dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

One of the things that fascinated Éldi about the northern lands of Boreas was the quality of the light. The world seemed to glow, awash in amber tones as the sun dipped slowly past the horizon. He'd just finished cleaning up some leftover scraps from an earlier meal and was on his way back to his den. Humming softly to himself he kept an eye on the gathering clouds to the east. Autumn was just around the corner and that could well mean snow for the territories in the high north. Ack! He was behind on his winter preparations.

Grumbling to himself Éldi slipped through the tall, gnarled growth of the Mile-High Woods. He needed to start prepping some skins so he had something nice and warm to line his den with on those freezing winter nights. Maybe Valkyrie would be up for a deer hunt. They could split the pelt. Something moved off to his right and Éldi froze. His ears flicked forward, searching for the sound. His brow wrinkled. The birds had gone suddenly quiet. Cautiously he started to move only to hear the shuffling rustle of something big, something very big. Probably just a moose or something…

Having grown up in his father's lands, Ignatius never really visited the northern climate before. Now that he was free to do basically as he pleased and no longer worrying about what anyone might think, he was more than free to fix that. The woods had been the first place to catch his attention, so Ig hadn't bothered leaving the area just yet. He'd been pretty sure that there were some good spots to try climbing into some of the massive trees, but before he could investigate he'd ended up deciding to go back and finish up a makeshift den.

The better part of the morning had been spent trying to locate the spot again, but unfortunately Ignatius didn't appear to have a natural sense of direction. Not even a faint one. Which was why one minute he was walking along through the brush and the next he found himself standing a short distance from another wolf. Damn, Ig hadn't even smelled anyone nearby... Unsure what to say in greeting, he was about to try and wing an introduction when he noted the look on the other man's face. Flicking his pale left ear out to the side, Ignatius gave the other man a curious look. Something amiss?

The woods had been his once, for however short of a time that was. Now they had fallen to anarchy and had become cursed by the memory of his failure. His failure to hold the lands, and his failure to control the apathetic wolves that had used his pack for their own needs. They had abused his young age and naiveté to break his laws and do as they pleased, but none had undermined his laws more than Aranea; the female he had been so taken with and who had bore him two disgraceful whelps before she set him aside entirely. He snorted at the memory. Tyranis raised his head as he peered through the snowfall, watching a vague shadow shuffle in the distance. An odd chill ran through him, and a sense of dread filled him. A part of him he hadn’t known existed knew the shape and its movements but when he ventured for an answer the only retuning thought was “RUN!” His eyes darted to the side where he found two forms; both distinctly wolf with their focus directed at the amorphous form in the distance. Without hesitation he ran to them, his attention darting to the shape as his paws carried him to the company of three strangers. Whatever it was he had no intention of facing it alone and apparently neither did they. Speaking  Thinking You

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi moved more cautiously as he continued his travels but his unease did not go away. Soon he heard a different sound of approach and when he turned to see what was headed his way he saw a man with stunning, bright markings. His fur stood on end. He'd heard of wolves with strange and unusual pelts but he'd never met one before and he couldn't help but wonder if some of them ad been god-touched. The man looked at him curiously, but as Éldi opened his mouth to speak when he heard a low rumble. He turned around. Something else was definitely here.

Another male appeared yelling at them to run. Éldi was about to question the stranger when a massive grizzly bear bounded forward with a roar. It's great paw swung for his head and Éldi managed to duck just in time to avoid having his head taken off. He scrambled back to regroup, his hackles raised and a snarl tearing from his jaws. The bear was not phased. He had an old, but still good, kill nearby and was not going to tolerate the wolves this close to the heart of his territory.

Éldi had no intention of running. Bravery and honor meant more to him than the threat of death and as a budding warrior he would not shame himself by running while the older men fought. Racing toward the bear he ducked underneath another swing and sank his teeth into the bears left hind leg, thrashing his head back and forth as he tried to do as much damage as possible.

Instinct told Ig that the bear was there before his brain could register it. The new arrival was white noise in the background as the irate animal came charging out of the brush, swiping at the yearling with an outraged roar of protest at their presence. Normally Ignatius was happy to back off from bears, but this one seemed pretty pissed and he worried that it'd chase them if they decided to retreat.

Setting his defenses swiftly, Ig shot forward, leaping at the bear's right side and aiming to jump on it's back, claws digging into the thick hide as best they could for traction while he aimed a bite at the back of it's head, just behind the left ear to slow it's movement and weigh it down.

The two acted quickly, latching themselves onto the bear while Tyranis barked and snarled to keep the animal’s attention on him rather than the others. He surged forward to grip the bear’s massive paw in his jaws, feeling warm blood trickle down his throat as his fangs cut into the padded flesh, then danced back before the bear’s massive claws could reach him. With a ripping snarl Tyranis bounded forward then darted to the side at the last moment, all the while barking while the other two worked at bringing the bear down. When the bear had begun to anticipate that he would dart away rather than attack directly Tyranis flung himself directly at the beast, aiming to sink his fangs into the bear’s small beady eye. Speech Thought

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi held firm as the bear thrashed about, trying to combat him as well as the other two wolves. The fire-marked wolf seized hold of the bears head, just behind its left ear while the other large male latched onto the creatures face. The bear let out a mighty roar of pain and Éldi wondered for a moment if the other wolf had pierced the beast's eye. He didn't get a chance to think on it as the bear came crashing down on top of him. He leapt out of the way managing to avoid most the beasts bulk but part of it still landed across his hips.

Éldi gasped and struggled until the beast shifted, no doubt in effort to dislodge the other wolves and Éldi was able to scramble out from under it. Shaking the snow from his pelt and buying himself a moment he leapt forward seizing the right forepaw of the bear, seeking to anchor it down with his jaws and maybe slow it from attacking his compatriots. Well, that was the idea at least but the create was far more brutal and strong than he realized and with a mighty swipe he was sent flying head first into a snow drift.

He held fast to the animal's thick hide even as it growled and swiped at the other two wolves, clearly becoming more frustrated as the moments passed by. Occasionally Ig would tighten his grip on the musky flesh and shake his head violently side to side, hoping to also shake the bear's head and obscure it's vision just enough that it might miss when swiping at the two males who were launching their own attacks cautiously, darting in and out while Ig held on for dear life.

When the bear went down he continued to hold on, keeping himself firmly on it's back with every intention of wearing the animal out by forcing it to drag his weight around. When it batted at the yearling and sent him flying, Ig loosened his grip just long enough to rip a large amount of the animal's left ear off and rake his teeth over it's left eye before it twisted and swiped madly at him, shakily rising to it's hind legs and sending Ignatius falling into the snow bank behind it.

Tyranis felt a sudden Pop as his fangs sank into the bear’s eye followed by a rush of salty fluid. The bear roared in pain as the fiery male thrashed his head and was then thrown to the ground as the bear stood. Tyranis held onto the bear’s oily eyelid, letting his paws dangle at his sides until the bear struck him full force and sent him flying, leaving a weeping black hole where its eye should have been in the process. Tyranis’s fall was thankfully broken by the snow but he could already feel the tenderness in his ribs where a massive bruise would form. He rose with a snarl, his plush coat spraying out in all directions as he endeavored to make himself appear larger, his tail raised like a war banner as he flashed his bloodstained fangs. The bear gave a mighty and furious roar that may as well have shaken the earth under his paws, but Tyranis held his ground, keeping the bear’s attention to allow the other two to move in. Speech Thought

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi's face burned hot despite being through face first into a snow drift. How embarrassing! He definitely needed to do more to hold up his end in this fight. Shaking the snow from his pelt he turned his attention back to the fight. The flame-colored male ripped through the bears flesh and when it reared up sent the other male tumbling off of it. The dark colored male landed from his earlier assault and appeared ready for more. This was it, if they could all attack it together then surely victory would be theirs. Panting, Éldi took a few careful breaths, trying to ignore the splitting headache that was creeping across his brow. With a snarl he charged toward the bear that had landed with a thud on all fours, letting out a blood-curdling roar. Part of his brain wondered what the hell he was doing but the other part overrode that. He would not turn away.

Éldi attacked the bears face at a 90 degree angle on it's right side, sinking his fangs into the creatures face and shredding a line down to it's delicate nose where he latched hold. The bear did not take kindly to that as a paw suddenly tore him off and pinned him to the ground. He let out a gasp as the air was pressed once more from his lungs.

ooc: Yay! 4th Round! I'll have the bear run off in my next post unless you guys want to.

OOC: Sorry this took a while, I wrote a reply for this a while ago and it looks like it didn't post x.x


They were doing well, all things considered. Ignatius hadn't really expected for a brawl with a bear to go terribly well, but so far all three of the wolves had avoided serious injury. Pulling himself back to a standing position, snow clinging to his fiery pelt, Ig snarled and bounded forward to get right back into the fray. His back felt a little bruised since the snow he'd landed in had been a bit more solidly packed down than an ideal cushion ought to be, but for the time being he ignored it in favor of focusing on the fight at hand.

Seeing the yearling male batted away and swiftly pinned by the bear, Ig changed his intended course towards the animal's hind leg. Racing around it's side in a half-circle, he sought to slam his chest hard into the middle of it's right shoulder, hoping to use some momentum to knock it away from the prone form of the younger male. Simultaneously he'd lift his right front leg and seek to scrape it down the bear's right front limb, hoping his claws could do some damage to the more sparsely furred spot. Meanwhile his jaws parted and he'd bite down hard on the creature's neck, intending more to cause pain and discomfort to dissuade the animal from remaining here than to do real damage.

The enraged bear stumbled, roaring in protest as it took a few steps back, pawing at Ignatius to shove him away when he bit down, freeing itself from his grip after a couple attempts.

With the bear distracted Tyranis darted to the left, opposite the yearling and ran behind the bear’s back, with the two having the bear’s attention in the front Tyranis moved to cause the bear permanent injury. With a twist of his head Tyranis bit down on the bear’s achilleas tendon and whipped his head side by side in an attempt to dislodge the sinew of its heel. The bear however had other plans and kicked its back leg out in an attempt to dislodge him. The blows were stronger than the lighting king had expected and left him momentarily dazed before he was finally kicked away, the tear of fur and the scent of blood on the air. He landed on his other side this time but recovered quickly and darted away from the bear to regroup with the other two. Speech Thought

dark mists are cloaking what the eyes can see

Éldi felt his vision starting to blur as he flailed and struggled. Thankfully the bear was too distracted by the other two wolves to fully put its weight down on him and, though it felt like eternity to him, the paw was swiftly removed as the flame-colored male slammed into the bear, forcing it too focus on the other two opponents. Éldi stumbled to his feet, his legs trembling. That was a closer brush with death than he cared for. The darker colored male ripped into the bears heel as it let out a roar of pain that seemed to fall into something akin to a whimper. The bear had had enough and it backed away from the trio of wolves before turning tail and dashing back through the woods.

Panting, Éldi let out a particularly loud sigh as he sat down heavily. "Ugh, thanks for the assist. What dumb luck I seem to be having lately." He got up and shook himself, staring at the other two males for a moment. He didn't really know what to say. Did anything need to be said? He nodded to the other two then turned to head back toward where he and Valkyrie had been denning.

-exit-