Sun Mote Copse And I'm still tired of sleeping with the light on
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^^A fella I saw while driving through the rockies a few years ago. In the spring, they come down from the mountains to lick the salt off the roads :) This fella stayed in the middle of the road for like....10 mins so I had to like...Wait, and then sneak past him in my little car hahaha.


"They were over this way, just across the river yesterday," She explained to Clover as they walked. "We should be able to cross where that avalanche came down into the river," She said, volunteering that as the safest route to get across, provided that the bighorn sheep were still hanging out near the base of the mountain. With the temperature rising a bit, they'd seemingly come down from their safe zone high in the mountains across the river to drink and dig through the snow to find buried grass, and had caught Niamh's attention as she'd been on patrol the day before. They looked like tough animals- but they were also much smaller than deer, at least in height, so as long as they could get between the sheep and the mountain- where it would definitely have the upper hand on the higher ground- they'd have a chance at bringing one down. 

As they neared the edge of the forest that bordered the river, Niamh went into stealth mode, lowering herself a bit as she cast her gaze across the river, halting when she caught sight of the pale, beige animals that had stayed in almost the same place she'd seen them the day before. Creatures of habit, she guessed, which was fortunate for them. If the bighorn sheep kept up this behavior, that would make them a primary source of food for the wolves in the copse. She motioned to @Clover to take a look at them with a happy, hungry look in her eyes, before she gestured that they should continue. They'd have to cross about half a mile downriver where the avalanche debris made for easy, safe crossing. Before long, though, they would be out of earshot, so Niamh chuckled. "Dis gonna be goooood," She snickered.
'cause i'm a hopeless wanderer
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Note: So sorry about the wait!

Clover followed alongside Niamh dutifully, nodding every so often as relevant information came about. "I'm sure they'll still be there," she returned, looking at Niamh with a mischievous glint in her kerry-green eyes. "If they're stupid enough to come close to our territory because of food, they'll stay and to chow down all they can." Clover knew what a hungry-belly could do to the mind. 

She sank in sync with the Trades(wo)man, lowering herself as they went into stealth-mode. "Oh, fuck yeah," she replied in an excited whisper as she looked to the oblivious herd. "Dis gonna be sew goooood," she affirmed with a wiggle of her behind, waiting for Niamh's command.
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Buh, ditto! Had a crazy week, sorry!

Feeing giddy with the advent of a good, warm meal coming up as long as she had Clover on her side, Niamh chuckled as her partner in crime echoed her words. "Of course they're that stupid- have you seen them fight? They bash their heads together," She said, though her voice cut off slightly. She was reminded- yet again- of the incident involving Screech in which the two had more or less done the same- butting heads in anger, which had led to Screech's life altering concussion. She pushed those thoughts away; the triggers were still there, but she was at least able to mute the sound of the blast of memories, and turn a blind eye to them. 

Sure enough, the herbivores were still along the opposite river bank, digging through snow to graze down where the snow was thinner. The two moved along, pushing further downriver toward where the avalanche had deposited a good amount of snow and debris, making it safe to cross over. Niamh didn't necessarily trust the ice where the river was deeper, and she had no idea exactly how deep the river got in places so she wasn't going to chance it...Not after what had happened to Bat near Two Rivers Isle. She could see the mound of snow in the distance, where it piled down the side of the mountain and across the river, and Niamh gestured. "We'll cross up there...Then figure out a game plan for tackling one. I think maybe if one of us went along the river's edge, and the other went up the mountain to chase them down toward the ice...I think if we got them out onto the river, we could probably catch one. No way they can run as fast on ice as we can with their hooves," She said. Of course, their hooves were excellent for traversing the mountain side- which was why she wanted to have one of them cut off that possible escape route- but she couldn't imagine a creature with hooves having any traction on flat ice at all.
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"Yeah, they're really fuckin stupid," Clover remarked, imagining herself fighting as the big-horns did—it didn't make sense. "Like, they have teeth and hooves for a reason... they should use them to their advantage!" she scoffed. "But, then again, their stupidity does make them easier prey..." and perhaps that was their reason for existing—to be prey. 

In time, the pair reached their vantage point, and Clover examined the area as Niamh elaborated on their plan. "Yeah, they'll be slipping all over the place," she agreed with a smirk. "I'll take the route along the river—I don't have much experience with mountains," and Clover was momentarily reminded of Jarilo, the mountain man she had met. Although infatuation threatened to overtake her, she pushed away from the thought of him for now. 

"Let go," Clover affirmed once her mind was free.
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”Cool cool,” Niamh quipped to Clover’s choice of sticking along the river. Niamh would stick out more against the snow than Clover would, so it was just as well that she was the one who had to climb up the mountainside a bit and then more or less head them off to cross the river with Clover hot on their heels. 

She turned and thumped her tail against Clover’s flank with the ease of a footballer giving a teammate a smack on the shoulder. She began to climb, still out of the herd’s line of sight, sticking to the rockier sections for better traction. She simply trusted that Clover would make her way along the riverside, sneaking with a low profile so as to get as close as possible. 

Once she’d scaled a few hundred feet of mountainside, she began to inch along the mountain’s shoulder until she could see the herd grazing through the snow along the river’s edge. She went still once she’d reached her chosen position- a golden streak against the mountainside no more unnatural than a beam of light upon the snow- as she sought out Clover’s position.
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Nearly replicating Niamh's sentiment, Clover whacked her tail against her partner's hind leg—as though she was giving her hunting partner a playful smack on the butt. "-Let's go kick some ass-" she signed enthusiastically as they began to part ways. 

Keeping to her intended path, Clover lowered herself upon the shoreline and crept towards their intended target. Her steps were carefully placed, as she did not want to reveal her presence. Once she was a comfortable distance from where the sheep grazed, she looked cliff-ward and sought Niamh's position.
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The signed movement drew her eye to where Clover blended in well with the slate grey rocks along the frozen banks of the river, and Niamh nodded. Yeh, kicking ass- that she was good at. Her job, right now, was just to zig-zag down the mountainside, cutting off the uphill exit from the sheep, and herding them toward the river's icy surface where they would be able to catch up and bring down one- maybe even two of the creatures on the slippery surface. With a growl, Niamh shot forward, propelling herself down the mountainside and toward the small herd of herbivores which inevitably spooked away from her. 

She moved to her own left, so that the sheep wouldn't simply run away from Clover and further down the banks, cutting off their exit and making the only feasible route the one they would have to take across the river. But it was too wide for them to get a good advantage or get ahead of the wolves, not when one had the advantage of having been practically flying down the mountainside, and the other had been there waiting already. The sheep hit the ice and continued to try and run- but their attempt was laughable at best; their little legs scrambled on the ice and their cloven hooves, which would normally give them expert purchase on the scraggy mountainside, did nothing to help them on the river's icy surface. Niamh barreled toward them like an avalanche.
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Niamh lept suddenly, giving Clover the marching orders she had been waiting for; only the herd and Niamh mattered for now. Surged towards the congregated herbivores, who were more than aware of the imminent danger they were in. They scrambled, moving every which way to evade the two huntresses. Through the madness, Clover's gaze honed in on the weakest link—a young doe, who appeared to be injured. Clover came to the conclusion in noticing the prey's hobble, as the doe struggled to get away. 

"FOUND ONE!" Clover hollered about the clacking of hooves, before redirecting herself so she could better pursue the prey. "FOLLOW ME!" she called, as she sprang towards her target to drive the doe back towards the frozen waterway.
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I LOVE the shape of Clover's eyes in her avatar. Like she's got full, but natural lashes for dayyyyyys.

Niamh chuckled to herself as she watched the rocky mountain sheep skitter this way and that on the ice, but Clover's shout brought her back into reality, as her hunting companion had singled out a smaller, weaker target. She veerted, using her toepads and claws to steer herself past the slipping sheep and toward the one that Clover had singled out. She blew past a few sheep that had stumbled and were fumbling to get away, making Niamh wonder if they couldn't just take down two- but she didn't want to risk coming away with nothing, and they could always use the same strategy another day. 

Niamh put on a burst of speed which mostly just ended up costing her extra effort before she realized she couldn't just flail her way over to the sheep. So she hunkered her body low and focused on gripping the ice with her claws and spreading her toes so that she could find some purchase on the river's slippery, frozen surface. Her presense was enough- whether she was close or not- to steer the ewe back toward Clover as they herded the sheep away from the banks and down the length of the river. Niamh barked to Clover and gestured for her to make the next move, whilst Niamh continued to harry the sheep from behind.
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Thanks gurllllllllllll! Sorry for the wait. Roll can be viewed here.
 
Moving from solid ground to the frozen stream was a challenge that Clover hadn't fully anticipated. It was hard to find her footing, and often she found herself losing her hold on the terrain underfoot. Clover was distracted from her slipping and sliding by Niamh's bark, and she glanced up to see the command she had been given. 

Despite her disorder, Clover attempted to compose herself; she was often unsuccessful in inconvenient circumstances. Being on the slick, frozen river was no exception. Springing forward, Clover aimed for the goat's ankles. She had miscalculated, and landed just behind the retracted creature, skidding in the opposite direction as she realized that she had missed. 

As Clover scrambled to regain her footing, she barked at Niamh, hoping that she could accomplish what she had failed to do.
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This was harder than she’d thought. She’d gained some ground on the creature, but it took a lot more energy than she’d anticipated, and even Clover seemed to be experiencing some difficulty. Her attempt at snagging the goat failed, so Niamh was called into action. She again tried to put on a burst of speed but found it more or less ineffective on the ice. She was able to get close enough to make a leap toward the goat- but even leaping on the ice was hard. 

As a result, she barely made any progress, and skidded a bit as she landed a few lengths short of the goat’s flailing hindquarters. Clover was doing her best to recover so Niamh gave her friend a bark of encouragement, and tried to keep up with the terrified goat as well as she could on the glassy surface. When the opportunity presented itself, and Clover and Niamh had both caught up with it, she lunged again- and all it took was a grab to knock the sheep off balance and cause it to fall. Both wolves skidded, but were quick to launch themselves upon the fallen prey. 

Once the struggle was over, Niamh smiled to Clover, her choice hunting buddy. "Not Baaaaaad," She joked, before the two settled in to enjoy their kill.