Overture Downs long live the king

the blacktail dogs had seen fit to eradicate shardik's presence. he cursed them, and more importantly, cursed the teeth that had gone singingly through him. 

in the weeks that followed he nursed his wounds and tempered his pride. like all beasts shardik felt the keen absence of summer, and felt the cold chill of winter's firsts breaths along his backside.

he was compelled to eat - and eat - and eat. berries, fox, crow, carrion. it all was stuffed down his maw in gluttonous fervor, a bloody sup of twig and bone. a few weeks of such ravenous appetite and the leviathan's form was restored; shardik was no longer the haggard, gaunt beast to plague borders, but a massive, roiling creature in which no mortal could contend. he moved with his old confidence, regarded the world with his old disdainful hate, and prowled without heed to dogs or their realms.

this world was his, and he basked in it. fearless, shardik climbed the stony summit - his paws grappling stone and hauling his body in mighty heaves. he had chosen the sunspire for its remoteness - and its stony keep would be his winter-home, dogs be damned.

eat.

and then soon, sleep.

Set for 11/1/18.

In an unusual and unexpected shift in character, Rannoch decided to navigate outside of his claim at his own accord. In recent history, his time outside of Sunspire and Lost Creek Hollow had been only because of the famine, and diplomatic matters—his family and leadership responsibilities had created a homebody out of the former vagabond. 

It was as Rannoch trudged further away from that Shardik's scent emerged unexpectedly, and an immediate sense of panic and disdain sucker-punched him in the stomach. Reactively he halted, knowing one wrong step could lead him into grave danger. Rannoch's recognition of his surroundings hyper-focused as his gaze sought the direction where the bear's fragrance radiated from. 

Shardik stood no more than 100 yards east of him, lumbering in his direction; Shardik would have had to be blind to not have noticed him—Rannoch knew this. His window of opportunity shrunk by the second, and he realized that each of his prospects outcomes were unfavorable. He had to act. Fast. 

In his flustered consideration of the situation, it didn't even occur to Rannoch that Scimitar and Eshe had perished in a similar incident.

it has been said death sits astride a pale horse; that is not so. death comes on wings, or claws, or fangs of its own volition -- its vessel corruptible and full of rot. death is neither a tall nobleman nor the proud race of pale horses -- it is shardik, hateful malign creature, bent on savagery and hard as the wicked curve of a raven's beak.

rannoch is not far enough to escape detection; the mountain of a bear shifted his piggish black eyes, his lips pulled in a deplorable grin.

eat.

the dog pauses; death does not. it lumbers forward, a churning machine of blonde fur and hateful sinew - taut and tough muscle rippling beneath the vibrations of each earth-shattering slap of a paw.

three strides and he has closed the distance, a wicked chestnut furred phantom with gobs of salivia trailing as if a sinister bloom behind him. two strides and he is upon the dog, one hefty forepaw swung back midstride.

the glitter of five long claws hung briefly in the air, rapier-sharp and keen as they sat cleanly against a bright autumn sky. then in that interminable pause, a surge and a flash of heaving, wrathful bear followed -- waiting for that resounding and

so very satisfying

crack.

Shardik launched forward. There was no escaping the ursus' fury; Rannoch confronted his fate head-on. In an idealistic world, fear would not paralyze the Alpha. He'd flee within a moment of realizing the danger he was in and would live to see another day.  

Lost Creek Hollow deserved to know where Rannoch was slain. They needed to know that he abandoned them involuntarily. He threw his head back at the last moment, calling to his family, as Shardik positioned himself. Rannoch's cry rang through the Downs, its message loud and clear: Help. 

It was the last thing that Rannoch would say before the forceful strike of Shardik's paw would cause him to lose consciousness.

coelho had noticed rannoch slip from the pack; she had wanted to talk to him privately about a den she had found - a den in the hollow that would be positively perfect for his kids. it was wide, with a smooth stone arch, a flattened entrance, and not too far from the river that coursed through the territory. its embankment was of soft sand and interspersed with round riverstones - in coelho's eyes, a perfect place for the puppies to cavort and grow. from the den one could hear the thick gurgle of the river, a melodic echo that was both soothing and rhythmical.

selfishly, she wanted to be the one to share it with him -- after all, she had found it -- and excited to divulge with the alpha, she trotted brightly after him and straight into terror.

it was as if she had walked from the sunny halls of the forest into a waking nightmare; before them a beast of impossibly huge stature lurked, rough and slavering as it approached rannoch. rannoch - coelho saw with wide eyes he was frozen in place as doom swung towards him with unyielding arc of a pendulum.

she moved like a machine, as if commanded by some order other than her own will: her feet flew and suddenly she was in front of the bear's path. "no!" she howled into that cold autumn air, flinging herself into its raised paw -- willing to absorb the entirety of shardik's fury if it meant rannoch would get away.

in that last second before impact, she held her breath and shut her eyes -- suddenly aware of the air that raked through her fur and the dark, terrifying stench of the bear.

***

just like that, coelho died. the heaved paw aimed for rannoch cut through her skull, just so -- if she was not killed by the evisceration of claw through her spine, she was certainly killed by the crack of her skull against stone.

she was thrown clear, her body colliding with the earth in the same gruesome manner of a meteorite. dust rose around her limp form, and a clear liquid oozed from underneath her ear. a long, gruesome crack appeared from the center of her forehead, down across the back of her head: exposing there-in the contents of her skull - soft, pliable grey brainmatter that spilled with profane laxity through that impossibly unsightly hole.

dogs.

stupid, chattering dogs. shardik's eyes gleamed with sinister delight as his paw swung in the manner of a bludgeon - he knew soon as he saw rannoch that he would be the only victor - he knew it the same way a wolf knew when its prey was cornered. there was something so delightfully cruel about hunting dogs - he imagined it was the fearful flash of their eyes when they recognized he was their executioner: they were just intelligent enough to see with clarity their maker and shardik reveled in that sight, for it was like observing a thin flame flicker and die out to swallowing blackness.

there, and then gone -- smothered out for all eternity by the brutal stroke of his unyielding hand.

there was a flash in his peripherals as something piteously small flew against him and stung his forearm with teeth: he batted it away with the ease of a horse whisking away a fly -- stupid mongrel -- i will eat you first. he didn't need to see the brainmatter that seeped from the dog's staved in skull to know she was dead.

 in his eyes, she was dead the second she had come across him.

which left the other cur -- who had caught the tail end of his scythe, and went down with the same loose form -- lucky bastard, thought shardik, for the claws that had been intended to ream through his howling face had instead sundered the dog that flew in front of him. no matter -- he had still nicked the dog in its temple, and it was just as still as the girl whose brains spread out like a grotesque bouquet of floral tissue and dredged matter.

both were down; both were dead -- hulked down in front of the girl shardik bellowed his victorious warcry -- fuck dogs. he would eat the one that bit him first; she hardly looked like she'd fill a fraction of his stomach. coelho, appetizer; rannoch, main course. the two would fit comfortably in the glut of his stomach, bones, fur and all.

lurching forward, the beast clenched his conical teeth around the girl's impossibly small skull; and in rough hearty heaves, crunched what remained of her skull between his powerful jaws. the skull gave way like a soft grape, oozing pulpy meat.

bone, gristle, brain matter, and all -- hot-pressed and oozing through tongue and teeth -- all washed down with implacably hot blood.

fresh meat.

Rueger had followed the trail that Rannoch and Coelho left, but he was closer to the borders than he was to their physical location. When the call rang out, his blood ran cold in his veins. Rannoch was in trouble, and he assumed Coelho was with him. He kicked off with his back legs and ran as fast as he could through the prairie. 

When he saw the downed wolves, and the bear, his instincts kicked in. With a growl, he set his sights on the bear, fangs bared as he attempted to aimed himself at the murderer at full run.

rannoch rarely left the safety of the territory. not to stay safe, there were simply duties within the borders than the man must keep up with, along with his children and wife. it was uncommon for him to leave, plain as that. and when terance found the scents of coelho and rueger mixed in, well, he couldn't say he wasn't confused-- and intrigued. 

he padded at a measly pace, feeling that the situation was probably not dire and that he was only being nosey. but, of course, that was until there was a howl. rannoch's howl. and it wasn't just a friendly call. 

his feet pounded against the earth as he sprinted towards his friend's howl, muscles working overtime to propel him forwards. his heart began to beat harder and harder, faster and faster, as his worst nightmares became reality. everything terance had ever done had been for rannoch. everything he was was for rannoch. everything he'd ever become was for rannoch. rannoch was everything terance loved, everything he believed in. all he had left. he had literally moved mountains for the man-- from moonspear to sunspire-- and now to the hollow. rannoch was terance's everything. 

had it all been in vein? had this all been for nought? R + T -- carved carefully in the center of a heart at the base of a thick trunk, merely scratched out, not even neatly. there was nothing terance loved more than rannoch. and as he heard a blood-curdling scream-- one he recognized to be coelho-- he almost stopped completely.

this was it. it was over. there was no point. nothing had any point, not anymore.

but he kept up pace, trying to push back all of the negativity that flooded his brain.

even as the scent of bear, terance's one true fear, rushed to his nostrils.
even as the hot, metallic scent of blood invaded his mind.
even as the maimed, broken body of coelho came into view.
even as the towering, disgusting creature bent over her body.

it was not until terance spotted him, the crumbled up gray and white form, that any kind of instinct took over. 

terance would not remember this moment, plagued by anger and emotional pain. the gray beast tore forwards, snarling and snapping. eyes wild, flaming, blood roaring, terance fell in beside rueger. terance was always afraid of bears. there was one day that one almost took his own life. he sacrificed his life there for moonspear. for lyra. for hydra. for alya. for galaxy. for charon and amekaze and vela and jarilo and every other wolf in that pack. 

but now, as he so recklessly crashed towards this monster, ready to exchange it's life for the life it had taken from him, terance wished that it would just kill him too. there was no point anymore.

there was no point without rannoch.

Treason hadn't come upon the scents yet.  She was just doing her patrol and probably was a good ten minutes from finding the trails her packmates left.  As far as she knew, nothing was wrong.  Perhaps she would have thought it was weird as well, but unlike the others, her curiosity wouldn't have dragged her that way.  If it was something important she'd be informed later (or before, depending on what it was).  No, she continued on her patrol, only to have it interrupted by the call for help.

Treason was not a wolf built for speed, but her paws carried her as swiftly as they could towards the source of the call.  Eventually her sweeping track crossed with the scents of the packmates before her.  It kicked her pace up a notch, but there were limits.  She wouldn't be the first on the scene, but she would be there eventually.  

By then, player assumes, the others were already engaged.  As not a medic, she skipped over the grounded for now and continued towards where she could actually be useful.  Treason was well trained, she didn't fly in with a brain clouded by rage, she operated by her training, arcing her path towards the bear's hip, to try to latch her jaws on to a piece of pelt, to lash her head to cause damage, then to release and get away before making another attempt.  Or at the very least, that was her intent if her fangs connected.  The wolves would be like songbirds pummeling a hawk, causing far too much trouble for the bear to want to stick around.  After all, Treason had still been relatively close, an alpha's call would bring more still after her that had been deeper into the territory, would it not?

A bone chilling howl for help followed by a scream that made her sick, it sent her running forward and stumbling over her own paws. She paused and logic seeped into her panicked brain, she ran to her den and grabbed moss and other assorted herbs in case they were needed. Then she booked it, arriving shortly after Treason attacked the bear alongside other enraged Lost Hollow Creek members. She stared in horror at the two bodies laying bloody on the ground and went first to Coelho, gagging despite being a medic "Oh my stars...oh god" she whispered and turned away to the other body gasping when she saw Rannoch. She rushed over and dropped the herbs, placing her nose against his throat and feeling a weakened pulse. She stared at the blood gushing from his head wound and cursed, licking it roughly in a frenzied manner to stop the bleeding.


As it slowed she pulled away and grabbed moss, pressing it hard against the wound. "One of you! Come help! she shouted without taking her paw off Rannoch or turning away. "Come on Ran. You can't just die like this. Not now." she said softly. This man was her friend, he encouraged her and trusted her like nobody else had. She found herself struggling not to puke as she realised that Coelho must have taken the blow. The scream and the way her head was split and Rannoch's wound was on his skull lead her so assume this. That was when she noticed the shoulder wound, claw marks raked open flesh. She grabbed more moss and pressed it down, both paws now taken by putting pressure on Rannoch's wounds. She tried to reach her pile of Wild Garlic, Marigold, and goosegrass but wasn't able to get her maw that far in that position.

he ate with a heathen's ardor, the bloodied pulp of a body beneath him rendered simply to cracked bones and long, transluscent swaths of intestines. by the time the first dog was upon him shardik's mouth was rimed with dark blood and viscera, his gaze glazed over -- hot blood and warm organs sat comfortably in his stomach, cradled just so.

a sharp sting to his flank ripped him from his gorging frenzy - with a piggish squeal the beast trundled around, pulling out from the dog's staved-in chest ragged bands of intestines -- like a clown's never-ending and unfurling hankerchief. only, these weren't rags that dragged in ropy droops behind him, but a bloodied film of mauve and scarlet membrane that seemed impossibly long to have come from something so small.

demon dogs, come to avenge their dead kin.

let them bite, let them howl - shardik, belligerent in his rage, sent the first one a welcome present in the form of a massive swipe of his bloodied claws; fuck dogs -- and then, another sunk its teeth through his blonde fur.

it was too much -- they came out of the woodwork like the blacktail dogs, high shrieks and frenzied yips -- if their pack had the same strength as the last, shardik might have just subscribed to his last meal. his stomach, hot and heavy with fresh meat, gurgled its discontent to be so rudely interrupted -- but he had already eaten more than half of that sorry appetizer of a coywolf, and with more wolves arriving it was looking as if now would be a good time to leave.

he squealed again, a loud and thunderous noise that shook the tall rooftops of the conifer trees which flanked around them; with great heaving strides the beast made a break through the underbrush, charging towards the girl and the dead grey dog as he went. if he could not eat the bigger dog, at least he could trample it and the pathetic thing that wailed alongside it -- with a fiendish glee shardik swung his rage in hyacinth's direction, aiming to trample both her and the corpse as he fled.

Reinforcements came, as they should. Their leader, and another pack mate, were down permanently, and the threat still stood. It raged against those that attacked it, but Rueger was not one to give up. He went, open jawed towards a shoulder, hoping to chomp down on flesh. He wouldn't hang on though, choosing instead to quickly let go, hopefully before the bear tore into him.

Their enemy suddenly made a rush for it, straight for the bodies of the wolves, and straight for Hyacinth, who seemed to distraught to look up from their fallen brethren. Rueger made to intercept, his sides heaving with exertion. Hyacinth! Move! he yelled. If she didn't, his intent was to shove his body into hers in an effort to move her out of path of the charging bear. If it meant replacing her with himself, then so be it. He would not forgive himself if another one of his pack mates got hurt or died.

Feel free to land some hits on Rueger, just nothing fatal

one more post for all, please! i don't want this to drag out. there's a RO that handles the aftermath, so don't worry about all that <3 sorry this is such a stupid post

 

so much happening. so much happening. so much happening. 

the bear got one good swipe at terance as he lost grip on it, his teeth taking a small patch of fur with him but no flesh. along his hind quarters a slash appeared, which stung, but it was not terance's focus. it was not deep, it would be fine. terance continued to pursue it. the bear charged through (insert whatever damage it did to other wolves who haven't posted about the damage dealt yet) but somehow managed to avoid trampling rannoch's body. 

he assumed it was because of the sheer number of wolves attacking him, maybe it lost direction on accident. either way, it missed rannoch barely(haha), leaving terance to skid to a halt and turn to the carnage that was behind him. he looked to hyacinth, eyes wide and ears pressed to his skull. he couldn't look at the body, he couldn't do it. he didn't want to. so he just stared at hyacinth.

and when she gave him the assessment, terance would command his wolves to take the bodies elsewhere. and they would go from there.

Last post here

She had seen the bear charging toward them and time slowed. She saw Rueger rushing forward but her only thought was Rannoch. Anger surged through her body and she lunged as the bear approached, attaching herself to it's shoulder. The bear swerved and swatted her clumsily off, her shoulder getting slammed. With a Yelp she dropped to the ground awkwardly and watched as the bear ran off. She turned to Rueger and nodded, uttering a shaken thanks for trying to help before turning to Terance "He's alive but barely. We need to get him back to my den, immediately. Thank goodness she...Coelho..took most of whatever attack was given" she tried to keep the trembling from her voice but it was clear that she was badly shaken.

While the others stopped to help with those who were downed, Treason was more interested in making sure the bear stayed gone. She chased after, snapping at his heels a d trying to make enough noise that it sounded like more than  just her, enough small bites that maybe it was three wolves all trying.  She only followed for a handful of yards, eventually trailing off and turning back the way she came. Even Treason knew that though she was a massive and well-trained fighter, she couldn't follow and take the risk of battling a bear one on one.

She was on alert, returning to the group but her head still swiveled around looking for a sign they were going to have  a return of their unwelcome visitor. Double immediately, don't want to risk it coming back.  She looked briefly to Terance for instruction, but her eyes lingered only for a second before back to scanning their surroundings.  Work to be done, but she was only useful for some of it.

first/only post

they hadn't even settled in a day before calamity hit. while rifling through ferns just outside of the hollow's reach, indra had heard the furious bellow of the bear. it was a sound that made her heart lurch -- she might have turned around to warn those of the hollow were it not for the call that came thereafter.

forced into gear by something that could only be described as fearful territorial instinct, indra flew through the forest and came late upon the scene. a bloodied unknown wolf. the crumpled form of the leader. wolves milling, wolves snarling -- and the bear.

the bear.

indra had only seen arthur, bearclaw's sleepy resident -- and this bear was in no way shape or form made of even the same cloth. it was hellish, fervent and terrifying - her hair stood on end to witness the stupid-hate of its black eyes, the gleam of sinister teeth.

it had swung towards two wolves, and then it was driven back by a barricade of fangs. indra stumbled into action, falling behind treason as a physical bulwark to the she-wolf's aggressive chasing. overcome by adrenaline, indra ran alongside the wolves with blood pounding heavily in her ears, snarling and nipping at the bear's furry hocks as they drove it deeper into the hinterlands.

Treason appreciated that Indra had appeared from the mists as well.  The others dealt with the dead and wounded while they made sure the danger was gone.  Always a good thing to have backup.  

She knew Terance would be glued to wherever Rannoch was kept, so there were other things that were going to have to be done.  While he would end up camping out waiting to see what happened, Treason would make sure that they remained in no further danger.  If she could recruit a few to scout for fresh bear tracks, they would be sent or she would do it herself when she had the time.  She would also have to keep an eye on Terance -- they didn't need to somehow go and lose two leaders at once, as though she thought herself capable of doing the job of an alpha, she was pretty sure the pack might not be so willing to follow.  Who knew.  Treason felt better by expecting the worst about it.

And if any bear returned, she'd make sure it got no more of them.  There was enough change along the Creek as it was.