Moonspear Handle me with care

AW. Rolled the dice for adventure and got a black bear.

Another day of rain and grey skies. Bronco blinked as he gaze up into the coulds, grateful at least that the rain had been whittled away into little more than a drizzle, a haze of softly falling water droplets too small to be felt as they laced his pelt, giving it a silverish tint under the soft light. He left the den he and Meerkat shared, working his way out into the open along the creek, and down the mountain's slope toward the borders. 

Before he even reached the scent markers he'd left the day before, he cought the scent of something rank and musky, and found himself bristling. He detoured from his path, following along a new scent now, too strong and recent to have been noticed by another, so he called out with a brisk but loud alarm to warn others in the area that a bear- black bear, by the size and shape of its pawprints- had made its way past their borders in the early morning hours, and had begun sniffing around for a cache to raid. Hoping to alarm the creature and send it fleeing before he caught up with it, Bronco charged through the foliage, uttering a series of barks, growls and yips that bounced off the mountainside. When he finally caught sight of its dark backside, it had begun to lope- but still needed to be chased from their territory, in order to keep their young ones safe.

Osiris had quickly abandoned his meal when he heard @Bronco's alarming message—a bear had wandered into Moonspear's claim! With no time to lose, Osiris carefully picked his way down the mountainside while yipping and barking every so often; they were going to need all the help that they could get. Once the incline flattened, Osiris was much more agile than before. He raced recklessly, forcing himself through the underbrush as he followed Bronco's scent-trail until he caught up. 

"Bronco...!" Osiris panted in a whisper once he fell into position alongside his packmate, finding himself suddenly on edge once. He also found that it was suddenly difficult to breathe; the bear's odor was both repulsing and overwhelming. "Have you ever dealt with a bear?" he asked in his next breath. "I haven't, but I'm sure we can come up with something if you haven't, either." They'd need to for the sake of their pack's safety—and quick, before it stole any more of their resources.

Bronco continued to tail the ambling creature as it weaved haphazardly through the wooded area of the slope, and chose to stay back at a distance until he had back-up, and would be better able to herd it toward the borders. While he'd always fantasized about tackling a bear the way his aunt Finley had, he was clever enough, fortunately, to know that there'd likely been a bit of stretching to that story. When he heard the sound of another wolf pursuing him, he simply kept his pace until they caught up- and was happy to realize that it was none other than Osiris. 

"Hey!" He called, without breaking pace. He continued to lope after the bear, and had stopped his yipping in order to speak with his packmate, and sort out their situation. "Nah," He admitted with a barking laugh. "But we got it on the run- I figure we stay far enough behind it, we can herd it toward the border...As long as it doesn't get cornered, it should just keep running right? Worth a shot anyway," He called. Presently, the whole situation was exciting- they tailed far enough behind the bear that even if it did change its mind and turn on them, they'd be able to avoid it. "C'mon!" He said, with a jerk of his head, simply assuming that Osiris would follow suit, and move in an arc alongside him to put pressure on the bear from its left flank and encourage it to change its course.

"Yeah," Osiris agreed through a quick breath, finding Bronco's optimism and confidence calming. "That should work—just, be careful!" The ground underfoot was slick, making it easier for them to slip and take a tumble. But even with the looming threats, he couldn't help but glance in his packmate's direction and smile sheepishly. Somehow, despite the life-threatening danger up ahead, this was... fun? Osiris laughed then, relishing in the thrill of the chase— Bronco probably thought he was a maniac. 

He followed his packmate, swinging wide as they attempted to re-direct the intruder. "That's right!" Osiris encouraged with a bark. "It's all woods from here—not a corner in site!" His optimism was premature, as there was still room for error in their mission.

There wasn't anything quite like synching up with a packmate, whether it was for a hunt or to chase out a predator. Little needed to be spoken between the two of them once their decision was made, and Osiris' laughter had an encouraging effect on Bronco, whose enthusiasm was spurred on. Boldly, he laughed, his voice joining his packmate's as they thundered through the undergrowth in pursuit of the bear, and without a care in the world he raised his voice again, hollering out with whoops and yips so that the bear would feel threatened enough to keep moving. 

He was tempted to speed up, to get closer and egg the bear on- maybe even take a snap at its heels, but he refrained from doing so, as his companion had urged him to be careful. So they couldn't get too close to it without tempting the bear to defend itself. He snarled and snapped his jaws still as he ran by Osiris' side, chancing a glance at his packmate every now and again to catch a glimpse of the excitement on his face as well, and renew the giddy feeling of driving a bear out of their claimed lands.

Together, they successfully herded the intruder towards the outskirts of Moonspear's claim. Their shared energy was infectious, motivating; Osiris had never felt so alive. He shared an occasional glimpse with Bronco, spurred on by their newfound kinship. Of course, Osiris was not silent—he hooted in hollered in unison with the yearling to frighten the bear further away from their claim.

In time, Osiris could spot Firefly Glen through the woodwork, and he was futher inspired—they had nearly made it! Truthfully, he had always assumed that taking on a bear would be more difficult, but he had been pleasantly surprised. Osiris barked suddenly—much deeper and driven than before— to alert Bronco. If he were able to catch his packmate's attention, he motioned to the neighboring territory with his muzzle, his eyes bright with excitement. 

It was time to drive it home.

Bronco didn't stop to think how an onlooker might've perceived the whole situation, had they first heard the yipping and hooting before they actually realized what the two yearlings were up to...But he didn't care, either. As far as Bronco was concerned, they were thick as thieves as they matched pace, and sent up a volley of heckling insults to get the bear moving down the mountainside, and away from the interior lands of their pack. And so far, it seemed to be working. 

Osiris caught his attention with a commanding bark, and led his gaze toward the area where the trees fell away, revealing an open grassland. Only a few more strides and they'd push the bear past the borders, so with a renewed sense of duty he sent up his voice in a coyote-like yodel before he set to snarling and growling, gnashing his teeth together. Now was the time to make an impression, and make sure that the bear didn't simply go past the borders- but that it ran past them and kept going.

Summoning whatever energy he had left, Osiris drove to oust the bear from their territory. He yelled louder than before, validating the point that they were trying to establish: the intruder was not welcome. 

Once the bear raced past the borders, Osiris abruptly glid to a stop; the trespasser hadn't stopped, and he saw no need to chase it any further. He stood in place, puffing his chest and lifting his tail as he watched the silhouette vanish into the foreground. Feeling inexplicably victorious, Osiris snorted and drummed his paws before looking to Bronco. 

"We did it!" his proud expression said.

He watched the bear as it continued to gallope away, turning to show its brownish muzzle as it glanced over its shoulder, which earned it another volley of threats from Bronco, who imagined the creature might take their show of mercy, use its common sense, and wander away without any plans to return. He'd gone a few paces more than Osiris had, but in a matter of strides he also slid to a stop, watching it disappear into the field with his tail curled and lips pursed. But, in seeing no sign that it felt inclined to meander around in the area, his tail slowly began to wave, and he bounded back toward Osiris with big, ungainly hops, buoyed by their success. 

He uttered a happy roorooroo sound, intended to compliment Osiris before he bounded toward the other male and slid to a sudden stop just an inch or two from the male's face, should he not bound backwards. Breath huffing from the exertion, he paused to touch the tip of his nose to Osiris' muzzle, staying there for just a moment- before he sped off, clearly possessed by a case of the zoomies.

Stiff as a board, Osiris watched as Bronco spun 'round to boop him— causing him to come down with an unexpected case of the zoomies. Unbridled excitement overcame him, and he chased after his packmate with a bark; he felt like a puppy again. 

Osiris still had some energy to spare; he put everything into pursuing Broco and sped through the water-logged terrain. Then, once he trailed a few feet behind, he sprung in an attempt to tackle his friend.

Tail tucked and the whites of his eyes showing, Bronco scuttled away as fast as he could, scrambling through the wet undergrowth and bursting through a few raindrop-covered bushes, slicking his pelt even more with moisture as he bounded away from Osiris. There was a wide, feral grin on his face as he zig-zagged this way and that, but eventually made a slip-up and found himself falling directly in line with Osiris as he pounced- a mark of his packmate's hunting prowess. Bronco emitted a high-pitched yip in surprise as he was bowled over, and allowed himself to tuck and roll with the impact, sending out his feet once he felt the ground beneath his underside again, skidding the both of them to a halt. 

He was impressed with Osiris' swift moves, but wasn't about to let him have a win that easily. He growled a deep but playful note and scrambled to bound back at the male whose evergreen eyes shone with mirth, rearing and aiming to squish Osiris to the ground, a battle of one wolf's weight against the next.

Osiris made his mark, causing them to tumble through the slick grit and grasses of the undergrowth; they'd certainly need to clean themselves after this. Once they had found the unstable ground underfoot, he bowed and growled—inviting Bronco to come and get it as his tail swayed happily behind him.

As his playmate obliged, Osiris sprung from his position to stand. They met halfway, but as quickly as they clashed, he began to fall backward. Despite his downfall, he was impressed by his friend's strength. Osiris hadn't gotten the best of footing, and that, coupled with the weight of Bronco's attack caused him to surrender to the forces of gravity. He landed with a oof, but was quick to react; Osiris began to flail his hind limbs in an attempt to bunny-kick Bronco.

He felt his forelegs hook beneatn Osiris' as they collided, and stood, almost holding each other up for a moment or two. But Bronco leaned his chest against his packmate's, throwing his head past the handsome, cinnamon-marked muzzle that grinned at him to lean his cheek down over Osiris' shoulder and send them toppling in that direction. He emitted a happy growl as he ended up with Osiris pinned, but no sooner had he begun to gloat with a grin then he felt the patter of hind feet against his belly. 

"Stahhhhaahahahap" Bronco said, bounding his hind-quarters to the side, circling around so that he still had his forelegs planted on either side of Osiris' head, so he could gaze down at the other male, nosetip to nosetip, albeit upside down. "Tickling is fighting dirty, din' you know?" He asked, gazing down with gentle fondness for a moment before he lowered his muzzle to give Osiris a nudge along the side of his shoulder, and stepping away so that he could get up. "An' say you'd kicked me in the nards, that definitely would've been fighting dirty," He warned with a laugh.

His kicks made their mark, causing for Bronco to surrender for now. His packmate dismounted and quickly circled 'round, not allowing Osiris any time to roll over and get back onto his paws. For some unexplainable reason, he didn't mind Bronco being all up in his business. "Oh, I know," he replied coyly, holding his friend's gaze. "But sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do." Osiris was usually a man of honor, but there were a few exceptions where he would play dirty—especially when he was trying to best Bronco. 

Osiris rolled onto his belly and stood once he was allowed some space. "Hey, hey now," he said in reply, a playful growl rounding his words. "I'm a man of honor, you know—I wouldn't dare aim there." Balls were an entirely different story; he would never strike that low—both figuratively and literally.

Thoughtfully, Bronco ruminated for a few moments on the meaning of the word honour. He sat down then, after shaking some of the residual prickles from the zoomies out of his spine, and considered what Osiris might have meant, and how much honour meant to him. He licked his lips. "Man of honour. I'm assumin' your Mom's prolly got big plans for you, eh?" He asked. He'd sensed something of natural obligation to be task-focused from both of the Hydralings that he'd met thus far. While he had yet to meet Atlas, and had only seen Vega in passing, both Antares and Osiris seemed like the type who would inevitably, eventually, be called upon to step up into more important roles within the pack.

Osiris shook his pelt and then sat, considering Bronco's question for a moment before her spoke. "No—" he shook his head as he spoke, "—well, at least as far as I'm aware of...." Osiris trailed then, expression thoughtful. "What made you ask that?" 

He almost felt bad, having brought up his idea, then. It wasn't that anyone had given him just cause to think that there might be a promotion, or future plans for Osiris to ascend to a leadership position- he'd simply assumed that it might fall to him naturally and that it might have already been discussed. Apparently it hadn't, though. "Oh. No reason, I just kinda figured your Ma might've like...Well, didn't your Ma like, push you do to do that? Like, follow in her footsteps?" He asked. As far as he could tell, all of Hydra's kids were stepping almost flawlessly into roles that they could master and perfect as they grew. After having been pushed so much by his own mother, he simply assumed that it was something that mothers did.

Osiris paused, considering what Bronco had said. "She's always just driven all of us to do the best that we can for the family and pack," he explained. "I mean—I've considered being a leader someday, maybe, but it's not anything that we've really ever discussed. But... now that you mention it... maybe I'll bring it up. Maybe." Osiris shrugged and quieted, unsure of what to say next.

He had a lot to think about.

Perhaps, then, he wondered if Hydra might've been simply allowing her children to grow up- nutured and driven of course- but that she might wait to make any choices for an heir once they'd shown their own natural talent and drive to succeed. His own mother had never mentioned leadership in particular, but it had been painfully obvious for the most part of his life that his mother had wanted him to be better, tougher, stronger- if not than her, then definitely moreso than he was. He was both relieved and perhaps a bit jealous to find that Osiris had been left to make his own decisions. 

"I think you could do it. You might even make a fine beta someday," He said. "I'll think about it when I'm Alpha." He teased.

Osiris grinned coyly at Bronco as he glanced sidelong at him. "You think you'll be Alpha?" he quipped with a quirk of his brows. Then, without warning, Osiris sprung at Bronco with an efforted grunt, and they began to wrassle—as boys do. 

"You'll have to beat me first!" Osiris added at some point; the race to the top would be an interesting one, and he would bring his A-game. They continued to play-fight until they were tuckered out sufficiently, and then decided it was time to eat. They ended their day with dinner, and they shared a sizeable deer-hock. 

It was a good day, and Osiris felt as though he had made a new friend[dash]a relationship that he didn't know that he had been missing in his life.