Come Over Red Rover

She cocked her head at his musings, bending to scrape a forepaw over her face. She didn’t know it, but the scraping did nothing to remove the subtle beginnings of the mark over her eye. His response to her quip about their little tussle brought a brief flashing grin as she straightened, though the expression softened as he mused aloud.

For a moment, her mind still on wistful hopes, she answered, “There shouldn’t be anything wrong with me that would prevent them…”

As he elaborated, though, she coughed, mind redirected from that nagging desire for her own future, then shook her head, frustration replacing the distant look. “Paladin’s checked… his companions have checked… hells he even brought in a Nomad to check… They’re baffled. There’s nothing wrong, I’m perfectly healthy, apparently. Just… really, really itchy. But the redness in the skin is really just from me, scratching. And the fur loss…”

She threw a sharp shrug, then stilled as something occurred to her. It was still silent. The birds and small animals still hadn’t returned to their usual ambience. Her ears swiveled as she turned her head, first that way, then the other before rising onto her back paws to peer above the tops if the plains-grasses. She tottered a few light steps, frowning before she dropped back to her four paws.

Then, distant panicked baa-ing threw her ears forward and she pelted off with a sharp gruff to follow.

She came out upon a scene of near carnage. A bear had blundered right through the wall and now plundered the small flock of fluffy, domesticated sheep, which, true to the breeding of long-gone Man, bunched together and ran, but not fast enough for a hungry grizzly.

The white Spirit didn’t check her speed, nor did she snarl a challenge. She was behind and to the right of the bear, and so hit hard and fast, putting an extra burst of speed into the last few strides and gapong her jaws to slash for the lower right side of the bear’s neck, aiming to cut deep with those canines and scythe free in one motion.

Blood filled her mouth and painted her jaws as she twisted away from the bear. Just ahead of its retaliatory swipe.

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think