Shilah was surprised at how humid it was in the east. The difference in humidity just from walking from the west all the way to the east was staggering. There were a good number of packs in the area and he'd had to scoot around them to continue on his path. He was working his way along the Rio Grande when movement caught his eye. He looked down the bank and saw a large grizzly bear. It saw him. The bear's brow furrowed and it let out a roar before charging straight for him. "Hey! I didn't do anythi-" Shilah ducked as the bear swung one of its massive paws toward his head. What on earth? He'd talked with another loner not long back about the bears in Boreas being particularly aggressive. He clearly wasn't kidding!

Naiche was doing one of his favorite things, exploring.  The river churned with life, both from the wind and the fish that boldly leapt out to grab suicidal bugs that landed on top of the water.  A large bird with legs hardly bigger than twigs stood in the water, one eye peering in its depths as it waited for its own bit of food.  A turtle dunked underwater, leaving little ringlets of water where it once was

Pan was in a tree relatively close, the little Sunda pangolin was a new companion and one he was pleased to have.  It was quiet and seemed content to do its own thing in the vicinity he was in.  Last Naiche checked it was having a meal from some ants that were holed up in a rotten portion of the tree.  

Naiche was just thinking of another attempt at hunting for fish when he scented something familiar.  Yes, he remembered well what bear smelled like.  It was a good thing to avoid if no reason to fight. His intention was to walk away from the smell when he heard a wolf calling out from where the bear scent was.  No scent of the armada around, and so no reason to risk his life.

He kept walking a few more steps away as his mind pointed out how things had worked with the prior bear.  What was the wolf’s odds alone? That was on that wolf, not Naiche.  Was he scared of it? Naiche froze in place, defiantly confirming of course he wasn’t scared he just saw no reason to risk his life for someone not of his pack.
“Moons and stars,” Naiche growled softly,  turning around and loping the short distance to where the fight would be.  If it was too dangerous, he wouldn’t fight, but if this other wolf was decent at fighting then Naiche could sharpen his skills fighting bears.  Naiche wanted to do better than he had the first time the lanky wolf had faced a bear. “Pan, catch up!” Naiche heard the odd scaley companion drop itself to the ground and could imagine its odd run that was rather amusing when one had time to be amused.  

Naiche almost howled to alert the bear that he was coming but its attention was fully on the wolf.  The wheat-colored wolf only saw the legs of who he was about to help, the rest was hidden from his sight by the wall of muscle that was the bear.  Naiche pushed for top speed, leaping up to bite at the bears arm.  He had no plans to stay attached and as the bear swung around to fling his other clawe’d hand at him Naiche let go, glancing at who he was fighting with even as he took up a fighting position about a 90 degree angle from the other wolf. This was going to be fun!
"Speech"

Shilah kept his defenses set, his ears back and his tail tucked as he ducked again from another blow from the bear. He half thought of turning around and trying to run but bear's were faster than their bulk would have one believe and he was new to this territory. Suddenly the bear whipped around and Shilah glanced another wolf. Aha, a rescuer! Shilah felt much better about fighting the bear with an ally. While the bear's attention was on the younger wolf he darted forward, running down the bear's side as his fangs tore into its knee. It was a fierce and nasty blow meant to damage ligaments rather than gain a solid hold. Shilah didn't want to leave his backside bare to a…well, bear.

Naiche only took a second to get his bearings again once he’d leapt away from the bear.  He saw movement from the corner of his vision, that would be the other wolf moving in to attack.  As the bear turned his attention to the stranger Naiche charged in making the bear have to decide between the two. He snapped his teeth at the opposite leg of the one Shilah attacked, his eyes watching the bears waist and shoulder for one its attention turned from Shilah and back to Naiche. Naiche leapt away from the bear leg just in time to avoid the claws.  This was great fun!

Naiche didn’t go back farther than slightly out of the bear’s strike range, able to move in or father back quickly.  His mouth was open and there was a big ol’ smile on his face.  Oh yah, these sorts of fights were getting more fun each time.  It’s not that he didn’t see the danger, only that Naiche was loving that edge of knowing one wrong move could mean death.  He was addicted to fighting, and the worst the fight the better the fun!
"Speech"

Shilah bounded at of the way as the bear whipped around, its claws just grazing the top of his hips. The blow stung but it wasn't serious. He whipped around to see how the other wolf was faring. It seemed the younger man was doing well as he dodged away from the bears claws. Shilah noticed the big grin on the yearling's face. Seemed like he was enjoying himself. There was a certain element of fun to the fight, Shilah had to admit, though he was eager to get the bear out of his space. With the bear distracted Shilah went for the worst attack he could do to the bear. He dove from the back, right between the creature's legs as his fangs ripped into the bear's scrotum. It yowled and twisted around before sitting down sharply, clearly in pain. Shilah grinned. The bear got up and started to run. He dove quickly after the bear with a snarl, seeking to drive it off farther away from them.

Around this point the Pangolin had finally caught up. It’s was jogging two legs, its scaly body hunched over and clawed hands just barely off the ground. Not much it would be able to do at this point. Naiche would really have to work with it on being useful, later.

Naiche could have laughed at how Shilah got the bear as it went to run off Naiche was charging along, snarling and snapping. A part of Naihe wanted to get another attack in at the bear, to not quite the game just yet but he wasn’t quite that foolish. Fun or not, making a mistake with a bear was a great way to get himself killed.

Naiche’s ego was up nicely as he saw the bear disappearing. The pleasure of the fight had him in a good state of mind, despite his earlier notion of not taking the risk. “Sorry if I interrupted your play with him,” Naiche wasn’t really sorry, he was fairly certain the wolf wasn’t dumb enough to want to take on a bear alone.
"Speech"

Shilah slowed to a stop as it became clear that the bear wasn't going to turn around and resume its attack. "Whew!" Shilah sat heavily, panting from the exertion of the fight. That had been a wild ride. He turned to the younger man and shook his head before getting to his feet. "Not at all, I appreciate the help. My name is Shilah." He glanced at the sky as a rumble of thunder rolled through the sky. Well, a storm certainly explained the increased humidity. He sighed to himself "Well, if it isn't one thing it's another. I'm afraid I better get going." He wanted to get back to his temporary shelter before all hell broke loose but with a little luck it would be a gentle thunderstorm with rain and not too much wind or hail.

-end?-