He hadn't been to these parts before, but with Autumn over the lands, he wondered if he might be able to find some berries or something he could snack on. He rummaged around the thicket, and heard the fluttering of birds overhead, but wasn't having any luck finding the berries he was looking for. Frowning, he wondered if they were further in the thicket and so he pushed his way through and followed a trail that led deeper in. Surely there would be berry bushes around here somewhere, right? He could hear birds chirping and cawing all around him, but he ultimately decided to tune them out as he focused on his search. Little did he know that he wasn't alone here. There was another creature also searching for the same thing, and as Akuma searched on one side of the thicket, an adult grizzly searched the other before he had to hibernate. Akuma, of course, had already tuned everything out...so he wasn't aware of its presence as it padded along with heavy steps just on the other side of the thickets. He hadn't noticed the brown fur passing by the gaps he had passed, either.

He just wanted some berries. Was that too hard to ask for? Growing frustrated, he turned and accidentally snapped a few of the branches, earning the attention of the old grizzly. He took a few more steps, and then suddenly, there was a bear head pushing its way through the thicket and staring him dead in the eye. He froze. Ah crap.

Since the pup’s unfortunate stroll through the magical lands, Enki has had to sport a hardened cast on his right front paw. The broken paw makes the pink pup slower than his white and red sibling and traveling is… well… a pain. Limping slowly through the berry laden foliage, the injured boy pays close attention to the ground and any sign that things are off, since that is how he got his injure in the first place.

That is why, when the birds suddenly erupt from the thicket ahead of the boys, making a racket as they circle, the pink pup decides to hang back and watch. Akuma is in that direction and, for a moment, Enki wonders if they are just reacting to his brother passing. But the fuss that they make doesn’t seem right for a pup that has tread onto their territory, so the pink boy carefully scents the air.

What he finds has the injured pup rushing forward, broken paw forgotten as he rushes to where his brother is. The sight of an old grizzly bear staring his brother straight in the eye sends a jolt of fear coursing through him and the boy pushes himself to move a little faster. Without a sound, his pink form blurs past his bigger sibling as Enki launches himself right at the bear’s face.

Teeth seek to bite the predator, latching onto the beast’s left eyes socket and the pup swiftly squeezes his jaw shut. Viscus ocular fluid fills the pup’s mouth and the grizzly roars in pain, instinctively tossing his broad head back in an effort to get rid of the pink pup. Luckily, the boy isn’t tossed too far and he is quick to get back on his paws. Ignoring the twinge of pain in his broken paw, Enki rushes back into the fray, trying hard to keep his sibling safe.


"Enki Klein"