Phantom Hollow Indomitable

The tall waving grass stole Redmoon’s sight well and the breeze captured movement all across the plain. He spotted the pristine white beauty easily enough as she forged her way towards the rocky setting but Cry was far more difficult to see, the grass swayed away from his direction as he meandered closer and closer to the goal of safety. All seemed as well as it could be, save for Redmoon’s instincts screaming at him to run! Run for your life! It was an internal battle to deny this sensation and he fought every inch of his being. 

The brief time he’d spent with these two wolves the more of a feeling of kinship he held with them. His mind didn’t like it, not one bit, but the course of his life held a bitter taste and he endured it all the same. It kept his feet glued to the rock and it kept him from running away from the imminent danger that his wolfish instincts were declaring to him. 

Unable to see properly with his eyes, he closed them and let his ears and nose to the work. Even his tongue was set to the task as he panted and brought in the tastes in the air. Wheat grass and tired wolves filled his senses but there was something else. A thundering step, and another. His ears swiveled to pinpoint what the wind was telling him and yet he found nothing. His hackles began to rise and he wanted more than ever to flee this place and never look back. Another, this time a series of steps. As if something was running. Anger began to rise, he couldn’t pinpoint what he was hearing - his elevation giving him a higher breeze to work with and it was throwing him off but on the ground he’d not find anything and he knew it. No, he had to work this out. 

Leila was coming closer, her scent awash with her gentle demeanor and he shook himself to focus harder. Cry was now coming and the faint stepping feeling became more and more harsh. What was it! 

Opening his eyes he looked straight to Cry - and there he saw it. A wave of brown spearing through the grasslands. Its speed was horrible to behold and the size… Redmoon had never seen anything like it. The scent wafted into his nose and he linked it with the pursuer of Broken Boulder in the Taiga and the fish killer along the river. This was he, the bear. There had been so much movement in the tall grasses that Redmoon hadn’t caught the blending camouflage of the mighty omnivore. 

Instantly and without thinking, Redmoon was off the rock and sprinting away, that thing was going to kill them all and he wasn’t about to have it. The better he survive another day than to be bear scat the next morning! He shot passed Leila like a blur - wait, this wasn’t away from the bear! Cry was nothing but a dream of color too and suddenly Redmoon was in the air, a snarl on his face and a ravenous attacking bark to frame his wild assault. He’d attacked on instinct, a move he didn’t care to admit. 

But that damn bear was fast as lightning was bright and Redmoon’s maw only came away with wiry fur that tasted harsh and bland. He hit the ground and spun around, he instantly regretted everything as the monster of the wilds stood up to greet him…