The season didn't get warmer, which was something he thought was highly unusual. It was making it harder to find the resources he needed for his new hobby. And even more so to find prey that wasn't so thin, they'd barely feed him. But it seemed he would simply have to get what he could, even if it meant he would still be hungry in between meals. At this point, he regretted not returning to Fireside when he had last visited, but at the time, he hadn't been quite ready to settle down in one place quite yet. He liked the loner life. He could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to do it. No rules. No eyes watching. Then again, his family didn't seem to care what any one of them did as far as he was aware, but still. He had the freedom to do whatever the hell he wanted. And he liked that.

He managed to pick up the trail of a doe, though she was thinner than he would have liked, a meal was a meal. While he didn't blend in well with the season's white landscape, the doe likely didn't have the strength to outrun him. He licked his lips as he drew closer, the male hunkered down in the snow as close to the ground as possible as he slunk forward. He was a couple of yards away before the doe finally noticed him, and when it bolted, he took off after it in a flurry of snow. Ares chased it down as it tried to bound over the snow, while he crashed through the drifts with his bulky frame. As the doe sought to jump over a drift, he launched himself forward and snagged a leg in his teeth. With a cry of terror, the doe fell into the snow and Ares promptly hurled his body onto the doe to pin her down with his weight while he made the killing blow.

Breathing hard from the effort of his takedown, he took a few minutes to collect himself before he started to eat. He had no more than a few bites before he caught the sound of...something...approaching, and then the smell of another wolf. He looked up, blood coating his muzzle to find another wolf heading straight for him, only...this wolf was huge. Bigger than him, and bigger even than Torrent. Compared to her, this creature seemed like it'd dwarf her. He stood up and watched as the freakishly huge wolf came towards his kill.

Now, although he had been awestruck for a few moments there, there would only be one reason he could think of that this giant would come towards him. It was eyeing his kill, and as it drew closer, he could see it was clearly interested in his food. Although Ares was generally laid back, things had been tough since last season, and there was no way in hell he was going to just let it take his food when he'd been having so much trouble finding a decent meal these days.

His hackles began to rise and he bared his teeth, uttering a warning growl but it didn't seem to stop the giant in its tracks. "Back off, bub! This is my kill and I'm not letting a giant lunkhead like you take my food!" The giant wolf seemed to not care what he said and proceeded towards the dead doe anyway. As it leaned down to take a bite, Ares attacked.

He snarled as he jumped at the dire wolf, jaws open as he managed to secure a bite over the bridge of the beasts muzzle. With a thunderous snarl, the larger beast threw his head back with pain with Ares still attached. With a heavy paw, it swiped at him, knocking the smaller wolf off and into the snow. Blood spattered the snow, the beast now riled and angry after the celestial wolf's attack. Ares struck the ground with a heavy thud, the breath knocked out of him for a few moments. Okay, so he should've expected that. But being the hot head he was, he didn't exactly think before getting into a fight. The larger beast lunged at him, and Ares barely managed to get out of the way by rolling to his other side before scrambling to his feet. He wouldn't be able to overpower the larger beast, but perhaps he might be able to outspeed it?

With a snarl, he dove for the dire wolf's front legs, aiming to slash it's foreleg with his longer canines before diving out of reach again. Angered, the dire wolf turned to go after him, though Ares kept a few steps ahead of him. With the dire wolf hot on his heels, he abruptly skidded to a stop before quickly doubling back, causing the dire wolf to fumble in his steps as it tried to follow after him. It skidded into a snow drift, but it burst out within moments to continue the chase. Surprised at how fast the beast recovered, Ares made another run for it but he wasn't quick enough this time. The dire wolf managed to catch up and grab his tail in its mouth, earning a yelp from the Saxe male before he was yanked back and into the snow.

The dire wolf stood over him then, teeth bared as it readied to tear into him. As it lunged towards him, Ares kicked. Hard. With both of his hind feet. His kick connected, disorienting the dire wolf. With that, Ares jumped up to bite the beasts foreleg, digging his longer canines as deep into the leg as he could and shaking before the larger wolf batted him away with its head. Ares released his grip, though he was already starting to feel exhaustion creeping up. He hadn't been eating well the last few weeks, so he didn't have the energy he usually did before the season went haywire.

Breathing hard, the pair of wolves circled each other, though Ares knew he was outmatched. He could keep running...but for what? Was this really worth the effort for a skinny piece of prey? Fuck... He knew he wouldn't be able to win..."Alright big guy...you can have it. This isn't worth getting my ass beat over." He remained where he was as the other wolf snarled at him, debating if it wanted to keep trying to rip his throat out, or not. Eventually though, the larger wolf took the win and wandered back to the kill that lay several yards away. Meanwhile, Ares watched it eating his food with boiling anger. In moments like this...he wondered what his dad or grandfather would've done. Would they think him weak and soft for letting that happen? Or did he make the right choice in backing down from a fight he knew he couldn't win?

WC: 1,157

"Speech"

Though the fight was an intense one, in the end the nomad - a wolf larger than his opponent had ever seen before - won out. "Might want to be a bit more careful picking your fights next time," the dire spoke gruffly as him pulled away and moved back toward the kill he'd rightfully claimed as his own, having been silent until now. "Some of my family might not be so forgiving. Nor so gentle with you," he grinned almost wickedly as he kept one eye on his kill and the other on Ares.

-end interaction-