As autumn winds down toward winter and the air continues to grow colder each morning, the young Calico Jack finds himself out on a prairie. Life of all shapes and sizes roam this grassy land; from huge buffalo to small, quick jack rabbits, the pup is not wanting for prey. Paws carry him slowly onward, his wide eyes looking at large herd of pronghorn that seem unperturbed by his presence. Truthfully, the pup couldn’t do much damage if he tired and the most he could probably do is make their ankles sore for a bit.

A gentle, cold wind rolls across the prairie, making the grass move like the ocean of his home. Bright, pale blue watch the world with awe, delighted to have found this small paradise. Now, where there is prey there are also predators and the young Jack should have known this. Perhaps it is his inexperience in life or just his cocksure attitude that nothing bad will happen to him that has the pup letting his guard down.

Whatever the reason may be, the young pup does not see the huge grizzly bear charging across the land until the herd of pronghorn turn tail and run. For a moment, Jack freezes, uncertain what to do but, as it becomes apparent that the bear is aiming for him, the boy is galvanized into action. With a mighty growl, he ducks under a huge, clawed paw, darting out and way from the mad beast before turning around to face it. Silently, the pup hopes that an adult will show up to rescue help him with this grizzly.


"Calico Jack"

The move that Ashen was making was a surprising one, but ever the adventurer he didn't particularly mind. The only mildly inconvenient thing in all of this was the fact that he had spent so much time learning and memorizing all of the land contained within Ashen's previous borders and the areas just outside of it, only to have to do all of that all over again. Luckily their move wouldn't take them far so there were some lands he had passed through previously that he was already familiar with. This prairie was one of those places. Even though he had passed through a time or two and had been out at least once with some of Ashen's hunters to take advantage of the prey here, he imagined they would be coming here to hunt even more often now with the even closer proximity they had to this prosperous place.

He was moving through the open prairie, watching the herds of pronghorn move across the landscape and beginning to map out their movements so he could assist Ike with a hunt soon, when he suddenly heard the distinctive angry, huffing sounds of a running bear. His hackles bristled and he immediately went on alert, his ruby and emerald gaze darting over toward the sound. The bear was easy enough to spot as it charged in toward the prey that dotted this area, but it was the orange, cream, and brown flecked and spotted pup that happened to be in its path that he was concerned with. He didn't know why the young wolf was out on their own here, but now that he saw them in danger he couldn't exactly just walk away. He turned and immediately kicked up into a run to join the skirmish just as he watched the pup dart under the bear's paw and end up on the other side of the beast.

Remus saw the bear skid and turn around with visible confusion, the angry ursine huffing and roaring at its much smaller opponent that had clearly just become another irritation in what was apparently a really rough day. Well, Remus was about to see to it that it got even rougher. He managed to approach the bear from behind, avoiding it's attention until he was right up on the large predator and with a growl he leapt forward to bite into the back of its hind leg, sinking his teeth deep into the muscle there. That earned him another roar from the bear, but it also very quickly turned its attention away from the boy he was assisting and he was forced to let go and hop back out of the way before the bear's wide paw could connect with him as it spun around to face him.

"Remus Armada"

One thing that Calico Jack has on his side is speed and the young boy puts his long gangly legs to good use. Ducking under the huge paw, Jack swiftly moves out and away, spinning around to face the angry grizzly and growl threateningly at it. Luckily, a savior comes in the form of a slate and gray horned wolf who launches himself at the backend of the bear. The huge creature unleashes a loud, angry roar as pain flashes across its face and it turns swiftly to face the new opponent. However, in its haste to strike, the beast leaves itself open to the patchwork colored boy.

With a smirk, Jack abruptly lunges forward aiming for the wound that the stranger has already opened on the hind leg and latches on. Teeth clamp down and another roar fills the air as, with twist and flick of his head, the pup removes a chuck of the grizzly’s hind leg. Deftly, Jack dodges thrashing paws to make it back out to a safe distance and wheels around to face the predator. Eyes on the bear, he turns his head to the side and spits the meat out, making a show of disgust and earning the wrath of the grizzly. Well, the guy has a big opening if he wants it.


"Calico Jack"

Before Remus could find an opening for another attack and before the bear could take another swing at him, his opponent let out another roar of pain and he quickly realized that the boy he had rushed in to save was getting some licks in of his own. Remus smirked as the color-splattered pup ripped off a chunk of flesh from the ursine's leg, quickly getting the bear's attention again as it spun around and flailed wildly at them both, clearly caught off guard by its additional opponent and from getting such a bad injury from a youngling. Its steps were far less steady now, its back leg apparently unable to fully support its weight any longer as blood poured down the back of its leg. With its attention torn and scattered, it made it far easier for Remus to find an opening and he wasn't going to pass up a chance to end this fight quickly and easily.

He dodged to the side and waited for the bear's head to swing in the opposite direction of him before he kicked off with strong hind legs and leapt up at the bear's neck, latching his jaws around its throat and biting down with crushing force. The bear's roars suddenly became far more strangled from the bite, the ursine staggering back a few steps as it tried to pull away and find a way to reach him from this angle he was at its side with its massive paws. He didn't hold on long to avoid getting yanked off of his feet, but he did at least twist and toss his head a bit to rip through the skin and flesh on its throat, ripping open a sizable wound before he finally let go and jumped back out of the way again. As he licked the blood off of his muzzle, he watched the bear fall back as its injured leg collapsed under its weight, hitting the ground hard and struggling for a bit longer before it finally fell still.

Remus sighed and gave a little chuckle before turning his ruby and emerald gaze toward the younger boy. "Hey, you alright, kid?" he questioned, glancing up and making a quick sweep of the prairie to see if anyone was with him. He didn't immediately notice anything on the open fields, the prey now fully scared off thanks to the fight, but that didn't mean there wasn't someone that had just left briefly or something of the sort. The kid clearly knew how to hold his own alright, but anyone could easily get overwhelmed by a grizzly bear on their own.

"Remus Armada"

The beautiful prairie is filled with the roars of an angry bear and snarls of the responding wolves. While Jack does not know the large male that has stepped in to help, the young boy is eternally grateful to him. The wound he opens on the beast’s back leg not only draws a lot of blood but also hobbles the mighty creature. It turns to swing at him and the patchwork colored pup springs backward away from the claws that seek to do damage. The stranger rushes in, grabbing the grizzly’s throat as it roars at the boy. Blinking, Calico Jack backs away as the bear grunts, his wind pipe crushed and unable to push out air.

As the male twists and pulls, releasing his hold, the bear tries to stumble backward but the injured leg gives out and the grizzly crashes to the ground. Blood pours out of its neck, staining the beautiful green grass a deep crimson. The bear stills and the stranger looks to him, asking if he is alright. A huge grin spreads across the boy’s blood-stained lips and he happily says, “Yep! Thanks for the assist. Name’s Calico Jack.” Pale blue eyes slide out to over the land, spying the pronghorn that he had seen earlier are already back and grazing on the lush grass that the bear had chased them off from.


"Calico Jack"

As soon as the boy gave him a wide, bloody grin he knew that he was just fine and apparently had a great time. He chuckled a bit as Calico Jack thanked him for the assist and introduced himself. "No problem at all. I'm Remus." He glanced toward the dead bear, wondering if it would be worth skinning it before he left, but after all the moving he had been doing lately it very much did not feel worth it. Turning his gaze back to the younger male, he gave him a grin and started to turn back toward home. "Be careful out there, alright? There's a lot of predators out and about trying to find food." With his well meaning warning given, he started heading out across the open field of the prairie, starting to make the trip back toward Ashen's lands. He made note of the water ways and lay out of the land as he went. He wasn't sure how often he would be back this way now that they were moving further west, but it never hurt to be well aware of the lands around them.

"Remus Armada"