Warriors

OOC: Assuming I can use this for a group prompt, using the half word count prompt pass for this group prompt

Torrent was poking around gathering herbs, listening to Pidge's complaints about the quality of the berries with half her attention. Asriel was asleep in one of the denuded apple trees, his ringed tail hanging down to twitch once in a while. She was mostly letting her mind drift as she mechanically harvested the raspberry leaves - leaving the canes alone, though it would usually be easier to take the stems, since the spines felt awful when you tried to bite through the canes. She wasn't thinking of anything in particular, just drifting, until Pidge's plaints suddenly cut off with a squeal and she jerked upright, her dual-toned eyes zeroing in where the fat raccoon had last been. Pidge was still there, cowering and hissing fiercely as a huge bear reared up out of the berry bushes. Tall, taller, it was far larger than Torrent even, and it looked furious that Pidge had been stealing its berries. Her berries - the bear was a female, and from the scent pregnant and filling up on all the tasty calories for the cub or cubs she'd birth in the middle of winter.

Undeterred by neither the size of the female nor made to feel squeamish or particularly merciful by the fact that she was pregnant, Torrent leaped forward with a snarl, slapping Asriel's tail out of her way as she landed in between Pidge and the furious bear. She drew herself up to her full height, hackles raised as high as they could go, tail high and ears stiffly forward as she attempted to intimidate the bear into turning tail and running. Unfortunately, the bear knew how much she needed those berries... and she didn't particularly mind adding raccoon and wolf to the menu either. Rather than backing away, she waddled a couple steps closer and bellowed furiously in Torrent's face. Torrent roared back, her claws digging into the earth in preparation for the bear's inevitable charge.

Word Count: 324
Total Word Count: 324