Rhyme’s white paws carried him easily over the land, his gate was steady and sure. Solitude rode along on his back, barely moving as his master loped over the uneven terrain with Imperia gliding easily in the sky above them. The day was brisk but sunny, the colors of the fall beginning to fade as winter began to tighten its grip. The slate marked alpha remained vigilant as his mind couldn’t be withdrawn from current events. Imperia had seen a snow tiger. Personally Rhyme had never laid eyes on such a creature, but according to the raven it was huge and boasted much shaggier fur. He wasn’t out to catch the cat today, he was mostly aiming on locating it or its den so he could bring a few warriors to deal with it. He doubted they’d be able to be political about it either. Today he’d wanted to bring Ignis along, not that they were going to do any fighting but it felt appropriate to show the boy his rigorous routines. The Imperialis looked back absentmindedly, hoping the boy had followed along. ""

Ignis was excited to go out with Rhyme today, so he bounded along behind him. He wondered what exactly they were going to do today, and was sure that whatever it was, would be an epic lesson! He had been eager to get started, and the fact that today's lesson was outside of pack lands was even better. Even though he was about to be a year old, he had been told that he wasn't to go beyond the borders alone. He had been tempted to so many times simply for the fact that he was so big, but he didn't want to upset his uncle. Glancing at Rhyme, he hurried his pace a bit so that he was walking side by side with the alpha. "Hey Rhyme, what're we gonna do today?"

His bright blue and lavender gaze fell on the fiery boy as he paced along beside the alpha. Rhyme hadn’t told him yet what they were going to be up to today, but he was glad he followed along with out questioning him at first. Of course Rhyme wasn’t about to keep their goal a secret. He looked up at the sky, suddenly worried about the intense clouds that seemed to suddenly appear. They’d make it back before it snowed. "We’re tracking a snow cat. Imperia spotted a snow tiger, and I don’t want it settling anywhere close to Abaven." Little did he knew the cat had already seen them. It remained hidden, even from the alpha’s vigilant ravens. The snow would begin to fall, slowly at first but in the blink of an eye they were huge fat snow flakes. Rhyme was beginning to get a bad feeling. "Keep your defenses up and don’t let your guard down." He mentioned to his apprentice as he shifted to hold stronger defenses. Bending his knees, feeling his hackles raise, and narrowing his gaze as he searched the woods around them. Hopefully the snow didn’t end up chasing them into the crypt. ""

"Talk" Walk He followed Rhyme's gaze to the sky, and although he didn't have experience with snow storms yet, he could feel the tension from Rhyme when he had looked. Then Rhyme told him they were tracking down a snowcat. Well, a snow tiger to be precise. But Ignis had never seen or heard of such an animal, and he was sure that the confusion was written all over his quizzical face. Well, if they were tracking something, he knew he ought to remain as quiet as possible. But he feared that unlike Rhyme, he wouldn't blend well at all with their surroundings. He was bright freakin' red for crying out loud! He was sure that whatever they were tracking would see him from a mile away! Snow began to fall then, with big snowflakes starting to pile on the young apprentice. Did snow usually happen that fast? He couldn't remember. He had been born in the winter, but by the time they were allowed to roam and stuff, only the last remnants of slush and ice had been left behind by winter. He wasn't as attuned to his surroundings as Rhyme was at the moment, especially since he didn't know just how dangerous a snow tiger was...but he took Rhyme's advice and settled into his defenses, just like his uncle had taught him.

When Rhyme started to think about Ignis he knew that he liked the young flame coated youth. He was a good apprentice, despite Rhyme not having anyone to compare him to. He listened to Rhyme’s instruction with out question and settled into silence as Rhyme gave him the information he sought. Tracking the tiger would be a dangerous endeavor, especially if the tiger found them before they found it. The snow continued to fall thickly, and though the ground was not frozen yet it began to stick. They were going to have to hurry more than he had originally expected. He picked up his pace, sure that Ignis would be able to keep up. He wanted to track the cat before its tracks were completely covered in snow. He was focused on the ground when he heard Imperia and Solitude both cry out in alarm. Rhyme brought his head up but didn’t see anything in front of them. Another call from above and he looked behind them. The snow cat was ambushing them from the rear. Rhyme cried out in surprise, but managed to move his body between the cat and Ignis. A giant paw hit his right shoulder, claws scraped the flesh. Blood began to well in the shallow cuts, and Rhyme felt adrenaline rush through him. He had to get out of the cat’s reach and he hoped Ignis was already regrouping as the alpha veered to the left of the striped cat’s form. ""

"Talk" Walk It seemed eerily quiet, the only sound he could hear was that of their own muffled footsteps in the snow. He kept a wary eye out, not totally sure what they were looking for or what they were tracking. He made sure to remain on alert, even when Rhyme picked up the pace. Ignis followed easily, long strides practically keeping him in step behind the man. He glanced at the sky again, noticing that the snow was falling a little heavier now which made him frown. He knew more or less how to track things if he could actually see the tracks. But with all this snow coming down, he couldn't quite see any on the ground with all this snow around them. Not unless he pressed his face against it, and he didn't really feel like freezing his nose off. He tried his best though to see what he could. Mimicking Rhyme as best he could. When Rhyme's companions cried out in alarm, however, Ignis nearly jumped out of his skin. The noise had been sudden, like a train whistle blaring in the dead of silence.  Eyes grew wide at the sudden noise, and before he knew it, Rhyme had turned and put himself in front of Ignis just when something came out and attacked them. Ignis scrambled back so fast that he had lost his footing and fell into the snow, but he quickly recovered as he stared wide-eyed at the beast. He didn't realize that the tiger was behind them, but then neither did Rhyme until it got too close. Had Rhyme's companions not seen it, he was sure that thing would have mauled him to the ground. His heart beat fast in his chest with a mixture of fear and surprise, but he knew he needed to help Rhyme. Now was his chance to show his alpha that he would be a great warrior! When Rhyme skittered away from the angry cat, Ignis recovered from his surprise and followed suit. He made sure to stay well away from any raking claws as he checked to make sure Rhyme was alright. "Hey Rhyme, are you okay?! I've never seen something like this before!" He kept his eye on the beast as it growled at them. Ignis stared back, snarling at it as his hackles bristled in all directions. While the tiger was big, Ignis was nearly just as big. Lanky, yes. But he would soon be at his full height, and he'd be damned if this tiger got the best of him. "Waddaya wanna do, Rhyme? I say we teach it a lesson!" Of course, he wouldn't be opposed to trying to get that neat looking pelt off of it, either.

Ignis made it away from immediate danger as Rhyme did, with the tiger staring daggers at them as they backed away. The striped beast showed no fear of a couple of wolves as it stalked closer. It easily weighed more than both of them combined though the Imperialis could look into its eyes comfortably. The slits were blood thirsty, this cat wanted the both of them dead. It bared its teeth and growled from deep in its chest. Rhyme didn’t take his eyes off it. Ignis asked to make sure he was okay, and Rhyme felt the sting of his broken flesh. Already though the bleeding had slowed. His apprentice sought out their next move. Rhyme flashed his own white teeth at the cat as they started circling each other, looking for openings in the others defenses. "It’s not going to let us go with out a fight," which was obvious. "So lets give it one." He growled back at the creature as Imperia and Solitude took the moment to distract the beast. Both Ravens flew at the creatures eyes, using their strong beaks to attempt to blind the animal. While it was distracted with the ebony and alabaster birds Rhyme took his chance. With all of his might Rhyme leapt at the cat, aiming to slam the point of his shoulder into the crease where shoulder met neck. His jaws would wrap around the fleshy joint of it’s jaw and neck as he aimed to tear out the tiger’s throat. He would have rather had two more wolves with them, but hopefully he and Ignis could finish the job. Rhyme bound away as the birds took to the sky again, unharmed. Rhyme now sported more of the tiger’s blood than his own, though he hadn’t managed to take out its jugular. ""

"Aye captain!" While this may have not been the best time to joke around, Ignis couldn't help himself. The excitement that coursed through him coupled with the adrenaline made him fearless and feeling invincible! He briefly thought about the stories he could tell after this, and sport a new fur coat on top of that! When Rhyme's companions dove in at the tiger, Ignis circled around to its left side in preparation for his own attack. Once Rhyme went in for an attack, Ignis made his own move.

He rushed in at the tigers left flank, the boy seeking to throw his full weight into its hindquarters in an effort to topple it over. His jaws parted as he aimed a crushing bite at the tigers thigh. His teeth connected for a moment, canines slashing at skin and muscle. He tasted blood for the first time that wasn't a prey animal, and a new, animalistic instinct kicked in. Pupils dilated, features twisting into a more fierce look as he tore at the beasts thigh. Blood spurted in every direction as he severed an artery, painting his coat a deeper, darker red.

The tiger howled in pain as he twisted around towards Ignis. Ignis on the other hand, didn't react fast enough and earned a well placed smack on his face. His eyes squeezed shut as he tried to scramble backwards, but he wasn't quick enough. He felt the sting of claws slash diagonally across his face, the feeling of hot blood oozing down. The tiger had successfully cut him from the bottom of his left eye to the top of his right. He shook his head to clear away the blood that threatened to blind him, and took a moment to recover from the surprise attack.

While the Imperialis would have enjoyed the boy’s joking any other time the sting from his wound put him in a sour mood. He didn’t have time to chastise him, and was better off for it. Rhyme didn’t notice Ignis attacking at the same time until he released. For a moment the tiger’s attention was fully on him until Ignis really started dishing out some damage. Just as the older wolf became covered in the tiger’s blood so would his apprentice as the creature spun on the boy. Rhyme reacted, but not fast enough to prevent damage to the younger wolf. He again sought out the cat’s throat while it distracted itself with Ignis. He opened his jaws wide and attacked the weakened flesh. He grabbed hold again and the cat roared, wrapping its giant paws around Rhyme’s body. The alpha bit down harder as its claws dug into his flesh, he held on with all his might until the cat’s grip began to loosen and finally the giant beast slumped in front of Rhyme’s form. Rhyme heaved a sigh of relief and let his body fall to the ground as his blue and lavender gaze looked to Ignis and the blood pouring from his face. Breathing heavily as the snow continued to fall heavily. "Ignis, are you alright?" ""

"Talk" Walk He shook his head to try and clear the double vision he had after being whacked in the face. And by the time he managed to come around to his senses, Rhyme already had the tiger submitting to death. He sniffed, noticing that his nose was leaking...something. It took him a minute to realize it was blood. His first nosebleed! He wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but he took the situation with a grin anyway. They had defeated a tiger! Well...Rhyme had defeated it. But Ignis felt proud knowing he took on a full-grown tiger and lived to tell the tale. How many kids his age got to do that? He couldn't wait to get back and tell Actaea and Acere. He turned to Rhyme as the male asked if he was alright, and Ignis simply nodded. "Yeah, I think so. My face hurts...and my nose is bleeding, but I feel fine otherwise." Okay, so he maybe started feeling the effects of a headache starting to come on. But he wasn't about to admit that. He didn't want others to think he couldn't handle what he just did, so he put on a brave and fearless show instead.