It's been quite some time since Myra had last visited this place. Seasons, perhaps? It's not been long enough for the details of her first visit to the cascading falls (and who she had met there) to fade from her memory. But that has little to do with the huntress's presence here today.

She'd been stalking the gemsbok herd since early morning, the horned beasts having piqued her curiosity when they'd bypassed the ever-popular watering hole without even trying to push their way. Where did they prefer to find their water then, if not there? Somewhere they thought was hidden from predators, perhaps?

Myra could make a few guesses, but she felt compelled to find out for certain nevertheless. Her prey shouldn't know anything that she doesn't.

Of course it was this little hideout hidden in the mountainside, with its crystal-clear stream and lush grasses. How many of the herds knew the way to it, she wondered? Did they realize how easily it could become a trap? Myra was currently scrabbling over mossy stones and rough slopes as quietly as she could manage, trusting she'd still be downwind once she finally crested the cliffs. Maybe she was a little out of breath by the time she finished the climb, but then, she'd never claimed to be a mountain lion.

More importantly, she could see the gemsbok from here, drinking where the falls roared the loudest. Right. If she could just navigate her way across the cliffs and to the waterfall itself...

Predator above, prey below. Why not?

@Leila

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Leila had not given the mountains much exploration. She didn't fear heights, simply she'd been too busy throwing herself into other little tasks to spend much time exploring as of late. The bluffs needed prey, Dragos needed food, and she felt like she'd been spending so much time journeying between the grove and Wolfbron she'd scarcely had time to think.

So Leila had taken the day to adventure, wanting to settle her mind and enjoy the sights as she scaled the mountain slopes. The air was cool and crisp here, and the view over the isle stunning. The tigress climbed easily and with careful paws. It was fortunately dry, and she didn't expect unstable ground but it never hurt to be careful.

She too had been enticed by the roar of the waterfall, stepping up and up after the sound. It had been once she got closer she'd picked up the scent trail of creatures - gemsbok. Leila had been growing a small collection of their interesting horns as of late, and it piqued her interest.

She wandered up and over rocks, realising from this view she could finally see the antelope that had left the scents. Oh, but what was that? A golden shape, with familar pointed ears and auburn cape. Leila chuffed as loudly as she dared, adusting her course to meet with the other ranger. "Hi!" she called out, "You after the gemsbok too?"

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The huntress has slinked halfway into shadow, golden fur brushing against rough stony crags when she hears the nearby chuff, accompanied by the barest whisper of approaching paws. It's a quiet sound, but Myra tears her gaze away from the milling herd to send a reproachful look in the newcomer's direction anyway, tail lashing sharply behind her.

She stills for a moment when the glimpse of ruddy fur and abundant dark stripes catches her eye first, though the next blink brings with it the recognition of @Leila's slender form. "Oh, you again." So it seemed she'd suffered no great misfortunes since the last time Myra had seen her. Was everyone bound to encounter a tiger when they visited this place, or was Myra just 'lucky?'

Well, whatever.

"I'm guessing I don't look like I climb rocks for fun." She murmurs dryly, her claws flexing where they still scraped at the grey stone under her feet, a lingering sign of the huntress's unfamiliarity with the rocky heights. "Yes, of course I'm here for them." She continues briskly, returning her gaze to the gemsbok down below. Some were still drinking, while others began to settle themselves down in the sunlit grass for a rest.

"And you?" She suspects the tigress must have been drawn here for the same reason. They share similar interests beyond just the instinctive need for food, if she recalls. Perhaps...well, an ambush could be more effective with two, assuming Leila's seeming surefootedness continued. "Are you thinking of what I'm thinking?"

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Leila settled to a sturdy spot on the rocks and looked on toward the golden lioness. The woman was distinctive, and Leila has no fear of a mistaken identity thanks to the woman’s uniquely pointed ears. The tigress is a little bemused by the dry retort that was mused her way. She didn’t look like the rock-clambering sort, true, but Leila wasn’t one to judge hobbies- oh. She had been joking. Leila squinted slightly as if she’d understood the whole time and nodded.

The gemsbok are an easier thing to talk about. “Mhm. I collect their horns.” she said. She had only one gemsbok horn total, though she had other antelope trophies too. Each a mark of a successful hunt. Again, her social ineptitudes trip the tigress and although she’s pretty sure she knew what @Myra meant, she felt the need to clarify: “Take them by surprise?” she hummed with a nod, testing the security of the rocky surface. “Maybe I can scare them into you. A double ambush!” She looked on for approval.

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Well, Myra had never claimed to possess a stellar sense of humor to begin with. Though she certainly found the sarcasm to make things more entertaining, at least for herself if no one else. Made some things easier too, in some ways, when one ward off certain weaknesses with thorny words. But @Leila's done nothing to deserve being pricked overly sharply today.

Not just yet, anyway.

The huntress hums, a noncommittal noise though she then opens her mouth to comment. "They make fine trophies." So the tigress had a penchant for collecting souvenirs too, hmm? Maybe they truly weren't so different. "Not too durable though." She'd broken quite a few when she'd thought to work her teeth against them. Too thin, perhaps?

The tigress catches on quickly, and Myra offers her a single, sharp nod. "Mmhm." Surprise was the hunter's best weapon, especially when they were outnumbered so. The other even adds another element onto the strategy, offering to chase them into Myra's claws. It's a decent plan though she shifts in place to reexamine the valley below with sharpened interest.

"Maybe. How do you plan to ensure they won't flee through the pass too early?" The mountain's walls would make it easy to corner the beasts, but if they didn't plan it delicately, the herd might eventually find the courage to stampede their way past a single feline. Leila surely didn't have to be warned oc the dangers of trampling hooves.

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@Myra spoke the truth. Though Leila didn’t have a hobby of chewing things, just by past experience holding the horns she knew well how fragile they could be. She mostly just collected them for their appearances, stacking them neatly against the rocky overhang she called a den, back at the Bluffs. She nodded confidently at the Mire lioness’s assessment - her focus more on the promise of a hunt than the conversation.

Leila kneaded her claws against the rock as she consider Myra’s question, scanning the gulley carefully. “I would…” she mused, “Try to get as close as possible without being detected. Then I’d strike.” she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “Mm, but this sort of terrain doesn’t have great cover.” They had the advantage of height, at least. Perhaps that could be used to their advantage.

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There is something to be said for just having a fine hunting trophy in general. Perhaps if this works out the way she hopes, Myra might consider salvaging the hide as well. Gemsbok had pleasing enough markings painting their coats, but more importantly, having an extra pelt in her den before winter set in properly could never be a bad idea.

Myra is inclined towards the route of stealth herself, at least in this instance. Little good could come from stirring the herd up too early here. As @Leila says, however, cover is key here. "For you and me both." She murmurs with a quiet grunt of agreement. Her golden fur had been exceptionally useful when she'd hunting amongst the dunes - and pretty much nowhere else. The tigress doesn't seem all that much better off here.

"Come." Her tone is brusque as she moves, stepping quietly over the rocky terrain in measure steps, curling the length of her tail in a beckoning gesture. "Many beasts won't think to look up. If I approach from there," She jerks her chin towards a rocky outcropping closer to the waterfall, before tilting it towards a sloping ridge that closed off a pocket of greenery below "...and you position yourself on the other side, we should have an opportunity to herd the strays through that chokepoint." The milling antelope were fanning out, growing all too comfortable in their illusion of safety. Perhaps a few might even dead end themselves on their own, in search of grass.

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Leila obliged the order easily, trusting @Myra’s judgement. With soft paws she followed the lioness’s trail, keeping low and quiet. She kept an eye out for loose stones, wary of knocking them loose to the pool below and alerting their quarry.

Brown eyes scanned the rocks with attentive scrutiny, nodding her head as she spied the outcrop the golden woman motioned toward. Taking in and formulating the plan in her mind, Leila’s eyes glittered with excitement. “Ok.” she uttered in response, feeling confident enough she didn’t need further clarification. “I’ll follow your signal.”

Ensuring she could keep Myra in her sights, Leila parted and began to pick her way around to the location she had mentioned. Well-accustomed to clambering over stone and rocky shelves at the bluffs, the tigress had little issue slipping into position with careful, quiet movements. Once she was ready, she sought to lock eyes with Myra, ears and whiskers quivering as she awaited the hunt.

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The tigress follows her lead easily enough, matching the golden huntress in stealth. Of course, Myra finds such behavior to be exceptionally agreeable.

@Leila nods in understanding of the proposed plan, and Myra hums low in acknowledgement. The tigress had proven that she held some decent skill in this craft of theirs during their last encounter, so Myra is content enough to let her split off with little more than a cautionary, "Take care." Hopefully excitement wouldn't complicate this endeavor. "I doubt you'll have to wait for long." The more the beasts wander, the better their advantage.

With her senses still on high alert for anything, the golden woman would make her own way towards the vantage point she'd marked for herself, albeit a little less gracefully than Leila had, though she had enough foresight to avoid clattering rocks like the plague. Once in position, her slitted pupils would flick from her hunting partner to the gemsbok down below, eyes narrowing as one beast strayed closer and closer to the cliffs she wanted to trap them against, followed by another.

Just a little closer...closer...

"Go!" She chuffs towards Leila the moment their prey were ideally positioned, springing down the cliff in a smooth motion to hit rocky ground running, spooking the beasts that would hopefully find their only other escape route blocked by a certain tigress.

Now Myra just has to try not to trip on her way down.

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Leila’s claws clutched at the rock in anticipation. Myra had made it to her own vantage point, and Leila crouches low against the the stone to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible. She didn’t want to fumble such a prime opportunity, not infront of the more experienced huntress!

The pair watch eagle-eyed as the beasts wander closer, and Leila drinks in their scent with barely parted lips, every nerve on end. When the call for action rises over stone and cliff she coils and leaps to the ground with a fearsome snarl and baring of teeth, swatting at the air with a pale paw.

The herd squall and go for the path of least resistance, forcing them to divert the an area of the cliffs pointed out previously - full of dead ends and tricky steps. Now all they needed to do was corral the easy-pickings.

@Myra

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