After their last unfulfilling encounter, Sephiran was on the hunt again. Aurelia had managed to slip out of his grasp, vanishing into the labyrinth of dens in the hillside of the gorge. How long had passed since she left the territory, he did not know. But he tracked her scent down to this neighboring area, which was densely packed with forestry. It made it more difficult to follow her trail, but not impossible. Even if a blizzard enveloped the area, or lighting struck and created a fire, Sephiran would continue to hunt her down. Nothing would detour him from finding her.

He was closing in on her, given that her scent was becoming stronger by the minute. But, intertwined with it, was something that made his pelt bristle. It wasn’t another wolf, or that weird plant smell she usually had. Another predator. It had that pungent, urine smell that male cougars carried on their pelt to ward off competitors. It didn’t concern him, but it was something to be aware of, should it suddenly appear.

And it did. He heard feline snarls and yowling emanating from the direction of the waterfall. He ignored it at first, figuring it may be warding off something else. But then he heard the yelp of a wolf. He surged forward, frantically barreling through the foliage in pursuit of the sound. Because he would be dammed if something got to kill Aurelia before he did.  

"Speech"

Code by Sea

With her recent encounters with Sephiran, she had made the decision to travel around Armada’s territory- working her way south, and away from her more usual haunts. It wasn’t that she was afraid- not in the slightest. His determination would have been admirable had it not been a complete pain in her ass. The constant fear of being interrupted was more consuming, and with the next lunar phase coming up, she had shit to do. Climbing to the tops of the peak seemed to be a good choice at the time she had made it. Being close to an unobstructed sky seemed perfect for the Red Moon ritual. Though, the further she ascended- the closer she got to the crown of the world- the more frigid the atmosphere became. Oh well. She had already committed, and at the end of the day … what was the likelihood that she would be followed up here.

Aurelia stuck fairly closely to a trail- though she wasn’t entirely sure where it was taking her. But at the very least, it ensured that it would keep her going along the path of least resistance. However, the thinning air at such a high altitude did weird things to the way the scent fell. So when the sudden echo of a Mountain Lion scream sounded overhead, she immediately gasped in surprise. There was very little of anything to absorb the sound, so the origin of the roaring growl felt like it resonated from within. Her cyan gaze frantically combed the mountainside, but couldn’t pick out the threat. She wasn’t left searching for long. Out of seemingly thin air, the big cat pounced on top of her, grabbing hold of her with its despicably hooked claws in her back and shoulder. Aurelia yelped in pain on reflex as she collapsed to her side under its weight. It attempted to strike her in the throat with its fangs- though she was able to ward off its attempt at a fatal blow with her own splayed jaws. Every move she made in those dragging seconds was nothing more than a reaction. There wasn’t time to think, only defend.

"Aurelia Veratti"

As he pummeled through the foliage, he was met with random branches that outstretched from the pines. They smacked him and broke with the momentum, bringing on a string of growls as he kept surging forward, trying to find the cat and his prey before it was too late. After one last bend in the path, a scene that enraged him manifested in front of him, as he arrived in time to see the cougar trying to bite at her throat. It had her pinned down, using its claws as an anchor into her back to keep her from getting away. At that moment, Sephiran was overcome with blinding, manic rage. It was an intense sensation that pulsated throughout his body, which brought out a carnal, spit-splattering snarl that resonated from the depths of his stomach.

He didn’t contemplate his reaction, nor did he lunge forward with any intent other than to blindly kill. Barreling forward, Sephiran used his weight to slam himself against the cougar, while his jaws sought the side of its throat. With a yowl, he managed to shove the cat off of Aurelia, but it left her being trampled beneath them before he rolled with the cougar a few feet away. His jaws had closed around the side of its neck, and he bit down with all of his might before his head started to thrash violently. Even when a paw smacked against his shoulder, hooked claws splitting his flesh open nearly down to the muscle, he kept thrashing like a madman.  

"Speech"

Code by Sea

Time seemed to slow to an unreasonable pace … which wasn’t ideal. This didn’t seem like a death she would have wished to drag out. And while she was putting forth as much effort as she could to defend her vitals, the claws shredding her shoulder and back were enough to incapacitate her on their own. Aurelia was only vaguely aware of another source of snarling close by, though she just assumed that it was a secondary mountain lion hanging back to catch her in the event she was able to escape … or perhaps it was here to challenge her attacker for her carcass after it did all the work- not that it would be much of her concern.

As she felt an impact through the body of the big cat, it was clear that it hadn’t been expecting interference either. As its attention shifted to its competitor, she made an attempt to free herself. It was only when both predators went tumbling over the top of her did she recognize her initial assumption had been wrong as to who the snarl had come from. Sephiran. Never in a million years would she have ever thought she’d be relieved to see his face. The claws tore loose from her back as the pair rolled away, and as soon as she was free, she scrambled to her paws in a very clumsy display of frantically pained strides. Her shoulder that had been pinned beneath talon was momentarily unusable, though there was no time to check for the extent of the damage. She immediately found the scraping mess of Sephiran and the Mountain Lion once at a safer distance. Concern was her knee-jerk reaction, though as she looked more closely, the Saxe boy had the cat by the side of its neck, thrashing violently. It resisted him- as one would. Though, judging by the current display, it wasn’t going to be long for this world.

"Aurelia Veratti"

Even as he thrashed his head, Sephiran could vaguely see the flash of cyan in his peripheral vision, as Aurelia limped away to safety. Whether it was from him or just the cougar, didn’t matter. What did anger him more, was the realization that she was going to get away again. Another snarl erupted from his jaws, the guttural sound muffled by the fur and flesh he was tearing through. He was tempted to release the cougar and turn his attention back on his toy, but he knew it would be a waste, because the cat would just turn and attack one of them again.

So he kept pushing forward, shaking his head to and fro as he held the cougar by the side of it’s neck. It was slowly growing weaker, but its claws kept slashing at him, tearing into his skin as it tried to claw its way out of his grasp. It wasn’t until a paw slapped him across the face, dangerously close to his eyes that he was forced to let go. But given the length of his fangs, once he removed them arterial blood free-flowed from the puncture marks, which indicated the inevitable end of the cougar's life.

Upon his release, the cougar scrambled away from him with a shrilling scream. Sephiran lunged after it, chasing it into the underbrush, intent on finishing what he had started... and determined to make the cougar pay with its life.

-exit-

"Speech"

Code by Sea

The thing about witnessing a major disaster unfold, was the unrealized strength it took to look away. While Sephiran maintained an unrelenting hold at the side of the Cougar's neck, she was certain that the ferocity he met it with was enough to cause a fatal blow ... even if it broke free and made an attempt to escape with its life. Aurelia winced as outstretched claws raked across the Saxe boy's face. From her distance, she couldn't tell if it caught his eyelid, or merely scraped cheekbone. Either way, the she was sure the adrenaline was doing its fair share in shielding the yearling from his pain for now.

As it managed to shake loose from Sephiran's hold, the mountain lion fled into the underbrush. Though, with that unmistakable prey drive she was beginning to get to know fairly well, allowing it to get away was simply not something Sephiran was willing to let happen. As the two combatants disappeared from her vision, her trance was broken. And as quickly as she could, Aurelia turned on her heels to put as much distance between herself and the war path as she physically possible.

-END THREAD-
"Aurelia Veratti"