guardian thread! tags for reference
well this was it. he was doing this again, making a name for himself. he knew exactly what he would do; pick up the pieces of a broken dream and starting anew. with @Minori and @Takara by his side, he would head back to that forest and make a home.
after a good night’s rest at the hot springs, the group set off. he knew where their destination was, he’d just have to figure out how to get there. luckily his navigation skills hadn’t left him.
issun had taken the lead to scout out an optimal route. along the way he smelled something appealing. buried beneath the ice was a cache stocked with half eaten meat. a nice free meal for travels.
he had just begun digging at it when he heard a growl behind him. he spun around and was faced with a bristling ball of fur. a wolverine, set on getting him away from its food by any necessary. before he could do anything, it lundged for his leg and the warrior countered by grabbing its back. the two were locked in a display of teeth and fury.
Don't mind Dash, he's just here to watch the show and earn some naturalist/ecologist points.
Dash had spent all day in the fields, allowing the wolverine some very healthy distance as he watched its activities with interest. At first, he had trailed the creature only in hopes that it might drop some food for him or lead him to an unguarded cache, but after hours of following the little guy around the creature was starting to grow on him. It seemed to be thouroughly occupied with the task of transferring stored food from several smaller caches into one larger one-- perhaps because the one, larger cache would be easier to guard.
The wolverine was making yet another trip back to its larger cache, with Dash following some distance behind, when it gave an angry growl. Dash froze, figuring that he had finally gotten on the creature's nerves following it around all day and it was about to come chase him away. Oddly though, he heard the wolverine bounding away. Dash followed with interest.
The wolverine had dropped the dead vole it was carrying, which was a bonus. Dash picked up the vole and continued onward. Once the cache came into view, the boy realized what was happening here. A wolf was breaking into the cache that the wolverine had worked so hard to stock, and it was understandably pissed. Dash settled into the snowy fields to munch on the dead vole and watch the show. Both predators seemed quite vicious-- likely only one would walk away from the fight.
he had hoped to get a hold of it’s neck from here, but the wolverine managed to flip back on its feet like a roach. it bit and clawed at his face with such vigor. he was overwhelmed by the energy it had. perhaps he had bitten off more than he could chew, but it was too late to run now. the creature latched onto his face and dealt multiple blows to his snout. he couldn’t flee, but the wolverine had made a fatal mistake by exposing its belly. issun pushed it into the snow and grabbed hold of his underside. it let out a bloodcurdling cry as he shook it like a toy. he let go when it loosened its grip and took a few paces back.
pain blossomed on his face. blood trickled down from his face and snout, staining the snow. he had no time to recuperate, the wolverine leaped back on his face. this thing was just not giving up. as they spun around, issun caught a glimpse of someone. he was just sitting there, watching it all go down. it didn’t look like he was keen on helping, the warrior would have to do this on his own.
Dash watched with rapt attention as the wolverine attached itself to the wolf's face, claws going ham across his muzzle. It was interesting to Dash that the creature would target the face so insistently, almost as if it held a personal vendetta. Perhaps these weasel-creatures were smarter than wolves gave credit. They were certainly feisty, aggressive things... that much was perfectly clear. It lunged at the wolf again and again, so blinded with rage that Dash suspected it wouldn't stop until it was dead.
For the briefest of moments, Dash's eyes locked with the warrior's. He shrugged apologetically. Sorry, bro. Not his circus, not his monkeys. Like hell Dash was going to risk life and limb to help out a total stranger, despite the obvious reward of gaining access to that cache. Nope nope nope, if the guy managed to kill the wolverine then he could eat every bit of that cache by himself-- Dash would simply thank him for the entertainment and be on his way.
the wolverine was smart enough to keep its weak spots close to the ground, so he had to get creative, otherwise he would surely subcumb to exhaustion. issun pushed it on its back with all the force he could muster and grabbed it by the snout. now he had some sort of upper hand. he grabbed its neck, lifted it up for a moment, and slammed it back into the snow. he did this again and again until it let go. issun released his grip and stumbled backwards in a daze. the creature wasn’t dead, but it was certainly wounded enough to think twice about jumping on him a third time. he watched as it scurried back to wherever it came from.
issun turned his attention to the stranger that looked on. he was a little angry that he was just sitting there looking pretty. if the roles were reversed he’d help without hesitation. well, not everyone was as selfless as him. “enjoy the show?” he called before spitting blood.
With a set of claws on each paw and a mouth full of teeth, the wolverine had three weapon at its disposal while the wolf only had one-- his jaws. Even so, the wolf was making an impressive show of things. Dash watched as the wolf turned the tables on the vicious creature and grabbed it by the face. He then brought the creature's head up and down, over and over, smashing its body into the snow repeatedly. After the wolf let go, the wolverine finally gave up and skittered away. Dash couldn't believe that the wolverine was walking away from this fight after how much punishment it had taken.
"Holy shit, yeah!" Dash replied, bursting with happy energy after such a thrilling show. If the man had spoken with any sarcasm or exasperation, Dash was oblivious to it. "You were incredible! Where d'you learn to fight like that? Damn."
Dash abadoned the decimated vole carcass and took a tenative step forward, eyes sliding toward the cache. "Hey, can I take a look in that hole real quick? I won't take anything, I swear, I just wanna see what's in there." Dash would have to be an idiot (read: more of an idiot than he already was) to try to steal from a wolf who had just defeated a godsdamned wolverine. The boy was simply curious as to what kinds of things a wolverine hunted and ate.
there were many responses he could receive, but admiration was not one he suspected. his ear twitched curiously as he went on. “my father,” he replied, “and myself i guess. i’ve learned a lot from being out here.” any hostility was drowned out by confusion. he didn’t know whether to be mad or flattered. the man wasn’t ill tempered, so that was good at least.
issun was wary about letting him near his reward. although the stranger promised not to make off with anything, he was still suspicious. he could be lying and issun wasn’t ready or in the mood for another brawl. but if he take a look, his back would be facing issun. a simple tackle could bring him down if he tried anything. “go ahead,” he nodded and stepped out of the way. “what’s your name?”
"Oh." No shit Dash, he had learned to fight from his father. And from life. Wasn't that how everyone learned it, really? Dash's own father probably knew a thing or two about fighting that he could have taught a younger Dash, if a younger Dash had been willing to listen and learn. That was the catch, wasn't it? To acquire a skill you had to actually sit still and listen and train and show some dicipline. None of these were Dash's forte.
Dash brightened when the man gave him permission to approach. "Dash," he answered the man's question absentmindedly, eyes wide as they scanned the contents of the hole. The wolverine seemed to cache the same kinds of things as wolves, although it was impressive that one by itself could amass such a collection. It was also crazy how far that thing had travelled in one day, collecting all this food. Dash's paws were about to fall off, but he had no doubt that the wolverine would have happily kept on going well into the night.
"Holy shit," Dash emitted, eyes landing on the half-eaten skull of some kind of large rodent thing. A skunk or a beaver maybe? Teeth marks on the skull made it clear that the wolverine had munched straight through the bone. "That fucker can bite through bone! Shit man, lucky it didn't get its teeth around your leg or nothing." The boy's gaze lifted to meet that of his company. He wagged his tail in a friendly manner.
After a short moment, he sighed conclusively. "Welp, thanks for letting me take a look. I'm gonna get going before the fucker comes back for round two. Enjoy your spoils, dude." Dash was such a magnet for trouble, he was beginning to develop a sixth sense for knowing the right time to bail out of a situation. And his spidey senses were tingling. With a parting nod, the boy set out on his way with a carefree, jaunty spring in his step.