fur there to stand on end. 

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