Firefly Ravine I thought we got each other's hearts

Pardon me while I sort out my timeline: thread with Luke immediately precedes thread with Casmir, which precedes this thread. All of my other current threads precede the thread with Luke.

How long ago had Saena fallen off the cliff and been granted a second chance at life when the ridge below caught her? Two days, at least. The first day she spent drifting in-and-out of consciousness from the pain that thrummed in her ribcage with every breath. Since then, she's travelled slowly but surely east, fighting off waves of nausea from the pain. The fall badly bruised both legs on the right side of her body and, with a cracked rib, every step sent a jolt of agony up into her spine.

Saena was determined to return home, but her resolve was only so thick, and so when she came across a ravine with no hope of crossing it in her condition, she sat down and cried out with frustration and hopelessness. Calling attention to herself was surely unwise, but the woman didn't care. Firefly Ravine presented an obstacle for her, and going around would easily add several hours to her already long journey home.

Before she could regain control over her emotions, the alpha's face scrunched up and she began to bawl, which sent pain lancing through her side and intensified her crying.

*Rubs hands* 

Sebastian decided to explore further into the forest they wanted to be part of their new territory. He crossed the river deeper into the forest. He noticed several tracks of possible prey which looked more that promising. He hoped that Haven was around exploring too, he wasn't sure if he could handle her dying or leaving him too. He quickly pushed those insecurities away. The large male kept a casual trot as he was scouting. Since Haven wasn't around he decided to explore further away from the lands they might want to claim, when he reached the edges of the marsh he decided he went to far. The male trotted back towards the east, towards the sea. Once again he came by the same river only another location. He crossed it again. 

In the distance he could see the forest with the huge trees he deemed unsafe after through exploration. With the knowledge of the forest and its location Sebastian knew where he was and how he could return to the cliffs. With that thought in mind he traveled further south down the river. He hadn't been here that much and realized that the river was moving more and more into the ground until it actually created a ravine. Sebastian being born on a cliff wasn't too worried of the steep edges.  His day was rather uneventful so far that was until he heard an unusual sound. He decided to explore. Without making any sound he creeped closer to explore what was making this noise. As he came closer he realized it was a wolf crying. The grey tank watched her from a safe distance, the female was close to sobbing. He felt the need to help her. He was a healer he could maybe ... help out.

But that was when the wind carried her scent to his nose and he recognized the abnormal pattern in her fur. HER. It was her! Saena. Peregrine's crazy daughter. The one that hurt him, that was close to murdering him. He bared his teeth without making a sound. A wave of revenge came over him. He could just attack her and throw her off a cliff, just like he did with his uncle. He could murder her right here, if he would do it right it might just look as if she fell of the cliff into the ravine. He listened to her crying, his need for revenge fading a bit. Could he really live with himself if he murdered another wolf. For his uncle he had a good reason and it was partly unintentional. With Saena it would be intentional, it would be actual murder. Then he would be just like his father, the one that he didn't want to be like. Looking like Burke was already more than enough trouble as it is. Yet, that didn't deny the fact that he spend months thinking how he would kill the Rise female when he saw her again.

In the meanwhile his lip had covered his teeth again. He raised his head that had lowered while he was studying the crying female. Something was definitely wrong, and if he could make himself believe that he could put her out of her misery then maybe murdering her wouldn't be such a burden but on the other hand he also disliked to think himself as a murderer. Besides then his point of not fighting back that day meant nothing, his injuries meant nothing. Sebastian had survived and he was going to let her know that. Sebastian stepped forward, making his presence known. His Caldera scent was gone by now. His pale eyes rather cold.  "I could never in my wildest dreams imagine seeing you like this," he stated as he came in closer but still out of reach for an attack. His large frame used to its full potential. Maybe he wanted to scare her a bit and drive her even more to the edge of the ravine. Maybe it was a little mean, but he could have charged at her and shoved her off the ravine instead. He found this more civil at least.

The crying spell wore itself out, eventually. The sounds caught in her throat, the tears dried in her fur, and soon enough Saena was staring silently out across the ravine, bleary-eyed and heaving in deep breaths but no longer wailing. The other side was a sheer cliff that went on for miles north and south and the chances of crossing it anywhere near here were slim to none for the injured leader. At the bottom was a river with rocky banks. The longer she studied the ravine, the more hopeless she felt, but before she could lapse into another bout of self-pity, movement in her periphery made her freeze and slowly turn her head.

She recognized Sebastian long before he opened his mouth. To say she wasn't afraid would be a lie, but it had nothing to do with him specifically and everything to do with her vulnerable condition. He was large but being large meant next to nothing—her pack had kicked his ass once before he'd somehow escaped from the dead end grotto, so there was nothing intimidating about him by himself. No, Saena was most afraid of her disadvantage. She was in no position to be fighting anyone today and she had no doubt that was the first thing he would do, given their last encounter had been her pack attempting to tear him to shreds. Unlike that time, she had no pack to summon this time and had to face him alone.

She took to her feet, doing her very best not to wince and betray her injury, and began to sidestep with her head slung low as he spoke. She pricked her ears forward, kept her eyes on him, and began a wide circle away from him. It would make her journey even longer, but Saena was in full avoidance mode, a desperate animal verging on fight or flight, and so her only response was to snap her jaws at the air between them in wild warning whilst stepping slowly away. It was all about fear, truthfully, but it wasn't like she had any other choice. She wouldn't stand a chance if he got close, desperate or not.

Sebastian realized she was very good at keeping herself calm, and since she wasn't saying back in return and trying to avoid him something was telling him she didn't want to fight. Last time she instantly attacked. What if he attacked right now. At least he was blocking her paths so she couldn't simple run off, or well, he tried to block her paths, she could walk circles all she wanted but he wasn't going to fall for that trick. If she would be away from the ravine she might run. The male kept his eyes on her, muzzle a bit lowered to protect his throat. His want for revenge came back, she was not crying anymore and her not even replying made him think that there was nothing left to say.

Sebastian didn't want her to go just yet. Maybe he would give her good injury but let her Iive with it just like he had to cope for months with his shoulder and neck. That thought was feeding his rage even more. With each step he was trying to get closer. It was a careful dance since if he would instantly charge his attack could be avoided, and she would probably dash off. But he wasn't going to keep distance. The threw his morals off a cliff right now. He wanted her to hurt as much as he did. It sucks that Haven wasn't around, she as a warrior would have loved to help him see this woman get to her grave as soon as possible. Sebastian bared his teeth, as he inched closer. He had to find a way to charge and attack which she couldn't or barely couldn't avoid. Then the male did charge, aiming for her shoulder/chest area, and if she would avoid him he might be able to take a chunk out of one of her front legs or from her side. He hoped he would. She deserved this.

If her heart wasn't thrumming with panic, if adrenaline wasn't rushing through her veins and blanking out her conscious mind, she would've called him an imbecile. If she'd been in his shoes, she would've turned and walked the other way. A wounded animal could do more damage in two seconds than a seasoned warrior could manage throughout an entire fight, and though she was doing her best to hide it, there was no way to conceal the slightest limp every time her rib screamed with agony.

She snapped her jaws again, and as Sebastian picked up speed, so did she. Her injured rib was on fire, her legs were on fire, but they still functioned. It sucked but Saena wasn't going to let him touch her, not today.

He sealed his fate by charging, but he wasn't close enough thanks to her continued sidestepping to have his intended effect. The white female hunkered down, still stepping back toward the mountains as rapidly as she could, and when Sebastian dove, she drove her fangs toward his snout. A quick two-step back was enough to keep her out of range of his fangs, at best a grazing scrape against her raised limb that she didn't notice in the adrenaline high, but now he was up close and personal, and she was wild with panic. She struck again and again for his face, snapping and spitting with rage and uncaring whether she flayed any skin at all so long as he backed the hell up. She was a caged rattlesnake, proving once and for all that her claim to the warden trade was a sound one. As a defensive fighter, he was unlikely to strike more than a passing blow while she continued retreating, but as an animal wounded with all sense lost to fear, she was as unpredictable as a hurricane if he remained in close proximity.

Sebastian thought he had the upper hand here—else he would not have approached her—but Sebastian might very well be the one in danger himself if he remained here and continued pressing his luck with her. Her first priority was getting away, but her snarl was so intense it was almost a screech, her eyes were wide and mad with pain and fear for her life, and her hackles were lifted into high peaks along her spine—the most wild she'd ever looked, and her mood matched her appearance.

Once again the young male was rather reckless, just like before, he was consumed by one thing. Sebastian would stick to what his brain had thought out. He wanted her to pay for what she did, even childishly so. It had been stupid not to fight back at the time, and now he had her alone. A ravine separating her form her pack. In his mind this was still the Rise, little did he know they relocated even further away. She had been crying too, and something seemed off in her movements which was more avoidance that a direct attack like last time. She wasn't going to be able to avoid him forever, and he was determined to inflict a big wound on her. He was not going to let her bully him anymore. To think how scared he had been to even go to the north, well not anymore.

The sounds she made didn't impress him much from the hissing to the screeching. He had one goal and that was to injure her, not to murder her. Sebastian felt the scrape on his muzzle, he would tend to that later. He had gotten closer and closer to her and with her hissing fit Sebastian could only think of the fact that she didn't want to face him at all. Sebastian had never been a warrior, that is probably why his fighting method was almost to none existent. His teeth went for any of her body parts that came to close to his jaw. Not that most were successful since the female was keen on avoiding him. Once he would get something he would just try latch on. He preferred a leg or shoulder. Though the male also wouldn't mind to leave a big gaping wound on her scruff.

Maybe with him trying to get to her it would spark her to fight back, that still wouldn't stir him away from his goal. The male was rather set on something once he had thought of it. Sebastian jumped forward in his rage, morals out the window, his teeth bare and ready to take a big chunk out of the female that had called her pack to murder him, to maim him. She was going to get maimed right back, and then she could scurry off all she wanted, preferably for him into the ravine.

Saena couldn't afford to look away from Sebastian, but the quickest of sidelong glances put the ravine well out of reach. Good. She needn't worry about that. The ocean to the left was nothing but cliffs as well, so she adjusted her rapid sidestep to put her further out of reach of the cliff. The only place to go now is the mountains, but having lived on one for a while and having been born on a plateau, Saena believed in her ability to lose him among the crags. It was a dangerous place to go in her condition but it was her only choice.

Still, she wasn't thinking very rationally, so while she puffed herself up larger and lunged at him to counter any attempt he made to reach her flesh, she was mostly responding to threats, not thinking about how best to get away. Every lung was met with a quick scuttle to the side, every attempted bite countered with a vicious snap of her own. Sebastian wasn't gaining any ground with her, nor was she gaining any ground in escaping. The mountain was looming nearer and nearer and she still didn't have a plan of escape.

But all she needed was one over-extension, one attack to drive him back, and she could turn and run. It wasn't much of a plan. She was injured, but with so much epinephrine flooding her system that she felt dizzy from stress and panic, she wouldn't feel it until much later, so it was probably the best plan even if it was sloppy. Escape would be easy, if only she could make him draw back for the split second she needed. Until then, her only goal was keeping him at bay until she reached the mountain, her only attacks were made to ward off his own. Determined to pull it off, the alpha female hunched her shoulders and moved faster.

To Sebastian it didn't matter that they were heading towards the mountains. He was born and raised amongst sharp cliffs and steep drops. He felt at home in the mountains. Sebastian kept going with what he was doing, she seemed busy with fending him off instead of running. The male's mind was still keen on injuring her. Even though the female kept blocking his attacks this couldn't keep up for long. The healthy male did learn from others and with his attacks not working very well he tried to do the trick he learned from the sea witch. The ground wasn't as loose as the sea but seeing that they were away from the rocks of the cliffs he tried anyways. With a flicker of his paw he threw the sand up aiming for her eyes. 

Instantly the male added an attack to, aiming for her neck. His teeth bared, if she managed to block it, it would be his teeth against her jaw or maybe even her eye. It was all determined by how she was going to move where the blow would hit her. The male wasn't going to let her go, and even with her behaving so weirdly and not attacking back, she had to make at least one misstep eventually. She had to make one, Sebastian wouldn't stop until she did. Later he might think back and learn form her defensive techniques but now his mind was on something else. Even if the female tried to distract him, his big bulk kept coming back, having only one focus and that was hurting her. Sebastian never had it this badly but he was very keen on letting it all out on the female. He savored the moment once he got her flesh between his teeth.

Desperation saved Saena from what seemed to be a certain end.

When he flung sand from somewhere on the loamy earth, it did connect with her face and some of it did make it to her eyes. Blinking wildly, the alpha female swung her head side to side, her steps faltering just long enough for Sebastian to close the distance. But she was as she was—a caged animal with everything to lose—and so his lunge, destined for the side of her neck, was met with fierce rebuttal.

She swung her head in a wide arc and snapped her jaws so hard that the force of it rattled her skull. If she connected, the very power behind her frantic bite would've been enough for her teeth to tear clean through whatever chunk of flesh was in the way, preventing him from reaching her neck but probably allowing his teeth to connect somewhere much less vital and much easier for her to pull away from. If it didn't connect, it meant Sebastian was wise enough to draw back his head. Either way, it was all the opening that she needed.

Saena turned with a hiss of pain, felt teeth digging into her backside, and tore free. She wasted no time; she fled, summoning all the power in her legs from hours and hours of hunting to carry her swiftly away from Sebastian. Tears sprang to her burning eyes as her broken rib pulled and twisted and the new wounds on her leg and backside protested, a feral screech of pain surely rent from her muzzle, but she didn't stop. It was a wonder she didn't pass out, but somehow, her will to survive was stronger even than the pain.

When the sand hit her eyes she soon sped away. The young male watched the pale figure vanish from his sight, wanting to chase her but she was clearly an animal in flight. He was too bulky to follow. Sebastian's face looked grim as he turned towards his new home. It would still take him several hours before he would reach the cliffs. His muzzle did hurt slightly and the side of his neck throbbed from her teeth colliding with it. He also realized he was quite tired from the fight. Victory he did not feel. Even though he confronted her she had little damage and Sebastian's goal had not been reached and he felt like he failed.

- Sebastian out -

Edited.

Sebastian's attack hit somewhere along her hindquarters, but her flight prevented his grip from being too significant. His teeth dug in but didn't have a chance to really rip, leaving gashes but nothing significant enough to slow her. The alpha female pushed off the ground with powerful bounds of her legs and in no time had widened the gap between them enough to get away for good. Her legs and especially her rib burned with exertion and agony, but her panic was greater than her pain for now, and soon she was escaping into the mountain range.