Cedarwood Forest Get Down Like This

Yvly, you accidentally get in the way of a grizzly scavenging for pre-hibernation food.

Anyone nearby is welcome to join!
~~363 words

The day was a bit cooler and very misty. Not enough to make looking at objects impossible, but just enough to make it difficult for anything beyond a couple of feet ahead of her. Mix that in with a wandering mind and disaster was created, usually in the form of walking into a tree or a prickly bush. But apparently the day had something much worse in store for her. At first when she had heard crunching noises ahead of her, Yvly assumed it to be a larger form of prey such as deer, though she had yet to see one in this area before. So of course she decided to ignore the warning bells and continue on her merry way, after all, what could happen?

It was only when she heard the huffing of its breath that Yvly paused, ears angling to the sound and eyes observing her surroundings. Among the widely spaced cedarwood trees was an enormous grizzly bear, snout to the ground as if scavenging for food. Ears immediately lying flat against her skull, the tawny female crouched down so her body was law to the ground and began slowly backing away as to not alert it to her presence. She didn't quite feel like tangling with a grizzly that weighed at least three times her weight today if she could help it.

But it just so happened that one of her back paws stepped on a dry stick, snapping it cleanly in half with a resounding crack! Freezing, Yvly watched with wide eyes as the grizzly lifted up its head to stare directly at her. Both her and the grizzly were silent for a few moments before it reared back its body and let out a ferocious roar. "Shit, shit, shit!" The tawny female cried out as she scrambled backwards to avoid the grizzly's front paws as it landed back onto all fours. Right now running was her best option as she was sure that the grizzly wouldn't start chasing her, but she was completely frozen with fear in her crouched position, body trembling like a leaf, dark amber eyes fixed on the enormous body in front of her.

Sarah, let me know if the note about Sahalie isn't okay. <3

SVEN ARCHER

& the night is closing in

The boy was up to his normal routine of no good, prowling about the Cedarwood Forest in search of his mother's captors and their routines. So much time had passed since he'd last seen @Piety, and he supposed she hadn't dared to step paw outside of the borders since their last tango. They must have threatened her, he was certain of it. They knew he had come to retrieve her and now they were working even harder to keep her from him. Yet still he wasn't sure what to do about this horrid situation. So, when he had time away from his duties and wasn't undergoing one of his occasional visits through the tunnels to see @Sahalie, he wandered, taking note of each and every occurrence within this wretched forest.

The snow at least now covered the dried pine needles, and they could no longer burn the pads of his paws, a sensitivity inherited from @Skoll. The day was calm, only the natural rhythm of the forest singing subtly in the background. There was little to see, and much less was of use, yet he remained vigilant. It would pay off, in a very unexpected way.

The peace around him was utterly shattered by the rending of the air, a ferocious roar tearing through the forest to assault his ears. With little thought he bounded forward, muzzle twisting with an apprehensive snarl. He quickly arrived upon the scene, skidding into the area with his limbs splayed, prepared to jump into the fray.  Shock hit him to witness such an incredibly large beast, a monster he'd never seen before in his life. He couldn't help but wonder, was this one of the dragons his mother had spoken of? It didn't matter. A woman was in trouble, and given the chivalrous teachings of Piety, he could not turn away from this.

The boy launched forward, placing himself between the grizzly and the girl, facing the mammoth beast with a vicious snarl. The immense creature was given reason to pause, staring stupidly down at him as he wondered if perhaps he'd been mistaken in attacking what he'd thought to be a lone wolf. His black eyes sought the forest around them as his nostrils worked the air, seeking any signs of a pack. Sven tucked his chin against his throat and let out a bellowing summons, further feigning that others would be on the way, before turning on Yvly and giving her a forceful shove with his shoulder to shake her from her stupor.

"Run! Now!"

(This post was last modified: Dec 08, 2015, 05:57 PM by Sven.)

hope this is okay, let me know if either of you want anything changed c:

Well, now. Wasn't his decision to casually trail the boy fortunate.

Increasingly aware of the disjointed family dynamic enjoyed by @Morganna's less charming sibling (though, really, the entire Archer clan was hardly a well-oiled machine) Craw had nevertheless taken a strange liking to Skoll's angry only son. With the entire purpose for Craw's existence within the willow pack's ranks effectively swept out from under him, the white man had rather found himself sinking into the dullness of daily routines with no distraction of conspiracy or other plans to divert him. With winter around the corner, and the vivid memories of how he had spent the warmer months, the seasons were essentially holding him hostage. He still enjoyed Morganna's company, but it was different now. This hadn't been what he wanted. This hadn't been what he planned.

He hated when things didn't go to plan.

Everyday he walked the borders, chased off intruders - no matter the species, he had no time for them - scavenged or hunted and brought back scraps for the cache. His intentions to train Morganna to fight had been left at the wayside when her responsibilities had quadrupled overnight; he had no doubt that the woman now saw him as only another recruited body to keep Willow Ridge safe and fed, particularly through the winter. Did she think he would be content with this role? Did she expect him to continue on as though all of their previous conversations hadn't happened? Craw had not breathed a word of their plotting to a single soul, for the young Archer was the closest thing he had to an ally, and the scarred wolf wasn't in a habit of squandering his allies.

Come spring, though. Come spring, things would have to change.

@Svens scent, musky and fading in the cold air, had led north, out of the willows, his travel betrayed further by the faint pawprints left in the melting snow. It had been nothing but a moment's impulsiveness that had seen Craw move in the same direction, though the man did not necessarily intend on finding the boy. Perhaps it was good that he did, though. There was no mistaking the angry bellow of a grizzly bear. Craw's pace quickened, for if there was any chance of the Archer boy being the cause of it - well. Craw wouldn't gain any favour letting Sven become a bloody smear if he'd had the opportunity to deal with it.

Besides, he was a thousand times healthier and stronger than he had been when he first stumbled in from the north, and it was time to prove that Morganna's decision to ally hadn't been wrong.

Run! he heard a familiar voice shout, seconds after a summoning cry, but who was Sven with? Craw was almost certain that he had been alone in tracking the boy - who else had he called to? Within moments, the back of the bear came into view, with a pair of wolves - white and tawny - just beyond it. Antagonising a bear just before its slumber, whose idea was that? And who was with Sven? A deep rumble in his chest, Craw leapt forward, making no secret of his advance - which had the intended effect of bringing the bear's beady black eyes upon him. Bared teeth flashed at bared teeth and Craw saw some measure of doubt in the beast's eyes, for it no more wanted to waste time and energy on fighting a wolf pack than they did on fighting it.

Similarly, he did not waste time and energy monitoring Sven, for if the boy and whoever he was protected weren't intelligent enough to use the distraction to get the hell away, they deserved to die. Using his size to his full advantage (although the grizzly still far outmatched him) Craw sized off against it, making damn well sure the beast decided he was the biggest threat.

Because he damn well was.

Thanks for joining @Sven and @Craw :D
~~347 words

She was frozen with absolute fear. Even though in her mind she wished desperately to run, her body simply couldn't move. Her body curled up more and more into a ball shape as the grizzly began slowly advancing on her, but suddenly a small, white form appeared between her and the grizzly. Yvly could only stare at him until he gave her a forceful shove that snapped her out of her fear-ridden body, yelling at her to run. Not being one to ignore someone who yelled at her to get out of the way when there was danger, the tawny female quickly rose to her feet and began turning around, but something else stopped her. She couldn't leave the white boy on his own to fight off the grizzly, but she wouldn't help him fight it either.

However, before she could tell him to run with her, another wolf appeared, painted in greys with striking yellow eyes that were engaged onto the grizzly's huge form. He was absolutely huge, and she watched silently as he bared his teeth aggressively at the grizzly, sizing off at the creature so its attention was focused on him, and him alone. She would have been thankful that he was here if she wasn't completely focused on not becoming a meal. Gaze returning back to the white boy, she crawled forwards, her peripheral vision keeping track of the grey male and the grizzly baring fangs at each other. Yvly gently poked the white boy's shoulder with her muzzle. "We need to get out of here," she implored, hoping the boy would come with her. Even though there was now another, and frankly much more able-bodied wolf here to take care of the grizzly, she still wouldn't leave him near such a dangerous threat. He was far too young to die. Backing away from the grizzly, Yvly would make sure there was enough distance between her and the creature before turning tail and running, sure that they large grey male would also run once she and the white boy were out of danger.

(This post was last modified: Jan 04, 2016, 12:30 PM by Yvly.)

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

SVEN ARCHER

& the night is closing in

The last thing he expected was for @Craw to join the fray, and as he watched the void-stained man distract the beast with low growls and bared fangs, Sven couldn't help but feel a measure of irritation that he would now no longer be able to claim all the credit for saving the woman behind him. Once more, another wolf had come to his rescue, and this time, it hadn't even been needed. Though he supposed, that was what pack mates were for, yet what had Craw been doing out here anyways? The Cedarwoods were his business, or so the whelp thought.

When Yvly's voice broke through his thoughts, Sven realized his face had been twisted with a scowl, and he quickly wiped the expression from his features. We need to get out of here, she told him, and he couldn't agree more. He had no intentions of going against something so large and unfeeling, very aware that the situation they were in was in no way jocular. Yet it was all of them that needed to scram now, and as he pushed against Yvly, herding her into running with him, he threw over his shoulder, "C'mon, Craw!" in hopes that if they were out of the way, Craw would relinquish the stalemate and come with them. He hadn't seemed to be an unintelligent man, but Sven wasn't exactly an optimistic creature when it came to others.

@Yvly

Focused on the bear, Craw did not pay much attention to the disappointment plastered on Sven's face. Instead, more occupied with each creature's relative position to each other and where the grizzly's attention lay, the large wolf cared only that the two younger wolves vanished from his peripheral vision and that the huge feral threat had similarly paid them little mind.

In a one on one brawl, Craw would have been slaughtered, but the bear could not be entirely certain of those numbers even as no other reinforcements came. The wolf made sure to snarl and bark out alarms as though there were other packmates lurking in the trees, to throw the bear's confidence and sow doubt. With no carcass to fight over and no offspring to defend, it benefited neither party to engage in violence; the only outcome for either side was bodily harm and potential death. Aware that @Sven had called for Craw to also retreat, the silvered wolf began to back away, offering mutual disengagement; the grizzly growled and lowered itself, distrustful and wary, but did not advance. Craw took that as a clear message. Allowing for a very wide berth, the scarred wolf slipped around the agitated beast and made to run after Sven and his female, barking once to let them know that they could slow down; so long as they left the bear alone, it should now return the favour.

@Sven

The white boy pushed himself against her shoulder, herding the tawny female away from the danger. She willingly obliged and ran after him with the idea of staying salubrious instead of being a grizzly meal. Yvly would have run as fast as she could to escape the threat behind her, but one she didn't know this land very well and wouldn't want to face an injury, and two she didn't want to leave the youngling on his own even though the large grey male surely had everything under control. Her escape was cut short when she heard a bark signalling they were safe for the time being, and she slowed to a gentle stop, breath coming out in pants.

Her dark amber gaze shifted to the white boy, as if making sure he was unhurt. She wasn't heartless, after all, just one to shy away from most social interactions. But the tawny female supposed that she would need to be thankful to her... saviours to show her appreciation in not getting eaten. The large grey male swiftly appeared and Yvly splayed her ears to the side, eyes looking down at the ground almost ashamedly. Yes, she was glad to be alive, but what an awkward situation it would be now. Should she say thanks? Probably. "Uhm, thanks... I guess," Yvly mumbled softly, body cringing inwards. God why was she so bad at being social? "... for saving me and all. I suppose I owe you now?" She wasn't sure if that last part was directed at the younger or the older wolf, but either could take it if they wanted. Ugh what a day it was turning out to be.

280 words

Yvly Doramor

imagine we are higher than the arrows,
casually we're breathing with the pharaohs,
tragically we fall just like the arrows.

(This post was last modified: Jan 04, 2016, 01:03 PM by Yvly.)