Stavanger Bay shark bait

For anyone! Set a couple of days after the twister. Also, just a note that he is gross and covered in mud and stuff from the storm :D

Now that the pain in his leg had been lessened somewhat, and it had stopped smelling so terribly thanks to that mysterious healer, Atreyu decided it was time to head back to Stavanger Bay. His worry had increased tenfold for the other members — they were such a tiny pack, with one mother and her young children, only two of which were adult-sized. Did they find Jorunn? Had anyone else joined them? What if Ragnar's murderer had returned? The questions spurred him onwards, out of the inland territories and towards the coast, his heart thrumming with excitement with every step.

His pace only quickened when the clouds grew dark and angry, before he had to stop entirely as the wind raged and howled and the rain stung his skin. Atreyu had holed up in a small hollow in Neverwinter forest, only to witness the terrifying mass of clouds that descended from the sky swirl across the horizon, accompanied by crashing thunder and lightning strikes that he thought would never end. The woodland he was in had been relatively untouched, but as the boy hurried even faster now towards the Bay the next day, he could see many other lands were not so lucky.

The ocean was dark and dirty, foam lapping at the shore, stirred up from the still-turbulent waves. Atreyu barely spared a glance at the wreckage and debris that littered the coast, spotting the archway that marked the entrance to his home and sprinting towards it — as fast as a three-legged wolf could sprint, anyway. He hadn't thought the storm to swing towards the Bay, but now it was clear it had come quite close to it. He prayed the pack had made it to safety.

Atreyu let out a short howl for them as he made his way to the familiar beach, the feeling of security that it once provided being replaced with confusion and worry. The sand had been torn apart and mixed with the dirt further up the shore, trees had been flattened and scorched, and bits and pieces of the forest were strewn along the shoreside. The boy hopped around in a few circles, looking out for any signs of blood or fur or bodies, feeling only slightly relieved when he couldn't find any. At least that was one good sign. Still, panic bubbled within his chest, and he started limping along the shoreline, glancing in every direction as he repeatedly yelled, "Thistle! Charon!"

Thistle heard the call and her heart stuttered for a moment. Was it ATreyu really, or was it a trick of her mind again? Did he have Jorunn with him? Running as fast as she could go, she raced towards the sound. She stopped short when she came upon him and stared. Was this the young male that had joined their pack, that had proved himself loyal and true. She couldn't tell, so covered in muck and mud. Leaning forward she sniffed at him, body quivering as she looked beneath his paws for her little boy. She was saddened that he was not there, but her grief quickly turned to worry as she noticed the limb that was missing. What on earth has happened? Are you okay? Come we need to get you cleaned up and quickly.

Although he probably wasn't supposed to, Floki followed Thistle Cloud. It had been so hard to be cooped up for so long during the storm, and his exploration afterward had been limited by the adults -- they told him and the other pups that there had been a lot of damage and that parts of their home might not be safe. But when the Alpha female slipped away with the intent to answer someone's howl, Floki carefully and quietly trailed behind her.

She led him to the beach, and his gaze quickly latched onto a dirty, disheveled, three-legged creature. Floki stopped in his tracks, eyes widening as he stared at what he could only assume was a monster. Thistle Cloud went towards the beast, but her son remained behind, his silver hackles bristling nervously.

It didn't take long for his calls to be answered. A lithe figure came racing up the beach towards him, a smaller, paler form following after her. Immediately recognising them, a wave of relief crashed over Atreyu and he stumbled forward excitedly. His chest felt strange and tight...he hadn't realised he had missed his home so much. It felt nice being back, near the sea and near familiar faces. As broken as both things seemed.

As Thistle neared him and came to a halt, Atreyu did too, his beaming smile fading as her blue eyes searched behind him. Ears falling back, the boy dipped his head, feeling guilty for Jorunn's disappearance (and likely death). He should have been more careful, or howled for the rest of the pack, or just grabbed both pups and made a run for it. At her questions, Atreyu moved forward to nuzzle her shoulder, breathing in the scent of Stavanger Bay — the usual salty smell tinged with the scent of smoke and ash.

"A bear," he answered, his chest tightening again as he remembered the silver-furred wolf that had trailed behind the Alpha. He looked up, past Thistle and sought out the lone form of Floki. He had stayed a ways back, the fur along his back standing on end in what Atreyu assumed was suspicion. Or anger. "Floki, it's me," he said, offering a small smile before it quickly dissipated, ears lowering once more. I'm sorry.

The territories were a mess, and Charon hadn't even taken in all the damage yet -- what else was ruined? He hoped there hadn't been any gigantic fires, but so far he'd only found small patches of burnt forest. He supposed they were lucky that it had also rained and stormed much, so most fires hadn't been allowed to rage for long before they were blown or rained to bits. Still, it was saddening to see such a beautiful territory sort of ripped in half; part of it looked like it'd take a long time to recover, if ever.

There were upsides, however: the storms had brought him what he and Atreyu had talked about some time ago... A thrall, a slave of his own. He had saved her life, and in return she had given it to him. She had freedom, of course, but ultimately, she was in his service. She'd sworn it on her life, after all. The Gods took some and gave some, Charon guessed, although he had never considered the Gods Ragnar and Thistle beckoned to much before, as they were immaterial and all that.

When Charon heard Atreyu's voice, his ears shot up and he stood still, erect, for a moment, as he heard his name being called. The second time he heard his name Charon broke into a gallop. He could be imagining things, but he needed to be sure. When he saw Atreyu in the distance -- gruesomely torn off leg and all that (while he'd told Thistle all about the bear attack, he'd decided to leave the tearing off of legs out for her sake) -- Charon could hardly believe himself. His ears flew against his skull and his tail started to wag in unbridled excitement as he galloped towards Atreyu. The two might not have started off as friends when Atreyu first got (back) to the Bay, and were often like fire and ice, but Atreyu was part of the Stavanger Bay family, and Charon had missed him as a friend.

Charon nuzzled Atreyu's shoulder (on the whole-legged side) affectionately and a bright smile broke onto his face. "I can't believe you're still alive!" he said, which he didn't mean as blunt as it came out (it was mostly just that Charon had heard the sickening crack of bones and had seen the leg get torn off, and had believed Atreyu to be dead shortly thereafter); it was evident from Charon's body language, however, that he was very happy about the fact.

Thistle felt herself pale beneath her fur. A bear another godforsaken bear. Heaven's help them what was wrong wtih the bears around here. A bear had taken Pump, had taken Julooke, perhaps even Verrine and now attacked ATreyu. Another bear? her voice was soft at first, and she had to cough gently to force herself to speak. She couldn't believe. She warred between wanting to find a new place to live, and standing their ground. What if the bear went after her babies? Well it had in a sense, because hadn't Atreyu been trying to save Jorunn. 

Thistle positioned herself to offer aid, but nudged both Charon and Atreyu. Licking the top of Floki's head. Come on we have to get you cleaned up and fixed up. You can tell us if you want of what transpired after that. She smiled at Charon's bluntness her own tail sweeping behind her.

Thistle talked to the three-legged creature, and it responded. It then shifted its gaze past the Alpha female, looking squarely at Floki. He instinctively shrank away, but it called to him -- Atreyu called to him. Floki felt a rush of emotions; confusion, fear, relief, and disappointment, although he couldn't name half of those feelings. He wanted to know what had happened to Atreyu and where Jorunn was, but he couldn't find his own voice.

He shuffled slowly towards his mother and his injured packmate and was soon surpassed by Charon. The older boy galloped past him and skidded to a halt near Atreyu, warmly greeting him. Floki's tail wiggled gingerly as he stopped between Thistle Cloud and Charon, peeking shyly up at Atreyu. Now that he was closer, he could see his friend's fur color beneath the grime and muck. He avoided looking at the missing leg, or the stump where it should have been; that was too much for the youngster to handle. He smiled as Thistle Cloud kissed him between the ears.

He tilted his head at his alpha as she repeated that dreaded word bear. Another one. His encounter hadn't really made him afraid of them, but he certainly despised and would be more cautious around their ilk now — if not outright avoid them, but heaven forbid he ever came across one of their cubs. Thoughts of revenge faded from his mind, though, as another figure then burst onto the scene, one that Atreyu found himself strangely excited and relieved to see. Who'd have thought he would be so happy to see the freckled brat.

He eagerly accepted Charon's nuzzle, his own tail wagging furiously behind him as he nosed the other boy's shoulder, smearing grime onto his pale fur. Like Thistle, his scent was a mixture of salt and smoke. Had the storm really brought fires? How much else of the territory was damaged? His exclamation was met with a laugh. Why did everyone keep saying that? He was still unaware of how big of a deal having a limb ripped off was — as well as what challenges it entailed — and how much of a miracle it was that he had survived such an ordeal. He had fortunately been found by an experienced healer (two, in fact), and no major arteries had been severed, nor had the infection spread too much.

His attention turned back to Floki as the young wolf started forward, receiving a tender kiss from Thistle. The show of affection was painful for Atreyu to see; she would never be able to do that with Jorunn again. It didn't help that they were twins, either. With effort, he dragged his eyes away from the quiet pup and focused on his mother. He nodded, allowing her to lead the way towards the fresh source of water further in the forest. As they began walking, he turned to Charon, concern in his eyes. "That storm, it hit here, too?"

Charon didn't notice Flóki's apprehension. When Thistle seemed surprised about the bear, Charon said: "The one that got Jorunn too." Well, it didn't really get Jorunn, but it was still the bear's fault that Jorunn was gone. He'd told Thistle that Atreyu and Jorunn'd got hurt by it, but he hadn't told her that Jorunn'd been taken out to sea -- because he didn't want her to think that the Bay was dangerous or unsuited to raise pups; it wasn't the ocean's fault the bear'd been there -- nor that Atreyu's leg had been ripped off -- the memory was worse enough to recall, he didn't think Thistle could handle that in her current state.

They started to go further in land and Atreyu asked about the storm hitting. Charon nodded and paused a moment. "The East side is pretty bad, but I haven't checked all the damage yet," he admitted. "The forest is... okay. There's a lot of fallen trees and there were a couple of fires, but they were small. Nothing major." Charon mentally noted he should check the territory's East side soon.

Thistle growled softly, I hate bears. Then with a silent look about her she continued offering her body as a crutch and going over what she would need mentally. Did she even have the herbs anymore? She sighed softly for a minute. Charon is our old den washed away? That is where I kept most of my herb stock? She frowned deeply in thought, this was not good.

She had not wanted to look at the damage, to fearful of what it may do to her. Especially now that she was getting back some semblance of her mind back. She was afraid that something could crack the false wall she put up to keep herself from spirally fully into grief stricken madness.

Feel free to skip me if necessary! :)

Floki listened raptly to the conversation going on over his head, maneuvering to walk with the adults as they started to guide Atreyu inland. Thistle Cloud and Charon held up the injured wolf, and Floki eventually came to meander along behind them. At the mention of Jorunn, his ears perked up, but he quickly realized that Charon was referencing his twin's disappearance and frowned. He shifted his gaze to his mother as she proclaimed her hatred for bears, and he nodded resolutely. Bears were the enemy.

They began to talk about the damage that had been done to the territory, worriedly glancing between the Alpha and Beta, especially when Thistle Cloud mentioned the den. He then made the mistake of looking at Atreyu's leg -- or lack thereof -- and winced, quickly redirecting his vision elsewhere.

We can probably wrap this up soon <3

He gratefully allowed himself to lean against Thistle as she offered, beginning to limp alongside with her. It would take a lot of getting used to, getting around on three legs, but Atreyu was determined not to let it be too much of a hindrance. Being an unnecessary burden on the pack was not on his to-do list.

Thistle's growl caused him to smirk, though he agreed completely. Jorunn had been swept out by the sea, but it was the bear's fault he had to do so in the first place. They needed to be exterminated.

He turned to Charon as he explained the damages from the storm, frowning as he glanced at the surrounding area. Here didn't look too bad, apart from some fallen branches and the myriad of plant life that littered the ground. His mention of fires caused his ears to fall backwards, hoping none of their number had been caught up in them. There were three here accounted for however, but how many were left? Saskia? Aesop? Levi? The rest of the pups he was certain Thistle had protected. He was about to ask before the Alpha spoke again. Herbs. He grimaced, hoping she had some of those sweet-tasting plants Tatsuya had.

Charon agreed with a dark frown in silence as Thistle growled at the thought of bears. Charon had always considered himself quite the bear-beater, but standing eye in eye with an actual bear had changed everything. They were a lot tougher than he had thought, and maybe in a way, the encounter with the bear had been a shedding of Charon's youth; he'd been confronted with the real world, a realisation that it was not the way that it was in his adventures.

They needed to be exterminated, but the pack was with few and Charon didn't trust they could do it with what they had. Three-legged Atreyu would probably not be of much use; not until he started to use his legs better again. Thistle, though pissed off, had been sad for a long time, and Levi was far from a fighter. They didn't have the wolves to do it right now. Some day, though, he would kill a bear.

The young Beta followed in silence while Thistle Cloud supported Atreyu towards the herb caches where she would be able to treat him. As he looked at Atreyu, the picture reel in his mind kept replaying the scene where the bear tore off the limb with a sickening crack. Charon shuddered, and instinctively reached out to nip Flóki's ear. It must've been terrible for him, too.

sounds good :)