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The owlcat hissed lowly as it was dragged out into the milky moonlight by the buck. Nothing was going to stop Miss from finding out just what had been biting his flank. "Whht'v we got hrre?" he asked, as he tried to make sense of the hissing, writhing pile of night-black fur that seemed intent on trying to bite him still.

He didn't let go of it, yet. He wanted to let it calm down, and Have's eyes worked as well as his did, as far as he was aware.

The angry, struggling ball of fur slowly stopped writing as much, and Miss let go of the thing's scruff so much. When it tried to turn and wrench away, however, he bit back down, ignoring it's irate yowl. "You're prob'ly right. Thhy can't all be nice, can thhy?" he asked, as he held gently onto it's scruff, teeth holding purchase just enough to promise a bite if the thing tried to struggle.

"Who knows? Myybe it's jsst hnngry." he looked around carefully, trying to not wrench the poor thing around as he tried to eye some, any small tracks - a small animal of some sort. The sort of thing he could calm the little monster down with.

Miss shook his head the slightest bit, trying not to wrench the feline around too much. It's hissing was bated, but still - a mouse or something to distract it with would have been ideal.

"Voles, mice... thnngs like thht." He kept looking, almost in vain as he searched. Eventually, though, he gave up. He wasn't well-suited to hunting, not at all, and Have didn't seem to be having much luck, either. He straightened as he braced himself, letting the angry, hissing little thing turn on him. "You be nice," he told it... her, he realized as he circled around her... "... and I'll find you something better to chew on than my legs."

The owlcat bristled unhappily at him as she stared, but didn't make a move. Until he turned away. It was a mistake on the blundering hoof-foot's behalf.

Miss bit down all manner of curses as he kicked out gently at the stubborn owlcat who was now attached to his back leg. "Nasty little bugger, aren't you?" he remarked, once he'd finally shaken her free. "A right little mauler."

"Did I ever," he replied, grinning sarcastically at her as she mentioned his new apparent companion. "Yippee." He didn't take his eyes off of the evil little thing as he started to walk them to a more forested part of the swamp, in hopes of letting her eat and calm down somewhat. "Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Have. Wish it was under better circumstances, but eh," he shrugged, "What can you do?" He paused as the cat stayed put, and took another step.

The cat followed. He grinned. "I'm Miss. Mischief managed," he informed the doe, as they wandered towards a place where they could hopefully find something for the little devil to eat. "And it's following us now, so... I guess we should name it or something. I propose 'Little Bugger'."

Miss grinned. "Mauler... I like that. And yeah... she will, but I think I can manage it." He stared at the owlcat, with her bristled fur and her flicking tail. Her head was darting back and forth, letting her eyes keep sight of small things running through the brush. He grinned, stopping to sit, as the cat fought a mental battle, probably along the lines of whether to pounce on him, or something edible.

Eventually, the promise of fresh meat won out, and he saw the thing jump with startling silence to pounce on a vole, it's sharp beak snapping it's neck without a second thought before it started ripping the fur off with beak and claws. "Well, she's a right little beast, isn't she?" He asked, amused in spite of himself as he watched the owlcat destroy her prey's tiny body.

Miss chuckled at the mention of not having to find food for the little beast. "No, I guess I won't," he remarked cheerfully, and then looked at her directly. "And, honestly, I think it was a work of good, clean fun on the part of the Acha, that someone ended up pranking. I mean, you could tell what was supposed to scare the foals and skittish ones a bit, but not overmuch... and then there were the owlcats in that one cave, and I'm sure the other rooms would have gotten a similar treatment."

He grinned broadly, watching his newly-acquired pet as she continued to make short work of the animal, before freezing in place, eyes doubtless caught on yet another tasty morsel. "I liked it, myself," he stated. "After all, it's given me some wicked ideas to use on jokes of my own in the future."

Miss chuckled. Not if you expect it, I can't. "Bet you I couldn't,", he retorted.

He grinned at her as she swatted him with her tail, skipping away from her as he laughed at her. "Well, then, how's this?" He nosed the cat, scooping her up to half-toss the angry thing, then letting it land in an angry mass of claws onto his back. His scales kept Mauler's claws from digging in too far, but gave the owlcat purchase, as he trotted around Have with a triumphant tone, taking off once he was directly behind her, letting her follow him.

"C'mon!"