It hadn't been easy to say the least, but with struggle Lumi had followed the deer herd. They were trickery and more agile than the caribou and often times she thought she had lost them. Still she had managed to follow their trail far away from January and hopes of doubling back had vanished. Now she just clung to the idea of staying near these strange caribou-like creatures. Lumi had discovered she couldn't get as close to them as the Caribou otherwise they'd flee.
From spending all this time with the small herd she had figured out who was who. There was the older doe who led, the younger doe that was often off with the two yearling does, and then an ancient buck. He was large with one mighty twelve point antler remaining on his head, the other he had shed not too far back, and being fortunate, Lumi had been able to see him loose it. Now she carried it with her to show her brother and cousin whenever she managed to reunite with them. However, being her first heat, the girl had taken some frustration out on the poor thing and chewed it up to some extent.
Now Lumi lay only a few yards away from the herd, hidden between a group of tree trunks. The old male deer had been acting funny the past two or three days, and Lumi wondered if he was dying. Surely he was old with how big those spikey things on his head had become. Mindlessly she chewed away at the antler between her paws watching as he briefly stumbled. Perhaps her following them would pay off. Scavenging leftover kills here and there along the way was not really keeping her weight on.
Lumi's attention drifted as the older doe, who still seemed younger than the buck, called out softly to the other three does. With the call they were off on the move again, but slower than normal. It seemed the others had lessened their pace in favor to the old buck.
After awhile Lumi could smell it, this strange stench of many many wolves. Why had they gathered here? What was this? She became wary, unsure if she should continue to follow the deer. Thankfully the lead doe halted, tail flagging. Lumi waited and watched to see if they would dart off. She prepared herself to chase after them. One of the does looked to her, but oddly enough did not start. She was perhaps closer to them than normal. Were these strange caribou-like creatures becoming used to her? She wasn't sure how long she had followed them at this point. With the buck having such mighty head spikes and a bad attitude, she had learned them taking off wasn't the only cost of getting to close. She had managed to not get hurt before, but that didn't mean she could risk anything. The two year old took a few steps back from the herd, losing the does interest.
The lead doe slowly, calmly, but with tail flagged, started to lead the group away from the possible threat. Lumi looked to the strange scent marker's location, noted the forest's density here and stored it in her memory, then twisted herself around to follow the herd.