Prey was plentiful this time of year, it seemed. Back home, there was a;ways a steady supply of food regardless of the season, as it typically remained a steady mild weathered climate. He wasn’t quite adjusted to the extreme heat and cold the days brought here on this continent. It was strange, just about as strange as his harrowing encounter. The koi splotched wolf menadered his way towards the rock-jutted plain, enjoying himself - but you wouldn’t know it because a permanent frown never left his lips, and his eyes were always sharp and cold like frozen moss. He wasn’t the very approachable type, if at all. He was more of the ‘don’t piss him off’ type. Just as the fire-legged male had begun tracking a deer that had leaped through the lush valley, his view was spoiled by a massive tawny cougar, hovering over him on a nearby grassy ledge. It stared him down with a deep, threatening growl, its yowl piercing the air as it crawled towards him, aiming to strike. Usagi wasn’t about to back down in the least - he wasn’t a damn coward and predator fights unleashed a deep rage within him he could only quell with this animal’s bloody demise. His own lips peeled back in a snarl, a menacing growl bubbling in his throat. His form, though slim, was practically all muscle, tensing and rippling as he launched at the cougar’s shoulder, latching onto it as it tried to shake him off. Perhaps some assistance would do him good, but the animal was clearly agitated despite the male’s efforts to subdue it. "Speech"

Inoki had skirted past the mountain, choosing to go around rather than vaguely over, interested to see what lay on the other side. What she found was... interesting. It looked to be a type of open plain with many boulders and rocks dotted about, and a quick sniff check of the air confirmed that there were multiple smaller prey around. She could only assume they were hiding amongst the rocks as there didn't seem to be much else about. But it wasn't just prey she smelled. The scent of another wolf wafted her way on the breeze, as well as the heavy musk of some type of large cat. Immediately her hackles rose at the sound of a threatening yowl, and she scampered up on top of a larger boulder to try and get a good vantage point. Over the next hill she saw a wolf and large cat going at it quite viciously, and apparently not having had learned her lesson from the last time she took on that tiger with Balthier, Inoki leaped off the boulder and began to sprint towards the two creatures. She was fast, and using a flat-tipped rock to push off of, she took a running leap at the other side of the cat, aiming to sink her teeth into the flesh of its hind leg to try and take at least some of its attention off the other wolf.

The fawn-colored beast screeched as a black flash emerged from seemingly nowhere, gripping the wildcat’s hind leg in her grasp. Usago\i glanced towards the woman who’d launched the attack, with a nonverbal glance in gratitude. He normally never showed emotion, but he supposed letting it show when words weren’t possible wouldn’t hurt, either. The cougar shifted around towards the she-wolf as her attack made purchase, swiping at her with a furious unsheathed paw. Usagi promptly swung down the cat’s opposite shoulder, gripping its massive forearm in his own teeth. Of course, the cougar retaliated with an attempt at snapping its jaws towards his scruff. He winced as its fangs ounctured his loose neck fur, blood oozing down his charcoal pelt as he wrenched himself free from its grasp. Instead, he hit the animal right where it would hurt, just like with the lion and bear he’d fought - jab it in the eyes. A well-placed leap onto the beasts cranium, and he managed to twist around so as to dig his nails into its orbits. Though, just as he’d managed to graze the beast’s gaze, it flung him off at the right moment, likely sending the she-wolf off in the process. Battered and bruised, but still in one piece, the koi wolf shook his bloodied pelt as his pent-up range combined into a fierce, guttural snarl at the cougar. If the woman wished to follow, he provided her enough space to launch her own attack on the predator, while he aimed for the short-pelted cougar’s neck, clamping his jaws down and hoping to rip around enough to subdue it somewhat. His effort and the charcoal stranger’s combined would at least force the creature to flee, at the very least. "Speech"

She growled loudly as the cougar swiped at her with a clawed paw, trying to dodge out of the way from where she hung on, but feeling a few claws scrape down her shoulder. Pain blossomed, but she hung on firmly, not willing to let go yet. From her position she couldn't see what the other wolf was doing very well, but whatever he had done had angered the large feline. Suddenly she was flying backwards through the air as she was thrown off, landing a short distance away on her paws as she skidded along the grass, leaving marks where her blunt claws dug into the dirt. The other wolf had been thrown off as well, and Inoki glanced at him for a moment before he leaped for the cougar again. She let out a huff of air as she stood back up, already feeling her sides heaving from her panting, pushing the pain in her shoulder to the back of her mind as she moved to attack the large feline again. It still wasn't backing down, and if either of the two wolves turned tail now it would likely take chase. The wolf aimed for its throat, and she circled around to its other side while it was busy fending him off to make an attempt at grabbing the other side of the cougar's neck where the skin met the lower portion of its ear. It was taller than her, but she had enough energy left to take a running leap and grab on again, wrapping a foreleg around the back of its neck so she wouldn't be shaken off this time. Hopefully this would be enough to make it decide to leave them alone.

The impact had clearly left them both dazed prior to Usagi’s attack. He didn’t show it but he’d lost a tooth from the impact, a back molar he’d spit out as he continued to snap his jaws and find purchase on its throat, squeezing as blood gushed everywhere. He was practically soaked, the metallic taste filling his tongue and his maw. The cougar wailed, its cries slowly fading as it was beginning to lose what strength it had left, offering a less energetic swing on its neck in a last ditch effort to swing them off. Usagi grappled with the beast’s throat, though the throbbing in his maw and the impact of his fall prior to this attack left him winded. As the beast reared, no longer having the energy itself to fight off two full-grown wolves, it would lose its offensive stance entirely, stumbling limply away in the opposite direction. At this point, the she-wolf could decide if it was worth it to get in a last attack or get off to help tend to her own wounds. The cougar’s rearing forced Usagi to break loose, lest the beast’s landing shatter his jaw entirely. He collapsed to the earth with a pained grunt of his own, managing to get onto his feet and get out of the animal’s way as it realized it was no match for the canines. Perhaps a small victory, but Usagi concerned himself with his throbbing jaw, as well as the she-wolf who’d jumped in at the expense of her clawed shoulder. No doubt it’d need medical attention, but he had no experience with it. It appeared they’d won, at least. Not much use in killing a beast that no longer wished to attacked them, and the koi wolf hoped it would be smart enough not to try anything else. "Speech"

The cougar swung its head around again, and Inoki felt her grip begin to slip a bit, but held on as tightly as she could with her foreleg, even as she was shaken around like a toy. A part of her wondered if the two wolves would be enough to bring the feline down, but then it reared back on its hind legs and she quickly decided to let go before she was crushed beneath its heavier weight. A quick wince as she landed was the only moment of hesitation before she scurried back and away from the cougar, watching as the other wolf did the same. Together they watched as the feline turned tail and ran away, yowling one last time at the pair before it disappeared beyond some large rocks. Panting heavily, Inoki turned to the other wolf, wincing again at the pain in her shoulder as she stepped towards him. He had much worse injuries than her, spotting the sticky blood dripping from his neck and mouth, apparent even against the charcoal black of his fur. She looked once more at where the cougar had run, double checking that it wasn't trying to come in for a second round, before letting out a long and drawn-out exhale. "You really know how to pick an opponent," she said with a grimaced smile. Inoki took a few moments to catch her breath before speaking up again, looking more closely at the male's figure to try and determine if he had any other injuries. "I know a bit about healing, do you want me to look over your injuries?"

The koi-wolf wasn’t an altruistic individual, nor very empathetic. He wasn’t a selfish brute, either, though, as he glanced at the woman’s clawed shoulder with the slightest pang of guilt. One of his attacks agitated the cougar so much it had injured her - quite badly in his opinion. Nevermind the lost tooth and aching jaw, he didn’t think it as bad. But such injuries had a subjective classification, however, and the woman approached and offered to help him. He said nothing about her previous statement, just a heavy sigh. Yeah, he sure did. Why did large cats always seem to pick fights with him, moreover? She mentioned she knew a bit about healing, and so he quirked a brow as he felt the blood from his maw trickle down his soaked chin and neck, staining his alabaster splotch with a disturbing crimson hue. "What about tending to your own?" He inquired, voice muffled from the blood and saliva pooling on his tongue. It wasn’t an inquiry in malice, nor was it out of clear concern. To him, he thought if she was a healer she might try to fix herself up first so she could have the energy and strength to worry about others. Or maybe Usagi had been on his own, or just him and his brother, for so long he’d forgotten about such acts of kindness. Still..he was hurting badly and knew next to nothing about herbs himself. A miracle he’d made it this far in a strange land. He winced as he turned his head away and spit out another clot of blood, the socket where his molar had been pulsating. "Speech"

Her lips quirked up in a smile at his question, wondering if it was out of concern, or simply a strategic thought. She couldn't quite tell which it was from his expression and tone alone. "I can do both at the same time." Her shoulder was just a few shallow scratches, enough to bleed, but not deep enough to cause any real worry as long as it didn't become infected. But the blood on his scruff was a bit more worrisome as she couldn't quite tell how much damage had been done against his swarthy coat, and as long as none of the delicate facial bones were broken, the bleeding from his mouth would be mostly alright. "Just need to find some Marigold first," she said, already turning away as her keen gaze looked at the rocky landscape. The yellow and orange flowers were pretty obvious, even from a distance, and in her experience were quite easy to find as long as one was looking in the right place. The fact that it could be used for both a wound on the skin as well as bleeding from the mouth was almost poetic. Inoki didn't have to search long before she found a small bush of Marigold growing near the base of a particularly large boulder. She ripped out the flowers from the stems with as large of a mouthful as she could hold, her paws swiftly taking her back to the other wolf, only wincing slightly at the pain that prickled on her shoulder. "This should do nicely," Inoki said as she dropped the flowers on the ground, looking up at him with a sharp focus. "Do you mind if I look you over?" She wanted to be thorough in her examination and treatment. Healing 1/3

The woman’s answer of being able to tend to her wounds and his st the same time didn’t receive much emotion at all - neither did anything, really. He didn’t even show he was in pain, aside from the obvious welts of blood that soaked his coat from the pulsating socket where his molar had been. Forcing himself to swallow back a gunk of blood in lieu of spitting it out, he cringed ever so slightly as his jaw pounded - it wasn’t broken, or else he wouldn’t be able to even open his mouth the way he was to communicate. He watched with cool chartreuse eyes as he lifted his head, watching the she-wolf pick some strange golden flower. It appeared she knew something about healing - persoanlly all Usagi saw were flowers he didn’t even know the names of. She knew their purposes in healing, it seemed - why else would she be picking them with a wounded shoulder?

Upon dropping the flowers, Usagi noticed her wince slightly, but decided not to comment in it anymore. What was done was done, he couldn’t reverse the damage the tiger did on her. She then looked to him, inquiring if she could look him over for his iwn injuries. Why not? Though he couldn’t say he was ever trustful of other wolves, but if she was asking, he wouldn’t blatantly refuse. He didn’t really know what to do for the bleeding, and she had the knowledge on it. So, he nodded, and opened his mouth to reveal the socket. The traumatic impact bruised the gums, forcing the molar out and causing a pool of blood to ebb from the hole. It would be hard to miss, with the swelling still an angry red.

Speech

wishing there was something left to lose

this could be the day i die for you—