Aurielle Adravendi

She’d been ruminating on her plans for several days now, and it was making her restive. So, with a brief word to her father, she set out at a brisk trot, Aelloshir padding after her, as she wandered beyond the Moor, northward. She felt a degree of fascination in how the landscape changed. She knew a desert lay to the north of Celestial—she had accompanied Mask and several members of the pack to hunt a ram there. However, when she’s gone north before then, she’d circled to the west of the place she now explored. Four hours later, and she was regretting choosing this direction. She wasn’t lost, but danger was definitely on the air. Coming off the huge, black-striped orange cat stalking toward her. Aurielle had tried to speak to him, but Loshir stopped her curtly. He knew the look of a cat on the hunt, and the reputation tigers had. The best option would have been to run, but they were in an area where the path bowled inward at one side, and they were corralled in the bowl, with the tiger blocking the only way out. "I dtigh diabhail..." Hissed the Future under her breath, eyes flicking for other alternatives. Maybe if the beast came closer, they could make a dash around him. But the cat obviously knew she was boxed in and stood in the opening, face smug and hungry. Her mind was racing, by now—flipping through possibilities, strategies. Then it struck upon a thought. What if this cat, who so clearly had a taste for wolf meat, was responsible for the missing members of Celestial? Oh, now that struck a frigid spark of anger in her chest, long canines flashing in a sharp snarl. Loshir started, glancing aside at the slender young woman who was now glaring piercingly at the similarly surprised tiger. ”Moonchild, what—no!” This shout because Aurielle had bolted forward, long legs taking big, sprinting strides as she arrowed in at the tiger who, thoroughly bewildered by the sudden charge, backed half a step, swiping out for the wolf. The pawful of claws might have caught her if she hadn’t ducked beneath them, twisting her head sharply and seeking to slash her upper canines for the big cat’s belly, and Aelloshir joined in the fray, sending a caterwaul into the air to hopefully echo far enough that someone might hear and give aid, because he doubted he could hold a tiger off for long. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Wandering was normal for him now. At first Amos had hesitated to return to this place, but after a while he decided that his mother probably wouldn't be here again. It would be more than coincidence to find her here again so that was more than enough to give him the confidence to return to the rust-colored rock formations to continue where he left off in his explorations.

It was sort of warm, but not uncomfortably so due to the light breeze and the many dark shadows cast by the towering red rocks the area was named for. After a while he would seek to lounge in the shade and let some of the hotter hours of the day roll by before continuing onward. Amos lay panting softly, wondering how soon he ought to go to the battlefield for another spar. Probably soon, it had been a while and he needed to stay in practice. Tomorrow, then.

A distant yowl ripped through the air, making some of the young man's fur stand on end instinctively. What the hell? Wait, that sounded sort of vaguely familiar... Jumping to his paws, Amos loped in the direction of the sound, ears pricked up and expression curious. He picked up the pace considerably when he caught the familiar scent of Aurielle on the air. Whatever was happening couldn't be good.

The sound of fighting led him to an area he'd not explored before, and when he turned a bend he saw it; up ahead of him the path turned hard, and stuck in the contained space he could she the pale shimmering girl and her companion battling against what was unmistakably a tiger. There was no time to be amazed at the size of the feline predator - he needed to act now. Naturally he wanted to run straight into the fray boldly, but he forced himself to choose stealth, silently approaching the animal from behind while it was distracted. His hackles raised as he got closer, lips peeling back in a snarl before he'd leap forward, jaws clamping around the animal's tail at it's base. Once he had a hold he thrashed side to side, shaking his head violently in an attempt to break the appendage. When he heard a satisfying pop the boy would release it, licking the blood from his teeth while he dodged to his own right and aimed to slam his left shoulder into the back of the cat's right leg.

It hit with a satisfying amount of force, though now Amos was reeling back as the feline growled angrily and turned it's attention towards him. Yikes.

Aurielle Adravendi

Aelloshir was the only one to see Amos coming. The tiger, thoroughly distracted and now infuriated at the fact that a wolf dared attack him, didn’t see the larger wolf coming in from behind. He was focused on the slender female beneath him. Aurielle’s surprise attack bore fruit as her upper canines carved twin gashes over the big cat’s belly, before a heavy blow to the right shoulder from a pawful of vengeful claws sent her tumbling like a pup from the cat. The tiger would have followed up on his attack, but Amos distracted him. With a thundering roar of agony and blinding red fury, the cat whirled on the little bastard that had hurt him so greatly, forepaws swiping madly. Aurielle, grabbing a breath in the millisecond of reprieve her friend brought her, squared her paws and leapt back in, aiming to vault onto the cat’s back. Her head tilted to her right, jaws parting as her scything canines strove down toward the tiger’s spine, aiming for the middle of his neck. Her upper canines sought a deadly target on the right side of the cat’s spinal column, her lower canines a similar vicious hold on the left side. She wanted to rip her teeth into this cat’s spine and render him useless before he could harm another wolf, whether it be Amos or another of her pack, or a loner she’d never meet. The jostling nature of the whole fray, however, thwarted her intentions. Her teeth sank into the right side of the cat’s neck. Not close enough to the spine to damage it, not close enough to the jugular to rip it open and bleed the cat out. Had she been a normal wolf with normally sized canines, she would have been pleased with the grip on the cat’s neck she did gain, but her teeth weren’t designed to hang on to scruff all that well, and she wasn’t fond of the possibility of breaking one of her canines. She ripped her head away with a savage snarl, taking a chunk of flesh from the cat before she was tossed from his back like a toy. She landed half standing, haunches on the stony ground before she regathered herself and charged forward, head and tail level with her spine and chin tucked to her chest as she sought to drive her skull into the Tiger’s gut in a violent, fury-charged headbutt and draw it away from Amos enough to give her friend a chance to get in some more attacks. If anything, she was certainly serving to infuriate the cat to new heights as it began to face her again. She wasn’t aware of the fact that the blow the tiger had landed that sent her sprawling in the first place had contained claws, or that she now bore several nasty claw marks over the shoulder that were bleeding, staining that pure, shimming pelt with crimson. Until she was sure this cat was dead, she probably wouldn’t feel much of any pain. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Claws and jaws were swiping madly in his direction as Amos switched from offense to defense, chin tucked, ears back, lips pulled into a snarl and eyes narrowed to protect them as the cat came after him. The animal was damn fast, and having never fought a feline before, Amos wasn't used to the swift, fluid movements so he couldn't be too surprised when he felt the sting of claws on his left cheek. Jaws parted as Amos tilted his head to the left, hopping forward and grabbing hold of the tiger's right forearm just above the wrist as it was drawing the limb back for another assault. Amos jerked back, fangs tearing through the soft flesh of the tiger's leg, rewarding him with the coppery taste of blood in his mouth.

When Aurielle vaulted elegantly onto the enraged feline's back it seemed to get more perturbed as it was realizing these wolves weren't going down easy. As another large paw came towards Amos he ducked, practically throwing himself towards the ground and successfully evading the hit as he heard an angry growl and saw Aurielle fly back towards the ground.

Amos stayed low, charging forward as Aurielle got their opponent's attention again with a headbutt to the gut. Seeking to throw the point of his right shoulder into the tiger's right shoulder where it met the upper leg, simultaneously angling his head to the right and aiming a bite upward in a bold move towards the tiger's throat. The shoulder connected, moderate bruising blooming along Amos' own shoulder as a result, though he was satisfied to see the creature's balance appear a bit shaken as it favored the limb slightly. His jaws also found their mark, upper jaw finding purchase at the back of the left side of the tiger's jaw where it met it's neck, lower jaw finding the same point on the right side. Drawing his jaws together, he could hear the tiger's breathing become a slight wheeze, knowing he'd have claws coming his way in a moment.

Two more rounds for a dead kitty! Go Team Amorielle!

Aurielle Adravendi

The big cat was now thoroughly and utterly enraged, past caring for its own safety. These two upstarts had dared threaten and even hurt the king of cats, and as it felt the male’s jaws snap shut on its throat, a choked bellow of fury erupted from it, echoing and rebounding against the canyon walls. Claws were indeed heading for the male, but Aurielle darted in, jaws clamping shut on one of the swiping paws, much the same way Amos had done earlier in the brawl, jerking back to sink her long canines into the sensitive network of bones and tendons, shaking her head viciously to rip free of the paw. The cat reared back with a snarl, a violent movement meant to dislodge the wolf clinging grimly to its throat and aimed to rake its other paw down Amos’ side with a full set of unsheathed claws. Aurielle surged in again, seeking to drive the unbalanced cat further off balance with a driving thrust of her left shoulder into the point behind the cat’s right front leg. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think