Stavanger Bay not broken

It had taken many days for her to arrive here, to this place. The Ocean. The bear belonged around these parts, and moved past the marker that foretold of wolves. There were many wolves here. But there were many wolves everywhere. The sow moved through the land, meeting the waters and standing in them. At last.

Hope you don't mind a loud baby Juju. :P

Jorunn had been adventuring along the beach of the Bay, having snuck out, as per usual for the young legend. His disappearing acts had gotten measurably more frequent since Thistle and their older brother, Charon and Levi had relocated them to the 'rendz den (he couldn't remember nor say the full word for it). Sometimes Floki came along and some times Jorunn's identical twin decided that Jorunn's idea wasn't good news (they rarely were). Jorunn was brazen and totally fearless of the world around him, though this arrogance was born clearly of his utter ignorance of the true dangers that lurked. To the blissfully unaware Jorunn, the world was his oyster. As the child draped in platinum silver that tapered to sandy cream at his stockings and toes romped through the sand, warm from the sunlight that touched upon it, the crash of the waves loud in his ears as they slicked back to his skull as he tore vigorously through the sand — though his pace was slowing against the exertion and effort it took to run through the grainy terrain he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, milky blue that was star-bursting to sharp crystalline blue the older he got. 

At first it was a gray blob, his monochromacy making it hard to discern a shape initially. He applied the breaks, skidding to a stop his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as he inhaled deeply to catch his breath. Through the brine of salt water he picked up a strange scent — not one that he'd ever came across before. Intrigued he followed it straight to the water's edge, where the waves could just rush up to splash at his toes and legs before it receded. A little closer than he'd been presently he could make out a shape though he had no name nor word for the creature in the waves. “Hey you!” Jorunn screamed over the roar of the ocean at the monotone colored shape, dancing at the water's edge, bouncing back and forth between his front paws. “You feelin' lucky punk!!?” Jorunn demanded in true Clint Eastwood fashion, his voice a excited scream (volume control and Jorunn did not work well together); unaware of the pressing danger of the creature's attention he desired to attract.

Haha, totally shadow posted you, V!

At just over two months old, Floki knew that he wasn't allowed to venture to the ocean by himself. He was well aware of the rules, and for the most part he was fairly compliant. Jorunn was the mischief-maker of the group -- but Floki was his twin, and it should have been no surprise to anyone when Floki followed Jorunn to the shore.

He stayed far enough behind his brother that he remained undetected. Soon the beach spread before him, and the sea beyond that. He wiggled his toes in the sand, marveling at the way it almost matched the color of his legs. It felt rough and gritty and quickly got stuck between his toes, but he kind of liked it. His whiplike tail whirled behind him as he padded along, his curiosity getting the better of him.

He wasn't quite brave enough to approach the water's edge himself, but even if he had been, he would still have stopped short at the sight of the bear. Floki had never seen a bear in person, but there was no mistaking that he was looking at one -- he had hung on Charon's every word as the older boy talked about hunting and fighting bears. With his mouth slack and his eyes wide, he stood stock-still, simply watching from a distance as the great lumbering creature let the ocean lap at her legs.

Jorunn, on the other hand, took the opposite approach, immediately alerting the bear to the presence of not one, but two puppies.

She's actually pretty peaceful, just wants to fish! However...

The Bear lumbered. Fish excited her. But a little voice distracted her. The animal looked, and there it was, precisely what she smelled. A cub. Unprotected, easy to eat. So the sow rethought her options. Did she eat them, or fish...?

She tried her luck with them. The woman took five powerful strides toward the Bay boy that had spoken. It could be easier to grab than the fish in the water. The animal would see. The slack-jaw cub went ignored, for now.

This post is just really one long ramble, rofl, feel free to skip to the last paragraph. Atreyu to the rescue! Maybe >_>

The impish spark had faded from his eyes, his boyish face seemingly aged from a perpetual downcast expression, his dirty and neglected coat even more ragged than usual. Atreyu felt hollow and useless. Only days after he had been told to go to the Caldera to speak to their leader, he had become ill (which is totally not just an excuse for Lauren's laziness with posting, shh). After recuperating, it had taken another week for the boy to even think about emerging from his den. What he had been sick with he did not even know, but it had sapped the strength from his limbs and replaced his thoughts with an unrelenting buzzing sound and a dull pressure that seem to press upon his very skull.

Whatever it was, he seemed to be over it now. Still, his mood remained sullen and dark, the mystery of the Jarl's murder still playing on his mind. It seemed Aesop too had disappeared, and Atreyu worried for the pack. Who was left now? Thistle, himself, Charon...and the pups. Half of the pack weren't even adults yet. A loud sigh escaped his mouth as he trailed out of the forest, following a track he had worn in, circling through the forest and back out onto the beach. It was somewhat therapeutic to continuously walk along the track, and it helped him rebuild the muscles in his legs.

It was on perhaps his second round of the track that he suddenly spotted the trio on the beach. The two smaller figures were unmistakable — the twins of Thistle's litter. Jorunn had already made a name for himself while Floki was the quieter of the two. Thankfully they were different in personalities, otherwise it was downright impossible to tell them apart. Atreyu would have been content to watch them from his position among the tree line of the forest, however the third figure caused his heart to race. A brown lumbering beast, a silhouette of stark contrast to the young pups — one of which had suddenly challenged it.

The creature swung it's head towards Jorunn, and it took a few seconds for Atreyu to fully comprehend it's intentions. When it began to move towards the young boy, however, he suddenly spurred into action, releasing a savage bark to get the bear's attention as he raced towards it, fangs bared. He had never seen a bear before, let alone such a beast as big as this one. Fear gripped his chest, but his focus was only on protecting Thistle's pups.

Jorunn had never heard stories about bears, and if he had he certainly didn't remember it — he usually lost interest half way through and turned his attention to other things. He was nothing if not active, easily bored by stories. Instead of hearing about someone else's accomplishments he wanted to be the one they told stories about (and not the kind that ended in death of everyone because he was bad). Even then he wouldn't have known a bear if he'd seen one so he could not enjoy the irony of the moment. So focused upon his path he hadn't even realized that his twin was trailing him. It wasn't until the lumbering creature drew nearer, splashing out of the water towards him, each fall of her large paws on the pliable sand beneath her powerful. Jorunn felt the soft vibration through the shifting earth beneath them and his excitement escalated. He pranced from paw to paw now, nearly trembling from his excitement that he had gotten the unknown creature's attention; unaware of the danger he'd impeccably managed to put not just himself but his twin in. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

“Well do you?!” Jorunn demanded, seeking an answer. He was playing, ignorant to the fact that the bear's intentions were less than amiable such as his were. He was a child and simply didn't know better. Whatever instincts that had been telling him 'bad idea' went wholly ignored. He was a Viking after all, from a ruthless and savage culture that did not know the meaning of the word fear in the face of death (which he maybe faced now). The deep knowledge of his culture — a culture unknowingly weaved intricately into the marrow of Jorunn's bones — died with Ragnar but Jorunn did not understand such things anyway. He was how he was and for now it was that simple.

It was only when a savage bark resounded from somewhere behind him that Jorunn became painfully aware that he and the other creature wasn't alone. His head whipped back, ears pinning to his skull as the ivory figure of Atreyu — “tre” to Jorunn who liked nicknames and likely couldn't pronounce the older male's name yet — raced towards them. Floki was caught out of the corner of his eye. But Jorunn was confused. They were only playing so why was Atreyu being so mean to his new friend? “Hey!” Jorunn screamed at Atreyu and the bear. “'Tre we's jus playin!!!!!” He protested as he did everything: loudly. Jorunn didn't know Atreyu very well but he knew of him well enough because he was basically the only other one besides Charon, Levi and Thistle.

Jorunn didn't understand that the bear's intentions hadn't been well, as his own had been.

Many things happened in a short amount of time. As Floki watched, the bear turned and began to lumber towards Jorunn. The younger twin began to panic, although fear rooted him to the spot. His belly filled with dread as he watched the great beast make its way towards his brother. Luckily, someone was looking out for them -- whether it was a Viking god or Ragnar himself -- and another wolf soon arrived on the scene.

Floki's gaze snapped to Atreyu, his ears standing tall at the sound of the older male's sharp bark. He immediately felt relief; he didn't know Atreyu all that well, but he was big and strong like Charon -- surely he would save them. His tail whipped back and forth once or twice, then stilled again as he watched the scene unfold before him.

Bear moved forward without any real regard for anything else. Even the sharp bark did not deter her movement. The sow only paused when the white one raced toward her. Her head turned and she let out a mighty roar and swiped haphazardly at the wolf, her reach enough to let the other know she intended to hurt the other if it came any closer to she and the wolf cub. Perhaps she already did. Bear did not know if she hit anything in the process. Now she was close to the babbling cub, and went to try and scoop it up in her mouth. For wanting to eat the child, she was surprisingly gentle. Any eating could be done away from this place.

His paws flung sand into the air as he tore across the beach towards the pups and the massive beast. He was certain this was a bear, the creature that the curious grey-furred girl had told him about. Apparently there had been a group of them around the coast — was this one of them? He remembered he had toyed with the idea of hunting one down and slaying it. But that was before everything had happened. Before Ragnar's death and Aesop's disappearance. When he would've had a chance. Now, though, Atreyu only sought to rescue Jorunn and Floki.

As he neared them, the bear only seemed to pay him a moment's notice, turning to roar at him once and swipe a massive paw in the air before moving to pick Jorunn up. Or eat him right then and there. The Gamma managed to narrowly avoid the fearsome bear's claws, ducking out of the way before racing to stand in front of Floki who seemed to just be frozen to the spot. Contrary to what Jorunn had shouted, the bear was definitely not just trying to play, and Atreyu's stomach flipped as he watched the beast move towards the young pup, unsure what to do. He growled once more, starting forwards, though fear kept him at a distance, wary of the creature's lethal claws and teeth.

Because I don't want Jorunn to be eaten...last post for Jorunn and me! Also, I really hope there isn't any power-playing in this post ;-; ...I tried to make this post without power-play involved by having Juju running away when she was distracted by Atreyu; and this seemed like a perfect reason to use for my plot with him. ;P

Realization had sunk into Jorunn's head, finally, that the bear did not mean, nor was she, playing with him. He sucked in a sharp gasp as Atreyu moved in close to the bear, and when it was effectively distracted he darted as quickly as he could away from her, though this took him closer to the sea, the force of the waves pulling against his body. When Atreyu had retreated to stand in front of Floki, and the bear's attention turned back to him, Jorunn's ears flattened back against his skull. Despite the panic that had begun to rise within him, he sought his twin's eyes with a calm look on his before he, quickly (it was how he evaded his older brothers and mothers after all) he darted further into the sea his singular hope to evade the bear as she came at him again; it did not take much until the sea had control of him, pulling him further out to sea as it rapidly receded from the shore, and pulling him under. Instinctively, he kicked to push himself to the surface, broke it to take a deep breath before the ocean pulled him under once more and the current carried him down the coast, his body a willing rag doll to it's power as he was lulled to unconsciousness, even when his head broke the surface as it dragged him helplessly along.

The bear swung one of her large paws at Atreyu and Floki's breath caught in his throat. Miraculously, the pale wolf evaded the grasp of the ursine, but that left Jorunn momentarily undefended. Floki felt a sense of relief as Atreyu moved to block the beast from his view, but soon found himself craning his neck and inching sideways, trying to keep his eyes locked on Jorunn.

And he was horrified by what he saw. He knew that the ocean could be dangerous, and Jorunn was aware of it, too -- but as Floki watched helpelessly, Jorunn flung himself into the waves. It was obviously an effort to get away from the bear, but his attempt went awry almost immediately. The current was too strong, and Jorunn was being swept away before their very eyes.

"JUJU!" Floki screamed, now feeling nothing short of full-fledged panic. He darted around Atreyu -- probably to the Gamma's dismay -- and raced towards the ocean, tears streaming down his cheeks as his twin disappeared from sight.

The damn pup got away. Toward the ocean. Bear was a strong swimmer, and the white wolf would not give her pause. But, then her eye went to the other cub. Bear charged for it in the moment of universal distraction, still content to keep to the task at hand. Its jowls parted, and she sought to grab it and take it away with her. Somehow eating was not on her mind any longer. Bear did not know what fueled her. The scent of it, perhaps. Or to end its wailing.

Feel free to PP him if you want :D (just no kill pls)

Jorunn made for the waves as soon as the opportunity arose, and Atreyu wasn't sure whether he was more impressed by the boy's bravery or quick thinking. However, it quickly turned to sheer horror as he noticed the small, pale form quickly drifting away from the shore; he had dived directly into a rip. Only seconds passed before the pup disappeared under the waves, his body being pulled into the tumultuous ocean beyond, and Atreyu only watched in a frozen panic, his gaze trained on the spot where Jorunn had disappeared. Just like that. Gone.

Juju! His eyes snapped back to the shore, where Floki had skirted around his legs and was heading right towards the start of the rip his brother had thrown himself into. Were these pups suicidal? Atreyu tore away his gaze to look at the bear, and his stomach threatened to jump out of his throat as he realised it had taken their distraction as a chance to make a snack out of the remaining twin. It charged towards the distraught Floki, jaws parted, and Atreyu released a shout to, once again, get it's attention on him. He'd be damned if he was going to let two of the Alpha's kids die on his watch.

Abandoning all caution, the boy sprinted the short distance between himself and the massive creature, before leaping and attempting to grab it's ear — or anything he could, really — in his teeth. Anything to distract the bear.

While Charon was a self-proclaimed bear hunter, he'd never actually hunted one. The closest he'd got was when he and Barf face had gone checking out bears at Horizon Ridge. They'd found one, but it had been asleep and they ended up leaving it be. Tall as his stories were, Charon had not actually wrestled, let alone beaten, any bears. Everyone in Stavanger Bay knew, and perhaps Charon was the only wolf that was actually fooled by the tall stories, in a way: so badly did he want to believe them, and so much did others pretend to believe the stories he'd been spewing since he was just a tiny blob whose mother'd been taken by a bear, that he was lying to himself first and foremostly these days.

When Charon arrived and saw the horrible scene unfold, he just heard Flóki scream for Jorunn, who had presumably been taken by the water, considering Charon did not see him. Atreyu attacked the bear that lumbered towards Flóki, and Charon was frozen in place for a moment while he considered whether taking Flóki away from the bear or helping Atreyu was higher on his priority list. Charon'd avoided Atreyu since his fall-out in the woods when they were looking into Ragnar's murder, and he didn't want 'I hope that stupid lying fuck kills you too' to be the last words ever he'd spoken to his pack mate. Shit, he wanted so badly to scoop Flóki into his teeth and drag him off somewhere safe, but he was afraid he might have to sacrifice Atreyu for it, and he didn't want to lose any more of the Bay's tiny family.

And so Sir Knight Starchaser the bear slayer dashed into the fray. He wanted nothing more than to be at Atreyu's side, or be in Atreyu's place -- distract the foul creature while Atreyu took Flóki to safety -- but the moment he crashed the party, Charon saw that he needed to prioritise bringing his brother into safety, or he might be engulfed into the ocean while he fussed over his brother or tried to run from the bear.

Charon tried to utilise the moment of distraction Atreyu provided by trying to grab Flóki's scruff in his mouth and dragging him away from the bear and the ocean, in the direction of the forest.

this is a bit awkward b/c i'm not sure if atreyu's distractions are working and if bear manages to catch flóki or not etc. the way i see it unfold, it's: bear goes for flóki, atreyu goes for bear, while bear is distracted charon tries to grab him. as it's up to flóki whether or not he would be grabbed by bear, feel free to assume that charon was either late, or gets knocked out of the way by bear if you choose to not have charon be able to pick him up in time, flóki. i hope that makes sense, but if anyone has any questions feel free to toss me a pm. :-)

Charon's got Floki, so feel free to PP him in your next post if you need to, Iris!

With his vision blurred by tears, Floki tried to find his twin's head bobbing amongst the waves, but Jorunn was nowhere to be seen. He skidded to a halt in the soft, damp sand, the water lapping around his ankles. He didn't know how to swim yet, and instinct kept him from wading in after his brother. The silver pup was so distraught that he failed to notice that the bear had chosen him as her new target, and that Atreyu and now Charon were scrambling towards him.

He turned when he heard Atreyu's shout, just in time to see the brave male launch himself at the bear. His mouth fell open in a display of surprise and fear, but before there was any time for him to react, he felt the skin at the back of his neck become taut. Suddenly, he was lifted from the ground, his legs swaying uselessly beneath him as he was carried away from the ocean and the bear. Floki obediently went limp as Charon's scent filled his nostrils, his heart still thrumming in his chest as he worried about Jorunn. He understood that Charon was helping him -- possibly saving his life -- and he did not protest, though he couldn't stop himself from whimpering softly.

The white wolf came for her. He came for her.

She turned to face him, and the hunchback drew back her forearm to slam it into him as he flew. The force she could dole out could break the back of any wolf. But she had not enough time to do that. Only enough to drag claws against him and change his course, perhaps knock the wind from him. His fangs pinched and she roared in discontent.

The other ones retreated. Bear could beat this one. Leave me to my Ocean.

She surged forward to attack, berserk with belligerent fear that the wolf would try and displace her from the Ocean she had traveled so long to get to. Bear went for a body part, would shake and pull and tear, and never release, gripping something in her mouth as she turned and moved deeper into the territory, turning around and preparing to protect herself if necessary.

Consent given.

Last post from me ;D

Mature Content Warning

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: violence!

Excitement pulsated through his veins as he felt his teeth gain purchase of the bear's ear. A tiny wound, perhaps barely even noticeable to the massive creature, but she reacted anyway. While Atreyu was glad he had managed to distract it away from the young it sought, he quickly realised he now had his own problem to deal with. Claws scraped down his side and he yelped loudly in pain as the flesh there tore. Not fatal wounds, none that would even scar, though they were forceful enough for the Gamma to release his hold on the bear's ear and leap backwards, blood-stained teeth pulling back into a snarl.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Charon burst into the fray, snatching Floki into his jaws and pulling him along, retreating into the forest. Good, at least they wouldn't lose one more member today. Atreyu would join them, hopefully escaping the beast and losing her in the forest. His eyes flicked back to the bear, ready to stall her should she make for the younger wolves. She had taken advantage of his momentary distraction, though, and the boy released another yelp as he stared down the throat of a now enraged monster.

It collided with him, a massive, overpowering force slamming into him like wave. He stumbled, falling onto his side and feebly snapping at the air as he tried to grab at the creature. Instead, she closed her own jaws around a flailing foreleg, snapping it like a twig. Howling in pain, Atreyu jerked away, snarling though panic was reflected in his eyes as he watched the bear shake and tear. With a sickening rip, half of his left foreleg was torn clean, the bear then lumbering away with her prize. Pain seared through the open wound, though when the boy looked down, he felt surprisingly calm. An instinctual urge to run overcame him and, without even checking if Charon and his brother were safe from the bear, he ran. Out and away from the Bay, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

poor Atreyu~! D:

let me know if any of the Flóki-pp should be edited!

Charon kept running, glad for Atreyu’s distractions and glad that Flóki’s instincts kept him from trying to struggle loose. When they reached the edge of the forest, Charon turned to look around. He intended to put Flóki down to rescue Atreyu too, but his plans soon vanished when he turned around.

There he saw the gruesome image of Atreyu being held by the bear by a leg. Eyes widened and Charon froze, unable to move, paralysed by fear.

Only when a sickening crunch removed Atreyu’s leg from his body Charon was able to move again. He tightened his grip on Flóki’s scruff and without another moment of thought the youth crashed into the forest. Had he not held Flóki, he would’ve made a beeline for where Atreyu had run off to, but as things were he moved only straight into the forest. He was too scared that the bear would come after them to follow any other path.

When he passed a small shallow den underneath some tree roots, Charon let go of Flóki’s scruff and nudged his behind to make him go in there. Then Charon pressed himself in too. There were roots around them and enough earth to protect them from the bear’s wrath – should it choose to pursue them rather than follow Atreyu’s trace of blood or take its prize and go; Charon hadn’t stuck around to find out – and Charon hoarsely whispered ”shhhh” to his little brother while he wrapped his paws around Flóki, to protect him, and maybe to make sure he didn’t run off, just in case.

Charon paused and Floki took the opportunity to squirm, although he didn't move enough to make his brother loosen his grip. He craned his neck around, trying to look back towards the bear and Atreyu and the great, wide ocean that had swallowed Jorunn, but suddenly Charon was moving again. Floki hadn't seen the bear rip Atreyu's leg from his body, but he heard the crunching of bones and tearing of flesh, and he squealed fearfully.

Branches and leaves battered him from both sides as Charon plunged into the forest, leaving the beach behind. But soon, the older boy dropped down into a burrow and released his hold on Floki, tucking the both of them into the hiding spot. Floki obediently curled up beneath Charon's protective forearm, his ears flattening against his head. "Shhh," Charon instructed, but Floki peered up at him and asked in a tremulous whisper, "Juju? Treyu?" Were they okay?

last post

Bear moved with a leg in her mouth. At some point, she stopped to eat whatever could be eaten on it... but she left the naked bone of the wolf there, and then headed toward the ocean to fish. The trial of the day was of no consequence to her. Hopefully the animals would leave her alone. Already she had forgotten that she had gone for a cub; now, all she craved was fish meat.

Charon's heart pounded in his throat while he waited silently in the shallow den he'd found. He didn't dare move, afraid that the bear would find them. After what it had done to Atreyu, he didn't want to go near it, nor let his little brother go near it. He just wanted to forget that it'd ever happened at all. It sounded like his heart pounded loudly, and he was afraid the bear might find them through it for a moment, unaware that it only pounded this loudly in his head, and not to anyone else.

When Flóki spoke, Charon swallowed and look at him. Charon knew he needed to do something, and he would, once he could stop picturing the moment when Atreyu's leg was torn from his body so effortlessly, over and over again, sound effects and all.

"We'll find them," Charon said confidently, even though he wasn't sure if they would. "And they'll be alright, we'll fix them if they're hurt." Charon licked his brother's cheek, hoping it would calm him bits and pieces. He remained in place, still scared the bear might come after them, and feeling dumb for letting himself be deterred by a dumb old bear, when he fancied himself quite the bear hunter. "It's gonna be okay, Flóks... It'll all be okay."

Want to fade with your next post? :)

Charon's reassurance did wonders for Floki's nerves; his brother's voice and gentle touches eased his worry, although his stomach still fluttered nervously. He knew that things weren't right -- that the situation had gone very, very wrong -- but at least he and Charon were okay. They were safe, and Floki trusted Charon's words; once the bear was gone, they would find Atreyu and Jorunn both, and Thistle Cloud would be able to heal them. He knew that his mama was good with medicine.

The boy sighed softly, giving an almost imperceptible nod of his head as he curled up tight. He tucked his snout beneath his grey tail, though his eyes were wide and his ears stood tall. Patiently, Floki would wait until Charon determined the coast was clear, and then he would obediently follow his brother's lead.

sure, i'll archive :)

Flóki seemed to calm -- if only somewhat -- and Charon made sure he stayed close to his little brother. Even though he heard no evidence of the bear following the pair of them, Charon stayed underneath the tree for a good while to come. As Flóki curled up, Charon curled his tail around his brother and lay his head down next to Flóki. At least one of them was okay, even if they'd lost Atreyu and Jorunn. He'd do anything to find them, but Charon feared that it might be too late to save them.

For another good while -- Charon wasn't sure how long, maybe an hour or two -- Charon waited with Jorunn in the small, shallow den. Only then he was certain that the coast was clear, and cautiously he unfolded himself and Flóki from the tiny den and started to make his way back home, to Thistle Cloud, with a heavy heart as he prepared himself to tell her what had happened.