Oh, he was in trouble now. The Vuesain's youngest grinned ear to ear as Neha's challenge rang out through the pine trees, and his clunky paws picked up their pace. A laugh burst from between his parted jaws as the pair scrambled over the snowy ground. She was faster than him, for sure, but if he got a head start the boy usually had at least a minute or two until she was on top of him, and he would have to fight the silver girl off once more. However, in that arena he was easily superior. Once she was caught, Neha was little match for his bulk, and nothing proved it better than the smattering of wet dirt on the girl's back. 


Looking over his shoulder, the tawny child discovered that she was gaining on him again, and took evasive action. His chubby frame lurched back into the treeline, and ducked around a cluster of thick-trunked pines. He stumbled a little, but was streaking through the woods in no time at all. Interestingly enough though, a dull set of thuds from behind him indicated that Neha had had much more trouble with the turn than prince had. An ear flicked back, and then the rest of his head as the youth's feet skittered to a stop. He'd meant to slow her down, not make her fall. Parted, grinning jaws maintained their smile as his golden eyes searched the trees for where she'd gone. When the girl did not appear immediately, he decided to double back; sides rapidly heaving from the sprint. 


As the boy trotted and then loped back into the treeline, his heart began to race. A large black shape moved before him, quickly followed by his sister's frightened shriek. His smile vanished. Cernan rushed forward, his eyes wide with horror. The whole scene came into view – the bear stumbling lazily, but angrily, after Neha and her desperate defensive posturing. He'd only a second to react, and the usually timid boy wasn't going to hide today. Wraith and Nathaniel's advice came to mind, and the Vuesain Prince squared his shoulders. Something screamed him onward, and without really thinking he ran, barking sharply at the threat from within a snarling mouth. It was not going to have his sister! "HEY!" Cernan yelled, skidding his forelegs to a harsh stop the second its beady eyes turned to focus on him instead. All of a sudden his bravery was gone, and his limbs felt weak. 


It grumbled some sort of irritated noise, and shuffled its front paws slightly toward him. An agitated, and probably grumpy half-roar left the creature's parted jaws. The moment provided a much needed opportunity, and the boy's head snapped toward Neha. "Call mom and dad!" He shrieked, just in time for the monster to decide that it had given him enough forewarning. If the cub wasn't going to move, the bear was going to make it. The bear started charging again, rushing him at speed. "CALL MOM AND DAD!" His throat was raw from the ear-shattering scream. The Prince turned tail, streaking away from the predator in the opposite direction. He was a panicked, stumbling child though, and the only thing keeping him from already being eaten was the bear's grogginess. He would not be lucky for long. Horrified yelps beseeched anyone, anyone in the vicinity to help. He felt for sure that if this thing caught him, he was going to die. 

The morning had seemed like any other to Kajika, he’d made his usual trip down to the lake and had his drink as well as caught a fish for breakfast. He did notice it had seemed a little quitter than usual but he hadn’t really thought much of it. During his patrol however everything seemed to make more sense as the roar of a bear rang through the trees of his packs land. He thought it was much too early for the bears to be awake and then there was the question of what was it even doing in Fallen Tree Cove but those questions were moved to the back of his head as he heard Namid’s barks in the distance.

Kajika’s stomach turned at that, something wasn’t right and he needed to be there to help in whatever way he could. Not wasting another moment, he flew through the trees in the direction the barks and growls were coming from. The closer he got the louder the sounds became until he was coming to a skidding stop at the scene of his pack mates trying to fight off the bear that he had heard earlier. The sight of Moonshadow spread in a snow bank tugged at him but there wasn’t time to stop and check he had to help with the bear. He didn’t hesitate and instead dove in biting at one of the bears back legs. He hoped to help unbalance it so that they could deal with it in whatever way his alpha’s saw fit.

Nathaniel's easy pace transitioned into a blur of sprinting near immediately upon the delivery of Namid's call to arms within his ears. It mattered not what awaited him, in fact the would-be knight gave it no thought. If his veins weren't flooded with concern for these strangers he called pack mates, he might've been given reason to pause and wonder when exactly that started to become normal. Acts of valiantry, selflessly placing himself in harm's way, loyalty at all--none of it was him, he was still convinced of that. Skulduggery was still his preferred cup of tea and yet here he was, racing to the front lines once more. Maybe he really was becoming something better.

By the time he arrived upon the scene, the beast was being engaged by of his packmates while a barely familiar, dark-coated girl lay within the snow a minimal distance away. His ears flicked forward to catch the tail-end of Namid's commands, and when he realized that it was the children she was speaking to, his gut twisted and knotted. Nathaniel was forced to pinch his tongue between his fangs so as not to call out to them and beg them to keep their distance instead. They weren't truly children anymore, yet the need to protect them as such was still dominant within him.

This emotion demanded that he stay as close to them as possible, ensuring that if the bear got too close to striking them, he would be there to stop it. Yet he could not ignore the young subordinate that appeared to be injured. His gait skidded to a halt beside her, thick-ruffed neck craning downward so that his leathery nose might peruse her side and search for an open wounds. He nudged her ribs, and asked "Are you alright?"

Be alright, get up fast, his mind begged, his paws itching to take him closer to the heat of the battle.

Run, run, run. His mind wasn't even coherent enough to form the words, but the fear was real. He didn't stop, didn't notice what was happening until he heard the impacts; soft thuds buried behind his heartbeat and panic. Cernan's head turned, and at last his skittering paws came to a stop. The bear was looking at something else; having turned its back on the prince entirely. At first his blood ran cold, hearing her yelp and thinking perhaps that it was Neha who it had attacked, but she was still back there; still standing. Instead his wide golden eyes snagged on the crumpled form of the older girl; @Moonshadow. 



His chest tightened suffocatingly. It was turning back, looking for him now that the older wolf was down. His jaws hung open in shock and exertion; and the boy nearly bolted once more. Before he could even turn around the silvery form of his mother came rushing onto the scene with a commanding howl; challenging the creature directly and succeeding in drawing its ire. That did little to comfort him, though. It hesitated, and in that fleeting moment her words slammed full force into the pup's ears. They were to help? The young boy only watched, his head practically spinning as the monster lunged. He skittered back, eyes fixating on the Alphess and finding instant reassurance that she was still unharmed.


He couldn't breathe. His sides heaved but there was not enough oxygen in the world. Everything collapsed in on itself. Pa burst from somewhere back in the woods; hurling himself forward recklessly. Kajika quickly followed, joining in on the assault without a single word. The lake child simply gaped at the whole scene; his legs splayed in fright. When at last the gladiator appeared, Cernan was surprised to see him doting on the yearling first. His attention flickered between the combatants and the other three, finally fixating with horror on the approaching form of his sister. She was really going to do it, wasn't she? Of course. He saw her stance and body stiffen, and a whine escaped his throat. No no... He didn't want any of them to be involved in this, to get hurt or worse! 


But then, there wasn't much else that could be done about it, was there? This thing had invaded their home, and it would eat their food if they didn't stop it. Cernan knew all of that, but still his feet were motionless. When she charged his heart sank. The boy rocked forward, aching to grab her and pull her back out of there; to scream any sort of sense into the girl and run away. She attacked; lashing out just like any of the other adults. The raucous battle continued on, now with his sibling's voice added to the mix as she lunged in and out – each time pulling more and more at his paralysis. Every time he flinched; swearing that once more he would see her nearly killed by some beast of the wild.

A growl built in his throat before he really knew it was happening. Frustration, anger, an urge to protect her from all of this chaos – some combination of it all was making his muscles ache. Again the prince suffered under the weight of his fear; weak and stupid for every passing moment he did not help them. It felt disgusting. Neha was in there. The rumbling of Cernan's throat grew; forcing back his lips in a rarely seen snarl. His neck tingled with the bristling of his tawny fur. He could not just stand here. He would not just stand here. The youngest Vuesain broke from his bonds; golden eyes latching intensely onto this threat to their family. The hefty boy lurched into a lope; hurling all of his weight forward and parting his jaws in anticipation. His low growl was muffled beneath the flesh of the animal's flank; a grip maintained for only a second before the tormented creature whirled on him.    

Teeth caught onto his own shoulder and the pup squeaked; backpedaling just quick enough to free himself and get the hell out of its range. It hurt, but it was much less than it would have been without the adrenaline coursing through his veins. The actual wound was only a couple small punctures, likely similar to the one he'd inflicted on the bear, and soon there would be bruising as well. The prince grimaced and shook out his pelt; feeling it burn more and more now that he was out of harm's way. His brows furrowed and a whisper of moisture formed in his eyes. Cernan snapped at its legs the second the thing was dumb enough to face the other way. The boy wasn't so keen on actually biting it again after that; but he sure was upset.