Exploring.  Iscariot is content with her explorations, moving farther south.  Farther south, to where the sun still shone warmly around her shoulders.  It's not too bad here, certainly more comfortable than the snowy north.  The grasses are still dead and dry, the breeze raking through them-- an eerie feeling. Then there's the ever-present, oppressive feeling of being watched.  While the girl is concerned that a lion may lurk in the tall grasses, the sound that shatters the relative stillness of the afternoon around her is far scarier.  Unknowingly, she's crossed paths with an elephant. The beast charges her, and Iscariot is quick to dive for the scrub trees.  It'll have a harder time seeing her in here.  Heart pounding in her chest, the beast stands between her and a quick escape.  Becoming all the more aware she's going to have to scare it off, Iscariot lunges.  Teeth gnashing, trying to make herself look as threatening as possible in the moment.  Oh fuck off.

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Why did this feel so familiar to her. Running into a dangerous, extra large opponent hell bent on ruining her day. On top of that, somehow she always joined up with other wolves, to form a rag-tag group of warriors. Hmpf. She wasn’t getting bored of it, that was for certain; but the fact that this was becoming a regular occurrence, was odd.

She heard the beast before she saw it, blowing warning grunts out of its trunk before barreling towards something in the underbrush. The other small girl. The two of them were hardly any match for such a large creature. So instead of blatantly attacking, Nimue rushes up next to Riot and starts starling with her, trying to drive the elephant away.

"Nimue Vasanti"

As Iscariot and Nimue attempted to scare off their enormous adversary, Cadaver, who had been watching this scene unfold from the shadows, felt a particular sense of amusement. Their audacity was laughable. The monster within him swelled with anticipation of the chaos to come, baring its teeth in a grotesque smile.

Silently, he rose from his perch, his colossal form casting an ominous shadow across the barren landscape. His half albino, half midnight black pelt stood out starkly against the harsh sunlight. There was an air of menace about him, an aura that seemed to ripple through the atmosphere and seize one's heart in a cold, unforgiving vice. As he approached, his haunting blue eyes glittered with an unspeakable darkness, his gaze as sharp as a blade.

Though, when he was close enough to launch his own attack, he went full force. A low, guttural growl resonated from the depths of his chest as he leapt into the fray. His approach was not subtle; he charged right towards the massive elephant, dead set on causing as much damage as possible. As he collided with the colossal beast, Cadaver's razor-sharp teeth sank into the thick skin of the elephant's leg.

"Cadaver Nightwing"

It was fun following the girl her father had taken in. She always found some trouble to get into, and there was Barghest ready to capitalize on it yet again. As Nimue rushed into the fray once again, she couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. The familiar thrill of danger tingled in her veins and of course she joined her fellow wolves in facing yet another formidable opponent. Despite the repetition, the adrenaline still surged through her, reminding her why she lived for moments like these.

The ground shook with the approaching threat – the massive elephant charging towards Nimue and the smaller girl. She watched as they stood their ground, but with a snarl of determination, Barghest bounded forward with a different tactic in mind. Her instincts guided her right into the heart of the conflict as she darted in under the elephant and sought to bite and tear at its underbelly. Funnily enough, that boy had the same idea - not the belly part, but the attack part.

""

Two of them, small against the beast that stared them down. Fierce beasts they were, at least. Fierce as they could be, when stared down by something quite so looming. At least they're not alone in it for long, others melting from the hills around them in an effort to beat the elephant back. Four in total, and Iscariot settles into the role of distraction once again. Diversion. It's easier for her, especially with the beast's gaze already locked on. It tries to beat her back with its trunk, and Riot is quick to bite all she can reach. Teeth flashing, snarling as they rake against the leathery beast. Heart pounding. Maybe this one was a little scarier than she'd admit.

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His vicious assault on the elephant was relentless. Each twist of his powerful jaws was a testament to the brutality that dwelled within him, a manifestation of his insatiable thirst for power and control. Even as the other wolves joined in their assault, his focus remained single-mindedly on his own attack, ignoring anything else that might serve as a distraction.

As he tore into the beast, he reveled in the wild chaos swirling around him. He was coming to understand that this his was where he thrived. In the heart of conflict and violence, where only the strongest survived. He delighted in every pained bellow from the elephant, every tremor that traveled up his fangs as they were rapidly approaching the beast’s defeat.

"Cadaver Nightwing"

Even with their snarling, the elephant wasn’t falling for their bluff; it knew it was far larger, far more powerful than the tiny wolves snapping at its huge feet. Still, Nimue would keep trying to drive it away, already calculating a means of attack if it came down to it.

Damn Cadaver. He came out of nowhere again, charging at the elephant and colliding straight into it. He may have been a dire wolf, but he was nowhere near the size of an elephant. So he was just dumb. It didn’t even budge from his slam, but he bit into it anyway. Estie appeared too, and did the same thing. Shit. Looks like they were fighting it.

Riot kept it distracted in the front, and Nimue decided to join her. As it tried to slam Riot with its trunk, Nimue leaped at it, grabbing onto the muscular appendage. Out of reflex, it pulled its trunk back up, and with it, went Nimue.

"Nimue Vasanti"

She hears the sound of barking, or snarling. But she has no visual on the other’s who have joined the fray. She can only catch slight glimpses of the boy, the sounds he makes that egg on her own fierce reverberations. She is creating herself a masterpiece of damage, of lacerations upon the underbelly of the elephant. It moves, she moves, not letting it stamp her down with it’s massive feet. She ducks and weaves, returning like a parasite to the same spot; teeth rending flesh and sinew, talons flaying whatever they struck as she went. It was a handy bit of weaponry she had there, and it deeply satisfied her to watch rivulets go flying around her with every attack.

""

As the beast's trunk goes up, Iscariot watches as Nimue goes with it. Fuck, a snarl as she lunges for the fucker's face. It could have just as easily been Riot thrust skyward, and she was going to at least try to get the elephant to bring its trunk back down. Best way to do that? Get it to take another swing at her, or at least, that's the beast way as far as Riot can call it. With a snarl, she sinks her teeth into the fucker's foreleg. Clinging on, wrapping herself around it. Snarling, damn near unhinged in the moment. The mask slipping off Iscariot's manic edge, she's having a far better time than she'd admit.

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Feeling the violent judder of the elephant's body under his merciless assault, Cadaver refused to let go. His teeth remained buried in the thick hide of the beast, tasting blood and raw power. He'd never felt so alive, so immersed in the throes of violence.

His gaze caught sight of Nimue being hoisted high into the air as she hung onto the beast's trunk. A wild snarl tore from his throat, not out of concern but out of frustration. The idiot shouldn't have gotten herself lifted in such a vulnerable position.

This was a war of wolves against beast, and there was no room for weaknesses here. Cadaver was determined to emerge as the stronger one, no matter what it took.

"Cadaver Nightwing"

Estie was attacking the elephants underbelly. Riot grabbed onto its foreleg and wrapped herself around it. Cadaver was still attacking its shoulder. And Nimue? She was being flailed around in the air, having held onto the elephants trunk as it hoisted her up. The whiplash was almost unbearable, even though she let her body go limp and wasn’t fighting the force. It made her head spin, pressure increasing on her neck and shoulders, her paws swiping wildly as she tried to grain some kind of leverage. But it was useless. The beast was too frantic, too consumed in its attempt at fighting the wolves off. She was taking a huge risk holding on; one perfect whip of its trunk and it could snap her neck. So she made the quick decision to let go, just as the beast flung its trunk towards a pile of underbrush that could break her fall.

"Nimue Vasanti"

Barghest had ducked out from under the elephant to dodge a massive stomp when out of the corner of her eye she saw Nimue go flying up, but release the beast’s trunk in time to be launched into a bush. Estie watched for movement, brows furrowed, until she saw the girl recover.

Good. Great. Barghest huffed, tail lashing behind her as she returned to her massacre. Her jaws reached again, snapping down and she shook – cutting through more sinew, more flesh; earning herself a bloody bath. An artery? Something. She didn’t know, didn’t really care at the moment. It was all adrenaline and focus from her.

""