Stone Circle he is without a heart

Words shouted by friend and foe alike only served to fan flames that spread from a spark to a wildfire in an instant. The dispute burst like a swollen blister, and any chance for a rational deescalation withered and perished in the deluge of snaps and snarls. Oryx- still physically distant and insignificant both in size and presence- commanded no audience with her frantic plea, and was neither attacked nor defended. She wasn't even noticed. And as her friends became warriors, so she became nothing more than a shadow- harmless, useless. 

She would die if she intervened. Mere months ago she had leapt into the embrace of her own death- perhaps the most decisive thing she had ever done- only to be rejected and deemed unworthy of respite from the trials of life. She had once again pledged her willingness to die- but once more was refused and thus, without having a change of heart with regard to her own self-worth, she decided for the first time that she should not rush toward oblivion. 

No one would have noticed if she had, anyway. 

Her first few steps were tentative, and her heart raced as she withdrew from the commotion- but it took no more than three seconds for her to finally see exactly how worthless she was. How useless, how insignificant. She turned swiftly on her heel and ran- bolting away from the din and out of the grasslands without a glance over her shoulder. She begged her heart not to pine for the loss of her only potential friend, and simply hoped that the wolves of Easthollow were distracted enough by the onslaught of Ursine warriors to not notice that one of their packmates had disappeared from their midst. She'd promised Valette that she would repay the debt of being taken into their sanctuary- but what debt could there be if she'd meant nothing to begin with?

yall, I seriously suck. SO sorry for holding this up <3 this will be toads last post here though and ursus members umm one of yall can pp his body if that works? LOL
also fight scenes are hard for my pea brain so im sorry for not writing about everything goin on sgsfzczx

 

toad felt a giddiness unlike himself as the scene erupted further into chaos, wolves at eachother's throats- ursus' victory, soon enough, surely. further joyful when his target came to him- the boy, rosina's murderer.

murderer 

that's all he thought when he looked at west. he thought of the way rosina had teased him about his name, but it had all been in good fun, because he'd never really minded. no, he hadn't be close to her- but she was ursus. she was one of them. 

and this asshole had killed her. 

the boy came for toad's throat. toad thought he could prepare properly, meaning to grab his muzzle, but somewhere along the way he misjudged the angle. only early in the fight, and already the enemy's teeth were upon the soft skin of his throat, and he could swear that might be the end of it all right there -

but not today. he was lucky that west was large, and lucky that he pushed him back rather than tightening his grip, because soon enough the frogboy was being thrown onto his back- and then his skull collided heavily with the earth, and he was out like a light as his muscles went limp. 

for any that can't understand hes not dead LOLL he's KO

AK! Sorry I thought I had to wait for Avicus my bad!!! I am kind of lost of what happened so please let me know if I forgot anything of importance.

Valette had been ready for an incoming attack but West jumped before her. She tried to stop him but she was not quick enough to react the female winced at the impact of the two wolves. Her eyes darkened ready to join her son when the other wolf had tried to get free and fell back. He hit his head, and was out cold it seemed. Valette turned her attention to the others.

Some returned that they had killed Rosina, that white female. That had not been a shock since the female laid there clearly murdered. She would get to the bottom of this. Since she didn't believe Oryx had done this. Still, she was not mad since this female deserved it. The female took a defensive stance ready to protect her lands. But there was also chaos. She wanted to say so much how much this female deserved it.

They had a lot to allies, and she was not afraid to use them and call upon their help.  Then they would have a lot of capable wolves that could fight with them. That is, if they would not be the end today. She didn't plan on it. But that didn't mean that others were intended to end her. A large male charged into her. Valette tried to dodge but the large male was like a big bison charging towards her. He impacted with her, the matriarch yelped at the impact as she was bulldozed to the ground.

i'm so sorry for holding this up! vague attack at astara, lauren you can choose how/if it hits and have permission to pp any attack back at polaris if wanted for the sake of speeding things up <3

focused upon the arrival of a lurking earth kissed figure as his tongue tossed arrowed words into the fray, she is momentarily overcome by stark incredulousness in the form of a huffed snort. --what hypocrisy!! although she does not care to face the bite of confused, churning unease as to the pale witch's fate when so much was at stake for her family, she did indulge herself in bitter wry. the coven of unhinged killers singing songs of morals and woe? claiming to seek revenge over a loss when her body lay crumpled and muddied upon the earth as if but rotted carrion? they did not care!! this was but an excuse to dabble in violence whilst using the situation as but another, mental, attack on the wolves of easthollow. 

frenzied look allows itself to narrow solely on the muddied man as he took position beside the random child; 'you don't fool me you bastards, you's love this'

yes, she was right, these soulless barbarians wouldn't try to pin anything one them-- they didn't care! life meant nothing to them, nothing. 

and yet-- something wouldn't stop a stirring nag at the back of her mind- an image of the softly spoken snowdrop boy and his water spirit friend-- she ignored it. 

and the second passes, the disturbance of valette and greyback no match for the roaring inferno they'd stumbled upon as it reared and engulfed them with the wordless launch of the demon eyed raven. 

she is starkly reminded of finding a butterfly as a child and sobbing to papa when her superior strength led to its untimely death in a mere attempt to play with it, unable to understand his lack of horror at its loss of life just because of its inferior identity. the same feeling that remained settled within her gut upon watching every pack hunt, wincing at the whoops of joy as the bloodied prey fell dead to the floor. it is a strange memory to be hit with as she launched after the smoky behemoth as her hellhound assisted the assault on greyback; for it was in fact the first time that polaris felt the true nature of that instinct; that desire to kill.

so why was it that it was considered okay to succumb to such a nature when it resulted in the slaying of such innocent creatures and yet what she felt now towards one of her own was unnatural, a crime even? the lust to strip the woman's right to live is something the girl would observe with unease in the aftermath of this fight, but in that moment she was but a body of rage, adrenaline and instinct - a pure predator void of rational thought as she snarled and spat and flung herself with a kissed strength she'd never even touched off of before at she who dared try and hurt those she cared about.

<3 i kept this vague also, and tried to wrap it up so we can either archive here, or after anyone else who wants to post, posts. i did some light assumptions (astara getting hurt/chased away) so LMK if they're not okay

her first target was the old-timer, but as she fought against him she saw toad fall to the side.

in a moment, the tide of ursus had changed -- with toad down, astara knew they must make their point and then escape with their lives.

she was distracted by her clansmate's fall, and it was then polaris roared to life and struck her; crimson bled freely from the raven's muzzle as the snow-waif's fangs raked across her cheek and split her muzzle.

astara fought back as she was able, countering now -- the offensive had dwindled down, and ursus had made their mark.

she howled a retreat, fighting against the pale firebrand as she pursued after astara, relentless. the nightshade snapped and countered where she could, but her focus now was on toad, and hauling him home.

she attempted one last shove to free herself of polaris, and looking to merrick and evien (protect my back, her eyes seemed to say) swung her muzzle down to toad and began to haul him for home.

one body was enough to leave at easthollow's borders -- astara would not let that number become two.

im sorry to skip but for the sake of slapping my own ending on, wanted to post once more <3

his teeth, a razoring slice that dared to pluck eyes from sockets and tongues from heads if any tried to come for the corvid, who dragged toad's young and slumbering body in much the same way as she had dragged rosina.
@Avicus — merrick hooted a tipping howl to his daughter, summoning her away and away and away —
his own mouth pooling with blood, that of his own and that of those who mingled with ursus and been found wanting. 
the bearwolves retreated, but merrick laughed aloud, for he knew it would not be the last time that easthollow would quail before their might. and the single eye lit upon greyback, burning tyger-bright and resolute before at last he turned away.

also tacking on my own ending!

He had moved in a flash, his grip meeting his mark as he secured a hold on the other boy only to force his body to collide with the earth beneath him. West had expected more of a fight, though the other fell limp. For a moment, there was a note of fear, that perhaps he had gone too far once more as the woodland boy stepped back. It wasn't until he saw the rise and fall of the other's chest that any concerns went out the door.

Despite what had already happened, West wasn't a killer. He refused to believe so, he never wanted to be and his intentions never were to be. That didn't mean he would stop defending his home though. The boy's unconscious form seemed to gather attention quickly as the raven women quickly moved to grab him and begin hauling his body away. West did not dare stop them as another body moved to retreat along with the one eyed man's call.

They were retreating! An exhilarating rush coursed through his body at the realization. He had actually successfully chased them off, not just the time with their gargoyle, but even now as their numbers came to swarm. West stayed to watch, ensuring that no one else tried to pull something over as their backs turned, but once their bodies had moved into the distance a breath of life filled his lungs as West tipped his head back. He let out a call of victory, of triumph, this was their land and no one could stand to question it. No one would take it from them and Ursus certainly would never make them pay for defending their family.

With the end of battle though came exhaustion. West could feel it creeping into his bones as the air left his lungs. There was bound to be questions still, from his family, from Polaris. He didn't want to think about that right now though, he wanted to rest so when given the moment to slip away he would to find someplace to curl up and lick his wounds.