Alaric and his cane corsos were making their way towards the little river that had collected from the making of the beaver dam. When the reached the little river, they all bent down and lapped up the cool water. Maul was the first to notice the still in the air. The black cane corso lifted his head from his drink and let out a warning chuff to the surroundings around him. Alaric paused his drinking. "What is, Maul?" He asked the large dog as he looked around. He didn't see anything. That's when Maul charged off towards the distant birch tree forest.

Cinder charged off too. Alaric was quick to follow them. When he arrived where his mastiffs had ran off too, they were already attacking a brown bear. Maul was circling the bear, barking and nipping at its hind. Cinder bite near its face with some fierceness. Alaric took no hesitation in charging in to face the bear. His black maws splayed open and he sought the ribcage of the bear. They would teach this bear a lesson and make it retreat from the forest and go back to their drinking.

Atreyu had been taking a little tour of sorts around Auster, getting used to the places and learning the names of them so that she could better describe the land to her siblings and Azriel. They would need to know the layout of the land if they were going to inhabit it, and they would need to get to know some of the packs as well. Perhaps she could start with Ellara's pack, if she was a member there, surely the alpha had a good head on their shoulders. Atreyu didn't plan on joining any packs, she was going to make one from the ground up.

Suddenly, Bigs' ears perk up and he begins to chuff, then bark as he charges forward blindly, not giving Atreyu a moment to ask questions. She flew after him, not knowing what he was getting himself into until she heard the barks. Those voices were familiar! They rounded the corner and Bigs wasted no time in going for a massive bear paw. Atreyu was right behind the naked dog, grasping onto the forelimb of the bear just as it was about to swing for Cinder. The bear flung its forearm wildly, making Atreyu dizzy but she held on until all four of her paws touched the ground again, then, without letting go of the bear, she flipped to her back and began to kick up at the bear's chest like a cat, her retractable claws aimed to stab over and over again at the flesh of the ursine. It may not be a good place to put herself, but there were others there to hopefully keep the bear busy until she could get her hawksbill blade out of her satchel.

1/3 Fought large opponent - Brown bear
"Talk." || Think || 'Hear.'

code by bird, art by alo

Alaric's attack had landed and he felt his fangs burrow past thick brown fur and hit past the thick skin of the bear. He shook his head violently as he tore into the bear. Maul went for a heel, latching his short maws on the leg and thrashing as well. Cinder had braces himself for impact when the bear came to swio at him, only for reinforcements to arrive in the nick of time. When Atreyu latched onto the limb instead, Cinder charged forwards and aimed to sink his fangs into the bear's cheek. Alaric had just noticed Atreyu and Bigs popping up to help and he immediately spat out the ribcage of the bear. Knowing there were more reinforcements, he decided to now aim his attack towards the bear's side of the neck. He opened his maws and attempted to latch up on the bear's neck side, in hopes it was distracted enough to work.

Atreyu had never faced a bear before, not unless you count the little bear cub that had scared the daylights out of her back home. Judila, as a river pack, was seasonally overrun with bears looking for fish at the river. They had never truly been a bother, though, not like this bear. Once Cinder was clear of attack and going on the offensive himself, Atreyu released the bear's forelimb, aiming a vicious bite just at the junction of forelimb and body. She hoped it was enough to distract the bear from attacking Alaric as he went in for the neck. She whipped her head back and forth trying to tear a piece of thick hide for herself. Her fangs slipped through the thinner skin and she held on for all she was worth, still tearing at the sensitive bit of skin in an effort to be distracting.

2/3 Fought a large opponent - Brown bear
OOC: Sorry it's so short!
"Talk." || Think || 'Hear.'

code by bird, art by alo

Alarc's maws found the neck of the bear and he latch on fiercely. He tasted blood as it poured into his maws, and he shook his head violently. His fangs were digging deep into the thick skin and flesh of the bear, cutting away and drawing blood. Maul had released the heel of the bear and was attacking the hind quarter instead. The black cane Corso was trying to immobilize the bear and wear it down. Cinder had gotten lucky with his bite to the cheek, but it was a short-lived victory as the bear thrashed its head to the side and forced Cinder to release his grip. The bear, realizing its odd, began to charge forwards in a desperate attempt to flee the group of canines and preserve it life. In the process, it was dragging multiple hooked on canines with it as it tried to run for its life.

Atreyu moved with feline grace and ease as she held onto the bear, now trying to flee its unfortunate circumstance. Cat-like claws came out as she sought to hang onto the bear. It had attacked her friend in cold blood, and she couldn't allow such a beast to be on the loose. It had to go down. Letting go of the bear and leaping into its path, Atreyu ducked under snapping jaws and swiping paws to go for the throat. She used her massive size to drag the bear's front half down, latching onto the animal much like a lion would with a zebra. The bear tried to raise up, but with so many canines holding it down, it failed and eventually fell due to suffocation. Atreyu made sure to pinch the windpipe tight together and cut off any air that would help the bear recover its consciousness. She held onto the bear even when its weight sagged and she had to roll it onto its side, waiting until she no longer felt a pulse beneath her teeth before she released the creature. "Are you okay?" She asked the trio once the bear was dead.

3/3 Fought a large predator - Brown Bear
"Talk." || Think || 'Hear.'

code by bird, art by alo

As the bear was charging, Alaric hung onto the neck with a tight grip. He was hellbent on helping Atreyu take down the bear. Maul had released his grip on the hind leg and was fast in the bear's cheek as it ran. That's when she did, Atreyu got underneath the beast and latched upon its throat. Alaric watched as the young woman latched onto the throat like the big cat her pelt pattern reminded him of. When the deed was done and the bear was dead, Alaric released his bloodied grip. He licked the blood from his maws and glanced at his cane corsos, checking them out briefly before turning his orange gaze to Atreyu. A sense of pride filled him. He let out a approving rumble as he took a step towards her. "You did well. Very well." He commented, his gaze flickering to the dead bear. He was watching her grow her into a strong, fiercer woman. Atreyu was impressing him. Not an easy feat for a wolf to do for Alaric. "I'm ok." He told her briefly. "They're ok." He told her in regards to the cane corsos. He took a moment to think, forming the words in his mind. "I'm proud of your work here today." He told her, flicking his tail.

Atreyu was panting from exertion as well as adrenaline pumping through her veins, though the bear was dead she still half expected it to jump back up and begin attacking them all over again. The sound of Alaric's voice helped her center herself as he praised her work, even saying he was proud of her! Something inside her broke and she quickly covered the space between them and aimed to give the gruff man a hug for his words. She had no verbal reply as of yet, she was just happy they all made it through the attack. Just as quickly as she hugged him, she let him go and smiled. "You did well, too. I'm glad everyone is okay."Atreyu was never truly afraid except on one particular day, but she will never confide that to anyone. She was set to be their fearless leader after all, and she had to be just that. Nothing was going to stand in her way, not a bear, nor wolf, nor horde of zombies.

OOC: Sorry short post, it's late for me XD
"Talk." || Think || 'Hear.'

code by bird, art by alo

It wasn't long after he spoke was the gap between the two wolves was closed and Alaric found himself in a brief warm embrace of Atreyu. His body noticeably stiffened under her touch, he damned near flinched. It hit him that the last sign of affection he'd ever received was from Jackdaw, his adopted father figure, who would bump into him warmly when he was proud or shake his paw. The realization made him blink and ground him back to reality, he gave a gently squeeze back before Atreyu pulled away completely. He cleared his throat. "As am I." He stated briefly, trying to shake the awkwardness that he felt. "Did you want anything from the bear?" He asked her curiously. Perhaps the pelt? Or the claws? He didn't need anything from it but he knew it was courtesy to at least ask.

There was a smile present on her bloodstained lips as Alaric questioned if she wanted anything from the bear, she did. There was valuable sinew and the bear's pelt itself, its claws could be used to craft weapons, but she wasn't sure if she could put all of that work on Alaric to do. "Actually, yes, a few things." She took her blade out of her satchel and made her way over to the bear, using her weight to push it over on its side. "But I won't let you have all the fun, sinew and bone can be difficult to get. If you didn't mind, we could use the skull and claws later." Those were harder to remove, but only because you had to have the right leverage and tools. Making a surgically neat incision from the bear's front to back along the belly, Atreyu worked on skinning the large bear.

She worked precisely, making expert slices along the skin to get it off almost perfectly. "With a little care, this pelt could be sold or used for the winter in a den. It would make a wonderful bedding." Once she got it all off and rolled up properly, Atreyu set to work harvesting sinew for stitching later. She would have to dry it out, but first, she treated them with plantain peels like Ellara had shown her. It was the first step in turning them into stitches. With these stitches properly dried, the claws and skull, and the skin Alaric and Atreyu had quite the valuable catch.

"Talk." || Think || 'Hear.'

code by bird, art by alo