Fishing wasn’t nearly as fun as hunting however, Rudy had a lot better odds of succeeding fishing than hunting.  His body was still having to get used to what Oxx had turned him into.  It was disturbing how not having a tail and a couple of toes could throw you off.  The motley wolf was dealing with it a lot better now than before but it still wasn’t the same.  Rudy hadn’t been himself lately in personality.  The normally cheery wolf had been quieter and when not trying to spar he’d spent more time alone.  

Rudy had started building up his stamina with walks and getting back into sparring but wading into the water and hunting for fish sounded nice.  Unfortunately, ‘nice’ seemed to be a word that rarely described one of Rudy’s days.  He got to the water, looked into its water depths searching for the shiny glint of fish beneath the surface.  A minute later a rumbled roar could be heard and the wolf looked up to see an unhappy bear coming his way.  It had managed to avoid being spotted at the border and making its way across the plains.

Rudyard howled for assistance and kept a wary on it.


"Speech"

THE BOY WHO FELL INTO THE SKY, HAD NO ONE THERE TO WATCH HIM CRY The sonorous summons that echoed out through the plains around the castle bore an edge of tension, and beckoned for assistance. Without much thought, the titanic marauder took off at a lope in the direction that it had come from. It didn't take him long at all to catch the scent of a grizzly bear wafting towards him on the breeze. Scents travelled significantly easier now that that cursed fog had lifted, and he was far more alert now that the sunlight had returned with the spring. As he followed the scent trail to its source, a freshly woken and hungry sow was lumbering towards the water where one of his packmates was warily watching its progress. The boy had obviously seen his fair share of battle, but it was not a well matched fight in the least. A hungry grizzly would destroy even the strongest wolf in a one on one altercation. Baring his teeth, the cosmic titan kicked off at a dead sprint. Flinging dirt in his wake, he thundered towards the slow, groggy she-bear with tusks flashing and eyes narrowed. All he needed was to distract her, and get the boy out of the water and onto better ground so they could work together. In the moments before he would have collided with the sow's left haunch, he feigned right and gouged his tusk into her thigh as he came in broadside. She roared her displeasure, and rounded on the massive male. He only barely managed to duck out of the way of one of her massive paws as she turned to swipe at him. The man danced back, feeling lighter than he had in weeks. Finally, he was back in his element. "Come on, boy! We haven't got all day!" he bellowed, tail flagging high over his hips while he busied himself with drawing the grizzly further from where the young male was. Joints bent, head low, he dodged her heavy swipes as best he could. ""

Rudy hadn’t been paying much attention to his packmates lately.  There was a time he knew everyone and chipperly talked with everyone.  While help did come, and Rudy imagined he had surely met the tusked fellow before that’s about all he could go with.  No name came to mind or personality but the important part right now seemed to be he could fight.

The moment the wolf had distracted the bear Rudy leaped through the water and back onshore.  This was the sort of thing Rudy had decided he wasn’t ready to deal with yet.  Apparently, Rudyard had been wrong as now he had no choice but to fight.  Splashing water had alerted the bear to the motley grey wolf leaving the water. The bear gave a huffing roar as it was now two wolves and on opposite sides of her.

Her body was pointed at Deion, another swipe would be aimed at him but her head turned to roar again at Rudy, making sure to try and intimidate him to stay away.  She was aware of the odds shifting dangerously when the numbers shifted.  

Rudy ran towards her, hearing his heart beating in his chest.  He sure as hell better not stumble now in this match.  The bear might have its face towards him but the claws weren’t close and Rudyard would take advantage of that and hopefully help keep her focus away from the colorful tusked packmate.  Rudy ran to one of the bear’s back legs, biting into a thick fatty thigh, digging his teeth in, giving it a good shake to help make the bite worse and it did quite a good job at pissing off the bear by the change of expression.    

Rudyard Carpathius

The yearling male wasted no time in bounding out of the water and up onto dry land, drawing the attention of the gaunt sow. When she roared defensively at the mottled wolf, it gave the cosmic brute enough time to dance further out of range of her massive paws. Taking advantage of her exposed neck and diverted attention, he lunged into her personal space and grab hold of her forelimb. Just above the wrist, where he would have the best leverage to pull the sow off-balance. In that same moment, the smaller male had taken his own chance and grabbed hold of her thigh. With two wolves latched onto a leg each, shaking and pulling and tearing at her meager flesh, the hungry bear began to realize the gravity of her error. The sharp points of his tusks, set just behind his lower canines, were continually shearing flesh as they rubbed back and forth against the tissue with each swing of his head, worsening the wounds he inflicted on the grizzly sow. He could tell that her balance was faltering, but when the grizzly decided to turn her attention on him, Deion had only a scant half of a second to respond to the burning pain of her teeth colliding with the side of his head. The celestial giant dropped the she-bear's wrist and flinched out of the range of her crushing jaws. Blood began to well immediately from the gouges down the side of his face, having only barely missed his eye. Skittering further out of reach, he found himself wide eyed and thrumming with adrenaline. She looked more frantic now. "Let's get her beyond our borders, yeah?" he barked, daring to take his eyes off of the bear to see what the soot mottled brute was doing. ""

“No!” It was like a horrific nightmare scene to Rudyard.  A wolf in the pack getting injured while fighting with him.  He couldn’t let a packmate die, he couldn’t live it down with other things.  Rudy had dropped the bear’s leg with the ‘no’ and in the same moment was charging like a demon towards the bear’s face.  Concern for his balance or what might happen had evaporated like mist.  Rudyard’s front feet left the ground, his teeth sunk into the bear’s sensitive ear, shaking it, and ripping off a good chunk of it.  It wasn’t like the ear would matter in a fight for making the bear lame, but it was a sensitive spot bound to hurt.  Nothing personal to the bear but Deion’s life was worth more than hers.

The bear’s roar of pain as it swung away and Rudy was running without a doubt expecting the angry bear to chase. “Sure!” He slowed when it seemed the bear had only chosen to follow a few angry strides, still having the other wolf to be wary of.  It was facing the border now but seemed uncertain.


Rudyard Carpathius

What a bold move for the younger male, to charge headlong and quite literally into the teeth of his opponent. Tearing at the round ear of the grizzly, the smaller male was certainly a ferocious warrior. A grin spread across the marauder's features, delighted to be present to enjoy this brief fight. As soon as the sow shook him off, the mottled yearling was off like a shot, loping out of reach of a haggard swipe from the bear's huge forepaw. Her bellowing cry of pain was deafening, and no doubt anyone still sleeping in the castle was wide awake now. Without any need for further instruction, the cosmic titan circled the bear and began to nip at her heels and thighs. The few lumbering steps she'd taken to give chase to his packmate faltered only for as long as it took the giant to catch up and begin harassing her. Working quickly, the pair set to work taunting the grizzly. Driving her further and further into a rage, forcing her closer and closer to the edge of the territory. Yet again, she began to lose steam. Anger and pain could only drive an animal so far, and in the end it would be fear that forced her the rest of the way out of Hallow's land. A well placed bite near her hamstring, and an accompanying gouge up the back of the sow's thigh from one of his deadly tusks gave the grizzly the kick that she needed to get the hell out of there. Thundering to a halt just beyond the borders of their territory, the man's flanks heaved with exertion and excitement. "You alright, boy?" he asked breathlessly, glancing over at the ash and charcoal form of the younger male. Most of his wounds were old, scarred over. A few scuffs and scrapes were to be expected, if not more. He shook a few more errant droplets of blood away as they began to seep into the fur around his eye and sting at the edges of his vision. ""