She shivered in the chill of the Spring morning. Spring seemed a terribly inaccurate word. The world had gone from Winter, to a deeper, chillier version of itself. Snow coated the land more furiously then before. The growing season had been pushed aside, and the world was sadder for it.

She surveyed the snow-buried thick-rooted forest for a moment, before moving forward. She wiggled her way under the first set of winding branches. Misjudging it, she knocked her head lightly against the underside, and a small avalanche of snow cascaded down upon her. She bit back a soft cry of surprise, and shook the damp white substance from her back. Shivering now, she sniffed, and shuffled forward again.

Moving into a larger clearing, it seemed safer to pick up the pace. She was trotting lightly across the field, snow crunching under foot, when the sound of something heavy caught her attention. She turned in surprise and saw the large shape of a wolf that seemed impossibly tall. Its teeth like daggers as it snarled and lunged at her. Now her shriek was undeniable, and she threw herself to the side, falling head first into a mound of snow.

"Speech"

It was supposed to be Spring. He was supposed to be laying on his back, basking in the sun. Not trudging through snow. But, who was he to complain? He was warm enough, if a little hungrier. Still, it seemed like the Southern part of Boreas should have been, you know… warmer? No? Still cold here?

Fine.

Not that he really knew anything about anything around here. This was just Souther than he'd been before, and that was good enough for him. He'd traveled most of the night, minding his own business, avoiding company, sniffing at the occasional interesting scent-trail. He figure he'd eventually nestle himself into the roots of one of these trees and take a nice nap. Maybe he'd dig out a nice little bowl in the snow and–

He heard something.

Iarlaith went still, ears perked and alert.

…no?

Probably some animal knocking snow off branches somewhere, someplace. He yawned, nose scrunching.

And sneezed. His tongue flashed out, licking the last vestiges of the tickling sensation away. Easing back into a languid walk, Iarlaith figured it was fine; he didn't have any friends in these part. No enemies, either. Nothing to worry about. Whatever. An ear flicked, he lowered his head again, and pressed forward–

That kind of sounded like a growl, somewhere off to the left.

The damnable snow muffled everything, making it hard to judge distance. But it sounded close.

"What in the hell…?" His head shot up once more, brow furrowed. His first instinct, of course, was to keep on, maybe a little quieter than before. Sounded like trouble, get the hell away. Easy. There were bigger, meaner things around than him, most of which he'd rather not meet in the middle of the woods on a cold Winter– Spring– day…

Someone shrieked.

His paws stopped of their own accord. That sounded like trouble.

He was one wolf, living on his own, with nothing to gain by jumping into a stranger's business. He needed to keep his head down and do only what was absolutely necessary to him, not go toward the big, menacing noise in the distance.

He sighed, eyes slipping closed. Resigned.

Iarlaith whirled in the direction of the cry and, before he could overthink just what it was he'd decided to do, his paws picked up the pace, carrying him over and under foliage until he reached a broad clearing. He skid to a halt, eyes narrowed, sweeping the horizon. Maybe it was gone now? Maybe it was nothing–

Ah. No. Definitely not nothing.

The sight was almost comical: some poor fool, face-planted in the snow, a beastly creature that, to Iarlaith, seemed more bear than wolf (seriously, it was huge), and grim chances. Well, for the little lady anyway.

This is a bad idea. He cringed, but his paws started forward again, this time at a dead run.

"Heya!" Disturbingly casual. "Big guy!" Iarlaith's fangs flashed, somewhere between a grin and a snarl.

She cringed in the snow, memories of the past overwhelming her for a moment. The darkness of the snow around her face encouraged them. She sucked in a deep breath, breathing in snow and chocking as she tore herself free - both of the snow, and the past. She had expected to have been attacked by now, but something had caught its attention. She hadn’t heard the first words, head buried in the snow, but she caught the next.

Someone was calling attention to the dire wolf attacking her, buying her time. Heart thudding in her chest she scrambled further along the snow, finding her balance and turning the ungainly fleeing into something a little more controlled. She turned once she had put a few lengths of distance between herself and her attacker. It was facing the wolf that had called out, stalking towards him, teeth bared, and stance clearly hostile.

Oh, hell.

She couldn’t leave him. He had risked himself for her.

She glanced behind her once, fantasising perhaps about losing her conscience and fleeing. When she focused again on the two wolves, she had pushed aside her fear, and charged. Leaping at the hind legs of the dire wolf, and pulling with all her might. The larger creature kicked out, knocking against the scales that protected her forehead.

"Speech"

He saw a situation and responded.

God, he should have thought this through. Not that he had the luxury; the behemoth turned to face Iarlaith, all fangs-longer-than-his-toes and eyes burning murderous intent. He almost had to remind himself that was exactly what he intended. Though Iarlaith was aware of the she-wolf in his peripheral as he charged, he hadn't the time to check on her, altogether more concerned with how each stride carried him toward his inevitable fate…

I'm an idiot.

I'm definitely an idiot.

There was no chance for him to talk his way out of this now, was there?

An audacious grin spread across his face, because he was going to regret this tomorrow. If he got to see tomorrow. His heart was racing, and he was certain if he actually tried to think, he'd end up dead. He had to be fast—his brother always told him he so. Of course, back then Iarlaith argued he only needed to think faster. He couldn't pretend now that he wasn't at least a little grateful for his brother's insistence on sparring together when they were younger. It had its uses.

By the time Iarlaith had closed most of the distance, she was on her paws. And running. Not gracefully. But he'd applaud her on her efficiency, if nothing else. At least she got away.

He was less sure about himself, however. He was about to go head-to-head, literally, with a wolf easily twice his size and then some. Just when Iarlaith figured the best he could hope for was a quick nip at the heals before he was sprinting away for his life, the woman turned.

She'd snapped for a hind leg.

Well, color him impressed. Running head-first into snarling jaws didn't strike him as his best idea; he was sure it wasn't. Still, he had momentum on his side, and he'd use it. He kept up his stride, trying to side-swipe the monster, aiming snapping teeth for another hind leg in the hopes he might somehow trip the beast up. If Iarlaith had to fight, he'd fight… even if it meant he was on the defensive. He'd always been able to outmaneuver his brother. Even if he was nothing more than a bee heckling a bear, he'd bloody well do it. And this was no exception.

"Speech"

Her teeth found their mark and she yanked hard. Hoping to cause - if nothing else - enough of a distraction to help the black wolf. It must have worked, because Helpful Stranger was able to race across the Dire’s side and snap at the other hind leg.

The Dire wolf was snarling, and it turned its upper body towards her, teeth salivating beneath its growl. She felt her heartbeat pick up as it turned those jaws towards her. She fought to keep her grip. Don’t have a panic attack, don’t have a panic attack she mentally whispered. Now wasn’t the time. She released the paw and dove under the creature's belly. It whipped its head forward and bit at the air where she had been. It might be a massive sized beast, but it seemed slower then the average wolf in its movements.

Likely that was the only reason she was still alive.

The foolish woman snapped at its belly, trying to dig her teeth into the softer flesh there, even as she darted to and fro, trying to stay under him where his teeth couldn’t get her.

"Speech"

His fangs met their mark; he clamped down, biting until he felt his teeth grind. It wasn't like his body just stopped moving because his jaws found their target… the rest of him kept going in the other direction despite how he planted his paws, lending potent force as he pulled the beast's leg out from under it. The giant wolf teetered, fangs snapping furiously.

For a brief moment, the giant was a wheelbarrow in their fangs, back paws caught, though not quite off the ground. Good. Good, good good, perfect wait– it was turning to snap at her again. Damn, it recovered fast!

Iarlaith grumbled around his mouthful. He could taste blood, but the dire wolf was shaking and twisting, and while Iarlaith stood a chance for a few seconds, now he was getting dragged around like a fish on a rod as it aimed for her.

Iarlaith couldn't see much around his mouthful of leg, but if the beast kept tossing and turning, he'd have to let go.

…wait, was she underneath it now? Right. Not letting go. He gave another harsh tug as the little damsel tried to reach softer bits, trying to keep the dire wolf occupied, lest she end up so much wolf-meat.

The dire wolf ducked its head between its forepaws, jaws snapping as it tried to reach the female beneath it.

Oh, for the love of– just give up already!

Iarlaith planted his hind paws as the monster kicked out again, pulling his forelegs clear off the ground with the jagged movement. The hell was I evening thinking!? Well. There was always that little trick his brother showed him.

God, he missed his brother.

As the dire twisted its forequarters in an effort to reach the more immediate threat to its life—the unknown female—Iarlaith gave another harsh tug to the side, pulling the dire wolf's hind leg under its body. Twisted round as it was, center-of-balance off, in snow, a foreleg slipped. Unbalance, the dire wolf slid, threatening to fall. On her. Oops.

"Ook owf!" The muffled warning is all Iarlaith can get out without losing his grip.

The beast emitted a frustrated growl. Two-on-one. Hardly fair, is it?

"Speech"

OOC:

She wasn’t sure how well the dark-pelted stranger was fairing but she could hear the scuffing of his body in the snow. The dire wolf was just too damn big. She and the wolf that had come to help her were about similar height, and the dangerous wolf towered above them both. She wasn’t thinking of him as a wolf at the moment, he was too strange and different. He was a mindless beast hunting them, and seemed to have no use for words.

She dug into the dire wolf's belly, putting much of her strength and weight into the bite. Letting it be her hold as it tossed and turned in an attempt to get to her or knock her loss. Then the black wolf did… something, and suddenly things were moving.

He barked something and it took her brain a second to translate it into look out! and then she was releasing her hold and diving to the side. The dire wolf fell. The gutterl beast growled, and Sera, climbing to her shaking paws, growled right back. Her fear hadn’t reached her yet, not in any sort of intelligent way. She knew it would catch up, but if she turned into a ball of unyielding, unmoving floppy wolf, then she would die, and maybe her stranger would too in an attempt to save her. So she growled harder, and snapped her jaws. It was two against one, go find easier prey elsewhere.

Perhaps he was getting the message, he started to shake himself loose of the black wolf.

"Speech"

OOC: If you think I've gone too far with the dire here, please let me know and I'll change my post.

The behemoth fell.

Another kick dislodged its massive limb from Iarlaith's grasp and he, gracelessly, stumbled back several paces before recovering himself with an annoyed huff. Eyes narrowed into venomous slits, he released deep growl, fangs bared and bloodied. It looked like "little" miss had heard his warning: at least, she'd managed to get clear before the dire wolf went down. Iarlaith danced from paw-to-paw, ready for another assault—or to run away—if needed.

It proved an unnecessary measure.

The dire wolf snarled, gathering its limbs back under itself with some effort. Its head whipped between the pair who'd managed to topple it. It—no, he—spoke in brusque, difficult syllables. Words garbled and thickly-accented, it barked, "Brave,", muzzle swinging first toward the female, then to the male, "or foolish." He snorted, not bothering to elaborate, disdain in every word. The dire didn't seem to be a fool, or knew when he was beaten. He rose to his paws, jaws snapping with a click in the female's direction, though with no intent to maim or assault, rather a warning: back off.

Iarlaith recoiled, brows shooting up. The dire was on his paws, giant bounds taking it over the snow far more easily than Iarlaith's own legs could, away from the pair of wolves. Bloody trees for legs! Seriously. Massive. The only thing more satisfying would have been if his tail had been between his legs… but Iarlaith could make do. At least it looked like the monster had a slight limp, and blood trailed behind it, small, glistening drops sinking into the snow.

Once he was sure the brute wasn't coming back, he snorted. Blood—not his—flew from his nose. Gross. He chortled, though his heart was still pounding and the after-battle jitters were sinking in something fierce. "Serves the bloody brute right!" Oh, but… he wasn't exactly alone, now was he? Yeah, he'd been on a rescue mission. Speaking of… he turned toward the lady, orange eyes flashing as he cocked a grin.

"You okay?"

"Speech"

It was one thing to consider the enemy a mindless beast. Especially caught up as they had been in the battle. Adrenaline ran through her system, pushing out the fear. There had been no time for anything but the moment.

But as she stood there in the snow, the dire spoke. She realized there was intelligence behind his eyes. Had he attacked her for food, or for something different? She remembered being close to him, under him during the battle. Thr beast of a dire had been closer then she ever should have allowed. She felt sick, felt it rising her stomach and throat. She fought down the bile, her knees locking into place.

She felt the panic attack forming, but there was nothing she could do to swallow it. White showed in her eyes as her breath quickened. If the dire hadn't taken that moment to turn and leave them alone in the snow, she knew things would have gone bad. Helpless, trapped by her past and betrayed by the broken pieces of her soul. She hung her head, staring at the snow, willing her body to obey her.

The stranger was speaking, she needed to get a grip. She clenched her paws in the snow. It was in the past. It couldn't hurt her now. "Your timing was... that is to say, thank you."

Iarlaith panted. He hadn't had to do anything like that in a long time. Couldn't say he really wanted to do it again anytime soon, but, eh. He probably would. He figured, at the very least, he'd get to see tomorrow after all. He'd hardly expected the ginormous wolf to run away, but he would take what he could get. And the hell did the brute mean, anyway, saying something like that? Ridiculous.

Turning properly to the she-wolf now they were on their own, he planted himself on his rump, heedless of the snow. It was already everywhere anyway, kicked into his face by the big guy. He snorted, blowing more from the end of his nose. His innards were trembling something fierce, and he was more than happy to relax a moment. He was pretty sure he was going to feel all this after he took his nap, too.

The she-wolf didn't respond immediately.

His smile dropped a fraction, reluctant to disappear completely in the wake of their apparent victory. She still looked tense, even though the fight was very-definitely-over. When she did answer? Well, he couldn't blame her for looking shaken.

A dark brow raised. "Yeah, uh… you're welcome," he said, one ear flicking in a canid shrug.

He considered, nose twitching (all he could smell was blood-blood-blood and it was annoying, it wasn't even the good kind), eyes slipping aside almost casually. It looked like there'd been a scuffle, shuffled snow all around; they'd made a right mess of things, hadn't they? He was almost pleased, but there was no time for that right now. His eyes slid back to her. "You sure you're okay? You were face-planted pretty hard earlier," his lip curled, vague amusement plain on his face. "You do something to piss him off?"

See, that was the thing about jumping into situations like this. He didn't have the whole story. For all he knew, she'd deserved it… then again, something told him maybe not, given how things had played out.

"Speech"

He didn’t attempt to approach. Instead, he rested his rump into the snow. His words helped to settle her, as did his patient stillness - whether he meant it to or not. Once the fear washed away, her frustration surfaced. She didn’t want to be anyone's victim, and some people's damsel.

“I’m fine ” she said with emphasis. This time, it even sounded almost true. “I have a hard noggin” she touched a paw to the scales that her brow featured with a sigh. It seemed there was a reason she was born with them - in that she was often finding herself knocking against something.

“Never seen him before in my life” she said truthfully. “Never seen a bastard that big before” [/color] she added. Who knew wolves even came in that size? Not her.

“You always run head first into danger, or did you get your directions confused?”

"Speech"

Mist curled around his maw as he chuckled, "Lucky for you, I get my directions confused on the regular." His eyes rolled. Guess she's fine. Which meant he could leave well enough alone if he wanted. She even said she was fine. Half a smirk lingering on his face, Iarlaith pulled himself back to his paws—yeah, definitely going to feel it later—and pointed himself in the direction he'd originally come from, only to pause.

His tail swished once, absently, head cocking in the direction, the, eh, "Big Bastard" had gone.

Brave… or foolish.

"Well. Congrats to us both on living to see another day…" His words trailed.

It wasn't a threat, was it? His head tilted, eyes sliding back to the she-wolf. Nothing like some cryptic parting words to keep a guy guessing. He shrugged it off. Literally.

He was a damned fool all the time. Hadn't killed him yet. That thought took his head down a dangerous path with one foul yank. He schooled his face, features sharp as he gave the she-wolf a final once-over. Scales. On a wolf. Who knew?

"You got a name to go with the hard head of yours?" He needed a reference point for every stupid, potentially life-ending thing he did, after all.

"Speech"

She snorted in surprised amusement as he took her bad joke and ran with it. Good for him. He didn’t seem to take any shit from hard-headed damsels lost in the woods. Of course, sometimes it felt like she got her directions a bit muddled too. Dire wolf staring down her black-coated stranger in the snow? Charge right in. Have any ‘ol friendly wolf come within a few feet of her? Definitely time to panic.

She sighed softly, startled when he suddenly moved, pulling himself to his paws. What was he doing? He started to move, then paused. Perhaps not willing to leave without a passing goodbye. “It’s Sera. and yours?” she hadn’t had anybody run in to help her like that before. It was strange, and new, and she wanted to at least know his name. Of course. She also didn’t want him to get up and leave, but she wasn’t going to say that out loud.


"Speech"

"Sera, huh?" His head tilted slightly, the lackadaisical half-smile returning. He considered something, head tilting owlishly: first one way, then the other. His smile turned into an impish little grin. What was his name to a she-wolf he'd probably never see again? Hell, no one had uttered his name out loud in–

Well.

A long time.

Not that it bothered him, much. "Oh, y'know," he drawled, tail flopping lazily. You know.

"I prefer 'Tall-Dark-And-Handsome,'" he winked. He wasn't very tall. He proceeded in a sing-song fashion, head bobbing languidly, like he hadn't just rushed in, risking life and limb to chew on the leg of a wolf triple his size (later he'd tell the story of a wolf four-times his height).

"Rover, Wanderer, Hey-Boy!" Another pause for emphasis, but his lips curled a little more with each "name" he uttered, until his tongue lolled stupidly from his mouth. "Dumbass." His eyes rolled to the side, the vision of mock-thought as he tried to "remember" more… "Fluffy Asshole…" Brows raising waggishly, he tried to suppress a grin (and failed). "Eh, 'Mysterious Stranger' is a personal favorite."

He turned away as he said the last one, tail swaying as he padded forward. He should probably stop teasing the poor girl. But, really, what good would his name actually do her? Though, he supposed it was courtesy, wasn't it? Not that he ever cared much for that, unless it suited him. He sobered slightly, neck twisting so he could look back at the girl named Sera.

"All perfectly good names, I think." Pfft. His muzzle dipped. "But my brother called me Iarlaith."  His muzzle raised again, eyes sliding to her, impish twinkle replaced with something a little more earnest.

He smiled his lazy smile and repeated her name back to her. He looked like he was deep in thought for a long moment, and his growing smile indicated trouble. Oh yeah. Definitely trouble. Her own lips twitched as he gave her his preferred ‘name’

They twitched a little more as he went on to list a whole slew of names. “Some are better than others” she agreed. “Alright, Tall Dark and Mysterious” she grinned this time, stretching across her lips and shadowed in her eyes. It had been a while since anybody had made her laugh. “Iarlaith.” she continued, “Thank you.” she said with more sincerity this time. She truly was thankful, she wasn’t sure what would have happened if he hadn’t come along. Fool that she was, she had gone head first in the snow.

She glanced up at the sky, the day was progressing without them. “What brought you out this way, anyway?”


"Speech"

Tall, Dark, and Mysterious? His face scrunched, amused. Ah, yeah. That was a good one. It was her earnest thanks, however, that gave him inward pause once more, however. He turned to face her yet again. Not every wolf was an altruistic creature. Maybe Iarlaith was, on a good day. Today was one such day, if actions indicated anything. But she was asking questions. Questions he'd rather not answer. He contemplated for the barest second, but decided this one was much simpler than the truth:

"I like seeing the world." Sure. Why not side-quest for a while? "There's a lot of it to go around, so I figured: why not?" A hapless shrug. "And if I meet the occasional lost damsel along the way, I suppose it means I've seen a little more of it. And, uh…" he chuckled, "…the occasional misadventure isn't too bad." His eyes flicked in the direction their opponent had fled. "Though, I can't say I'd relish a rematch." His brow furrowed.

What if the brute came back? Iarlaith shook himself. Better he left this place. Better they both left this place. A hind leg rose to scratch at his ear, casual, relaxed, belaying his inner nerves. "Well, kid. Nice meeting you." He turned once more. There were tree roots he needed to curl up under and his own business he needed to mind… though, she was a nice kid, he thought. "Take care of yourself, huh? I might not be around to rush in and save you next time." That was how things went. He'd probably never see her again. She hadn't handled herself too badly, all things considered, and, he figured, neither had he.

"Speech"