The voice that answered her challenge carried a frailness to it that suggested a woman ‘over the hill’ so to speak. This only emboldened the yearling further, instead of seeing someone to be looked up to or respected like their dear Skana, she envisioned someone weak, beyond their prime. A perfect target for an emboldened, infallible youth to take on with a very real chance of winning. As she took a challenging step forward her brother whined for home and she growled in response. The boy needed to learn to keep his nose out of grown up matters and had he not followed it up with a cranky ‘Go’ to the bushes she was advancing on, followed by the tell-tale scuttle of retreat she possibly would have pursued.

As it was, she committed the scent to memory before rounding on her younger sibling with a sharp nip to his hindquarters. “Yer sorely mistaken if ya’ think I’m gonna carry you.” she declared stepping over the boy and turning back towards the south. “Yer came this far, yer more than capable of walkin’ all the way back.” Her tone allowed no room for argument as she set off at a slow walk to accommodate for her brothers shorter legs, not bothering to look back and make sure the young boy was following.