the earth lumbers on

/frolics in! Apologies if I got any of who's fighting who wrong D:

He never strayed far from their ragtag pack of sorts, always keeping near and vigilant, now that the worst of his concussion had seemed to pass. The cut above his eye still stung, and was most likely infected, but he had dealt with worse. When one had daily injections for weeks on end that caused hallucinations and convulsions, what was a little physical pain? Still, the hunger that gripped his stomach was hard to ignore, and it seemed the other dogs felt it, too. The desperation for food drove them onwards, deeper into the wilds.

Lagging behind as the other dogs scouted ahead, Reaper nosed through the snow in some vain attempt to find an abandoned cache. Or a rabbit. Or squirrel. Or something. It was only the summoning howl of an unknown entity that caused him to look up, ears pricked and eyes widened. He had never come across a wolf before, but he was already afraid. They were the creatures of this wild place; they knew this land far better than the dogs who had come the sterile and structured environment of humans.

Still, they hadn't any idea what the lab dogs were capable of. What trials they had already been through.

When Dogmeat's own summons echoed down the valley, Reaper took off at a sprint, clambering up the hill with fangs already drawn. He arrived at the scene quickly, his long legs and large paws driving him through the snow with ease. A battle had broken out between the two groups of canines. The mutt stared in equal parts wonder and fear at the large, beastly forms of the wolves. A particularly large, grey-furred one had shouted something before Twister leapt at him, followed by a charging Dogmeat and the snarling Outlaw as a white wolf chased after them. A brightly-coloured wolf was aiming for JD along with a smaller female. Reaper — perhaps cowardly — decided to engage her, if only to even the odds against his fellow Doberman. With a guttural snarl, the dog charged straight at her, aiming to simple knock her off her paws before she inflicted too much damage upon his lab-mate.