Rhysis had been casually wandering around the area. It’d been a little while since he had first travelled here and it was a change to see that spring had started to appear at last. Today had been much warmer then the last few and the shine was shining brightly in the clear blue sky. Pleased with the weather and the silence, Rhysis had taken a seat upon a felled tree and had been watching the birds making a nest in the tree above. It was a curious sight to watch and he was utterly fascinated with the methods they used. They chatted to each other as they worked, each pair of birds had their own sounds and they seemed so excited at the prospect of spring.

Everything changed the moment a group of coyotes decided to hurtle through the area. The birds scattered from fear, leaving their constructions for the time being. With a raised brow, Rhysis noticed a few with injuries, nothing fatal but defiantly the sign that something had had a go at them; he could only come to the conclusion there was another wolf nearby, no other animal could do such damage.

The dark male gave a sniff of the air, and detected the faint scent of blood upon the air. He hadn’t noticed it before, he’d been too distracted by the nest building to care much and with a full belly he hadn’t been looking out for a meal. Still, he supposed it wouldn’t hurt to see who had done the damage... it could have been a few wolves, maybe a familiar face. Oh! Maybe Triell was nearby- this is where Rhysis had first met the wolf and it would be good to see how the other male was doing, especially with how they left things.
He followed his nose, allowing his paws to trot carefully upon the floor as not to trip over hidden roots and step of sharp stones. The snow was slowly starting to melt but the world around him was still barren and bare; here and there buds had grown almost overnight, ready for spring and he tried to remember the names of them but failed, especially when his eyes landed on a lone female feeding on a deer’s belly. It was obvious she hadn’t brought it down herself. The carcass was littered with teeth marks and claw marks... so she’d stolen it from the coyotes? Well, that wasn’t very sporting but he supposed beggars couldn’t be choosers.

He kept his distance at first, merely watching and making sure he didn’t know her face. He was certain he hadn’t met her before and for the time being he didn’t want to interrupt her meal, tasty as it looked but he was in no mood to chase another female; he’d had quite enough of that lately thank you very much. Instead, he took a seat upwind so that his scent would carry over to her, but he was far enough away as not to pose a threat of stealing her meal and there, he simply sat and watched.

Rhysis silently watched as she gorged herself and whilst his belly might not yet be growling of hunger, he found himself licking his lips on occasions. He’d been thinking a variety of things as he observed, such as where he would head to next, who he was hoping to run into and general thoughts of nothing. They were quickly stopped however as the female sauntered over with that twinkle in her eye, he inwardly cringed.

Her greeting did nothing to make him look twice at her, and instead he looked past her to the doe which she had offered. He wasn’t going to turn down a free meal anytime soon. ”Oh yeah... something here looks just divine.” he said before getting up and trotting past her towards the doe with every intention to eat; he wasn’t going to say no and whilst he might not be starved, he could still eat. Though it appeared she was going to follow and keep on talking as they went- he had been listening, he always listened but nothing had caught his attention as of yet. He had met a wolf called Thanatos, but only briefly and hadn’t hung around for long enough to make him memorable. Her mention of breeding season had him rolling his eyes for he was above such things; whilst his instincts may know what he needed to do, his mind would probably never co-operate and the very mention of it had him rolling his eyes. Clearly this female had a screw lose... hell what female didn’t have a screw lose in these parts?! He said nothing, he just wanted to eat in peace... but apparently that wasn’t going to happen.

Everything changed when she touched him. As soon as her fur made contact with his own he lost it. With rubber lips pulled back he turned his head to face her and snapped towards her rear- it was more then a warning, he wanted to hurt her. As the tail came up he thrust his jaws towards it, hoping to catch the plume in his mouth and give it a good chomp. A deep, fearsome growl slipped from his throat and hackles rose all along his nape and spine. Inside he was screaming out, his skin felt like he’d been burned where she touched him and he felt physically sick. He had nothing to say, his warning was all in his outburst.

He’d missed her tail, but he was going to try again. He didn’t like to be touched; she’d crossed the line and quite frankly he was pissed. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know, her entire manner, flirting and all over him made him feel physically sick and despite the fact she offered to share her stolen meal, he felt like a fly in the spider web, drawn in and then trapped as if it had been her plan all along. He wasn’t going to play her silly games. She thought she knew him, understood him, obviously he must be a real stereotype as he kept on attracting the nutters who wanted to bask in his bad boy ways... Ironic really that he got more attention being himself then when he tried to play nicely.

With his handsome head lowered, hackles raised and body tense, he faced her head on whilst she spoke. It was all garbage to him, he wasn’t interested in the offer in the slightest. He had his plans and he didn’t want to share any of it with a female, especially not this one. ”I’d rather claw my eyes out then run a pack with you.” was all he said before he kicked off at the ground and headed straight for her, turning ever so slightly as he got closer.

There was only a short distance between them (I’m assuming? You didn’t really say) and with a powerful thrust his tall, heavy weight came at her. With jaws open and canines at the ready, he ducked his head down and tried to grab a front leg. With his shoulder and nape hidden beneath his winter coat and hackles he could afford for them to have a bit of exposure whilst his front leg snaked behind her own to try and trip her. He wanted to break a leg... her leg to be exact.

As she fell he ensured to keep his grip, with the limb between his teeth he began to bite down, hoping to at least splinter the bone with the force from his jaws. He almost had enough pressure when the wolf turned into an ankle biter and went for his leg. With his own limb stuck in her mouth, and her limb stuck in his mouth it appeared they were at a momentary stalemate. Whilst her other front paw took to scratch at his chest, there was little damage due to his winter coat being thick and the angle she was at the floor should mean there was little force behind the scratches- what concerned him at the moment was his leg within her jaws. He needed to free it, fast.

His puppy training had always been tough, but now that he was full sized and everything was bigger, he found that the amount of pain never changed; it still hurt like a bitch and reaching adulthood hadn’t change anything about that. He had always assumed when he was bigger, fighting would hurt less but it was proving to be just the dreams of a small pup... as usual.

In a flash, he let go of her front leg and from his position above her, he moved his head up, thrust his free front paw onto her shoulder to try and keep her pinned and clamped his jaws downwards her eyes, hoping to catch her around the face and sink a canine into one of the fleshy eyeballs- the pain would be excruciating and he hoped that the shock of the impact would be enough for her to scream out, in which instant he would pull his leg free. It was going to be sore for a few weeks, he’d have to hunt down Naira and her plants to help fight off infection... if he got it free at all that is.

As soon as his own leg was free, Rhysis lifted up the limb and held it up, it wasn’t quite out of her reach but it was kept close to his chest. With his teeth having just missed her eye he didn’t see much point in carrying on the attack, but he gave a last squeeze of his teeth, hoping to leave a nice little scar as a reminder not to try it on with him again. With a snort, he released her head and limped backwards quickly. Panting, he snarled and bared his canines to her again as he spoke. ”You let me go? Psh... you’re out of your depth with me little girl. Run home before I change my mind about letting you go.” he growled between breaths.

In truth, he wanted to get his leg taken care of as quickly as possible, he couldn’t afford a lasting injury, not when he didn’t have the support of a pack around him like he had when he scuffled when he was younger. Even though he had been forced to fight, they had good healing techniques on standby to keep their fighters in top condition, but now he was alone and fending for himself the thought of losing the use of his leg was daunting. It was lucky the female had taken over the carcass still lying close by- he could use that for a few days to save on hunting and really rest up the joint.

”And this is mine now... show up again and I won’t let you live to tell the tale.” he said, though all the while his defences were up encase she decided to give him another shot. He’d hoped he had proven his point enough to make her think twice about coming back to it. He would need that food to sustain him until he could track down the plants he needed or Naira to help him recover.

He glanced back to the female who had yet to say anything, but as soon as eye contact was made, Rhysis offered a stern bark and the wounded girl bolted, leaving Rhysis alone with the kill.

end