A Little Stuck

He was finally accepted into a herd, but one that was far more strange than any he had traveled with before. Rannoch was part of a few different deer herds, but none were a mix of different species so much as this. The loss of their matriarch had been a huge blow. She was the glue that seemed to keep the two men together. Rannoch hadn’t known her for very long, but even in the short time it felt like he had lost his mother all over again. She had been a link to his past and his origins that he would never remember or see.

Her memory would live on in the three beasts she left behind. Rannoch had gained a herd because of her, one that included him as a valuable member in their ranks. The young stag followed after Kyren, a monster among caribou but still dwarfed by his yearling height. Both were made for a terra covered in snow, but even the northern reaches melted in the summer. This place shouldn’t have had so much snow right now.

As his snowshoe like hooves fell into soft snow beneath his weight his verdant gaze was looking upwards towards the cliffside. There was a huge mass carved out up the mountain, they were seeing the after effects of an avalanche. Kyren was in the lead, but paused for a moment. Lifting his head not to the peaks above but to the air on the breeze. There was a cat, and it was better to keep a lookout, and close together. Rannoch tread carefully, but they hadn’t gone more than a few paces when she spotted the dark fur in snow, further down the valley.

"There.” He motioned his heavy head towards the massive feline. If he could see, it looked like she was trapped in the snow. Either way he wanted to keep their distance, that was a dangerous beast even with the their three sharp sets of hooves.

"Rannoch"