I'm Only Joking

Much like Morendo, young Revenant had occupied his day with learning and training of his own. Today, he had spent time learning and practicing the names of the different pack in the world and their respective leaders. There was a bit of a wanderlust in the pup, and already he knew he one day wanted to see and visit all these other packs, if for no other reason than to see how they stacked up to Fenmyre. Not that there would be any real competition, of course. Their kingdom was the greatest in the world after all! Still, it was good to practice. What if Dad took them to visit another pack like he did for the Hallows? He could show off his impressive knowledge of the foreign packs and their cultures and make all the other pups envious of how smart he was! The boy was lounging outside the family compound in the shade of some trees, muttering to himself as he mentally recited his lessons from the day. "Ashen is Venom... in the Dove Belt Archipelago. Armada is... Sirius, in the Tall Grass Plains. " Hey, this wasn't so hard!

While he dipped through his mental flashcards, Revenant caught sight of a blur of pallid fur heading out of the compound nearby. A quick glance confirmed it was Morendo, and a wicked grin slowly spread across Revenant's lips. His brother hadn't seen him, and he was in the prime position to stalk and pounce his sibling unawares. Maybe this would teach Morendo that skipping out on fighting lessons to learn how to sing like a sissy was a bad idea. Rising up to his paws, the dark-furred phantom slunk out of the shadows and followed after his brother, intent on creeping up behind him and catching him in a pin before he knew what had hit him. It seemed fate had a different plan for the boys, however, as only a short trek down the path, the sounds of growling and hissing snarls broke the silence. Morendo took off running and Revenant froze, confused and bewildered, but followed after a beat as well. Rounding a corner, he saw the chaotic sight before him. His other brother, Strix, was squaring off against three fully grown jaguars on his own, and Morendo had just rushed in to help.

Revenant paused for a moment, assessing the situation and analyzing his possible options. Nobody had seen him yet; he could easily just run off and pretend he hadn't seen anything. But then his brothers would most definitely die, and while he was a bit of a jerk, he wasn't a heartless monster. He wasn't going to let some overgrown cats make mincemeat of his siblings! Morendo had already called for help, but Revenant stayed back and released a series of distressed barks to summon his parents or Aunt Dalila as well. Then he took off into the fray. With the boys at about half their adult height, he and Morendo were approximately the same size as the jaguars, but little Strix was very small compared to them. Revenant's only mission was to distract the felines and keep them away from Strix. "Hey! Over here, you oversized tabbies!" he shouted to catch the attention of one of the two jaguars going for his little brother. The jaguar snarled and turned on Revenant, the two predators snarling at one another and squaring off. The jaguar lunged for Revenant, swiping at the boy's side, but the Klein prince deftly avoided with a brisk sidestep of paws, rounding to deliver a biting lunge at the jaguar's face. His teeth nipped at fur, but just barely missed finding purchase in flesh. Back and forth the two exchanged this deadly dance, both waiting for one or the other to make a fatal mistake or leave an opening vulnerable for them to exploit.

WC: 644
Total: 1653 / 1500

"Revenant"