Kotori found a bear.  How he found it really wasn’t important, he’d found many a bear and enjoyed killing almost all of them.  Honestly, this one was an accident though and a very inconvenient one.  Kotori was following the Rio grande’s waters and the bear was coming toward him with a grumpy expression on it.  The horned wolf wasn’t ready to enjoy joy fighting big burly predators yet, wanting to let his injuries heal up more.  Sure, he could bite the thing but if he really wanted to put pressure on the bite it was gonna hurt him also.  How damn long was it going to take this thing to fully heal?

Kotori showed his fangs to the bear, letting it see he was in no mood to fight it.  Yeah, the bear was still coming.  Well, he still had his speed and his horns.  Kotori ran towards it, aiming to clear a path and not be trapped between bear and river.

The bear reared up to show off and Kotori’s lips curved up.  If a brown rug thought it could intimidate him it was going to learn a lesson.  Kotori ran in and saw the bear paw coming down aimed at the side of his neck.  His jaws itched to open and bite but Kotori swerved away from the claw, circling about to try and get behind the bear.  The animal crashed back down on all fours to try and keep up but it was too late.  Kotori got in close, jabbing his horns into a back leg and then backing up as the bear turned to face him.

Kotori could run now.  Did he want to?

"Kotori Fatalis"

The white and navy wolf patrolled around the banks of the massive river that cut through the heartlands of Boreas, teal eyes sharp and alert and ears pricked to catch the slightest disturbance. Safeguarding these lands that Venom intended to claim for the Ashen Empire was of the utmost importance. Maverick was rounding a bend in the river when a commotion up ahead alerted him to the nearby danger. The bellow of a bear, the snarls of a wolf, the unmistakable sounds of combat. Steeling his nerves, the dire wolf rushed in the direction of the noise, soon coming across the younger wolf grizzly bear he was engaged with. Dammit! Hadn't they driven off all the predators already?!

There was no time for second guesses or questioning what he should do. Maverick had seen the damage a grizzly could inflict on a wolf and he wasn't going to let this dappled stranger get torn to shreds. Navy jowls peeled back from sharp fangs as he charged at the bear, growling and snarling as he joined the fray. He approached from behind, managing to bite into the bear's other hind leg and begin thrashing. The ursine, fresh off its hibernation, had burned off most of its protective fat layer, allowing the wolf to sink his fangs deep into muscle and sinew. The grizzly bellowed in pain and roared in anger, turning its ire on Maverick with a vicious swipe of its claws. The agile wolf deftly dodged out of the way as those claws tore up grass and turf, slowly circling his opponent to keep it distracted for the other wolf to land some licks in.

"Maverick"

The bear wasn’t very happy with two injured back legs now. Well, it had chosen the wrong wolves to fight. This blue and white wolf had managed to grab the bear’s attention after doing decent damage. Kotori took the chance and leaped onto the bear’s back, paws balancing evenly between the shoulder blades. Biting wasn’t ideal until healed better but he hadn’t asked for this fight and the position would do damage worth the pain.

Kotori’s fangs tore into the bear's neck, one, then a second bite to dig in deeper even as the bear twisted around to try and reach the wolf on top of him. It raised itself partially off the ground and Kotori leaped off. The blood flowing out of his neck guaranteed Kotori had done some decent damage in that attack.

The bear had to be regretting its decision at this point.

"Kotori Fatalis"

The other wolf was a natural born killer, it seemed. He moved with the practiced precision of a rehearsed warrior, something that Maverick lacked in refinement. He'd never taken his fighting lessons very seriously. Now he almost wished he had. The horned wolf made a move for the bear's throat and scored a mortal blow, tearing through flesh to rend into blood vessels and arteries. Crimson gushed from the grizzly's open wound and it was clear that it would not survive this fight, even if it did manage to take down both wolves. Now it just became a war of attrition. They had to run out the clock until the bear succumbed to its injuries. With it still rearing up to throw Kotori off of itself, Mav took the opening he saw and rushed in to seize a ferocious bite to one of the bear's inner thighs. With a snap, a twist, and a pull, he ripped apart a segment of the bear's thigh, severing another major artery and causing the bear to stumble and collapse beneath its own weight. The grizzly's bellow of pain was now filled with fear instead of anger; it knew the outcome would be grim for itself. Now all that remained to see was whether the horned wolf decided to mercy kill it or let it die slowly.

"Maverick"