Kotori roamed the river's edge, scenting the ground occasionally.  He wasn’t overly far from the pack land, just making sure there wasn’t any span of land near home that Kotori didn’t know well enough.  Somehow the earthen male hadn’t thought to scout the waterway when it seemed an excellent route to approach Valta.  Following the river guaranteed water and food that would help feed even a large number of wolves or any other large predators on the move.  

There was one known pack of wolves that liked to raid and might try coming to this route but aside from those fools, there could always be more packs as well that got the idea in their head.  Kotori had taken land with plenty of good land that attracted prey if for no other reason.  The young Fatalis would not let any pack sneak up on his land.  

The scent of a bear caught his nose only a moment before the animal was spotted charging towards him.  It was dripping wet so had apparently been out fishing at a guess.  Two smaller bears were in the water, watching their mom bravely rush to defend them.  Poor kids would be orphans soon.

Kotori rushed in, meeting the bear in its charge.  His teeth snapped a warning that had the bear slow her charge and the two circled each other, both bearing their teeth and snarling.  Bears were fun to kill but mama bears tended to be the most vicious of the lot.

"Kotori Fatalis"

While Remus was certainly no stranger to simply wandering around for the sake of it, he did actually come this way with a purpose this time. In his attempts at making himself useful around the pack and figuring out how he would best help Ike as she prepared to take over her mother's job one day, he made his way back out to Ashen's old lands to see if there had been any movement around their old territories or if he could gather any information about the packs that they used to have as neighbors. Being sneaky and gathering intel wasn't something that exactly came natural to him, but it seemed helpful so it was a skill he was trying to sharpen.

What he was certainly much more familiar with was fighting other predators. As he walked along the Rio Grande he noticed some movement up ahead and as he got a bit closer he quickly recognized the shape of an angry momma bear. As the bear and whoever she was focused on circled one another he realized it was the same male he had run into just a short time ago with a tiger. He smirked and gave a little shake of his head as he quickly shifted away from the river's edge so he could approach the building fight from a more hidden angle. It seemed like this was going to be a common occurrence for him and Kotori after all. He slipped in close from the tree line and quietly pulled his dagger from his bracer and waited for the bear to be facing away from him before he charged, stabbing the dagger into the bear's thigh with a firm swing of his head. The bear roared with pain and he quickly pulled the dagger free so that he could dance back out of the way before the lumbering bear could reach him to retaliate.

"Remus Armada"

Kotori had been watching for the best opening, more cautious with the mom on how to proceed.  She roared in pain just as Kotori noticed the other wolf with a dagger.  Not a wolf he recognized but either one that liked to be helpful or just the sort that enjoyed a good fight.  Either way worked.  Regardless, now was the time to attack.

The bear was turning to face the other wolf and Kotori moved in, lowering his head and jabbing his horns into a meaty back leg.  Jerking his head the two horns left long gouges in the upper leg, opposite to the one the other wolf had just damaged.  Between both legs that likely would stop the angry mom from trying any attacks that included rearing up.  Already they had slowed her down this way.

"Kotori Fatalis"

Remus continued to tag-team with he earthen-hued male, each of them going for a hind leg until the bear was restricted to staying grounded and prevented from rearing up to tower over them. That at least took away one of its advantages and he gripped his dagger between his jaws as he continued to look for another opening. He was fine with going along with a bit of song and dance in these fights, hopping back and darting forward a couple of times to make sure he could get a good strike in without getting himself injured in the process. No bear was worth having to limp his way back home for a scolding from his betrothed. He finally got what he was looking for as the bear lifted her paw to take a swipe at Kotori. He lunged in and sank the blade of his dagger into the bear's side behind its raised foreleg, stabbing between its ribs. He wasn't sure what all he hit internally in the process, but he knew he got a slightly strangled roar from the bear as he drew the blade back out and danced out of the way again, the bear staggering a bit and growling at the pair of wolves.

"Remus Armada"

Even as Kotori was dodging a bear attack he noticed Remus had stabbed the bear.  Kotori didn’t know the exact injury from his spot but it was bad enough to cause the bear to stagger some.  The bear can’t stand and its balance was off now.  

Kotori leaped up on the bear’s back, doubting it had the ability to shake him off well right now.  Kotori bit into the back of its neck, shaking his head violently back and forth, letting go just long enough to get another bite.  He felt the bear’s muscles moving, it wanted to rise up, it wanted to spin but it wasn’t moving all that well and Kotori’s weight was making it hard to do more than manage to continue standing.

Kotori’s eyes flicked to Remus and his dagger.  That little blade would probably be able to end the bear’s life fast at this point.  The bear was in bad shape and unlikely to be able to avoid a blow.  Kotori certainly had most of its attention.

"Kotori Fatalis"

Remus waited until there was a good opening, knowing that they were nearing the end of this fight and it would really only take one more good blow to finish the very injured bear off. He got what he was looking for when Kotori hopped onto the bear's back, fully keeping its attention as it struggled and made pitiful attempts to stand or shake him off. That's when Remus darted in with his dagger, slashing with the short blade at the bear's throat. The sharp steel sliced through flesh easily enough and it slung a splattering of red blood across the ground in the process, cutting off the bear's snarls and roars of anger and pain into just gurgling, choking noises. It was just a few moments later that the bear collapsed under the earthen-hued male and fell still, ending the fight fairly quickly all things concerned. Remus' tail wagged gently behind him as he grinned victoriously, wiping the blood off of his blade before slipping it back into its sheath. Well, that was one less bear they'd have to worry about.

"Remus Armada"