A thick layer of fog clung tight to the ground as the day broke, the sun just barely began to creep over the horizon. Its ascent made a brilliant cascade of pastel pink and orange spread across the morning sky, just beginning to overtake the darkness. The fog only made the sky all the more muted, leaving the world in a hazy, dreamlike state. Caelia was barely even awake herself as she drifted across the moor, slowly shaking sleep from her form. Her jaws parted in a wide yawn as she neared Valhalla's borders, intending to get an early start on her morning patrols. She preferred to be out and about before most of the pack was awake; the quiet was as refreshing as it was therapeutic. Though she liked to keep busy, often she found herself distracted by the presence of the others. Her thoughts were more easily understood when she was alone and things were quiet.

Though it seemed her hopes of a quiet morning were suddenly dashed in the blink of an eye. One moment she was sleepily wandering, nose low to the ground as she sniffed out any scents that were out of the ordinary. Intruder, he sleepy brain suddenly echoed at her, before she even registered what the scent belonged to. A bear. At least it wasn't another goddamn lion was prowling around their borders. Her sleepiness dissipated even more quickly than the early morning fog as the sun rose higher, adrenaline kicking her into high alert as she followed the scent. Taking on a bear by herself was foolish though, though maybe with the help of someone else she could run the predator off without waking up the whole pack. Carefully she let out a very quiet howl, short and succinct, meant only to alert anyone who might be directly nearby.

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

His and Caelia’s patrols were on similar windows, with Ardyn taking one side of the moor, and Caelia’s on the other, and he’d gotten an early start, but the morning was quickly changed into a lot more excitement than he’d expected. Not a raid, but a large, hulking brown shape lumbering out of a pall of mist. Bear! Ardyn’s sharp howl mingled with Caelia’s, lapsing into a near-roar as he barreled into the fray. He knew she was on this morning, and so, he wasn’t too shocked to hear her as he took flight, landing with claws extended and fingers splayed to cling to the bear’s back and thick fur. His howl had startled the bear, who, admittedly had been minding his own business digging for roots, and a grunt turned into a bellow of surprise and not a little pain when Ardyn’s claws, followed by a slash of his canines, gouged into his hide. Quickly surprise and pain turned to short-tempered fury as the bear twisted around in an attempt to reach the young wolf on his back, slobbering jaws and lips snapping, and unaware that the yearling wasn't alone. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Fortunately Caelia wasn't left waiting long before someone caught wind of her call and the bear's presence. She was glad she wasn't going to have to tackle this distraction on her own, evidenced by Ardyn's low. She hoped with his size they'd be able to threaten off the beast before anyone else had to be awoken to deal with this disruption. Cautiously he stole forward through the fog, hearing Ardyn's tackle before she saw it. She felt a low growl beginning to bubble up deep within her chest as the two of them came into view. There was little hesitation as she kicked off and toward the beast, just as he swung around to snap at Ardyn. This time it was Caelia who lunged at his back, aiming to strike hard and fast, jaws parting as she aimed for the back of his neck.

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

Caelia struck like lightning, and the bear staggered in surprise, having been focused on the painfully clinging yearling on its back, and as it swung back with a belly and sought to slap for Caelia’s torso, Ardyn wrenched a hand free and slapped unsheathed claws across the bear’s face, and the resultant bellow and buck from the bear told him he’d struck eyes. He shook his head side to side, putting the sharp back edges of his canines into the bear’s flesh, digging the points deeper before ripping free and seeking to keep the bear distracted from the smaller wolf and scything his sabers back down, sinking to the hilt into the side of the bear’s neck opposite to Caelia. His hind claws dug in deeper for traction, snarling softly with effort. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Fortunately for them both the bear lurched forward in surprise at Caelia's sudden attack. Well, it was mostly a good thing. For a moment its focus left Ardyn and moved toward her, and she hoped the split attention would give them both time to strike in turn. She winced as she felt the bear's paw swing around and smack her side, and she took the opportunity to release her hold on him and fall back to solid ground while Ardyn struck. He had the advantage of his strange claws as he went after the bear's face, hopefully accomplishing something - Caelia couldn't see from her position.

The distraction was successful and allowed her to get her bearings and strike again. Jaws parted as she moved in from the side, aiming a precise bite to the side of the beast's throat. She was perpendicular to him and in a much more precarious position now but she had to hope the bear wouldn't redirect its focus entirely toward her. If so she was poised on the pads of her paws and prepared to spring away as quickly as she'd arrived, as long as she was able to.

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

Blinded in one eye, the bear didn’t see or sense Caelia coming in for a bite until her jaws were already digging in. Ardyn lurched on its back as the bear reared upward, swerving away from the older wolf with a choked snarl. He was pretty sure he’d heard a thump of contact, but until the bear was down and dead, he’d just have to wait to check in on Caelia. He pulled free and slashed again for the bear’s neck, sabers digging in again and this time, between the combined efforts of the two wolves, he found the large vein enough to nick it, and felt that surge of blood that was, by now, very familiar. The Destiny shook his head sharply to widen the wound and dropped away from the bear he spotted the pulsing spray of red. The bear staggered, gurgling, and slowly began to sag as it turned and swiped for him, more of a half-hearted bat of the paw than a real slap. In the next few beats it sank to the ground. Only once he was certain it was dead did Ardyn take his eyes off the bear and look for Caelia, calling, "You alright?" Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

This was definitely a little more risky than taking down a lion had been, at least in her opinion. This beast thrashed around wildly once it was blinded, sent into a state of unbridled panic that Caelia knew could both benefit them as well as hurt them. She lunged at him and opposite her Ardyn did the same, using his unique claws instead of his teeth. She felt the bear slacken slowly as her bite deepened. Blood from the wound Ardyn had inflicted trickled down its neck and she tasted it on her tongue. Slowly she backed away too once the bear crumpled to the ground, still hanging on for life but only for the moment, and not enough to fight.

She licked her lips and gave herself a little shake, testing her limbs. She was unharmed, just tired, as she was sure Ardyn was too. "Seem to be. What about you?" Caelia glanced across the bear at him to give him a quick examination from a distance. He seemed like he'd avoided injury too - they'd both gotten lucky. Caelia didn't know if she could chalk it all up to sheer skill. "You better tell your mom that there was a bear lurking around. I can go scout the other side of the territory and make sure this was the only one?" She asked it, but she was more so telling him, talking off after to do just that. She wanted to work off some of the fatigue too before she settled down and rested for awhile.

-exit Caelia-