Sanguine Cove mary has a heart of coal

she'll break you down and eat you whole
i saw her do it after school, she's an animal

Random Event: Magg, you come across a bear cub but can't locate its mother.

She had been patrolling when she'd come across that smell. Magg had frozen in place, stiff with her features twisted into a hateful snarl as her brown eyes darted around her verdant surroundings. They landed on a bumbling brown mass, small and pathetic in appearance. Inside her home. The anger surged even as she realized she looked upon a child. Like a lion stalking its prey she slunk closer, ever watchful of their surroundings and taking in deep samples of the air.

It was... alone.

The realization surprised her, and she paused a moment, posture straightening as she lifted her head. Her movement shifted brush, and it turned to look at her over a round shoulder. Blinking beady, gullible eyes at her. Noise bleated from its mouth, like it was asking for help or something. The image of Sephrina's dead body burned behind Magg's eyes, and her mind was made up.

She shot forward, attacking the infant rival with all the savagery her species was capable of.

(This post was last modified: Jul 24, 2023, 03:51 AM by Eros.)

Diantha smelled it first. That stench of death and refuse and danger. Her fur stiffened along her shoulders and spine and she froze, ears pricked almost painfully as she listened. Where was it? Could she run? Would it be better to hide?

And then she heard the plaintive bleat and answering snarl, and then there was a horrible shrieking sound and the smell of blood reached Di's nose. Without thinking she darted toward the sound, skidding to a stop as she came into view of Magg attacking a bear cub only a little smaller than them. Di hesitated. She should really go get one of the adults, maybe Nash or Leo, only Nash was sick...

She couldn't leave her agemate alone to face this thing, whose kind was responsible for so much heartache. She lifted her head, hoping faking her confidence would provide her with the real thing, and jumped into the fray to assist Magg.

It hadn't known how to defend itself, born an only cub and relatively spoiled. The mountain had been safe for it and its mother, until today. Magg easily found its throat and tore the flesh away, damning the young rival swiftly. It still cried out and flailed, and she continued to bite, chest rumbling endlessly with her rage, until it finally stilled.

Only then did she realize another set of teeth had been assisting her. She blinked at Diantha, tongue lolling as she panted and eyes void of all feeling. Then they drifted back to the maimed cub, and she wondered when its mother would find out.

"... we need to tell my Dad," she finally spoke in between breaths.

It all seemed like so much, the battle that was really a slaughter seeming to last forever and yet over so quickly charging Di with a sense of righteousness even as it carried an undercurrent of guilt. But these bears were the reason Sephrina was dead and they all lost their new friends at the Backwater. She wouldn't let them hurt anyone again.

Magg looked at her ad Di looked back, their faces and chests slick with the Cub's blood. Di nodded slowly. "We need to run," she said. "We need to run now." She didn't know when the sow would be back, but she didn't want to be here when the unfortunate thing's mother discovered it's body.

We need to run.

Magg didn't want to. She felt it down into the very core of her bones. She wanted the mother to show, wanted to tear that apart too, leave pieces of it strewn everywhere as a warning for such beasts to never come here again. Unfortunately, that wasn't realistic, and the girl was old enough to know as much. She gave a nod, brown eyes taking one last look at the cub they had maimed. She didn't feel sorry, not one bit.

She took off, throwing a "come on!" to Di as she did so, flying over the ground and back toward the heart of their home. The quicker they found an adult, the better. The first stutter of concern finally hit as she thought about what could happen if they weren't quicker than the mother bear. If she managed to catch someone off guard.

Nuh uh. Not gonna happen. Magg threw back her head and howled to her pack, voice strong and clear in its message.

'Bears!'

It felt like Magg hesitated forever and as much as Di's paws were itching, she couldn't abandon her friend here. She couldn't imagine how she might react if she came back to find her best friend maimed and gone. Finally, the other yearling moved and Di didn't need to be told twice. She raced alongside Magg, panting harder than she should have been for the run. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest and she could imagine the crashing of trees as an angry bear followed them. She glanced back; there was nothing. Yet.

Magg's call made Di jump and she nearly missed a step. She only just managed to avoid tripping and gave her friend a sideways glance of annoyance but otherwise said nothing. What else was there to say?

Just one normal afternoon. That's all he wanted. One quiet afternoon where he could rest and sit with his youngest and think about what they were going to do this coming fall if the smoke kept driving their prey away.

Just. One.

But no. His eldest daughter's call split the air in the distance and before he had time to really think about what she said he was on his feet and running. Bears! Fear pumped through him, picturing the monstrous beasts ripping into his child, flinging her around like she was no heavier than a rabbit. If he wasn't fast enough, would he find her battered carcass strewn across the ground? He pushed himself faster, relief flooding him when he spotted the two girls bounding toward him through the underbrush. He stopped before them, blocking their path and taking them in. "Where? What happened?"

The stink of blood hit him then and what he was seeing finally sank in. Both girls were soaked in blood, their faces slick with it. Alarm fluttered back to life, even though he didn't smell wolf's blood. "Are either of you hurt?"

Magg felt immense relief upon seeing her father running to meet them.

"Dad!" she called, energy briefly renewed which allowed her legs to pump even faster. Her hindquarters dropped once they met, chest heaving and tongue lolling as she caught her breath. Forgetting the mess she must have looked, wanting to answer his questions but nothing coming out right away.

"Yes," she managed to pant, "we're, we're fine. Bear cub. Killed it. I don't know, where the mom is."

Her heart finally began to slow, lungs still burning but no longer starved. They were okay now, right? Her dad was here, nothing could go wrong now.

Di was nearly as relieved as Magg to see their leader. His large, dark form represented safety. She kicked it back into high gear to keep up with her friend until they skidded to a stop next to Nash. Di let Magg explain what happened, taking the opportunity to gulp down air and make her lungs stop burning. She nodded emphatically as her friend spoke. There wasn't much for her to add to it.

Now that her breathing was slowing again, the stench of the blood was returning. She scrunched her nose and licked at her teeth as if she could make the taste go away this way.

His daughter barely had breath enough to call for him, but she quickly followed it up with a panted reassurance, and Nash felt the worst of the tension leave his shoulders. He was still concerned, however, by the idea that out there was a fresh bear cub carcass and a sow about to find it. He himself would be... well, furious would be too kind a term, if something were to happen to one of his children, and bears had a significant reputation when it came to protecting their young. That the girls had been able to kill it and run before the mother arrived spoke to their efficiency, the cub's youth or - in the best case scenario - the mother was already dead.

He considered going to look, but Nash was by himself with two young ladies covered in blood and he knew none of them were equipped to deal with an enraged sow at the moment. "Come on," he said urgently. "We need to get you two cleaned off, and I'll get together a party to make sure she's off our territory." That would have to be the best he could do right now.