Let's Kill Tigger!

For a beat, neither wolf nor tiger moved or backed down from the stand off. Artorias held his ground, despite not being able to put much weight on his injured leg. He was locked in this fight now whether he liked it or not. To back down would mean death—for himself and for any of the young pups Sirius had told him had been born here recently. He would not allow that to happen. Carefully unslinging his bag of wines to set them aside, Artorias assumed a more stable fighting stance, squaring off with the tiger, which bared its long fangs at him with a hissing growl. Fire opal eyes narrowed to lethal points while Art snarled back from around the sword in his jaws. And then the wolf heard something he hadn't been expecting to hear: the voice of a pup.

The sudden burst of youthful expletives caught Artorias way off guard. A quick glance down, and yep, there was a sizable lad at his side, baring the hallmark Fatalis colors and saber fangs against the tiger with him. Without a doubt, this had to be one of the newest brood. Shit, now he had to watch out for the kid too! The pup started to taunt the tiger, far too effectively mind you, and the large cat turned its lethal attention to Basilisk instead. Artorias growled again and moved to protect the pup, placing himself slightly between the tiger and the child. The tiger roared and pounced, leaping to go around Artorias, but the wolf moved quicker. With a flurry of his blade, Artorias swung the sword in an upward arc that caught the tiger right across the shoulder. The cat yowled in pain as a splatter of crimson sprayed across the grasses.

Without missing a beat, Artorias spun and brought the sword back around to catch the back of the tiger's foreleg, severing the tendons where paw met leg and rendering it useless and limp. The tiger let loose a pained cry again and swung its good paw at Artorias' face, the wolf barely managing to duck beneath the strike and put some space between them. He yelped as the pain in his foreleg flared up again, protesting his erratic movements. Artorias favored his other legs, keeping his injured paw elevated and off the ground while he tried to maintain his balance. Fiery eyes moved between the tiger and Basilisk, making sure the pup remained out of harm's way. By distracting their foe, Art had opened up avenues for Basilisk to exploit.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian"