In the week after her number of young to care for was effectively cleaved in two, she found herself more withdrawn to sort through the grief, and all else the incident had inspired.

While mourning Galaxy brought her an ache so unknown--she had never lost a daughter so suddenly, and especially not one so bright and vibrant, and for it to have been the mountain's doing was not easy to cope with--no matter how brutally realistic it was. She did insist to live on these peaks, where she was at her most comfortable and superior where her mark was made unquestionably here. For it to eventually cost her so gravely did not surprise her, in truth. But, as ever, she could rationalize it with the great give-and-take of nature. She had lost one of her own, a piece of her legacy to live on beyond her own lifespan, but here and now, she was lighter. Not only that, but the grayscaled duo that remained could surely benefit from having the pack spread over fewer puppies.

She was determined, though, to not have it make her force them away more than she wanted to already with two now taken away. Vela and the steely boy didn't deserve it, although he could really be a test of her patience and Vela was more than willing to shadow her father around instead--something she supported wholeheartedly for the both of them, for everyone's sake. Which, today was no different; she had gone with him, and her gray son was her shadow, or pest, d

When her older daughter's howl for assistance arose, she shushed Jarilo (who she had been teasing into play) by pressing his biting face into the dirt. She felt her expression cringe as she peered down at him, then weighed her options immediately. Before he could start rattling questions at her, she was up and urging him up and onward. A nearby scent took her to the nearest packwolf she could find, and before ditching the son on them with very strict, albeit concise, instructions to not let him out of sight on the way back to the heart, and to find Vela. She was gone in the next beat, streaking off towards the stretch of mountain her cerberus summoned from..

Amekaze arrived seconds after Terance with her bristles already up, although still with every measure of collected grace; she was rusty, and although she hungered viciously for action already, it would never leave her leaping so headlong into this. The winds were just telling enough from here, and every possessive fiber of her hated that it would come here now. While not to the same degree of vendetta as a wildcat might, bears cursed her mate's family and her pack enough for her to gladly take up a rich distaste too. "It cannot stay here," she declared quietly to the group assembled with a verdant glare set towards the creek.

They were a decent little group assembled already, all draped in shadows and quietly riling; but, it could always be more. She brought the experience, the most of it that she knew about at least.. while they were speed and force, yet so young. Terance, she wondered abruptly, could probably go either way and at least her trio knew of the dangers of bears through tale--which did not stand up against real-world experience, but neither were they clueless here at least.

She could not be sure if the others were on their way as well, nor if they had the time to wait. Charon was with the pups, and she hoped Tryphon was nearby him too just in case all hell broke loose here. Olive.. and Korei too, she did not think to include for such offense, and that only left a newcomer after a promising mercenary, Dakarai, had vanished to the winds.. Amekaze bit back an anxiousness once more and knew she could not stall for very long.

She stewed in a heavy, thoughtful silence as one daughter spoke true. How was she going to let her pups out of her sight to roam freely knowing a bear loomed near? "Do not lose sight of it," she hissed.. all senses narrowing viciously onto the bear as it began to move off, as without their eyes on it, it could only escalate into a risk for her two remaining puppies: the main motivation in her contained fury, though the sanctuary for all the rest of her fellows tailed it quickly to stoke the flames. If this did not get handled here, it was only bound to haunt them further for more strife down the road--what she hoped to avoid for her family. She was still grieving, and she was mad. 

"We find where it goes and let it know it is not welcome here. Driving it away without a direct fight would be best. Surround and pressure it," she voiced. Unless something changed and demanded new tactics, this was a start. They could use the mountain to the advantage, and maybe even make the bear think they were more wolves than they actually were. This banked on luck on their behalf too. "Should we get close: Watch yourself, and your comrades. Go no further if doubt weighs you down. They can be faster than they look," she warned, then went striding after the bear through the best cover she could find. Already the beast had begun to gain ground, so she went faster--not burdening herself with a look to see if she went alone or not. Not yet.

Soon after she found her rhythm, she heard the others joining her.. here and there, all trailing similarly to her to varying degrees. She wasn't alone, so chased the beast and her focus alike, running headlong to what she knew could turn south so easily. It simply had to be done, though.

When she saw the bear stop, rear up to its towering height, and roar she did not immediately notice why the sudden change of tactic but her heart sank the instant she did. Korei was here too, suddenly opposite the bear to them by some wretched manner of bad luck. The sullen girl who was only pressed further to the bottom of the totem pole of her sisters after Galaxy's fall was poorly prepared for any of this right now, Amekaze knew this, hated this.. but had to act or watch her be slaughtered. The dark alpha wouldn't waste her momentum, not even with another daughter's cries ringing in her ears, and went zeroing in for the bear's thigh teeth first.

While rending flesh on the flyby was her goal, their thick fur was not as easy to chomp through and she was reluctant to stay close for any length of time so soon. It was possibly a nuisance wound at best, but she only needed the bear's attentions for a moment. Any of it to delay Korei's inevitable demise if she didn't get moving.

As she swung by, out of reach to turn back for retaliation #2, she saw Hydra doing much the same as she had, and others were not far behind that. Together, they could potentially wear it down..

But in the split second between here and there when she pivoted back towards the bear, she saw more. Eyes wide and nostrils flared, this didn't make sense. Another pale-fur was here: another wolf, a young one..one of her own even! And she could only barely believe this was true at all. She had never seen her so shrunken.. yet, there she was? Who else? But also why else? It was impossibly worse than before, no matter how shocking--not matter the weird disbelief that clung to it either. Fuck, she almost couldn't breathe, but she surged forward off her hindlegs anyway, aiming for the bear again while wishing she could use her desperation to move her faster back on the pure offensive.

"Go!" she snarled wildly at her pale daughter as she went lunging forward. "Take Galaxy and GO!" she commanded to anyone smart enough to heed her without any questions as to why they were grabbing dead puppies before making her contact with the bear's flank. This time, she was sticking around long enough to try to dig deep. She had to create an opening for them to escape, and didn't care where they went as long as it was not here where a precious second or two could mean life or death.