Astrophel had continued along the dried riverbed, taking care not to step on any of the small shrub-like cacti that had sprouted up somehow even with the lack of water. He had tried and failed to dig up some sort of reservoir of water beneath the cracked soil, so instead he decided to just keep going forward until he came across something other than sand. Eventually he spotted a clump of trees in the distance, and happily picked up the pace at the prospect of taking a break in some shade. He had only settled down under the palm trees for a few minutes before he felt the fur on his nape prickle uncomfortably, and from the corner of his eye he could spot movement. With an agile grace unusual for a wolf his size he was up on all fours, head lowered and teeth bared at the incoming beast. The sleek black coat and piercing yellow eyes were unmistakable characteristics of a panther, and why this large cat was deciding to pick a fight with him was beyond him. A low growl left his mouth as he squared up against the panther, fluffing up his fur and lifting his tail in the air to make a show and try and scare it off from attacking. He was not a wolf to be trifled with, and while he hadn't fought a panther before, he was sure he could do enough damage to make it leave him alone.

Fidelias was standing on sentry duty that day when his eyes picked out movement over the sands he stood watch over. Black, sleek pelt and the move of a feline - a panther, definitely the sort of creature that could pose a serious threat to the pack. He kept watch on it to confirm it was moving away from the pack - it was - but he would report it to Aurielle later. Or, well, he supposed he should report it to Cairo, as Cairo was beta and leader of the warriors, though that would require more of an emotional effort from him to seek out the all-but-stranger.

Midthought, Fidelias' brow furrowed and stood up from his position to see better. Yes, as he thought - the panther's course had changed, taking it towards another figure, a wolf, and... yes, its attitude had changed. It seemed to be stalking the wolf. Fidelias hesitated. He could - probably morally should though his sense of morality was fuzzy at best - rescue the stranger. But he'd have to leave his post in order to save someone who didn't matter at all to Valhalla, and by extension Fili. Fidelias couldn't really care less about the stranger's life. On the other hand, the panther was a threat to Valhalla... and if it was comfortable stalking wolves, if it even got a taste for them, that could be a major problem down the line for the pack.

Well, that decided it. A threat to Valhalla couldn't be left unchecked, and without time to wait for backup he let out a deep, bassy roar of warning to whoever could hear and threw himself off the top of the wall, hitting the ground running. The panther was already squaring off with the stranger when Fidelias slammed into the smaller, feline creature from the side, his shoulder connecting with its ribcage and the momentum sending them both tumbling. The cat being the more agile found its paws much faster than Fidelias and dealt him a stinging blow to his shoulder before bounding, snarling, out of the decidedly unagile Valhallan's reach. Fidelias felt the claw marks trickle blood down his leg but ignored it to climb stoically back to his paws, ready to engage the panther again.

His posturing seemed to be working well enough to keep the feline from attacking outright, but he could see in its yellow eyes it wasn't deterred in the slightest. He took a step forward, and it did the same, but before Astrophel could do anything else a large form suddenly ran right into the panther. Both creatures went sprawling, and he was caught off guard enough that his jaw dropped open in surprise for the time it took the panther to get back onto its paws. It swiped a clawed paw at the other wolf's shoulder, and at the scent of blood Astrophel snapped back to his senses. He advanced on the panther from the side, wanting to flank it while it was now distracted by the other larger wolf. His lumbering form launched at the panther, front legs outstretched to grab around its hind legs so his jaws could snap at the softer flesh on the nape of its neck. He didn't want to risk going straight for its throat or face and get a sharp set of claws to the eyes, but the panther's jaws were a more acceptable risk to take as the teeth weren't nearly as sharp as the claws. Astrophel's blunt claws dug in a little sloppily around the panther's hind leg, but he could taste blood in his mouth from where he had connected with the flesh near its neck, and was willing to hold on long enough for the other wolf to get another strike in.

He wasn't left many options to help the smaller, older male as he grabbed the panther from behind, leaving Fidelias facing the pointy end of the cat as it snarled and spat and writhed in the male's grip, but Fidelias waded in grimly anyway, slamming forward to pin the cat between his chest and the other male, hoping the smaller wolf could keep his balance in the scrum. If he didn't keep the cat shoved against Fidelias, the panther would be able to bring its currently-pinned claws into play, and then Fidelias would be in real trouble. As it was the cat was able to catch his claws occasionally on Fidelias' forelegs as it squirmed, and it buried its yellowed fangs into Fili's already-wounded shoulder, to his resigned acceptance. Well, they were out of the way, anyway, so they may as well stay where they were while he... there. As the panther writhed and twisted its head to the side to chomp on his flesh, it exposed part of its throat to him, and with a surprisingly delicate motion the sturdy yearling lowered his own head to enclose the black throat in his jaws and clamp down, blood welling in his mouth as his youthful canines punctured flesh.

The panther writhed in his grip, snapping its head from side to side to try and bite him and pry him off, but his heavier weight and larger size kept the two of them anchored on the ground. Luckily, it didn't think to try and roll out from under him, as his foreleg grip on it was shady at best with his blunt claws. He felt teeth graze at the softer flesh of his shoulder, but refused to let go. What was likely only a few moments passed, which felt much longer than that, before the other wolf pushed up against the front end of the panther, and together the two wolves pinned it between them. He felt bad, having left the stranger to deal with the decidedly more dangerous end of the predator, but he could apologise later. The panther let out a series of yowls and shrieks, but Astrophel couldn't see much of what was happening from where he had latched onto the back of its neck. He was hesitant to let it go in case it squirmed out of his grip and was able to slip away, so he simply held on as tightly as he could. When the panther let out an ear-piercing shriek and shuddered beneath him he loosened his grip just enough to peer around its thrashing head, spotting the jaws of the other wolf firmly clamped around the delicate flesh of its throat. He waited, still hanging on, as the panther's movements became less ferocious, until finally it stilled beneath him, and only then did he slowly unlatch his jaws and uncurl his front legs. His breath came out in short pants as he stared at the now still form of the panther, before turning his gaze to the stranger that had risked their own life to help save him. "Thank you for helping me, I owe you one."