Redsand Canyon Couldn't look you in the eye

hope it's okay to go ahead and get this up!
for @Glaukos
lmk if i need to edit any of my assumptions!

So far the untouched land had consisted mostly of smaller creatures. They had taken out many foxes; they seemed to be a nuisance here as they were in the rest of the canyon. There had been little discussion between the two. They were both unhappy at being here with the other, and he could feel the other soldier's anger just as strongly as he could feel his own. 

But, the imperator's words were stuck in his mind. He knew this was his last chance, and no matter how surly he was or how angry he was with Germanicus' decisions at times, he knew there was no other place he wanted to be. Mereo was where he belonged, and it was like daggers in his heart to think about being kicked out. He'd rather be executed.

So he was trying very hard to make this work. They didn't have to like each other but they did need to be able to work together when it mattered.

He was lost in his thoughts as they patrolled a thick forested area that backed up against the side of the mountains that hugged the canyon. But a dangerous scent quickly pulled him to the present. 

Not long after scenting the large cat, he heard a snarl from above. It pulled his gaze to where a cliff hung out over the a small ledge, creating a something like a cave. He saw a flash of tawny fur just before another snarl rang out. He froze, tensed for whatever would happen next. He was unsure if the cat would attack or if it was just trying to warn them away.

He had two eyes that worked, but one was harder to use because of the inflammation around it. In time the swelling would go down. Aquene had tended to the wound there with her herbs, and Glaukos had to trust she knew what she was doing (at least with plants).

He followed after Kallik without paying obvious attention to where he went or how fast. If he lagged behind enough to slow the silver beast, he did not care; if he sped up at times to make them struggle equally, that pleased Glaukos on a deeper, more childish level.

The boy was not afraid of his punishment. He did not worry over his role within Mereo; being an auxiliary had granted him far more freedom than anything else in his life and he knew he would fight for his place there, even if he wouldn't openly admit it.

That said, he was so busy with his own disjointed feelings on the subject that he lost sight of the mission; he did not scent the cat until after Kallik had vanished beneath the cast shadow from a higher ridge, and was left pacing alone. Staring up at the shape of it - watching it, as it glowered with a luminous stare in return.

Kallik stared up at the cat, frozen in place for a few moments as he tried to figure out what to do. Obviously, the cat would need to be dealt with before it was safe for the civilians to be there, but the two them could not take the it out on their own; they would need at least two others, in his opinion. 

His only option was to try and back up so they could quickly exit the area. They could report this to the imperator and return with help. With the auxillary's eyes locked on the other predator, he slowly began to take a step back, then another, then another—the cat snarled again and pushed forward a little in threat, ears stuck flat against its head. Kallik stopped moving at once and watched the beast carefully. When it had calmed some, he attempted to move again and was able to put more space between them, finally coming to stand beside Glaukos.

He looked over at the other soldier and lifted his head to indicate that they should leave. Unwilling to turn his back to the cat just yet, he continued to back up, his eyes moving between the other auxillary and the place from where he knew they cat watched them.

Glaukos had never been faced with anything so overtly frightening that he'd back away from the challenge of it; not to his knowledge anyway. His instinct was not to cower before the cat. He sensed the danger of it - the interest that glowed within its own wide eyes, and the predatory way it stared down the ridge to the pair of wolves - but his first thought was not to reverse course.

He wanted to confront it. Maybe to bark and scare it off. There were two wolves and only one (pretty large) cat — Glaukos might've been wrong to assume the odds were in favor of the auxillary pair, but that wouldn't stop him from believing it.

Kallik motioned and began to move back, never turning away from the creature. That was wise. It was also what Germanicus had said to do if they should ever cross paths with the beast. Glaukos rumbled a low sound which drew the cat's attention for a second, but he did not pull away in the same manner as Kallik.

No, he wasn't willing to admit defeat. That's all that running was: failure to confront one more obstacle. The cat was a threat he was determined to deal with himself, if Kallik was too afraid to do it himself.

Glaukos ignored his silent suggestion that they leave the cat be for now. Irritation flared in his chest. He didn't want to be ripped up by that thing, or worse, killed. Aquene flashed into his mind, how upset she would be if he didn't return. There was so much left for them still to figure out; he did not want to die here. Not today. 

But what the fuck could he do? He wouldn't just leave Glaukos, not matter how much they disliked each other; there was still a loyalty to his fellow auxillary. 

So he took a step to stand next to the other soldier as he released a warning rumble. Kallik's heart raced; adrenaline surged in his veins and sharpened his senses. His gaze never left the cat, who was now moving to the edge of the ridge with a hiss and another snarl. It seemed pissed they were still there, which was exactly what he thought would happen.

Glaukos knew not to take his eyes off the cat, but he'd wanted to. A quick glance to Kallik maybe, or a sharp look to convey his frustration - it wouldn't take long. Germanicus had told them not to turn away or run. He couldn't exactly chase the cat outright, and he wasn't about to back down. It was a stalemate.

Kallik wasn't of any help either. Glaukos began to rumble, letting the sound brew in his chest for a few seconds, which drew the cat's attention towards himself rather than the pair; the cat was hunched on the edge of the ridge and making a similar sound right back, with a line of hair prickling down its spine, and its tail puffing overtly.

We should kill it. He muttered lowly through the warning tone of his growl, for Kallik to accept or deny. He presumed the other auxillary would either man up and fight alongside him, as that was their mission, or he'd turn tail and run, leaving Glaukos to a singular fate - which might've been deserved. It was a test within a test.

Glaukos gave the cat a warning growl, and it growled back. It was getting more pissed by the second, and Kallik thought it was becoming more likely that they would have to fight this thing. 

I agree, he returned when the other soldier spoke. But I think we have a better chance of doing that if we come back with the imperator and more auxillia. They might be able to kill it with the just the two of them, but not without significant injury. 

The cat hissed and sliced the air with it's massive claws. The move pulled it closer to the edge, one more step and the beast would be standing before them.

And risk drawing it to where the civilians sleep? He answered, resisting the urge to snort in his usually derisive manner. Glaukos couldn't keep up the warning to the cat and make his point to Kallik, which was probably for the better.

There's two of us, one of it. We know not to turn our backs. His one good ear turned towards Kallik; it pinned briefly as the cat swiped at the air and drew itself even closer. Glaukos paced back a step out of a sense of self-preservation and let his teeth flash fully at it.

If the cat drew closer they'd have to face it themselves — they'd run out of time, deciding between one-another. Neither ran and neither struck the thing outright. They were both smart enough not to risk a full-on confrontation without the other to back them up.

Glaukos began to pace sideways, not removing his glare from the cat. He hoped to put distance between himself and Kallik so that the cat would have to choose which wolf to target first — to force an opening should it attack at all.

Kallik hated to admit it, but Glaukos was right: if they left, they might lead danger to where the civilians were—to where Aquene was. Before he thought the cat would go its own way if they left it alone, but now he couldn't help but picture it attacking his healer, or Tamar, or Malila. It wasn't worth it to save themselves from a dangerous fight. His face hardened and he gritted out: Fine. 

The other soldier moved away, and Kallik caught on to what he was doing—splitting the cat's focus so if it attacked, it would have to chose one and leave itself vulnerable to the other. It was a good plan.

Kallik moved then, going the opposite way of Glaukos. The cougar whipped its gaze from the other auxillary to growl at Kallik in the same moment it finally jumped down. Moving only like a hunter could, it launched its muscular body at him. Kallik snarled and lunged forward to meet it, taking a slash of claws to his chest but managing to latch on to the cat's neck. He clamped down and then danced away, tearing flesh away and leaving gaping hole. 

His chest stung like a bitch and blood seeped out to stain his fur from four deep gashes. He pushed away the pain and focused on the beast who looked like it was about to lunge for him again.

As soon as the cat lunged from the ledge, Glaukos was moving. It tore across the earth towards Kallik and Glaukos was almost upon it, but could not make it in time to prevent the claws that dug in to Kallik's chest.

While blood seeped freely from the other wolf and the cat was collecting itself for another spring, Glaukos loosed a roar and lunged at it -- barreling through the final minimal gap between their bodies and reaching with his beartrap of a mouth, snapping at the small of its back; trying to grab at the soft tissue of its belly; ripping at it if possible.

With Kallik attacking it from the front and Glaukos slamming in to its hip from behind, the pair could work at overwhelming the beast before it could react to either assault.

Glaukos reached them just as the cat lunged again. The other soldier surprised it, and it stopped awkwardly, but quickly, to react. Its focus was now on Glaukos who tried to wound its sensitive underside. Kallik took his chance and threw himself at the beast.

The auxillary was able to clamp down on the cat's neck again, and he was sure to aim for the wound he had already created. He threw his head back and forth, ripping deeper into the thick hide of the cougar. 

The cat snarled and hissed as it tried to round on Kallik again, its claws swiping out towards the soldier's face to get him to dislodge. He refused and braced himself to take more claws, this time to his neck. He would try to swing his body to avoid as much of the attack as he could, hopefully giving Glaukos time to steal its focus again.

The cat curved immediately to address Glaukos at its side, and he was not quick enough to avoid the claws that caught across his muzzle.

They caught against the partially treated wound upon his cheek and ripped a bit of the flesh there -- but then they were gone again, as Kallik was gripping at the cat's neck and the beast had to once again adjust.

Glaukos saw stars. He thought the ground was beside him for a moment, that the sky above swirled and dipped; but he pounded the earth and lunged for the cat anyway, unable to aim well, but it was fortunate the cat's focus was upon Kallik.

His hit was glancing but where his body collided with the cat, he hit hard enough to wrattle it, and something snapped. Glaukos couldn't tell if it was one of the cat's ribs or one of his own bones, but it didn't matter.

He was hurting, blood was pouring freely from his face again, and he was angry.

He wasn't able to avoid a drag of claws down the side of his neck, but Glaukos' attack made it so these gashes weren't as deep—they were still on fire, though, and it was getting harder to block out the pain. But he couldn't stop now or they would both die. 

When the other soldier made impact with the cat, there was a sickening snap of bone. The cougar staggered back a few steps as it screamed out in pain. 

Kallik was quick to take advantage of the pause, lunging forward and sinking teeth into the same place on the cat's neck, Surely this time, he could do some critical damage. He tore in again and felt blood gush into his mouth. The cougar recovered then and moved to go after Kallik, but he had already torn away. Claws swiped the area where Kallik had been, just missing his own hide. 

Blood flowed from the wound Kallik had created, and the cat looked like it was weakening. It was slower to to respond, staggering back a few more steps.

Compared to the cougar Glaukos was vastly slower, but as the two wolves chipped away at the creature it began to stagger. Blood was everywhere and there was no telling if it was canine or feline.

Kallik managed a rip at its flesh and pulled away, avoiding a swipe. Glaukos didn't see it happen as he was so infuriated all he had in his sights was the cat, and as the creature staggered Glaukos was there to meet it.

He sank his teeth in to some loose skin of the cat's shoulders and when he pulled, away came fur and skin. The cat yowled and turned upon him.

It was hissing and reaching for him, and as Glaukos could not move away, it's claws punched in to his shoulder, and so he turned his head and closed his fangs around its wrist.

Glaukos was there to take over when the cat stumbled, managing to tear flesh away from the shoulder. 

Before Kallik could make his way back over to the fight, the cat was able to tear into the other soldier's shoulder with it's claws. But his fellow auxillary turned and clamped down on the cougar's paw, hopefully damaging it enough to put it out of commission. 


Kallik moved then and wrapped his own teeth around the ankle of the rear leg that was diagonal from the front one Glaukos had. Kallik therw himself back, yanking the beast's leg as teeth scrapped against muscle and bone. The cat screamed and tried to turn but it couldn't balance properly. It ended up falling sideways to the ground. Kallik refused to leg go of the ankle until bone crushed in his jaws, then he would leap forward in an attempt to aim a bite at the cat's exposed stomach.

By now a smart animal would turn tail to escape before its wounds became dire. Perhaps that was impossible now for the cougar; given that in the next moment Glaukos had it by one end and Kallik the other, keeping it off-balance with its limbs akimbo.

As the cat lost balance it hit the dirt and Kallik went inward to the soft belly, but Glaukos kept hold of the wrist and began to thrash his head and shoulders back and forth. He felt the wrist snap and then the shoulder pop out of its socket.

The cat was running out of time -- and limbs, apparently.

With the other end still held by Glaukos, Kallik was able to tear into the cougar's abdomen. This skin here was much thinner, the muscle leaner than it had been on the neck, which meant it was easier for the auxillary to rip open the valuable area. 

The cat had already lost a lot of blood through the wound on its neck, and now more poured from inside it's belly. Kallik tore in deeper as the cougar screamed out again. He grew excited knowing this would be over soon. They would need serious medical attention, but the cat would be dead. 

His excitement poured more adrenaline into his blood, and the young soldier moved from the belly, back to the neck. He tore in again but could not get deep enough before he had to dodge another swipe of claws. The cat was dying and knew it, so it tried desperately to fight them off. It was too late, though. The hunter's light was fading quickly.

As the cat's limb went limp in Glaukos' hold he dropped it. The movement made the cat yowl; it was that or the constant ripping of its belly by Kallik, or the broken ankle on the other side, or the panic. The thing was a mess of blood and pain and Glaukos felt triumphant even though it was not yet dead. He was bleeding, stained by his blood as well as the creature's, maybe even Kallik's own, and felt invigorated in a way that went beyond what was normal.

As much as the cat clung to life and fought back, Glaukos was convinced that the wolves had won. Mereo would be safe and Tamar wouldn't be set upon by the sulking creature — it would be dead and made in to a trophy, and together he and the auxillary would redeem themselves.

Glaukos paced around the flailing creature with a pleased rumble in his chest now. He no longer felt the threat of the cougar as it was sprawling on the dirt and reaching pointlessly for Kallik; he did not set upon it again and instead, watched as it suffered. It made him feel powerful; he was drunk on the sensation.

Kallik backed away when Glaukos did, the cat sufficiently gored. They were both covered in a mixture of each other's and the cougar's blood, and his chest was starting to radiate pain.

But the beast wasn't yet dead. The auxillary though Galukos would have delivered the killing blow, but he just watched the cat suffer instead. It was like with the fox they had killed on the borders. Kallik didn't have time to think about how disturbing it was; he wasn't interested in watching anything suffer, except maybe Aquene's ex. 

The soldier moved back to the cougar and swiftly tore into its other jugular. More blood spilled on to the sand. Only another minute or two, and the cat was still. 

Kallik looked to his fellow soldier. He looked just as fucked up as Kallik did. We should start heading back, he suggested. They were due to leave the next day anyway, and it would likely take them longer to travel the distance with their injuries. Our wounds need attention that neither of us can provide.

He watched as the cat fought, even to its dying breath. He watched as Kallik moved in but didn't see him pinch at the throat or tear at it, somehow.

Glaukos was irradiated by the overwhelming sense of power, control, and superiority that came at the end of any long combat — he wanted it to go on for a while longer, and time did feel as if it slowed as he stared down at the cougar while it died; but it wasn't enough. Soon the cat was indeed dead, and it was then that a great stillness descended.

We should -- back, Kallik's voice was a mix of high-pitched tinnitus to Glaukos, and the actual words piercing between.

The boy looked over the body of the cat to Kallik as he mentioned healing, and nodded; it was then he noticed how sharp the pain was in his own body. How stiff his shoulder was quickly becoming. He didn't have words for this moment; it was a temporary peace brokered between the two of them through mutual survival, which was perhaps Germanicus' goal.

He began to move, finding his way around the cougar's remains to Kallik's side, where he offered his good shoulder for the soldier to lean on.

Kallik took the help that was offered, finding it hard to be angry with Glaukos after they had just fought and killed together. He was feeling pretty powerful, too, having taken out a large cat, just the two of them. He only wished they had walked away less injured.

He would offer his support too. It would be a long trek home, and they were in for more difficulty. Kallik hoped their wounds wouldn't get too bad before they returned and got proper treatment.