Not so friendly welcome

The band had crossed into the grove of trees and berry bushes late the evening before so as soon as they managed to find a spot to settle in for the night they did just that. It was not really until the next norming that Manea was able to take stock of their surroundings. She had briefly scouted the grove before they traveled down here, but she had not had the luxury of time to throughly explore it until now. She spent a bit of time that morning settling in with the help of the others, making a more substantial set of dens either dug out or in the nooks of trees that they lined with furs and made sure they were covered from the elements. Already she was eager to make the brief trek to where Fenmyre was located, curious to see how the pack Chimera had once described was faring, but first she needed to make sure she secured a place for her band to rest safely from the long journey across Boreas. Traveling that distance hadn't felt so taxing when it had just been her or perhaps her and Alastor, but now that they had quite a large band to contend with it ended up taking far more time and energy than she had originally thought. She didn't feel as if they would make that long of a journey again until they were ready to permanently settle on her island.

It was early afternoon when she finished up the work around their new camp and she started to explore around the perimeter of the grove, sniffing curiously at some of the flourishing berry bushes. She would have to consult with Irilyth later to find out if any of them were fit for eating. If they were she was certain that Avacyn and Saracyn would enjoy some as a little treat. She smiled a little at the thought of her children and as if her thoughts could summon them she herd a rustling near by and she paused mid step, looking over at where she heard the sound until she saw a splash of red among the foliage. With a smirk she padded over and reached in a large, feline paw and scooped her son around the middle pulling him out of the bush and into the open with her. "And just what do you think you're up to, young man?" she teased with a chuckle, tapping the top of his head with her nose. He and his sister were getting so big so quickly... Sometimes she wished she could go back and have them be the tiny pups, but she was also enjoying seeing them grow and mature into the most stunning young adults she could have hoped for.

Before she could hear his answer she head a much larger, much more foreboding crash and rustle near by and her smile faded as she turned her attention toward it with a frown. She waited for a moment, listening to the noise as it sounded again like something was clumsily shoving their way through the thick bushes of the grove. "Stick close," she instructed her son before she started moving cautiously toward the noise. If it had been her alone she might have been a bit more brazen in her approach and if Alastor had been with her she would have rushed right into a fight without a second thought, but with Avacyn with her she was a bit more careful in her approach. She was protective of her children and the last thing she wanted was for them to be injured. They crept through a cluster of trees closer to their camp and eventually she found the culprit—a large bear that was studded with crystals around its head and down its back that was trying to get into the cache of food they had stored in a cart that was covered with a few heavy furs. The crystals were clearly impeding its vision and it was stumbling a bit with each step, but was half blindly swiping at the cart, trying to find the food it smelled. Manea frowned and glanced down at Saracyn, giving a nod toward the bear. "Do you want to chase it off with me?" She knew what the answer would be, but she confirmed all the same before she laid out the plan. "I'll draw it away from the cart. Once it's focused on me and pointed away from camp, you run in and bite at it's back legs and get it running. I'll jump in and help you once you've gotten the first blow."

WC: 773
Total: 773 / 1500

Manea | Temno | Ciemny