The wind was cold as it tussled Hattori's fur, drawing clouded breaths from his nostrils as he carefully picked his way down the canyon path. The going was slow and his toes were tense, talons digging into the earth as he ventured forth, his muscles only loosening up when his paws were firmly set on flat terrain. He rolled his shoulders with a slight wince as he finally took a moment to take in the scenery. Though he was no stranger to the cold he had to admit the sudden drop in temperature had been a bit of a shock to his system, though not enough to warrant him turning tail and heading back to Ashen. Now that he was starting to feel more like himself he was venturing further and further from the Empire and Venom's side, eager to put himself to use and test himself with whatever Boreas could throw at him.

The tundra that stretched out before him was barren and empty, with barely a rock or even a bush to break up its monotony. He sniffed the air once more and could faintly make out the scent of a pack to the north, but other than that there were no signs that this place was frequented by wolves. Not that he could really blame them, at face value there wasn't much to see or do. Or at least that was the case till he noticed...a brown, fat blob by the waterside. His brows creased a little as he stepped forward and squinted, it was hideous thing covered in rolls of fat and adorned with the largest set of tusks he'd ever seen. Hattori was not a man who frequently swore or used foul language but...what the fuck was that?

The beast turned, brandishing it's tusks as it set it's black and beady gaze at him. Truly Hattori had never seen anything quiet as hideous as this, on principle alone he wanted it dead just to rid the world of it's grim form. And what better way to put his skills to use?  The beast then roared, a loud and throaty sound that reverberated in Hattori's chest, making him take a tentative step back as it started to move. Ugh. There was no flattering way to describe it nor did it deserve the effort: it slapped the ground with its fins as slugged closer and closer. Moving at an alarmingly quick speed as it gained momentum. It reared up high, stabbing at the air and forcing Hattori to dart out of the way as he snarled and flashed the whites of his teeth. To see the creature act so brazenly spurred him on, as did the knowledge that an intense fight would soon be underway.

Tsunami knew it was time to stop sitting on her ass again, time to train and continue to push herself. It was all she had at this point anyway, no real friends to speak of and with only a little bit of family she was actually comfortable around she needed something else to occupy her time. And so she'd taken to roaming beyond Winterfell's wall, literally, and even further north sometimes. She'd been intending to pit herself against some of the more vicious creatures that could be found, maybe even bring back meat or trophies for herself and the pack. But even in summer, the wintery world of the north was much quieter than one might assume. So it was kind of a surprise to hear a massive bellow echoing over the icy expanse that stretched around her. Something had gotten a walrus riled up. Curious Tsunami turned her attention towards the noise and picked up her pace, spotting a lupine form darting away from the impact of what would have surely been a very unpleasant death. For a second the young Preator woman considered... going up against a walrus was not something she'd ever considered, she knew well enough by now their size hid their speed and the massive things could be ferocious, even scaring the seals that could be found on the floes from time to time... On the other hand, hadn't this been what she wanted? With a grin, the woman pelted towards the stranger and the walrus. "Look alive!" She called out as she ran, quickly closing the gap between herself and the massive creature. "A walrus will sneak up on you if you don't!" She exclaimed, laughing as she launched herself at the thing. It had just swung its massive head at her cries but hadn't managed to move out of the way as her paws hit blubber. The girl darted her head forward, jaws parted as she sought to seek a grip on the leathery hide right behind its head... probably not the best idea she'd ever had. "Speech"

Art by Zinderell

Stjarna's wandering took them farther north. Summer was the best time to explore the northern regions so Star figured it was worth a shot before the weather turned cooler. Not that their siblings were likely to want to live in such cold areas but Star couldn't help their curiosity. Despite it being summer the air was chilly and the wind cold. Star moved carefully along the rocky terrain, being careful to time their steps to prevent slipping.

Star worked their way down to the base of the Polar Sound, near the ocean. The sound of the waves crashing on rock was enjoyable. The sound of whatever the hell that was was not. They turned to see a giant… uh… a giant. What were they looking at? It looked like a great, fleshy, meat slug with tusks! Stjarna wondered it if was edible before noticing the creature was charging a wolf with horns and another wolf. Uh oh! Stjarna darted forward, fangs sinking into one of the back flippers. It made some strange groan-like roar and twisted around toward them. Star nimbly leapt aside.

fight post 1/3

Hattori was admittedly rather surprised when the newcomer rushed onto the scene and told him to look alive. Was she implying that he looked dead on his paws? He wasn't fully recovered yet but he hardly thought that was the right way to describe him, his ear flicked in a slight show of annoyance but his reaction likely slipped under the radar given the chaos that was quickly unfolding. For one reason or another the dark woman leapt up on the creatures back, grabbing a hold of the fat of it's neck as it wriggled and writhed in an attempt to shake her off. And then before he could even think of launching his own attack yet another wolf appeared, this one grabbing it's attention and giving Hattori the chance and opening he'd been looking for.

With a powerful kick of his hind legs, Hattori launched himself at the beast, his talons digging deep into the blubber as he clung onto the side of it's neck and leaned back with all of his weight. It was obvious that the beast's size and strength was incomparable to his own, but if he managed to make it lose it's sense of balance even a little he'd consider that a win. Not to mention it would give his temporary allies even more openings to launch further attacks of their own. Blood rolled over his paws as the beast bellowed and roared, swinging it's neck with such vigour that Hattori lost his grip and was sent flying. To his credit he landed on his feet, his toes flexing as they ached from the former strain they'd been under. No matter, he had plenty of fight left in him yet.

Tsunami was totally oblivious to the dappled man's irritation, she was a little too busy trying not to get bucked off, which she didn't totally manage to do. Finding herself thrown from the back of the walrus. Tsunami rolled upon hitting the ground, trying to get her momentum to carry her back to her paws, ready to flee from the wrath of the massive creature. But luckily for her, another wolf had joined the fray and taken the spotlight off of herself. The dappled stranger was quick to take advantage of this lapse in attention and attempted to mount the other side of the walrus. Taking advantage of the walrus' confusion she darted towards it's exposed side, craning her neck and lowering herself so she could try and scoop up one of its front flippers. Her fangs met a tough, rawhide like surface. Growling Tsunami started to viciously shake her head, seeking to wound as much as possible. Unfortunately for her, Tsunami's vantage point now was pretty shit and now that the orange marked man had been thrown from its side it turned its attention towards her, and a mass of blubber and muscle slammed into her side, the side of a tusk slamming into her. The walrus had swung his head towards her, hitting her with the side of its head. Luckily she hadn't been in a place to be easily gored. Still, Tsunami was sent flying, this time she landed on her side and skidded, a cry of pain pulling involuntarily from her lungs. Shit! Fuck! She thought frantically as she tried to pull herself to her paws, wincing at the pain, something was definitely broken. "Speech"

Art by Zinderell

Stjarna scrambled out of the way of the giant, undulating mass of flesh, suddenly aware that being squished to death by that bizarre creature would be a terrible way to go. The horned man latched onto the creature's neck, drawing its attention. Star sized up the creatures back, now that it seemed to have forgotten him. Muscles tensed and Star leapt onto the walrus' back, claws digging in as they scrambled up the creature, arms wrapping around the neck and fangs latching onto the side of the walrus' face. Star thrashed violently as the walrus returned the gesture. Star's top fangs pierced one of its eyes and it suddenly thrashed its head downward. Star let go as they were flung off and into the rocky surface. "Ahhhh! Shit!" Star swore, rolling onto shaking paws. Pain lanced down their side and they knew there would be some serious bruising to contend with tomorrow.

fight post 2/3

It soon became apparent that holding onto the beast wasn't the way to go about this fight. One after another it tossed the wolves aside, the other two landing with far more force than Hattori had. He was no medic but he could tell that the darker lady was hurt, a wince rippled through her form as she struggled to her paws and Hattori felt a very slight pang of sympathy. He'd been in her position not too long ago, forced to fight on regardless of the state he'd been in. Shoving that aside his gaze flickered to the wolf of starlight, by no means were they in as rough of a shape but if the trio didn't wrap this up quickly then the beast would soon gain the advantage.

Hattori circled the beast, pale eyes narrowed into a focused squint as he searched for a weak point, somewhere he could do a considerable amount of damage with minimal risk. Knowing it had the wolves on the ropes the walrus charged Hattori with an ear piercing bellow, it raised his tusks and exposed the expanse of it's vulnerable throat as it did so. Exactly the sort of opening the shinobi had been looking for. With an impressive burst of speed Hattori ducked in close, weaving past the tusks and latched onto the flesh of its neck with both talons and teeth. He reared up onto his hind legs, talons ripping and shredding as he bit down so hard his jaw throbbed in protest. With any other animal grabbing onto it's neck like this would have been a sure death sentence, but there was just so much fat and blubber in the way it was a fight in and of itself just to clamp down onto the right part. By now the stones beneath Hattori's paws were wet with blood, hinting that this fight wouldn't end with swift and sure deathblow. Simply slow and methodical, chipping away at the walrus till it had nothing left to give.

Tsunami finally managed to get her paws under her enough to start lifting her weight back up, her limbs shaking with the effort as she did so, right now the pain was low thrum, the adrenaline still pumping through her helping to numb it, though no doubt she'd be regretting her decision to jump in once this was over... provided they got out of it that was. Maybe it would have been wise for Tsunami to try and run then, to flee... but she wasn't one to run from a fight, it would probably get her killed one of these days but her pride simply wouldn't let her flee. The horned man met the walrus' charge and seemed to have landed on the creature's weak spot. Seeing the blood beginning to seep from the man's jaw Tsunami couldn't help but grin. If this was going to be a war of attrition they'd need to fight smarter, not harder. With the opening, she'd been provided by the attack on the walrus' neck Tsunami charged (a little lopsidedly) towards the beast again, this time she used it's massive flipper to help bring herself up its frame, seeking to sink fangs into the beast's closest shoulder. The more they could impede its movements, the longer the frontal assault could last. She was once more met with rough skin that resisted her bite, but there were a few fewer layers of protective fat here, and though she didn't pierce far she could tell the bone wasn't too much deeper than her bite. Good. "Speech"

Art by Zinderell

Star wobbled a bit before finding secure footing. Pain throbbed along their sides but there was no time to worry about that now. There was still a giant blubber monster to slay. The horned man led the charge and latched onto the center of walrus' neck. The woman swiftly joined leaving one side of the monsters throat open for them. Star's legs coiled and with a rapid charge and mighty leap, Star latched onto the other side of the walrus' throat. With three wolves hanging there, their weight bent it down. Star hung there and thrashed, worsening the damage and scattering blood everywhere.The walrus was hindered, unable to stab the wolves and with the massive amount of blood it was loosing it the walrus soon perished. It collapsed in a lifeless heap, jiggling as it hit the ground. Star let go of their grip to flash the others a grin before ripping through fat and flesh to reach the meat below.

fight post 3/3

What a mess. Hattori preferred his kills to be clean and concise but they didn't have much of a choice here. He shook his head like a man possessed, ripping and tearing as his allies joined in and dealt all the more damage with their own teeth. It was slow and laborious, even in this advantageous position the beast didn't simply keel over and die. Rather, it was all like a tug of war as the beast strained to get away and the trio struggled to hold on. By the time the beast's strength started to wain Hattori's form was riddled with aches and pains, muscles long overused and in need of a rest, but he persisted just as the others did. In time the beast began to slump, almost folding in on itself in one last ditch attempt to save itself from it's demise.

Hattori released his grip and moved out of the way, slower and less agile on his paws as he observed the creature with a squinty, narrowed gaze. It didn't even have the strength to return to the water and even if it did it would likely still die from blood loss. Cricking his jaw-it ached far more than he cared to show- he moved in once more, stepping around the tusks as he readied himself for the killing blow. On the assumption the others would also play their parts.