The band had crossed into the grove of trees and berry bushes late the evening before so as soon as they managed to find a spot to settle in for the night they did just that. It was not really until the next norming that Manea was able to take stock of their surroundings. She had briefly scouted the grove before they traveled down here, but she had not had the luxury of time to throughly explore it until now. She spent a bit of time that morning settling in with the help of the others, making a more substantial set of dens either dug out or in the nooks of trees that they lined with furs and made sure they were covered from the elements. Already she was eager to make the brief trek to where Fenmyre was located, curious to see how the pack Chimera had once described was faring, but first she needed to make sure she secured a place for her band to rest safely from the long journey across Boreas. Traveling that distance hadn't felt so taxing when it had just been her or perhaps her and Alastor, but now that they had quite a large band to contend with it ended up taking far more time and energy than she had originally thought. She didn't feel as if they would make that long of a journey again until they were ready to permanently settle on her island.

It was early afternoon when she finished up the work around their new camp and she started to explore around the perimeter of the grove, sniffing curiously at some of the flourishing berry bushes. She would have to consult with Irilyth later to find out if any of them were fit for eating. If they were she was certain that Avacyn and Saracyn would enjoy some as a little treat. She smiled a little at the thought of her children and as if her thoughts could summon them she herd a rustling near by and she paused mid step, looking over at where she heard the sound until she saw a splash of red among the foliage. With a smirk she padded over and reached in a large, feline paw and scooped her son around the middle pulling him out of the bush and into the open with her. "And just what do you think you're up to, young man?" she teased with a chuckle, tapping the top of his head with her nose. He and his sister were getting so big so quickly... Sometimes she wished she could go back and have them be the tiny pups, but she was also enjoying seeing them grow and mature into the most stunning young adults she could have hoped for.

Before she could hear his answer she head a much larger, much more foreboding crash and rustle near by and her smile faded as she turned her attention toward it with a frown. She waited for a moment, listening to the noise as it sounded again like something was clumsily shoving their way through the thick bushes of the grove. "Stick close," she instructed her son before she started moving cautiously toward the noise. If it had been her alone she might have been a bit more brazen in her approach and if Alastor had been with her she would have rushed right into a fight without a second thought, but with Avacyn with her she was a bit more careful in her approach. She was protective of her children and the last thing she wanted was for them to be injured. They crept through a cluster of trees closer to their camp and eventually she found the culprit—a large bear that was studded with crystals around its head and down its back that was trying to get into the cache of food they had stored in a cart that was covered with a few heavy furs. The crystals were clearly impeding its vision and it was stumbling a bit with each step, but was half blindly swiping at the cart, trying to find the food it smelled. Manea frowned and glanced down at Saracyn, giving a nod toward the bear. "Do you want to chase it off with me?" She knew what the answer would be, but she confirmed all the same before she laid out the plan. "I'll draw it away from the cart. Once it's focused on me and pointed away from camp, you run in and bite at it's back legs and get it running. I'll jump in and help you once you've gotten the first blow."

WC: 773
Total: 773 / 1500

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

If there was one thing Saracyn had come to hate more than anything in the world, it was moving. It seemed all they did anymore was pack up and move from one place to another and he loathed it! He couldn't settle anywhere for longer than half a season, he couldn't get used to any of his homes, he couldn't find any consistency in his life! He missed Alias Island, missed the family cave, missed the slight chill in the air of the north and being surrounded by the sea and hunting goats across the rocky mountainside. So of course he was busy trying to sneak off every chance he got, which was precisely what he had attempted to do as soon as the band reached their new temporary home. While everyone else was busy unpacking and building dens, Sara tried to slip away undetected to avoid having to do any of the work he despised so much—but unbeknownst to him, he'd caught the attention of his keen-eyed mother, who scooped him back and effortlessly foiled his escape attempt. "Noooo, Moooooom! Lemme go! I'm not helping unload the cart again!" he whined as he thrashed about to try and escape her while she pulled him back out of his hiding spot.

Any retort his mother might have made was cut short by a much louder clatter near their carts, causing both he and Manea to glance back towards them. With another defiant huff at his mother's command, Saracyn reluctantly followed behind Manea to investigate the noise. Why was she making such a huge fuss over it? It was probably clumsy uncle Poe knocking something over again! Still, he followed behind her, and when they saw the bear blinded by crystal growths trying to get at their supplies, Sara instantly perked back up. Oh boy, a fight! His tail was already wagging when Manea asked if he wanted to chase it off with her. He flashed his teeth to her, which were beginning to show odd little serrations across them as he grew his mature teeth, and nodded vigorously. "Yeah, let's kill it!" he cheered. Chasing it off sounded boring. Why would they not just try to end its life? Anything that dared approach his family with such brazen recklessness deserved to be put in the ground or left out to feed the buzzards.

Saracyn nodded to his mother's plan, then took a stealthy position behind an overgrowth of berry bushes while she moved out to distract their ursine intruder. He watched his mother work, and once she'd distracted the bear and led it away from the carts enough, Saracyn shot out of the bush like a bolt of crimson lightning. He aimed straight for one of the bear's thighs, flying like a missile right to the bear's leg with jaws parted to sink sharp teeth into flesh. He felt the bear's muscle and sinew give way beneath his oddly sharp teeth, and with a few good jerks of his head, hot gushes of blood began to fill his mouth.

The flavor kicked in the same chemical reaction in his brain that it did in his father's, spurring a bloodlust within the young wolf and causing him to tear more savagely at the bear's leg, shredding its meat and muscle in an attempt to make it bleed more. The bear roared and turned on Saracyn, trying to kick its leg to dislodge the wolf, but Sara was locked on good, biting harder and harder until he felt his teeth hit bone. He wasn't going to let go until the bear collapsed from blood loss.

WC: 603
Total: 1376 / 1500

"Saracyn Mendacium"

Menea continued to find more and more traits that reminded her of Alastor in their son. He truly was his father's son. When given the option to chase off the bear he promptly changed the plan to killing it—something that made her smirk and and perhaps even a bit proud. She fully intended to raise her children to have the same bold confidence and zest for life that she and Alastor carried with them... she did however wish that Saracyn would perhaps learn a bit of caution so he wouldn't worry her so much. With their agreement made and his confirmation to follow her plan, she hopped over a cluster of bushes into the clearing, trotting over to the bear. She whistled to get its attention and to summon Temno and Ciemny from their perches. The pair of ravens swarmed the bear just as it was turning toward her. It roared in protest as her companions pecked at its face and drove it away from the cart, blindly stumbling around and turning away from the cart. "Thaaaat's right, come right this way, clumsy," she muttered, crouched and ready to fight as the ravens drove the bear away and into her reach.

Saracyn bolted out as soon as the bear was facing away from him and Manea watched as the young wolf tore into the bear's thigh with a furry. He certainly didn't lack any enthusiasm or ruthlessness, that was for certain, but he could perhaps use a bit of finesse. That would come with time though and for now he was certainly effective for their purposes this time. She let him get a good bit of damage in, watching the bear carefully while it roared and kicked to try and get him off, and as soon as it tried to twist around to get to Saracyn she darted in to latch her jaws onto its throat, pulling its head back away from her son and crushing down around its windpipe until she ripped it apart with a hard twist and yank of her head. It soon fell to the ground, shuddering and seizing for a few moments before it was still. She spit the chunk of fur and slightly rancid flesh from her mouth and looked to her son with a smirk. "Well done, son. Becoming more and more like your father every day."

WC: 394
Total: 1770 / 1500

Manea | Temno | Ciemny