Haunted Wood Punishment was cure for those Who dare to cross the line

3°, currently it is snowing/misty and set during late afternoon. Located in Haunted Woods, borders | ooc notes: Coyotes!! They're come to steal our caches! The thread is open for 3 other players to join Vengeance on fending them off! I will mark this thread as closed as soon as we are full with participants

They weren't subtle. The sound of their scurrying was loud enough to echo through the woods, carried by the fog as the Warlord hurried along the path, guided by the rat clinging to his shoulder. Aldrich had warned Vengeance on a pack of coyotes spotted nearby, and the Warlord remained close enough to the borders to listen in and anticipate their movements...

Four. The rat told him. Four coyotes in a band, starved and desperate for food. Thankfully a good portion of Nightwalkers were cannibals, picking off any bodies they find or stave off at the borders - so their caches were rarely empty. The famine had given them more power than one would think, their bellies, for the most part, were full, but that didn't mean Vengeance was willing to share. No, if anything, the coyotes would be his next meal should he catch one. 

With a snarl he ran into the group, furious and roaring as he alerted anyone nearby to hear the fray. The group scattered, whining and growling in their own frustration, eyeing the muscled beast with hunger painting their faces. The rat had long hopped off and taken shelter in the trees, watching... waiting for his own meal at the turn. 

Circling the group, hackles raised and yellowed fangs bared - they watched him as well. The moment anyone would come to investigate the sounds, he would lunge for the first coyote to get distracted by a new face entering on the Warlord's side.

she moves like an arrow loosed as soon as she spots the source of the sounds, driven by that same fire that had her attack Orochi, Clay, and the trespassing coyote. she charges into the side of a male a little further from the rest, fangs grabbing hold only a moment before his muzzle swings around and snaps at hers, yowl escaping its muzzle. a moment longer and the pair are lodged in combat, quick and bloody and desperate.

Snagging a spot. Tzila has some pent up aggression to get out! <3

Tzila was already on the way towards the borders when the commotion started. She knew the scent of coyotes well, and these mangy, lesser canids were nothing but pests. They harassed wolves constantly, shadowing them in hopes of getting a free meal or plundering their caches. Well, she wouldn't have it! They had picked the wrong packs cupboard to raid.

At a brisk clip, tail high and mahogany hackles raised, she moved in. Vengeance and Hela already on the scene, with four of the skinny vermin to contend with. Their numbers didn't sway her. With more backup surely to arrive, their fate was already sealed. Her cold glare gave way to a malicious glint. The famine was still unrelenting...food was still scarce. She wasn't above turning to more...creative options for a meal. These four would serve them well. Charging without so much as a sound, she corralled one coyote straight towards the jaws of her Warlord. Only after it had fled from her bluff, did she whirl to clasp a skinny leg of another in her jaws, one who had foolishly gotten too close in hopes of nipping her haunch. She bit down hard, feeling the satisfying crunch of bone shatter beneath the force of her bite. A growl bubbled in her throat while the animal screeched, flailing like a fish out of water. Its screams only furthered her aggression. She wrenched her neck to the side brutally, taking the leg along with it, accompanied by a satisfying POP.

snagging a spot!

The sound of snarling is what had him come forward, the stench of blood bringing him fast to the scene. He had never seen Coyotes before and stared for a moment, seeing Tzila and Vengeance and Hela all battling four of them off. Seeing Hela facing off against one he moved in to assist, jaws parting as he came from behind and latched onto a hind leg of the beast yanking back and shaking as he clamped down as hard as he could feeling something crush between his jaws. He snarled at the sound picturing Orochi's leg in the Coyote's stead and released it ducking between the Male's leg and biting onto something he'd pray nobody ever touched on him and ripping it clean away separating and spitting it out as the male screeched and attempted to run away.

Let's go! I was hoping for at least some pups to join in <3

The distraction didn't take long. He had barely circled around the coyotes as they seemed to be silently plotting their plan on taking him down, but being outnumbered never deterred him, to begin with. A flash of fur came out of the woods, the first to enter the fray was young Hela, fearless as ever and began her assault, giving the Warlord the opening he was searching for. The coyotes scattered and tried to distance themselves from this surprise newcomer, and Vengeance himself lunged forward to grab hold of perhaps the fattest of the bunch (it didn't mean much, they were all starving anyway).  

Second, to arrive was Tzila, her hunger for blood spurred on by the already screaming coyotes. She chose her target and began her own assault to protect their territory, their caches, from these would-be thieves. But let's be honest, most were here out of the desire to kill rather than anything noble. They all were. That's what kind of group Vengeance had gathered after all. 

Sneaking in Valour, the undoubtedly Alpha pup who had kept his position since being given the title upon entering (a title Vengeance honestly thought Valour would have lost when Hela had joined the Nightwalkers). He went unnoticed for now as chocolate male was occupied with his own battle. The boy went to assist Hela and all bodies seemed to merge into a flurry of teeth and blood as Vengeance tucked all the tearaways (ears and tail so they were less likely to be snagged), ripping into his own target's neck before moving onto one of the foe-less coyotes who was moving in on the pups.

His first target stumbled back with a bleeding neck, shocked by the pain and swiftness while Vengeance found a new target on the final woundless coyote and grabbed it by the tail before it entered the fight between the pups assisting in taking down one in tandem. The thing quickly changed its target as it swung around to bite him in the ribs, trying to get the man to let go of its tail before it was torn off.

Valour arrives at her side, and despite her confused attitude towards him, in the thick of battle she could only accept his presence, grateful for the second set of fangs. faced with the both of them, the weakened coyote falters rapidly. he ravage that back end of the moment, and Hela allows herself only a moment for a brief what the fuck before working to seize the coyote's throat. spurred by the pain, its jaws clamp across her face suddenly, tearing across her cheek, muzzle, and eye. snarl mixed with yelp escapes her violently as she pulls back, refocussing her attention. it takes her a moment, but as soon as she has it she tears swiftly into the lifeblood. it is messy, slower than she'd like, but then the creature's body falls suddenly slack as its heart can no longer contend with the blood loss. 

but there is another, close, with Vengeance hanging off it. fueled by ire, she lunges forward again, tearing fang across a soft haunch. the left half of her face burns as if one fire, and the crucial targets are out of reach, but at least she can take some of its attention off of Vengeance.

Their target retaliated and he heard hela cry out in pain, lifting his head to see if she was okay and seeing her go for the kill, the side of her face torn open. He watched in awe and made to go help her before the coyote slumped to the ground. Pausing his tail wagged absently around his hocks as he made note of her ferocity and the fact that she was truly a frightening girl actually made him like her a little more. Then she took off and he whirled around seeing her and Vengeance locked onto a third coyote. He spotted an opening between them and charged in as the Coyote froze locked between the two of them. He parted his jaws and snarled ducking low and grabbing the Coyote on the underneath of it's throat latching on and clamping down hard holding tightly as the Coyote gurgled and thrashed his body being jerked and tugged with it as he snarled viciously his tail arched above his spine.

Tzila paid little mind to the pups nor Vengeance and their respective victims. She was too caught up in dealing with her own coyote, who had since whirled around to sink its teeth into the flesh of her shoulder. The pain from the smaller, needle like canines only fueled her fire, clamp her jaws down harder. Violently, she tossed her head from side to side, thrashing the screaming coyote like a ragdoll.

Down it collapsed against the earth, firmly pinned beneath the weight of her frame and the added assistance of her forepaws. Snarling vehemently and all but ignoring the multiple bites to her muzzle and face, she flipped the animal, exposing its under belly. She was vicious in the blow she dealt, disemboweling it with one swift clip of her teeth. Pearly droplets of blood splattered up and around her head, dotting her muzzle. The poor coyote, not quite dead, twitched like a sickly animal, eyes rolled back in their sockets.

This can be the last round for the fight! Only one more post for Vengeance after this to close off the thread! This is easily a mercenary thread for all of you with one more fight thread each and a leaving post - meaning only 2 more posts each!!

The coyote with the bleeding neck stumbled around a bit in the background, unsure of what to do next as its life flashed before its eyes. Meanwhile, Vengeance continued his onslaught to the new target - Tzila had disposed of her own while the puppies had finished off theirs and turned their attention to the one who had come close to target them. They were on their last coyote. Not counting the drunken one who was slowly bleeding behind them still trying to stand as still as a drunken frat boy during Oktoberfest. 

While the two younger ones occupied its head, he had dug into its hind hide. Valour had taken the neck while Hela had taken the haunch, the only thing left was for them all to pull in their respected angles and the thing would crumble under their might. 

They would all eat tonight, those who weren't squeamish about eating a cousin of theirs genetically. He would toss some of the meat down into the pit to feed @Nakara and @Jakoul in order to keep their energy up to last down there - but of course not until everyone else had the chance to get a nibble to fill their bellies to last them a little longer through the famine. The pack came first - the captives would be a second thought.

With fresh crimson blood staining her muzzle, Tzila watched as the coyote wheezed its last breath. She was happy to let Vengeance, Hela and Valour to finish off the fourth one. The yearlings, while already seasoned fighters, could always benefit from refining their skills in the art of slaughter. She had slain her victim on her own, though it was hardly a difficult battle to be won. She tipped her head almost quizzically, entrapped in fascination while examining the exposed innards. To learn of how the body worked, how it was pieced together. It could benefit her down the road, should she ever choose to follow a path like one Serem or Alison had. Perhaps too, in battle, if she really wanted an edge.

Snapped from her trance when the last of the coyotes was dead, she glared at the yearlings with a triumphant little smile. "Let nothing go to waste. Our...dinner guests turned up at just the right time during this famine." And speaking of which... She turned to her Warlord, sniffing momentarily at the fresh carcass at his feet. She then met his eyes, raising one brow inquisitively. "Have you been briefed about the pack to our west, Roangeda? Serem and I paid them a recent visit." She offered, loud enough for Valour and Hela to hear, confident that this trip with Serem instead of Black Hat, and its outcome, would not have Vengeance irritated like last time. Tzila had been certain to play her hand carefully.

together, they make quick work of the interloper, and Hela spins to focus her attention on the hemorrhaging one. normally, prey being alive would not stop her from feasting, but she struggles to grip the underside of the coyote's blood-matted neck, making extra effort to enlargen the wound. the coyote is dead a moment later, slumping before her. 

she is driven to tear away a chunk of flesh for herself, hunger making meals of most anything. when she's secured a sizable chunk, she glances once to the Warlord before turning heel, seeking a more isolated place to partake in lunch.

Skipping Valour as requested! We can end this soon, I'll keep it open for Valour to post in it one last time before archiving so he can claim it as a trade thread!

With his half of the coyote, Vengeance allowed it to hit the ground with a sickening, wet thump. Hela already took her bit and moved on, crimson eyes following her until she was out of sight - he already, was face deep into the cavity of the coyote's gut, dragging out any innards and already finding his favoured piece... the liver. The taste of iron was rich as it slid down his throat, every rip and tear graced him with another delicious morsel. 

With gore staining his face he turned to listen to Tzila, mentioning a pack to the west of them. A pack he had not heard of yet - he heard of Neverwinter from Black Hat, a pack he was planning on visiting soon now that things have calmed down a bit, and his leg was feeling better. What details do you know about them? Crimson stained saliva dripped from his chin as he spoke, only now running that wretched tongue across his mug to clean off some of the carnage that stained him.

Business before pleasure. Tzila would wait until she was finished giving Vengeance all the details he required before helping herself to lunch. She lowered herself to her haunches comfortably before him, to show he had her complete attention. Her voice was smooth and even when she spoke. Unconcerned.

"They call themselves Roangeda. They have taken up residence in Broken Antler Fen." Close, but at least not right on top of the Nightwalkers front porch. "From what I could gather, I would estimate that they number around six to seven individuals in total." Her face contorted into an amused little sneer with what she said next. "Their leader or ' Worlida' is nothing more than a youngster...barely older than Valour. I believe her name is Praimfaya..." Gleaming silver optics narrowed into thoughtful slits. "...and she appears to be overseen by an older male, Dacio." She took in a sure, steady breath. "They seemed...neutral. The type to keep to their own, although they did express some curiosity about how we are faring with the shortage of game." Rising as a prompt to excuse herself, she paused in passing him. "You should be pleased to know, that this time, there was no mention of an alliance." She smirked. "You call the shots after all." That said, Tzila picked up the oozing body of the coyote she had slain, intent on gorging herself and dividing the leftovers among the caches.

Unlike Hela, Valour did not leave. He tore into the stomach of a Coyote upon being prompted to eat and did so with much vigor as he listened silently to the conversation. He could gather it was about a pack named Roangeda but knew not why it mattered though clearly Vengeance had interest for a reason. He focused on the name of a girl they said to be about hia age, from what it sounded like she must be pretty important to that pack. He ripped out a chunk of intestine and began to carry it away just as Tzila stood to leave and heard something mentioned about not having an alliance. Processing it over slowly he walked off dragging the intestine as if it were a juicy link of sausage. 

He's out! Thank you for the patience!!!