Enemies In The Night

Avantika · 03-15-2021, 01:32 PM

Avantika hadn't been sleeping when Resin's call rang out. She didn't often sleep all the way through the night, even if she'd gotten lots of activity the day before, her body preferring to wake her up once or sometimes even twice a night. She used this opportunity to patrol, although it was really just a pleasant walk most of the time. To her knowledge, there weren't any close-by packs now that the Hallows lived in Auster, and it wasn't like the pack was too warlike even before. There were many capable fighters among them, yes, but that didn't mean they liked serious conflicts. It was one of the things the ocean-eyed foundling liked about her pack. They were peaceful, but far from harmless. They were more than able to defend each other. And since Avantika had joined them, they would defend her just as well.

It was the reason she was so determined to do her part and protect the pack herself. She had to repay them for everything they'd done for her. Why, she could have ended up in some brutal, cold group, with no one to look out for her or help her practice without their fangs pressuring her to get it right all the time. Then where would she be?

Resin's war cry gave her a chance. She would not hesitate to take it.

There was a small delay as she had to wake Kaata, who would let it be known that she did not want to be woken, but Avantika was persistent. Her little hawk was always a prick when she didn't want to wake up. But Avantika's heart felt like it was trying to jump up her throat and run to the call itself, and it would not be ignored for one more moment than necessary. An unstoppable force met an immovable object and the object was found to be more movable than originally thought.

Anyway, Kaata would have been even more annoyed if her 'kiddo' had gone off without her to a potentially dangerous fight. And if Resin couldn't handle something herself without calling in the pack, then it was sure to be dangerous. A hard knot of dread and anxiety formed in Avantika's stomach, but her heart was furious in its fight to keep the youthful girl from dwelling too long on it.

So they went to meet the call as quickly as they could, Kaata flying and Avantika feeling as if she might, too. She barely had time to breathe as she charged headlong into the fray. Later she would think about how her fear always seemed to run on extremes. Either completely paralyzing or completely absent, like now. Her fight or flight response was an interesting thing, making up its mind very quickly. And it was happening more and more now.

Or perhaps she was just learning how to fight.

She caught glimpses of gray, brown, and black fur, but her main focus was on her opponents. There seemed so many of them, huge, hulking monsters with fangs just meant to rip and tear her and her family to pieces.

She had one last thought before her attack. I have fangs too.

There was one cat locked in a confrontation with Rudy. His Tasmanian devil had just been thrown into the snow when Avantika charged from the cat's backside. She leaped forward, her teeth to the beast's upper hind leg. She didn't stop her teeth from ripping at the flesh, and when she released, she had a mouthful of blood and fur to spit out on the snow.

"Duck!" Avantika obeyed, but not quickly enough to avoid the slash of sharp claws against her ears. Her tender left ear was shredded. The adrenaline of the moment dulled the pain, and Avantika sprung forward, almost standing up to grip the giant cat's neck, just under the thing's chin. She forced her teeth to dig as deep as possible, letting the blood spew over her face. Salty. People said that victory was sweet, but the wolf realized that, while that might be true, fighting tasted hot, delicious, and salty.

Its teeth continued to mangle her ears. Both this time. Avantika released her grip and moved a couple feet back, breathing hard.

She was going to win this fight. She almost couldn't imagine not. She prided herself on rationality, but her emotions were dangerous creatures in their own right. When allowed to run free for only a moment, they would not be put back in their box. It was so much easier to free them than to recapture them.

WC: 780

"Avantika to Kaata telepathy"
"Kaata to Avantika telepathy"
"speech"

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Enemies In The Night

Seasonal Bonus Prompt/Pack Event

Avantika