Horizon Ridge Yeah she's there all right

As Saena settles her cubs into the shadow of the half-collapsed ridge for an afternoon siesta, a dull buzz begins to rise over the din of the nearby sea. At first, she doesn't pay it any heed; spring is in full swing and bees and wasps are frequent this time of year. Likely there is a hive nearby, which the Alpha female is determined to investigate once her pups are sleeping under the watchful eye of one pack wolf or another. Milo is proving to be particularly problematic, and for the fifth time, the Redleaf sweeps his legs out from under him and attempts to pin him with one or both of her daughters' bodies.

Only when she can no longer hear the squeals and babbles of her children over the drone does Saena look up, squinting, to see a crawling cloud inching over the sun above. "What the fu—" she mouths, but before she can finish, the cloud swoops low and from it materializes an army of hideous six-legged fiends.

There isn't much along the coast for the locusts, but Horizon Ridge houses a grand forest and she watches as the cloud descends on the trees with a buzzing so loud it makes her skin crawl. It's several minutes more before the locusts venture further, and when they do, Saena squeals and huddles near to her children. Everywhere she looks, there are disgusting creatures. They land on her and hook their barbed legs into her fur. Their clacking mandibles drown out even her thoughts. Their armored heads twitch and move ceaselessly, short antennae flickering, and the worst is their wings. A sound like a thousand-thousand wasps buzzing inside her head. They're disgusting and though they are not much larger than grasshoppers, the sheer number of them makes them seem overwhelming. Cursing something fierce, the Alpha female curls protectively around her offspring in an effort to keep them safe, though she will soon enough learn that the threat posed by locusts is not to herself or her pups, but to the land itself.

*sneaks in*

Whittier had been aware of it the moment the faint sound of buzzing had reached a simply unnatural decibel. He'd lifted his head from his paws with a yawn, blinking the sleep from his eyes while his ears and nose tuned into the world around him. Soon enough his gaze had gone skyward as the prickling of anxiety ratcheted up his spine. Something was coming, and the mystery of what its actual identify was quick to gnaw at his nerves.

The boy pulled himself to his paws shortly after he'd awoken - actually a record in response time for him so soon after a nap. He walked slowly for about thirty seconds, trotted for ten, and was running at breakneck speed in less than five when he finally spotted the swarm that billowed up over the woods. His effort was futile of course, for there was no direction in which he could run that would take him away from the little creatures. But still he ran, blindly, with a pounding heart and a screaming mind for it seemed that, though he'd never before realized it, Whittier Frostfur was terrified of bugs.

There would be time for introspection later, if ever he managed to survive this. For now, his path wove a jagged, chaotic trajectory through the landscape. He crashed through countless thickets; smashed his shoulder into an alarming number of tree trunks. When his nose tried to tell him he was approaching a few of his own species and that he should take a quick turn away lest he trample them, he was completely naive to his brain's wisdom until he was crashing into the ground in a tangle of limbs just a few yards away from where a new mother was curled with her young.

Whittier flailed back to his paws and bucked about like a wild mustang to fling the critters from his fur. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck please no," he whined frantically to himself as he spun. His whirling stopped only when he saw a shock of pale alabaster a dozen or so yards from where he stood and was so surprised by it that he forgot to be terrified. He canted his head curiously at the bundle, but only managed a few seconds of staring before he felt and saw a locust land precariously near his eye, at which point he collapsed in a trembling heap upon the ground where, he assumed, he would probably die.

The senses of a wolf were keen. Even through the buzzing, Saena was instantly aware of someone else entering her space. She didn't know where the rest of her pack was but she trusted that they would be taking shelter from the storm of insects as well, and for a short while she assumed that the wolf arriving in her area was a trusted companion. Only when the pounding of feet against the ground grew into an alarming tempo did Saena lift her head, and when she did, her hackles spiked instantly.

Whittier was neither a wolf she knew nor a pack mate, and he was mere yards from her vulnerable babies.

Her instincts reared up and she forgot about the locusts just long enough to leap to her feet, dislodging a crying Laurel from a teat in the process. Her lips skimmed back and she snarled viciously with every hair on her body flared, and without warning she went right for Whittier's tender young locust-encrusted face, seeking passive submission or flight or both. She didn't recognize him as the chubby Nova Peak pup that briefly sheltered in Phoenix Maplewood so long ago, not that it would stop her. He was much too close to precious cargo no matter who he was. She couldn't tell if the buzzing in her ears was from the force of her frightened ire or from the locusts; it all sounded the same anyway, and easily drowned out Whittier's whimpers.

While being attacked by the white lump he'd decided was an out-of-season pile of snow was not exactly the most pleasant of experiences, it was a welcome distraction from the onslaught of insects that was currently traumatizing the yearling. Whitter didn't even realize she was approaching until she was upon him, and instinct gave him no room to plot out his own reaction. He curled instantly beneath her with flattening ears and his tail curling beneath his rump. He winced away from the teeth that scraped across his muzzle, but made no move to push her from him. He didn't fight back at all, merely folded in the wake of her fury and let her do what she would.

Waking up from naps had never been his favorite thing. This was probably the worst time he'd ever had of it, though, by far.

She fell upon the unfamiliar wolf easily, and Whittier's instant submission was all that saved him from the deeper score of her teeth. The Alpha's paws fell on either side of his hefty body as she loomed over him, nowhere near as large as Whittier but with the upper hand of being on her feet. Saena snarled with her bared teeth mere inches from the wet edge of his nose, and her eyes sought to bore into his with the fury of an upset grizzly bear, although she lacked the terrifying ferocity of one.

She snatched back her ears, surveying for the sounds of her cubs, but the sound of whirring prevented her from hearing anything. Her heart thudded in her chest, but she didn't dare to leave Whittier and turn back until her point was made. She remained standing over him with her piercing gaze fixed on him and a constant snarl streaming from her throat long enough for several dozen locusts to collect in her fur, and when the weight of them became noticeable, she gave a violent flick of her head and shoulders, spraying the Frostfur below with their bodies.

The locusts swarmed the Ridge – as far as the eye could see the world had become a shadow with their presence, and panic clung to Gaia with the full force of regret. Had they done something to anger the gods above? What form of dark magic was this?
 
Fretfully, her paws carried her across the ridge lands, squeamish at the idea of the bugs that collected in her fur, and every so often shooting a panicked snap in the direction of one. She caught none with her teeth, and it served no purpose other than to stoke the fire that was her fear.
 
She loped to Saena quickly, telling herself that she only sought the woman to ensure she and the puppies were safe – but knowing in her heart it was that she wished for the ivory regal to assure her that all was well. “Saena –“ She began the sentence, and yet her words were clipped short as she saw the she-wolf snarling at a stranger – her form majestically intimidating in that very moment.
 
The insects became no more than a distraction in that moment, and Gaia leapt to action. Her own paws thrummed as she closed the distance, her jaws seeking penance to the lone wolf that distinctly threatened the cubs of the pack. Her jaws would seek him out, ensuring Saena could move back to her pups – the very reason the pack sought refuse of safety. She could have protected them herself, and yet she dare not go near them yet, for fear Saena's jaws would unleash upon her instead.

Whittier trembled beneath the female. He wanted to make a run for it since obviously she was not very pleased with his presence, but her body language left him no room to make decisions of his own, even when he knew they were likely what she wanted from him. He whined piteously and tried to communicate wordlessly that he was sorry, that he meant no harm, and that he would leave just as soon as she allowed him.

The arrival of another stole his attention only for a second for it seemed to coincide with the shower of insects that she weilded upon him from her coat. Whittier shut his eyes tightly and shook harder, his whimper of apology turning to cries of fear. This was not the first time he'd been stupid enough to get himself in trouble with others of his species, but it was certainly the first time he'd ever been tortured for it.

Whittier's absolute submission and whines appeased Saena, but with her brood no more than a few feet away, she couldn't take any chances. Whittier was distinctly fat and the huntress assumed that meant he was slow, but it wouldn't be the first time another wolf had proved her wrong. She bared her teeth and snarled, relishing the terror in the boy's eyes, and silenced only when the drum of paws caught her attention.

It was unwise, but she turned her head marginally to see the pale figure of Gaia approaching. She too went for the lone wolf, a wise move on her part though Saena would allow any wolf of the pack to tend the cubs now, and that allowed Saena to step away from him. Yet her red-backed ears remained high and sharp on her head and her wrinkled muzzle never smoothed of animosity. "Get out, if you know what's good for you," she snapped at Whittier. They were a pack displaced and having another's blood on their lips and paws wasn't wise. She would triply agree with herself if she knew whose yearling this was.

She shook her ruff once more, dislodging several more locusts, and readied herself to dart in for an attack if Whittier did anything other than rising to his feet and running off. Her body was placed between him and her fearful cubs in their nook, and her priority was defending them, but of course Gaia had free rein to do whatever she wished with the intruding wolf, short of killing him. Saena would stop her at that.

Gaia’s jaws would snap in the direction of the stranger – Saena had moved to place herself between the boy and her cubs, and the honeyed woman was only keen to drive him away rather than maim. Her mint eyes glinted fiercely, her figure coiling as she allowed him reign to remove himself from the situation. With her muzzle thrust downward, and her lips writhing in a snarl, she waited for his move, eager to block him from reaching either Saena or the puppies should he feel the desire to try.

Displaced and chaotic, the nomadic wolves had little time for such mistakes. She had no idea who the boy was, or his ties to the pack he had unfortunately stumbled upon. All she knew was they had three very tired and vulnerable pups, and he had come much too close to them.

Last post for me!

The bugs that rained down on him caused him to lose track of what was happening for a few seconds. It was a terrible moment - one in which Whittier decided he would let the female terrorizing him just go ahead and tear his throat out. There was no move he could make that would expose his throat further, so he remained motionless beneath her except for the violent trembling.

Her voice brought him to attention, which was when the boy realized she had stepped away. Whittier paused and stared for a second, unsure of what to do. But then she gave him one final snap of her teeth, and the Frostfur was scrambling to his paws and taking off into the woods. He had no particular direction as he disappeared between the trees, except as far the hell away from this madness as was possible. Maybe right off a cliff. Whittier was totally okay with whatever as long as it meant escape.

The hefty male was dumbstruck for a moment, nearly long enough for Saena to provoke him with a slash of fangs, but he moved quickly enough that the alpha stilled her rage. She quivered as he buffeted her on the way past, and for three bounds she followed hot on his heels with her hackles at full prickle, but he showed no signs of turning about and she ground to a halt. Whittier's fat form disappeared into the distance and Saena snorted and turned away.

Her ears remained plastered agitatedly against her scalp as she returned to the nook her babes were stashed away in. By now they were awake and fretful, so Saena penned them in by dropping to her belly before them. "Thank you, Gaia," she said wearily, turning to eye the sand-and-seafoam woman. "Remain and rest with me, if you'd like." The cubs were old enough now that Saena didn't have too many qualms with the pack interacting with them, and it was necessity anyway at this point. She had no choice but to let her pack meet with them. It was impossible to move them otherwise.

The boy, once given a chance, did not second guess the actions of the two she-wolves, and was gone. Gaia watched him silently – her form remaining stiff as adrenaline coursed through her. Only as his chubbier figure disappeared from view did she pull her pale eyes in the direction of Saena, who now invited her to rest with them.
 
She spoke nothing – the silence was companionship enough for the younger girl, and taking the invitation to a delicate heart, she pulled forward, her own slender form stretching close to the regal and her cubs. Placing her muzzle down, Gaia made to soothe her now frayed nerves, taking solace in the gentle touches of the pups before allowing her eyes to drift shut in wary rest that would not quite fall to sleep.