After their tango with the tiger in the mangroves, she was pretty excited to finally make it to the bay so they could relax on the beach. Fighting with Art always made their battles easier. Besides the one hiccup they had with their first fight together against that dire wolf they made a pretty good team and fighting with him made her feel all the more confident. She caught his lips in a quick kiss as they left the shade of the mangroves and shot him a grin before darting forward, running ahead toward the awaiting secluded beach. She ran through the sand and was about to splash through the shallow water when she noticed the bumpy back of a reptile. She skidded to a stop at the edge of the water, splashing through it a bit which disturbed the waiting crocodile. It popped out of the water with a hiss and lunged for her and she scrambled back with a yelp, tumbling backward on the sand.

"Briar Fatalis"

Emerging from the dense grove of trees out into the open sunlight of the beach brought a wide smile to Artorias' face. He loved the beach, loved the ocean, loved everything about it! Briar must have known that when she picked their destination for the day. The warmth of the sun bathing across his coat made the boy feel alive, and as he followed his lover out across the sand, he couldn't help but think this was the perfect day. Not only did he get to spend it with his Briar, but they had gotten to fight together as well! The pair made a good team, and so far other than their first tangle with the larger dire wolf, had won every encounter they'd faced. He turned to look at her—only to have her lips catch his and take him by surprise. Artorias gave a pleasured murr, then grinned as she took off across the sunbaked sand. Laughing to himself, Artorias ran after Briar, paws kicking up sand as he followed right behind her with playful nips to her tail.

The two wolves were about to go splashing into the water when Artorias saw Briar scramble to stop, then heard the reptilian hiss and Briar's yelp. Cold fear stabbed him in the heart and he lunged forward to grab Briar's scruff and hurry to help pull her away from the water. "Whoa, whoa! Get back!" Artorias kept his fiery eyes focused on the giant lizard while it plodded its way onto the beach, hissing with deadly intention while it approached the wolves. Clearly it wasn't satisfied simply chasing them away; now they were its food. The crocodile moved slowly, methodically towards them, its huge jaws opened wide, ready to bite. Artorias wasted no time drawing his sword once more. Embershard would be spilling plenty of blood today, it seemed.

Artorias placed himself between the crocodile and Briar to give her a chance to get to her paws. He swung his sword toward the reptile's nose, kicking up a spray of sand as a warning, but it did little to deter the crocodile who just gave a guttural groan in response. Artorias growled and snarled, trying to keep the predator at a distance at all times, lest it get its teeth in him or Briar. If the crocodile got in close, it would be over for them in a heartbeat.

"Artorias" | "Corbin"

Art's tug on her scruff helped get her well out of range of the crocodile's jaws and she fell back, rolling on the sand for a moment before she bounced back to her paws and gave herself a shake. By the time she was back on her feet and she had regained her bearings Artorias had already drawn his sword and was standing between her and the crocodile, swinging at it and kicking up sand to try and scare it off. She came up beside him, standing out of range of his swinging toward but still adding to the collective force of the two of them staring down the crocodile hoping that might be more intimidating than just Artorias alone. She bristled and growled at the big reptile while looking and trying to find any kind of weak point or something she could target. She had never tried to attack anything with scales before so she had no idea what it would be like to try and bite that kind of skin. She really just hoped it would decide they weren't worth the effort and turn back toward the water instead.

"Briar Fatalis"

Artorias felt Briar move to come alongside him, her fearsome growl trying to help him drive the crocodile away. Unfortunately for the wolves, the reptile had no comprehension of fear. All it saw was meat on its territory, and it was ready to eat. The crocodile continued its slow approach on them, hissing with its jaws held open wide in a threatening display. Artorias slowly backed away, nudging Briar with his hip as he moved to direct her where to go, trying to keep them away from the prehistoric reptile. When it became apparent that the croc wasn't going to leave them alone, Artorias began to look around for a winning move to outwit the crocodile. They couldn't attack it head-on, not without risking immediate death. A quick glance to his side caught sight of some driftwood, and the young brute had an idea. "Briar, the wood! Try to distract it!"

"Artorias" | "Corbin"

Briar kept at Artorias' side as they shifted away from the advancing crocodile. She gave Artorias a brief glance when he pointed out the driftwood beside them, telling her to distract the beast with it. She gave a small nod, eyeing the crocidile for just a moment more before she leapt toward the driftwood, grabbing one end of it and turning to face the crocodile again. Her movement pulled its attention and almost immediately she was locked into a bit of a dance with the reptile. She shifted back and forth, keeping it distracted and slowly turning it so that it was perpendicular to Artorias, turning the teeth away form him and opening up its neck to his blade. She lunged forward with the driftwood stuck out toward its open jaws, feeling it snap down around the wood and start snapping through her distraction tool quickly. That was okay though, she only needed to keep those teeth occupied for a second so Artorias could finish the job.

"Briar Fatalis"

All it took was one second, one clean opening for him to move in win the fight. Briar provided him with that opening when she snatched up the driftwood and danced around the crocodile. He watched her move, praying she didn't get hurt while the crocodile veered on her. As she swung the wood at it, the croc snapped down and broke the wood into splinters instantly, showing off just how deadly its jaws were. Unfortunately for the reptile, it would never get to taste the wolves, because as soon as it snapped down on the wood, Artorias was lunging forward, clutching Embershard with the blade pointed down as he brought the sword down into the croc's skull with a snarl of heavy effort. Artorias drove the blade just behind the croc's eyes, piercing its brain and killing it immediately.

The crocodile let out one final long, sighing hiss as its lungs deflated and it died, heavy reptilian body flopping to the sand as it fell still. Artorias jerked his sword back and forth a couple of times to make sure he'd killed the creature before pulling the sword from its cranium with a splatter of gore. He gazed down at the massive lizard in a combination of shock and awe, then back up to Briar with wide eyes. They had done it; they killed the crocodile! Artorias gave a laugh of disbelief, grinning widely while his tail wagged in a blur behind him.

"Artorias" | "Corbin"