Rœkia drugged her cousin again. What could she say? She'd never been the maternal type and having a puppy yapping at her feet all day was exhausting. They were working their way south, searching for warmer weather and had opted to rest for a few days in the willows. The trees provided a windbreak and a respite as well as some herbs and prey. She was out searching for some healing herbs when movement caught her attention. Something bit was moving in the forest. Her ears flicked up and she flinched as she realized what was moving towards her, a massive brown bear. It dwarfed her and she took a few steps back hoping that the bear hadn't seen her but it became clear that it had a few seconds later as the bear charged.

Briar was lingering around the edges of the Armada's borders, Marigold perched on her back to avoid having to climb through the snow herself. Usually Briar wouldn't let her fox companion ride on her like this and would make the vulpine deal with the cold just like her, but something was making her a bit more agreeable today. She was too distracted thinking about life and things to really care. Of course the sound of a bear's roar was pretty disruptive to those thoughts and she stopped in her tracks as her head popped up, turquoise eyes quickly scanning for the source of the sound. She spotted the massive brown bear through the cluster of willow trees and her eyes went wide. She thought about ducking back into the Armada's lands to escape crossing its path, but then she saw the pale gray woman that the bear was moving toward and she felt like she couldn't just abandon the stranger to deal with the predator on her own. Briar sprang forward, sending Marigold tumbling off of her back and into the snow as she raced through the snow toward the bear. While the attacker was distracted by the other female, Briar quickly rushed up to its hind quarters and head butted its thigh, jabbing her sharp antlers into its leg. She heard the bear roar again and she retreated just as fast as she had rushed in, pulling her antlers free and hopping back several steps, getting out of the way just in time to avoid a huge paw that swung toward her. "Briar" | "Marigold"

Rœkia flinched as the bear roared and barreled toward her. She dove to the side, rolling out of the way just in time. Her first inclination was to run but with Lukina snoozing nearby she knew she was going to have to drive the bear off or maybe lure it somewhere else then make a break for it to get back to the unconscious pup. The bear suddenly roared again but this time in pain and it whirled around. Rœkia blinked in surprise to see a young wolf with antlers had gored the bear. It twisted around to get at her and the girl managed to just dodge its paws. Rœkia sprang back into action, bolstered by having an ally. Her fangs lanced into the right side of the bear's face, cutting through the flesh and spraying blood onto the snow. She bounded away as the bear turned on her but she didn't move fast enough as its fangs bit into her scruff. It wasn't deep enough to get a hold but it was deep enough to cause moderate lacerations on the back of her neck just in front of her shoulder.

Briar was given a moment to put a bit more distance between herself and the bear when the stranger jumped in to give the predator a pretty deep bite on it's cheek, adding to the splashes of red that now scattered the ground. By now Marigold had managed to catch up to them, but hung back in the trees, ready to run and get help if need be. The bear was already starting to loose steam though and Briar was able to get another opening pretty easily. As soon as the bear turned back toward the gray and black woman, Briar bounced forward and brought her front paws up onto its broad shoulder, sinking her feline-like claws into its skin and ranking down hard to leave several long cuts all down the broad part of its shoulder and down onto its leg. She scrambled back away from the bear again, keeping to this tactic of hit and run, but it swung toward her and hit her with the side of its neck, knocking her over and making her fall down into the snow. Marigold darted forward and stood over Briar before the bear could reach her, scratching the bear's nose with her claws and making it stagger back away from the girl. "Briar" | "Marigold"

Rœkia held firm, her fangs digging deep into the bear's flesh and crippling its movements. However, despite the pain, the bear's focused turned once again to the antlered girl and as the bear tore after the younger wolf Rœkia was dragged sharply along the snowy ground eventually loosing her grip. Spitting up snow she scrambled to her feet. The girl had been knocked down at some point in the battle and the bear was heading right toward her. The bear's fat, round bottom wiggled as it walked and it was too good a target to pass up. Rœkia sprang forward with a mighty leap and snatched the bear's tail inbetween her teeth as she hung there. The bear roared and twisted around trying to get at her but once again she was dragged around and this time managed to hold her grip as she was given one hell of a ride.

Briar scrambled to her feet as Marigold hopped off of her just in time to see the stranger get swung around from the grip she had on the bear's tail. Despite the fact that they were fighting a grizzly bear, Briar couldn't help but grin and snicker at the sight - that was until the bear's massive, clawed paw came swinging at her again. She yelped out of surprise and jumped back out of the way again, those big claws just barely catching her shoulder and chest and leaving some scratches in their wake. They stung, but were nothing that she couldn't ignore. She was getting tired of all this dancing around with this intruding bear and scowled with determination as she leaped back in toward the bear as it spun around again to try and reach the woman that was still hanging off of its tail. Briar latched her claws into the thick skin around its scruff so she could get a good hold on the beast, pulling herself up onto its back and using the claws of her back paws to give her better leverage. She climbed the bear like a tree till she managed to make it up to the back of his neck and hit down hard right behind its skull, kind of behind its right ear. Her teeth dug in deep and she ripped and shook her head hard several times before she leapt down from its back, kicking off with her back legs so that she would land several feet away in the snow and out of its immediate reach. "Briar" | "Marigold"

Rœkia could feel her jaws and neck getting sore from trying to hang on and eventually she was forced to let go. She flew a short ways, landing in a snow drift. Scrambling out of the snow she headed back toward the bear again, refusing to stop until the brute got the message that wolves were not prey no matter how starved it might be. With the bear's focus once again on the antlered girl its hind end was exposed and vulnerable. Rœkia aimed for the rear again and this time she aimed just a bit lower, fangs lancing through the bear's testicles. The reaction was sudden and violent. A howl of pain erupted from the bear and it bolted forward. Instead of turning around to fight the bear just kept on running. Rœkia let out a laugh. "Serves you right, you bully!" With a smirk she turned back to the horned girl. "You alright? Thanks for the assistance."