Way out here, the snow still clung to the lake's shore in great drifts. When she exhaled her breath sparkled like magic. Makara squinted through her lenses as the glasses fogged, then cleared. Okay, she'd be lying if she said she didn't love living up here. She knew that her preferences had not been taken into account and that they were merely here out of circumstance and her grandad's wishes but... no grass? Hardly any pollen? Her allergies had been wiped away as if by magic. Mak sucked in a deep, piercingly cold breath and let it tickle her lungs. Mmm, tasty.

She just loved this territory. Everything felt crisp and wide open. Endless possibilities. She could almost taste it! Wait, she could taste something... The coppery tang of blood peeked through. Licking her lips, Makara followed the trail.

What she came upon surprised her. An enormous walrus bull, the biggest she'd ever seen - but maybe she'd never gotten so close to one before. He was heaving and lowing, pouring blood from a wound on his shoulder. Maybe it was near mating season? She wasn't sure, they were so new to the north she hadn't gotten used to its rhythms yet, but it seemed close to death. Makara crept closer, just a little bit curious... And with a horrible wail, a keening like a ship going down, the beast turned on her. Makara jumped back with a wild shriek. Suddenly those tusks seemed awfully sharp.

He was intimately familiar with the North. He'd lived up here his whole short life, keenly aware of both the danger and beauty it held. The Ancoran blood that ran through him seemed to mostly keep him in these parts, and honestly, there was nowhere else he'd rather be. He had heard of the stories from his father. Stories about his grandmother, great-grandfather, and so on. Dragon had been the one to break the Northern cycle at one point, but no matter what, it appeared that most Ancora's always came back. And that was the case with him. He'd been in the Armada for a short time now, but he still liked to go out and check things out or hunt every now and then when he didn't have work to do in the pack.

Today was no different. Only as he neared the frozen lake, he heard the distant sound of a Walrus, and he knew they could be dangerous if you weren't careful. This one sounded like it was injured, and he knew well enough that an injured animal could be unpredictable. Especially one that was desperate to stay alive. Still, he was curious to see the extent of the beast's injuries. The blubber they had could be used for oils and other things, and he had always wanted to get his paws on a pair of tusks. As the earthen male drew closer, he spotted something else getting closer to the walrus. Whoever it was, he didn't recognize, but the walrus wasn't happy about the company.

It turned on the red-streaked wolf, and Grimoire took his chance. He raced in, large paws drumming the ground in practiced silence. It wasn't until he got close enough for a bite that a snarl left his lips and his teeth bit and dragged into the walrus' tail, earning him a cry of rage before he bounced back.

So if curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction brought it back, then what would it bring a wolf? Beauregard didn’t know but, with another chilly day, despite the arrival of spring, he was out and about learning more about the lands of this land. Boreas had become his home, and while he was offered sanctuary in the Armada’s land, the Soul Sand Cove, he was unsure how to feel about waiting there until Wren made her pack. They were going to be an ally with the pack but… well… Beauregard hadn’t exactly met any of these Armada wolves yet. Was it natural to feel a little nervous?

He noticed the scent of blood before anything else. The metallic scent was sickly sweet in the air, fresh, and Beau curiously twitched his ears. It couldn’t hurt to investigate, right? What were the chances of it being big enough to do harm? He’d already helped someone else fight a bear. This couldn’t be too bad… right?

Except when he stumbled upon the scene and saw the mass of… creature… and two wolves he mentally kicked himself. Yeah, of course. He jinxed it, didn’t he?

He didn’t really look at the strangers or think about who they might be; the yearling leaped forward just like the other male present. All he knew was one of them was at the front, one was at the back and he was going for that weird bit of flesh jutting out from its side.

Beauregard drew his knife as he closed that last bit of distance between himself and whatever the heck this blubbery mass was. The beast had been focused on the dame and he knew dividing its focus was key here. Beau slashed at its side, above the flipper, before leaping off to the side. ’Keep moving,' He told himself. ’If we work together we can bring this Goliath down.’ His pale blue eyes were shining as he spun on his heels once he thought he had taken enough steps to get another sense of the situation. The call of rage he had heard a heartbeat before his own attack was proof enough that the other man had made an attack at least.

Maybe with the three of them, they could confuse it and whittle its stamina down…?

Mitros had really been taking advantage of his newfound independance, finding himself first in the far west, then to the far south, and now to the far north. The world was massive, and frankly he'd stopped actively directing himself days ago and had simply walked, without purpose, to wherever fate would lead him next. Today, it seemed, fate wanted him to save a pretty girl. He heard her shriek first, using the sound to locate the fight that had started. She was not alone which was somehow both relieving and disappointing, but worst case Mitros might get a cluster of similarly aged and like minded friends out of it, right?

Jumping in with the other two males, Mitros moved for the flipper opposite the one the brown and white boy had targeted and sliced at where it attached to his body with one quick slash of his teeth. Between the four of them, surely they'd be able to convince it to find an easier meal elsewhere or, if they were lucky, one of them might manage to find a weak point to deliver a killing blow to while the other three provided a distraction.

"Speech"

Just when she was absolutely positive that she was a goner - really truly, dead and gone, lost beneath the ice until maybe someone found her rotting in the late summer - a whole TEAM poured out from out of the snow drifts. Makara was panting heavily, all of the adrenaline going immediately to her head. She felt like she was going to explode. Maybe her heart was going to beat so fast she'd die anyway. Stealing a few gasps, the young girl stumbled back from the walrus as the other three quickly got to work. They moved surprisingly well for a group that didn't seem to have any relationship with each other, from what could she could tell. Not that she had that much experience fighting HUGE, SCREAMING, TOOTHY BLOBS.

Scuttling back to get her bearings, Makara craned her head from side to side. As more wolves joined the fray, the more difficult it looked to angle in and be part of the fight. Once she saw the tail clear for a moment, she dashed forward and clambered up the back of the animal. "GOTCHA, SUCKER!" she shrieked, hanging on for dear life as the beast rolled beneath her. Luckily, she'd left her booties at home. Mak dug in her claws and ducked down, biting desperately at the thing's neck - mostly to hang on - as it flopped and bucked on the ground. Her eyes strained towards the wound that was already afflicted and she inched closer, closer - maybe if she could get her teeth down into whatever had already cut him, she'd be able to find a way through the blubber and do some real damage.

Wren arrived late, but she was here to rumble. Spotting Beauregard and Makara, along with Grimoire, she rushed the walrus. There was no way she'd let it attack her allies! The leg that had been injured was healing nicely, so she didn't hesitate to throw herself into the fray! Makara was in the thick of it, but she reached Beauregard and assisted him.

He drew his knife effortlessly while Wren delivered a few nips to the walrus. It bellowed from all of the wolves here attacking it. Maybe Armada had thrown this one out of the Cove? But then again, it was already hurt... She saw the wound and didn't see it from the others. Maybe something else got to it first.

"Speech"
1/3 - fought large predator (walrus)

The male had withdrawn after ripping into the walrus' tail. It bellowed in pain and rage as three others appeared. Two wolves he didn't recognize, but Wren he did know, and the albino girl he had seen in passing in pack lands at least. Gaze darted to each wolf for a brief moment, noting their positions and as Makara came around to his side, he stepped back to allow her room to get onto its back. Drawing a breath or two as the adrenaline raced through him, Grimoire opted to head around to the front to try and keep the beasts tusks there (hopefully) and to keep the others from getting injured with them (again, hopefully).

The earthen Ancora lowered his head, horns at the read as he dashed in, aiming to make a cut on the Walrus' chest. One of his horns met blubber and fat, but he had the satisfaction of making a good slice and causing the beast to bleed. It flailed its head as it tried to buck the wolf on its back, beady black eyes unsure who to go for but in the end, Grimoire challenged it. The pair sparred, tusks vs horns and Grimoire danced back and forth in an effort to keep its focus as best he could as he clashed his horns with the beast.

If three was a party then Beau was certainly surprised when more wolves joined the fray. As he shifted, keeping an eye on where the head of this blubbery mass was, he caught a familiar fur pattern out of the corner of his eye. A quick double take confirmed that it was Wren, his alpha-to-be, and a bit of pride swelled in Beauregard’s chest. Heck yeah, now this thing was really going down. He focused his attention back on the wound he created and, remembering his fight with Mika, figured attacking where the beast was already injured was a wonderful idea to cause more pain… and more bleeding. It seemed too big to bring down outright but maybe, with all of them attacking it like this, they really could bring it down. What felt like a maybe before felt more like a possibility. They certainly had a large enough team, right? The girl who they had rushed in to save was certainly doing her part now. She had made her way to the back of the walrus, much like Beauregard had the bear he’d fought with that one woman, and now was doing what damage she could. Oh boy, now it was really moving! Seeing her start for the wound he’d already inflected Beau realized she had the same thought he had. Hmm, yeah! That was it! With Wren nipping at it, and the man who had been at the tail now keeping the beast occupied in the front, Beau dove in again. His knife could cut at the thing, and create some entry points for the fangs of the other two to do some deeper damage. With the knife clasped in his jaw, Beauregard rushed in headlong, this time more reckless than before, slashing at the flailing, angry beast wildly as it focused on the wolf right in front of it. First one slash, then two, cutting in as deep as he could before he hopped off towards its back end, hoping to deliver a similar round of slashes there as blood started welling up from the ones he’d already inflicted. His gaze shot towards the girl on the thing’s back - Hopefully he’d left the cuts high enough she’d be able to get to them. If not her, then Wren surely would get the gist of what he was trying to do. A call on the air told him Trill had arrived too. Yeah, this beast was going down in a bad way. —-------------- 2 / 3 Large Predator Fight; Walrus "Speech," 'Thought.'

Mitros was having a grand ol' time harassing and biting upon this massive, formidable predator. Taking on something with a real possibility to maim and murder was much more thrilling then killing the oversized prey animals had been, and the added bonus of doing it as a group of only yearlings was just icing on the cake! Hey, wait -

Pulling his teeth from the flipper he glared across the way at the newest fighter. "Hey! No adults allowed!" The boy huffed and scowled, but his lack of focus proved problematic as the walrus turned and the flipper he had been biting slapped out and walloped him upside the head. Sufficiently cowed and slightly dizzy, he continued his complaints as beneath-the-breath grumbles and jumped back in to the fight, putting small slices in the beast's blubber with his teeth as he redirected his indignant, childlike rage into the predator.

"Speech"

The beast was slowing down now as more wolves joined the fray. Makara, unwilling to admit that perhaps she had been a teensy bit overwhelmed, hollered a war cry as she dug in her back toes for traction. This thing wasn't throwing her off, no way! HE WAS GOING DOWN! "AHHHHHH!" she shrieked, diving in for another good CHOMP. Her jaw closed on fat and gristle and she did her best to wrench and tear the flesh down. Could she please, please get to the freaking meat of this thing? It was taking forever. "Oh, watch out!" she yelped, blinking the blood and fat from her eyes as the little blue guy got walloped. Oops! Makara scrambled up towards the beasts head and clamped her jaw around the top of his skull. She twisted her head hard and felt the strange, goopy sensation of her tooth piercing the creatures eyeball. Mak made a triumphant sounding gurgle, sure that the creature was going down any minute now.

[Just squeezing my 3rd round in so I can claim this before I get busy and forget again <3]

The girl's call for him to look out only distracted Mitros further, his head swerving sharply to the side to look for the source of the sound and only facilitating another heavy hit from the creature. Holy hell this thing packed a punch! The caller in question made her way to the head and sunk her teeth into it's eye with such confidence that Mitros found himself honestly jealous. Hadn't he come to rescue her?.

Unwilling to be outdone, he leaped forward and parted his own jaws, aiming to find the creature's heart beneath it's ridiculous amount of blubber (and failing, miserably, cutting open only small rivets from the fat on the beast's chest.) Maybe Makara's target made more sense. He backstepped quickly as the walrus drove it's tusks toward him, dodging the hit and blinking up at the brave yearling who'd found an actual vital. Unless he was willing to do the same and scale it's massive head, Mitros doubted he'd be able to offer much more help in the fight other then to distract for the real fighters.

"Speech"

Deeper and deeper cuts were made on the beast as Beauregard fought to inflict whatever damage he could to this thing. Beauregard wasn’t sure how much blood, fat, and goodness knew what other gunk had been loosed from this beast but it seemed to be slowing. Then he heard it. The girl up on its back had gone for an eye, the sickening gurgle of triumph heard as the damage was done. The others were still fighting it off too, and it was only a matter of heartbeats it seemed before the creature would either succumb to blood loss, injury, or both. Trill cried above him as he continued to hack away, getting drained as he continued to damage the beast. The moment this thing fell he was going to have to give his jaws a break. They were getting a workout today from swinging this knife. —-------------- 3 / 3 Large Predator Fight; Walrus "Speech," 'Thought.'

The walrus was being attacked from all angles, even losing an eyeball in the process of it all. It had abandoned its spar with him as its tusks dove for the blue kid, and that's when Grimoire decided to go for another opening. He launched himself forward, head down and horns pointing forward as he charged. He sought to force his horns as deep into the walrus as he possibly could and finally put an end to this. The biting and scratching was doing little to bring it down, and all it was doing was making the animal slowly bleed to death. Which was all fine and well, but this was going on too long. With a sickening squelch sound and a weird feeling running down his horns, he thrust himself forward until his horns wouldn't go any further. The beast bellowed once more before falling forward, and Grimoire realized he was in a position where he was about to get crushed if he didn't get out of the way asap! He pulled back, but his horns were in there pretty deep. Wrenching his head and yanking back as the walrus' weight bore down on him, he ended up caught between it and the ground.

His growling was muffled, his hind legs scrambling at dirt and snow as he wiggled his way out from beneath the beast. Finally with a 'plop' he managed to yank himself free and landed on his ass. He wrinkled his muzzle at the beast, blood, fat, and god knew what else clinging to his horns before he shook it off. Well, that was that, he supposed.