Blacktail Deer Plateau You saved my life, you saved me

Anyone who would enjoy the good weather with her!

A very muddy Saena emerged from a hole she'd dug under a knot of tree roots, and blinked against the dazzling light cutting through the forest.

The weather had been incredibly warm lately, leaving the ground a mud-churned mess of half melted snow. There was no indication in the clouds or wind that this was likely to change, so Saena made sure she was out and about to enjoy it to its fullest. She pulled the rest of her body out of the hole and cast around for the reason she'd dug it—a small, scrawny hare carcass lying nearby.

Thankfully, it hadn't attracted any scavengers, except a raven that sat patiently on a branch overhead. She snarled a warning at it and chomped down on the dead rabbit's chest. The raven didn't respond, so after levelling a last severe gaze on the carrion bird, she turned and shoved her torso back into the hole, where hopefully a raven could never reach the stored rabbit.

:O

Valtýr moved across the plateau with a lively jaunt - a gait most unusual for the sedate and depressive youth. Scrawny limbs pulled himself forth as he searched relentlessly for good toys to bring to Taltos and Blue's new babies. He had already found a uniquely shaped branch with a big twist in the middle... but thought that it might be a bit too pokey for infants so young.

The weather was pleasantly accommodating, the bite of cold cut by warmer rays of sun. Valtýr would have continued on his merry way if it weren't for a crow's loud heckling nearby. Perhaps there was something yummy waiting? The gaunt boy approached, curious about what he may find... but upon rounding the bend, Val discovered a very muddy bottom poking out from crudely dug hole.

Quietly, he stalked forth (after all, this was perfect target practice) until he was close enough to launch a surprise attack by poking his muzzle smack dab upon Saena's haunch.

She adjusted and readjusted the rabbit carcass in the depths of her hole until it was propped at an angle against the back wall. When satisfied with this work, the female began to wiggle her way free, only for a sharp prod in the ass to hasten this effort. It was easy to believe the crafty crow was trying to find its way into her hole, so her response was to snap its face off.

When her head popped free of the hole and she turned with a growl to snap off the crow's beak, she realized it was actually Valtyr's snout and not the bird at all. In fact, it was still calling raucously from the tree, while he stood there innocently. Her fierce scowl dissolved into the look of apology and regret as she said, "Oh, sorry Valtyr! You startled me."

She could only hope her reaction wouldn't cause him to flee from her, and further signalled how sorry she was by flattening her ears and waving her tail apologetically.

His tail wagged loosely, spirits high, but the firstborn could not anticipate the flash of fangs aimed right at his face. From the darkness shot Saena's contorted maw, a low growl warning him to back off. A cold fright rose in his chest and drained the color from his cheeks. With a yelp he peddled backwards in a panic, the ebony bird crowing in jest from the treetops — completely bemused by the spineless orphan.

Val shrank close to the snow, tail tucked tight. Oh, sorry Valtyr! You startled me, Saena cooed an apology, posture slack. However, it did little to buff up the boy's confidence. "O-oh," he mumbled with a nervous smile, trying to brush off the idea that she had just tried to eat him. "Sorry, I - I didn't mean to..." He stood slowly, trying to bounce back. "What were you doing?"

Even before the words left her lips he was stumbling backward and Saena was grasping for a way to make it up to him. "I'm so sorry!" she repeated, taking a hasty step in Valtyr's direction as though she could catch him, but he seemed to do a good job of it himself. A small part of her mind was busy griping that he should know better than to poke a working wolf in the behind, but a much larger part of it was just sorry she reacted so severely. She made a mental note to be more careful in the future.

"I was burying a hare," she said gently while she cocked an ear toward the cackling bird overhead. "We have a resident pest," and here she flicked her snout in the crow's direction, "so I wanted to make sure it was plenty deep enough that he couldn't get it. Normally I don't dig so far."

Saena's attention made him try a little harder to brush off his apprehension as he wheezed a nervous laugh. "A pest?" Val pulled forward, eyes darting up to the ebony crow hopping along the tree's boughs. It whooped a raspy laugh down at the pair, eying the burrow unabashedly. The firefoot put his front feet on the trunk, stretching out his narrow body as long as it would go, but the bird merely danced upon his perch. Yup, definitely out of reach.

His eyes drifted to Saena's burrow, dirt clods and all. "Are you storing it for later?" he leaned over the hole to spy the small, bent hare inside.

Saena couldn't suppress a chuckle as Valtyr stretched for the crow overhead. "It's a vermin. Some birds are helpful, but those ones are thieves," she explained, turning to shovel a few pawfuls of dirt into the hole. She shot the conniving bird a grimace when it raucously called out again, but knew there wasn't much else she could do. She wasn't the sort to snap and snarl at it when it was so far out of reach, and anyway, it was a waste of energy.

Valtyr took her attention back and she beamed. "Yep, for me or whoever wants it," and with him she glanced into the hole. The rabbit was still visible, but with a fine layer of snow-churned soil obscuring its dirty fur. Burying it wasn't a huge priority with two wolves standing over it, so Saena settled herself on her haunches and said, "so what were you doing before you poked my butt?"