The beating, beating paws

It seemed they would be joined by one more member, he was more than aware they were a small group, smaller than he knew the pack to be even as separated from them as he normally was. He sent a silent prayer to the sky that the missing members stayed sequestered in their dens and didn't make the fight before them even harder or worse by drawing the giant approaching wolves from their path, which was at the very least defended, even if they couldn't see the approach.

It seemed he was not the only wolf to have this thought though as a small woman dashed forward, Mo rocking forward on his toes as if to stop her but stopping only himself. He watched with held breath as she lit the area before them, seeming to walk the fine line of being within reach of their approaching attackers and he finally allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief as she returned to the group, settling beside him and he leaned over to whisper appreciatively. "Good thinking." Which he thought it was, if a little foolish at the same time. Still, her quick thinking might end up being the difference between life and death for them as they faced down the now visible threats.

Mojito swallowed hard, the lump in his throat forming as he saw the figures moving at the edge of the light, shadows that even from a distance he could tell would tower over him more so than even the warlord. The flash of fire off of fangs, or eyes and claws. A primal fear gripped the boy's heart and he had to fight back the desire to step back, his ears instead pulling back and his eyes growing wide, anyone who glanced over at him would be able to tell he was struggling with his survival instincts so as not to run and hide. Though he managed to stay where he was, his loyalty and desire to protect his pack winning out. Sirius gave them orders and almost instantly Naiche called out to him, the young man nodded, dashing off after the yellow man. There might have been an assumption of bitterness at being ordered about by the man, especially from Asla but truth be told the young man was pretty happy to be trusted to fight at all and to not be distracted while doing it. Naiche launched forwards and Mojito was nearly right on his heels. Much as many were unfamiliar with him and his history of combat he knew exactly where he stood. His biggest fight had been against a gator, a monster larger and faster than himself and with the aid of two others. He had worked with others to take something bigger down before.

Naiche moved to spin their target around, and it did so with almost no resitance, turning so it was facing away from the majority of the group and lunging towards Naiche, making one of Mojito's initial grabs for its hindlegs fall short, his jaws snapping shut on thin air. Mojito skittered back, watching the massive wolf more closely this time. He had that luxury only because Niache had kept its focus so solely on him, wounding its muzzle. The dire growled, eyes ablaze as it stared down Naiche. It took a single easy-to-miss step, but Mojito's position allowed him to garner what it was about to attempt, shifting its weight to try and crush its opponent with its superior weight.

Mojito moved then, launching himself forward and he grasped the dire's right hindleg in his jaw. Mojito dug in, a growl escaping his mouth as he felt flesh rip under his fangs. And now he had the dire wolf's attention. Though it couldn't exactly split it between them as Naiche seemed to see an opening and make his own attack. As such they were able to harry the dire, the moment it swapped its attention from one of them the other would make their attack, able to exhaust the invader while sparing themselves from the same fate. Not that it was easy. No, more than a few times the dire had spun around fully, managing to outmaneuver them and Mojito's right shoulder was already starting to ache, the blood sticky in his fur, as the adrenaline was starting to wear off. He was, despite the pair's best effort's feeling his strength and his energy flag. He hadn't even been asleep when the call had gone up, he had had no rest from the day and he wasn't even sure when he last meal had been. Probably at least a day ago now. Pain flashed through him as the massive dire struck his head with a paw nearly the same size as his skull, his ears ringing.

Some time ago Hoa had let out a distressed bleating and Mojito had had just enough time to glance back to see a yearling he didn't recognize terrorizing the pups but he'd been forced to return his attention to the threat in front of him... he didn't know how long ago that was... 5 hours? 2 Minutes?

Mojito stumbled, glad to find the dire wolf had turned his attention back towards Naiche, his ears still ringing and he spat blood out onto the ground, though it seemed to fill his mouth again immediately after. Mojito growled frustration, anger and a territorialness that was foreign to him flooded him and he made a somewhat risky grab, he slid forward, nearly effortlessly moving under the massive wolf and aiming to grab its right hind paw. As it just so happened the dire was taking a step towards Naiche as it did so and Mojito grabbed the paw on its left side. And then she bit down hard feeling bones crunch under his jaws, a toe or two breaking under the pressure. Then he was being slammed into the ground, the paw in his jaw pressing painfully into his lower jaw bone and grinding it into the ground, then dragging him along the ground as the dire kicked him off almost effortlessly.

Mojito skidded across the snow, watching as it limped forward, blood marring the creature and as Mojito struggled back to his paws, his legs shaking and his sore and bleeding shoulder making that much harder than he'd hoped, he knew that they'd win. The dire was slowing, exhausted, and probably losing more blood than it had anticipated. They just had to chase it off... before Mojito passed out from his own blood loss.

WC: 1091 (8461/9500)

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