Aurielle Adravendi

She slogged through the marshland, ears swiveling carefully. It was deep night, and the birds that made the estuary home were asleep, with only soft, sleeping twitters occasionally seeping through the air. Once, her family had made this place a temporary home, before Surreal had raised the standard of Celestial, now Valhalla. One day, she pondered, she might spread the boundaries of her pack to include this place, dangers and all. The birds were a good first prey for young wolves to practice hunting on, just as hares and prairie dogs were in the plains, and other small creatures were in the moors. But it would be a training ground where the presence of an experienced adult would be needed. For it wasn’t birds alone that made this marshy, soggy place home. A hallow, reptilian hiss was her only warning before a pair of long, toothy jaws snapped on air, inches from her feet as the woman leapt high, twisting in the air to land several feet away from the large gator that had seen her pale form step too close to its camouflaged form. True to the nature of the large predators in the last several seasons, the gator wasn’t satisfied by the space given, and surged forward in a trotting sprint, forcing Aurielle to dance aside, a pale ghost in the deep shadows, as she assessed the scaly, armored reptile. Its back was too well protected to risk her canines in a bite for its neck. Perhaps if it were sent rolling—but its center of gravity was so low to the ground that she wasn’t certain she would be able to manage that feat alone. Aelloshir, alerted by the hiss, surged forward with a caterwaul, both challenge and call to arms, slapping a clawed forepaw down on the gator’s head to draw it away from his charge while she regrouped, coming in from the side as she saw a possible opening behind the forelegs. She ducked low, twisting her head awkwardly to snap at the softer area behind the beast’s stubby forelegs, only to twist away again as the creature jerked and curved its scaly body around to snap at her. It caught a few strands of her mane, and the glittering white hairs floated on the breeze as she lunged to leap over the beast’s back to the other side, teeth bearing in thought at this devil of a challenge. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Laxton was walking through the swamp, being careful to avoid any 'logs' that may or may not be real. "Stupid... water..." he grumbled. He'd taken a wrong turn, he was attempting to get back to the Forgotten Isle. His sense of direction seemed to have failed him once again, big surprise there. He sighed, then his breath caught as he heard a wolf yelp in surprise and for help. His hackles rose as he charged towards the sound, not wanting to give his position away, if there was a wolf in trouble, he wanted to get the surprise on the enemy.

He maneuvered his black body between trees until he had view of the enemy and its prey. His eyes landed upon a beautiful female being attacked by a large alligator. What was a white wolf doing in such a dank place? They were surely easy to spot. He then shifted himself to come running at the alligator without any signal he was coming, at least nothing but the marshy water underneath his paws. But he was then on the alligator in a second. He grabbed the back of its neck, he knew he couldn't hurt it that way, but he gripped it hard and pulled, shoving his mouth down into the water, forcing the creature to flop over on top of him, squishing into the marshy ground and under the water. If something wasn't done fast enough, he would drown.

He only hoped that the female would realize he was making an opportunity for her to get at the soft spot of the alligator and kill it, and hoped she'd do it in time.

Aurielle Adravendi

A larger dark shadow came from the black surroundings with a splash and a bound, giving the shimmering white Spirit pause as he tackled the beast, causing it to abandon its initial attack and flip in the wolf’s grasp. She caught a brief glimpse of golden eyes before the male was submerged beneath the thrashing reptile, and she took the opportunity to dart in like a viper herself, slashing for the armpit, sinking her canines deeply and wrenching back. The blow wasn’t a killing one, but the pain was such that the beast gave a savage heave, rolling free of the jaws of the other wolf and slumping with a hiss before rallying on its three good legs and surging at the white woman. She danced aside, eyes flicking around the surroundings before they lighted on a sturdy branch about a foot and a half long. She lunged for it, grasping it in her jaws behind her long canines and twisting her head, lunging forward as the gator surged to meet her, jaws gaping. She took the plunge, head darting between the jaws, which came down on either end of the branch clamped in her teeth, wedging it firmly. The result was a great deal of thrashing as the woman leapt free of the beast, eyes glancing toward the male to check if he was alright. The strategy had been a good one that he’d chosen, but at the detriment of his own life, she wasn’t certain she would be willing to allow the stranger to take that risk again. The beast’s fate was certain in her mind, though. With the hide as tough as it was, this creature would be a likely candidate for both feeding her pack and providing a few pieces of armor. Not only that, it was close to her lands and she didn’t fancy the thought of these beasts crossing into the plains or the moor. There were no pups, not yet, but the future might hold them at some point, and the thought of a child being caught by one of these sickened her. The gator thrashed and splashed, hissing in fury and pain as it fought to free its gaped jaws from the branch, but jaws that were perfect for clamping down shut on prey were not so strong at forcing open far enough to escape the infuriating bit of wood. As it thrashed, she studied it, though the time that passed could hardly have been more than a few seconds before she lunged in to slash her canines for one of its eyes. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think