Ouroboros Spine Beyond this place of wrath and tears

OS has succeeded in taking down a reindeer! However, roll dye 10 means that ...there is a competitive predator trying to obtain their prize!


When a competitive animal tries to obtain the prize, there will always be a thread. If within 24 hours 3+ pack members deal with that animal (read: make a thread about it), the Spine KEEPS THEIR CARCASS. Otherwise, it can be assumed that the animal made a clean getaway and is still lurking in the Spine...

So, all that is needed here are three wolves total. Tonravik would be included in that number, so two wolves. ANY CAN JOIN OF OS, HOWEVER. The more, the merrier! We've got a pack of wily 'yotes.

Tonravik notes something moving as she howls with the Spine, and quiets. In an instant, a new howl sounds, alerting the Spine that now: it was time to demonstrate the strength they sang of. I am here. Come. There was little time to waste, and the full, bloated Tonravik lumbered toward the family affair, the hairs at her nape lifted and her fangs revealed. There was a great many that had come to pick and steal their find, and Tonravik moved to stand over the quarry. One bold one dashed toward the reindeer, and Tonravik was swift to cuff it with one heavy paw. It yelped and dashed backward while another she had not heeded moved in slowly behind her. Tonravik turned in time to note it and snapped at them.

She could hold them, but only for so long before they successfully were able to eat some of the food they had brought down. Their manic yips were maddening to the alpha, who snapped and clipped the muzzle of a tawny thing, who snapped back at empty air.

The howl sounded and she ran, her long strides carry as fast as was possible with her heavy frame. But she would be there. She would protect. A responding note left her, short and clipped so that she could focus on what was unfolding. 

Tonravik was there, their kill, and enemies. Coyotes. Their cacophonous yipping edged under her skin, bringing forward a terrible snarl as she surged forward, coming to defend and show muscled strength and solidarity. They would run these noisy bastards out, one way or another. 

There would be no sharing between the two species, and definitely no theft by the smaller canines. Teeth snapped close to one as she came close, a paw swiping at its hide. Her raised fur and posture said everything for her. Ours. 

He was starting to come to terms with this whole pack thing. Having a place to put his head for the night was certainly a perk, but the distinct lack of wandering long ranges was a bit of a buzz kill. For now, there was plenty to discover within these lands. He'd roam and make the best of it.

Rising from a lazy little nap, Kero was just about to set off when the howl rose. Well. That decided it. He knew was he was doing. He turned his paws swiftly in the direction of the summons and made his was to the scene.

Coyotes. Ugh. Scrawny little scavengers who had enough numbers to be annoying. And a reindeer. He connected the dots and sprung into action. A snarl released him as he threw himself into the fray and was quickly reminded why wolves were king. Scrawny pups. They were fragile at best. Cuff them on the nose and remind them whose teeth was bigger.

Kodiak was on his feet as soon as the howl of a coyote reached his ears. His entire body spoke of the warrior bred within him, with hackles raised and ears thrust forward as he stiffly came to stand beside his Alpha, joining the pale female and a russet male in guarding the pack's kill. As the coyotes moved in Kodiak spun to guard his Alpha's back and defend that direction, trusting his packmates to cover the others.

His blazing stare focused on one coyote, attempting to steal toward the kill and snag a bite, and he rushed it the fury of a thousand bears. There was no hesitance, he connected with the small canine, locking his jaws around a hind leg amid its screams of agony. Kodiak was a brute, towering, and he hauled the coyote off its feet and shook, breaking the leg and rending the flesh around it.

Others are welcome to join in at any point!

It took mere seconds for others to join her. Tonravik felt proud of her wolves, her eyes only falling to the approaching subordinates briefly before falling back to the creatures that snapped hungrily at her while another went for the meal. She moved in a tight circle, careful with paw placement to continue to straddle the large creature as best she could. Tonravik felt the brown Tartok wolf at her back, and growled approvingly as Iqniq and Kroc both asserted themselves over the coyotes. It was clear the smaller, weaker species had become uncomfortable... but they would try one last time.

There were five, total, two adults and three adolescents in the family. The males leg snapped between Kodiak's jaws, and she heard its shrill cry as it tried to escape. A stupid adolescent, inexperienced and far from wise, lurched toward the carcass to try its own hand as though it might earn something from the pain its family member endured. Tonravik heeded the other adult that moved to keep her occupied, though did not miss the adolescent and snarled.

She lurched forward. The adult, female, coyote was quick and turned, but like Kodiak she managed to catch its leg between her fangs. The pressure exerted broke its leg, too; but she did not let go. For a moment she watched it teeter and the balance of the female coyote falter before jerking her head to the right, watching it fall over. Tonravik relieved her post over the reindeer, choosing to kill the coyote now. She made quick work of it, and turned to move back into the fray, eyes assessing the situation in search of what needed to be taken care of.

Kroc's mind focused down to an extremely fine point in those moments, her internal rage bubbling up and showing as she snatched up the adolescent that Tonravik had balked. A paw caught its tail, pinning it to the ground before her teeth bit down on the creature's spine at the neck, its futile cry of pain high pitched and short lived. With a rather brutal shake of her head, Kroc whipped the carcass, tossing it through the air to land near one of the remaining Coyotes, a bloody snarl rising to mingle with the sounds of the fray. 

She took a step closer to the smaller creatures, her jaws snapping shut in a menacing manner, Tonravik  and the Tartok wolf behind her, Shit-For-Brains off to the side. Together, they were a united front, and it was together that they were making the Coyotes second guess their decision to steal from the wolves of the Spine. 

Well, this was proving to be eventful.

Another male joined them in haste, snapping the bones of a coyote's leg. No doubt it's mobility would be limited which meant they'd have a hob-a-long. That was a shame. Might as well finish the job and add the corpse to the pile. It'd be slim pickings, but hey, food was food.

Kero snagged a coyote by the scruff and pulled it down. Snarling in the adolescent's face, he had a moment to realize this fight was pretty much over. Toni had killed one. Kroc was working on another. Combined with the one Kodiak and injured and the one beneath Kero's paws, it was easy to see who had the advantage. Wolves. Definitely the wolves.

Kero snarled into the young coyote face, teeth snapping as he straddled the thing and pressed a paw into it's windpipe. No blood. No real harm. Only the promise of the threats of his new packmates around him. Kill the rest. He wanted this one well enough to run off and spread word the spine was no place coyotes.

The four of them were making short order of the coyote threat, sending a clear message that they would not tolerate thieves among them. Kodiak had let go the coyote he mangled in favor of landing a savage bite to another's muzzle, but soon the tide of coyotes ebbed. The family had taken a beating from the defending wolves and were reluctant to push their luck. One managed to flee with its tail between its legs, others fell at his packmates' teeth, and Kodiak moved to finish the one he had hobbled, reaching for its neck and snapping it without fanfare. It seemed it was over as quick as it had begun.

Will laugh if someone accidentally grabs Echelon thinking she's a coyote here.

She came upon the scene late, but not intentionally so. Travel time was always something that fell into account and it had been on luck alone that she had heard Tonravik's summons. So when she did come to that scene, it was already unfolding in mass chaos. And the coyotes scattered as the larger wolves of Tartok tore through them, seeming nothing short of being hulking creatures striding and snapping among mere peasants.

Echelon plunged into the fray, making a play for anything roughly her size that moved. She snapped after one wayward youth trying to make for an escape, seizing its tail between her jaws with precision as she jerked them back to the mess of bodies and cries, and of the food they had been trying to steal.

mooortaaalll kombaaat

Tonravik heard another approach. One by one, the scampering creatures were decimated. Her tail waved over her back, having plenty of fun as she turned to redirect her attention to another scampering coyote. Echelon was soon with them, and Tonravik nearly confused the slight wolf for a 'yote herself were it not for her dark coloring. So she was able to withhold from snapping at her aokkatti, watching Echelon drag the critter her size (although, smaller and narrower) toward its proverbial guillotine: her fangs.

She peered sidelong, looking to the coyote Iqniq held. Tonravik was a woman who sent messages in body count and bones, not word of mouth. So she snarled to him, ear turned toward Echelon as she heard the panicky yelps of the dragged adolescent.

Fatality?

They obliterated the offending creatures, leaving all but one mostly unscathed. Until Echelon grabbed it. A fierce grin won over her maw, gold eyes flickering to Cinnabon as he held the other that yet lived. An ear twitched as their Alpha snarled, a final command to end the lives of those who would steal from them. It was a good lesson to send out to the masses of coyotes around; no doubt the vultures would pass the word along, for already they circled overhead, content enough to get the fresher kills of the coyotes.

Her voice rose in their triumph, a note of victory and warning. The coyotes would be added to her list of targets, should she find them across their borders and now, they would know better, not at all strangers to the threats of the Spine.

Ugh fine. Fine. A snarl from Toni was enough to let him know they didn't play with their food. Or their enemies. Or scavengers. Whatever. With a resigned sigh, he pressed his paw more firmly on the coyote's throat and lowered his teeth. Easy in. Easy out. He tore out its windpipe and tossed it aside.

Then it was over. A petite female had joined them at some point and she finished up with the remaining kill. Five wolves. Five dead coyotes. Yup. That math seemed about right.

Krocodile howled her victory. Kero raised a brow at her, staying silent as he lifted a brow towards his new alphess. His gaze lingered for a second before he lowered his red-stained muzzle to dead dog. Teeth around it's throat, Kero jerked the creature off the ground and hefted it skywards. He shifted, letting the coyote land on his back.

"All good now?" he asked, stating the obvious, though in all honesty he was waiting for a dismissal. If Toni didn't want this 'yote to tell all it's friends, there was a good spot for it's corpse somewhere around the borders that would get the same job done.

Flawless victory!

The black Alpha snarled to the russet male that the last survivor was not to be let go, and he obeyed, as Kodiak moved to stand closely beside Tonravik, not touching, but only just. It was a subtle signal to the other male, one he may not register right away but that may enter his subconscious in some fashion, if he cared in the least about the solitary ruler.

The pale female began to sing of their victory, and Kodiak joined in, his powerful howl sounding across the valley that the mountains stood guard over. If the howl was not enough of a warning, the smell of blood and the corpses left behind ought to be.

They all made easy work of the coyotes and once the deed had been done, her eyes swept across the meagerie that had gathered. Some faces were distinctly familiar, yes, but there were ones who weren't. Echelon could not help but eye them with interest, but as always there was something in which lingered stronger behind that. Her subtle play of dominance was curbed as Kroc raised her head in a call, and it was hard to avoid the urge to join in. She was not alone in this either, their baying into the warm spring air would certainly serve warning to just more than the coyotes that laid slain at their feet.

You guys can chuck up one more post if y'want and I'll get this archived :)

Kroc threw her head, and Tonravik made to join her as the others had. Iqniq seemed to not feel the pull of the song, perhaps because it had been so long for him to bay in unity with a pack... Tonravik looked to the slain creature on her back, and threw her own head back, warning creatures of all walks to keep out. It was her own affirmative to Iqniq that all was good. They'd killed them all, after all.

The woman was proud of the massacre around her, the bodies that had come against them staring emptily at the carcass they would never be able to taste. Her howls continued, the mountain walls around them carrying the sound to a greater volume.

Their voices rose, twining together though Kroc's was rather short-lived. Teeth gripped a limb body, unwittingly having had a thought similar to Kerosene's own. While she had intentions to fill her stomach, her duties came first, and that meant placing a few of these at the borders. With one in her mouth, she moved to the next, giving a muffled snarl to the vulture who had already descended to pick at the carcasses. They could feed off of them once she had dropped them at the borders for all to see. 

The one or two fellow Spine comrades she passed got a light shoulder check, a silent display of their bond, no matter how strong. After that, the female headed off to the borders, intent to drop these two a fair amount of space apart. 

The song sang. He lingered awaiting the final note's death upon the air. Their victory was sung. Announced. Proclaimed. Their voices would drift upon the wind and spread across the valley. But voices were short lived. Breath was limited. Lungs met their capacity. The chorus died and with it, their message.

It seemed as though the threat was culled. Kero glanced around the small gathering and turned, leaving the scene with the coyote thrown across his back. Bones were far less fleeting than the boast of their victory over lesser beasts. He'd devour this one and distribute its remains.

-Kero exits-

The coyotes dispatched, their song into the air, and just as smoothly their ordeal was done.  As bodies turned to dissipate into the greenery around, Echelon moved to linger nearer to the sexy black beast mistress Tonravik.  And once the moment came, she had decided she would set off with her aokkatti, attending to whatever else needed to be taken care of.

Kodiak's howl faded with the ebb of his packmate's songs. The russet male and the pale female gathered a couple corpses and departed them, leaving him, his Alpha, and a small black female who moved to stand at Tonravik's other side. To this the brown bear did not even bat an eye, although his attention would have been roused if it had been another male. He turned to Tonravik, briefly rubbing his muzzle beneath his leader's before turning and heading off with a wave of his tail. His earlier nap having been interrupted, and his blood still hot from the fray, he opted to patrol.