The Tangle la mer

backdated to 12/25

no one knew anything. no one had seen anyone. no one had been of any help, whatsoever. and the normally positive Tahani was beginning to lose all hope.

the pale healer entered the thicket, a ghost among the dead weeds. the dying sun cast long shadows over her pelt; she felt as if they were demons clawing at her, tearing her flesh. she felt enough pain for that to be true, anyway. she couldn't remember this much pain, ever.

pain, inside and out. she hurt. and the most prominent pain of all was the loneliness that went bone-deep. it was a dull ache, a hunger for companionship, and yet, with all the conversations she'd had over the past days, it had not been sated. no, only her family would do.

only Currituck would do.

she kept on going, for she feared that if she stopped, she would be overwhelmed at last by sorrow. she must keep going, for her daughter's sake. she must.

The feline prowled through the trees and bushes, their skeletal claws trying to rake through her fur to snag her skin. She picked her way up and over, under and through the thorns and branches.
Hunting.
She rarely actively hunted but waiting for something to pass her nose had become boring and fruitless. She needed to eat. The woman licked at her lips before yawning. She doubted she'd find much in here. Too dense for her to hunt properly; at least it kept off the weather.

Carelessly, she took a bound forwards to untangle herself from a particularly clingy bush only to have a thorn dig itself into her pad. She feline yowled, leaping upwards before taking a few steps forwards. She hissed quietly, seething and hurt. She lifted her paw to lick at it; the thorn was embedded in her. She licked at it more, trying to stop the throbbing pain to no avail. Again she groaned, annoyed and uncomfortable. She shook her paw wildly in the air in her frustration before licking at it again. Taking no notice to what was around her.

It was just trees after all.

Artaax was restless. It was wonderful to be home and to have the drama with his family a little further behind him, but the more at ease he grew, the more she began to reappear in his mind. The number of days until their rendezvous were growing fewer and fewer, and in spite of his other R-Rated escapades, the young lion was eager to return to be reunited with his golden nymph. And only mostly because he was confident he'd get to nail her this time. Part of it, the more wholesome part, was because he actually liked her. It's that part I like to focus on, but that was not the part that was making him so antsy and restless and easily agitated.

In an effort to distract himself, Artaax put himself towards strengthening the claim his sister was attempting to make upon the Tangle. He did not AT ALL understand her desire to take this particular territory, but that didn't stop him from being the good little soldier and supporting her however needed. He just silently judged her for her life choices the entire time. Nothing new there, though.

Artaax was not anticipating anything of interest to occur during his scouting trip through the woods, and even when he sensed the presence of another of his kind, he didn't find it particularly interesting. Still, he turned his steps and struggled his way over to her, growling low to gather her attention and stop her in her tracks. But just as soon as he'd made the sound, another presence made itself known, and then Artaax was the one to freeze and turn with head and tail lifted, hackles raised, and eager wariness glinting in his mismatched eyes.

Mallaidh’s frequent visits make it easy to maneuver. She’s big, tall, and has a lot of fur, but with enough practice she knows which turns to make (most of the time). She’s following Artaax’s scent for some unknown reason (cough) but he’s making literally The Worst Choices in direction. Standing side by side with him, they easily compare in size, but most of her size comes from her fur and in his arms she feels… not small but, she fits.

Okay, that’s not why she’s following him.

It’s not.

She squirms through some brush but it takes a few shoves to make it through and not without taking twig-hostages with her. A yelp causes her eyes to widen just as she stumbles forward and smacks her face into a tree-trunk. Ow.

A little disoriented, she looks up and sees two of Artaax, blinking a few times in surprise. Did she hit her head that hard?

she smelled cat before anything else; the stench was unmistakable. Tahani bristled, hair fully on end as she did a sort of sidestep, but before she could go further, the burly warrior was upon her with a growl. had she. . .had she trespassed, unknowingly? again?

i. . .i-- the healer broke off, her nerves getting in the way of coherent speech. l-looking for-- she was interrupted once more by the girl's smack against the tree, and her round eyes widened further, staring at the young woman.

s-sorry, she whispered, looking wildly around for the cougar. where was it? looking for m-my daughter. currituck. small, brown. Tahani silently pleaded--for the pair to be friendly, for the cougar to go, for her family to be reunited. you see her?

Sounds of others carried to her once she quietened. A sound.
Wolf.
Wolves, actually.
Her gaze narrowed, scanning the trees, before starting towards the source. Not so silent for the pain in her paw. She emitted a low sound, pushing through the branched to land her eyes on the forms. She hunkered low, wondering what the trio was doing here. One was laying on the ground, looking kind of dazed. She rose slightly, eyes piercing through the thin weave of branches.
She tensed up, ears twitching before falling still. Injured paw raised. 
The feline stood stock still, assessing the wolves.

She debated racing up a tree despite the pain. She'd be safer. Three against one didn't fare her odds. she could attack. Strike first. Would she cross the distance on one leap? Possibly half, but by then they'd be moving. Not prey.
She needed to hunt, not fight.
Her tail whipped through the air in indecision.  

A few things happened at once then. First, the stranger started stuttering anxiously at him, and Artaax immediately stopped listening. He couldn't stand listening to broken speech, so he didn't. He was over her, and would otherwise have driven her out then and there were it not for the second thing to happen - Mallaidh.

His attention shifted swiftly to his friend, taken by surprise at her sudden arrival. He already was on edge at the other presence he'd sensed, and Mallaidh injuring herself immediately upon arrival was not at all helpful for that. Artaax looked away from her as she blinked at him, his gaze sifting through the trees until he found the cougar, prowling through the brush to step into view.

Stiff-legged, the lion stepped forward towards the beast, shifting so he was in the forefront with the two females behind him. His lifted his lips in a silent snarl, warning the creature away. He wasn't quite stupid enough to attack if he could send it off with just posturing, but he was ready to engage if it decided it would be stupid and ignore the warning.

One of the Artaaxes starts talking and she quickly realizes it’s not two of the same, but one of each. Mallaidh doesn’t recognize the voice but her mind if occupied with the sudden approach of cat. She has not had any real experience with a cougar before. She’s seen them in the distance but she doesn’t know what to expect up close.

Mallaidh only half-listens to what the stranger has to say and tries, with her eyes, to get her to be quiet. Cougars are large, with far deadlier weapons than they have. Three against one? They might have the odds in their favor but there are far too many unknowns. She glances to Artaax, whom puffs up first and she stands close, her own thick fur bristling too. If anything, maybe they can run (if they follow her), otherwise they’re pinned against the creature.

no one answered her. they were too focused on the cougar, and soon her attention shifted as well, deep-set eyes locking on the cat warily because there--there it was. she bristled further, her thick pelt making her look twice as big as she normally was, and took a step closer to the girl that had smacked her head.

she ignored the compulsion to check her for injury--obviously now was neither the time nor place.

instead, Tahani shifted her gaze toward her, face alight in a slightly fearful question. now what? she clearly wanted to know.

The feline moved, limping from the cover. Her eyes were trained on the one displaying the aggression. The one that stood territorially yet the land wasn't claimed. She sneered at him, turning her gaze to the dazed one on the ground. Her ear flicked, green eyes swallowing details. Pupils dilated, the shafts of winter sunlight blotted out by clouds. Her tail swayed, unsure. She could play a game, or she could stare them down.

A soft sting reminded her of the thorn so naturally, she licked at it, earning a hiss in pain. She turned teeth to it, trying to pull the pain from her paw and yet couldn't. Her teeth not quite grasping properly or with the precision that a healer may have. Her head turned up back to the trio; nervous apart from the male. Her fur rose up, tail fluffing as a low rumble emitted from her throat. A stark warning to the male, her eyes solely staring at him.
She would not back down from that. 

The girls moved behind him - even the stuttery one, but Artaax paid them no attention. His eyes were on the cougar, which was apparently just as intent upon him as he was upon it. Were the feisripa one to actually carry his emotions on his face, he would've been grinning fiendishly, eagerly at it. Much of his life had been in turmoil as of late, and he liked nothing better than a good fight to clear his head (Well. Sex was good too. But probably not likely considering the present circumstances).

Artaax didn't flinch at all when the cougar growled a warning at him. He fluffed up taller and took a step forward, his teeth still showing though no sound escaped him yet. He also had no intention of backing down. He really saw no reason to. With or without the two female wolves at his back, Artaax was a power to be reckoned with. He could take this stupid thing out, just as easily as he wiped the floor with all of his enemies. 

Confident, cocky, semi-delusional, Artaax took another step.

Mallaidh stiffens, looking anxiously between all of them. The stranger stops talking, thankfully, but the cougar has sights on them. It’s too late to avoid now and she doesn’t know their behaviors enough to know their danger. She only knows the damage their capable of causing. Artaax, however, doesn’t back down and her ears flatten, stepping forward and nipping at his hips.

“This isn’t a good idea,” she whispers to him, anger in her voice that he’d dare something so stupid. He’s a cocky asshole sometimes but she didn’t think he was an idiot. Of course, she’s probably stupid to not realize it before now.

no, it was not a good idea. Tahani gave a nod to the female in agreement, eyes wandering nervously between all assembled parties. though she wondered. . .there was nothing here for her any more, and the cat was clearly focused on the male. and the way it moved--injured? there was a limp. . .

quietly, without another word, the healer began to slip away from the others, glancing sidelong at the cougar. should it move to attack her, she would fight back, and hopefully have backup from the other wolves. she was relatively sure, though, that she could escape this quagmire unscathed.

The movement of the white-pelted female did not go unnoticed. Earning a soft hiss of warning: Stop.
Pale green eyes scanned the trio, her paw still raised. Should she harm them?
Was the white one trying to slink away or moving into a position to attack? Her fur stood on end, groaning low and flashing her teeth.
Her tail swiped the air once; then lept.

She outstretched claws to meet the male, sinking them into his pelt. She felt something rip beneath her claws. She quickly turned, hoping that her own body wasn't caught in the teeth of the K9, and turned onto the white female. She tried to rush at her, extending a paw to harmlessly hit the wolf. A game with that one; the male wouldn't see it like that. The feline turned again, yowling at the male and again outstretched a paw to swipe at him.

Artaax's gaze was glued to the cat, even as both females changed their positions. His ear twitched as Mallaidh whispered to him and annoyance flashed across his already snarly face. "And letting it wander around in our territory is?" he murmured, matching the anger in her tone with his own.

The conversation went no further than that - or at least if it did, Artaax was oblivious. The cat chose that moment to strike. He dipped his muzzle to protect his throat  and lunged forward to meet it, turning to drive his shoulder into its chest. He felt the beast's claws find purchase just past his shoulder and tear, spilling his blood and filling the air with the scent of it. The warrior wasn't slowed by this, though. He was fueled by it.

The cat was turning and rushing towards the weird stammer-y wolf, but Artaax darted at its heels and sprang, launching towards the exposed side of beast's neck even as it turned back to reach for him again.

Maybe Artaax has a point but she doesn’t want to be part of it. They’ve already been through hell and back with the intrusion of the other wolves but for now if she can avoid danger, she’d like to do that. They can come back with the rest of the pack and chase off the cat because she doesn’t feel like their odds are any good, especially when one of them is a stranger and doesn’t seem like she’s up for a fight.

He’ll get himself killed if she doesn’t help and… well, it might end up killing them both but she rushes forward after the cat turns for the stranger. Artaax beats her to it by hitting one sie and she tries for the other, nipping at the feline’s back end.

oh, no! if anything, her abrupt departure had only made things worse. with a snarl rising in her throat, Tahani turned and began to bear down on the cat with the other wolves, hoping that three-versus-one odds would persuade the predator to leave.

that's all she wanted to do, after all--leave. she would not do so until they successfully drove the creature away. even during the fight, she felt sheepish about the mistakes she had made to set this whole thing in motion.

The white female fought back, sending a snarl of a threat -- ok then. The teeth of the male latched onto her neck, digging into the fat on it, her swipe missing completely. Lischo yowled again in pain to only feel another set of teeth locate themselves in her back end.
This was too much.
If she didn't move quickly enough, the pale-pelted one would find purchase in her too.

The cat whirled, pulling her rear from the teeth of the smaller one to rise up in a half-rear and swipe at the male. She lashed her tail for balance and powerfully took a half-leap; with or without the dog attached. She hissed, spitting with displeasure, and made her escape with another strong bound.
Soon, her form melted into the gloom of the wood, worse off than before.

She kept going until she was certain there were no more mutts, then started to lick her wounds in peace.

Both women joined in his attack and their addition did just what it was meant to - gave the cat too many distractions to successfully prevent any of them. Artaax reveled in the feel of his teeth digging into his enemy's flesh and the taste of blood on his tongue. He gripped the creature tightly and wrenched his head, attempting to tear and rend. He felt invincible. He felt powerful. He felt alive.

It was over all too quickly. The collision of bodies made him lose his grip, and just like that, the cat was leaping away from them and disappearing into the woods. Artaax spun and chased after it to the edge of the trees where he was stopped by the tangled trunks and limbs. He snorted in irritation, but marked its trajectory. It was leaving his territory. He was victorious.

Artaax turned to peer at his companions - mostly Mallaidh. He moved towards her, intent on checking her over and making sure she had not been hurt. Meanwhile, his shoulder was bleeding something fierce, as was a thin line on his muzzle where the cat's last swipe had grazed him. He was not aware of these things, nor of the other female. His eyes were for his friend.

What happens in likely a matter of seconds feels longer, agonizingly slow as the cat rips through Artaax easily but he somehow manages to do the same. She gets her own bite but the three of them manage to come out somewhat okay. A cougar isn’t something Mallaidh cares to toy with, even when it’s outnumbered—they’re strength!—and she’s relieved when it turns tail and leaves.

“We need to get you cleaned up,” she says when Artaax steps closer, investigating her. She’s fine but his bleeding shoulder needs attention. Her eyes turn toward the pale woman with a hard stare before she urges her friend back to the mainland.