Levitate

Ash shrouded the sky behind him, bellowing out from the Volcano still from it's fit a few days prior. It seemed restless, quietly rumbling just strong enough to be felt in the nearby ground every now and then. Legion could feel it in the Maw, having chosen to stay there even after his pack had left. It wasn't that he held any real attachment to it or anything, it's just that he had no idea where to move on quite yet. Everything he needed had been in those mountains; a training ground, prey, water, and shelter. His reign there was over now though, as the Volcano's evident threat to erupt caused his favorite prey to flee, the bighorn.

He followed the flock a bit late, thus lost knowledge of their whereabouts. At first, he checked the surrounding caves around the Maw in case they decided to huddle up and ride out the ash fall. He found nothing of relevant interest in any of the caves and decided to instead check for greater areas of vegetation. Perhaps they left to greener pastures, forfeiting their home but gaining plenty of food to keep their livelihood. His forest to the south was his first guess, and it wasn't long into his journey there when he found tracks from the sheep.

At the edge of Soulless Forest while the sun fell and dusk took over the sky, he found two things. Evidence of wolves and sheep both. Some of the scents of those wolves even smelled familiar, faintly reminding him of Ruina though he could put no names to the scents. He did his best to avoid the territory, but the bighorns were right on the perimeter. He didn't have much of a choice. Luckily, on flat land the sheep weren't very fast in comparison to the wolf; it didn't take him much effort to find a slower ewe and take her down, even with the males threatening with their horns. None of them wanted to fight a powerful wolf in his prime, not even for the sake of their dear Ewe. Legion started to rip into his kill as the rest of the flock fled, though he made sure to keep it intact enough to be carried.

Respectfully, he tried to put more distance in between himself and the pack border as he traveled away from it. He had no idea where to go, but he didn't want to get accused of trespassing or to run into another wolf and be forced to share the result of all his hard work. He picked up the sheep and started to head back toward the mountains, though the sound of low growling caused the black and gold wonder to stop in his tracks. His ruby eyes stayed ahead of him while his ears flicked, assessing the sound. It wasn't canine, it was utterly feral and feline. It was a cougar, and it seemed to be drawn to the scent of the sheep's blood.

He could tell the sound was coming from his left, through the pines. He wasn't sure of the distance entirely, but it sounded quite close. Perhaps less than six feet. He was afraid to move to look right away, but when he did exactly what he thought would happen... happened. His sight was immediately consumed by the great image of the cougar leaping out from the shadows of the pines. Its claws flashed in the twilight as they reached out for Legion and immediately, his power collected in his hindquarters to prepare him to leap out of the way. Teeth clenched tightly around his kill, refusing to let it go as he started to make his run- being forced to head back toward the pack territory.

The cougar missed its target but took only a flashing two seconds to get back on its feet and chase after Legion. The deeper Legion got into the pines, the closer he got to the pack's borders and this upset him. He needed to change his trajectory, but the density of the pines on either side of him made it hard for him to do at the current moment. He wasn't exactly a thin wolf, nor an agile one that could simply bob and weave through trunks and branches. He needed clearance. He was soon faced with a decision; trespass, or face the cat.

At the edge of Ero's borders, he dropped his kill and quickly spun around, the cat just a few feet behind him. His jaws immediately opened, snapping just in time to catch the paw coming for him. The cougar's claws tore through the flesh of his maw in searing pain, immediately spilling Legion's own blood on the ground and filling his mouth with the taste. Legion growled in frustrated anger but latched on to the ankle of the cat's paw without mercy. His thick muscles shook his skull left to right as he aimed to sever the paw from the cat's limb as much as possible. The cat's other forepaw hit his shoulders, creating fresh wounds there as well though it soon forfeited attacking as sheer pain and terror took it over.

The cat managed to get loose but its paw was severely damaged. Once free from the grasp of the wolf, it seemed to assess it's paw and continued to growl and cry. Legion took the opportunity to grab his kill and make a run for it, back toward the mountains once again. As he fled, the cat seemed reignited with intent to steal the prey once again and took off, slower and with a limp, after Legion once again. Legion rolled his eyes, his head lowering as he barrelled forward through the trees and tried to gain some distance.

Even with the cat injured, it was nearly just as fast as the heavy wolf. He had to think of another way to get rid of it, and soon thought of the quicksands he knew resided just outside of the volcano's territory. He decided to take his chances and headed for them immediately, keeping his eyes on the terrain for noticeable changes. It was risky at night, but he hoped that he could manage what he aimed to do. Paws favored stone and grass on the ground rather than soil, but it wasn't long before patches of soil and sand became harder and harder to avoid.

With the cat screaming behind him, Legion started to hop from patch of stone and grass to patch of stone and grass... hoping that the cat would not be as careful or recognize what Legion was trying to avoid. As he suspected the cat would, in its feverish attempt to get Legion and Legion's kill, it carelessly stepped right into quicksand. At first, the cat managed to pull himself out and take a leap forward, only to be met in an even deeper area of sand. Legion could feel the footing beneath him falling fast, as well, but took a sharp turn to his left back to grass. In his fear for getting stuck, his paws moved so quickly he wondered if they were even making contact with the earth or if he was simply levitating.

He was breathing so hard he couldn't hear much else other than himself and the noise of the cat's screams, but he could tell now the cat was no longer chasing him. He turned around, blood still running from the lacerations on his muzzle and watched the cat slowly sink and suffocate into the nothingness below. He grinned from around the body of the ewe, happily shaking it before he plopped his heavy ass down on the grass right there in the moonlight. He needed to rest, catch his breath, and then he would be on his way again.