Phoenix Maplewood I will hide myself below

The large sire shook out his white coat, picking at the puffier strands of his plumage with his maw. The colder months were coming — that much could be noticed by his incoming winter coat, and Fall was already proving itself to be a complete pain in the ass concerning food. Seems as if all the animals were beggining to tuck themselves into their burrows to prepare for winter — not a very convenient thing for predators such as wolves. If Āzon wanted to stock up, he'd need to do so faster. Because god forbid he get desperate enough to dig into a den and accidentally wake a grizzly up. That would suck.

He pondered on how Evien was doing back at that meadow. Not even a simple 'Thank you' could express the gratitude he'd felt for having his wounds patched up and thanks to him, Āzon will be able to start training soon. The pale brute did not wish to return to Polaris until he was in better physical shape after all — he actually wanted to be helpful. And there was no way in hell he'd be helpful in a shitty condition like now.

Ignis walked slow and thoughtfully through the forested lands, taking in the scent of sweet tree sap and watching the fieriy red leaves of Autumn flutter elegantly down its trees.

Tag(s): N/A (All Welcome)
Setting: Pheonix Maplewood, Morning. Mild winds (75°F)
Note(s): Backdating by a day (to the 14th)

benry was becoming unrecognizable. he was stronger, the last of his fat long burnt away (though he'd need to put that back on soon). the last of his cub spots had faded into the tan-gray of his fur, though he had a bit more to grow. but he was able to hunt for himself now! he'd managed to get himself into one of the trees after a decent meal (which he caught, which was poggers), and sprawled himself out on a low hanging branch, watching the leaves dance in the air. his eyes were half closed as he slowly drifting off to sleep, but that bliss did not last for long. he was jolted awake by the sound of paws crunching through freshly fallen leaves. he looked down and saw a large mass of white fur. yooo, benry called to the white wolf. you - uhh, you uhhh, takin a walk? he stretched out his paws and dug his claws into the bark of the branch.

Late reply sry (also I luv benry sm )

"Takin a walk?"

A confused flick of his white audits reacted to someone else's voice. Though it's source is what perplexed him the most -- where was it coming from? Left, right, forward, back -- knitted eyebrows of confusion crossed Āzoniol's face as he tried looking everywhere. And, out of curious desperation lined with doubt, his eyes eventually trailed upwards in a swift motion. "Who in th'fu-"

shit.

Holy fucking shit.

On a thick tree branch above the prince lied a mountain lion -- burly with dense musculature and looming over him in a way that nearly made Āzon's soul leap from his body. The pale brute slowly backed up from his position under the cougar and lowered his haunches, bellowing a snarl at his predatory onlooker. If this was an attack, he had no choice but to brace himself for it. Wolves had speed on them, but no way in hell was that speed comparable to a feline's.

calm down please? benry let one of his paws dangle from the branch, swinging it lazily in the breeze. i ain't gon....gonnaaaaa, ain't gonna do nuthin to you. he yawned, completely unaware of how threatening the display of his teeth might be. in all fairness he was waking himself up from what was slowly becoming a nap.

Āzon was still both confused and petrified by his current situation. Not even with the seemingly relaxed demenor could the brute feel at ease -- and the sudden display of large molars made his blood run cold. "And how do I know ya don't plan on snuffin' me as soon as I let my guard down!?" The pale pheonix questioned with odd, narrowed eyes. He didn't even know there existed cougars that could speak wolven tounge (and sounded high off of mushrooms for some reason...), let alone ones as relaxed as this dude. What was this feline up to?

cuz mmm, cuz i'm tired? he cocked his head, blinking down blearily at the wolf. an', an' even if i wasn't, i wouldn't. it really sucked that he had to do this song-and-dance with nearly every wolf he met. there weren't as many lions here, no doubt because of the influx of wolves that lived here, but they were all so interesting, with their fancy words and smells and looks. 'm just sayin' hi.

The cougar claimed to be too tired to make a tasty meal out of Āzon and even went as far as to say they were harmless. A harmless cougar? In which paralell universe?? 

"Y'know, I've been through a bunch of freaky shit in my life time. Been there, done that, but you--" he tips his muzzle up to the brownish feline,  refering to them with a puzzled expression as he spoke. "You have gotta be the weirdest fuckin' cougar I have ever met...". There was no snide or harmful intent within his words -- just genuine, blunt confusion on what in the hell was going on. Though, if the pheonix was being honest with himself, he too was tired; too tired to make sense of all this, at least.

And so, Ignis (with much reluctance) decided to give this off-his-rocker tom the benefit of the doubt and give up on interrogation, sighing and instead switching to eyeing them with both suspicion and curiosity. 'Whats lyin' in that skull'a yours, cat?' He pondered to himself.

"What's yer deal anywho? Ol' folks ain't teach ya that wolves were your natural enemies?" Unless he was an orphan that was never taught basic instincts for his species -- which only led Ignis to become curious on how he even survived kittenhood...

he laughed his stupidly raucous laugh. ye-yeah broooo 'm weird as fuckkkk, he purred triumphantly. he didn't mind that too much. it summed him up pretty well.

old folks? nno? my owner wasn't- wasn't that old. mmmm, he thinks for a moment. he'd seen older two-legs visiting his owner. i only been here a....a couple months, now. his tail flicked, waving under him in the air between the branch and the ground.

---

Yeup, definitely weird -- and even the self-proclaimation of his own strangeness made the pale pheonix laugh to himself a bit. There was something oddly charming about this cougar, even if he didn't completely trust the situation yet.

The tom got around to answering Āzon's question about his parents and his brows arched with further confusion. Owner? What the hell -- this dude was a pet?? Well if he was...that could explain alot about why he was so docile. "Have you not been taught anything? Like how to hunt? Defend yourself? Anything??"

benry yawned a bit before answering. nah, there'd been no need for all that stuff in the warm and cozy home that his owner claimed. i...i figured it out, he'd been alive through all this time after all, despite not being taught. it had been rough, but not impossible.

While he wasn't expecting much from a feline raised by humans, Ignis couldn't help but raise an eyebrow from the answer given. How sheltered did you have to be to learn the basics at such a late age? As if Azon's opinion of the two-legged flesh bags wasn't already low enough...

"Your humans did a shitty job at raising you then," maybe that part was a little too blunt since he didn't know how the tom thought of his owners, but he still kept going "Still, it's a good thing you managed to pick yourself up and learn the basics. But that doesn't mean I'm entirely convinced, y'know?"

One would say Ignis' next question was an outlandish one, but the phoenix couldn't help to see the opportunity and grab it by the hair. He backed a little further from the tree to get a better look at them, and with a grin, he spoke his mind. "How's about you take a few rounds at me and show me what you've figured out?" yup, Ignis was asking a mountain lion to spar with him. He of course hoped that, if Benry did agree, that it didn't go any further than a lousy throw of paws. Because Ben had the potential to kill Ignis if things went south....

benry frowned. he wasn't the type to get too emotional, but his owner was a sore point for him. like them or not, understand why they left him or not, but his owner was the one who raised him. took care of him. he let out a low groan, not quite a growl, but not all that pleasant either.

he blinked, pausing for a moment. had he heard that right? his brain was always kinda fuzzy like that when it came to words. but no, the wolf's expression had confirmed it for him. i mea...ok? he half slid, half climbed down the tree, landing with a thump in front of the white wolf. come at me broooo~

When Benry would frown and grumble, he'd start to feel a tinge of guilt for what he said. Again, he had no clue what kind of relationship the Tom used to have with his humans, and yet he opened his fatass mouth to insult them despite this. Āzon didn't have an emotional connection with his own parents and therefore didn't have an issue yammering about someone else's upbringing....until now. 

Ignis knew his early life was no excuse to shit on someone else's -- so he should simply watch what he says from now on...

Moving on from the topic, the ears on his head would prick up when the cougar actually accepted his offer to train with him -- and the pheonix's chest stirred with a mixture of fear and excitement. Āzoniol had never spared with someone outside of his own species before and wasn't sure what to expect. Despite this, Āzon immediately went into position with eyes locked on the oppent at hand -- the pheonix was ready. 

He was curious as to how Benry's hits would affect him due to his species -- so he'd give him a look that said 'Come forth' to test his true strength. He wanted to feel the full brunt of Benry's attack to see just what they were capable of. Trusting that he wouldn't try killing him in the process, of course.  famous last thoughts.

he'd never been in a proper fight. hunting was a different matter, and benry certainly didn't like talking to his prey.  benry let loose an experimental swipe at the wolf's nose, his claws half unsheathed. it was what he had done as a kitten (cub?) after all, and he supposed a spar was something like play. like...like this?

And there it was -- the first landed blow.

The impact to his muzzle was more dense than he thought it was gonna be, and it happened so suddenly that it took a moment for the nerve-endings to recognize pain; but the warm, crimson liquid which trickled down Āzon's nose came soon after.

Ignis took a step back and lick away the small scratch on his nose with a small grimace to his face. 'So they really do retract, huh?' the pheonix wondered to himself. Benry's claws were not visible before, but were just seconds before the blow. And it wasn't just a regular scratch either -- it had a sort of hook to it that hung onto the flesh it touched.

This combined with the force one lazy swipe Benry gave him and it was then and there that Ignis truly began to realize his ability to kill -- and the instictual fear of lupine towards feline began to resurface in the pheonix's wild eyes.

This was scary.........but fun. Testing his strength against someone stronger than him, it aroused an excitement within his chest. 

He wanted to test Benry again. "Not so bad for the first hit--" Ignis would comment as a smile lifted his lips "--though, I wouldn't mind you unsheathing your claws all the way. Ill just have to make it a little harder for you..."

He would not wait for Benry to hit him this time -- now, Ignis was circling the Tom to test his reflexes and speed towards counter attacks.

there was blood.

he was familiar with it, being a carnivore and whatnot, but he had inflicted it on another, somehow he'd consider an equal. he stared at the droplets with a confused expression on his face, then back up at the wolf, who looked...pleased. he was smiling.  you sure? he killed deer with these things. did he really want them all the way out?

benry shrugged, and on his next blow, unsheathed his claws to their full length, aiming to score across the pale wolf's face.