Saracyn had reached the definitive conclusion that he never wanted to meet another hillbilly inbred wolf like the kind he and Avacyn had just fought off back in the mines. Who even knew some backwoods fucked up maniacs like that even existed?! And what was the deal with wanting to eat them anyway?! Sara shuddered and shook off the thought while he wandered away from the mines with Ava at his side, occasionally glancing over at her to make sure she hadn't been hurt too badly, if at all. If one of those pieces of shit had so much as left a scratch on her, he was going to turn tail and go back to slaughter each and every remaining one of them.

"Well, that... uh... that was something, huh?" he remarked with a lopsided grin and a chuckle, hoping to break some of the tension from running into the cannibals. The two Mendaciums were approaching an old dilapidated stone wall now, the land covered in snow and ice as winter maintained its stranglehold on Boreas. A cold wind whipped across the land, but their thick coats thankfully helped buffer them from its chill and kept them warm—even if it did make Saracyn look a bit too fluffy for his liking. Wanting to show off for his sister a bit, Sara nudged her with his shoulder and said, "Hey, check this out, Ava!" Putting on a sudden burst of speed, Sara sprinted through the snow, running up to the wall and, in an impressive feat of athleticism and agility, leaped atop of the wall and bounced to the other side with a graceful backflip.

Saracyn stuck the landing! Except the ground he stuck it on was warm and solid and furry, not cold and snowy. Suddenly very confused, Sara looked down in time to see the mass of dark brown he was standing on shift as he was thrown to the snow. The grizzly bear that had been feeding on a berry bush just behind the wall bellowed and roared, bearing down on the wolf with vicious slashes of deadly claws. Saracyn cried out in shock and rolled out of the way, just dodging the swipe and losing his head. "Ava! Help!" he called out as he rolled into his fighting stance and lunged for the bear's legs, teeth snapping down on its ankle with a snarl. What the hell was with all the bears being awake right now?!

"Saracyn Mendacium"

She had surely expected to run into all kinds of predators in their trip through the mountains. Bears, bobcats perhaps, maybe some snow leopards... but cannibal wolves?! That one really threw her for a loop and she could tell it had done the same to Saracyn. She chuckled softly as he commented on how it had been 'something' and she couldn't possibly agree more. "Yeah... that was certainly something." Luckily neither of them had really taken any wounds from the encounter, but that was certainly going to make her think twice about passing through strange caves and tunnels from now on. They continued on their way further north and she leaned her side lightly into his as they went until he nudged her with his shoulder and told her to watch as he darted forward toward the wall that had come up ahead of them. She smirked and kept walking toward the wall while he sprinted ahead, leaping on top of the wall and disappearing over onto the other side with an admittedly impressive flip.

"Good job, Sara!" she called after him with a light laugh and a little shake of her head, exasperated and amused at her brother—until she suddenly heard a roar coming form where he had just landed. The smile fell off of her face and she sprinted forward, worry twisting at her when she heard her brother calling for help. She leapt up on top of the wall much like Saracyn had, but paused there on top of the rocks as she assessed what was going on down below. The bear was still within reach and she saw Sara rolling to his feet, landing in a fighting stance and biting at the bear's ankle. While the bear was occupied with Sara, Avacyn timed her jump and leapt from the wall right onto the grizzly's back, her feline claws sinking into the bear's thick pelt and giving her plenty of leverage to hold on with. It roared and started trying to rear back with her on top of it, but she bit hard right at the base of its skull, giving her even more grip on the predator and tearing at its neck at the same time.

"Avacyn Mendacium"

Fortunately for him, Saracyn didn't have to wait long for his sister to come jumping in to his rescue. Literally, Avacyn dropped from the sky like a paratrooper and landed square on the grizzly's back, clinging onto it with her claws while she tore into it. Sara smirked at the way they had this whole tag-team fighting effort thing down to an art. He wasn't going to give the bear a chance to do to her what the one in the mountains had done to him, so before the grizzly could right itself, Saracyn rushed at its legs and latched his powerful jaws around the bear's ankle once more, ripping and pulling at it to try and topple it over before it could slam Avacyn into the stone wall.

It took some effort, but with enough of his strength, Saracyn was able to tug and throw his weight at the bear's other leg at just the right time. He felt the bear's legs give way, and with a bellow the ursine began to topple. Saracyn made sure Ava had gotten out of the way of its fall first, then he leaped up onto the bear's exposed belly with a snarl, fangs and claws neared and beginning to tear into the bear's unguarded underside with violent fervor. His jaws bit down on any part they could reach, his claws raking and tearing through fat and flesh on the bear's sides and torso. The grizzly roared and swung for the wolf, batting Saracyn off of him and sending the yearling tumbling across the snow with a yelp while it tried to right itself again to better fight the attacking wolves.

"Saracyn Mendacium"

The bear took Avacyn for a ride while she clung to its back and tore away at the back of its neck right at the base of its skull. It tossed her around a bit while it was trying to get her off, but that dance didn't last long as Saracyn dove in for it again. She couldn't see him from where she was, but she felt the bear's attention shift from trying to get her off to whatever her brother was up to. After a few moments she felt the bear start to topple so she left go and leapt off of its back, landing gracefully several feet away with a crunch of snow under her paws. She spun around, seeing Saracyn going in for its exposed belly and tearing away at the tender skin. She bounded back over toward them to help, but just as she reached him the bear's heavy paw swatted at her brother and sent him toppling through the snow.

With a snarl and a growl in her chest, Avacyn leapt onto the bear again, keeping it from being able to get up as she landed with her paws on its neck and shoving its head back down to the ground. Her claws sank deep into the side of its neck, earning another angry, pained roar from the bear even before she lunged down with open jaws, her teeth gripping around one of its ears and ripping it away, exposing a large patch of ragged flesh where the tattered remains of its ear were. In the bear's pained panic it quickly rolled back onto its feet with complete disregard of her or what she was doing. With her claws still hooked into its skin she ended up partially draped over the back of its neck and partially on its back and she scrambled to reposition herself so that her forelegs were reaching around its neck, her claws tearing through its throat up near its jaw while the claws of her back feet hooked into its shoulders in a much less stable or graceful grip than she had before.

"Avacyn Mendacium"

Saracyn's world spun for a moment and there was a dull ringing in his ears from the force of the bear's blow, but he was whole and not torn to shreds just yet, so he could still fight. Shaking his head to try and settle his swirling vision, the yearling scrambled to his paws much less gracefully than he normally would and rounded on the battle scene. Avacyn was hanging from the bear's neck and back, clawing at it with reckless abandon while the bear was desperately trying to get her off with panicked bellows. Saracyn felt worry grip his heart. Together, they could easily best a bear. But this grizzly seemed keen on keeping them separated and unable to help one another. Avacyn was now in grave danger.

Not wasting a second, Saracyn put himself back in the fight, running up to engage their foe. While Avacyn kept it distracted and bleeding, Saracyn timed his approach so that as he rushed in, he would be face to face with the grizzly. This was exactly what he wanted, because in its distracted and panicked state, he was able to slip right up to the bear and get beneath it, lunging up with a burst of energy to wrap massive jaws around the bear's throat as Ava tried to keep its head held back. With his sister's clawed paws on either side of its neck, Saracyn's jaws completed the loop, feline claws and serrated fangs now embedded in the bear's throat from all sides. Saracyn bit down with all his might, tasting the delicious gush of hot blood flood his mouth as fangs severed the jugular and carotid. He wasn't satisfied though. Saracyn squeezed harder and harder, crushing the bear's throat until he felt a sickeningly delightful pop of cartilage when the bear's windpipe was crushed like an aluminum can.

With its throat destroyed, the grizzly choked and convulsed as it died, batting Saracyn away with another strong blow, but the damage had been done. A waterfall of gore spilled from its ravaged throat, and the bear managed a few clumsy steps with Avacyn still clinging to its back before it collapsed into the bloodstained snow and slowly expired. Saracyn laid across the snow, breathing hard while he watched their enemy die, a relieved and satisfied grin on his face despite the all over aching he felt in his body. They had won yet again.

"Saracyn Mendacium"

Somewhere from the corner of her eye as she continued to grapple with this bear and try to get a good enough tear at its throat to rip through a vital artery or something of the sort, she saw a flash of Saracyn's red coloring go by and then a moment later she felt the bear lurch under her and its pained, panicked roars became choked. She continued to hold on, adding in her own damage where she could until she finally felt the signature jerks and spasms as the bear finally began to die. A beat of worry and panic gripped her chest when she saw Sara get tossed aside yet again, but as the bear collapsed with her still on top of its corpse she saw that he was still breathing and there was a grin on his lips so she was able to sigh as she let go of the bear.

She got down from the large predator, staggering a bit as her tired muscles caught up with her and her sore paws protested standing any longer. She was really going to have to take it easy on the claws for a few days when they got back. The beds of her claws around her toes was getting to be pretty tender after all this strain. Avacyn still hurried over to her brother to check on him though, plopping down next to him in the snow to catch her breath as well, nudging his cheek with her nose. "Please let this be the last time I have to ask if you're okay today," she told him with a chuckle. The predators just kept coming and they didn't seem to want to stop coming and she was getting tired.

"Avacyn Mendacium"