Ouroboros Spine Disarm

For @Minori.
In this post, I'll let the bear have the first hit- Bronco can retaliate in his next post.

He was on his way back from the borders of Neverwinter, having guided Miriam back to her children when he decided to challenge himself to the task of going over the crater-like terrain of Ouroboros Spine, figuring it was a good exercise. He was living on a mountain now, rather than in a soft, cozy forest- and he'd already begun to notice that he'd lost the remainder of his puppy fat and had begun to put on lean muscle. The more he pushed himself, he supposed, the sooner he'd be in tip-top shape, and would be able to call himself a fit guardian of Moonspear. 

So it was through the rough, stony landscape he traversed, finding that the real challenge wasn't the altitude but the footing. Under a drizzling cloud of fog, it was difficult to see very far, and the stones beneath his feet were slick. He found himself concentrating mostly on his footwork as he made his way toward the edge of the lake which he could see through a small patch of evergreen trees. He only looked up when he heard a grunt, and the scurrying of paws, and rocked back on his hindquarters, skittering backwards when he saw two clumsy, fuzzy brown cubs ran up the nearest tree. "Oh sh-" He didn't even finish his expletive when the large, shaggy and furious mother of those two cubs came charging at him from beyond the safety of the boughs they now clung to. 

He emitted a high pitched shriek, and the sound of his cry ricochetted through the area, amplified by the shape of the crater, and bouncing off the waters. It would be cut short, though, when the bear dealt him a hefty smack with its paw, sending him tumbling arse over tea kettle a few feet away. He scrambled to catch his footing, and faced off against the creature, which now circled him as they eyed each other, both waiting for the other to make the next move.

The mainland. It gave her the motivation to leave the den more. She often snuck out of Neverwinter leaving the children with Takara though she trusted the two not to wander off where they knew not to, they hadn't disobeyed the warning to stay close at all so far. Not planning to be gone long she'd found the challenging landscape by happenstance and decided to tackle it figuring she'd have no problem at all. Fifteen minutes in and she was focused on not falling into the water when a loud scream from ahead caused her to freeze. Pinpointing the location to be within the trees she quickly walked toward it, smelling the ursine scent and feeling a shiver of apprehension run down her spine. If she went to aid whoever was being attacked she may not return home to her children. She remember the bear Cry allowed to stay within their land and how large he was, the teeth within those loose flappy lips..... and she bolted to rescue the wolf in trouble. Coming from behind the bear she leaped up and attached herself to the tendons on the back of it's leg, teeth sinking in as she ferociously shook her head back and forth to cause her teeth to saw away at the muscle and skin. The bear roared in response and whirled around smashing her between it's large hind end and a tree causing the breath and sense to be knocked from her as she dropped to the ground with a rattling wheeze struggling to her paws as she looked at the stranger, eyes wide before returning to the bear which she ducked to the left to avoid before it lunged for her again.

He saw her charge the bear from behind- and his eyes widened. This stranger was willfully endangering herself, and he tried to shake his head in a way subtle enough that the bear would keep its focus on him, and that she might take the hint, and avoid the altercation altogether. And fortunately, his gesture was subtle enough that the bear didn't suspect the female's approach- but futile, and she attacked regardless of hos dangerous this situation was. Just as the bear rocked its weight back so that it could lash out at Bronco again, the brave female latched onto its ankle, and savagely began to tear at its flesh. 

His ribs ached painfully, but he knew if he didn't act then, the bear would go after the dark female. She had potentially slashed through some of the tendons at its heel, which would hopefully slow it down- but that wasn't enough. It wheeled and the wolf went with it- smashed into the unforgiving tree, shaking the branches and the cubs that huddled several metres above the ground. With its attention on the female, he hobbled forward and sank his teeth into the excess skin just behind the bear's elbow near its ribcage, thinking that he might be at least somewhat safe from harm- but he judged wrong. For all the stories he'd heard of his Aunt Finley fighting a bear...He'd never really appreciated how insanely difficult it actually was. 

He was swept aside with another sweeping cuff from the bear, and fell to the ground in the shallow waters of the lake, where he attempted to stand- but found his strength draining, and collapsed back into the shallows. 

Could bears swim? He wondered. He paused. But in this condition- could he?

The world was still somewhat off balance as she watched the man go back in to get the bear away. It swatted him aside like he was little more than a stone flying in it's direction and she watched with horror as he sailed into water deep enough that he struggled to stand up. Heart racing she was caught between knowing he'd need help out and putting herself in a dangerous situation by joining him in water. A squall from one of the cubs brought the bear's large head swinging back in her direction and she spotted the opportunity ducking low and gripping it's throat biting down till she felt the blood flow from the tough flesh and then slipping past the side, going for the stranger. A glance over her shoulder and she saw a paw going for her hind end and leaped ahead managing to avoid a serious blow though a claw raked a decent gash in her right hip. Splashing into the shallows she crouched low and began to stick her head underneath his chest area so she could heft him up to his paws "I'll get you to shore. If it attacks again, i'll take it you get safe" she wasn't about to have her rescue attempt go to waste even though she would be coming out of this fairly unscathed unless something turned around. The bear was on them, slowly lumbering toward the water and she cursed softly trying to hurry him toward the shallows so he could get out alone if she needed to distract it again. 

Wherever this woman had come from, she'd been made of tough stuff. He saw blood spatter across the small, white patch near her eye when she snapped at the bear's throat and even after having been crushed against the tree, she swooped toward him like a winged goddess. Bronco gasped- and only then realized that he'd drifted off just enough to let his snout fall below the surface. He tried to push himself up a bit so that he wouldn't drown in a measly foot or so of ater- but even that little would have been enough if he lost consciousness. He felt her nudging his chest, and he leaned against her for a moment, until he found the strength to pull his hind legs beneath him so he could stand. His legs shook, and he didn't hear most of what she said. Dizzy and wheezing, he looked at her vaguely, teetering somewhat on his legs in the shallows as the ater dripped from his chin. She was pretty. 

The bear had not yet given up its ordeal with the wolves, though, and Bronco let out a hoarse croak to alert Minori while he stumbled toward the bank. This wasn't right. He wasn't supposed to be such a legless duck. He was supposed to be the knight in shining armour, just like he was when playing pretend with his younfer sister, Alyx. He was supposed to be Meerkat's guardian. And if Meerkat had been here rather than Minori...Both of them would have already been dead. 

He felt himself consumed by failure as he stumbled two steps to the side, paused to take one more look at her pretty face, and slumped silently to the ground.

ignore the PM! I didn't see you replied. I'll fade out with mine and you can fade back in lol

The bear had done a number on him, there wasn't much comprehension in the golden eyes that roamed her face as she told him to get away from there. Then those eyes slid over her shoulder and the sound was all she needed to hear lifting herself away from him she saw the mother bear coming for them again. One of them would have to make her stop and the way the man barely managed to get to the shore was the cue that it would be her. Her entire body already hurt but as she looked toward the stranger one more time, he collapsed and the instinct to protect burned anew. Summoning all she could manage she bolted from the water and straight for the bear springing off the sang and sinking her teeth into the side of the Ursine's face holding tight as the creature roared and shook it's head. Flesh tore and she was flun to the sand stunned and helpless as the large predator lowered it's head and took her by the shoulder clamping down and shaking her left and right with such force that by the time it was done she was flung into the sand already unconscious, blood pouring from the massive bite in her shoulder. 

Night stole across the wilds, and the rain continued to silently drizzle, stopping only when sunrise neared, allowing a little bit of colour to seep over the Eastern horizon with the dawn. The rain stopped- at least temporarily- and as the first bit of sunlight bled through the clouds and over the Eastern cusp of the crater, Bronco wearily heaved a sigh, and opened his eyes. 

He had to blink several times to clear his vision and even then he wasn't sure that he knew where he was, or why he was there- until he saw the dark form lying not far from him, frighteningly still on the sand. When he lifted his head he felt the muscles around his ribs and back burn and riot against the movement, a reminder of the two devastating blows he'd received the evening before. Gasping lightly, he pulled himself to his feet and trudged over to Minori, noting with relief that she was breathing- but all around her, the sand was dark. Not just spattered red with drops of blood, but soaked with so much that it was nearly black. 

This woman had saved his life- and was barely clinging to her own, or so Bronco thought. He whimpered lightly, and hovered his muzzle just above her shoulders- wanting to nudge her and get a response, but also not wanting to hurt her. He tried to think- what would Eljay or Sugar Glider do? And with a pang of grief, he remembered the day he'd learned how dangerous infected wounds could be. He didn't want to hurt her...But he was too afraid of what might happen should her wounds get infected- so he uttered a soft whine of apology, and started tending to her wounds with unpracticed timidity.

Consciousness didn't blink in like it usually did. She faded in and out her eyes refusing to open even as she heard him above her. Another few seconds of blackness and then the sharp sting of something rubbing against a wound. She yipped baring her fangs instinctively as her eyes flew open body jolting to move away before the resulting pain had her lay still with a panicked expression. Instantly the fight was remembered and she looked up to see him hovering above her. Lips falling back over her teeth she turned wincing and saw the gnarly bite to her shoulder the entire thing looking puffy and inflammed already "thank you" she realised he must have been tending to her wound. "I have to get home. I have a family and a job to keep up on. Can you make it? Do you need a healer?" she asked her tone business-like but tight with pain as she forced herself to her belly and used her good leg to push herself into a sitting position gritting her teeth. 

Bronco yanked his muzzle back when she woke suddenly, snappling viciously in self-defense. "Hey, hey, it's Ok, it's OK," He reassured her in a soft, low voice, but she seemed to come to that conclusion on her own, relaxing once she realized that it was just him. "The bear's gone." He stated, to put her mind at ease, but she didn't seem content to stay there and allow him to tend to her. She had a home- and children- to get to...And she'd risked losing both in order to help him escape from an angry grizzly. 

"I'll be fine," He said, impressed by the fact that she seemed not to see her own wounds and pain, and touched that she was more worried about him. Of course, he knew he would feel better if he was seen by a medic...But he assumed he'd just have to find one at Moonspear. "Hey, rest up a bit, OK? You lost a lotta blood." He said, and then he smiled faintly. "You don't gotta prove how tough you are too me; you just saved my ass from a grizzly bear," He said, wincing as he realized he couldn't talk too loudly, or with too much emphasis; it hurt his ribs. "Thanks for that, by the way," He said quietly. He hoped she might stay for a bit- her family could wait, he thought, but she needed a bit more time to rest or at least tend to her own wounds before she set off travelling again. So he did his best in his pained position, to give her the full on puppy-dog eyes, ears slanted back in appeasement when he asked her again. "Just hang on for a bit, OK? I can help you clean your wounds...It's the least I can do?"

He would offer whatever help he could- and whatever she would accept, before escorting her as far back to Neverwinter as was safe for him to go, before returning to his own packlands to seek treatment.