Wolf RPG

After losing Jade Fern Grove to the displaced Nova Peak pack, Morran's permanently sour mood had reached the lowest possible pH. She ploughed south for a good hour, arcing back up and around Bearclaw Valley before finally crossing through Wapun Meadow, where she rested. Stupid, filthy, disgusting wolves. Oh, how she wished she could have tasted the boy's eye - she saw it dangle from his socket when the mother bolted, hopping around like a toy on a string. The memory cheered her, but  not enough to lift the surly frown that had laid claim to her face in 2011 and never left.

Morran crossed the borders of Phoenix Maplewood to the north and trundled in among the trees, making a great deal of noise on her way in. It smelled strongly of wolves here, but she didn't care - even unaccompanied by minions, she had the upper hand in a one-on-one fight.

She may have had the upper hand in a fight but Nochtli held the element of surprise. Having caught sight of the bear a little while ago, she had tracked the creature until it had crossed their borders. The fur on her nape bristled instinctively and she fought the urge to howl right away. With a surprise attack in her cards right now, she could not afford to give that up. But she had to get rid of the creature, unwilling to allow the monstrous entity to raid their caches.

Lurking nearer, she used the shadows of the dense forest to her advantage until she was sure she had a good, sure opening. It was only then that she sped forward to bite at the bear's flank, aiming to score its hide and escape its immediate vicinity just as quickly. Whether or not she'd been successful, retreating to the protection of the trees, Nochtli loosed a howl to her fellow packmates: @Saena @Reek @Citali @Hawk. Intruder. Bear. Assistance needed.

Morran did not sense the wolf's presence - she was too preoccupied with her rage. Not until its angry teeth grazed her rear did she notice, turning to swipe at the creature's retreating back. Her thick, fatty hide prevented any damage from being done, but the bite smarted all the same - and incensed here. And now that little mosquito was calling in backup. Soon, the place would be swarming with wolves - but Morran was going to do as much damage as she could until then.

Turning, she stomped in Nochtli's direction, jaws wide and slavering.

The howl rose, but the medic could not help the funny feeling something was amiss prior to that sound. She and Saena had spied a bear a few days/weeks earlier. When Nochtli warned them of its invasion, she immediately wondered if the same beast was back and daring, or perhaps more desperate for food. She couldn't know. All she knew was that her sister needed assistance and quickly. Citali was fast on her way.

She entered the scene and found the enraged bear already engaging with Nochtli. Citali darted in quickly to distract the bear from its approach on her amazon sister and slipped out of the way as quickly as her large, burly form would allow. She hoped to distract the bear here and hopefully hold it in place so the others might join in and run the beast off. Or kill it. She had half a mind to slay the beast. It was definitely not allowed in these pack lands and was far too close to her garden for comfort.

As expected, she narrowly missed being knocked aside by a heavy paw, one larger than her face. Her reprieve was short, the bear now charging through the forest, just as her dear sister arrived to distract the creature. "Perfect timing as always," She said genuinely. Rushing backwards to put some distance between herself and Morran, Nochtli quickly evaluated the situation, keeping an eye on Cita as well.

The medic obviously knew to stay out of its reach for now and while they could distract it for a little while, they would definitely need to drive it off soon. If Reek and/or Saena did not arrive shortly, she would have a back up plan that would allow her and Cita to attempt to do so themselves, and hopefully keep them out of harm's way as much as feasibly possible.

They needn't worry about Saena's involvement, for the moment that a frantic howl cut the silence of the forest, the leader was on her feet and running. Like Citali, she had an eerie feeling. The sound of a commotion was hidden in the dense forest, but there was something off about the usual ambience. Her mind went immediately to thoughts of a trespasser and as she ran, she wondered if the foolish wolf who'd tried to hunt their borders had made a comeback.

She arrived to see not Dash, but a pissed off grizzly squaring off against Citali and Nochtli. Looks like we made the wrong call, she thought as her eyes glanced over the former. They should've taken action against the grizzly before it had a chance to reach their sanctuary. That the beasts were different animals escaped her observation. A grizzly was a grizzly was a grizzly. They were all the same with their beady little eyes and their piggish grunts and their aggression.

Bears weren't much for chasing, in Saena's experience, so as long as they stayed out of range they were relatively safe. Saena had seen bear in the lowlands from the safety of the plateau. They held their ground more readily than charging after harassing pack wolves. Of course, Saena didn't know Morran and had only her limited experience with bears at a distance to judge the scenario. With its attention on the two amazons, its hindquarters were wide open, and the alpha took the chance. She darted across the distance, aiming a swift bite to the beast's exposed rear before twisting and dancing away, hopefully unscathed.

Pesky, irritating, filthy little rats! Three Maplewood wolves were swarming around her now, swatting and biting and scratching - and they seemed absolutely obsessed with Morran's rear. It made sense, of course; distract the bear and aim at the end without teeth. Saena landed a hefty bite whilst the grizzly charged at Citali, who hopped out of harm's way with an agility belied by her size. The flustered bear ground to a clumsy halt, roared her frustration and swung around to punish the white wolf, swiping and swatting without any real finesse. Why were there so many? Oh, what she wouldn't have given now for the company of her grizzly posse - then who would be surrounding who?

Emboldened by the thought of a 3 vs 3 in the future, Morran and her gaping mouth of steak knives twisted around and lunged at the wolf that had called the others; Nochtli.

 

Saena was moments behind Cita, but it was long enough for the bear to be focused on the subordinates of the Maplewood. She did not see Saena's blow land upon the bear's hide but she definitely saw the creature turn around and swing at her. No! Snarling, the dark girl flashed in and bit at the bear's thick ankles, looking to snipe sensitive areas, ones that the bear wasn't used to feeling pain in. She should have been watching more closely, for suddenly she was knocked aside with a mighty paw.

Pain burned in her throat and jawline, blood spilling from a deep gash along her lower jaw. Ignoring it was her only option, diving back into the fray by way of snapping her teeth at the monster's soft ear, ducking away before she could be caught so easily again. Leaping back, her tail lashed in a threatening manner and a snarl echoed her comrades', taking just a moment before she rushed in again.

While it would have been nice if hoards of wolves had descended upon the bear to end it quickly she realized that was naught but a dream. She was thankful, however for the addition of Saena because three on one was significantly better than two on one. With two nimble hunters, they could certainly worry this bear more appropriately and Citali could better fill in the gaps and bite and snatch wherever they weren't. Of course, that was how it was supposed to work anyways.

Saena certainly had the right idea. Going after the end without teeth and swinging paws was a far better option than facing the bear head on. And then the bear turned. It's heavy paw met up with Nochtli on the way to repay their alphena for a good butt nipping. This motion left the bear's rear exposed to her and Citali took advantage of the situation the best she could. A hind paw this time. She raced in to snag the might back paw/ankle between her jaws.

The bear would effectively have to keep spinning in order to fend off them all. Perhaps they could make it dizzy.

Saena darted backward as best she could when the heavy monster whirled around, but it served no purpose as the bear's swinging mitt connected with Nochtli's face. The alpha felt her heart leap into her throat and she made a half-step toward her subordinate, but she was wrenched back into reality by the bear spinning around again, exposing its hindquarters once more to the palest of the bitches.

She darted in again, but this time she let emotion get the best of her. Rather than aiming a swift bite to harass, she locked her jaws and tried to hold on, only for the bear's strength to nearly topple her as it presumably turned again. She was too slow to let go, too determined to cause real damage, and this time when she turned to dart away, the bear's lethal jaws connected with her backside, sending her sprawling with a yip and a yelp. A swing of its paw caught her in the haunch, and it was this one she felt most acutely as the bear's claws dug into her flesh and tore.

The alpha stumbled, then fell to the sudden spike of pain that made her vision flash. She ground her teeth together and raised her hindquarters enough to feel the wetness of her own blood, then her strength faltered and they sunk to the ground once more. She didn't know the extent of the damage, and wouldn't know until after that the bear had actually grasped and torn away the remaining half of her tail. All she knew was that her leg was in a world of pain and until adrenaline kicked in to drown out the pain of putting weight on it with such a deep wound, she was down for the count.

She was winning - insofar as that was possible against three wolves on their own turf. The meeting between Morran's weaponry and Nochtli's face drew blood, and things only got better when teeth and claws united in assaulting Saena. There was a spurt of hot blood, a sharp cry, and the satisfying sound of a body hitting the ground. Morran all but squealed at the sight of the maimed alpha - and after that, everything became a bit of a blood-frenzied blur.

The slow-motion version of the story went like this: Nochtli took mere moments to recover from the injury to her face, and Citali had managed to avoid the sword-like claws completely. The two subordinates rushed to the aid of their leader, jaws snapping for purchase on any part of Morran that wasn't padded or muscled.

It was all over within a second. Before Citali's jaws sent Morran on a raging rampage into the heart of the forest, the beast seized Saena's half-tail roughly between her teeth —

— and severed it.

The fuzzy stump of flesh and bone went sailing into the woods, arcing high over the scuffling animals. Ancient wiring vibrated around Morran's skull - the silent refree's whistle that ends a fight before it gets ugly. The two wolves that were still on their feet hit Morran a split second later, and with a roar of pain and a wide sweep of her claws to disperse them, the bear began her long and meandering exit. If she was going to be chased out, she was going to take her sweet time about it - and make the resident pack work hard for it.

They were not faring well, their small numbers proving lesser against the bear. This did not deter her fierce snarls or lessen her tenacity in attempting to drive the creature away. Adrenaline surged further as she watched in seemingly slow motion as the devilish nuisance ripped away Saena's tail, or rather what remained of it. 'No!' Heart racing, her desire to protect their leader slammed into overdrive, her form rushing to stand protectively over the pale, prone form of the Alpha female. Her teeth lashed out to try and snag the bear's nose, hoping to land a hit on a sensitive are. She would pay for this, of course.

One moment, she was fine and the next, there was searing, dizzying pain in her ear. The top half of her right ear fell to the ground unnoticed as her fur bristled, trying to keep her wits about her even through the injury; it was nothing compared to what Saena was probably experiencing and that fueled her enough to keep going, to help Cita in driving the bear away from their tiring forms only to let it rampage around their home.

Her teeth sank for a moment before Citali let go. The bear was moving between all of them. Nochtli'd been hit. Saena was stealing in for the bear's rear once more. Citali hopped back, hoping to avoid the swinging claws. It'd been a narrow escape, but one as a result of her desire to worry the bear and not one to actually maim it. In and out. That had been her game plan all along. In to do damage. Out to avoid those garish claws. Thus far, it was working well for her.

It was not working well for the others, or rather, that wasn't their strategy. Saena held on for a touch too long and the bear was given a wide opening to unleash its wrath upon her. Nochtli bled. Saena bled now too and the pale female's legs went out from under her. Damn it. Now they could no longer spin the bear between them. And — Oh no! There went the rest of Saena's already shortened tail.

Across from the others (as Nochtli immediately went to stand over their alpha), Citali darted in to the bear's now exposed backside as it tossed the tail aside in victory. One final swipe of it's daggered claws caught Citali across the shoulders as she retreated. White-hot pain flashed across her nape as the bear chose that moment to flee. Or rather, it pushed deeper into the heart of their territory, but at least the beast was gone from the immediate vicinity.

The bear had given them space to tend to their wounds. Nochtli's ear went ignored, for now. She was still standing. Their alpha was not. Saena came first, but between the gash on her shoulders that was starting to bleed now that she'd closed the distance between where she stood and where the other two had ended up, she realized she could not tend herself, nor everyone here in quite the same way she needed. Citali lifted her head and called for @Reek. Between both of their knowledge, or simply the additional set of paws, they'd be mended all the sooner.

The initial howl of alarm had caught Reek off-guard. It had been a pleasant day. Still. Simple. He went about his duties on the fringes of the territory with a quiet contentment. The last thing he expected was cause for alarm. Initially, the woes of security had taken precedent in Reek's mind, but as time passed, he had grown complacent with the state of the maplewood. He simply assumed the maplewood was a safe place, free from harm aside from the the one-off intruder here and there; but that was to be expected anywhere.  But this time, the maplewood was given more than it could handle.

He made haste, but he wasn't perfect. As much as he joked about having superpowers with his mate, Reek was no Bam-Man.  He couldn't just blink his eyes and appear in the fray— ready to protect the pack, his family, at all costs.  It was a nice thought, but improbable. Mid-sprint, he heard Citali's secondary howl... this time, she called for him specifically. While Reek was previously perturbed, Citali's caused Reek's stomach to coil in on itself.  Someone was hurt.

By the time he arrived, the bear had made taken its leave, but it was a grizzly bear scene all the same.  The amazons sported grievous injuries, but Reek hardly focused on their hardship. Instead, his eyes remained glued on his mangled mate. "W-what happened?" he managed to sputter with exasperated breath.  "...her tail?"

She turned to tend to Saena's bloodied rear end when Reek happened upon the scene. Nochtli was on the look out, trying to ensure the bear did not return to these parts. Citali was furiously attempting to  find something nearby to help clot and cover not only that severed tail, but Saena's leg as well. She found something, a small miracle, but she licked the areas clean as they were currently without water and made her best effort to patch up the female who was down and out for the count.

"I need you to look at Nochtli's head wound," she barked, her attention mostly consumed with the alphena's bloody ass. Just because Saena was obviously bleeding and Nochtli's wounds were not so obvious, didn't mean they couldn't go unexamibed. Her dark sister's torn ear would need looking at and if she suffered any internal damage, Reek could examine that too. She had this as under control as she could manage for now and Citali needed eyes elsewhere. She couldn't look at Nochtli and keep pressure on this wound.

If there were any more questions, Citali shook her head. Oh right. What had happened here? How had she forgotten that detail? "She forgot to tuck her tail," she said, somewhat clipped for all of her focus. "The bear took it instead." That was the sum of it. The rest was just a matter of the aftermath he could now see.

She tried to summon strength in her legs to stand, but her whole body seemed to have turned to jello following her injury. Every attempt to move sent searing pain through the spot where her tail had been, and her hind legs buckled every time. All she was really doing was causing more damage in trying; the wound on her leg flowed freely each time she tried to support her weight on it, and soon enough her fur was matted with blood all the way down to her foot.

By now, the bear had moved deeper into the woods and Nochtli and Citali had drawn near. Reek was there too. When the hell had he got there, she asked herself, but she felt a little too dizzy and shocked to try to think through that. Her gaze slowly crawled to Nochtli and at last she noticed that the female's ear was shorter than it ought to have been. "Your ear," she mumbled around a tongue that felt five sizes too big. She blinked a few times, then turned her head sluggishly back to Reek.

All sluggishness left when Citali began to patch up her injuries. Each touch wracked her with pain and it was all she could do not to threaten the healer with her teeth, though guilt squeezed her chest every time her lips found themselves wrinkling up. She would've thumped her tail agitatedly if she'd had it. No. Don't think about that, she told herself as panic began to well up in her chest.

Too late. Her breath hitched and then began to come quicker, shallower, as her frightened eyes began searching the forest floor for the bright red fur of her tail, but it wasn't there. Was it still attached, just mangled? She tried to crane her head to see, but couldn't turn it far enough. So she settled back and let the healers take care of her, but it all passed in a haze, including the slow and painful walk home, after which she immediately passed out.