Phantom Hollow Indomitable

‘…Flee…’

The entire meaning of the word was poison to Redmoon’s ears. He was no coward. But he also was no tactician or strategist. He saw things in a black and white frame. Either you fought and won or you fought and lost. The Scorekeeper held no room for anything less and even in a loss, the Scorekeeper would be mindful of the valorous charge and the mindset of the heart. In truth, Redmoon had been scruffed up before and whipped but never truly beaten. He knew what it meant to lose and be hurt but this time things were different. Cry - Leila - they were counting on him to put this threat down. He had no idea though how impossible of a task that was and how stupid he was being - yet, lessons learned by Redmoon were oft done the hard way. 

First lesson of the day - never attack an angry bear head on. Especially one that you’ve stopped from eating prey that it had been hunting for almost five years… 
Redmoon was a blast of speed and his choler reached the fore. Bursting out from the tallest grass he shot inward and the bear reacted by swiping low, the red wolf leapt overtop the strike but a following swipe took him in the front shoulder and scattered him to the wind. In the air he held no means of maintaining posture and so he was cast around in a one eighty to crash on the ground. Seemingly as fast as he was, the bear romped forward despite having a massive wolf tearing at its back and here it came to devour the red pelt. 

Undeterred by the scratches and bruises, Redmoon looked to his foe and savagely met the charge, leaping into the bear’s face. His jaws went to work, his front and rear claws churning endlessly like pistons. He felt fur and meat grinding, the wash of warm blood, but he felt pain too. All along his left shoulder sat a score of fiery pain wreathing agony through his bones. Then he felt a crushing pain in his right side as the bear batted him away like a discarded bone. 

The sheer power of the bear was daunting as Redmoon was once more cast aside. Hitting the ground and rolling end over end twice, he came to a rest with blurred vision and fire in his body. This wasn’t how this would end! He spoke several oaths silently to himself and the Scorekeeper and so he fought to get back on his feet. He could feel the wetness of his own blood covering his shoulder where five or six deep punctures sat as a reward for his indomitable spirit. The bear’s jaws hadn’t been kind and he learned then that a frontal would be his doom - likely it should have been yet he managed still. 

His side held a sharp pain as he breathed but it was nothing to deter him just yet - at least until his adrenaline died down. His nose caught the wind and he smelled the blood of his worthy foe on it and the smell excited him to his core. This battle was like nothing he’d ever experienced and it still had more to offer if he’d just watch himself and not commit to suicidal attacks again. 

The bear eyed him as it tried to savagely dislodge the black wolf, Redmoon knew that look - it wasn’t finished. It still wanted a piece of him. He grinned, because he still wanted a piece of it. With his knowledge of the battle thus far gained, he began to formulate a new strategy. One that didn’t involve dying - first of all. But also one that would take advantage of the bear’s blindspots. 

Redmoon studied the bear for a short time until he heard the unknown wolf’s word echo in his mind. His thoughts swayed back to involve Leila and Cry, he didn’t know where they were but he believed it in his heart that if he fled, this bear would seek them out. No, this had to end here and now. 

Either that bear was going to turn tail and run, or Redmoon would finish the fight. Blinded by the beast inside his soul, he knew no other way.