Testing your mettle

Although the Ashen empire had laid claim to the river lands along the banks of the Rio Grande, it seemed like all of the predators that had once made their home in these lush lands had not quite gotten the memo. Even with increased patrols of their fighters through the woods, it seemed as if their work was never done. More and more reports were coming in around engagements with bears, coyotes, and crocodilians. Well, that certainly was not going to do! If Ashen was to hold these lands, they would need to prove once and for all that this land belonged to the wolf pack and drive out any remaining threats at the source. That was what had brought Maverick out to the river lands once more, a scowl on his face while he prowled through the sunny midday forest, keen teal eyes peeled and on the lookout for any sign of danger. The strange autumn that had fallen across the land still concerned him, but did not outright seem like a threat. Still, he missed the warm embrace of summer, and the whiplash he felt from walking from the Archipelago into the Rio's territory felt... odd, to say the least.

Hunting through the tranquil forest, Maverick passed a couple of the woodland familiars that had appeared, paying them no heed while they carried on about their business. He was here for a very specific purpose—a purpose that he found when he spotted a large bull grizzly lumbering through the autumnal forest, its massive brown form visible clearly through the thick tree trunks. The sharpened eyes of the wolf focused in on it, watching while the bear devoured some blackberries from a nearby bush before moving on to the next. Was it... bulking up? Did it think the paranormal autumn was a prequel to the coming winter that was not arriving any earlier? Strange... Either way, Maverick knew it had to go, so the white and navy wolf slunk quietly through the woods, large dire paws barely making a sound in the grass. Closer and closer he crept to the threat, his eyes never leaving its form while it foraged about for berries. Sorry bear, nothing personal, but it just couldn't be here anymore.

Once he had crept up along the side of a large oak tree, Mav lay in wait, listening to the huffing breaths and lumbering steps of the massive ursine getting closer and closer. His muscles tensed, his nerves steeled and ready to lunge out into the fray. Once he heard the plodding get within striking distance, Maverick let loose a ferocious snarl and burst from behind his hiding spot, rushing the unsuspecting bear. The grizzly gave a chuff of shock as the dire wolf ran for it, leaping and clambering up its back to sink fangs and claws into the fat tissue around the back of its neck and shoulder. The grizzly bellowed, thrashed about, and rose up on its hind legs to try and dislodge the wolf from its back. Maverick held on tight, biting into the flesh where he could reach it. He wasn't able to draw blood, but from the sounds the bear was making he was at least hurting it. He did not need to kill it in order to drive it away, but if the bear needed to die, he had no qualms around that.

Unwilling to make this an easy or one sided fight, the grizzly bear roared and spun about, whipping the dire wolf around so fast that he ended up flung across the clearing they were fighting in. He hit the ground with a grunt and rolled to his paws, staring down his opponent with lips peeled back from sharp fangs in a threatening display. The ursine remained unimpressed, showing its own deadly teeth in a threatening bellow to the wolf, and then it was barreling towards him. Maverick timed a dodge, rolling just out of the bear's way while it went careening into a tree, slamming into it so hard a flurry of red leaves began to fall around them like snow. Taking the opening presented to him, Maverick ran back for the bear, biting into its soft underbelly with gnashing jaws. This time, he tasted blood as he ripped into the grizzly's vulnerable underside. The bear bellowed in pain and panic, trying to back away from the wolf, but in its dazed state, found it difficult to escape. In a desperate move, it lashed out with a giant paw and razor sharp claws, catching Maverick along his side and sending the wolf sprawling across the ground again with a pained yelp. Thankfully, the claws hadn't torn through his ballistic vest, meaning he has only had the wind knocked out of him and maybe a nasty bruise, but no real damage.

Realizing that it was losing the fight, the bear huffed and roared at the wolf again, but began to beat a hasty retreat, realizing that a few berries was not worth losing its life over. Maverick got up on shaky paws and chased after it for a moment, snapping jaws and snarling to keep herding it in the direction of the border, but abandoned the fight when he knew he had his opponent in full rout. Mav was breathing hard, chest rising and falling painfully while panting to catch his breath. He pressed a paw to his side, checking to make sure he hadn't broken anything, then turned and continued his patrol. He would have a medic look him over when he got back, and maybe get Venom to kiss his boo-boos better later tonight.

WC: 940

"Maverick"