Moonspear it gets better

He was quiet again for a long moment during which his sights never strayed from the sea lion he'd motioned all of their attention towards. It did surprise him a bit when their dad said they'd try it, so, encouraged by this idea and the go-ahead itself, he tried to understand how to apply what little he had seen, plus what he now knew through warnings about them, to the best way to kill and eat that beast. He tried not to, but he wondered what it might taste like as he followed Charon in closer to the beasts.

Alright, well, he was about halfway through his nod to say he was prepared when he realized what the noise was from one of the bigger ones. In the next instant, Vela was off on cue to make for a diversion, and, well, already feeling like he had to make haste since she was going for her end too, he pivoted himself more towards the young sea lion's backside and tried to zero in. Hopefully their dad was going to fill in the other blanks here, because Jarilo was just guessing at this point, and eager to tear anything up.

Every stride came faster than the one before it, and by the time he got close enough to really try to do anything, the young one had started to flee in its weird way, propelled by its strange flat paws. But, unwilling to balk at this oddity, he charged as mightily as he could with unfamiliar sand underneath his toes, and eventually managed to hook his outstretched teeth in its rump. The way the muscles curled and reacted to him, unsurprising, came as shock and he didn't prepare to dig his grip deep enough to do major damage; it was tougher than he had truthfully expected.

When it wrenched away from him, he slipped back and it hauled it off even faster, now bleeding, crying, and obviously wanting to veer towards the adults again--though he tried desperately to stay near it, but not its mouth-end. Gathering himself he threw forward for another charge to try to slow it down this time, so he aimed and rushed this time for its rear.. feet paw flipper thing in hopes that doing so might do.. something useful.

They each picked their role pretty much immediately: Vela moved to cut off the babe from the adults while Jarilo went for the smallish sea lion in hopes to grab it. Charon filled in the blanks: He initially moved up beside his daughter, teeth bared, snarling, tail flagged up above his back and using his body to seem an intimidating enough force that they would not barge through him and Vela. Most of the adults made way for them initially (though they turned around to see what was actually happening pretty soon too), startled by the two wolves, but there was one in particular that stayed just out of biting range from Charon and Vela, making sea lion barks and the occasional lurge forward as it tried to intimidate back. Charon jumped out of range as it leaped for him, though managed to bark it backwards after.

Jarilo meanwhile got his teeth on the sea lion pup, Charon saw from the corner of his eyes. As the pup started running away Charon followed suit, staying between the aggressive adult and Jarilo and the now wounded pup. He would have gone to help Jarilo but felt that he was needed to keep the adult at bay or it might decide to go for Vela.

Vela copied her father. She was even bold enough to edge to its sides and attack it. She was wary of its mouth of course. But she was going to keep the adult busy as much as she could. She was not going to let the adult barge through to the child. She made herself as big and intimidating as she could to make the adult back off. She moved closer to her father, his identical younger twin. They were almost like a two headed monster with their snapping jaws. Vela just hoped Jarilo managed to kill the baby.

The young sea lion was fleeing, and Jarilo was soon sure that this immediate takedown was all on him when he didn't find anyone else joining up beside him to lend their teeth to this cause. He just had to hope his sister and dad had the bigger ones handled well if that was the case. He didn't know what he was missing out on with them and since he didn't have a choice, he was all too focused on the minor panic involved in figuring out how he was going to get this weird mammal to stop trying to escape his grasp.

When he grabbed the hind foot-fin it squealed some more and when he ripped it back with a nasty chomp, it turned its head back towards him and screamed and bit fearfully back at him until Jarilo flattened up and let go. Not appreciated, but he made it out unscathed..

But, satisfied with a closer look at its reaction and having bloodied it a little more, he picked up his position anew. Jarilo pursued again, this time able to swing more bites for its rump to try to steer it actively away from the adults (and his family's help). Each time he noticed it start to slow--either from fatigue or his efforts at picking away at it actually working or both, but he was gaining his confidence stride by stride, so it came with an ugly bloody sneer as he chased on, really determined now that he was figuring this out.

Nevertheless, his work left a bloody trail in the churned-up sand and finally he got the courage to go for the neck when he was more tired of its pitiful "run" and its wailing than he was scared of its bite. In the end, it wasn't a.. particularly clean kill, he was kind of messy about sinking in just right, but the sea lion stilled beneath his grasp and he finally let go in a moment of heart-pounding holy shit. He had completely lost track of whatever everyone else was doing: Charon, Vela, and adult sea lions whose baby he had just murdered included.

The more Jarilo wounded the sea lion, the more the adults got aggressive. Charon and Vela kept them at bay as best they could. Charon felt he could've handled it if Vela had gone to help Jarilo, but in reality it would likely have made the adult ones angrier and would've gotten them to attack quicker. Now there was a wall of two snapping, flailing wolves between which kept them at bay.

That is, until the moment that the baby sea lion roared out its last breath and its heart stopped. One of the adults -- presumably one of its parents -- launched itself forward while the others backed off. Charon moved forward to intercept as to not let Vela get hurt, and he got slammed to the ground by the sea lion's shoulder slamming into his body, towards Jarilo and the baby. As the sea lion looked at the baby then it seemed to realise there was no use anymore, and it would let itself get more easily chased off by Vela now.

Vela noticed that the sealions were going at them wanting to get to the pup but she and her father were a team. She managed to keep them at bay until the pup squealed its last breath. "DAD!" she called out. But it seemed that he was fine in the end. The parent realized that the pup was dead. Vela growled and barked at the adult until it left. She was glad they managed. She looked from her father to her brother. She was starving now.

His heart was still racing and he got a full on front seat view of the adults rushing angrily at his sister and dad. Jarilo's hackles flared and tension sprung anew, even in his tiring state, but he was far too far away to make any use of his bristling, bloody-teethed display. So, he had to work on trying to move the carcass back further, and the second he gave the corpse a jerk, he realized just how heavy, and how strange the sand made the friction.

Thankfully, a calming of the situation was soon to follow and he slumped, panting, over the slain baby, still in disbelief that he had managed to actually pull it off. Luck was on his side, matched with enough ugly tenacity to just force the rest. Hey!! You both alright..!? he barked out to them, hoping they were going to make their way over soon, and they could all get out of here with their brand new meal to try. Let's get out of here some more? he suggested, feeling exhausted (and wary about those adults so close), but still rushing on the inside. They had really done it and he wanted them to get to enjoy their prize in peace, at least.