He didn’t intend to go far from the pack. He still wasn’t actually sure if he was allowed to leave, but what was the worst that could happen? He moved out of the Steppe, and around the base of the volcano. He was looking for obsidian, something sharp he could use as a temporary dagger since he had been taken from him. He missed the weapon, and it was useful to have a tool.

He was shuffling through rocks when a sudden growl sounded. The noise was awfully close to him, and when he lifted his head, a full grown grizzly bear stood there. Staring at him. He froze immediately, both body and brain. He could feel his thoughts hitting reset as he struggled to believe what he was seeing. It was so big. To the bear, he was nothing but a snack.


"Speech"

Settling back into the ebb and flow of pack life had been easier than he expected. His days were mostly filled with patrols and assisting Kiela with her herd. He found himself thinking about her a lot lately. Perhaps it was because of their time spent traveling together before she brought him to Vidarr's pack call, and now that they had different chores his near constant companion wasn't so constant anymore. He doubted she was thinking about him any, but that wasn't what pushed the thought out of his mind.

No, it was the roar of a bear.

He wasn't exactly around the corner when he'd heard it, but he was fast despite the weight of his axe and rounded the corner of the volcano quickly to find a child damn near face to face with what was probably the largest grizzly he'd seen in these lands. He didn't know the pup, but did it matter? A child was a child, and he was pretty sure this one belonged to Heidinn, too. Approaching with a snarl and fur bristling, he jumped between the bear and the pup as he grabbed his axe and pulled it from it's holdings.

"Do you have a weapon?" He asked around the throat of the axe before swinging it between him and the bear, warning it to back off.

"Speech!"

Art by Siarczek at dA & Code by Skelle 2023

Before he could do much more then take one slow, cautious step back, he heard the sudden pounding of paw steps. His ears swivelled, but no other parts of him moved. Was there another predator? It didn’t matter, the worst threat was the bear. Before he could do more than wonder, a wolf was suddenly in front of him. Between him and the bear. His ears flattened at this unexpected display of heroism.

He did not like that he needed to be saved, even if the bear was so large it could swallow him without biting. The wolf asked him a question, and he bared his fangs at the wolf's back. Did he have a weapon? He carried them everywhere he went.

He moved away from the wolf's back, and began to circle around the wolf and bear. Small enough to go unnoticed as he positioned himself behind the grizzly. He slowly extended his claws, and waited for his chance to leap on the back of the giant predator.


"Speech"

Sverre hardly considered himself the heroic type. Sure, he'd save the life of the kid if he needed it, but he'd much rather give the kid a second to get his shit together so they could fight it off together. It wasn't like he was a young pup, but neither of them could take this bear out alone and with it being as close as it was to the borders, they needed to take care of it now rather than later.

He didn't get an answer from the barely familiar kid but that was fine. He stalled the bear from lunging at the boy before he'd have been ready, but kids would be kids. As they circled around him and the bear, he swung his axe again to keep the bears focus on him and not the much smaller wolf circling around back. Once the kid was behind the bear and seemed to be waiting on an attack, Sverre charged the bear and swung his axe for a third time but this time at the front paws of the massive predator.

The bear roared as it rose onto his hind legs, swiping down at Sverre as he ducked and rose his axe up to block it's heavy paw and giving the kid the perfect opportunity to lunge for the delicate tendons at the back of the bears muscular hind legs.

"Speech!"

Art by Siarczek at dA & Code by Skelle 2023

Lucky, the dark coloured wolf was doing a great job of keeping the grizzly’s attention on him. That, coupled with his size, allowed Strai to get behind it with relative ease. He looked up at the colossal mountain that was its back with more than a little trepidation. What he was about to do was actually taking a page out of Delphi’s book, and he had berated the girl plenty for the move.

But also, imagine taking down a grizzly? He would need to take back a momento to rub in Delphi’s face… as the stranger lunged at the bear with his axe, Strai leaped. His claws extended and dug in, helping him to climb the great beast. It wasn’t easy going, and he slipped more than once, his back legs scrambling for purchase.

He could feel the bear moving, much like an avalanche beneath him. But its attention still seemed to be on the stranger. He couldn’t tell how he was fairing yet. He couldn’t see anything past all this fur. He continued his climb, and made it all the way to the bear’s head. There, he got to work. Attacking with speed bordering on frenzy he used everything he had. He clawed at the bear's ears with his paws, he bit the side of its face with his teeth, and scraped his bone spurs along its skin. He tried scrambling for its eyes, though that put him precariously over the other side of its head. It was roaring beneath him by the time he found an eye, but he managed to swipe his claw across it, popping it as it let out a terrible roar.


"Speech"

tw for gorey words

He hadn't a clue what the boy was doing behind the bear, but he hoped that it would be a good move. He never expected to look up and see a flash of white over top of the bears head; had he climbed up the bear?! He didn't have much time to think about it before a distracted paw came down on him again. The angle was perfect as the bear blindly lashed out as the boy popped one of it's eyes, a massive paw coming down and cleanly severing itself on his sharpened steel battle partner. The bear roared and stumbled forward half blind and Sverre had to move quick to get out of the way of the falling ursid.

The bears stump of a leg flailed as it crashed to the ground on it's only remaining front limb, but the sheer mass of the bear was too much and it crumbled to the ground and landed flat on its chest, the remaining arm crushed and bent wrong. Sverre smirked around the throat of his axe, taking a moment to catch his breath before swinging his axe one final time and decapitating the bear as it struggled beneath the kid.

"Speech!"

Art by Siarczek at dA & Code by Skelle 2023

The bear was suddenly swaying, and then gravity was pulling them both down. He gripped on tight, too high up to safely jump clear of it. He thought of Delphi, trapped beneath the body of the cat, and hoped the same wasn’t about to happen to him. It landed hard, but cushioned his fall. He was just starting to release his grip on its head, when suddenly an axe was whooshing by him. His fur stood on end in shock, and then the head - now removed from the body, began to roll with the weight of him on top of it.

He finally jumped off its head, a splatter of blood from the axe’s last strike sinking into his white coat. But they had won! He walked up to the head and gave it a kick, before looking up at the other wolf. “I dibs the head” He told them, glancing from wolf to axe, and wondering if he would have to fight for it.


"Speech"

The boy rolled off with the head, but he was grateful it was dead. They would have to harvest what they could to take it back to the pack unless he called for Kiela and her herd, but with the intentions of taking the pelt and turning it into a nice blanket for her he didn't want her to know just yet. It'd be a surprise none the less, but it was a bigger one this way he felt. When the boy announced his desire for the head, he was glad things would seem to work out.

"Then I'll take the pelt. You could make some good weapons with those teeth, or keep the skull intact for a helmet," he suggested, though he was mostly just thinking out loud. If he wasn't so attached to his axe then he'd consider some nice knives or something, but he hadn't even considered it until he'd said it so he was plenty fine with the pelt.

"Speech!"

Art by Siarczek at dA & Code by Skelle 2023

Then I’ll take the pelt Strai scowled, despite his desire for the head, he suddenly felt as if he was missing out. After all, as Thrall he had very little possessions of his own. So far, his home consisted of an outcropping that escaped some of the wind, and a battered rabbit carcass for a pillow. But he had made his decision, and he supposed he didn’t really want to challenge this axe-wielding adult.

“I plan to make the four prominent teeth into daggers” He explained to the stranger. Perhaps he could gift two to Delphi, and she could put them in her scruff or something for added defence. “I’m Strai, and I had it, but, thanks I guess.”


"Speech"

The boy was quick to respond with his intention for the head and it's fangs becoming future knives. They would be extremely useful, though he knew that he already knew that. It would be a nice collectible to have to remember the kill by, anyway. The details hardly mattered to Sverre however.

A brow raised as the matching ear swiveled back in mild surprise. Perhaps he would have, had he not hesitated, but that was a fact he wouldn't understand and arguing his point would be a waste of time. He didn't expect a thanks or some sort of hero's reward by any means, but he certainly didn't expect the kid to be cocky.

"Sverre," he responded as his expression changed to normal, letting it roll off. "If you help me split the carcass into portions we can carry, I'll help you make those knives, deal?" he asked, hoping he wouldn't be shoved off by the kid and left to deal with the meat on his own.

"Speech!"

Art by Siarczek at dA & Code by Skelle 2023

There was no bite in the strangers words. A pity, really. Strai didn’t want to feel he owed this wolf anything, nor for Sverre to think he was weak and easy pickings. The dark wolf gave Strai his name, and he filed it away. The more he knew about the pack, the better. At first, he hadn’t cared, but now that he might stick around? Information could be a weapon in the right situation.

“Alright, deal.” He agreed, he knew he had a lot to learn and this way he didn’t have to figure it out for himself. It was a good deal, since Sverre got something out of it too. So he was quick to agree before the older wolf could change his mind. He left the head where it was for the moment, and made his way over to the pelt. He extended his claws, and glanced over at Sverre, “Any preference how we cut this?”

"Speech"