The second she heard that distinctive yowl from a saber cat near by she dropped the fight she was in with Mortis in favor of going to find the feline in question. She didn't know what had happened to bring so many of the creatures around, but she was ready for them all to finally be gone. As they quickly moved away from the shore line and up into the willow trees that laid just outside of the Armada territory, following the streams that flowed out into the ocean back up into he mainland, it was hard to not think about the last time she fought one of these with Artorias. She tried to keep her mind off of Blue Boy as much as possible, but it was practically impossible to do.

Her turquoise gaze scanned the area closely as they moved, finding a hint of the cat's scent in the direction of the sound they had heard so at least they had a trail to follow. She forced herself to focus on the task at hand instead of on her once boyfriend so that the cat wouldn't sneak up on her without her noticing. She paused as she caught a hint of that tawny fur slip past a willow tree in the distance and she nudged Mort's shoulder, pointing it out. "I think I saw it over there," she whispered.

"Briar Fatalis"

Briar was just as quick to stop what she was doing, and turn all of their attention towards the potential threat. Morts mind went immediately to Asla’s tiny children, and his mouth set in a grim line. He would not let a potential threat slip by them. He did not know why the creature had stalked so close to the Armada borders, but he wouldn’t let it pass unchallenged.

His father had placed him back in the Heir position of the Armada, and he had a responsibility to scout out threats. He treated Briar as a fellow warrior as the two of them made their way out of the Armada territory, and followed the sound of the yowl.

When Briar caught his attention, he turned his head abruptly, missing what she had seen. He nodded his head once in understanding to her, and indicated that they should fan out. Osiris had appeared at his heels as they exited the territory, and he nodded to the cat to move further out as well. If the cat was here, they would corner it.

"Mortis Fatalis"

She nodded in agreement when he motioned for her to go the other way, fanning them out through the willow trees. His leopard extended their reach even further and she nodded for Marigold to do the same. Between the four of them they would find this saber cat without question. She could catch glimpses of the others as she moved though the trees, all of them easily within shouting range, but no one was actually at her side at the moment. She kept scanning the trees, moving slowly and quietly as she carefully picked her way over tree roots and streams.

The sound of rustling caught her attention to her right and she paused mid step, looking at a large willow tree just out of her path. Her eyes narrowed and she stalked toward it, breathing in the scents to try and determine if the cat was in there or not, but the damp, musky smell of the earth around her made it more difficult. It was also clear that the feline had been criss crossing around the territory for a while since there were some old trails crossing over the new one. She carefully stuck her nose through the draping branches of the tree and immediately spotted the huge cat laying beside the trunk on the opposite side of the tree from her. Her fur bristling, she backed away from the tree and looked around for Mortis, catching his eye across the grove and flagging him down with a wave of her paw.

"Briar Fatalis"

He kept a close eye on Briar, even after they had moved away from each other. Senses straining to ensure that she was safe and well as they moved further through the trees, searching for their quarry. It would have been good if Saph was here as well, she could have coordinated them from the skies. He wasn’t sure where she had flown off to, leaving them with Merigold and Osiris.

He moved through the willows, until Briars' waving paw caught his attention. He angled towards her, moving as quietly as he could as he approached her waiting for. He indicated towards the tree with a raised brow, and got her confirmation in return.

Very well then. He unsheathed in claws and growled silently, Osiris bristled beside him, and he indicated for the leopard to move around and cut off the sabercat's potential exit. “Antlers down, the cat will have a powerful jaw, you don’t want that taking a bite out of you.” he warned. He was trusting her to keep her own against this creature. That said, he leaped forward, under the sweeping trees and spread out his wings, snarling furiously.


"Mortis Fatalis"

Once Mortis made his way over to her and she confirmed the tree that the saber cat was hiding in she focused solely on getting ready to fight off the feline. Marigold made her way back over to her side and she glanced down at the antlered fox as Mortis started quietly giving her tips, reminding her to use her antlers. She nodded again, somehow feeling less nervous about facing the giant feline than she had been at the thought of their spar. Of course this time she wouldn't have Artorias here this time to be her partner and to slice its neck with Embershard once she had it in place, but... She shoved the thought away with a shake of her head, gritting her teeth with frustration and an eagerness to take out her anger at herself on this saber cat that was too close for comfort to their home.

She followed Mortis as he charged into the trees, letting him take the attention with his big wings flaring out as he snarled. Instead of drawing attention with him, she quickly darted off to the side, hiding around the tree trunk as the saber cat jumped up from its nap and spun to face Mortis. She snuck around till she was behind it and while it was snarling back at Mortis, swiping at her brother with its big paws, she jumped forward and stabbed it hard in its thigh with her antlers, jerking her head to cause a good bit of damage before she pulled back at its pained yowl, hopping back out of the way before it could spin around and reach her to retaliate.

"Briar Fatalis"

The saber cat was quick to its feet. It wasn’t often that Mortis was out matched in height, and it caught him a little off guard to see it towering over him. He didn’t pause, but kept up his vanguard charge. Taking all of its attention, knowing his sister would make use of it.

The cat met his assault, and swiped at him with a meaty paw. He snapped a wing out in front of him and moved to the side. Confusing the motions of his feet behind his wings, so when she moved past the feathers, her attack fell short of him.

She would have lunged further in with a bite, but Briar got to her then. Skewering its thigh with her antlers and earning a pained cry. As it turned to face this new threat, Mortis lunged, grabbing its head in his paws as he shoved forward - pushing it backwards.

The creature lost its balance, falling backwards in a scramble of limbs with Mort coming down on top of it. Its head hit the roots of the tree that lay thick about its base, and bounced awkwardly off of them. There was a snap, and it fell still. Mortis stared in astonishment. Its neck had snapped on the roots, it was dead, just like that. had he wanted to kill it? Or just scare it far away from the Armada...

"Mortis Fatalis"

Briar had expected more of a tangle with the saber cat as Mortis went and shoved the feline, knocking it back after she wounded it with her antlers. But, when it stumbled, it tripped and fell with its head hitting the roots of the tree and suddenly it was dead with a snap of its neck. She blinked with surprise as her fur settled over her back once more and she stood normally again. It was certainly a lot faster of a kill than she had expected, though she supposed it was effective. She didn't even know if their objective had been to kill it, but at least now they didn't have to worry about it coming back!

However, they didn't really get to celebrate because apparently the sound of this saber cat's pained howl from where she had stabbed it brought it's partner running. As they stood there looking at the now dead saber cat, she heard the loud thuds of paws moving toward them and her hackles bristled again, her gaze darting up toward the sound. "I think we have company," she warned her brother, turning to face the intruder, backing away from the branches just in time before an angry saber cat came bursting into the shade of the willow tree, skidding to a stop as it was confronted with the sight of the two wolves and its dead partner.

"Briar Fatalis"