Horizon Ridge You walk around this town like it’s holy land,

Backdated a week. How about a free for all? I couldn’t pick just one :) @Dacio @Opalia @Derg @Kalganov @Vengeance

The last sun in Raleska’s scouting expedition was fading fast, sunken and red behind a scowling stormy-grey sea. Illidan’s scent was long gone, and with it, Raleska’s hope of finding him. 

You too, brother? Raleska thought solemnly, sinking into an exhausted slump by the cliff’s meridian. Around her the world was doused in a red glow, and soon night and all its beasts would come crawling. Raleska’s eyes closed, and she breathed deep — it was a long way from home, and her bones were dog-tired.

A beast, indeed, came crawling.

He recognised her at once beneath the warm glow of a setting sun: sleek raven pelage, tall ears and the pointed features of her hybrid blood. She was the sea witch's daughter, the one that his sister and the others had captured on the eve of her vile pack's invasion of the cliffs, and there was no ounce of hesitation as Dacio streaked across the earth with feral intention.

A silver bullet, guard hairs bristled, silent and lethal as he parted jaws in anticipation of piercing seemingly unsuspecting Rusalka hide as soon as he managed to swiftly close the distance between them. He did not take a moment to consider the proximity of her packmates or the very real danger he could have placed himself in, for he was spurred only by a need to taste revenge for what grief Raleska's kind had delivered unto his.

The man was feeling older than he lookd and older than he should. The injuries that litteres his muscles could well be taking theor toll now and making him into the grumpy, stoic bastard he was. Or peraos it was more pressing.
Illidan.

His friend who he'd felt he could trust. That they were evenly matched.
He distantly heard he was chased out by the man, Verx. One seemingly from a former rival that the sea witch's son had entrusted. He should have risen up sooner but feared that Grezig or her brood would be severely harmed in repercussions.
For a man to do that meant a man held evil.
Derg was no stranger to evil.

He'd constantly swept the borders, straying just beyond them in great sweeps to find him. If he was injured and curled up close by because he could run no more.
His searches ailed nothing.

He knew everything was long washed and the only way to find him now would be to venture far into the wilderness and call for him, search high and low.
Derg would if given the chance to leave with the promise his relatives would not come to harm. He doubted they would -- Grezig was a worthy opponent -- but he couldn't help worrying.
Raleska's form trudged in from her last scouting trip. He knew she'd yield nothing.

He trotted to meet her with a face resembling the grave. He knew she worried about her Mother too. He would, perhaps. If he knew her better.
"He may be with her now, looking after each other." He knew she'd know he spoke of Illidan and Caiaphas. He could only offer his support and counsel. For now at least.
He willed his own pains and misgivings from his eyes to try and ignite strength in her.
Young, yet has seen the harshness of the world already.

<3 thank you guys for popping in - the rest of you, feel free to whenever ^^

Raleska tried to keep her spirits up, but there was no hiding the disconsolate expression that stole across her features. Even as Derg trotted up to her, his own eyes lit with a hidden fire, Raleska's expression did not change. She had failed, and in more ways than one. To her it felt like she was on the edge of a cliff that was crumbling beneath her.

How long until she lost her grip?

Derg's encouraging words were met with a half-smile; Raleska wanted to believe them true, but she knew in that way most knew, that it was not so. "I know, I jus---" wish I knew was cut off, truncated even -- by a demon that fell upon the scene in frightening ferocity.

Raleska's attention had been so fixated on Derg, she hadn't even realized her assailant lurked. He bowled her over in his might, for she was caught off guard. With a yelp she was swept from her feet, and she felt the latent sting of teeth clamp ruthlessly down upon the back of her neck.

Eyes wide and teeth bared, Raleska fought tooth and claw to release herself from this assailant -- who the fuck was he?! She did not waste time trying to recognize who, or what -- all she was trying to do in this moment was fight back, ignore the pain, and somehow escape with her life.

65°, currently it is mostly cloudy and set during the day. Located in sequoia coast, horizon ridge | ooc notes: i didn't plan on joining... but here i am anyway, ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ 

It had been long enough since he had found himself on the coast. It was once home for a short while, and for a strange reason... he had found himself wandering toward the coast once again. Though his visit wasn't all that mindless for long. A particular scent caught his attention almost immediately. The familiar scent of the woman he had met in Rusalka, Raleska was wandering around once again in the loner lands and Vengeance... was curious to find her, and see why.

Though he was almost certain he knew the answer to it already. It had to do with that seawitch she called mother. Still, he had yet to meet the woman, and was certain if he ever were to be introduced... would rid the pack of the woman who had caused them such grief by finishing her off there and then.

Slowly he closed in on the girl, paws thundering against the ground in a slow rhythm, her scent getting closer and closer as it grew stronger in the air and on the ground. From a distance, his eyes met the small figure of the girl - and there... another who was approaching quickly. From their posture, they were not running up to her to greet - and Vengeance moved swiftly in turn. 

But the other was faster and gotten to Raleska first. Vengeance was not too far behind, and once he was near enough, with teeth bared, joined in on the fray against the one who was attacking the young woman. He did not care who it was, but he would, should everything go according to plan, come between Raleska and the stranger before she sustained too many injuries...

She was still useful to him after all.

With a hint of a strange reluctance, the golden-furred gona had finally turned her coastal expeditions northward again--and planned to eventually reach the cliffs sometime soon. The nights were getting a little chillier lately, though the shifts were subtle, so she knew she had to get towards some focus again before much longer; there felt like a good place to start.

Along the way, night was setting in alongside her trotting path. She had long since begun to gravitate towards the cliff, hoping to find something worth calling shelter near for a brief rest. Instead the winds tickled at her nose, hinting unexpectedly at something familiar, no.. even more so than just that. Dacio..? Her heart went racing, all overeager to confirm, just to see for herself to be absolutely sure. She had not known when to expect him back.. plus, she had been so caught up in her own wayfaring that time had been cast to the wayside, anyway..

But it was not only him she closed in on. Soon enough, with her senses acclimating, she began to realize more. It scarcely could matter, though, for she went streaking towards the situation just shortly after it really started to escalate in earnest, no questions. She saw figures, at least three-no, four. Counting Dacio, who captured her focus quickly--what was he doing? Seeing just barely enough of this, notably with him among the fray, held no part of her back. She wouldn't have him be so outnumbered by their enemies.

Opalia could not pin who all was Rusalka immediately beyond the one female who was familiar, but when it seemed like the darkly-colored, massive beast of a wolf looked at all poised to interfere with her brother's assault, she identified him as her first place to aim. Knowing that so few should expect her arrival, she flattened out her stride to cut in close without warning--then hoping he might be caught up in his own offensives, she lunged her teeth for his haunch--or anywhere near, really, in her attempt to join in officially.

How do you guys wanna do this? I'm happy to play it all out on this thread and for Dacio to take numerous hits as long as they're not fatal, but lmk if you'd rather do anything differently.  :)

So focused on his target, spurred by an unbridled fury for the misfortune her pack had brought to Drageda's cliffs, Dacio failed to notice the approach of any other. He saw only the sea witch's daughter, illuminated crimson beneath the evening's setting sun, and knew she had to suffer for Rusalka's actions.

His body bowled hers over, and his fangs held fast to the nape of her neck. Through this mouthful of fur and flesh did he snarl, satisfied to finally taste the blood of his enemies, pulse quickened as adrenaline coursed his veins. The she-wolf writhed beneath his grip, fangs clacking desperately in his direction but never close enough to make contact, and the sterling Gona manouevered just enough to better ground himself so that he could violently shake his head with every intention of feeling her fall limp in his grasp.

Dacio's attack was short-lived, however, as another seemingly appeared from nowhere to round on him. A beast thrust himself into the fray, attempting to force his frame between the young Drakru and his prize, but he was unwilling to release. No matter the sharp pain of his flank where a stranger's teeth found purchase or the release of his own blood, he felt there was zero chance of him letting go after having craved this day for so long. Drageda may have fallen, but Dacio had not - and should he die this day, he'd be sure to take Raleska down with him.

He braced himself the best he could under the brute's attack, growling through the thick blood and saliva in his mouth like a madman, claws scrabbling against the earth as he leaned in heavily against his enemy's shoulder in attempt to better pin her beneath his weight.

I'm fine with Derg taking a bunch of hits, even friendly fire. Also, I didn't see you replied before me so we'll just say Derg is slow af

The next few events happened so fucking quickly.
Something swept in and crashed down on Raleska in a furious storm of snarling and snapping. Then some form that was Vengeance shaped launched onto this attacker, which then spurred himself into motion.

His eyes started to eat up the details, pinning a secondary attacker aiming for Ven. Derg skirted around the three-man scuffle and launched straight at Opalia, hoping to barrel her off course with his shoulder. His next moves would be to render her useless so he could help his packmate and former packmate.

Opalia, we could have our own dice roll thread for hits if you want? Or we could play it how it goes. I don't mind 

I did not realize it was my post - SO sorry to hold this up <3 I am ok with rolling, or doing whatever!

She fought hard to escape, but in the end her assailant's advantage of surprise had overcome her. No matter what she did, she could not free herself; add in that now she was being dragged, shaken, and abused -- every time she managed to gather purchase of the ground beneath her she was forced to rebalance again.

A searing pain cut through her scruff, arcing in desperate signals along her spine; this visceral agony bled into her every action, fueled by her indomitable will to live -- the pain was the matchstick to her gasoline, and in mere moments Raleska had overcome her surprise and was now fighting tooth and nail against her attacker.

She could not free herself and instead, this was no longer her motive. The pain made her desperate, but her own fury made her bold -- with a snarl she flung herself low to the ground and then reared upward, attempting to shoulder-bash Dacio in an abrupt, all-together very rough movement. In that same second her jaws were swinging, hoping for chest, or leg, or anything -- teeth ready to clamp down like beartraps on whatever came within reach.

All the while she was only dimly aware of the fray behind her; she saw Vengeance, she saw Derg (both in that moment seemed her saviors, and she had a split second to think of how overwhelmingly lucky she was she was not alone --).. believing this to be an ambush, Raleska did not soften any of her blows -- if anything, the hate bubbling in her heart made every lash of teeth and every buck full of venomous vitriol.

I'm down for rolls! We can get a small chat going somewhere so we can get all organized if it makes it easier!! For now, I'm gonna roll 0-10 for damage and have a health bar of 20. I'll edit it if we decide on something else! My posts will mirror my rolls.

Health: 11/20 - critical hit from Opalia!

Everything was a blur. Although he could not be certain as to why he would get himself involved in such a cluster fight for someone he didn't care all that much for, not a packmate, not a lover, nobody really other than the possibility of an ally - and that last reason was good enough for him to continue his assault on Raleska's attacker.

He didn't know who started and who ended. At his rear, pain pierced through his body as someone ripped into him from behind - but still, he focused on the grey male who was on top of Raleska. That was his target for now, and he continued to attack and try to pry him off of the woman. Tearing into him, shoulder, thigh, whatever he could get his teeth on and tug, pull and rip until Vengeance himself loses consciousness from blood loss (damn you critical hit, that hurt Opalia!) or for the assailant who started this whole thing to back down...

With Raleska finally fighting back, and Vengeance himself on the backside of the male, he was hopeful that the grey one would be torn away from his target for them to all take a step back and assess the situation... or for him to at least think of what to do next. 

For now, he was sandwiched between a rock and a hard place.

The Drakru spearheaded fury with her momentum and speed, drawn then aimed for the dark beast so that the earthen wolf's attempts to veer her course only seemed to work in her favor; she still culminated her lunge with her teeth sinking for satisfying purchase in Vengeance's flesh, doing her best to ignore the other wolf, and dance out of his reach for the most part--though she certainly felt some nicks to think about later.

With the furious need to get his onslaught away from her brother, especially with the Rusalkan fighting back too, Opalia felt nothing but intent--but he did not bend as she harried away at him. He was a massive beast, reminding her far too much of a damn bear with hide like his... even when it seemed like her efforts to rend hit their mark, he continued.

Try as she might to redirect him, it wasn't happening enough fast enough, and it seemed that they were truly three foes against the duo of Drakru. The other male's efforts had well since concentrated on her, after all, so she was not free to carry on as she might otherwise wish against whoever this big guy was. She hated it, but all of this was already well beyond that--and Opalia could not ignore and glance off the more superficial swings and halfheartedly evade anymore. When Derg's attacks centered with new strength upon her shoulder and side, that was it. She had to, even despite her fury on the dark male, and just hope to make this quick.

Since she may as well, next she turned on him, the unfamiliar stranger, and struck fast her teeth-first for his face or neck--intending to incapacitate for now, at least. Worse, if better.. always. If he was going to fight in defense of Rusalka, then that was all she had to say right now.

12/20

The beast at his haunch held fast, canines piercing hide and firmly gripping. Dacio squeezed his eyes shut and sucked in a sharp breath to hold the thrumming sting at bay, instinctively shifting his weight and jerking away in a poor attempt to dislodge. His grip was strong, however, and with his own jaws clamped on the loose flesh behind the coywolf's head, the ashen Drakru feared that only an assault would dislodge him - meaning his target would easily slip away.

His own attacker pulled, tugging at a thigh with every intention of dragging him away from the desperate Raleska who continued to writhe and flail beneath him in attempt to escape. When her attempts were proven hopeless, she twisted enough to seek purchase on Dacio's chest. Her teeth clamped down on the silver yearling and he suddenly felt trapped, immobilized, forced to relinquish his grasp.

He released, pain searing from the newest bite he received, though swung away from her at once to turn fangs on the brute who'd seen fit to interfere. In this move he saw the flurry of activity behind him: a blur of champagne gold, engaged in combat with another. The mere sight of his sister under attack fueled a new fire in him, and his intention shifted from assault to defence.

It hadn't mattered to him if he was outnumbered, but he could not allow further harm to befall Opalia. Jaws wide and lips pulled back in a ferocious snarl, he fixed his stare to the side of Vengeance's face and made to strike there, eager to loosen his grip on a bloodied flank enough to yank away and tear toward the wolf who dared touch his sibling.

10/20 HP
Beginning to retreat. He won't be attacking Derg, he'll just roughly try to get between him and Opalia so they can both get the hell out of dodge.   :)

In a blur of pain and red, teeth flew at him. They closed about his face, encompassing over his eye and clenching his cheek. The same cheek scarred by S'crow.

He yelped, yanking backward too late.

Blood spurted from his face as his skin peeled away, uncovering half of his face. Eye still in-tact but damaged, he couldn't see from it currently. The flesh down his cheek ripped open, revealing a glint of his bones, uncovering a hole.
Where his lips ended, a hole started and ended as his jaw closed off into bone. 

He reeled backwards further, taking himself from the fight. He couldn't see, his face burned in pain. He was probably screaming, he wasn't sure.
His good eye watched as they were winning, the grey assailant let up, reeling on Vengeance fully. He panted, growling softly, tail tucked.

Reference to extent of injury
Health: 10/20

Since you mentioned retreating I left Raleska's 'attack' pretty vague, so it can be dodged if it makes sense for escape <3

Raleska was bleeding heavily, but she wasn't aware. All of her focus was on getting free, getting back; she fought with panic, and because of that, she was toppled to the ground as suddenly her assailant released her.

She stumbled as if drunken; the force of her momentum had served to topple her -- dust bit at her nose, stung at her eyes, clotted the blood that flowed ominously and freely from her neck -- yet like a drunken bar attendant, Raleska rose with gritty determination for more.

She lunged after Dacio -- oh no you don't, you bastard! -- and it was then that the full force of her extraordinary injury hit her. She cried out in pain and fell back; Raleska might believe herself a seasoned fighter, and in some ways she was, but she had yet to learn the brutal school of enduring extreme pain. She winced and tried to pursue Dacio, but that split second of faltering was all it took for the bastard Dragedan to be far too ahead for her to possibly catch him.

But then he turned, and Raleska saw the second Dragedan mired with her packmates.

Limping after the procession, Raleska skirted past Derg (how gruesome his injury! it was a good thing she was too caught up in giving Dacio what's-for to see it) and lunged towards Vengeance, attempting to deflect or plow into the Dragedans enough that the Rusalkans could regroup and kill these sunnovabitches.

Sorry for the wait!! Group threads always take me a bit longer, also setting this after the official creation of Nightwalkers just to make my own timeline a little more fluent... I hope thats okay guys! If not, please let me know and we can discuss!
Health: 5/20

Bloodied. He was on his final legs in this fight - but he loved every second of it. The new Warlord was on an adrenaline high. Crimson eyes wide in a maddened glare, pupils dilated with the endorphins that coursed through his veins; he truly felt pleasure from all this and he didn't hide it in that ugly grin of his as he attacked the grey man who had began all of this. 

He wasn't aware of what everyone was thinking or doing, of course, he wasn't, despite all the might think of himself, the Warlord was not a telepath. All he could do was react to what was happening in the heat of the moment. Even with Raleska's attempt at deflecting the attack of the unknown male, he had taken enough to the face for the matching ruby liquid to run down his eye, cheek, and drip off of his chin. The contact of the teeth on his face caused an immediate reaction to bite back, snapping in the direction of the attack - but all he felt was air in between his fangs as it sounded with a resonating snap! 

He stood by the side of the little black Rusalkan woman, he hadn't noticed Derg's injuries or assessed hers, all he was aware of is that they were still alive, moving at least, and would be dealt with later when the two opponents had gone. Even in his fatigued form, dripping from the face and lips, he stared daggers at the two, snarling, growling, just beckoning them to start again as he clearly did not fear losing consciousness soon from the lack of blood should they start round 2.

A salivating, bleeding mess that dribbled onto the ground in one long, gruesome drip at a time, not to mention the open wound on his hip and rump, Vengeance was a horror show and he loved it all.

Her momentum carried through, and her intentions went rewarded with a yelp from him, followed by a scene sickeningly satisfying to her moment's needs. His blood, everywhere--so she couldn't realize the fullest extent of his gruesomely torn face right away, only that it was enough to send him reeling back, exactly like she wanted.

But that said nothing about the bear-wolf, who though bloodied so badly too, he wasn't done and she knew it just looking at him, or the Rusalkan--who she soon realized Dacio had let go of. Perhaps he was confident in the  injuries he had dealt her, or wanting to let her suffer it out. Either way, Opalia was not about to argue with that; this was a good reunion and they had much catching up to do, so best to end it on a note they could both regroup from, only bloodied and rustled, not worse.

She snapped her teeth once more towards the enemies, and lingered longest on Derg's bloodied face (he wasn't going to forget her quickly like that), but picked up on Dacio's efforts to help begin their escape while they had half of an opening and the capability to use it. She wheeled before anyone could make to turn their teeth back onto her in earnest, and began to get the hell out of there.