Arrow Lake beware the man who would kill a god

for @Nikan

vilkas, perched atop an outcropping of rock, glimpsed below at the lake that glistened in the descending moonlight. the sun would be rising soon, it's telltale in way the horizon has begun to bleed at the edge with the pastel colors of dawn. the territory is foreign to him and it takes the fire-kissed nord to a while to find a ( relatively ) safe a path down to the lake below. black, leathery nostrils flared as he draws in the scents the further down he descends. it is devoid of any persistent and claiming scents and the firebrand leaps off of the path when he is close enough to the lakeshore, landing with a spray of sand as it cushions his landing and without missing a beat he moves towards the lake.

his paws sink into the sand slightly and the lake water is cool where it laps softly at his toes. the fish are plentiful and though he is an average fisherman he manages to catch one on his first try. he grasps the fish — which writhes and flops aggressively betwixt his jaws, trying valiantly but ultimately failing to get free — and tosses it to the beach without decorum. it lands in the sand and flops more until he places a paw upon it's to hold it still as he digs in. fish is far from the firebrand's favourite but he begrudgingly adheres to old saying 'beggars can't be choosers' without much choice. life as a lone wolf is hard and food, regardless of how salty an aftertaste it leaves in his mouth, is food.

tagging @Serem for reference since she's with him now, its up to Vilkas whether she can post or not!

Nikan had apparently lost track of time and by the time that they'd descended to the lake the first light of dawn began to show. His body ached still and it showed as he seemed to be favouring the left side of his body where his side and shouldet had come down hard upon the rocks. He kept check on where Serem was beside him and found that he enjoyed the company and feeling like he lead the girl. Slowly he was beginning to feel like his place was as a leader and the desire to ultimately form his own pack grew.

As his large paws sank into sand he spotted a wolf up ahead, red furred back turned away from them. The scent of fish made his mouth water and he licked his lips, turning to eye the water. He thought for a moment on whether it would take more time to fish or steal this man's catch and Nikan decided the latter wouldbe more enjoyable anyway. "Stay back. Try to catch yourself a meal." he told her and headed toward the stranger.

Slowly he made his way around toward the front of the male, ears perked forward and head lowered, lips curled up though no growls could be heard. He made his threat clear and stood close enough to the other to lunge quickly but far enough to be able to react and defend if need be.

vilkas roots through the fish, careful to avoid the small bones that might otherwise pose a choking hazard with general distaste. he pauses from his ( slim ) meal at the sound of approaching footfalls. two sets. his ears rise, alert in time with the bristle of his hackles as low vocalization is exchanged between the owners of the two. he does not hear the exact words exchanged ( and doesn't much care ) but the sound travels, even over the falls in the distance and the sound of the lake water as it laps at the shore. he draws his tongue across his jowls, smearing the blood that dribbles down his chin where it's mixed with saliva and focuses his turbulent, seaweed green gaze upon the two-toned stranger as he circles and approaches.

the presence of the other male alone is enough to trigger vilkas's food aggression, but the lip curl from the stranger as if he had any right — it was he and his companion that had invaded on vilkas's meal-time; not the other way around — caused the mercurial whitemane's temper to flare hot beneath the fiery reds of his pelage. the firebrand's own upper lip curls as his head rises, determined to hold his muzzle higher than the stranger's. unlike the imposer, a low warning growl tears itself from between vilkas's bared, bloody teeth. it's message, combined with his body language is clear: back up. the fish was his and this was his ( temporary ) haunt and while he can't necessarily be opposed to sharing neutral territory he doesn't have to tolerate his space being invaded when he was clearly in this vicinity first.

Nikan watched with narrowing eyes as the male responded with expected hostility, the warning clear though the raise in posture set off Nikan's temper. He lifted his head and flattened his ears back, legs stiffening and lips curling back to reveal sharp teeth that parted in a sharp snap to the air paired with a low growl of defiance. He would not be backing down, he intended to make this spot his. To make this clear he stepped forward and then began to circle,  muscles tense. Once he reached the front again he lunged for the fish, angling his body so that he shoulder was blocking the path to his throat.

in vilkas' mind the other male's own hostility was entirely unprecedented and was merely serving to further annoy him as opposed to having what the firebrand thought was the desired effect. the other male was not intimidating to him and vilkas was not going to be bullied away from his meal. the meal that he caught. it was mostly scraps now — it wasn't as if fish provided anything that was substantial. it was not, in any spectrum, worth fighting over. a part of vilkas both knows and acknowledges this but he's ruled by his food aggression. he always had it even as a wee babe suckling at his mother's breast. he'd scream and push at torvar and aela until they gave him the best teat and when the trio begun weaning and eating meat he'd bully them for the best bits. it'd had nothing to do with love — of course he loved his sisters — and had everything to do with asserting dominance.

fighting wasn't practical ...for either of them in the reality of things. the stranger might've had a companion but at the end they were still both lone wolves and injuries could affect chances of survival. vilkas expected his warning to be respected because practical or not, if push came to shove the firebrand would have no qualms about putting the other male into his place. it wasn't respected.

the stranger did not back down, did not back up. instead, the other man steps forward and begins to circle, earning a snap of teeth from vilkas. a final warning. still, the whitemane's warning is ignored as the other male lunges for the fish. vilkas springs into action then, seeking to meet the other with a hard thrust of his shoulder against nikan's own with the desire to knock him off course and away from his kill, his muzzle tucking instinctively to protect his throat. the firebrand wasn't seeking to kill — only to force the other male into submission and chase him from his immediate vicinity ...and it was obvious that if he wanted that to happen it would have to be force. force was not something that the combatant whitemane'd ever had an issue with applying.

As he had lunged for the fish (which he hadn't actually looked at in detail) it became apparent that it wasn't even worth the trouble. A few bites were all that remained, not enough to even provide an hour's worth of energy for the large male. Nikan grunted as the other's shoulder slammed into him, knocking into the injured side of his body and causing the throbbing pain to flare up again. This was enough for Nikan to stumble backward with a pained growl, raising his posture again and studying the male with sudden eerie calm. The curling of his lips stopped and his narrowed eyes opened as he just seemed to stare. A fight was something he hadn't had in too long, he hadn't tasted the blood of another on his tongue in quite some time and he craved it. This triggered another wave of aggression, this time the plan being to further piss off and trigger the defensive male into a fight. He snorted and shook out his fur, circling once more and eyeing for a good spot to lunge in.

Then all at once he remembered his current purpose and his ears picked up the sound of the waterfall behind him. Zula... he stiffened and stopped his predatory circling, eyes moving to look toward Serem for a moment before he turned toward the red furred male once more. He gave a low rumble and backed away, no sign of submission in his still aggressive stance but still he retreated farther away. He couldn't afford to waste his time quite yet, he'd fight when he was sure Zula was safe again. He wasn't yet sure why he gave a damn about the woman but he wasn't so foolish as to deny he cared. "Serem, we'll go farther downstream. Maybe we can fish and rest there." he said coldly, eyes still on the man he had wanted so badly to stir up.

as the thread feels like it's reached it's natural conclusion to me i went ahead and wrapped it up + archived it. :-)

vilkas's attack finds purchase: his shoulder collides into the side of the unwelcome stranger's body and the other male stumbles backwards with a growl of pain. vilkas becomes vaguely aware of a dull ache in his own shoulder but he rolls it as he takes a predatory step towards the other male whom straightens his posture. his head lifts as the stranger stares then and ceases his movement. seaweed green gaze flits across the other male's body as he automatically assesses all the places he could attack, all the places exposed to him; some of which were more fatal than others. yet, the stranger begins his retreat with a posture that refuses to submit. it couldn't be considered a spar by any sort of standard really but whether the other male was submissive as he retreats or not didn't matter to the firebrand. he saw the retreat as submission and the aggressive posture as a pathetic attempt to hold onto dignity. and despite that vilkas was left disappointed by the buildup and then sudden and uneventful release of anticipation he does not pursue. it was clear that he doesn't need to and thus he returns to finish what little was left of his fish; keeping an ears and an eye open just in case the other male and his female companion decided to return.