Sheepeater Cliff baa, baa, black sheep

@Finley

Sheepeater Cliff seemed indistinguishable from the rest of Sunspire Mountains, save for the mountain goats that began to appear here and there. First, one popped up on her left-side, and it nearly sent her tumbling down the mountainside. She had not expected to see the hopping, baa-ing creature, having been upwind. When another one turned up, she was far more prepared and met it with a low growl. When yet another one appeared, she began to feel a bit crowded on the sheer mountain face. Yes, they were prey, but they were powerful and could easily kick her down to her doom with one, swift motion. Glancing down, she gulped. It would be a long, long fall. It was when she found herself in the midst of a small herd of mountain goats that she realized they did not respect her. Either that, or they mistook her for a mere fox. Growling more loudly and persistently, they merely baa-ed in return and began to kick their heels at her. It was all she could do to find shelter in a small alcove.

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This was probably Fin's new favorite thing to do. She had seen sheep before, but never in such abundance, and never climbing the walls of mountains and leaping from cliff to cliff. By no means was the Blackthorn able to keep up, but she certain gave it her best shot as she prowled along the rocks in pursuit of the athletic beasts, very curious as to where they all were headed.

The sheep she had been following were out of her line of sight by the time Finley climbed over the rocks and came upon the flat clearing where all were gathered. Her eyes widened in surprise to see them all crowded around each other. They were so adorable! For once, Fin felt no desire to chase and torment the critters. She just wanted to sit perched upon her rock and watch them as they grazed.

Wow. This was boring.

After only a few minutes of quiet observation, Finley decided that these sheep were more or less okay with her presence, so forward she went into the herd. It was very odd the way they just sort of... skittered out of the way as she came towards them. They didn't seem to be very fond of her, but they were at least tolerating her. It brought a smile to her face, even when a few of them bleated and thrashed their heads in her direction.

It wasn't long before she came along the little vulpine-like creature curled up away from the herd. Fin tilted her head to the side curiously. The scent was distinctly wolf, but she had never seen one with such brilliant red fur and fox-like markings.

"You alright?" she asked gently.

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Maybe she should have felt embarrassment at her predicament. After all, a wolf was supposed to be the predator! The killer of all [cute] mountain goats! Still, it was not as if any ordinary wolf could take down a healthy mountain goat, let alone a whole herd of them. By this way, she comforted herself. However, the sudden appearance of an equally dainty and feminine creature jolted her out of her senses. Yes, this must have been one of the prettiest mountains goat she had seen yet. Oh, wait a moment--"I've been better," she said through gritted teeth. "Keep me company here, won't you?" Gesturing to the bleating herd outside, she continued to smell the other wolf. The wolf was from a pack, but one she was not familiar with. Whining this question aloud, she gazed warily at the female. She seemed friendly enough, but the little red wolf had to keep her options open. Apparently, she could either die at the fangs of a possibly hostile wolf or a herd of ferocious, chomping goats. The thought was irrational and intrusive. She entertained it with a grimace.

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Hiding was not really Fin's thing, so she hesitated at the request. The moment was brief, though, as a pair of hooves came flying towards her head out of nowhere. The silver woman ducked quickly to avoid the blow and trotted swiftly to the other female's side where she settled down onto her haunches.

"Yeah, I do think I will," Fin replied. She peered out warily as the goats seemed to go back to their goat-y ways, though many still shot the pair unwelcoming glares (or maybe Fin was just growing paranoid). After a minute of quiet, the Blackthorn turned to her companion, a little concerned.

"What is up with these things? I wasn't even trying to piss them off and they're all... pissed off," Fin said, confusion tickling her speech. It wasn't often that the little devil wasn't trying to taunt and aggravate another species, but when she wasn't and they were mad anyway, it was completely bewildering. Mostly because Fin did not get along with common sense.

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Leaf sighed and slumped her body down in relief. At least if she died, she would have a companion by her side. Ignoring the glares of the mountain goats, her mind slowly began to drift when the other wolf brought her back to her senses. She mentioned something about "piss," and the little red wolf abruptly laughed out loud. "Oh yes, that would be ridiculous. You know, to have a wolf pee on them!" she said quickly, restraining another laugh and smiling nervously. Not wanting a pause to allow space for questions, she hastily inserted one of her own: "Do you spend time with them often?" As far as she was aware of, there was few mountain goats where she lived. Yes, some probably stalked Sunspire Mountains, but she had temporarily written off that territory. This place, though, had seemed promising, and even now, she was eager to explore the rest. Just once the mountain goats had settled down, bathed, and dispersed.

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Fin laughed along with the other girl, though her comment about them having wolf pee on them was completely lost on her. This wolf was odd, but she still seemed nice enough, so she gave a smile and a friendly wag of her tail as she moved the conversation forward swiftly.

"I've never been up here before, actually," she admitted, glancing outside. "I'll have to come here more often, they're fun to chase. Not so much when they chase back, though..."

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The other wolf was friendly enough, and Leaf was thankful for the companionship. She would have grown bored waiting for the mountain goats to settle down by herself. Now she had someone with whom to wile away the day! Nodding in agreement, she cautiously sniffed the other wolf. "What's it like where you live?" she ventured to ask. Packed in the question was another question about what pack the other wolf came from, along with the territory they had claimed. Slowly but surely, the little red wolf was making her way across the Teekon Wilds. She had yet to encounter a truly territorial wolf, though she supposed it was safe here on neutral lands. Little did she know this would be one of her last days of [relative] safety and peace.

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Finley kept her gaze on the sheep as she slipped down onto her belly. She assumed they would probably be there for a little while, so she may as well get comfortable. She wrapped her tail up alongside of her body, silently wondering at how she was going to get herself out of this little mess. She supposed she could go all out rage-hunter fest on the cute little guys, but she really didn't want to do that. They were just so sweet and adorable. Well. Sweet-ish.

"Wonderful," she said quickly, "I live on Black Deer Plateau. It has the most amazing view of the flatlands, and the territory is so lush and rich and so full of deer and they're so fun to chase, all they do is run and not try to attack back. They should come teach these sheeps a thing or two." Fin frowned at the still angry-looking critters outside, but it quickly turned into a smile as one stamped its hooves so adorably at them. "What about you? Where are you from?"

Fin enjoyed her time spent with the little red wolf. She was an impish creature, but well-humored and friendly enough. In the end, the sheep had gone long before the pair even realized it and parted ways laughing at themselves for their lack of attention.

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