Psalm was well and truly alone now. The days since Abaven's dissolution had been something of a blur, wolves dispersing every which way and general confusion around it all. Somewhere in the shuffle, she'd gotten... Lost. Solo hadn't exactly been around for a while, not that she could really talk but it had ended up with her totally and finally alone. It was absolutely terrible for her mental health, she'd slipped through the cracks for much of her life and this just felt like the totality of that. But it was ultimately better for her physical health. Luckily Psalm had always been proficient at hunting and with no other mouths to feed around her she was letting herself eat again, her form was filling back out and she was looking a little less worn down than she used to. Not that she was really equipped to handle herself totally on her own, she'd sort of just wandered her way further south, not even really aware of the amount she'd traveled. She'd only passed most of these lands briefly the last time they'd gone to Auster... Not really a place she wanted to go. The young Destruction had decided to stop on the prairie, she didn't really know if she had a place she was going but there was prey in abundance here so might as well. Little did she know that she wasn't the only predator who'd had that thought, and it seemed this bear was particularly eager to chase off any competition. Though she was as of yet unaware of the danger barrelling down on her. "Speech"

Art by MothT

Being in a band was... weird, different, and not at all Asmodeus' style. There was something lesser about no longer owning territory, like he and the rest of his Abraxas family no longer had a place to belong and be proud of. It was a very mortal line of thinking, and not something the prideful man would be comfortable discussing with Eligos. The reasoning had made a semblance of sense, Aerie no longer had enough members to patrol and protect their land. It was disappointing and shameful, and Asmodeus was determined to bring to his band a change that could find themselves seated back where they belonged, together. The first step in that would be new members, the strongest and most worthy of mortals. The wolf he had his eye on was not large, not muscled, and appeared to have an issue with the basic skill of perception. Deus idled passively a short distance away, every nerve on end as he watched to see if she would turn and meet the brutish beast barrelling down on her. Nope. Absolutely zero survival instinct. A 'better' Abraxas might leave her for dead, accepting that survival of the fittest was meant to exclude these wolves from the global bloodlines, but... well, Deus was his mother's son. A Nightingale as much as he was an Abraxas. He threw himself forward, barking sharply to his awaiting companions to free them from their awaiting crouch. The bear was faster than he'd anticipated, it would be too risky to hope that he could simply distract it from it's free meal. Rather than come at it from the side and roll the dice on it's target, Deus continued forward directly into the distracted stranger, calling out a warning as he entered an appropriate range. "Behind you!" The bear barrelled forward at a steady, thundering pace and Deus' sprint took him directly between the beast and it's intended target, arriving just as the bear lifted it's massive paw to strike. Taking the hit for her was not what he'd meant to do initially, but to risk a dodge would also risk the swipe going long and taking out the stranger. Deus felt the claws rake across his side, running from his ribcage up toward his spine. As soon as the pawpad crossed over onto his back the beast was recoiling in pain. The paw pulled away before great damage could be done, taking some of his defensive crystalline quills with him. Deus wobbled against the hit, seething, and took the momentary reprieve of the bear's confusion to face the stranger. "Move, move." He panted, aiming to grasp her firmly by the scruff and with it, encourage her backwards before the bear recovered and advanced once more. "Speech"

Psalm wasn't totally oblivious, but maybe spending all her time locked away in her den for as long as she had, had dulled her senses. The sound and scent of the bear reached Psalm only a little bit before the call from the stranger did. Startled Psalm jolted awkwardly to her paws, head turning to spot the two animals rushing towards her. She had enough time for her mouth to form into a little "oh" before the white and gold stranger intercepted the swipe meant for her. Psalm's eyes grew wide as the reality of the situation finally seemed to roll over her. "Oh- I- I'm so-" She stammered, voice hitching into panic but it seemed at least one of them had managed to keep his head and the stranger was already scruffing her and pushing her further out of the way of the massive bear. "I'm sorry!" Psalm finally managed, stumbling as she tried to move with him. She wanted the earth to swallow her up right then and there, this stranger had gotten hurt... All because of her! But even she knew that her feelings of guilt would have to wait. Managing to get her paws under herself the young woman fixed her gaze on the bear. She was hardly a fighter, but she did know a decent amount about hunting, and how different could they really be. It seemed at least the bear wasn't going to back down. It seemed to be recovering from the pain in its paw, pulling a cluster of small crystalline spikes from its paw pads and turning beady eyes on the pair of wolves. "I can distract it!" Psalm said, not even really waiting for the other wolf to respond before she was moving, circling around the bear who tracked her with its head. Psalm was quick, she knew how to move and when it was safe to dart into to slow a creature, she probably didn't have the strength to really do much damage but if she could keep the beast's attention on herself, maybe even chasing after her then the other wolf would have an opportunity to do something. Even if it was just getting a clean escape, she probably owed him that much for taking that hit for her... "Speech"

Art by MothT

The woman stuttered out an apology and Deus growled over it into her scruff. He did not get to usher her very far before the bear had recovered, and he was forced to leave her to her own devices and hope that the distance they'd made would be enough for her to remain safe. Turning his back to her swiftly, he squared back up with the beast and snarled out a warning, puffing up his fur and making himself look as intimidating as he could manage, in hopes that he would become the bear's priority target. "I can distract it!" Deus' head whipped back, his muzzle wrinkling into the beginning of 'the fuck you will' but already, the woman was off and circling. He did not have the luxury of intercepting her, not with the bear recovered and searching again for it's next target. His two dogs advanced on either hind leg, harassing the beast with snarls and sharp snaps of their jaws, but still the bear was tracking the monochrome stranger. Deus saw the moment it's muscles shifted, it's mind made up and it's lumbering form preparing to strike. He jumped in, parting his jaws wide to bring them down upon the bear's arm as it began to swing, using his full weight to pull back the paw before it could near her. The bear felt the resistance and growled in pain, slamming said paw back onto the ground and shifting it's weight onto it so it might strike out at Deus with the other. As quickly as he had grabbed it, his jaws released, and he skittered back to dodge the heavy blow. "What part of 'run' don't you understand!?" Deus called out, panting hard. "Speech"

Psalm didn't really have a chance to see the way the man was about to protest before she was already darting away from him. She kept her vision locked on the bear, tracking its massive paw as it raised it to swing at her, she skirted in closer rather than trying to slide further away, knowing it would put her in too close for the swing, though it seemed she might not have needed to, the stranger had latched himself onto the bear's limb and pulling it down. She slid around the side of the bear and couldn't see what had happened to him but certainly could hear his words. "I can't just abandon you to a bear." She yelled back, especially not after you saved me from it. She added internally but even Psalm could recognize now was probably not the time for nuance. She slowed slightly as she noticed the bear wasn't as focused on her anymore, rounding behind it and taking a chance to take a few nips at the bear's hind quarters though she was clearly less confident about that than she was in her ability to run. "Speech"

Art by MothT

The two wolves were now on opposing sides of the bear, but Asmodeus was sure if he could see whatever the fuck she was doing, he'd be angry about it. The female shouted back her reply, and Deus bit back the instinct to argue. If she just ran, he could run! He was only going toe to toe with a bear because he couldn't abandon her to it. At times, mortals were infuriating in their stupidity. Circling out from the bear's side to keep an eye on the female, he caught side of her next move - an attack, this time. The bear refocused upon Psalm, it's head turned away from Deus as it prepared to retaliate. Escalation was not something he was willing to risk, and before the bear could slap back for the nip, he had thrown himself forward. Landing his jaws heavily upon the beast's throat and tearing his weight down and away, the bear's artery opened and for the second time in a season, Deus got a face full of bear blood. Backing up to allow the dying bear to fall and succumb, he raised a paw to wipe at his eyes. "Well that was fun." He remarked, sarcastic, flicking the blood from his paw and turning to take note of the gashes along his side. "Did it get you at all?" "Speech"