Sol and Khonsu had slipped away, distancing themselves from both their fire's warm glow and the oppressive presence of their mistress. Treading lightly across the frost-kissed leaves, they searched. Their four ears were tuned to the subtlest rustle, nostrils flaring for the scent of prey... and their mistress' chilling command, "surprise me," echoed dangerously in their shared mind.

The scent of a rabbit was the first to reach them, and while Khonsu considered rejecting the offering and searching out something greater, he worried that a delay in returning with her meal might earn a worse result than dropping a subpar one at her paws. Warm and life-tinged, the rabbit’s scent eventually drew them onward. The prey, sensing its end, moved to bolt - but not fast enough. The twins were quick to close the gap, completing the task with a swift, merciful snap.

Now back to Yarra.

They had barely grasped the corpse in their jaws when something from the underbrush gave a low rumble - the thick scent of bear mingling with the copper tang of blood on the breeze. The predator stepped into the clearing, a looming mass of fur and muscle, ready to contest the twins for their fresh, bloody kill.
To fight for their prize… or to retreat and face the wrath of Yarra? It was hardly a question in the twin’s mind. With a snarl of defiance, they stood their ground. This was their rabbit.


Sol & Khonsu

Vanta had found herself drawn to the north lately, her homesickness bringing her to circle her home territory from a distance while her desire for something new kept her from biting the bullet and approaching the border. She missed her family terribly, but if she were to return there, would she ever find the strength to leave? The Armada may have been her birth place, but something there was missing – something that kept it from feeling like home.

She was lost in thought and consideration when she approached the clearing, distracted enough that she did not see the bear until it called out, enraged. It drew her focus, her head snapping to the side so fast that she swore she felt her vertebra threaten to crack. Stranger yet, before her was the likes of which she had never seen before - a two-headed wolf, poised for battle.

Her initial reaction was simply shock. Not at the relatively common sight of a wolf standing it’s ground against a bear (this was the hardy north, after all) but at the doubled visage upon the wolf’s shoulders. Vanta hesitated, assessing the situation with confusion (was she dreaming?) before forcefully focusing her resolve. The bear was clearly the aggressor, and despite the strangeness of the wolf, her innate sense of justice kicked in. She couldn't ignore the threat to these wolves, no matter how unusual they appeared.

With a low growl, Vanta prepared to act.

She moved swiftly, positioning herself behind the bear, ready to use the element of surprise to her advantage. She was a protector by nature, and even strangers - even those as peculiar as these ones - deserved her aid. The thought of the two-headed wolf’s reaction to her intervention lingered at the back of her mind, but it was the immediate need to act that drove her forward. She would defend these wolves, strangers or not, and deal with the consequences later.

As the bear reared, its focus wholly on Sol and Khonsu, she seized her chance. She lunged from the shadows with a burst of speed, her body a crystalline tipped projectile aimed directly at the bear's flank. The bear, sensing the new threat, twisted with speed, its massive paw coming around in a powerful swat aimed at Vanta’s crown.

She felt the rush of air as the paw narrowly missed her, the force of it enough to tell her that a hit would be devastating. Her attack, however, had found its mark. Her newly developed crystalline sabers sank into the thick fur and then the thick skin beneath, rending the muscle as the teeth cut a deep passage beneath flesh.

"Speech"

The unexpected arrival of the turquoise-dusted wolf, her crystalline fangs shining like blades of ice, broke their focus for a split second.

That was all it took.

The newcomer's intervention was as sudden as it was savage, a streak of pale fur and gleaming tooth against the bear's dark hide. Sol & Khonsu had never seen anything quite like her. For a moment, they were spectators, their twin heads turning in unison to watch the crystal-marked wolf's attack unfold with deadly precision.

The bear's enraged roar shook the leaves from the trees, bringing the twins to remember their place in this match. They couldn't let the stranger take on the bear's wrath alone. With the bear distracted by the wound inflicted by the saber-toothed wolf, Sol & Khonsu moved in.

They saw their opening and took it, leaping towards the bear's other side, aiming for the tender armpit that was now exposed as the predator turned to deal with Vanta. Two sets of teeth found purchase in the bear's flesh, their combined strength tearing two shallow gashes off it's hide. Without the strange mutation of the stranger, puncturing it's flesh down into the vitals was near impossible. Sol and Khonsu resigned themselves to simply being distracting, striking and retreating quickly in an attempt to evade the inevitable counterstrike.

Sol & Khonsu

Vanta, still reeling from the near-miss of the bear's swat, watched as the strange two-headed wolf leaped into action. They moved with a desperate courage, seizing the opportunity she had created. The sight of their synchronized attack confused and intrigued her further, but there was little time to dwell on it while in the throes of battle.

The bear, now bellowing in pain and fury from the wounds on both sides, had become a wild maelstrom of claws and teeth. It was time to press the advantage. She circled swiftly, seeking another opening as the strangers tore from the bear yet another strip of flesh.

With the bear’s attention divided, she darted in again. This time Vanta aimed for the bear's hind leg, her crystalline fangs bared and ready to cripple. Biting down hard, she felt the bear’s leg gave way beneath the power of her jaws - the snap of tendon following soon after. She pulled back immediately (not wishing to be fallen upon) her crystalline gaze flicking back and forth between the bear and the two-headed wolf. They would need to end this soon, before desperation and adrenaline brought the predator to forget it's pain and begin inflicting some of it's own.

"Speech"

The battle raged on, the bear's strength waning under the relentless assault of fangs and claw. Sol and Khonsu, emboldened by Vanta's successful strike, emulated her bravery. They pressed their attack, aiming just as she was to end the confrontation swiftly, though unfortunately lacking in the skill and experience to bring the bear to it's death. What they lacked most, however, was the stamina to continue to promptly evade.

As they lunged forward, the bear, in its blind fury and pain, managed one powerful swipe. Its claws raked across Sol's flank, a hot streak of pain marking a deep, ragged wound through the skin. Khonsu, feeling Sol’s pain as his own, let out a pained growl of his own but did not falter. Forcing his brother to continue on, he twisted. Their body swung to the side, reducing the depth the claws could seek and making an opening for Khonsu to bite past Sol's head to grasp upon the offending limb.

The taste of blood was thick in his mouth as he bit down, and thankfully the bear's movements were beginning to grow as sluggish as theirs were. Despite the searing pain on Sol’s side, the twins fought on - their breaths heaving with effort in the cold northern air.

Sol & Khonsu

The bear, now severely weakened from its injuries and the relentless assault, was beginning to stagger, its roars dimming into low, pained groans. In it's weakness, Vanta saw the opening for a final, merciful strike.

With a calculated charge, she aimed for the bear’s vulnerable neck, the place she knew the blood pumped close to the surface, her crystalline fangs bared and ready.

Pushing off with her hind limbs, she gave one last powerful leap and clamped onto the bear, her sabers sinking deep. The bear's thick fur was no match for the precision and depth of the crystal-mutated dire. She twisted her head, using the leverage of her fangs to tear through the sinew and bone.

A shudder ran through the bear's massive frame, it’s roar turning into a gurgle. Suddenly, the full weight of it collapsed onto the forest floor, the life fading from its eyes. It was over.

Vanta stepped back, her chest heaving with exertion, blood staining her icy fangs. She gave herself a moment to recover, blowing out an exhausted exhale before turned to the two-headed wolf. "Are you two okay?" She asked, gaze falling upon the gash on the stranger's flank. Her stance softened, adrenaline fading, the instinct to tend to the injured replacing all remnants of her fury. With a hesitant step forward, she awaited the strange wolf(s?) response.



"Speech"

With the bear dead, Sol and Khonsu set quickly about the task of claiming a token for Yarra - an apology, and a gift. Carefully, they approached the bear’s massive paws. Working quickly - knowing their mistress's wrath all too well - they one by one severed the tendons and ligaments that held the claws in place, careful not to shatter the formidable keratin sheaths. They pried each claw from its pad with care, collecting a set of trophies to present to their mistress.

When Vanta expressed her concern and offered help, Sol and Khonsu exchanged a brief, quiet glance. Without a word they quickly dismissed the consideration of accepting aid; involvement from an outsider could be seen as interference outside their new band, and could only serve to further provoke their mistress.

"We thank you." Khonsu said after a moment. "But we can tend to this alone." They finished collecting the claws, reclaimed their stiffening rabbit, and offered the woman a gentle dip of their heads in thanks. They needed to hurry back - Yarra would certainly be wondering where her boys had run off to.

Sol & Khonsu