Wapun Meadow There's ice in my water,

Looking to stumble upon pack wolves! Maybe someone from Ursus?

This barren field of dead grass and receding snow would've looked breathtaking in the spring -- though it was unfortunate that Ellie wouldn't be able to see what it looked like until then. Winter was still upon her and plagued these long travels.
She had not run into Ashlyn in some time and supposed having him around might've made things feel a little less lonely. He was the only friendly face she'd met here thus far. Then again, the young girl was optimistic she wouldn't have to depend on his company alone if she searched long enough -- and now that she had the freedom to, perhaps Eloise could even find herself a new home?
Or maybe...she was moving too fast with such a thought?
The brief thought had slipped her in the moments she'd begun sniffing the earth and digging vigorously against wet soil.
A rabbit burrow; she could smell it beneath her feet-!

fine chocolated grace;
gin poured into a godiva shell;
merrick hunted the wolf with his single eye. there was no familiarity in him;
his jaws tightened with anticipation and the bearwolf moved into the snowbound meadow.
black feathers, unfurling, rushing; she with him;
merrick slid into a headlong run bent upon murder;
and the single eye burned with an eldritch unseeing.

Perhaps it had been a little too late before she could notice the man who trained his eye then fangs before her -- to who had been hunting becoming the hunted. Eloise's reflexes had been too slow for it to be prevented, and before the woodland dame knew it she was a deer in headlights.
Dark ears swirling rhythmically at the sound of thunderous pawsteps, her head shot up in alarm and the irises in her olive hues became pin-pricked with terror at the one-eyed lupine that charged forward.
She could do nothing but stand tense from the muscle down, lips slightly parting in confusion before a bark forced itself from them;
"WAIT-"

wait;
but merrick could not be drawn upon to act in such a way;
her shout only deepened his bloodfever;
the bearwolf lunged for her, jaws parted, to wound, to taste. he did not know what might happen when he tasted her blood, only that a death had been denied him over and over again.
she would suffice.
his snarl dissolved to high, boyish, maddened laughter.

Her plea for the collision to stop before it started fell upon deaf, maddening ears as a crazed laugh rang from the array of sharp molars. This was not the misunderstanding she assumed it to be -- this was a man who saw her fear as a form of entertainment -- and though she had been in many situations where she was chased away, the girl had been able to get away scot free with escape.
This time, there might not be an escape if she could not act fast enough to save her life.
Ellie had never dipped her feet into the world of combat -- finding it an unconstructive method of communication and never choosing to cause harm. Always choosing speech over fight -- though in this case, flight would be best.
In which the owlette would attempt, but her feet still glued to the ground in the shock of the situation. Her side swiveled to the right in a sharp flinching motion, just in time to feel teeth searing into her shoulder.
She held back the yelp that screamed for escape in the back of her throat, all the while her eyes became watery to the pain.

even a handful of weeks ago, merrick might have enjoyed the toying longer. 
run, he might have said, grinning his death's-mask smile and allowing her to flee desperately into the snow, snapping for her, catching her again and again;
blood swirled between his teeth and the sound that came next was half-gasp and half-moan;
merrick shoved his matted, reeking body against her, refusing to relinquish his grasp;
he wanted to hear her scream, cry, beg; all falling upon the unrelenting ears of the bear which beat fast and harsh in his throat and in his veins.
a sacrifice — for him, for the godhead in him;
merrick hummed a tuneless melody as he arched, knowing that at any moment she might rip away from him, and then his true hunting could begin.

Mature Content Warning

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Mild gore

 

His teeth drove deeper into her still, and even deeper as she felt his weight begin to shuttle her balance. Dark oak limbs fumbled to stand, but a slip of cold, half frozen soil between her toes could not help her stand straight. The other three limbs that were not being pushed back by the mono-eyed man flailed as she fell side-first against the snow terrain -- her lateral side hitting the ground hard -- teeth accidentally bitting down against her tounge when Ellie clenched her teeth and tightened her eyes. 
She tasted metal. Liquid velvet dripped from her lips.
A cry was what he wanted -- and a cry was what he received. Yet it was not a plead for her life, but something more angry than anything. Desperate as she attempted to shake from his grasp and struggle against his weight.
"GET--" She began, feeling the hide of her skin and fur stretch and resist against his teeth "--OFF OF ME!!" until it's foundations fell apart; and as they finally separated, so did a patch of her shoulder. Eloise then released a scream of agony in part of the freshly made wound, which traveled down the nerves of her leg and paw, and made every staggering step against the ground feel awful.
Adrenaline acted as a painkiller in this moment, however, since her body saw the opportunity to escape,
and she'd begin to run. As fast as she could...

for you
ash had turned his teeth with her dance, her leaps, her pirouetting in the snow. this one did not. she made of herself instantaneous prey.
she cried out in anger, but he straddled her lowered body and continued on in ursine fury; the sacrifice twisted from his teeth and merrick released her.
it was not an act of mercy; the hot scent of her blood stung the air and sang upon his tongue as streaming and maimed she began to run, feet clenching the frozen ground.
one two three four the chuckle that followed her was chipped from a solid marble statue of beautiful and obscene madness;
astara with him now, merrick felt his heart brim with love;
and then he was pursuing, aiming to wound and to throw the woman again, over and over as many times as he was able. he chivvied her with hot snaps just behind her heels, breath rancid and eager.

He pursued her, and Ellie could feel him behind her with every cloud of snow their feet flung in unison, and the sound of hungered snapping into the crisp, cold air. The hunter becoming the hunted; She refused.
No matter how far she'd have to run, until her chest heaved painfully and leg muscles seized up from exhaustion -- the owl would make it out of this alive. Ellie's freedom had only just begun, and the man of a theived eye wished to take it all away from her-!
She'd be angry in death if this was the fate that closed the book to her chapters. She refused. She refused. She refused!
Looking back towards the man, Eloise would use they very hindquarters he snapped towards to kick up any dirt, snow or rocks in her wake to disorient him -- anything that might distract the bear, and make her escape easier.

her desperation was beautiful; it fired merrick and brought all his hungers to bear upon the ragged retreat she spun through the snow. 
her gambit was less lovely; she clawed debris and drifts up toward the bearwolf; it slowed merrick but only for a moment. he was terrible. inexorable. and he knew each detail of rising sun.
nostrils flared; he dodged to the other side. his laughter spun out and around. the man was panting but not yet flagging; he wanted another taste of this one's blood.
merrick purred a low and wordless note, attempting to drive her to one side before she crossed out of the meadow.