Qeya River i've been searching for the daughter of the devil

The tail end of Sleeping Dragon leads just beneath Frostfire Ridge, eventually meeting the river that separates their grounds and Phoenix Maplewood. She’d informed them of the division, warned them against even crossing to the other side. They are new, barely a mewly infant in the eyes of nearby packs. They don’t yet know how yet to work together but they will and, until then, Thuringwethil isn’t interested in starting any unnecessary tensions between them.

The river still flows and she dips her head for a cool drink, giving her weary paws a rest at the bank. Cold water chills her all the way to her stomach before the warmth takes over, destroying any evidence she’d drank at all with a quick lick of her jaws. Thuringwethil turns and begins the way she’d come, returning to her home.

he watched with interested eyes, not sated by his latest attack. the memory of the hot blood cascading into his mouth, spilling from his lips to paint his chest with a gory fall of crimson -- of the wolf crying and struggling beneath him -- of the way her flesh split so easily beneath his jaws -- it caused his heartbeat to gain a measure of speed, his tongue to wet lips gone suddenly dry -- a tightening in his loins.

this one now, she left the bank in a lope, her strides confident, her gaze alert atop uplifted head. in silence shardul followed, his massive body treading lightly upon cushioned paws, the shadows touching down onto his argent pelt and swallowing it from view. 

the cat had gone fully mad now -- he lived only for the deaths of the jackals, and he followed. 

shardul awaited his moment.

Roll.

The wind picks up, rushing past her and ruffling her fur. Snow wafts in front of her and she closes her eyes to combat flakes hitting her face. With the shift, she stumbles over the snow and snaps open her eyes. Trying to steady her footing, the scent plays tricks on the edges of her nose, coming and going so much that she isn’t sure where it’s coming from or if it exists at all. When she steels her gait, she keeps moving in the direction of her home. Her howl would make the distance, but whether or not anyone is close enough to come in time leaves her silent. 

Thuringwethil takes a long breath, holding it deep in her chest to hoard the strength of the smell. The gift the wind leaves is welcome, a chance for the dark leader to use it to her advantage. She turns her head, raising the incline up the slopes of the ridge, to see a hint of silver mixed against the shadows and snow. Massive prints lead to the figure and Thuringwethil’s heart leaps into her throat and struggles to choke it back down, her breath lodging in the back of her throat.

She slowly forces herself to release a gust of warm air in front of her face. Heda's nose lifts slightly, tail arched over her spine, as if the pume were a wolf at her borders.

before he could gather himself to leap, the wolf turned, blinking against the whiteness of the snow and the lash of the wind -- she looked up at him, and he bared his teeth before her. the blaze of his yellow eyes caught the plume of her breath; shardul smiled maliciously. he had been seen; that did not mean this small interlude could not continue. the massive cat began to plod down the slope toward the wolf, his tread careful. 


"what wilt thou do now?" shardul growled mockingly, disdaining the insolent lift of her tail.

It does not take the cougar long to notice he’d been spotted, flashing his large teeth and moving down the slope. The chance of her winning, or coming out with most of her hide, were minimal. She’d been trained from a young age and the feline had at least fifty pounds on her, strength she could not match. A small chance and she’d get away; a quick howl for her wolves might even scare him off, but he moves with a grace she’s only seen in his species she cannot compete with.

His words are harsh and she feels a shiver ripple beneath her skin, doing what she can to keep everything inside and what fear she feels tucked away.

“Osir na dig em au,” she tells him with a flash of her own teeth. “What do you want?”

he was minutely impressed by the effort with which the wolf controlled her terror -- he was a horrifying visage, and he knew it well. the clipped syllables of her first sentence go untranslated, for shardul knew no languages save that of the shared pidgin and his own tongue. "why, i want thee, dear heart," the argent cat purred, making for his own amusement a mockery of her inferred question.

slowly he continued down the slope toward her, uncaring if she ran. shardul would pursue nevertheless.

Whether or not the feline knows he can catch her should she run, he does not rush his descent. A shiver runs through her spine and she stiffens to prevent it from showing. His words speak as if there are more meanings than the one his voice tells her. She slowly blinks, one front foot slowly easing off the ground to take a step back but she freezes instead.

“You’re not the only one,” she says, her voice cold steel to mask the slow ease her body makes into a backward step.

she did not run; shardul admired her brevity, her bravery. on and on he came, smiling in the face of her trepidation and defensiveness, and at length his claws sprang from his toes -- his ears folded back along his skull, and the great muscles of his hindquarters bunched. yet he did not spring - not at this moment. "why dost thou not flee?" came his grating purr, filled with genuine interest.

“Why would I?” she asks with a quirk of her brow and slight quiver of her lip. She could feel her heart beat pumping in her ears and she’s sure he could too. Running won’t do anything except egg him on, encourage the game he thinks he’s found. It might buy her a little time, getting closer to the pack, but she keeps her footing planted in the snow even now that he’s inching the distance shorter. 

The young leader holds his pale yellow gaze and she grins, even though her heart lurches into her throat: “You think you can do what they’ve been unable.”

she was baiting him. taunting. for a third time was shardul intrigued, but this time the emotion was tinged with irritation. the time for words had finished, and he snarled once before propelling himself off the rock toward her. in a series of moments his was before her; the great cat grinned darkly before aiming a savage and crushing blow of one massive forepaw at her shoulder.

He moves the way her words intended, bounding the last several yards between them in less than a second. Thuringwethil barely had time to respond, teeth open as she tries to snap when close enough. Her teeth connect to nothing as he knocks her back instead, her body twisting in half with the force. Long talons puncture behind her shoulder blade while the rest of her flings into the ground. Tufts of snow fly around her as she disturbs the ground, drops of blood tainting the formerly pure blanket. Her good shoulder rolls her into a sitting position, stumbling to get onto all four feet. 

She stands a little uncoordinated, bowing her head with a grin on her face but she does not take her turn.

she did not lash out; for a third time was he impressed, but this was laced with a fragmentation of annoyance. bloodlust rose full in the cat; he screamed a challenge and hurled his great bulk at her again, intending to throw her painfully to the snows a second time, to jar her teeth clackingly in her head, to bruise her for her defiance. 

she would pay with her life for her insufferable nature.

Im guessing its time for Goliath-to-the-rescue? xD

Goliath had been chasing a squirrel, tumbling down the depths of the forests, the only problem was that the squirrel had been gone for half an hour, and he was basically just chasing nothing. Either-way, he had been shouting "SQUIRREL!" to encourage himself, in his frenzy to catch something that was literally uncatchable. 

He had almost missed the strong scent of his leader... and.. a cat? His head snapped to the face the quarrel, tripped, and he landed jaw first on the snow, before picking himself up and running towards the feline apex predator. "CAT!" he barked with all his might, and excitedly came up to the clearing. Like a puppy running after a stick, he continued his descent.

There’s a moment before the cat lunges forward that’s quiet and Thuringwethil watches the way his mouth opens. Yellowed teeth from his silver profile, saliva breaking apart when he’s reached his limit and flying forward with the powerful roar that rattles her very bones. He moves and she’s still, toes digging into the snow to brace herself for the paw that swipes for her. The large paw hits her shoulder with a force that speeds up time, stumbling several steps and skidding face first into the snow and there’s a few seconds of blinding black.

She blinks a few times while a ringing in her ear forces her to squint her eyes, a bright flash of white and silver staggers her back onto her feet. Thuringwethil sways but she stands, lowering her head to even out her center of gravity and keep her on her feet. There’s a dull shout she can only hear out of one ear and she shifts her vision quickly—too quickly, her stomach reminds her—and the bolt of a wolf she barely recognizes barrel through the snow.

lol he's cute. last post for me!

he crushed her to the snow again, and again she did not fight. this perturbed shardul; he determined to slay her slowly for the odd behavior, and drew back his paw to strike the wolf again. yet the roar of a second paused him; the golden eyes widened somewhat to see the thunderous progress of a great jackal, who hurtled directly at him.

baring his fangs in a hiss, shardul turned aside. there was nothing for him here if he was forced to face two wolves, and with a last glance of hatred toward the woman, the puma turned and fled through the snows, lunging powerfully.

The wolf's pursuit is enough to scare the cat and Thuringwethil sloppily swings her head to see the last bit of his presence. The hiss makes her skin crawl and for a few seconds she doesn't expect him to run but he hits the ground enough that she feels it, flinches, and he disappears before she can make much of the connection. Her head throbs and she's shaky, taking the time between his departure and Goliath's approach she stand once more. Her limbs feel weak, still shaken, but in the face of her subordinate she steels herself and takes a few hesitant steps forward. When they are sure the feline is gone, they return, slowly, to the mountain.