It started with the scent of blood. The tangy smell was rich in the air and there was something terribly wrong about it. It definitely wasn't the blood of a prey animal. It smelled like the blood of a wolf, but there was another thicker, more acrid stench surrounding it. Curiosity getting the best of him, Merrick followed the nose biting scent to its source.

It was indeed a wolf. The corpse was flayed wide open, ribs and viscera exposed. It wasn't an Elysium wolf, not that Merrick would have cared, but his sister surely would. The nasty scent that clung to his nose and tongue was piss. Feline piss. There was nothing in the world that smelled so nasty. So sour. The brutes lips pulled back and he sneezed, trying anything to get rid of the thick, cloying scent. He hated it. In fact, he pretty much hated cats. He'd never met one that he didn't want to kill. Well, he'd never met much of anything that he didn't want to kill. The carnage made him think that it was something big. A tiger? A lion? Surely not something as small as a lynx or snow leopard. Whatever it was, it had been right at the edge of Elysium territory and that was too close for Manea's comfort, so the purple bastard decided to do something about it.

Merrick followed the scent far away from Elysium and towards a tall, craggy mountain. Again the brute wrinkled his nose, this time in distaste. Mountains were work and Merrick was decidedly lazy. He liked to use as little effort as he could manage unless it came to the act of killing. Getting there so that he could kill something... not his favorite part by any means. For a moment the man waffled, not really wanting to put in the effort to chase the cat up the mountain. Ah, but he'd come this far... Maybe he'd make a little effort. Just a little one. Teensy, tiny effort. Sigh.

Wide, black paws picked their way up the mountainside, following the natural pathways. The scent of cat was there the entire time and Merrick knew that he was still on course. If the scent didn't give it away, from up above he heard the lowing roar of a tiger. Further off, he heard an answering call. That made him stop and look up. One tiger could be taught a lesson, but two tigers? That would be more than a little risky. The cold wind of oncoming winter ruffled the thick fur of the brutes chest as he weighed his options. A low growl pulled from him and his tail flicked in irritation. Yeah... he should probably keep going up.

WC-455/1500

"Merrick Mendacium"

The only areas of Boreas that Remus had yet to really explore were toward the northern reaches of the continent so he started to head that way, cutting through the mountains as he went so he could knock out two birds with one stone. He planned to make a bit of a loop through the north and then head back down through the west to get to Auster so he could go check in on his brother. He hadn't been down to The Hallows in a bit, but that was just the way he and Roman's relationship worked. They were close and he couldn't imagine going his life without his brother, but they also didn't mind spending stretches of time apart. They lived their own lives and did their own things and eventually they could come back together again and act like no time had passed. He was just glad he ended up finding Roman when he did instead of continuing to hunt around Boreas and Auster for him all this time.

Remus started making his way through the rocky mountain pass, carefully navigating through the treacherous terrain as he went. If he had known the mountains were going to be this dangerous he probably would have just given it up and gone around the mountains, but he stubbornly went on his way and now he was too far turn back. As he was walking a roar from a tiger made him stop, his ears perking as he listened to both the first call and the one that followed a moment later. He didn't expect to find tigers up here, but Boreas continued to catch him by surprise and put him in the thick of new challenges without him even intending to find them. He huffed and continued on his way, hoping maybe he'd get lucky and just avoid them entirely. Fighting a couple of big cats on this kind of terrain certainly didn't sound like a good time.

He was a bit more cautious as he went forward so when he heard paws moving along the path ahead of him it made him go onto high alert, his ruby and emerald eyes scanning the rocks ahead of him for any other sign of life. Eventually he reached a point where the path he was walking on met up to join with another and he spotted a hulking, purple-marked brute following the opposite path. Since they were both going in the same direction, he gave the stranger a nod and asked once he was close enough to speak comfortably, "Did you hear those tigers earlier? I couldn't even tell which direction it came from since it echoed off the rocks."

WC: 450
Total: 905/1500

"Remus Armada"

The mountain was craggy and dangerous. The various rocks littered about had obviously fallen from high up. The higher up he went, the more rocks lay about. Hopefully he wouldn't be the next thing falling down the mountainside. With a grumble and a growl, the big brute continued up. It was getting slowly darker and darker. Soon, the terrain would be too dangerous to traverse, but for now, he'd continue. If he could whip a cat off of a cliff, all of this garbage would have been worth it. Maybe he'd even skin it. Bring a little present home for himself. Or for someone else. Who knew?

Up, up, up he went, taking the curving pathways that cut up to rocky mountainside.  It was only when two paths converged that  he came upon a second wolf. The younger male questioned him and Merrick nodded.  "I've been following a wolf killer," he informed the other wolf. "It joined another once it hit the mountain." The brutes tail lashed back and forth in obvious irritation. "I'm going to kill it." With that being said, Merrick continued his way up the mountain, wide paws allowing him to grasp onto the tricky, pebbly path.

Nose quivering, the marbled giant scented the air again. The acrid stench of feline met his nose and the man flashed his teeth in disgust. Cats smelled so horrible...  Merrick stopped in his tracks as a few low, rumbling calls echoed off of the rocks and crags. It was so difficult to tell where the sound was coming from. The sounds bounced, making it seem as though it was coming from all directions. Blue and red eyes scanned the area, making sure that nothing was coming his way. The only living thing that he saw was the younger brute, but not for long.

Careening down the mountainside came a huge, stripy form. Merrick steeled himself for impact, but the feline's paws slipped and it slid on by, heading straight for the younger wolf. The purple giant blinked and almost turned to help the boy, but it was a good thing that he didn't. A second tiger came flying down the stone path, snarling and swiping at Merrick. The wolf leaped to the side, but not by much. Any more and he would have fallen right off of the mountainside. With a snarl, hind paws planted on the stone and he rocketed forward, jaws wide. He caught a mouth full of fur as he bit into the side of the tiger's head, but claws caught him in the shoulder and chest in return. The man yelped and skittered to the side again. He could taste the blood of the cat in his mouth, so he knew that he'd done at least a little damage to it.

As if things couldn't get worse, a third tiger came down the mountain, though this one was smaller than the other two. Bloody hell... Had they stumbled upon a nest of the fucking things? It was too much for two wolves to deal with, even though both he and the other male were both giants. Merrick turned tail and went booking back down the mountain. "Run, boy!" He snarled as he tucked tail and ran. "And don't tell anyone about this." He had a reputation to uphold. Fleeing from some fucking kittens... it wouldn't do anything positive for his image. At least he'd still have his skin attached to his body. He could live another day instead of being eaten and shat out by a cat. As long as this boy didn't say anything, he'd be fine. Once he hit the bottom of the mountain, he ran in the opposite direction from the other wolf. That way they wouldn't have to exchange pleasantries. Problem solved.

WC-630
Total-1535
"Merrick Mendacium"