The Ermis hasn’t done much travelling to the more Western territories yet. His midnight coat was unforgiving in the blistering heat given off on a desert. It was with some caution that he skirted the entry territories of the land. Keeping close to the oasis-like willows that rested near the entrance of the desert. Just a chance to get an idea of the layout, and nothing more.

He didn’t intend for his stop to be a long one, and made his way beneath the long leaves of the willows with relief. When he made his way towards the pond, he heard the sounds of croaking frogs, and the fresh green of lilies. He crouched to take a sip of the refreshing water, and a shadow saved him. The hint of something beneath the waves, and he leapt to his paws a moment before a set of jaws came thundering down in the spot the Dire had just evacuated.


"Speech"

Tyrfing and Mitros had been hunting the crocodile from the Emerald Valley all the way down to the Whistling Willows. It had been both an exercise in tracking (the creature made a unique trail as it slithered over the marsh) as well as provided the new yearling a chance to show his cousin what he was made of. Mitros had high hopes of coming away with a scaley set of bracers from the encounter, and Tyrfing had agreed to assist him in the kill, butchering, and crafting, so long as Mitros was open to approaching the fight with intelligence and an open mind.

"Their jaws are deadly. One bite is all it takes and you die, don't forget that. And don't underestimate the tail, it's a lot heavier than you might expect and a swipe of it can easily knock you to the side." He had been lecturing the new yearling practically their entire walk, but he couldn't help it. Mitros was young, ambitious, eager to earn his true name and prone to stupidity in the process. He thunked the boy across the head with a paw as he saw he was not paying him full attention, but Mitros' response was to lift his own leg and jab it out into the distance impassively. "Mmm, will digesting a meal make him slower?" The blue boy had posed the question to a flabbergasted Tyrfing, who finally had noticed the monochrome man who had been resting, and the croc who was about to consume him.

He shoved the boy into action with a hard hit of his shoulder, forcing him down the hill they had crested and sprinting off toward the crocodile. "Get on it's back, remember, avoid the tail and the teeth!" He commanded his charge, watching as the stranger dodged the bite at the last minute. Tyrfing continued his sprint, barreling the full force of his oversized form into the crocodile's side to give a small moment of distraction to the grey wolf, pushing off the scaley skin with all four paws to dodge the retaliatory bite.

Mitros listened patiently to his cousin's teachings, reminding himself that at the end of it all, a prize would come in the form of four new crocodile scale bracers. It was basic information, stuff he assumed even a pup could figure out. Stay away from the pointy end, blah blah. Regardless, he nodded along and made eye contact often, splitting his gaze between his lecturer and the willows before him.

There, in the distance, a wolf was drinking from the lake. Behind it, an approaching reptile intent on making him a meal. Tyrfing's paw upon his head drew a soft 'oof' from his maw, and he jabbed his paw out in reply toward the evolving scene. "Mmm, will digesting a meal make him slower?" Mitros asked, turning his head toward the irredescent man to find that he did not appreciate the remark. Well, he thought it was witty. And then he had been shoved, half-running half-rolling down the hill toward the endangered stranger. Tyrfing threw himself into the fight as the monochrome man dodged the deadly jaws, shouting an instruction for Mitros to get up upon it's back. That sounded dangerous, but also fun!

Mitros did not need to be told twice, he lengthened his stride as the crocodile curved in to bite at the air before his cousin's muzzle, catching the reptile as it's dangerous tail had been curved away from him and launching himself onto it's back. It took only one movement of the powerful muscles along the spine for Mitros to realize that it was not as easy as it looked, and he threw himself down into a low crouch to maintain his balance. "NOW WHAT?"

Mercury was astounded to find a crocodile in front of him. Yet, somehow, he was even more surprised to find a wolf charging towards him. As he backpedalled another two steps he realised the purple eyed wolf had actually been aiming for the crocodile. As the purple wolf collided, Mercury's gears finally started to work and he got fully to his paws and fell into a fighting crouch. It seemed that purple-eyes and his galaxy-toned friend were hunting the crocodile. “Good.. timing. I think” He said, still getting over his surprise.

As the younger wolf leaped on its back, Mercury realised that he and purple needed to provide distractions. Finding a fallen branch from the willow tree, he picked it up in his maw and attempted to stab the crocodile in the eye from something of a distance. Realising as he did so that hitting such a small target with the waving branch was not going to be an easy feat.


"Speech"

Tyrfing had missed the crocodile's bite of relatiation by mere inches, the sound of enclosing jaws in the air before his muzzle rattling around the inside of his skull. Mitros had landed his jump - one bonus - and the stranger was still alive and with the spirit to fight back - another, better bonus. The iridescent viking spared a glance at the man as he complimented his timing, and then couldn't contain his laugh as he saw the man retrieve a stick to do battle with. "A stick!??" He cackled. "Gods above, sir." Tyrfing had seen everything now, and the playful amusement in his eyes did not fade as he approached the crocodile once more.

"Mitros, move your god damn ass, buddy." He coached, still maintaining the easy and carefree tone with which he had spoken to the stranger. "It cannot bite you as long as you stay on, okay? Don't be a wimp, just crawl on up, we need you to figure something out before he gets in a lucky hit on me or stick-samurai over here." Tyrfing continued his assault as he encouraged the yearling on with his words, feigning an initiation each time the croc refocused upon Mitros' flailing limbs, and managing a firm bite to it's rear leg as it turned to hiss at the stranger and his makeshift sword.

The crocodile was as wild as anything he'd ever rode before - which, realistically, was nothing.. because no matter how much he wanted to ride both the elephant and the giraffe, the opportunity had not presented itself. It flailed and thrashed, making terrifying noises deep in it's throat that brought Mitros's fur to stand on end. At Tyrfing's insisting he continued to crawl up along the spine, wishing he'd inherited claws like his cousin that he could use to properly secure a hold upon the scales with.

As the crocodile flailed once more, Mitros nearly lost his balance. Instinct drove his teeth down into it's flesh for proper purchase, and the crocodile recoiled beneath him. It was not a deadly injury, but it served as both distraction and a fifth hold upon the crocodile's leathery skin. He waited until the croc's movements slowed once more as it sized up it's land-locked opponents, released his jaws, scurried up another foot, and landed another bite to secure himself. Slowly, surely, he'd make it to the head. All the while, Mitros yelled muffled profanity and insult back toward his viking cousin against the creature's hide.

"Speech"

“I just got a close personal look at those teeth. Believe me, a stick is a great idea” He said back, not at all offended by the amusement in the other wolf's eyes. If anything, he returned it. He wasn’t entirely sure how to fight a croc, but these two wolves seemed to have their teamwork down rather well.

As Tyfing introduced him as ‘stick samurai’ Merc waved said weapon in the air. “Or Mercury, if you prefer” he offered. He did however continue to attempt to harass the crocodile and wave his stick in its face any time it looked like it was going to start thrashing. Attempting to distract it from the yearling on its back. Getting a little better with his aim, he finally managed to stab the stick into its eye. He put his weight behind the blow, and the stick broke in his paws, almost flinging him into the path of the crocodile. He managed to righten his balance at the last second, but the crocodile wasn’t so lucky. If it lived, it would never be looking out of that eye again.


"Speech"

Stick-samurai did not seem to quite jive with the nickname, and Tyrfing shot him a grin as he introduced himself properly. "Really? What sort of warrior prefers his birth name to one earned in the heat of battle?" He questioned, watching as the branch-wielding man moved in with his makeshift weapon and with it, gouged out the crocodile's eye. The stick, however, did not survive the encounter. Fin tsk'ed in sympathy. "Shame, I suppose you'll have to stick with Mercury after all."

Mitros was still taking his sweet ass time, letting the stranger get all the glory. It was sad, really. "That boy up there is my cousin, Mitros." He introduced from a distance, leaping back as the croc spun and snapped it's jaws out toward him once more. With one eye short, it's depth perception had suffered. It was likely Tyrfing hadn't needed to jump at all do have dodged it. "He wants the skin when we're through, so no more sticks, no more poking - got it?" Circling the crocodile, and taking small, distracting bites to it's thick limbs, he watched as Mitros continued to climb. "You hear that boy? Take too long and Mercury here is going to impale it, and that'll be no new bracers for you! Get to it's head, find something soft and squishy, and sink your teeth into it until it stops moving."

Mitros was trying his very best, scaling the crocodile as if it were a mountain rather then some weird oversized lizard, and bringing rivets of blood up from it's leathery skin with each new crunch and release of his jaws. The crocodile still had not been able to find a solid hit on either of the adults who flanked it, and at one point Mitros felt it's body quake in anger and agony as the stick impaled it through the eye. Regardless of whether he managed the kill now or not, he knew there was no quality of life left for the animal.

He took advantage of it's suffering to get an extra few feet in the next time he climbed down along it's spine, his chest and belly scratching against its rough spine as it continued to flail and shake. With a few more shuffles of his heavy frame, he made it to the head. Taking Tyrfing's shouted and slightly mocking advice, the yearling pried open his jaws and enclosed them around the creature's mangled eyes, crushing with all his might until the body slowed and eventually stopped. Ew.

"Speech"