Skælingr and Ragna worked their way farther south than they had ever gone, into the Wildberry Groves of Auster. The groves were full of birds and insects as well as the sounds of spring. It was a lovely day, warm and sunny. For once they'd left their travois at their hide out, and they had no goals in mind other than to just explore and enjoy the day before summer's heat moved in. He stopped suddenly as a deer bolted in front of them, disappearing into the more wooded areas of the grove. At first Skælingr didn't think much of it until he realized that the birds had fallen quiet around him. Something was here. Something big and probably not to friendly. He glanced to Ragna and moved cautiously forward. "Speech"

Ragna trotted along next to her husband, enjoying the sun on her back and the light cool breeze coming in from the ocean. There wasn't a cloud in the sky though off on the horizon she could see a light haze. She froze suddenly as the deer bolted. Her first instinct was to go after it but they'd had a big breakfast and she wasn't sure she wanted to carry a deer carcass all the way back. She was about to continue their walk when she noticed her husband looking uneasy. She flinched at the sound of something large moving nearby. What was that? A bear? It wouldn't surprise her if a bear was taking advantage of the spring berries. Suddenly a tiger leapt from the brambles. The young, male cat swiped at her and she yelped and scattered, just managing to avoid the beasts great claws.

Ulric honestly didn't think he'd come back down into Auster now that his mother and nieces had moved into the mangroves with him, but then he thought of the many bushes that were just of berries in this grove and he couldn't resist coming to get a little sweet surprise for his ladies. He knew Meme and Nausicaa loved them and he was certain he could probably interest Azariah in some as well. If he was lucky maybe his honey collection stick would still be where he left it so he could collect some honey to bring back as well. He wasn't sure how he was going to get all of these things back to their dens, but he figured if nothing else he could just make a pouch out of some leaves and bring them back that way. As he was walking, he recognized the scents of the pair of wolves he had run into fairly recently that had shown him how to build a fire. He had quite liked their company so he followed their scents deeper into the Wildberry Grove. Shortly before he spotted them, he noticed how strangely quiet the forest had gotten and it made him more on edge. He walked a bit more slowly and his silver gaze scanned the trees carefully. A startled yelp up ahead made him jump a bit and he immediately ran forward toward the sound. He skidded to a stop when he saw the tiger that had swiped at Ragna. He happened to end up behind the big cat with his attention currently held by Ragna and Skælingr. Ulric's immediate response without hesitation was to leap forward toward the feline, landing a deep bite in the bend of the tiger's back right leg, right behind its knee. The tiger yowled in surprise and pain in response and Ulric let go so he could quickly hop back out of the way, narrowly missing its claws as it spun to swing at him. He noticed that the tiger stumbled a bit on its back leg as it turned to face him so at least his bite had gotten them somewhere. "Talk"

"Ragna!" Skælingr twisted around and dove toward the tiger, fangs open as he snarled. With his hackles raised he tried to make himself look as big as possible, but even so he wasn't anywhere near the cats size. The cat swiped at him and he swiftly turned his head catching the cat's wrist in his jaws. However, he was forced to let go as the cat jerked him forward, those massive fangs seeking to pierce his skull. He just slipped away as Ulric appeared behind the cat and bit into the back of its knee. The cat spun around and went for Ulric. Skælingr fixed his gaze on the wound that Ulric had made. He dove forward, jaws latching into the same spot as he aimed to make the wound worse for the large cat. Maybe then it would decide they weren't worth the trouble. "Speech"

Ragna made sure to get herself out of the way, wondering why the cat was attacking them. Contrary to popular belief she knew big cats rarely attacked wolves just to be jerks. It was likely either guarding a kill or its territory, as the males didn't usually have cubs to protect. She guessed the later as she couldn't get any scent of a kill. Well, either way they had every right to explore this territory and the tiger was going to have to learn to share. With Ulric on their side they had a good chance of getting the cat to stand down. As the tiger turned to face Ulric and her husband charged for the back of the injured knee she dove for the other leg, jaws seizing around the cat's ankle as she gave a mighty tug back, timed with her husband to lift both hind legs of the tiger. It snarled and flailed, jerking its hind legs closer to its body as it curved around to swipe at them. She was quick to let go and dance out of the way of the cat.

Ulric didn't have to dodge the feline's retaliation for very long since Skælingr and Ragna quickly got in their own strikes at the cat's back legs as well. With the three wolves working together he had no doubt that they could easily best the tiger in the end, but it didn't make him any less serious or anxious about the fight. One good swipe from those sharp claws they'd be in for a world of hurt. He staggered back to avoid its flailing as it tried to swing back around toward the husband and wife pair again, but it was very clearly having a hard time of it now that the wound on the back of his knee had been worsened and had a bite on the opposite ankle to compliment it. As soon as the tiger spun again and left its back to him again, Ulric quickly jumped in to get what was hopefully one last lick in before the tiger finally gave up and ran off. Of course, if the feline refused to give up he wouldn't have qualms with killing it, but if it was willing to surrender then who was he to kill him? He sank his teeth into the same ankle that Ragna had bit and gave a powerful pull back with all of his heavy weight till he managed to make the feline stumble and fall onto its side - much the same way that he would stop a deer in its tracks if he was hunting on his own. As soon as he saw the big cat fall with a hard thump he let go and hurried back out of the way again to avoid any of its fast, frantic swipes with its paws. He'd gotten a nasty cut once from a lion - he didn't want to add a tiger swipe to his list of scars. Now that he was well out of its reach he waited with his muscles tensed to see if this would be where it gave up or if he was going to have to go in for another attack. "Talk"

Skælingr focused on his attack, seeking to do as much damage to his foe as possible. With his focus on his own actions more than the cat's he was a bit slow to let go as the tiger twisted around. It's great claws sliced deeply into his shoulder as he yelped and scrambled away. He carefully assessed the situation as Ulric attacked the tiger once more, bringing it onto its side. Ulric dropped the wounded leg and scrambled out of the way. The tiger limped quickly back to its feet and snarled viciously at the wolves. It did not advance, but neither did the great cat stand down. Hackles raised and ears back Skælingr took a few steps forward, growling as menacingly as he could. Now was the time for a show of force. The tiger was clearly outnumbered and it was time to remind him of that. "Speech"

Ragna quickly raced to Skælingr's side as he pulled away from the tiger. Three moderate lacerations decorated his shoulder but it wasn't anything that had to be treated in that exact moment, especially not with the tiger still in their midst. She wouldn't leave Ulric to fight alone. As her husband put on a display of strength she was quick to join him. Hackles raised, fangs glistening in the light she snarled and snapped at the tiger who took a step back.

Her eyes carefully tracked the cat's movements. The tiger assessed the wolves, took another shaky step backwards and then turned and fled. Ragna waited a few moments to be sure it wasn't going to come back before she let out a sigh. "Goodness, I wonder what that was about. Ulric, are you ok?"

She gestured toward her husband and began to inspect his wound.

As his fighting companions stood up to the tiger with growls and raised hackles he did the same, going to stand beside them and forcing the tiger to back down. It took several snaps from them toward the tiger for him to finally get the message and turn tail to run, but Ulric didn't relax until it was completely gone and he couldn't hear its paw steps any more. His gaze still lingered for a moment on the place where it disappeared just to make sure it wasn't going to come back even when he heard Ragna sigh and question if he was okay. "Yes, I'm fine," he replied after a moment, turning his attention to the pair with a slight smile. "Looks like you got the worst of it, Skælingr. I got a similar wound from fighting a lion a while back - definitely not a fun one to get." Those feline claws were extremely sharp and left some pretty serious lacerations behind. "I'll stay here with you both while you take a look at that wound if that's okay with you. I just want to make sure that tiger doesn't come back. I'm sure it won't, but... you can never be too careful." "Talk"

Skælingr sat down carefully and moved to stay still so his wife could examine his wounds. "Thank you, Ulric. We appreciate that." He turned to his wife and shrugged lightly. "I'm not sure. I don't smell any kill or kittens so perhaps it was just upset to have us in its territory." He didn't smell any disease from the cat either so it was unlikely it was just sick. They would probably never know what set it off but it was good to know that there were large cats in the area. They would travel with more caution in the future and do their best to avoid another conflict with one. He looked to Ulric. "What brings you this way out of curiosity?" Was the man just out exploring or was he looking for something in particular? "Speech"

Ragna inspected her husband's injuries, focusing on the shoulder wound. It was bleeding heavily and she licked lightly at the wound to clean up some of the excess as she moved over to her travois, set in the bushes while she and Skælingr explored. She pulled out a bundle of peat moss and carefully began to snip it into clumps. It would readily absorb the blood and act as a good bandage if she could keep it in place. She eyed the wound for a moment and decided she'd need to use a few hide bandages to help keep it in place. She could mix some herbs with the moss to facilitate healing and help prevent against infection. She left the men to talk while she gathered everything she needed to tend to her husband's wounds.

He nodded simply to Skælingr's thanks to his watching for them even though he knew he would have insisted on doing it even if they had tried to tell him they would be fine. It might be one thing if they had all come out unharmed, but he wouldn't feel right leaving them alone until he was certain that the man had be patched up and they could keep moving. It was quiet and it didn't seem like the tiger was going to come for a round two, but he just wanted to be safe instead of sorry. He gave a small, rumbling hum of agreement to Skælingr's assessment that there didn't seem to be any noticeable triggers for the tiger to have wanted to attack them. He wondered if it really was just as simple as them coming into its territory or if there was something they were missing. When Skælingr asked him about why he was here in the first place he chuckled softly when he realized that he had in fact actually come here for something. It seemed so silly now compared to a tiger attack, but he supposed he better follow through with his plan all the same. "Actually, I just came here to collect some berries. My mother and two nieces had been living in Auster until fairly recently so they used to come here pretty often to get berries as sweet snacks. Now that they're living in the mangroves with me in Boreas they don't get to have them as often so I thought I'd come get them a little surprise." He began to relax a little more as he spoke, thinking of the ladies in his life calming him as they often did. "I don't think I really thought it through though since I didn't bring anything to carry them back in, but I'll figure it out." "Talk"

Skælingr was used to being a patient to his wife's ministrations and he held still as she inspected his wound. He got injured enough to give her plenty of practice. He listened as Ulric spoke and he smiled. That certainly seemed nice. His ears perked up at the mention that Ulric didn't have anything to carry them in. He looked to his wife who was working on her poultice mix. "I think I can help you with that." He moved over to his own travois that had been tucked away, limping a bit as he went. He pulled out a square of deer hide a few feet by a few feet across and trotted back over to Ulric where he set the piece of hide down at the man's feet. "A gift for all your help. You can place the berries in the middle then fold the four corners in and pick it up that way to carry your berries." "Speech"

Ragna continued forming her mixture to make sure it was the right consistency while her husband and Ulric spoke. She was focused on what she was doing. When she did get the mixture to where she was happy with it she took a small amount and spread it on one of the strips of hide bandage. She added a bit of moss and then when Skælingr returned she cleared her throat til he came over. Carefully, she wrapped the bandage on and at that point her husband's companion Sowelu came out from hiding. The lemur's deft fingers made quick work of tying the bandage on. "There we go, that ought to do. Well, thanks again for your help. I wish you luck with the berries but we best be getting a move on."

-exit-