Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

The small girl pinned her ears back as she zig-zagged in time to Kuzu's overhead honking, Kenta running an opposing helix pattern to her own. What was it with predators making her their favourite play thing these past few weeks? She beat up one bear with Tori and since then it had been open season on the tiny yearling. First coyotes, then the badger, and now a goddamn cougar?

Heavy footfalls followed in her wake, the destinctive whoosh of a large creature losing it's footing on the leaf litter behind her, but it never seemed to stop for long. A raucous rawking overhead had the girl skidding to a stop and turning to about face her pursuer. Her flying companion had been so busy watching the big cat he forgot to look ahead and too late, they realised, the ground fell away alongside the tumbling waterfall. She had thought that rushing sound was just the blood pounding in her ears.

Gasping for breath and loosening her katana from it's sheath on her vest, she gripped the sword between her teeth with determination. If she was going to go down, she wouldn't make it easy. And either would her golden cat who positioned himself between the small wolf and the oncoming carnivore, tail curled over and bristled menacingly.

“Speech”

Just move those left feet, go ahead, get crazy

Kia hadn’t explored too far from the Hallows yet. One of the furthest places he had gone was Aspen Dam to collect firewood with Tally. He was impatient with growing, it all seemed rather tedious and slow. His parents weren’t going to trust him with anything sharp and truly interesting until he was older. It left him to train, and imagine his adventures.

He had started out in the Starlit meadow, before making his way to Cedar Falls. Following the scent of water. He didn’t intend to go far from the pack, or to be out long - he was on his best behaviour until he had earned his sword, after all. He knew Marigold was watching him, keeping enough of a distance that he didn’t feel stifled, but near at hand.

He arrived at the falls, and had just made a careful crossing to the other side when he heard the sound of pounding paws. He froze, nose twitching in the air as he looked for the source and found… no way, was that a wolf? She looked like she would barely go up to his shins. But that wasn’t the best part. No, the best part was the sword she held in her teeth. He was so busy gaping at the little epic wolf that he almost missed the cougar as it came careening into view. Kia stepped out from the rocks that had sheltered him mostly from view until this point and came racing into the fray. Lifting his head to let out a battle cry as he launched himself forward to clash with the cougar. Not that a sword-weilding wolf would need his help, right? But he wasn’t about to let her take all the fun!


"Ciaran Carpathius"

Fuji had been pretty certain she was doomed this time, there was no giant Ashen or Hallows wolf to come to her aid in this one... until, well, there was. She knew that scent, and while he looked similar to the badger girl in colouring, he was also different, closer in age to herself, but of course he towered way over her. She suppressed a frustrated sigh as she reset her shoulders and let the big dude catch the cats attention. With her limited height, she was almost always limited to targeting ankles, but hey, those paws had big scary claws attached to them, and she wasn't one to underestimate her own usefulness. The girl darted in, taking care to aim for tawny legs and not black as she targeted weight baring tendons on the big cats front left paw, narrowly dodging the rear right as it struck out seeking whatever had attacked its opposite counterpart.

“Speech”

Just move those left feet, go ahead, get crazy

As he collided with the surprised cougar, the force of his attack knocked it off balance. He managed to scrape his heavy-set jaws across its collar bone, and then danced back a step. He glanced over at the other wolf as he did so. “I know you had it, Lady Knight, but I hope you don’t mind sharing some of the fun?” He said to the yearling. Taking a moment to watch her attack. He wanted to see her utilise her blade - and it was terribly unfair that she had one.

He was pretty sure she was similar in age to he was, and he wasn’t allowed anywhere anything so sharp and pointy. He allowed himself only a second to look, and then plunged back in. He needed to keep the Cougar distracted so she could get in on its tendons.


"Ciaran Carpathius"

Fuji couldn't answer around the hilt in her jaws when the bigger boy threw a compliment her way, but she could feel her face heating to match the pink of her patches beneath her fur. The only ones at home that didn't give her open looks of concern when she threw herself into a fight were Tori and Usagi, and even then, it had been a fight to get her bigger brother to take her seriously.

But now wasn't the time for blushing and stammering! She missed the back paw coming at her shoulder and earned herself a burning slash across the limb, adrenalin kicking into overdrive as she hissed around her hilt. It was a good thing she was already biting down on something or she might have shortened her own tongue. In the back of her mind she thought she'd probably be sneaking in to beg Otis for stitches and to not rat her out to mum.

She drove her head up sharply, using her ram horns to wind the cat and then turned her head to drag the blade across it's soft undersides. Nothing like a guts bath to get a boys heart racing huh? Why was her luck always like this. She might have forgotten the cat was likely to collapse on top of her with that one.

“Speech”

Just move those left feet, go ahead, get crazy

“No you don’t!” Kea growled as the Cougar went for a swipe against the little horned wolf. He dove in and tried to grab the limb in his jaws, but not before it managed to score a hit to her shoulder. He yanked the limb back with a turn of his head at the same time as the stranger used her horns to jab at it, and then her blade to gut it. Wow! That weapon was sharp. He was too busy gapping at that beautiful cut to realise the cat was letting out a soft breath, almost like a sigh, and then collapsing.

“Woops!” He yelped, leaping back in to grab it again as it collapsed on the Lady Knight. He hauled it off her, and released his grip, looking back at her with a wag of his tail. “That sword! Is epic!”


"Ciaran Carpathius"

For a moment Fuji found herself crushed, all the air pushed from her lungs and warm entrails slipping loose of the feline's body cavity to wrap around her. She thought, this was it. This was how she was going to die. Suffocated under a cat and drowning in guts. At least maybe the big guy could let her family know where to find her? Just as she was about ready for the ground to swallow her up (because it would be so much less embarrassing than facing anyone in this state), he did her another solid and dragged the cat off her.

She groaned as she found her feet again, allowing her left paw to curl up against her chest as she glared back at the tawny and red mess left behind her with a huff. Her jaw loosened and she carefully put the red pink and white katana down and allowed her tail to give a small wag of thanks. “Heh, It'd barely be a dagger ter yer, but yer can give it a spin, jus' watch yer don't cut'cherself. My brother's is a lot cooler, he's got blades off both ends.” She reached into one of the pockets of her vest to fish out a small folded leaf with some emergency poultice and used her dexterous toes to start smearing the bitter smelling poultice into her scratch. At quick glance it didn't seem like the big guy needed any, but she had spare if needed. “Didn' gecha did it?” She questioned with a tip of her head towards what was left of the cougar.

“Speech”

Just move those left feet, go ahead, get crazy

Wow, oh wow, that was nasty. He had zoned in on the sword so fast he had missed the splatter of gore and guts that coated the woman. He put a paw to his nose and wrinkled at the smell of entrails. “You sure?” he asked as she put the sword down and invited him to take a look. He hesitated, knowing his mum would skin him if she found out. But it was so shiny, and it was right there! His curiosity won out and he shuffled forward, grabbing at the katana like it was made out of glass. Or made out of babies, maybe. He cradled it in his paws as he admired it. “Sooo shiiiinnny”

As she spoke, he looked up, and saw what she was doing. “Shouldn’t you wash up first?” He suggested, not that he knew much about healing. “No, didn’t get me” He confirmed, and turned his head back down to look at his her shiny, shiny sword again.

"Ciaran Carpathius"

Fuji all but snickered when he asked if she should wash up first, like, sure he had a point, but smelling like cat guts would probably afford her a more peaceful journey home or something. I mean, if you crept up on someone covered head to toe in blood and guts, would you fuck with them?

“Nah, I wanna sneak up on Tater or Tachi an' give 'em a big hug first.” And she was more worried about numbing the wound for the trip home than she really was about infection. Otis was a savage when it came to cleaning wounds and she knew she'd be in the very best hands at the end of the day, even if she did have to put up with her mother chewing her ear off the whole time... or worse... her silent judging stare...

Her brows drew down as she watched the way the boy was cradling her sword, “Yer ever used a practice sword before? We make'em outta bamboo at home, less chance o' takin' out yer own eye, and yer can get a good idea on what sorta length'd suit.” She cocked her head, surely the hallows wolves had sword wielders too, right?

“Speech”

Just move those left feet, go ahead, get crazy

“I feel sorry for… Tater and Tachi” He said with a snort. He assumed they were her siblings, and if he was being honest he would do exactly the same thing to his own. Maybe he should roll in some guts of his own while the dead cat was there… but he thought of his dad finding him first, covered head to toe in blood, and shied away from the idea.

As she drew their attention back to her sword, he realised he was still cradling it. “Yeah, we use practice swords all the time.” He admitted. But they didn’t come anywhere close to the real thing. “My parents don’t want me having my own until I’m two, tho.” He admitted glumly. “You fight pretty good with this one. Take on many cats?”


"Ciaran Carpathius"

So they did have practice swords... but they wanted him to wait until he was two? She pulled a face at that. “I bought mine myself, if yer change yer mind on waitin', I know a guy...” Her eyes were squinting at the edges and a sly little smile pulled at the corner of her lips bringing a teasing tone to her words. She could understand wanting to keep ones parents happy but... if you were going to be out in the big wide world, better to be able to protect yourself, right?

When he turned the topic to fighting cats, she tipped her head towards Kenta, her asiatic golden cat, who stood over her by a good 5 inches. “He's m' main sparrin' partner,” the cat only acknowledged her words with a flick of his ear and continued to groom his forelegs and stomach dismissively. “There must be somethin' about m' colour or somethin' though, every time I leave home at the moment predators're after me. First it was a pack o' coyotes, an' then a badger, now this...” Her ibis must have decided it was finally safe enough to come down as he landed gracelessly by the water way and started picking between the stones. “An' this one ain't th' greatest at directions...” Therein was the reason she called him garbage.

“How about you? Make'a habit o' pickin' fights with the wildlife? An' what was with all that lady knight stuff? M'names Fuji,” the next part always made her squint, “like th' purple flower.” Maybe it was some sort of inside joke between her mother and father? She began to glance around to see if there was anything she could use to cart a few of the entrails home to leave as a parting gift for Rheum. She wouldn't be able to prank her sister for much longer after all.

“Speech”

Just move those left feet, go ahead, get crazy

The expression that passed Keas face could only be called pained. He didn't have words for how badly he wanted to say yes. But he knew that if he broke this rule of his parents, he could kiss his chance at knighthood goodbye. Wiping the constipated look off his face, he turned and looked to the cat as they were introduced, and nodded his head to them. "I'd introduced you to Spud, but he's back in the Hallows." He apologized, thinking of his own companion. He'd be put out that Kea had had an adventure without him.

His lips twitched in a smile at her exasperated words. "Perhaps it has more to you being bit sized than your color?" He suggested, looking at the tiny scrap of a wolf.

"Ah, you looked very knightly." He explained "I'm Ciaran Syn Carpathius, training to be a Knight of the Hallows." He introduced himself next "but you can call me Kea"