Golden Glade Be my mirror, my sword and shield

Her gaze travelled first to the sky above, robed in brilliant reds, oranges and pinks as the sun begun its descent over the horizon. The rain clouds had dissipated just enough to let the beautiful colours through, and she smiled happily at the sky, tail wagging as she perched on a boulder, staring at the sky. Her brilliant blue gaze travelled through the sky, watching birds, clouds, truly anything that drew her attention. Her tail stilled as she stared in wonder at the sun, which had turned a pastel red. A smile touched her maw, and her form stilled completely as she watched it sink, slowly, slowly.

Pain.
She was on the ground, something hurt, there was a scent in the air, a heavy, musky smell that was familiar but she could not attach to anything. Then there was the bear, though she did not know it as such, a huge creature garbed in midnight, face twisted in an ugly snarl as it loomed over the little body of the wolf. She whimpered a moment, but instinct had her surge to her feet and lunge at the much larger animal. 

Tooth, fang, they lashed out, not any thought was wasted as they searched for something, anything to grab onto. Roars, growls, so loud they set the girl's heart beating frantically against her chest like a trapped bird. The bear roared, in pain this time and delivered a blow. Hot blood ran in rivulets down her foreleg, her should burning with a kind of fire she had never felt before.

Neck. She had it's neck in her jaws, she was crushing, it was wheezing, so close, almost-

Her tail. It didn't feel right, her fangs had nothing in their grasp, a ripping sound,her tail, it was torn, it was-

Her fangs found the bears neck again, a ragged, torn wound, it was melting, melting under her grip. It was still alive, clinging to life, but she was so close, so close to killing it, killing a bear, but-

Her vision. It was blurry, dark, the bear, it was gone. Was it dead? No, it was leaving, trying to, a gaping wound on it's neck. Darkness, it seeped in, touching the edges of her vision, creeping in, until it was all dark, and the pain, it was not there and burning, throbbing, all at the same time. Until it wasn't, and she was a crumpled heap on the ground, still alive, like the bear, who was staggering off while blood flowed freely, and she was in darkness.

The wolf's breaths slowed, it's heart resumed a slightly less panicked rhythm, and blood pooled from a tail that had been cropped a little shorter and a shoulder bloodied beyond recognition. But the wolf was alive, the wolf had fought a bear, and while neither had been truly victorious, she was alive, and that was a victory in itself.

Charley, per usual, was at the borders, marking them and further fortifying that this was HIS kingdom. The bear scent wasn't on this part of the territory, unfortunatley, and for that Ayla was suffering. He was moving at a trot though, and in a few minutes he's noticed the musk. Something he was familiar with, but nothing even he'd bothered coming up against. He'd nearly made up his mind to gather the pack first to drive it out, maybe take it down for prey, had even turned in the opposite direction. It was the scent of blood, WOLF blood, that made his lip curl. Ayla's scent pulled his paws in a gallop towards her, but by the time he got there the damage had been done. Her tail was cropped and, to the Pryor man's horror, laying a couple fet away from her, and her shoulder gushed crimson as she was dropped to the earth. 
No hesitation, the ragged brute lunged for the brown beast, taking advantage of its turned back and tearing into the back of its neck. It swung up at him, backing away from the fallen female, and dragged him off with claws locked in his shoulder. A pain ridden and angry howl ripped from his maw, calling  to his packmates @Estella @Skeet @Aspen @Heartha @Paikea @Shalon for any help they could provide. His main goal was to bring it down, to use its life force to keep his own friends and family alive. The cycle of life was a viscious thing, but only the strongest survived: and Charley WOULD be the best, for he was the King, and it was his job to keep them all safe. 
Rolling to the earth a few feet away and scrambling to his paws, the multicolored man didn't dare look at how bad his shoulder would be. Thank god the bear was as weak from the famine as they were, or surely both he AND Ayla would have been dead already. The bear lumbered closer to the Pryor, and in turn he took a few steps back. It's attention was diverted from the female, and already weakening from the wounds from the pale woman. She'd gotten close to its jugular, if not on point, and it wouldn't be long before it died, pack or no pack. If it came to it, Charley could stay a few steps ahead and outlast the threat. It was the only chance he had right now, on his own. Brave as he was, even this warrior wouldn't take on a bear straight on by himself, it was suicide. Even if he wanted it for food, he wouldn't persue would it take off. 
                   "Ayla? Ayla, are you alright?"
It was worth a shot to see if she could move, or was even alive for that matter. Not once did his steely blue eyes move from the bear, and for the time being it seemed content to pace slowy around them.

Heartha perked right up to hear her alpha's call of aid. She sprinted right away. SHe couldn't let her alpha get injured or die only a couple weeks within finding and joining them. If she knew what she was running into, she would have hid nearby, waited it over.

Instead she ran into the fray, not bothering to see what was happening. She almost ran into the large bear as her alpha stood facing it. Her paws almost tripped up underneath her as she desperately tried to get away from the beast, her eyes wide in fear and tail between her rear legs. If it was to notice her, she was too close to dodge any attack.

She wanted to move to Charley and Ayla, wanting to see if they were okay. She may not have known medicine, but she would tend to them the best she could like a mother to her children. But she was frozen in fear.

ok...... so I am hoping to get my mercenary trade, which this could potentially help with :) Anyway! Here it is!

Shalon, who had been finding her way within the territory; searching for her own place to gather her thoughts and relax. She had yet to meet any of her fellow pack mates aside from Charley Pryor, which was fine for the moment. She knew she would run into someone eventually. As Shalon continued her search she was stopped. Her head shoot up and turned in the direction of her King’s howl. The distressed aggression of the sound sent a chill down her spin.

Running as swiftly as her paws would allow, she ran to the King. Her pace quickened as the scent of bear and wolf blood reached her nostrils. Shalon’s eyes narrowed as she saw the bear for the first time. Although it was heavily injured it was still a dangerous predator. Taking in the wolves who she could only assume were her pack mates, Shalon found two injured and one still with freight. Shalon would attack the bear’s feet, hoping to persuade it to take its leave, so they could attend the injured. The bear wasn’t happy with her persuasion, and turned from the frightened female it had been preparing to attack. The bear swatted at Shalon trying to stop her, its elongated claws posing a potential danger to Shalon. She was quicker than the injured bear however and managed to dodge the attack. Shalon backed off slightly, having left her mark on the bear. Perhaps this would drive the bear away long enough for her to help with the wounded.

 “My King, you are injured.” Shalon spoke quickly, her heart beating fast, and her eyes darted between the bear, her King, and the injured female on the ground. There was nothing Shalon could do however until the bear was gone, the danger was to great.

Aspen's head swung up and her ears twitch alertly as her mates call rang out over the territory. It was an emergency she could tell the urgency in his voice and immediately she darted to where wolves had already gathered. She saw Ayla laying on the ground half conscious and missing half her tail. Then Aspen's eyes flicked to Charley who had now got a gash in his shoulder. 

Aspen's gaze also noticed a strange female who appeared to be attempting to aide her mate. Aspen had not yet met this wolf but seeming as Charley's and the packs scent hung on her fur it seemed she was one of them. Aspen would take the time to get to know the fae later, now there was an emergency to deal with. A bear.  

Heartha stood frozen in fear and the bear although weak was still headed straight for charley. Aspen took off in full kilt not thinking about and damage she could sustain from the bear but that of protecting her mate.

As she ran she glanced over at Heartha "Snap out of it Heartha! Ayla needs help, if you can," she shouted as she then threw herself at the bear not knowing where her jaws would land. Unfortunately Aspen had been too distracted to focus on aim and she had caught the bears shoulder. Although wounding the bear, it did nothing but anger it more. Aspen let go and took a brief moment to gather her thoughts before lunging again. Looking to take the attention off of her mate. At least if she could distract the bear it gave others a chance to escape. Not thinking much of what happens next.

Ayla's eyes opened slowly, slowly regaining consciousness. She did not move her throbbing body yet, but simply assessed the situation and her own wounds. Her shoulder, her tail, that was where the hurt was coming from. There was Heartha, standing petrified in the distance, there was the king, facing off against the bear, and there was another, who she did not know, close by him. Blood. She could see it, staining all their pelts in different ways. The bear, a gaping wound on it's throat, Aspen attacking it. Couldn't they see? They had but to drive it off, it was dying, anyways. In her slightly delusional state, perhaps caused by the alarming amounts of blood pumping out of her body, Ayla thought for a moment the bear seemed to shrink, then grow. Dizziness brought nausea to the femme as she struggled to rise, lurching to her feet with an alarming movement.

This had been all her fault, hadn't it. Had she been paying attention, she could have easily avoided the bear, saved her packmates the bloodloss and injury they would have to endure. So she staggered toward her king, gaze fixed on the bear. She would end this thing, the creature that dared attack her comrades. For it was in these situations that another side of the dreamy girl presented itself, one bold and perhaps a little reckless. She lunged at the black bear; well, tried to, but her momentum lacked quite a bit. Nevertheless, it certainly took notice of her, and turned it's attention to the silver femme. 

Ayla watched the bear for a moment, it was almost dead. She could see it, in the way blood flowed from it's torn throat, the way it's eyes seemed faded, glazed. But the bear would be damned should it not go down fighting. Determined to protect the king who had been drawn into the situation completely out of her own foolishness, she lunged. For a brief, brief second, her sluggish leap resulted in a grip, of fangs on throat, but it was far from a major artery. And then a thundering blow, one that dislodged her from the throat (though not without tearing flesh) and sent her sprawling in a heap on the ground. A new scar split her underbelly, thankfully shallow or the ill-placed blow would have sent her insides spilling out. 

But the bear was not quite finished, it seemed, and in it's anger gave the final roar it ever would, and aimed a final, heavy blow toward the prone figure, lapsed into unconscientious once more. It would be up to her packmates, the bold king, the queen, the unknown woman and the fear-stricken Heartha should the blow land.

Heartha was the first to show, and Shalon was next. The pale woman was frozen in fear, and his newest recruit at least attempted to shake her out of it. Never taking his eyes from the bear, even when Shalon came to him in worry of his wounds, he began to give orders. 
             "Heartha, go to Ayla. Get her out of here, now! Shalon, we need to kill this bear. It'll fill all of our bellies."
Before anyone could react, Aspen bolted from the undergrowth and dug savagely into the predator. It grabbed the bears attention, and as Charley opened his mouth to tell Shalon now was the time, Ayla was beside him. What was she.... No! She latched onto the throat of the beast and the King found himself frozen in the moment.
It flung her to the ground and went for her again, but no way in hell was Charley Pryor about to let her die. She had, in truth, fought and nearly killed a bear, but was lucky he'd shown up when he did. With a thunderous roar of his own, the patched brute lunged forward for his fallen comrade. He shoved her out of the way, but the bears hit did indeed land: directly down the side of his face. Burning, numbing pain seared his ear, his eye, his entire being. Adrenaline was pumping now, however, and he lashed out at the bear, swiping blunt nails at the bears face to back him up just a step, enough for Charley to slip underneath and finish the job. Sinking his fangs into the jugular and tearing with a whip of his head, the two beasts went down together.
Luckily, only one would be waking up. Blood streamed from the three long, jagged gashes down his eye as he sunk to his knees, then his belly before thumping to the side. His heart pounded and his breath came in fast, ragged bouts, but he was alive and awake. At once, his agonized blue eyes sought out Aspen, and he called hoarsely for her in worry.
                                "A-Aspen!"
He attempted to lift his head to find her, but the strength of his body was gone with the adrenaline and his head barely made it an inch before thunking to the blood soaked earth again. The man trembled, hurting badly between half his face being mauled and the wounds to his shoulder. He still somehow managed to give orders between pants, uncaring of his own hideous wounds and limp state. 
                                                "Get Ayla....To the.... Tunnels. She... deserves... it...."

My post went poof before I could actually post it

Heartha had stared in the face of death before. Yet this was different. At that time, she had run right at it. She had been forced to flee when she knew she was too late. The hole in her air was proof of that. This time, however she was frozen in fear. If she could think at all, she wouldn't have believed what she saw. So many wolves, fighting for one. And she wouldn't have believed that she was not in there.

But she snapped out of it when three voices told her to move. The last being her conscience. That happened when Ayla was flung down. After Charley was hit. She had to obey. Get Ayla to safety. She pictured Ayla as her pup, calling for her aid. Right away, she darted forth to rescue Ayla.

If the bear was distracted enough, she would grab onto Ayla's scruf and drag her to safety, out of the bear's reach. That was her mission as of this moment. To save Ayla. If she had time, she would come back for the others.

Shit, I'm late. Sorry :(

Skeet arrived late, feeling very badly about it. The frantic call of the king made him worry and he didn't see where his paws landed. Before he arrived, Skeet managed to get his paw stuck in a rabbit burrow. He was stuck for a couple of minutes before frantically pulling it out. Rushing out since he lost a lot of time, Skeet ran towards the group to see a huge bear that had been taken down. He didn't even know the slight limp in his front paw.

Then he saw his scarred family members, all seemed scathed and bloodied. The male ran towards the king, chuffing loudly to show he was there. "I'm late, I'm sorry Charley" he apologized frantically and quietly. It was rare to see Skeet in such a manner, but he didn't want to come off as a slacker who didn't help the cause. The last thing he needed was to best cast out once again. "You're hurt" he said, pointing out the obvious.

"This is gonna hurt, bud. Sorry." He said, soon opening his maw to start cleaning Charley's wounds. He soon started with the shoulder, removing dirt and bacteria. He tried to clean them as softly as possible, but the sting wouldn't fade. 

Now Skeet wasn't a medic by any means, but he understood basic wound treating. He wasn't a major herbalist like the others here, but cleaning the wounds was better than leaving them dirty.

Everything had happened faster than Shalon could react, and yet Shalon felt as though she had been watching everything in slow motion. She nodded her, "Yes Sir." Shalon agreed that this bear could feed them for a long while. She had been ready for her King's comand to attack, she was ready. Until the injured female, who Shalon had thought was unconsience stumbled to her feet and attacke the weakened bear. Although she succesully connected, she couldn't hang on, and she was thrown back, with a gash in her belly. Seeing the bear heading for the prone figure,

Shalon jumped toward the bear hoping to prevent it from reaching her king who had now pushed the female out of the way. She losely connected with the bear's shoulder, her teeth sinking in to the strong meaty muscle of ther bear. She tried to hold on as much as she could with her claw digging into the sides of ther bear, but Shalon was thrown off when the bear took a step back, and her Charley went in for the kill. 

As she found her footing again, she saw the wound on her Kings face. Her ears peeled back laying flat against her head, sadness over coming her. The frightened female seemed to be attending to the other female. But Shalon had no connection to either of them, she only knew her King. She approached slowly, not knowing what to do to help Charley. A small wimpered came form her lips, she looked for her new Queen. The King needed his Queen.

Aspen looked alarmed and was still trying to assess the situation. She was thinking to much and clearly she was no hope when it came to the bear aspect of things. Her attention wavered though as all of a sudden Ayla rose and went to attack the bear again but was knocked to the ground once more and had it not been for Charley the bear could easily have killed Ayla. Though, there was now more damage done to her king as she noticed the wounds not only on his shoulder but now on his face and ear. At least the bear was dealt with now. She thought taking a look at the heep of fur and once power lay there motionless.

She noticed Shalon looking rather sorry for herself as she let out a whimper because she hadn't been able to prevent the bear from attacking the king again. Aspen quickly trotted over noting that Heartha had gone to aid Ayla. Aspen knew she was needed here more and that Ayla was in good hands. 

Aspen gave a sympathetic glance to Shalon and then more of a reassuring nudge as she walked past as if to say. You tried you're best, dont stress about it too much. Aspen then came to the side of her mate who was laying on the ground barely able to move. She was joined by Skeet and they both began to groom him but as Aspen took a moment to assess the damages closer she too let out a soft whine because seeing her mate like this was heartbreaking. "Charley..." she said quietly before beginning to lick his wounds trying to bury her emoitions deep down. Now was not the time to cry.

His wolves reacted with swiftness, and the King listened limply as Heartha unfroze and took Ayla towards the tunnels.His wounds, being cleaned by both Skeet and Aspen, burned, but the minutes lapse gave him enough time to focus more thoughts into orders. Panting heavily from the pain, Charley heaved himself into an upright position, closing his eye as dizziness consumed him. Just a little further. 
                     "S-Skeet, assist Aspen in helping me to the tunnels, if you will. Ayla and I can rest in the meeting cave for a while, until she can claim her own den within it."
Moaning with the effort, Charley struggled slowly to his paws with the help of his wife and friend. With a glance at the bear, blood still dripping from his closed eye and wounded face, the patchwork alpha snarled weakly. The Gentry wolves might not be allowed to home within the tunnels, but he was not so rude as to not allow them access to store prey and help their comrades. 
                                   "Shalon, you are in charge of portioning this out, getting the most nutritious bits to Ayla, and making sure it's cached within the tunnels. Ask who you please to help you. Everyone.... Thank you. This was a great victory for the Royal Fire Court."
With that, Charley departed. He guided the small party to the summit and directly into the pale light. The main tunnel was strong with the scent of the alphas, but in time other Inner Circle members would mark it as well to show it led to a communal place. Once there, he went right to the pool of water and lay down beside it, motioning for Heartha to bring Ayla before shooing Skeet and the pale nursemaid back to Shalon. It wasn't long before darkness enveloped the King, and he went limp in the cool cave. 


[ooc] Skipping Ayla and slight PP of a few wolves, last post from Charley! Feel free to wrap this thread up with one more post, but I'll leave this

my last post

Shalon watched her King rise to his feet, and call for Aspen and Skeet, two wolves who she did not know. She quickly nodded her head, "Yes my King." She doubted he could see her nod, but she accepted the task set out for her. Quick to start, she tore the bear apart, exacting her own revenge on the beast. She did not know others who were within the pack, and so she completed this task on her own. It took her a few trips, but she moved to remains to the cache within the tunnels, she delieved some meat to the injured female, and of course to her King and Queen. This took a few hours, after which she was exhausted. She hadn't eaten yet, but couldn't bring herself to do so. Instead she retreated to her self proclaimed den site within a small clearing not to far from the tunnels entrance.