Ticket for Two

Corbie was surprised when a buck nearly ran her over in his rush to escape from some other predator. She'd been simply traveling through without even noticing him before he was almost on her, and all she'd had time to do was throw herself over backwards. The buck didn't even slow or change directions - she wasn't sure he'd noticed her or the near-collision at all in his haste. Corbie rolled off her back and back onto her paws, willing her heart to slow from its frantic pace as she shook the snow from her back. What in the world was that all about? She stared down the buck's trail with a thoughtful frown, then took off in a ground-eating lope after it. Taking a loop around where he'd been running, she hoped that she would come out ahead of his trail, that he'd have slowed down enough after his panicked flight to allow her to move more quickly.

Sure enough, she spotted him walking towards her, his chest working like bellows to snort steamy breath into the winter air as he warily glanced back down his trail for whatever had spooked him. Corbie took a moment to catch her breath before leaping forward and latching onto his nose. To the deer's eyes she had seemed to materialize out of nowhere, her coat blending in so well to the snow and shadows, so she was able to ambush the tired deer before he'd even known she was there. She didn't keep her grip though, just slashed open the sensitive nostrils and leaped away before the buck's sharp hooves could strike her. Then the chase was on again for him as she drove him back towards whoever had missed their chance earlier.