Sirius seemed absolutely stuck on this pillows idea, and no matter how many times Zee gently suggested they go home with their feathers the brute was insistent upon finding a new crafter. He wasn't going home without them, he said. So Zee followed along loyally, grumbling under her breath. "She was a bitch anyways." She said to fill the silence, eyeing Sirius to see if there was agreement in his expression. "We can find someone more polite who will do quality work." The two wandered east, there was a quiet calmness about the forest that Zee found relaxing. She was on a trip with her best friend, how much better could things be? Little did she know that their travels had disturbed the rest of a predator larger then even Sirius, and from the tree-line soft golden eyes watched and waited for the right opportunity. "Speech"

Well at first he had demanded Zee’s respect from a wolf they needed to fulfill the Empress’s requests - he found himself now agreeing with her as they fought the consequences of her absence. He gave a grumpy grunt in response to her comment. If he saw Dutch again. He would likely give her a piece of his mind. She had been a great sparring partner, and promising crafter, but standing them up with the baby shower looming above them didn’t put Sirius in a great mood. “But whom?” he asked softly, taking a breather from the bag of feathers in his mouth to speak. They needed to figure something out, fast, and hoped the crafter could work quickly. He picked up the sack and walked in silence again, lost in his thoughts and schemes about what their options from here might be. They moved through the trees, and with the scent of dead birds directly in front of him, he missed the scent of the watcher. Did did catch movement from the corner of his eye, twitching an ear as he cast his gaze upwards. A chattering monkey darted past, which he ignored as his attention roamed back to the path. As he did so, he heard the sound of a thump, and turned to see the large, lean tiger as it landed heavily on his companion. With an enraged roar, Seer dropped his bag and moved to tackle the large cat off Zee. why it had gone first for the smaller wolf he did not know. The tiger must be addled in the head. He would use that to defeat the stupid beast. "Speech"

One moment Zee was walking along side Sirius and the next she was being taken to the ground. Her small body was utterly engulfed by the tiger's massive weight and the only sound that made it out of her was a small pained yelp. It didn't occur to her right away how much danger she was actually in, but as the low rumbling growls of the angered cat vibrated against her small frame she found herself shaking hard in fear. "Sirius!" She managed to squeak, desperate for her friend. He made her feel safe when nothing else could, but versus a seven-hundred pound tiger could he really come out of the fight alive? Her fear surged further, not just for herself but also for her beloved friend and protector. Her small form wiggled violently beneath the cat, desperate to get free. She felt hot breath upon the back of her neck and closed her eyes in preparation for the guaranteed death upon her. There was a pause, and then the beast was thrown away. Zee crawled away with her chest heaving hard as she turned back to watch her titan wrestle the cat. There was a moment where she hesitated, realizing that for her to try to combat a lion was as silly as a pup trying to beat a full grown wolf. But Sirius needed her, and she could provide at least a distraction for the beast. Snarling, Zee barreled towards the two. She was small enough that she could nearly run underneath it so she decided to do just that - she'd throw herself under it's belly, snapping at it's back legs at the meantime to draw it's fury before speeding away. It could not keep it's focus on both Sirius and her at once. "Speech" Total Word Count: 715

The yelp of pain from Zee sent him into a frenzy, and he hit hard as he collided with the tiger. Regardless, it was the most solid creature he had ever rammed into, and he felt the bruising all along his shoulder even as he drove the creature a step back from the sheer ferocity of his attack. The tiger turned the force of its weight to him and pushed back, and it became a wrestling match between two large beings - only thing was, Seer felt he was outmatched in sheer size and weight. He got his claws into the muscle of the cats front shoulder, and the leg gave as the pain hit the cat, keeping the tiger from toppling him over. The cat in return dug its teeth into the back of his neck, and Seer growled at the pain. He knew this was nothing more than a delay tactic, and he hoped he was giving Zee enough time to flee. To get help, or abandon him. Part of him didn’t care which, so long as she was not here. Then he felt the wind of her motion as she glided by them, slipping under the tiger and harrying him before moving on. Fool woman he thought as the tiger snarled and turned its attention from him again. He used that moment to snap at the tendon behind its leg, and felt something give. The tiger growled and collapsed, but he knew it was only momentarily. He took this chance to disengage from the creature and take hurried steps backwards. The tiger snarled at him, but he knew it was only going to be angry. He turned, through he hated to do, and ran to Zee’s side. “Move!” he snarled. By partly crippling the beast he had given them a chance to escape something that otherwise would have been faster then them. "Speech"

The tiger and Sirius wrestled for too many painstaking long moments and each further growl and snarl sent Zee's emotions into overdrive. Sirius was in danger and it was her fault - he was only protecting her. The small wolf continued her assault, weaving in and out of it's legs and snapping where possible to provide a decent enough distraction for Sirius to take advantage of. She felt the majority of her bites landing, though with the cat's massive size it seemed to hardly notice the pain. It was as if Zee was an annoying fly buzzing around his head and simply annoying him to death. Sirius got in a good bite, and Zee heard the howl of pain tear from the cat's throat. She spun around to face it once more, gaze moving from the fierce creature and back to her protector. His neck had taken a hit, but otherwise he seemed okay. Sirius took the moment to return to her side, and Zee was taken back by his command. Run? Sirius? She blinked at him in bewilderment, an then the cat was moving to strike once more and she turned tail and obeyed. As she fled, she made sure to continue looking back to be sure that 1) Sirius was still behind her and 2) that he was okay. Zee firmly doubted that he was happy to try to run from a challenge, and it was likely only her that he wanted to keep safe from the angry boulder of claws and teeth. A part of her wondered if he'd go back for the thing to get his revenge, and Zee hoped beyond hope that he would not be so stupid. Even with his direwolf size, his ridiculously powerful saber teeth, and his form made of pretty much only muscle... it was a damn tiger. She ran as hard as she could, chest heaving with the effort. Somehow Sirius kept up to her agile form, and she had a feeling it had something to do with the incredible brute strength that the titan had within him. Each of his powerful strides equaled out to four or five of hers and the two were close as the fled the scene. The rustle of the underbrush behind them faded slowly as the cat gave in, the injury to it's tendon just too much for the creature to bear to run on. Too bad. She though bitterly. "No lunch for you." A smile of relief came over her as she saw the Ashen border come into view - thankfully they had not gone far. Her smile quickly faded as the thought hit her. The tiger was not far from Ashen. Deathbelle was pregnant, their warriors hadn't even finished their first training session yet. There was no way Sirius was going to let this go, and there was no way Zee would be willing to let him back into these woods without her by his side. "Speech" Total Word Count: 1523

The two of them took off hard, running through the woods and the titan kept easy pace with the smaller wolf. He would not leave her behind by so much as a step. He would ensure that if the tiger caught up to them, he would have the chance to tackle it before it could touch Zee again. The sound of paw steps receded behind them, and he cast a look back even as she did, and knew they had outrun the injured beast. He kept them going for a little bit further, before he deemed it safe enough to come to a stop. “Let me take a look” he said softly, as he moved to stand over her, parting the fur above her head with a very gentle movement of his fang, as he looked for signs of a wound. She was very, very lucky, the tiger hadn’t broken skin before he had shaken it off her. Regardless, the tiger would pay for hurting her. His thoughts also moved to the feathers, of which he needed to fetch. He had dropped them when he had defended Zee. "Speech"