Even the best laid plans

The warmth he gathered for Ikigai quickly began to pull him under into sleep as well and despite his best efforts to stay awake and keep watch he found himself napping along with his mate. His last thought before he slipped into the peaceful darkness was of the fact that they hadn't seen a soul this whole trip through the mountains so surely it would be fine to let down his guard for just a few moments to get some rest as well. It was a long trip and it was better to be prepared and perhaps wait out the high winds a bit than risk wearing themselves out. Who knew when he might need to defend or carry Ikigai, after all? With his head tucked down over Ikigai's he slept wonderfully with just wisps of dreams flickering through his mind of black, white, and purple marked pups in amongst memories of his mate.

He didn't stir until Ikigai's voice calling out a sharp 'no' yanked him out of sleep as if someone had dumped cold water on him. His aqua gaze flew open with a gasp, spotting the flash of shaggy brown fur as the large bear turned away from the den and rushed back out into the snow. Deimos scrambled to his paws, his heart immediately pounding as adrenaline hit his system his mind reeled and he tried to make sense of what was happening in his still sleep-muddied state. His paws struggled to find purchase for a moment as he sprinted out of the small den, slipping a bit and getting delayed by the need to right himself on the snow-covered, narrow path. His gaze darted up, finding the brown bear as it charged up the path and all at once it felt like everything froze and his heart stopped when he saw Ikigai standing on the opposite side of the bear from him, backing away fruitlessly from her attacker. "Ikigai!" he gasped as he rushed forward to stop the ursine, but it was too late.

Just before he managed to get within range of the bear, he watched as that massive paw that was so similar to his own slammed into Ikigai's delicate shoulder and he could only watch as her thin frame went flying over the edge of the path. Immediate rage roared hot through his veins and he slammed into the side of the bear with a growling snarl, catching it off guard as his own bear-like claws hooked into his shoulder and his jaws crushed down around its throat as he knocked it down onto the snowy, craggy path. His shove pushed the bear into the cliff face opposite of where Ikigai had fell and into a sharp spike of broken rock, the stone impaling the bear through its ribs while he made quick work of ripping away at its throat and tearing through flesh. It didn't take long to finish off the bear, but by the time he managed to scramble back from the now perished ursine and turn to look over the edge of the cliff, panting and covered in the bear's blood, all he could see was Ikigai laying on the lower path below him, a pool of blood staining the snow around her. From where he was standing with her cloak covering her body he couldn't tell where the blood was coming from, but he could see that she was moving and that was the only thing he needed to get him moving again.

He scrambled down the path, moving as fast as he could without sending himself careening over the edge as well. As desperate as he was to get to her, he was at least cognizant enough of his actions to understand that injuring himself as well would only hurt them both in the end. It was only a few more moments of picking his way down the cliff on small platforms and cracks in the rock till he was at her side, panting hard as he managed to gasp, "Iki?" He reached for her, falling into the snow beside her to gently examine her, moving the thick cape aside to he could get a sense of where she was injured so he would know what to avoid touching so that he could get her home. Quickly he realized that there were almost no open wounds or lacerations or even any noticeable broken bones–but there was a lot of blood. Too much blood that was all coming from one place.

The realization hit him hard, making it feel as if all of the air had been sucked out of his lungs. Wide aqua eyes filled with disbelief and heartache moved to his mate's face, seeing the tears that were falling from her silver gaze and immediately clumping into sparkles of thin ice on her cheeks. All he felt was pain, a deep, fathomless pain as he carefully pulled Ikigai's smaller frame into his own, clutching her to his chest with her back to him, much how he had imagined laying with her whenever she would give birth to their children. While he wasn't as well versed and adept at anatomy and healing as she was, he was at least aware of what needed to come and he wrapped his large forelegs around her, giving her his upper foreleg to use as a pillow, while he licked away her tears and kept her cloak covering her body as much as possible to fend off the cold in any way he could. Tears stung at his own eyes, but he swallowed them back behind anger and rage, holding her a little tighter as he quietly contemplated going back up the cliff to tear that bear apart limb by limb though he knew it wouldn't do him any good and it wouldn't bring their children back.

"Deimos & Ikigai"