Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn worked her way back down into Auster all the way down south to the bay where she'd seen those weird creatures swimming in the water. She wanted to get another look a the weird critters. Padding through the mangroves she soon found the aquamarine, ocean waters that swept in around the mangrove roos in such a lovely fashion. The wind was blowing but it was warm and sunny. A wonderful day for a walk. Her large ears flicked up and she looked behind her. She couldn't quite put her paw on it but something was definitely off. She wasn't the only predator here. She searched the mangrove trees and suddenly a scrawny, male tiger burst from the trees. She yelled and scrambled out of the way, her long legs allowing her to leap out of the way just in time.

A quest for herbs that couldn't be found on her home continent had Pidge dragging Torrent and Asriel south across the land bridge, but they hadn't quite reached the raccoon's planned location when Asriel stopped suddenly, his muzzle wrinkling as he sniffed. "Wait," he growled, slamming a paw down on the raccoon to stop her from waddling any further. Torrent stopped as well, scenting the wind to catch a curious smell, something like and yet unlike Asriel. She didn'trecognize it, but judging by the expression on Asriel's face he certainly did. "Tiger. I fought one with Enrico, years back, but I would rather not do so now. There were many of us then - not two and a fat little weasel. We need to go another way, avoid it entirely."

But fate would have different plans, as an odd, long-legged canine broke cover right before them, followed by a scrawny striped cat larger than Asriel - a size difference that was easy to note, since the tiger's momentum was such that he slammed into the smaller cat and knocked him tail over ears into the brush. Luckily for the odd canine, it had managed to lead the tiger to a distraction. Unfortunately, that distraction was Torrent and the chubby raccoon he had stepped on as he careened into the now-dazed snow leopard. The tiger might actually have been content with just snatching the snack and running, with the newly long odds, but Torrent leaped on him in a fury even as the tiger reached out one clawed paw intending to nab the raccoon. Her long fangs slashed at his throat, and only the tiger evading with the lightning speed of his kind stopped her from ending the fight right there. As it was, she opened two jagged lacerations down his shoulder, and he retaliated with a smack of a claw-filled paw that opened wounds over her ribs before they separated, circling and snarling. Torrent's blood was up, and the world seemed to swim beneath a filter of black-edged crimson. She nearly trembled with the need to throw herself at him and take him apart.

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn's ears pinned to her head and she growled at the tiger, secretly hoping that maybe she'd just gotten to close to a kill and it wasn't actively hunting her. The cat stalked forward. Jynn's legs coiled and she watched it carefully as she debated whether or not to just turn and run. The tiger would not be easy to out pace and simply running could entice the cat to give chase and treat her like prey but on the other paw it was far larger, stronger, and better equipped to kill. She had no chance of beating it in an all out fight.

Both decisions sucked but she felt better about her odds to out run it. Jynn turned tail and ran as the tiger gave chase. She nimbly navigated the terrain, rushing by another wolf. The sound of collision brought Jynn skidding to a halt as she turned to see that the tiger had run into another cat and a raccoon. The wolf dove in to attack, biting the tiger's neck viciously before it struck her aside.

While the tiger was distracted Jynn darted forward. Closing the distance between herself and the tiger in a single graceful leap as her fangs latched onto the cat's right buttock. The tiger yowled and whipped around, dragging her along with it before one of its great paws swept her feet out from under her and she lost her grip.

The odd, leggy canine returned to the fray, grabbing at the tiger's rear and holding its attention long enough for Pidge to scramble up a tree, and the dazed Asriel to stagger to his paws. There was no time to retreat now, despite Asriel's earlier insistence, even if Torrent would have tolerated being pulled out of her rage to do so. When the tiger whirled on the stranger and knocked her paws out from under her, Torrent leaped upon the tiger from behind, locking her paws around his ribcage and her long fangs buried in his neck on either side of his spine. She was similar in size to the young male, perhaps even a little taller, so her hind paws were planted firmly on the ground to allow her to pivot as he sought to escape her grip. If he fought too hard to escape, there was a good chance that the placement of those long, saber-like teeth would sever something important. All to the better, as far as Torrent was concerned.

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn rolled out of the way of the tiger's next swipe, his claws jus grazing the tops of her shoulders as she rolled. The wound stung but her thoughts were so focused on making it out of the encounter alive she couldn't spare the injury much thought. The other wolf was attacking again and seemed determined to try and kill the tiger. Jynn didn't particularly see the point of that. The tiger wasn't near a pack and it was likely they who trespassed on its territory. Perhaps she just didn't care much for killing for sport but between the two of the Jynn felt confident they could chase the tiger off. It already seemed intent to make a break for it the moment it could. Jynn leapt forward and snapped at the tiger's hind end, seeking to drive it forward and maybe drive it away from them so they could be done with this business.

The tiger mewled as he fought her grip, but Torrent just tightened her jaws with a snarl rumbling deep in her chest. He surged forward desperately as the odd canine creature nipped at him, and the Imperialis wolf jerked him back. She slid her legs into a wider stance, settling her weight towards the earth to strengthen her grip upon it and her shoulders bunched, preparing to shake the tiger like a terrier shakes a rat, which would certainly send her fangs through his artery and spill his life upon the leaf-litter...

"Let it go, Torrent," Asriel's voice rang out clearly, and when she tightened her grip in protest his sheathed paw walloped her in the head so that she dropped her grip to turn on him with a snarl. Freed, the young tiger raced away unnoticed as the snow leopard stared Torrent down coolly. She shuddered once all over, blinking until her eyes cleared of the sharp-edged darkness at the corners of her vision, and she saw Asriel as he was, and not as another enemy. Torrent swiped a tongue over her fangs and muzzle, drawing the tiger's blood into her mouth, and gave the leopard a grudging nod. She wasn't pleased with his decision to pull her back from her kill, but it was done.

Her eyes merely flicked once to the odd canine before she dismissed it from her thoughts, stalking forward to retrieve Pidge from the tree and go on her way.