He figured since he was in the area, he'd explore bits of territories he hadn't been too. He had remained in Auster mostly since their move there, and hadn't the opportunity to go and explore the rest of the world. Or...whatever of it he could find, anyway. He was quite a ways from home, but it was never a dull or lonely moment with Kimahri and Shiva at his side. He appreciated the two, even though their bickering got annoying, but it was better than making these travels alone. He had changed a lot in the past few years, even more so since becoming an alpha and he found himself still discovering new things about himself. Did it ever end? Or did older wolves feel that way too?

Hopping up on a rock step, the male nearly jumped out of his skin! Green eyes flew wide open for a moment as he stared at the creature before him. Without a second thought, he let himself drop back to where he was, pressing himself against the rock as his heart raced. Both Kimahri and Shiva's fur were standing on end as they too hid behind the rocks. Up above them, a guttural growl could be heard. What is that!? He mouthed to his companion, both of which remained alert as their eyes were trained on the rocky outcrop above Dragon. Little did he know, he just stumbled upon a mutated and way overgrown cougar...it's fur looked like it had been falling off, flesh appearing rotted. And the stench! It made him want to gag! He knew they wouldn't be able to take it on alone if it found them, it was larger than he was! At least the size of a dire give or take an inch or two.

He glanced around, but saw no means of escape. He was pretty sure it had caught a whiff of his scent if not heard him drop down. Would he be stuck here? Or would he have to fight the creature?

With slow, deliberate steps Malleus made his way towards the north. The informal meeting his father had recently called them all to had gotten him thinking. He'd come away with a stronger resolve and a new purpose. The titan would leave his mark on these lands. He would find a mother for his first brood of children, train them up right and unleash them on Auster, but before that, he had other obligations. It wasn't just his name that he would spread, but the family's. The idea that his father's name had been conjuring up blank stares ate at him. It was time to change that. He was headed north in the hopes of sussing out suitable targets. Packs, loners, lands. Everything. They would leave their mark here; blazing a trail from Auster to Boreas. It wouldn't be long before the name Abraxas struck fear into the hearts of the mortals once again.

A guttural growl froze the titan in his tracks. The sound was coming from somewhere up above, either on a nearby outcropping or one of the smaller boulders that jutted out of the uneven terrain. While he tried to pinpoint the source Malleus crouched down in the hopes of dropping out of the creature's line of sight.

For a moment Malleus was still as he mulled over his next move. He didn't know if he could go back the way he'd come. The way the growl had echoed led him to believe that the creature and he had either been traveling in the same direction or their paths had recently - it wasn't following him, was it? - crossed. But could he go forward? The creature was somewhere up above; it wouldn't be wise to guess at what kind of vantage point it had.

A sound around the corner caused his veins to fill with ice. Had the creature dropped down from its perch? He needed to know. Cautiously Malleus slunk forward to peek around the outcropping. What he saw almost caused him to sigh in relief. There was a wolf pressed up against the rocks much in the same way he was. Clearly the man was facing the same dilemma. "Psst," he breathed, the sound almost too soft for his own ears. Unwilling to make more noise, Malleus waited to see if the stranger had heard him.

He tried hard to still his racing heart. He swore that it was pounding so hard that the beast above might hear it, but the most he could do was try to breathe as quietly as he possibly could, and even that felt like a task given the fact that his heart felt like it wanted to pop out of his chest. He looked up, almost certain that the creature would peer over at any given second, but as seconds turned into slow, agonizing minutes, he began to feel a little hopeful that maybe he had escaped its notice...at least for the time being. He listened for the beast, it's growling seeming to get quieter, maybe it was going away? It was hard to tell with the pounding of his heart in his ears. Just as he thought all was well, he heard a sudden sound that nearly made him jump. He quickly looked around for the source before he spotted someone. To his relief, another wolf. "Oh thank the Gods!" He looked at the other wolf for a moment before trying to move into a crouched position as silently as he possibly could. He debated getting over to where the other male was...would he make it? Was it safe? Was the beast still there? Just as he finally decided on taking a few small steps the way a cat did when trying to sneak, he caught sight of Kimahri and Shiva baring their fangs as they both issued a silent hiss, warning him. Oops. A second too late, he retreated to his hiding spot just as the beast came to the edge of the rock, a loud guttural roar attacking the alpha's ear drums. Shit! Shit! Shit! His heart pounded even harder, the male gazed upward at a painfully slow pace. He could see the beasts underside, it's distorted claws, it's fangs dripping some weird substance that he hoped was drool. The stench coming from the animal was overpowering, and as he watched it, he noticed that this thing was unlike anything he had seen before...and oh gods! A big glob of drool streamed down from the creature's mouth, landing squarely on Dragon's muzzle. He did everything in his power not to make any sounds from disgust, though his muzzle suddenly felt like it was beginning to burn. Almost as if he had just touched something hot. He gritted his teeth, eyes squeezing shut as he refrained from crying out. As luck would have it though, the beast would turn around until it was out of sight, the stench still there but not as strong. Kimahri gave the okay for him to get out of his position, and the earthen male promptly obeyed. He dove behind the rock near the stranger with Shiva and Kimahri quickly joining them. "Argh! This stuff burns!" He hissed, still keeping his voice low in case the beast was nearby. "I've never seen anything like that before..." OOC// Plot twist: Mutant drool feels like it's burning the skin and could result in 1st-3rd degree like burns depending on how much of it's saliva gets on you? idk XD I'm all up for ideas ahaha feel free to pm/skype/catch me in the cbox for ideas, discussion, etc about what to do if you want ^^ Walk, "Talk" Think

Malleus' hackles raised as two cats followed the wolf towards him. It took him a moment to realize that they had to be with him, but he couldn't help but eye them warily anyway. They were all in the same boat, it seemed, so for now he'd tolerate their peculiarity.

The titan's ears slicked back upon hearing the stranger complain about the creature's saliva burning him. Some kind of venom, maybe? That didn't make any sense, but neither had the freaky crabs at the beach so it wasn't like this was a unique incident of unnaturalness. The gods, it seemed, were on a roll. "What is it?" he whispered.

Before he could get an answer from the stranger, the creature answered it for him. It crawled up the backside of the outcropping directly across from him and before Malleus' had a chance to wonder if he would go unnoticed, the big cat locked eyes with him. Its gaze was hateful and crazed, and it left no doubt in Malleus' mind that it would tear him apart of given the half chance. "Oh..."

Before he could utter another word the big cat leapt of the rock towards them. Immediately Malleus jumped away, his tail tucking and rump lowering as he barely escaped the giant claws being directed at his haunches. Normally he wasn't one for swearing, but in this instance no other word would do. "Fuck!"

He was trying so hard not to paw at his muzzle. He nearly did on reflex, but Kimahri had warned him not to else he burn his paws, too. He was sitting with his back to the rock, teeth clenched as the sensation on his muzzle pulsed. He'd never felt something like this before, and he wanted it to stop. His ears perked for a moment when the stranger asked what it was, but before anyone could answer, he saw the male freeze. Instinctively, he froze too. As did his companions. Daring to glance up, he saw the massive beast had crawled on the rock across from them. Oh shit... Before anyone could do anything, the beast leaped at the other male, and Dragon would scramble away as fast as he possibly could, trying to put some sort of obstacle between him, and it. Shiva and Kimahri followed him once they had gotten out of its line of sight, chest pounding as he glanced around. The beast appeared pissed that it had missed it's target, and Dragon wasted no time in his thoughts. "We have to get him out of there," He hissed. Both felines decided what they would do then, nodding just before leaping out with furious hissing and roaring. Their fur was bristled, claws extended as they each sat atop a nearby rock just behind the beast. The creature would turn, issuing monstrous noises of it's own that sounded like a cross between gurgling roaring and guttural growling. Whatever sound it was making, made Dragon's skin crawl. "Figure something out! It won't stay distracted forever!" Shiva yowled just before the beast attempted to swipe a massive paw at her. She fell back, the claws of the beast just barely missing her by a whisker and instead, scored the boulder she was on that now had deep gauges on it's surface. What the fuck had they just gotten themselves into? "SPEAK!"

He felt the big cat's claws swish passed his hind end and heard them strike the ground where he'd been not a split second before. Gods above, that was close! A torrent of curses left his lips and he peeled away. He didn't look back until it sounded like the cat was distracted.

Malleus glanced over his shoulder and once he realized that the others were engaging the cat, he spun around and came back. Together they might be able to put the thing out of its misery. It had clearly been struck by the gods and marked for death. The affliction was a sign; it was his duty to strike the diseased predator down.

The mutant cat was now facing away from him and Malleus was determined to use that to his advantage. He slunk forward, his gaze darted between the cat's right hind foot and the back of its head as he sought to sneak in undetected. Once he was within pouncing range the titan dove for the cat's foot, his teeth quickly encircling it. He bit down, blood spraying from the wound and coating his face.

Suddenly Malleus found himself on the ground staring up at the cat. He blinked, not understanding what had happened until the pain registered. He'd underestimated just how quickly the cat could move. In the blink of an eye it had whipped around and struck him, leaving four long wounds across his face.

Everything was moving fast, and Dragon wasn't entirely prepared for this encounter. Heart hammering in his chest, he watched as Shiva attempted to distract the beast, heart lunging to his throat as it lunged at her. Did it get her!? Eyes wide as he searched past the giant creature, he breathed a small sigh of relief as he saw his companion crouched low on the other side of the boulder. His relief didn't last long, however. With that momentary distraction, the other male that had ended up stuck with them lunged at the beasts hind foot, and in the blink of an eye the creature had whipped around and struck out at them. Dragon had barely been missed by a hair as it's large paws swept around, but the other male had been less fortunate. It struck him square in the face, and he winced at the sound the impact made. This was his chance though, wasn't it? He managed to recover as Shiva leaped from the other side of the boulder and onto it's back, and he would take that cue to make his own move. Snarling, Dragon lunged forward and put himself in between the beast and the other male, fangs bared and maw opened wide as he lunged for the creature's muzzle. He dug his fangs as deep as he possibly could right over its nose, trying to make it harder for the beast to breathe and maybe even crush the bone and destroy its sensitive nose. Meanwhile, Kimahri and Shiva worked to keep the beast from focusing solely on the earthen male. Dragon threw his weight back, trying to hold the cougars head down and as close to the ground as he possibly could, tail lashing and hind legs splayed, claws biting the earth for traction. Green gaze was narrowed as he worked to keep spit and blood out of his eyes. He'd viciously shake his head, eyes wild with a fierceness he had never felt before. And yet, perhaps he hadn't been as fortunate as he wished to be. The beast raked it's claws down his right shoulder, leaving two deep and long cuts that would bleed. Despite the pain he felt, the adrenaline kept him hanging on, and perhaps the bit of fear that if he let go, its jaws would snap around his neck... "SPEAK!"

From experience Malleus knew he could only allow himself a moment to be dazed. It took everything he had to make himself rise, but he did. The titan listed to his right but remained standing through sheer force of will. There was a ringing in his ears, but he ignored it and its implications. What did damage to his head matter if he was dead? He needed to see this fight through to the end. Then and only then could he assess his injuries. With the brown male hanging onto the cougar's nose and the other cats working the mutant over, Malleus saw his chance. The mutant cougar was being attacked from all sides; likewise its attention was split. This time he was sure he'd have more success. Slowly, still reeling from the blow to his face, Malleus slunk around the other wolf and towards the embattled cougar with merciless intent. The other male was still clinging to the cat's face and in doing so he not only controlled its head, but left the animal unable to adequately defend itself from above. Seizing the opportunity, the titan darted forward suddenly. He slammed his right forepaw down on top of the cougar's left forepaw; pinning it to the ground and preventing it from savaging the brown male's shoulder further. At the same time his jaws flung wide as he set his sights on ending the fight. In a heartbeat he had his jaws wrapped around the back of the cougar's neck. Unable to retaliate, the cat was powerless to stop him as Malleus' teeth sliced through loose skin and muscle to bury themselves in the cracks between his vertebrae. It began to buck wildly; lashing out at anything and everything it could sink its claws into in a last ditch effort to save itself.