Picking Fights

Now that Nausicaa and Philomena had been reunited and his mother was somewhere he knew she would be safe, it gave him the peace of mind to go explore on his own again. It gave him the time to go though the lands he used to frequent when he was last in Boreas to see what had changed. There were new packs to take note of or perhaps some that had moved to other lands, but for the most part things were similar to how he remembered them. He hadn’t made it far enough to take a closer look at the volcano yet, but other than that everything felt familiar.

The sound of a growl near by made his hackles bristle and stopped him in his tracks. His ears perked while he listened, his paw lifted mid step. It had been mostly quiet throughout the day so far so the sudden, furious growl easily grabbed his attention. It was the yowl from some kind of large feline that got him moving. He wasn’t sure if it was more curiosity or worry for someone else’s safety that got him to run toward the fighting, but either way he was quick to find the large gray and black woman in a face off with a lion. The downed deer near them painted the picture and he was able to put the pieces together easily.

When Ulric pushed though the grasses he had ended up behind the lion in question and made the split second decision to lend a paw to the stranger. He wasn’t sure if his help was wanted, but he would rather act now and ask for forgiveness later rather than leave the woman on her own. The large brute took the opportunity of having the lion distracted to lunge at the feline from behind, latching his jaws onto its hind leg. His teeth immediately sank into its skin and he could taste the blood in his mouth. He heard a similar, pained sound that he had heard before and quickly released his opponent so that he could hop back out of the way of any swinging paws. He landed in a defensive stance, ducking out of the way of the dangerously sharp claws that were now turned toward him. He shot the lion a snarl and the massive brute bristled with a deep growl, doing his best to distract the lion so the wolf on the other side of this fight could make her move.