Don't Need Those Bear Necessities!

"Talk" Walk

The whole commotion at the battlefield had been a huge shit show. His uncle was livid with Shaye and her interference, and Ignis at this point was unsure of what was going to happen. Would his uncle get kicked from the pack? Would he leave the pack of his own free will? Whatever happened, Ignis didn't want to stay there without his uncle. And he knew his sister wouldn't, either. He had grown to like Abaven, and he had made a friend. Corvus was growing on him, the other boy constantly on his mind. The crimson male found himself getting attached in a way, but he told himself it was because he had never had a friend before. Frowning, he figured he'd find him when he got back to Abaven to talk to him. Or rather, vent to him...despite his complete trust in his uncle, he didn't want to talk to either him or his sister about how he was feeling, but maybe he could with Corvus? He supposed he'd have to try when he returned. Right now, he was taking some time away. He was anxious about what might happen when his uncle returned from wherever he had decided to go after the whole ordeal, and if they were leaving, well...he wanted to prolong it just a little bit more.

Ignis had decided to go northward, and on the way, he managed to catch himself a scrawny snow hare for lunch. Before he caught it, he was hungry. But now that he had actually caught it, he suddenly didn't feel so hungry. He figured he should have been considering it took him a while to track one down. That on top of having crimson fur certainly didn't help his hunting in the snow. But the hare wasn't as fast or as strong as he thought it would be, and it was likely due to the lack of food during this very harsh winter. His wolverine companion always helped him hunt, but Ignis had left them behind so he could go on alone to think. He wandered beneath the pine trees, his would-be meal in his jaws as he sought out a nice spot to sit down. While he didn't feel hungry at this moment, he would have to eat sooner or later. Getting here wasn't too much of a big deal, but the northern weather was unpredictable and he didn't want to end up getting caught in a blizzard for who knew how long without anything to eat. So he seized his opportunity now so that he didn't have to worry about it later.

As he took his time wandering around, snow began to gently fall from the dark grey sky. Crimson gazed turned upwards for a moment as he came to a stop, watching the flakes come down. A few would land on his nose, quietly melting away until there was nothing. He wasn't sure what it was, but he suddenly felt like the snowflakes that had just melted away. As he stood there watching the snow fall, he heard the sudden 'snap' of a twig or something. Startled by the sound, he whipped his head around to see what the cause of the sound was, but he couldn't see anything. Did his uncle or sister decide to follow him? He scented the air, but didn't detect any sign of either of them. He continued to look around, but he was unable to spot anything out of the ordinary. Deciding to continue on, he managed to get a couple of yards in before he froze.

Standing just a few short yards ahead of him stood a bear. It was tall, skinny, and it looked mean. His eyes locked on the bear's eyes, both staring each other down. Ignis was hesitant, heart pounding against his chest. He took a step back, and that was all the bear needed to come at him. He turned and ran with the hare gripped in his mouth, and the bear gave chase. He darted in between trees and jumped bushes, but the yearling boy wasn't as swift or as accustomed to the snow as the bear was. He searched for a place to take cover and maybe get it off his trail, but then remembered he was pretty much a beacon in the snow. His crimson fur was no good for him in the sea of white. He ran a good few minutes, glancing behind him every now and then just to see the bear still following him. It's angry roars and grunts and the pounding of its feet on the ground sent Ignis into panic mode. He knew he couldn't fight the bear alone, there was no way in hell he'd be able to win. He didn't have the experience for that. And yes, while he had taken down a tiger, it was with Rhyme's help and Ignis hadn't gotten away unscathed from that.

He decided then, to take a chance. He put on the brakes and skidded to a halt, sending snow and debris flying up around him. He could hear the bear pounding the ground as it neared, and so Ignis took his chance. With the veil of snow around him, he quickly turned around and aimed to dart past the bear. His hope that his move would confuse it quickly flew off the table. The bear didn't fall for his abrupt trick, and it turned towards him. Its teeth snapped at him as he tried to race by, missing him by a hair. It's long claws, however, caught his hind leg and he was sent flying into the snow. He yelped when he hit the ground, dropping the hare. The bear came towards him, and Ignis struggled to scramble to his feet. The bear reared up, madness glittering in its beady black eyes. It bellowed at him just before bringing itself down upon him. He was on his back, so when the bear sought to get at him with its teeth, Ignis lunged just enough to get a solid grip on the bears nose. Surprised that its quarry was fighting back, the bear lifted itself just enough to shake the wolf off of him while slapping him off with an open paw.

Ignis took his cue to leave. He scrambled to his feet and high tailed it away, running as fast as his adrenaline-fueled limbs would carry him. He glanced back once to see the bear still bellowing at him. Heart pounded hard against his chest as he ran, his right hind leg painfully pounding the snow as he did so. He wanted to get as far away from that bear as possible, and hopefully, make it home without any other run-ins with another hungry predator...