Lorikeet was sure that if she never saw another bear, it would be too soon. On the plus side, she had two large bear coats recently dried, now decorating her den. It was almost starting to get cosy in there. She made her way down to the stone steppe. It was a decent trip from the mountain, but she didn’t mind the walk.

She passed through the strange ruins, and made her way towards the river that ran around the edge of the territory and out towards the sea. She stepped towards the edge to take a drink when something set off her sensors. She paused, leg outstretched, looking for what had alerted her.

As she did so, her eyes fell upon a strange lump in the water. A lump that was perfectly still despite the soft current…

"Speech"

He'd been working from the top down, clearing the dens of bears and other assorted predators... but it was mostly bears. Like mostly-mostly bears. He would also be happy not to have to see or deal with them again, but that would be wishful thinking. Now that the mountain was mostly clear, Viðarr would need to worry about the Steppe. The broad, flat lands would hopefully be a good place to start training, as well as hunting and fishing. Sure, the prey was good enough on the mountain, but sometimes it was nice to not have to worry about throwing yourself off a cliff chasing a goat. It's the little things.

As he makes his rounds, Lorikeet catches his attention. Viðarr offered a grumble by way of greeting, or at least announcing his presence. Wouldn't want her to think he was sneaking, or anything, but he doesn't have much to say. Well, at least until he gets closer. Head tilting absently to one side as he moves towards the edge of the water. Curious as to what's grabbed her atten-- "Jävla helvete." The shadow realized just what was in the water about a heartbeat too late. The lump in the water thrashed to life, causing his heart to drop into his stomach.

In a surprisingly fluid motion for his size, Viðarr engaged with the crocodile. Head low, jumping in front of Lorikeet. A protector through and through, he wasn't going to let anyone get eaten today.

"Viðarr"

She leaned a little further forward, squinting at the shape in the water. Trying to understand what she was seeing. She might have realised what it was if a voice hadn’t distracted her. The sound of Vidarr’s familiar grumble had her sending him a grin that way. Just as her head turned, and distraction obvious, the creature in the water attacked.

But it was Vidarr she saw move first. Suddenly, the black was in front of her, shoving her back. She realised at last what was happening, and moved quickly to the side. Giving herself room to see past Vidarr’s bulk. There it was, the impressive form of a crocodile, half lunged on the bank, distracted by Vidarr’s quick movements. Keetie darted in from the side, scrapping a claw across its back and dancing back. Darn, but those scales were tough.

"Speech"

The creature was large and alarmingly powerful. Viðarr threw himself in front of its jaws, ready to catch the brunt of the thing's attention. By the gods, first the bears, now he had to deal with.... this? His teeth flashed from beneath dark lips, and he did his best to sink them into the armor-plated beast. Narrowly, he avoided the snapping jaws from the prehistoric pain in the ass. Viðarr snarled, reaching out with his own teeth to snap at the beast.

He knows that the crocodile is plated, damn near a walking suit of armor. It would be hard to get through it, but not impossible. That's fine, he can deal with difficult. He would hold the beast's attention while Keetie tried to take it down. Viðarr did manage to feel the squidge of an eyeball under the crushing weight of his jaws as he lunged for the croc's face. Still, he has to back off a bit faster than he'd like to avoid the threat of the gator's massive teeth once more. Suddenly, Viðarr finds himself missing the bears.

"Viðarr"

Keetie had only faced a crocodile once before in her life. A long time ago, but a memorable occasion. “Hey Handsome - it’s jaws, once closed, are weak!” She advised Vidarr as she eyed its back. In most predators, the tactic of one wolf distracting and the other attacking the back worked well. In a crocodile, the tail was just as deadly as the front. More so, because there were weak points near its front that its back didn’t have.

Well… there was only one thing for it, then. She got a running start, her delicate, lithe frame stretching out as she galloped forward, coiled her body, and leaped. Landing hard on the back of the crocodile. Her claws struggled and dug into its scales to hold her on. “Here’s your chance, hot stuff!”

"Speech"

Viðarr's eyebrows lifted as Lorikeet gave him some insight on the beast before him. The jaws, go for the jaws. Fascinating... he couldn't think of any time that he'd needed to dispatch a predator quite like this one. You learn something new every day, he supposed. This was certainly new, and required new strategy. Viðarr was happy to learn, happy to throw himself at this problem, full force.

Keetie clung to the croc's back, digging in. As the croc closed its mouth, Viðarr seized the moment. He struck hard and fast, massive jaws clasping around the bastard's closed jaws with a snap and a snarl. Those teeth dug in hard and fast, doing as much damage as he possibly could in the moment. The viking king could feel the crushing of bone within his grasp, the sickening cracking. The croc started to shift and roll, trying to make its escape. Viðarr dug in hard, holding on for what felt like dear life. Fuck, how could this living dinosaur be this strong?

"Viðarr"