Kione had found a nice area of land that was more to his preference.  He enjoyed expanses of open land with no trees for prey to twist and turn about.  A straight-on run forward was his favored way to hunt.  He wasn’t used to bothering with stalking up on his prey, he just ran it down.  It was a lot easier when he had his family to team up on the prey though.  At this point, the African wild dog had no idea if he’d ever get to eat large prey animals again.  Ironically killing predators was easier than prey now since it was less likely the predator would run in time.

This land was a strange place with some of the bones he found.  Kione had wrapped his mouth around a giant bone, curious enough to taste it but the thing was too old and solid as a rock instead of the normal bones he could crack open.  The wild dog was tired of being alone.  It was something none in his family would have ever considered as a way of life yet here he was.  Kione was starting to wonder more if he truly was the last of his kind.  More likely they just weren’t common to this region or had left to go elsewhere but then, where was he supposed to go to find more like him?

For the time being, he sat near the old huge bone, large ears twitching as he watched the surrounding area and waiting for anything of interest.  Someone to talk to, something to fight, something else to kill for a future meal.  Whatever would work, he was just taking a break from moving forward.

"Speech"

The sickness had lasted for such a long time that Fern was certain she was going to die. Her mind had become addle and she had felt herself slipping away as the fight to stay alive slowly left her. Just when the night had been the darkest and hope seemed lost, the sun returned. When it broke the horizon and bathed the once more bathed the land in its warm rays, Fern had felt relief as the light touched her body and chase away the haze in her mind. At that moment, she had fallen into a deep, exhausted sleep as her body worked to correct everything that ailed it. When her eyes once more opened, she found that the sun was still there. Heart buoyed by the return of the life-giving light, the gray girl allowed her body to rest and recover.

At first, she was uncertain of how many days passed as she begins her convalescence. She slept when her body needed it and spent what little time she was wake tending only to her most basic needs. After serval days of this routine, Fern begins to feel stronger and is able to move further than a few feet before needing to rest. Seizing the opportunity, Fern starts exercising her weak muscles. Everything is sore and aches with each step but she slowly feels herself improving. Since waking up in the sun, a week and a half has passed and Fern is well on her way to being fully recovered. All the boils have popped and drained, scabbing over along with the abscesses and holes that had formed on her skin.

The ooze no longer leaks from her face and has been expelled from her lungs. Breathing has once become easy and effortless leaving only a slight, dull ache in the muscles of her chest. As her strength returns so does her attempts to hunt for food. Her slowed reflexes, along with lack of hunting skills has her missing many simple kills. She curses herself and hears Rudy voice accompany her failures. It is not mean, instead full of happiness as he promises to teach her how to hunt and give her endless amounts of adventure. In those moments, Fern wonders how he and his family faired with the illness and a part of her yearns to return to the castle. More than once, her paws have started in the direction of the Hallows only to change course when Rudy’s biting words remind her that, right now, she is useless.

Today, her paws have drawn her closer to the castle then she has been in a long time. Standing near the border between the rolling hills of a bone yard before her and the tree filled forest behind her, Fern wrestles with the idea of moving onward. Aqua eyes scan the bone littered hills as she remains lost in her thoughts. Suddenly, a strange scent reaches her and pulls Fern out of her musing.  She tests the air, trying to determine if it a threat. It seems canine but there is something unfamiliar about it. As the gray girl continues to wrinkle her nose and try to figure out what exactly belongs to that scent, a loud, ear shattering roar comes from the tree line behind her. Wheeling around, Fern watches as a huge grizzly bear bursts through the darkness under the canopy of the trees and charges straight toward her.

Quickly Fern yells for help as she pins her ears, curls her lips and hunches her shoulders, preparing for a fight. The bear charges at her head on and Fern notices that it is missing its right eye. It is upon her in the space of a few heart beats and, just as it is about to reach where she stands, Fern launches herself sideways, toward its right side, to try and disappear into its blind spot. Massive bear teeth close around on the spot where her head been moments ago and Fern swiftly dances out of reach of it clawed paws. It turns toward her as she resets her stance, preparing for the next attack. It roars loudly and angrily at her before once more starting to charge. Fleetingly, Fern hopes someone will appear soon to help her fight this thing. Her still healing body is not yet back into top fighting condition and that worries her.


"Speech"

Kione had taken some time rolling on the ground, mouthed the ancient bone, then ended up laying his head on it with a huff.  One problem of being alone was boredom when you got done walking.  A roar was heard and Kione raised his head up swiftly, huge ears straining for the location of the sound.  Almost right after the roar came a call for help and Kione rolled up the rest of the way to his feet, running in the direction of the racket.

It was a wolf but, at this point, he was getting used to the fact that wolves were scattered all over the land.  He had no ties with wolves nor any necessary responsibility to help one in trouble.  Kione was bored and there was really no reason to not help a strange wolf.  Kione enjoyed a good fight so why would he ignore a request for someone to help?

The bear and concerned wolf came into sight. The African wild dog with its long slender legs, overly large ears, short coat, and an abstract pattern of orange, whites, and blacks.  The bear was fully focused on the wolf so it was easy for Kione to charge up from behind and literally leap onto the bear's back.  Kione’s feet were planted on the back and his teeth gripped into the muscular neck, thrashing his head all about.  

He certainly got all of the bear's attention.  The animal rose up standing up tall and pissed.  Kione ripped off a bit of flesh from its neck as the painted dog landed on the ground with a prance.  As the bear looked at Kione he swallowed that small patch of flesh and made a point of licking blood from his muzzle.  Kione grinned as he had to lick the blood while running as the bear charged him.  It might seem crazy but Kione was grinning as he ran.

“Will you be joining in lass?” The call to her is cheerily called out even as he suddenly lunges into an opposite direction as the bear strikes out at him.  “They die a lot faster when,” another pause as he swerves and speeds up several strides when the bear starts to catch up.  “Oh bugger off, I’ll kill you in a bit!” Hollered at the bear.  It was making it rather hard to have a conversation.

"Speech"

Fern stares down the grizzly bear. Lips are pulled back, revealing her teeth as she growls menacingly at the beast. Uncertain if help is on the way, Fern prepares to fight the bear herself as she pins her ears back and narrows her eyes to try and limit any injuries to her face. She tries to appear bigger and more intimidating than she really is. Lunging forward slightly to snap at the air and attempt to throw the large beast off balance, Fern hears the sound of running paws. Just as she steps back to reset her stance, a streak of white and blacks and oranges barrels into the fray. Aqua eyes watch in amazement as the blurred form launches itself up and onto the bear’s back, latching its mouth around the grizzly’s neck.

Eyes stare at the newcomer with amazement as the dog thrashes its head around, ripping and tearing at the flesh of the grizzly’s neck. The surprise attack works as the bear roars its displeasure, attempting to buck lose the source of its pain. The creature pushes off the ground with its front legs, screaming out its anger and hurt to the world as it stands. As it moves, the stranger rips a chunk of flesh out the beast’s neck and nimbly leaps off the creatures back. Agile paws touch the ground as the colorful dog prances out of the raging bear’s reach.

The stunned wolf takes a moment to register that this stranger is a dog unlike any she has ever seen. He is running lazily around the grizzly, grinning the whole way. Her rescuer asks if she will be joining him, his happy tone at glaring odds with the stressful situation. Still, his cheery voice and cocky demeanor draw a smile from Fern as her eyes sparkle with mirth. Gray paws start moving, as she runs up next to the dog, easily matching his speed. Dodging a few errant paw swings, Fern jogs alongside the dog for a moment before saying, “Whoever lands the killing blow, gets to keep the pelt. Deal?”

Normally, Fern would have been guarded with such a large beast, opting to try and drive it away instead of kill it. However, this stranger has made it into a game and Fern intends to win. Flashing a smile toward the dog, Fern stops suddenly, allowing the dog to speed on ahead. The grizzly, uncertain of which one to pursue, pulls up short. With only one eye, the bear cannot keep track of them both. In its moment of uncertainty, Fern changes direction and charges straight toward the bear. A deep, rumbling growl emanates from the gray wolf as she rushes forward. The bear realizes its mistake and turns its full attention on her, roaring back in anger.

As the angry bear raises a massive paw to swing at Fern, the gray wolf ducks low and puts on an extra burst of speed, darting into its blind spot on the bear’s right side. Opening her mouth wide, Fern springs at the mad grizzly’s face. Teeth clamp down hard on the area where its right eye should be. A howl of agony and rage escapes the bear as it throws its head back, bring Fern completely off the ground. Planting her gray paws on its chest, Fern adjusts her jaw to grab as much meat of the bear’s face as possible. Suddenly, she pushes herself off of the bear, taking a large chunk of it face with her.

In the ensuring moments, when the creature’s flails about madly, Fern drops back down to her paws and dodges the grizzly’s uncoordinated attacks. Putting a safe distance between herself and the angry bear, Fern stops a moment to smile and spit the hunk of meat in her mouth to the side. Glaring at it in contempt, seems to drive bear into a frenzied madness. Fern’s eyes flash with glee as she shouts out to the dog, “I think we made it mad!” as she once more starts to run. Every muscle burns from overexertion as her still healing body is slowly sapping what little energy she has. Yet, Fern continues to run, intent on playing out this little game. As her energy begins to wane and Fern feels her legs starting slow, she tries to push away her body’s desire to stop and rest.

Instead, Fern forces her legs to move faster and faster, willing her flagging body to keep going.


"Speech"

“I wouldn’t steal from a lady, you had the pelt first,” Kione replied with an upbeat attitude but also mixed with distraction as his eyes watched the bear.  

Kione hadn’t expected the wolf to go for the bear’s face but he also didn’t think twice about it.  As the bear’s paws came up with the intent to grab her or slash her or whatever Kione rushed in.  The painted dog leaped up, teeth sinking into the bear’s paw which had been about the same height as its head.  Kione thrashed his head, blood soaking the darker part of his muzzle, dripping down his chin.  He couldn’t stop both pays unfortunately but the grey wolf got away in time and Kione let go of his hold before the bear could retaliate against him.

The wolf seemed to have gotten into the spirit of the game and Kione grinned as she took off running to avoid the bear.  Kione started to run toward’s the bear’s front paw as it moved to chase Fern, he expected another easy bite.  Then he spotted the bear’s body hunching up more as if he’d leap at Fern instead of just run.  Kione snarled, bursting forward at an impressive bit of speed, and this time it wasn’t aimed at the bear.  Kione ran up to Fern, "look out!", shoving his shoulder into her side to quickly knock her away even as the bear crashed into the earth where she had been.

Kione hopefully hadn’t hurt her but better his body weight than the bears.  Kione spun around to dash back towards the bear with plans to try and get to the left eye but the bear wasn’t going to let him.  The bear’s arm swung out to strike.  Kione bit into it, still a successful bite, but not where he wanted.  He put his paws on the bear’s arm, pushing away as he tore off another bit of skin and by just a hairs-breath dodging the incoming attack from the other arm.


"Speech"

A smile tugs her lips up as the dog promises her the pelt. Still, a game is a game and Fern intends to win. When she drops back to attack the grizzly’s face, the colorful dog is right behind her. He attacks the bear’s paw that would have struck her and the gray girl realizes that her reflexes are just a little slower than normal. As she runs away, trying to put distance between herself and the extremely angry bear, Fern’s attention narrows. All she can see is the open space before her and hear the sound of the raging bear behind her. A primal instinct to stay alive overrides every rational thought in her mind.

Suddenly, a shoulder slams into her, sending the dazed wolf sprawling off to the side. Aqua eyes watch as the bear slams down into the space she had been moments before. Sluggishly her mind puts the pieces of the puzzle together as the dog attacks the grizzly. Her body protests every movement as she scrambles to her paws and darts in to attack the bear. As a paw barely misses the colorful dog, Fern’s eyes find an opening in the grizzly’s defenses. Since the bear has its attention fully focused on her companion, the gray girl is able to go unnoticed by it. The need to end this fight quickly spurs her onward as she dashes into the bear’s space.

The bear has all four paws planted on the ground and is roaring angrily at her fighting companion. Taking her chance, Fern sprints toward the grizzly, coming at it from its left side. Being slightly behind the creature, Fern rushes up close to its side before changing her direction and speeding toward its head. In a flash of gray, Fern gathers her flagging strength into one final burst of speed and launches her body into the air. Twisting her head, the gray wolf strikes home as her teeth close around the bear’s last good eye. Feeling her teeth strike flesh, Fern quickly tightens her jaw.

Blood fills her mouth as her teeth rend the flesh around the socket, sinking down further and further until… ocular fluid spurts into her mouth as the eye pops and the bear screams in pain and rage. Releasing her hold, Fern allows gravity to pull her back to the ground. Relief floods her exhausted body as the gray girl lands on her paws, ready to end this fight once and for all. The grizzly flails about madly, roaring and swinging its large paws in every direction. As Fern dodges a couple errant swipes, she dashes out toward the wild dog, a playful smile on her lips.

As her mouth opens to say something witty, one of the clawed appendages finds its target. Pain spears her brain as she is lifted off the ground and sent sprawling a little distance away. Her right shoulder is fire as Fern tries to suck in a breath. The torn flesh and muscles fire off random pain signals to the brain, causing her chest to hitch and tears to well in her eyes. The claws have reopened a large area of her shoulder that is healing from where an abscess had once been. The world blurs for a moment as Fern focuses on regulating her breathing and taming the pain.

A fleeting thought is given to her companion and the bear as Fern hopes that the dog is able to finish off the grizzly by himself.


"Speech"

Kione did have a very offensive style of fight and it worked well for him but, it wasn’t a style that many employed.  Perhaps he shouldn’t have excited the wolf so much that she tried to make so light of the fight before them.  Kione tended to keep a lighthearted act up even in serious situations, even if his attention was hyper-focused on a threat.  It’s just how the painted dog was.  It was obvious to Kione that despite Fern’s attempt to play she didn’t have the same speed as the dog.  

It wasn’t that she was a bad fighter but she either lacked the same level of experience, lacked the body strength, or wasn’t giving the bear the respect it deserved.  Fern ran by with a clear line of attack for the bear’s face.  Kione’s eyes switched between the bear’s paws to see what it planned to use to attack Fern with for her going in close.  A paw swiped at Kione and he springboarded over it and had to leap up for his own attack.  The bear’s rage of the eye being bit into had it start rising up off the ground. Kione’s legs were as good as springboards with his lithe frame, leaping up to latch his teeth into the bear’s nose.  Had the bear had half a mind it could have tried biting with Kione right there but it just shook its head to try and fling both canines off of him.  Kione saw fern land on the ground and he let go of his own grip on the nose.

The bear had lost any sort of logic or game plan to the fight, he was dangerous in the fact of his having claws and teeth but much easier to deal with as the brain was practically shut down and it couldn’t see anything.  Kione saw Fern heading his way looking pleased and even as he ran to try and stop the bear’s paw from intercepting with her this time the dog wasn’t fast enough.  The dog saw her fall and didn’t bother with the bear’s paw that had injured her.  The dog jogged to one side of the bear, leaping up onto the bear’s back, gripping teeth into the bear’s neck as it tried to stand and shake him.  The bear was losing strength though and was wobbly as it started to go up.  Was it all weakness or was their fear and uncertainty of fighting when he couldn’t see anything.  Kione really didn’t care.  The dog ripped off a chunk of meat in the neck, spat it out, gripped back on tenaciously, and repeated.  The bear no longer could follow up on its attack on the downed wolf.

The bear's blood was running down its face from an eye, from its nose, the stomach, legs and now even more so Kione was making a decent size rip into its neck.  The bear was too weak to shake him, it tried raising a paw to thrash at him but it would mean weight on its other front paw and that wasn’t working so well either.  Unfortunately for the bear all it could eventually do was stand there, then lay there as Kione dug in.  Normally Kione might have finished a fine meal of bear once it was down but this time he leaped off and headed to Fern.  The bear didn’t have the strength to defend itself, it certainly didn’t have the strength to attack.  All it could do was wait for death.

“Here now luv, looks like you got a scratch.” That was putting it minor but Kione didn’t see a need to get into the gritty details. “The bear’s done in, quite the tasty bit of meat if you avoid the front end but I believe you’d rather be getting home?”  He didn’t know a lot about medicine to help her injury so while it was concerning he could only hope it wasn’t life-threatening.  Could she walk on her own and how far did she have to travel was another concern.  Kione wasn’t the sort that wanted to always help every stranger in need.  However, without a pack, he was temporarily happy to help most for simple companionship.  This was another matter, he had fought with her, he had failed to defend her and as his failing, it was his job to make sure she stayed safe.  It was not a long-term friendship but merely Kione’s version of morals.


"Speech"

Fern does not see the colorful dog rip and shred the bear. Aqua eyes do not take in the ferocity and relentlessness of the dog’s attacks or the way the bear slowly dies. All Fern knows is pain and the thundering sound of her own heartbeat. For a while, all she can do is lay there and fight to get the pain under control. At times the world around will sharpen before the pain spears her brain and sends her vision scattering. Her world becomes a kaleidoscope of colors, lulling the injured wolf into a false sense of peace. Every muscle screams for her to rest but Fern refuses to close her eyes.

Suddenly, the world snaps back into focus as Fern’s sluggish mind pulls up the memories of her fighting with a colorful dog. Shit, is he hurt? Did he get the bear? The need to help outweighs her own sense of self-preservation as the gray wolf struggles to get her legs under her. A soft whimper escapes as she finally manages to get her paws under and make it to a standing position. Fire rips through her shoulder again and Fern grits her teeth against, searching for her fighting companion. Tired eyes find him ruthlessly attacking the grizzly and relief floods the exhausted wolf’s body. She allows her back legs to collapse, slowly sinking back to the ground.

When the dog finishes the fight and turns his attention back to her, Fern lifts her head from the ground and gives him a lopsided grin. She realizes his mouth is moving and it takes a moment to process his words, the grin morphing into a frown as she struggles to concentrate. When her brain is finally able to make sense of everything, she looks into the dog’s eyes and says, “It’s okay. Really. It’s not so bad.” The lopsided grin reappears even as her tired eyes droop. Trying, and failing, Fern works to stifle a yawn before adding, “You did great. I would fight alongside you any day. The bear is all yours.”

When he mentions getting home, Fern’s expression becomes sad, her voice reflecting what is written plainly on her features. “I don’t have a home. Thought I had one than that strange illness struck this land. I… I got very sick. That is why my fighting game is so off, still trying to recover.” Shame colors her last sentence as Fern drops her gaze and sighs. Shoulder throbs as she contemplates trying to tough the injury out on her own. If she shows up at the Hallows injured, Fern knows it will only further Rudy’s thoughts of her being useless.

A war of emotions takes place inside her, playing out clearly on Fern’s face. Sadness, anger, longingly, they flash across her features before settling on resignation. Once more looking into the dog’s eyes, Fern says, “There is a place not far from here. They give aid to those in need. We can go there.” With that, Fern struggles to her paws, swaying slightly when the world spins. Sucking in a breath and willing the pain back to manageable level, the gray girl looks to her companion, and asks, “Have you seen the castle that is surrounded by a vast plain of grass? The pack that I seek resides there.”

Taking a few limping steps forward, allowing her brain to adjust to the pain and exhaustion, Fern prepares for the trip. Pointing her body in the direction of the castle, the injures wolf starts the slow and laborious trek. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Fern becomes engrossed in each slow, limping step. Eventually, her pain filled voice breaks the silence and says, “By the way, my name is Fern. You are a great fighter. Thanks for all your help.”


"Speech"

The wolf said it wasn’t so bad but she certainly didn’t seem to be taking it in stride try as she might.  Kione just nodded off the mention of his fighting great.  He knew he fought great, always did but that wasn’t the priority at the moment.  “Well, food’s a good thing but I’m a roamer for now and no need for a pelt.”

Strange illness stole another family it appeared.  Hopefully, it didn’t seem rude but he had no plans to talk about losing family, neither his nor hers.  Past wasn’t really that important as the now anyway.  Her flickering emotions made it obvious she had her own scars and that was a thing she’d have to deal with on her own.  Kione would give heart and soul to family but to the local stranger, it was bits of fun in play or fights yet the responsibility was limited.  However, she had been injured fighting with him and for now, that was a different manner.  Temporary responsibility for her health was put on him.

“Well, guess we better take you to that place then but,” Kione pranced over to the bear and ripped off a few chunks of meat to hold out to her, “eat this,” the words came out funny with the meat between his jaws.  He held it out to her instead of dropping it so it would be less work on her shoulder.  It was hardly a lot of food but she had lost some blood and they were traveling, might as well get her some meat and blood for the journey.  

He wouldn’t debate over her eating if she turned it down but once down with the food he’d strike out towards the castle.  Pushing himself up against her good side to act as a brace for some support.  “let me know when ya get tired luv, we can stop if ya need it.”


"Speech"

A smile ghosts over the gray girl’s lips as the dog agrees that they need to go to the castle. He is such a strange creature, outwardly happy and nonplused by the bear attack. Shaking her head, Fern slowly limps after the colorful dog as he prances over to the dead bear and rips off a few chunks of meat. With meat in his mouth, the colorful dog orders her to eat it. Or at least, she thinks he says that. Mostly she hears, ‘E, tis’ but when he holds the meat out to her, Fern quickly understands his words.

Gently, she stretches out her neck and takes the hunk of meat, chewing it greedily before swallowing. After eating a few more hunks, Fern turns her body in the direction of the castle. The dog steps up to her left side and offers his frame as a brace. Slowly, painfully, Fern and her companion begin the laborious journey to the Hallows.

-exit Fern with Kione-


"Speech"