Sex: MaleThe hunt for food was maddening, and it had kept Raigo on his feet for the better part of the last 24 hours. After the pack hunt a few weeks ago, they had distributed the feast and hidden it in caches, but he had wanted something fresh for his stomach. Plus, the caches for when the snows came and food become even more difficult to find. So bidding adieu to Jayse and El, he had left Grizzly Hollow territory and headed east into the rising sun. With useful energy in his step, Rai had bounded through the Cedarwood Forest, taking delight in the sheer majesty of the forest around him even as the trees were losing their leaves. As he had emerged into the Blackberry Fields he had rolled eagerly in the grass, leaving his scent over ever blade he touched. But as he ran, he kept an open eye out for a certain large, white female. Had Vlar passed this way when she had left them? Would she use this way when she returned? One could never be sure, but he wanted to know.
Approaching the creek that divided the forest of Relic Lore, the Grizzly Hollow wolf had bounded in head first, his lanky limbs striking out as he paddled to keep himself afloat. Rising to the other bank, he shook himself, covering the surrounding earth with water. Inadvertently, he had chosen the section of the river that had formed the northern border of the Swift River pack. With the smell of water still firmly in his nose from his scent, the youth bounded onto the banks eagerly, with no real awareness of where he was. He was tired from his day's jaunt and the swim across the river, but he was hopeful that there would be food here.
Gold eyes looking around him, he took in the trees about 20 yards off. With the water right here and tree cover close by, surely this would be a good place to start looking for food. With a low woof, he bounded forward, nose lowered to the ground, stomach growling loudly in anticipation of the thrill of the hunt to come.
Up until this day, his 'job' had barely included anything that was not basic border patrol or food gathering. Relic Lore was decidedly peaceful, and though it had taken some adjustment, Marsh had quite taken a liking to life this way. Less time spent on hostilities, and more on keeping his packmates fed, was a worthy arrangement in his opinion. Though he knew of the pack which shared the lands, he did not waste much time considering them; beyond delivering to them one of their offspring, and the occasional past encounter, the two groups did not seem to cross each other, and that suited the Second very much.
Thus, when the sound of a wolf splashing through the water caught his ears, the idea of an actual trespasser was very far from the top of his list of expectations.
Desiring to greet whichever packmember was returning, he turned towards the sound, padding leisurely onwards. But whoever it was hadn't stuck around, and it was only habit that made Marsh approach ground that the wolf had passed on, lowering his nose to identify the source.
With a chill, he instantly realised that it wasn't somebody who was welcome.
The scent was vaguely familiar, but that it could belong to the neighbouring pack was far from his mind; <i>trespasser</i> blazed at the fore, his tail whipping over his back and his lip curling back as he flipped all too easily into the pack's guardian. Not even waiting to howl for back-up - he could do so in a moment if required - Marsh dashed forwards, following the trail, a warning bark sounding out to whoever was foolish enough to ignore the pack's ownership of these lands.
<i>There!</i> Defenses raised and posture clear, Marsh wasted no time in making his presence known to the young male who had stumbled where he wasn't welcome.</blockquote>
It had been the bark that broke abruptly through the surrounding trees that had suddenly drawn his attention to Marsh and not his scent. The male was more than capable of patrolling borders and checking everything was fine (or else he would not hold such the rank that he did), but it was the bark that so undeniably spoke of something being wrong that was the cause of his change of direction. If he was not standing vigil near his pups, or resting outside the den that they and his mate occupied it was the borders that Indru was most frequently located. On his return he had spent countless hours marking and remarking his dominant scent back into them, and even when he was satisfied that his musky, dominant scent clung to the borders like the bark on the trunks of trees he still frequented them often. His father had always drilled that the best offence a pack could have was their borders — strong scents meant a strong pack, and what wolf would be so mad as to that.
As familiar with these woods as he was it took no time for Marsh's scent to strengthen and Indru's gaze to fall upon the back of the wolf that held the rank beneath him in the pack. The relationship between them had been strained, as though Indru had been absent like the male, he could seek comfort in the fact that he had not abandoned the pack by choice as Marsh had. The Tainn had been shocked to learn of Marsh's absence, the wolf had seemed loyal to him and yet he had left his mate and newborn pups to a fate that could have cost them their lives. As the foreign scent and sight of the male fell upon Indru he prowled forward without hesitation, and perhaps where before he would have stood near in line with his Second, instead Indru walked clear past him, hackles risen and teeth pulled back in an unforgivable snarl at this stranger who dared cross his borders. Not many signs of Indru's ordeal remained upon him, and the ones that did only he was privy too, but he was as good as new in the places where it would count and his posture made it clear who led the pack here, even if the dominant scent that dripped from him and the surrounding areas were not apparent for the wolf before him.
A mere wolflength gap was all that Indru left, and with paws splayed, tail raised proudly over his back and his hackles only enhancing his already large physique he cut an impressive figure. The snarl that had been bubbling and vibrating deep from his chest now turned nearer to a roar as he stepped forward in a clear challenge, fiery eyes just daring the other to have the audacity to do anything but flee from the lands he had claimed.
Nose lowered to the ground, Raigo breathed in deeply. The furry brown creature that he had been searching for was here...somewhere. With winter coming, the beavers would be adding the finishing touches to their dams to keep them safe during the cold months. Gold eyes chanced upwards, noting the dense forestry along the river's banks. This was perfect beaver territory, and with any luck, it would not take long before the male found his potential target.
All thoughts of hunting, however, were drowned out by the warning bark. All at once, the smell of beaver evacuated Raigo's nose, and as his head listed and he saw the demon come towards him, tail raised and posture far from friendly, realization dawned. The Grizzly Hollow second's tail had been curled over his back, the position that he had become accustomed to within his own claimed lands, but it fell immediately as Marsh came forward. Abandoning the trail of the beaver, the youth shuffled backwards on his feet, gold eyes looking up only to ensure that there still remained a space between the two. Ears flattened against his head, as he walked backward, praying that his body would hit the magical scent created line that would grant him his freedom. But he knew that no matter how far back he walked, he would not leave the territory - the border here was the river. The river which lay beyond the guardian.
Opening his mouth to speak, Raigo's words were cut short by a thunderous growl as another male appeared on the scene. Tail raised up, there was no question in Raigo's mind that he had happened upon the leader of the pack. Swift River. The "duh" came too late, and as Indru came forward, Raigo began to whine. It was a pitiful sound, but there was nothing else he could do. He needed to escape, but his escape lay behind the two thundering giants, both of whom could easily eat him for breakfast.
Shuffling backwards, the youth did his best to not trip over his paws as he maneuvered himself away from the pair. Turning his rear end, he tried to move in a semi circle so that he was closer to the river. He hadn't gotten that far away from it - he could still see the damn thing after all. Taking a silent deep breath, he willed himself to do what needed to be done.
And then he did it. Letting loose his adrenaline and fear, the Hollow second charged forward, swerving to the right side of the two growling wolves, hoping with any luck he would be able to make it to the river.
Indru's presence was welcome, of course, and had Marsh not known his place as inferior he may have been insulted by his leader's apparent dismissal of his presence. After all, by waltzing straight past Indru made it fairly clear that he didn't need back-up in this situation. In all fairness, that was true; the trespasser was only a young boy, really, and unlikely to be a serious threat, but Indru was not ready to be quite so merciful. Taking from his leader's example, Marsh kicked his aggression up a notch, loping forwards to stand somewhere alongside but a little behind Indru to better provide the united front. It was plain as day to see that the boy had chosen flight over fight, and when he made a break for it, Marsh hesitated for just a second long enough to allow the boy to make it past before lunging in pursuit, a snarl ripping from his chest as he snapped at the retreating wolf's hocks, encouraging him in no subtle way to just keep on moving.</blockquote>
It was more instinct that drove Indru when the wolf fled, the instinct to chase, but it was also anger at the lack of apology in form of submission at his wrong doing—he had fled, yes, but that did not necessarily mean he had learnt his lesson, just that he had been caught in Indru's eyes. With a throaty snarl he spun as the other wolf did, seeing Marsh do the same from the corner of his eye, and leapt forward with a spring of his powerful leg muscles hoping to close the small gap the other had gained in the surprise attack. It felt no different to hunting at the moment, though Indru kept a healthy note that this creature could spin and attack much more dangerously than prey, and thus his motions were ones well rehearsed that required little effort, though unfortunately for this male his much bulkier size left him lacking in swiftness when compared to the movements of a deer.
After a few paces Indru leapt forward once again, though this time his jaws widened as he tried to clamp them around the wolf's leg; knowing that though his grip was unlikely to catch strong enough to do too much damage or hold on for long, but perhaps (as he hoped) to pull the wolf to the ground. Why he had no intentions of maiming the wolf he had no plans to let him run free from the territory with little more than his annoyance at himself for getting caught. No, he wished to leave him with at least something to remember the River wolves by.
The River was in his sights, he could see the damn thing ahead of him. Not too far away, enough he would be able to reach it in less than a minute. They were going to let him go, and the lack of a chase spurred him on. But then pain shot through his hind left leg and the world spun as Raigo fell to the ground, growls of pain coming from his muzzle unabashed. The grip on his leg was not enough to keep him there, and instinctively he began to crawl forward, golden eyes dead set on the blue safety net in front of him. But he wasn't sure he was going to make it. He had thought he would make it out of the sticky situation without injury, but the pain shooting through his leg was suggesting otherwise.
Giving up the will to crawl after only a few tries, the Grizzly Hollow second, rolled over onto his back. His head was tucked to protect the soft skin of his neck, but his underbelly was completely exposed. The whines coming from his muzzle now were clear. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please let me go. Curiosity had once bitten the cat, but today it had taken Raigo down completely.
Circling around, Marsh relinquished full pinning-rights to Indru, and instead filled the role of escape-preventer; should the trespasser wriggle from Indru's wrath, he would be met with another brick wall, and Marsh was not about to let his leader's retribution go half-delivered.</blockquote>
A short growl of victory broke from his muzzle as he felt his teeth grasp his target and pull the wolf down in a crash—not quite enough to immobilise him, but it slowed him down and perhaps stunned him. The large leader watched as the trespasser began to crawl forward again but this time he was confident that he would not get far with his injured hind leg and his prowl was more predatory than rushed this time as he closed the gap between them. As the wolf admitted defeat and rolled onto his back to expose his underbelly he noted Marsh shifting to surround him and head him off and gave his subordinate a nod of approval, Swift River's Second was in a prime position to stop him if he was to run again.
With risen hackles and a threatening snarl bubbling along his throat Indru stepped over the submitting wolf, placing a front paw on the right side of him and the other to the left of his head. In a none to gentle gesture he knocked the wolves muzzle aside with his own and sniffed at the scents that covered him, confirming that he was undeniably a Hollow wolf and also judging by the strength of his scent and the strong amount of Jaysyek on him that a highly ranked one.
This is Swift River territory, wolf.His usually friendly tone had been replaced with a throaty, deep growling baritone,and I don't take kindly to trespassers with my cubs around.As angry and frustrated Indru was at the obtuse wolf and his disregard for the musky borders he was still aware of the standing his pack had with Jaysyek's, and with the packs recent discord he did not wish to make her minus another wolf either. He felt it was fair game to leave the wolf with a few bruises and a few knocks on his pride however.After a pause, where he remained tense and looming over the wolf beneath him, Indru dipped his head to grab the wolf's muzzle in a not to gentle muzzle grab, allowing his teeth to grate just so against his skin to cause a painful sensation. The leader had no intentions of letting go until the wolf whined and submitted entirely if he wished to leave without further harm.
It was only a matter of seconds before the larger male took advantage of the opening that Raigo had given him. Forelimbs dangling uselessly above him, Raigo tried to avoid having his muzzle grabbed, but Indru's teeth grated against his skin painfully. Unbidden, a whine came from between Raigo's clenched teeth. As soon as he had been caught for his unintentional error, he had been trying to mentally prepare him for a confrontation, but this was more than the youth was willing to handle. Ears flipped backward against his head, and his eyes averted themselves, focusing on his own nose to make a rather cross-eyed expression. Struggling against the urge to kick Indru in the stomach to get him off, the Grizzly Hollow second gritted his teeth. He had gotten himself into trouble, and there really was no way out of it. He had mostly forgotten about the second wolf, but he was aware of his presence there. Even if he managed to get out from underneath Indru, the other would catch him. He was completely stuck, and there was just no escaping the situation.