Balthier had come through the Algoma Prairie in hopes to find some final meat to take home to Fenmyre. It would be his last stop before returning to the pack with a hefty bounty. He pulled the cart off to the side, hidden behind a hill before heading off into the prairie and started to track the plentiful prey of the area.

Balthier stalked after a doe, catching up to it and finishing it off to add to the pile. But with the blood spilled and fresh, a black bear was quick to trace him and the doe and came barreling in his direction for the meal itself. The prey was growing better here in Boraes since The Long Night, but maybe the packs had been keen on restoring their resources and leaving little for loners and other predators.

"Balthier Destruction"

The scent of fresh blood had drawn him in, its tantalising aroma making his mouth water. He'd been looking for a good spot to hunt anyway, and this place seemed to almost draw all types of herbivores in, but his hunting skills were a bit of a joke and desperately needed to be worked on. However, an already killed animal that was potentially free for the taking? Now that was tempting to take advantage of, as long as there was no predator guarding the carcass. Astrophel followed his nose, the scent becoming stronger, and eventually he saw a wolf standing over a freshly dead deer. At first he was going to call out to the wolf, hoping to ask the stranger if he could have just a few bites to ease the hunger gnawing at his belly, but at the sight of a large black bear making a direct beeline for the wolf and the deer carcass his instinct to protect kicked in. Without a moment of hesitation, he spurred himself forward, ears flattening against his skull and his chin lowering to protect his neck, aiming to run straight at the bear and launch himself at its shoulder, wanting to grab, rip, and tear. He wouldn't leave the wolf to fight a bear on his own, even if it put his own life at risk.

Before Balthier could really even consider his options, another wolf came barreling forward and jumping up on top of the bear. Balthier just watched for a few seconds, the wolf hanging at the bear's shoulder. Balthier jumped forward too realizing he couldn't just let the other wolf hang there alone. This wasn't his first go around with a bear, so he wasn't sure why he froze. Maybe he hadn't had anyone jump forward to help him before and it was always the other way around.

Balthier leapt up and took a bite down on the bear's front paw that was opposite of the current male's attack. Maybe if they could confuse it enough then the bear back down and run off.

"Balthier Destruction"

The bear roared loudly, a deep rumble that felt like it shook his bones, clearly confused at the sudden wolf hanging on from one of its shoulders. Out of the corner of his eye Astrophel could see the other wolf take a leap somewhere towards the other side of the bear, and that gave him the motivation to continue holding on. He was fully expecting the bear to take a swipe at him with a paw from its other leg, but instead it roared again, stumbling against him as if it was unbalanced on the other side of its body. Perhaps the wolf he had come in to save had done something to make it really hurt? A snarl ripped free from his muzzle, front legs pushing against its side and neck while his hind legs tried to find a steady spot to use the ground as leverage. The bear, apparently having enough of the two wolves that had grabbed hold, moved to raise up on its own hind legs and gave a great shake of its upper body. In a toss up between being potentially crushed when it landed back on all fours, versus being thrown a small distance away, Astrophel decided he'd rather be thrown, and promptly let go just as he felt the bear begin to teeter. He wasn't flung very far away, and managed to land on all fours without too much trouble other than a bit of a stumble, and Astrophel quickly spun around to face the bear again, raising himself up as high as he could as he bared his teeth at the creature. His jaws snapped together a few times in a row, wanting to try and intimidate the bear even though it was much larger than him.

The bear was easily confused as the two wolves attacked it from different angles, and it eventually threw the other male off of it. Balthier released the bear himself, looking towards Astrophel to make sure he wasn't badly hurt.

The two larger wolves faced the black bear together and it started to back up away from them like it was deciding if it should continue to fight or flee. Astrophel used a threatening tactic, and Balthier too jumped forward with the intent to bite down on the beast again but with that it turned to run off. Balthier watched as it loped over the hills and out of sight, looking at the male who helped him before offering, "Thanks for the save. I'd like to give you some of the meat off my cart here for the help."

"Balthier Destruction"

Like a team, the two wolves stared down the black bear, but Astrophel stood his ground as the other wolf leaped forward to try and bite again, just in case the predator tried anything funny. But to his relief it turned tail and began to flee, and just to make sure he darted behind it to snap again at its retreating form, wanting to hurry it away. He watched as it ambled away over the hills, only turning around to face the other wolf once it was out of sight. To his surprise the wolf looked familiar now that he could actually give them a good look, and he smiled widely. "So good to see you again, though I wish it was under better circumstances." Astrophel dipped his head in greeting. He was taken aback a bit at the offering of meat from Balthier's cart, but it would be rude to refuse such a kind offer, and he was feeling a bit hungry. "I'll take just enough to fill my belly, I'm sure you have many mouths to feed." With the amount of food that was on the cart, it was only justified to assume it was being taken back to a large group of wolves, as it was far too much for just one wolf to be able to eat before it all spoiled.