THE WOLVES WILL CHASE YOU IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT
Drunk and driven by a devil's hunger...

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Harbringr had taken the night patrol shift on a cold and moonless night. The sky was clear and covered in twinkling stars but there was a distinct chill in the wind and he shuddered. At least he only had an hour or so left. Harbringr plodded along with his companions in tow, slowing when he thought he saw a dark shadow moving amongst the trees. He paused, ears flicking forward. There it was again, another shadow and something… big. His hackles raised and his first thought was maybe that it was a bear. They'd be emerging from their hibernation this season, waking into still cold weather with limited prey options. A brave bear would brave the packs border for food.

The snow crunched beneath large paws as a massive dire wolf appeared, far taller than even Sirius. Another appeared behind that one and then another. He found himself staring at a pack of dire wolves moving toward the border. Harbringr threw back his head and released an urgent warning call. At that moment a pale dire wolf leapt for him. Hari dodged to the side and sank his fangs into his opponents back leg in a glancing blow, trying to avoid getting pinned by his opponent.

Iza was herself in a patrolling, doing her best to cover all of it. She didnt wnat to leave a batch without a proper checking. She wanted to prove Recluse she was a hardworking wolf even if by placing her in this low rank she didnt think that. And as she walked, eyes of bright silver lurked around, using the darkness to thread comfortably. And there is when she heard an urgent call from a packmate. Quickly she rushed into her quick movemnet until she was able to see the conflict. She wanted to help him but then a brown colored one went after her. And as it lowered its head to bite her ,taking the advantage of being smaller and quickler she dodged to then quickly jumping forward to it's side aiming to bite on the left side of its face, aiming to take of it's eye. She wanted to neutralize the threat before anything else. "speak."| "You

Art and Code by cloudy

Áskell was half asleep, laying on his back in the family den. He was dreaming about a vicious owl spirit that was chasing him, its neck suddenly stretching out and just as it was about to seize him he heard his father's howl and he jolted away. The message in the howl was clear. Intruders! Now a yearling and anxious to prove himself a fit warrior he bolted from the den and took off toward his father's call. He expected Jigsaw to stay but was in such a hurry he hadn't bothered to say anything.

When he arrived he skidded to a halt and gasped in shock. Massive wolves were breaching the border and tearing into Habari's territory. His father and Izanami were engaged in battle. His first instinct was to help his father but before he could a large gray dire attacked him. Áskell yelled in surprise and just barely managed to doge. The dire's fangs clipped his back but he managed to avoid serious injury.

Rœkia set out to get some peace and quiet. With Lukina blessedly asleep and the still night fallen she had the perfect opportunity to stretch her legs and clear her mind without a yappy little pup at her heels. Now that she was instructing the girl on herbs it was becoming a bit more difficult to drug the little punk but that was just as well. Summer was almost here and soon she could tell her cousin the full truth of the coup and drop the girl off at some packs borders or maybe leave her out in the wild for someone else to find. Rœkia wasn't going to be saddled with a child for the rest of her life because of her uncle's dying wish. She wanted her freedom back desperately.

Lost in her thoughts it took her a moment to register that something was wrong. She paused, her ears swiveling as she sought to pick up threatening sounds. She could hear paw steps in the snow. They didn't sound like they belonged to a bear but they did sound like they belonged to something big. Rœkia started to turn back, moving slowly in a calculated manner. She was hoping that whatever it was hadn't seen her or smelt her. There was no wind so it was hard to tell how her scent was being distributed.

Rœkia took a few more cautious steps when suddenly a massive white wolf barreled out of the trees straight for her. She took off like a shot, just managing to pull ahead of the large dire. She raced across the snowy terrain, desperately trying to put some space between herself and the attacking dire wolf. She wasn't sure she could take him head on but if she could just out run him. She was smaller and faster but her attacker's legs were longer and she found herself doubting that she was going to succeed. As she ran she caught the scent of a pack border and her first instinct was to swerve to avoid it but any change that might slow her down would put her in the dire's jaws. She was only managing to stay inches ahead of her attacker.

Throwing caution to the winds she crossed the border only to find a trio of pack wolves engaged in battle with a pack of massive dire wolves. Oh great! Where the hell had these beasts come from. Not wishing to let up her pace she barreled forward toward another dire wolf and slid in the snow as she ducked and crouched. Her sudden stop and lowered position caused the dire wolf behind her to trip on her hind end and crash face forward into the other dire wolf. Rœkia swiftly scrambled out from under them.

THE WOLVES WILL CHASE YOU IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT
Drunk and driven by a devil's hunger...

---

The dire wolf didn't seem overly bothered by the blow that Harbringr had dealt. It twisted around to go after him and he dimly became aware of Izanami joining them as well as his son Áskell. His first instinct was to yell at his child to leave but Áskell was a yearling now and the truth was they were outnumbered and would need as many wolves as possible. Hari heard a screech and realized that Ari had joined the fight. The macaque had leapt on the dire wolf's back and grabbed it's ears, riding it like a bronco buster. The distraction gave Harbringr enough time to twist around and attack again. As he neared Ari grabbed the wolf's head and yanked it back revealing the dire's throat.

A moment later Harbringr had sunk his teeth into the beast's windpipe, clamping down sharply and crushing it. The dire thrashed violently, the resulting movement throwing the macaque from his back. However, in the dire's desperation to remove Harbringr it only ended up doing more damage to its own throat. Blood showered the snow and Harbringr held on as best he could, feeling his grip slipping with every thrash but knowing that every minute that passed would lead closer and closer to the dire wolf's death.

Word Count: 1206/4500

The vicious attack from her managed to take off the eye she was intending to, blood splotching from the now-empty eyehole. The large wolf whimpered in pain but soon was back to the attack as it grabbed her by the scruff, blood pouring from the wound but she was well taught to endure pain, and quickly she walked away, ripping her from the wolf's hold and using her agility she turned to now go after it's throat sinking her fangs on the fresh, painting her dark coat in blood, fresh and warm blood. She would kill it as a message of what would happen to those who invaded her home, or where she was currently in. "speak."| "You

Art and Code by cloudy

Áskell spun around and faced off against the dire wolf, his hackles raised. Dimly out of the corner of his eye he saw another wolf running in, a smaller regular wolf. His first thought was fury at a trespasser taking advantage of their situation til she turned and fought the dire. Ok, well. He'd take an ally and deal with her later. The dire stared him down, its tail up in a dominant posture but if the dire wolf thought he was going to cower and back down it was in for a terrible surprise.

His head and tail swiftly shifted to align with his spine.  His chin tucked as his neck scrunched back, shoulders rolling forward in anticipation as his hackles stood on end.  Áskell shifted his limbs equidistant apart, just slightly wider than shoulder and hip width respectively, his weight shifting evenly across his limbs.  Áskell was not going to be intimidated by a larger opponent, even as the dire took another step forward.  Áskell's toes splayed, claws digging into the moist soil for extra grip.  His jaws parted, brows wrinkling to wrinkle the flesh of her face as her ears pinned tightly to his head, eyes narrowing.  

Suddenly the dire wolf sprinted forward. As the beast leapt forward so did Askell as he sought to close the distance between them that much faster.  As the dire curved his body sharply to his right Askell would arc his upper body to his own right in an attempt to keep their upper bodies facing head on but slightly of center so that his left shoulder could align with the groove between his opponents right shoulder and the right side of his chest.  Askell sprinted forward slamming his shoulder into the more delicate area of the dire's body. He had hoped to strain something but in truth his opponent was so much bigger he didn't get near the damage he wished. However, while his shoulder throw may not have done the damage he wanted his fangs managed to seize the middle underside of the dire's throat. He bit hard, feeling blood spill into his mouth.

Before Askell could really enjoy his victory though he felt, cold, steely teeth in the back of his neck, just behind his ears. A moment later he was yanked from the dire wolf like an annoying tick and tossed aside like a pup. Askell hit the ground hard, sliding through the snow and yelping from the blow. A second later the dire wolf was on him, the beasts massive paws pinning him on his back. Askell yelled and kicked out violently, striking the dire repeatedly in the gut as he twisted his head and bit sharply into the dire wolf's left wrist.

Fangs seized hold of the side of his neck and he could feel it becoming more and more difficult to breathe. Askell flailed and twisted, he could hear his companion screeching and tugging at the wolf, pecking at its eyes and ears but the dire was unmoved. He could feel his sight blackening…

Well, this was a shit situation. She backed up as she watched the dire wolves scramble to their feet. Her luck managed to hold out enough that one of the dire wolves went to attack the black and white male, leaving her with one opponent. Oh goodie. Still, she supposed she ought to thank her lucky stars that she wasn't outnumbered any more. It might give her a chance to end this without getting eaten. Rœkia hoped that Lukina had been paying attention to her healing lessons. She was likely going to need the little squirts help after this, assuming she survived. If she didn't, well, the pup was on her own. She'd done the best she could do.


Rœkia lowered her head to align with her spine, shifting her tail up to do the same as her shoulders rolled forward, her neck scrunching back to push fur and fat over her vitals. Her chin tucked slightly and her hackles stood on end. She growled, her limbs spreading equidistant apart, bent slightly to lower her center of gravity and to prepare her to spring into action at a moments notice. Her weight settled equally across her limbs as her toes splayed, her claws digging into the earth. Rœkia wrinkled her brow in a snarl, her ears pinning tightly to her head as her magenta eyes narrowed. She tried to look fierce and tough despite knowing that it probably wasn't going to be enough to make the dire wolf go away.

The large, old, dire wolf made the first move She saw the dark intent in his eyes, knowing that this was more than just a simple dominance match. This man wanted to hurt her, brutally. Well, then Rœkia was just going to have to fight as brutally back. By now she was used to others wanting to hurt her and she wasn't going to start rolling over just because her opponent was nearly twice her size. Hell, she'd fought a polar bear fairly recently and that creature was much brawnier than the man in front of her now.

As the man charged so did Rœkia, ready to meet her opponent head on. As he shifted to line his right shoulder with the center of her chest she shuffled to her own right in an attempt both displace the man's attack and to line the front of her left shoulder with the crook of his body where his right shoulder connected to the right side of his chest. She aimed to launch her left shoulder forward into this nook with enough force to cause severe bruising and to tear the ligaments. Hopefully, the injury would slow and cripple his movements. He was elderly after all, and she knew old men always complained about their aching joints. Well, if she succeeded he'd really have an ache to complain about.

In addition to the shoulder throw she thrust the center of her chest forward hoping to striking the center of the dire's shoulder. Hoping that that in combination with her shoulder throw could help jar the joint. Granted she was likely going to pay dearly for this stunt considering his greater mass. She could hope she'd have enough momentum do do a fair amount of damage but in all likely hood she wasn't going to move or cause him to stumble. Still, she wasn't going to give up just yet. She exhaled swiftly before what she hoped would be impact so she wouldn't knock the breath from her own lungs. He was larger, true, but he was also much older and she hoped that her youth and hardiness would aid her in this endeavor. Simultaneously, as her weight shifted to her left front leg and her hindlegs for her shoulder throw she sought to lift her right foreleg so she could try to slam her right forepaw down on the man's left forepaw in the hopes of spraining some toes. Again, it was a long shot. He was so massive she couldn't help but feel like an annoying pup in attacking him rather than the true warrior she was.

The man's jaws lanced toward her head but her shift in position would leave his jaws on the left side of her head but her left ear was still vulnerable, even pinned, and so she sought to counter his attack. Rœkia raised her head and twisted it inward, jaws aiming to connect with the left side of the man's face. Her upper fangs sought to piece his left eye, in the hopes of permanently maiming him, her lower fangs sought to hook into the flesh just below his left cheek. She hoped to snap her jaws together in a tight grip on the man's face and to give herself some leverage in this fight. If these dire wolves wanted a dirty fight then she'd give them a dirty fight! Any scar, any maim, any missing piece would be nothing but badges, marks of experience gained. She'd been reared a fighter from the day she could walk and she sure as hell wasn't going to flinch or recoil from a little size difference. Granted she preferred sneakier ways of fighting, with poisons and traps but when it came to a brawl she was here to throw down as well.

The wolves collided and much to her delight, Rœkia's attacks landed as she wished them to. She slammed into the brute, felt pain blossom across her chest and shoulder from the collision, but her ears were soothed by the dire's shrieking howl of pain as her fangs pierced his eye and ripped through the flesh of his face in a tight hold. The dire twisted and flailed, shaking his head in desperation to fling her off his face but she held firm. Granted this was probably not the best place to be. She couldn't kill the dire wolf from this location but if she let go she was going to be in a lot more trouble. So what to do?

Suddenly the dire wolf twisted and threw itself on the ground with one mighty twist of its neck. Rœkia couldn't maintain her hold and was sent rolling through the snow, yelping as she hit a rock. She scrambled quickly back to her feet to see the dire continuing to twist and sputter. Blood caked its face and it could barely see her. If she'd had her wolf's bane on her she'd have been tempted to poison him right there and then but alas she didn't. Thankfully she didn't need to for the dire wolf seemed to have decided it had had enough of this fight and retreated back into the forest.

2833/4500

THE WOLVES WILL CHASE YOU IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT
Drunk and driven by a devil's hunger...

---

Harbringr held firm to the dire wolf's throat like a blood thirsty leech. It twisted and thrashed, running him into drifts and rocks and trees until eventually the beast stumbled and fell. Moments later it was dead. With a snarl, Harbringr released his grip on the creatures throat and squirmed out from under the body just in time to see another dire wolf headed right for him. Oh for spirits sake, how many of these bastards were there? He couldn't keep much focus to what was going on him, he could only hope that everyone else was holding up. He could still hear his son snarling and fighting so he knew the boy was alive. If he could just take care of this dire then he could go and help the boy.

Harbringr took a few deep breaths, seeking to clear the clutter of thoughts from his head so that he might fight clearly.  Every fight was crucial and he could no longer afford to let himself slip up.  Cold, mismatched eyes fixed on the large ivory male that was stalking toward her, tail lifted high like he owned the place. Like he owned Habari and could go wherever he bloody well pleased. Well, not today. Today Harbringr was going to make this brute wish he'd never been born.


Hari's eyes narrowed as his opponents single blue eye started at the Habari wolf, the dire's left one was completely gone.  Scars ran down the beasts face and it was clear to Habringr that this man had seen several battles.  In addition, something about the man seemed… off, unstable, he could feel it in his gut but he refused to show fear to this creature. He had the honor of his pack and his family name to uphold as well as an example to set for his son.

Harbringr was a violent creature in his own right and he could sense they at least had that in common.  This was an excellent chance to cut loose. Defenses fell quickly into place.  Skull and tail lowered to align with his spine, chin tucked slightly and neck scrunched back as his shoulders rolled forward, pushing fur and fat over his vitals.  Hackles rose sharply as limbs spread equidistant apart, bending slightly to lower her center of gravity as well as evenly distribute his weight.  Toes splayed as claws dug into the earth.  Jaws parted, eyes narrowed and ears pinned tight to his head as he prepared for the difficult battle ahead.

Powerful limbs beat into the ground as Harbringr launched herself forward, attempting to close the distance between himself and the dire wolf.  Hari attempted to approach the man nearly head on but a few inches to his own left so that the front of his right shoulderblade would align with the underside of the dire wolf's neck, a few inches above the sternum.  He sought to drive the front portion of his right shoulder blade into the dire's trachea with the intent of severely bruising the trachea and crippling the man's breathing for the remainder of the fight. Ideally he hoped to be able to do enough damage to cause the dire to choke and crumple but Harbringr knew that was unlikely. His opponent was massive and wrapped heavily in muscle. It would take work to do the kind of damage he wanted to.

Nearly simultaneously to his assault on the dire wolf's neck, Hari's neck would curve to his own right, head tilting up as he sought to grasp the dire wolf's throat. He had to try and take care of this quickly for as he fought the dire in front of him, he could hear his son's cries. "Hold on, Ásekll, I'm coming", he thought to himself. As he attacked so did the dire wolf. The pair of them collided viciously. Harbringr's shoulder struck as he intended it to and it caused his opponent to sputter but only for a second. As Hari's jaws lanced up for the dire wolf's throat the brute's head dove down. The became locked together. Hari's jaws seized the dire's throat while the dire wolf grabbed him by the nape of the neck. He was lifted painfully into the air as the creature shook him like a rag doll. He found himself losing his grip when suddenly he was dropped. The dire wolf yowled bitterly and Hari realized that Ginna had arrived and used her talons to shred one of the dire's eyes. As she did this, Ari had taken a knife and cut the achilles tendons of the dire wolf's back legs, crippling it. "Go, help Áskell!" Ari shouted. He and Ginna would finish off this one.

Hari stumbled to his feet, maw soaked in blood and nodded before turning to see where his son was struggling with another dire wolf. Fighting through the pain and exhaustion he pushed through and charged at the dire that was attacking his son. Harbringr aimed low, throwing his body in the direwolf's lower legs with enough force to topple the dire wolf off his son. Then the real battle began. Harbringr leapt onto the dire wolf's frame, fangs eagerly searching for the throat. He found purchase on the side of the dire wolf's neck, just behind the corner of the beast's jaws. Just as he did however, a massive paw rose up and knocked him down, peeling him off and forcing him to lose his hold. It was then, the claws pierced deep into his muscles that he realized his opponent had retractable claws. Hari yelped from the pain but realized he shouldn't have been surprised. He'd seen numerous wolves with mutations, even a horned horse. Why shouldn't one of these northern invaders bear similar gifts?

Harbringr kicked out brutally, nailing his opponent in the solar plexus. The wolf jerked and shuddered, stunned for long enough that Harbringer was able to scramble out from under. The fight swiftly took a more violent turn. They tore and ripped at each other, sending blood scattering over the snow until finally Hari managed to get a hold on the beasts throat. He clamped down, determined not to let go even as the dire wolf slashed at him, ripping muscles and tendons and flinging him left and right, he held on. He held on to make sure the threat would end and he knew when those claws sank deep into his chest and pierced one of his lungs that this was it for him. He clamped down tighter, feeling his opponent getting weaker and weaker until finally the dire wolf died.

The duo collapsed and Harbringr laid there weakly. Ari came over and nudged him gently and gingerly got to his feet. His breath was raspy, blood leaking out of the corners of his mouth as he crawled over to Áskell. He reached out a paw and rested it on the boy's cheek. Áskell stirred then stared at him. "Dad?" Hari nodded and in a weak and raspy, gurgling voice he spoke. "Áskell… be strong. I think… this is it for me. I leave my battle gear… and Ari to you. Please, give this bracelet… to your brother. I… I love…" He swallowed hard on the blood and gore that was shivering up his throat and clogging his air way. He was feeling more and more lightheaded. "I love you two." He whispered before collapsing in the snow. Moments later he passed away.

4077/4500

At some point Áskell lost consciousness though he wasn't for sure how long he'd been out. When he came to though he saw his dad laying nearby with his paw on the boy's cheek. He looked terrible. Fear jolted through him and Áskell immediately became more alert as he gazed at his father. Oh no… oh no, this was bad! The sounds of battle had gone silent around him. If there were any more dire wolves they'd gone slinking back into the forest by now. The corpses of others lay scattered on Habari soil.

Rœkia had quickly left as soon as her own opponent was dealt with but Áskell paid the stranger no mind. He was focused entirely on his father's words. As the older man began to speak Áskell started shaking his head. No, no, no… "Please… please don't give up yet. We'll get you a healer. And they'll fix you just.. just give me a minute." He moved to try and go but his father gently pulled on him in such a way that the futility of it all hit home. Ice lodged in his chest as he heard his father's words but he could fully bring himself to say them back as he was unwilling to accept that this was the end. By the time he loosened the knot in his throat enough to speak his father was gone.

Áskell shrieked and reached out with his front limbs to push and paw at his father but the man did not move or respond. This wasn't how this was supposed to go! He felt Ari lay a hand on his shoulder as numbness spread through his chest and gut.

Rœkia breathed a sigh of relief as her opponent retreated into the forest. The pack wolves and dires continued to fight until eventually it was just the pack wolves left and it seemed they had taken a loss. Rœkia had nearly given herself away as a healer but it was easy to see, even from this distance that there was little that could be done for the man that lay dying. He was far to injured. Well, she'd had enough action for tonight and her own wounds to heal. She could do nothing for the man and she had no words of comfort for the boy. She'd seen civil war. She fought in a coup. This kind of bloodshed was nothing knew to her and she could barely remember what it was like when it had been a novel experience. Picking herself up she slunk quietly away into the forest. She'd have to spin a tale about the creatures she saw. Maybe she could use it as a threat to make Lukina behave.

-exit-

Iza finished her jobs as she ripped in a swift but bloody way the wolf's throat, without a hint of shame or regrets, she was trained as an assassin. Taking someone's life was just part of the job, part of the life as a Shinobi. With now the dead wolf lying before her blood-stained paws, she cleaned her lips from the crimson substance. This was just one more kill to add on her extensive book of them, of silenced souls on her back. But it seemed not only strangers perished in this battle, the white-coated man fell. A loss for a loss. Cold was her expression as she saw the scene, the boy crying for his father. This was a common sighting for her, already seeing things like this and thus she didn't feel grief nor sadness. That didn't return the dead back. She sat down looking away, to give the boy space to grief, staying here to be in alert for more invasions. "speak."| "You

Art and Code by cloudy

Recluse tried her best to be punctual when her members needed her, but her lagging speed this night, the fearful and panicked attempts to wrangle all her children into the den and implore them to stay in the den and making sure they were safely tucked away from the threat she heard in her uncle's call. And maybe she'd spent too much time obsessing over making sure her children were protected, blocking and covering the den entrance with what she could find to hide it from casual view, and her companions ordered to guard the children, and then she'd gone to check on her aunt. And so she'd arrive too late, and she would never forgive herself for it, for the rest of her life. She was running, running, and then as her gaze roved over the scene before her. The snow was stained with blood, her cousin wailing in a sound that chilled her to the bone, pushing against his father over and over and over and she could tell by his own unnatural stillness that her uncle was already gone. Recluse moved without thinking her movement's mechanical until she was at her uncle's side and suddenly they gave out from under her. She had never been particularly close with her uncle but the world felt like it had dropped out from under her. Cherry gaze closed and her face pushed into his fur, feeling the chill of his skin pressing into her own, and making the reality she'd stumbled upon suddenly feel real. "Speech" Think

Art by Ulfeid3