Porcupine Ridge old worn out headset

Stiff and sore, the ridge leader prowled the edge of his domain, aggressively refreshing as many marks as was his capacity. Naturally, he began at the contested borders, still uneasy and unwilling to trust that the ridge was wholly secure. It would be sometime before he settled back into the passive calmness that characterized him prior. Taggarik moved with focus, he was deliberate; his heavy steps were almost a trudge, his ire still radiant upon his countenance and evident in his motions.

Having eventually located the bear's den, Farstep took his leave of Novak and headed toward the territory's core, carrying upon him an ursine stench from rolling at the mouth of it. All who encountered him would know of the bear nearby. He needed no words for that; not only was the subtle smell weaved into his guard hairs, but an expression of concern was etched upon his brow. It might be unfounded—bears were as known for keeping to themselves as wolves often were—but should it prove to be a sow with cubs, then the pack might find themselves in a spot of trouble until they managed to bring her down or remove her from the vicinity.

It was luck that led him to Taggarik rather than intent, but when he sighted the dark-haired alpha wolf prowling the borders between ridge and the thundering mount, the beta hastened his steps. He could sense—and smell—the residual anger radiating from his lead male, but it did little to deter Farstep's mischievous nature as he moved alongside the alpha and aimed to nip at his hip to draw his attention, possibly with a flash of fangs, which would all be in good fun as far as the beta went.

If the ridge leader needed one thing, it was the carefree distraction that his beta male provided as he came to his side and offered a nip. It was with a gentle growl that Taggarik turned and sought to chew lightly upon his companion's ear, but as his muzzle swung toward it his nose caught the scent his fellow bore. So his teeth clicked in the air as he paused, and then he nosed into the wolf's nape.

Bear. It was one of the ridge's other predators, along with the occasional mountain lion. Their presence was not a bother to the wolves, but the strong reek in his beta's fur told him that he had found a den and not merely a scat pile.

The black wolf stepped back, giving his beta an inquisitive look.

He darted back a pace when Taggarik turned, but though he had been quick enough to avoid any sort of berating strike, the alpha male halted halfway and sniffed. When Taggarik stepped nearer and pressed his nose directly into the beta male's coat, he held still, allowing his leader to interpret the story scrawled in scents across his brown pelt. It told all of where he had been and what he had been doing of late, and even clung to the faint whiff of coyote and Diane from when they had battled at the borders, but predominantly it told of a bear.

When Taggarik pulled away, their gazes touched briefly and then the beta promptly dropped his to the ground. With a gentle whine and appeasing shake of his tail, he bid the man follow him, and took several steps to the north, toward where the bear's den was, in hopes he could show the alpha what he was unable to verbally tell him about.

Oops forgot this one lol, slight pp as I forward this a bit! Left it open at the end for you ;)

The wolf was not able to understand words, but he could read the nuances of body language better than perhaps any. Taggarik's questioning glance was all that was needed to spur the wolf toward the den where he had dredged his coat in bear-scent. The ridge leader made to follow, encouraging his beta with a woof.

The pair travelled at an easy lope, purposeful in the relatively straight path they took toward their objective. Coming upon the den, Taggarik moved ahead of his subordinate, but his approach was cautious. His nose worked to discern the scents around them, and his ears swivelled to catch the smallest of sounds.

He knew mother bears were nothing to trifle with, so his muscles were tense and prepared to flee if he met a mad face as he went to peer into the den...

It felt good to stretch his legs in a jaunt that was direct and meaningful, and as the beta led Taggarik higher up the ridge he felt the welcome burn and pull of gravity and activity at work, both things he didn't understand and didn't need to. All he knew was that walking uphill was harder than walking downhill, but the pulse of his heart favoured the extra work. By the time they reached the hole where the scent of bear was strong, he was lightly panting.

The alpha wolf approached and his faithful beta remained close, but slightly behind. It wasn't out of fear of the thing within, although he had a healthy dose of that, nor to put his leader in harm's way, but it was Taggarik's right as dominant male to investigate first. Nevertheless, the tawny wolf stepped up as well and peered into the darkness, breath held. Before he could make out whether the wriggle of moment deep within indicated the presence of a cub, a heavy paw came flying out of the darkness and connected with the side of his head, felling him instantly.

Leaving the bear in your control! :)

There was a hint of movement inside, and the black wolf flinched, but no angry bear came rumbling out at him. He was frozen for but a moment as he continued to peer into the den, hoping to discern the exact occupants. It was long enough for his beta to come up beside him to have his own look, and this was seemingly all too much for the bear. Before either wolf could react, a colossal paw shot out and took the brown wolf in the side of the head, spilling him limply onto the ground.

Taggarik yelped in surprise, and his mind wheeled as he rushed to decide a course of action. No wolf could take on a bear. Their claws were long enough to disembowel with one swipe. But he would not leave his beta at the mercy of this beast. He latched onto his companions scruff and heaved with all his power, hoping to drag his fallen comrade far enough away from the den that perhaps the bear would leave them be. If not, he only knew one other solution short of running away to save his own hide - to lay on the ground with his beta and feign death.

A ringing in his ears was the next thing the wolf noticed. The space of time between the collision of a massive paw with the side of his head and when he became aware of his surroundings again was only seconds, but it felt like many minutes. When his blue eyes blinked open, it was to see a large bear shouldering its way out of the den, roaring loudly, no doubt with a cub lingering close behind it.

He scrambled against the ground that Taggarik was dragging him over, yelping and whining and no doubt dragging the alpha male's attention around to the disturbed ursine. It took him several moments to find his feet and several more to tug free of Taggarik's grip, after which he sped along several long strides with urging whines that his leader do the same. The bear, he trusted, would return to its den when the wolves were clear of its protective range, and henceforth they would just need to steer clear of the area, or so the wolf thought.

Fortunately, he did not have to drag his companion far. The beta male was on his feet and sprinting within moments, and the black wolf did not need much encouragement to follow him as an angry bear slavered and roared at their heels. To add to their fortune, the bear did not chase far, nor was it as fast as it could have been. It pursued them only long enough to see that they would be gone and posed no further threat, and then turned back to its den, and likely the cubs it guarded.

Gradually, the fleeing wolves slowed their steps, and when they paused altogether, Taggarik took to his companion's side to sniff at his head.

They went several yards further before finally grinding a halt. The tawny beta turned sidelong to glance back in the direction of the bear's den in time to see it disappear back inside. A menace. Come late spring there might be a need to take care of it, but there wasn't much they could do presently. Licking his chops, the wolf swung his tail nervously and flinched when Taggarik neared.

But the alpha male was only investigating, not disciplining, and so he turned his skull to give the alpha access. There was a shallow cut from where one of the bear's hooked nails had found purchase in his skin, but the damage was mostly internal in the form of bruising. He would be all right, albeit dizzy and unsteady for a few days. Speaking of dizzy, the man swayed and sat down heavily with a dull whine.

The black wolf was no medic, and certainly could not peer into his companion's skull to know there was any more to the injury than what appeared on the surface. He surmised only that his beta might be feeling the pain for a while and may be a bit off as a result in the days to come. But, he was relieved that, you know, half his friend's head was not missing and such. When the wolf swayed and dropped his rump to the ground, Taggarik cast him a gentle look and then followed suit, lowering himself into a sit at his beta's shoulder.

"Bet you got a nice headache," Taggarik commented. He had no way of telling the wolf they were safe here and could rest as long as needed until he was feeling better, so he was simply patient, and would follow along as the wolf went, their pace dictated by him alone.

Taggarik's sentiment, though not understood, wasn't wrong. Within a matter of hours, the wolf's head would be ringing with the pain of his aching brain and he would have to go lie down for the remainder of the afternoon. For now it was just a dull throb that would remain for a while before finally escalating.

With a soft grunt as the dizziness passed, the beta wolf found his feet again and brushed past Taggarik with a bump of his jaw along the superior wolf's leg. He would go back to patrolling now, if he had the opportunity. Taggarik was, of course, welcomed to join him with a waving tail and open body language.

Still concerned for his beta's condition, and having no other plans at the time, the black wolf joined his companion on a patrol, separating only when the wolf left to go lay down for the afternoon. Tagg would busy himself for several hours chasing grouse through the brush, but would be unrewarded, and would seek out a snack from a cache before napping himself.