The bi colored male yawned widely, rolling over on his makeshift shelter which was wedged between two trees. He was off on a little adventure, a
little adventure which meant he would be back at the Caldera soon. Theseus hated being in a den, he felt as if the walls were closing in on him, that he was being suffocated. He preferred open fresh air, and the wind as it blew over him. Living in a forest was not his thing, but sleeping there for a night was alright, as long as it was not forever.
The sea wolf rose to his paws, blinking tiredly as he moved through the forest, sniffing the air for any scent of prey. The smell of a recent kill alerted him, and without thinking, Theseus trotted straight at it, a light smile touching his lips, in quite a happy mood. That was until fierce yellow eyes glared at him up from the carcass.
"Okay what the fuck. Please don't tell me I ran into a cougar just when I was alone." he spoke, not even knowing if he was talking to the cat or himself.
The silver and gold male stood still,
"Uh, do you mind sharing some meat? I seriously am not in the mood to hunt. Help a fellow....um....whatever." he gave up and took a step forward.
Dude, you are seriously stupid, some part of him thought. Claws slid out of the cat's pads and with a gigantic snarl, she lept.
"Chill lady!" Theseus yelled at her as he turned and ran. Well, he was living now.
Somnia had also been in the Heartwood that day. Prey was often easier to find in the forest, as well as easier for grayscale wolf to hunt with the flat land. It wasn't like she couldn't hunt on the caldera, she did. It was just easier for her, seeing as how she had grew up, and learned to hunt in a forested area.
The scent of a fresh kill drew Somnia's attention. Maybe it was a smaller predator, such as a fox, and she could chase it off? Scratch that. If it was a fox, she could kill that, and eat it too. It wasn't a fox, she discovered. But a cougar, its backside on display as it chased someone off. Even better, she recognized that wolf from a pack hunt. He probably wasn't the best target for the cougar with Somnia around.
"Hey! Bastard-Cat!" Somnia snarled, already breaking into a run to catch up and attack. "Did I give you permission to attack my packmates?!" Nope, she hadn't, which meant that this cat was going to pay. Whether the cat hadn't noticed her, or couldn't turn around in time, it had left a wide open shot at its backside, and Somnia took it. She managed to grab one of the haunches, and bit down. Hard.
The cat came to a halt as the taste of blood filled Somnia's mouth. Maybe it was time to let go? Yeah, it was. Somnia let go and started running to get out of the way of the cougar's next attack. It still managed to rake a few claws down her right hind leg, but it only stung for a few moments as adrenaline and anger took over.
Theseus was actually enjoying the chase, the thrill of running. He wasn't actually afraid of the cat, nor did he feel like the prey, perhaps this was unexpected but this happened because he let it happen, because he didn't prevent it. This stupid cat was just his play toy, until it attacked him. The cougar's claws raked across the back of his back, drawing blood. It wasn't deep however, and to be honest, it didn't really hurt. It was nothing compared to the pain of battle, the wounds he received.
A smirk on his face, the wolf of the sea twisted around, ready to fight the cat when a voice rang out. "Hey! Bastard-Cat!", aqua eyes flashed over to a greyscale female in surprise, Theseus never actually talked to her before, but he recognized her from the pack hunt Peregrine led, and knew she was a packmate which she confirmed a moment later. He grinned at her, which was probably a stupid move considering the cat had the opportunity to attack his packmate moments later.
Now, he was irritated. "Yo! You stupid fat, ugly, cat thingy. Did you think you'll be able to get out of this forest alive when you injured my packmate, eh?" Theseus barreled straight to the cougar, which was probably an extremely reckless bad idea, but he was always doing this, it stopped bothering him now. Brilliant alabaster fangs flashed in the sunlight as he attempted to leap on the animal and sink his fangs in. He was half successful, managing to sink his fangs into the cat's flank, blood seeping into his jaws, but tumbling straight onto the ground afterwards.
The cougar turned, eyes flashing angrily, towering over his form and was just about to rake its claws over his body when he rolled over on the ground just managing to escape it.
There was a pattern starting to emerge in this fight. Theseus would get hurt, then Somnia would hurt the cougar. The cougar would hurt Somnia, then the cougar would hurt Theseus, or at least try to. That meant it was Somnia's turn to attack. The pattern would likely continue until one or more participants of the fight fled, or even died. Hopefully that participant would be the cougar.
While the cougar was focusing on Theseus, who seemed quite vulnerable on the ground in front of it, Somnia lunged at it. She grabbed a furry hind leg and pulled back, giving the cougar a nasty bite wound as well as effectively tripping it. She had to let go to maintain her balance, but the blood staining the fur around the wound would satisfy her.
She spared Theseus a glance to make sure he was alright. Then, she gave the cougar a growl to encourage it to get moving already. Whether it was ready to go on its way was another story.
He watched, lying on his back as Somnia lunged at the cougar and bite into its hind leg, tripping the massive cat. "Yeah! Take that, kitty!" he yelled in encouragement, already back on his paws and leaping straight at the cougar who parted her jaws, ready to snap his neck. Luckily, he dropped onto the ground just in time and slid, unheroically, underneath the cougar. "Oh holy fuck!" he managed, fangs scraping across the tender flesh of the cat's underbelly, drawing blood before he slid out the other end.
Quickly getting onto his paws, Theseus was ready to launch another attack when the cougar twisted, snarled at the two wolves but turned tail and left. He grinned and let out a victorious whoop, before turning to the greyscale female who helped him with the fight. "We beat cougar ass," he told her, stating the obvious. "I'm Theseus, Theseus Dragonblood, and you were brilliant."
"We did!" Somnia barked, tail wagging and adrenaline still coursing through her. "Thanks. I'm Somnia Kiatrone," She didn't usually give out her last name, as she had never really used it. To everyone she was just Somnia, or Som, as there were no other Somnias around to get confused with. "You were excellent too."
Although Somnia typically avoided fights, -unless a pack-mate was in danger- she did know how to fight. Just a skill she had picked up as a result of having three older brothers. She didn't practice fighting a lot, nor did she pursue anything involving it, but she did know how to put it to use in emergencies.
"I believe you angered it by getting too close to its food. I believe that we are now the rightful owners of said food. Shall we go eat?"
"Thanks, Som." Theseus flashed her a bright grin, "Mind if I call you Som?" he asked her, knowing some wolves were weird and didn't like being called nicknames. He didn't mind, as long as they didn't yell his head off for saying a nickname for fun. Like seriously, some wolves simply could not take jokes, or even had a sense of humor, sometimes it was amusing, on others it was plain annoying. As annoying as fuck.
"I believe you angered it by getting too close to its food. I believe that we are now the rightful owners of said food. Shall we go eat?" Theseus laughed, "I live on the thrill of the run," he said, moving towards the carcass, feeling hunger gnaw at his belly. Lowering his head, he tore at the rich meat of the dead body.
Dead bodies did taste good. Except for wolf bodies..
"Not at all, quite a few do it already." Who exactly had started that trend? Ashton was probably the culprit, yet it wasn't a bad thing. Peregrine definitely did it, and Somnia remembered Finley doing it at least once. But who else had done it? Fox and Grimm may have done it, but she wasn't quite sure. Had Elwood done it at all? It felt like he should have, as he was one of her closest friends, yet she didn't recall a time that he had.
Without another word or thought, Somnia joined Theseus in eating. Despite being raised in a pack that was strict with ranks, the Gamma didn't mind those a lower rank than her eating without permission. She knew what it was like to be at the bottom, and empathy prevented her from being strict on others in lower ranks.