[PQ] [Seasonal Event] early morning predators

The white-furred fox hadn't expected the hawk to swoop down - or for Remi's voice to echo brightly in his head again. The leggy canine stumbled in his charge in shock, twisting to snap upwards in a futile gesture of defiance. Again he pulled his thoughts deep, sinking into a bristled crouch as if he could hide against the snow, shivering a little in fear and anger at the violation.

He looked to Rory for support, but the blond man was frowning - at him? Somehow, Jigano found he could sink further into the snow. He could feel the whine of unhappiness in his throat, and it was all he could do to stifle it. This day had started with such promise, but so far nothing good had come of it. With the hawk's eyes they had no need of his nose, and he was too small to be useful in bringing a deer down by himself, as the humans with their bows could. At best, he might scare the deer a short distance into an ambush but... even that, it appeared, wasn't what Rory wanted.

For a moment, as his friend prepared to dress the animals, Jigano considered leaving the true hunters to their bounty. There was no shortage of work to do at the Atheneum, and he could actually be useful there--

Wolfsong rose, sweet to the fox's canid ears, which perked up immediately and swiveled in the direction it came from. Wolves on his world didn't howl on the hunt - not, and risk alerting their prey - but the low timbre of the howl might have been to reassemble the pack so they could begin a chase, if they'd spotted the deer that got away. It was too early in the winter for them to be desperate enough to attack humans...

Or at least, that was how it had been in his northlands. Here? There were stones and deer that glowed and gourds that hopped around biting people. Who knew what differences the wolves had undergone as well? Cautiously the leggy fox rose to his feet again, anger at Remi temporarily forgotten. He looked from Rory to Vervain, ears laying back again as he remembered the blond man's annoyance, and rather than approach the humans he shied away, trotting instead towards where he'd heard the howls coming from. He couldn't fight multiple wolves and win - probably not even against one - but he didn't need to. He'd played this game before, albeit with slower, stupider gourds. All he had to do was distract them and lead them away on a merry chase long enough for his friends to get to safety - or at least, to gut the deer and get them stashed up in a tree, out of reach. Depending on how sharp Rory's knife was, it might not even take too long!

And just maybe he could finally do something to prove himself useful to the friend he wanted to impress...

Do not worry, the deer cannot hear us. Remi called down to Jigano, assuming that the snap of white teeth upwards at him was meant as some sort of rebuke for speaking when they ought to be stealthing. Unlike Rory, Remi was not surprised at all at Vai’s skill, and the hawk trilled a bright congratulations from his beak as he circled higher. Keen ears picked up on the sound, though unlike Jigano below he wasn’t able to pinpoint their sound quite as easily as the smaller predator. Quickly though his eyes picked up on the movement startlingly close. He too thought it was strange that they’d raise their voices . Stranger still that they hadn’t fled entirely by this point. Planning on circling around and becoming human again to communicate what he’d learned, he saw a button of black suddenly skittering through the brush. With a cry he quickly looped back on himself, hugging his wings to his sides in a dive to try and bring him amidst the trees and behind Jigano. What are you doing? Remi called, concern and the emotion associated with it reverberating down through the telepathic bond. Surely the small creature wasn’t planning on taking on the wolves? And so Remi glided overhead, doing his best to keep up with the much more dexterous creature (especially in this environment).

There are things of which no one quite understands. Things that come and go, things that defy meaning or interpretation. For instance: A cold gust of wind ruffles beneath the hawk's feathers. Perhaps it is because Jigano appears to be a moving ball of winter himself that it decides to leave him be, and instead focus on Remi. With a frzzzzAPP ice forms against the boy's wings, tugging him down, down, down. The wind whistles to the wolves, like a dinner bell... Hopefully they do not mind their meal on ice. He will keep better this way.

As he stood there looking down at the deer shot through the neck, he decided that he liked Vai. True, it was an opinion he might reevaluate swiftly, but her response put her in his good books. It showed that she was aware of what she'd done, and why it had been such a risk, but one that had paid off.

Then the wolves sang, and Rory's hand—knife hovering just inches from the deer's belly—stilled. Swiftly his eyes went across the scene, taking in the fox's indecision, Remi in the sky; he bit his lips and cursed under his breath. He should've brought Vaya along, the old bitch was ferocious and fearless, but he hadn't, so there they were.

"They're probably trying to scare us off," he said quietly, senses strained for more indications of where they were. It wasn't unusual for the wolves to try and strong-arm the felled prey from humans, and sometimes, it got plain ugly. Rory had heard of it often enough, and had had a few close calls with the canines himself. Sometimes, you could scare them off, sometimes.. well, you had to concede and get the fuck out of there.

His hopes of getting the deer dressed and ready were swiftly shattered when he suddenly noticed the lack of fox. Abruptly, Rory stood up, fear clenching cold and hard in his gut. "Where's the fox..?" he asked, seeing Remi drop through the trees and out of sight. Swearing softly he dropped back down into a kneeling position, swiftly gutting the deer. He hoped the fox had enough sense to not go become wolf-dinner, and since Remi had already dropped out of sight, Rory couldn't see him fall.

"Dress the other one, will you?" he asked of Vai, working as fast as he could.

Meanwhile, further into the forest.. Jigano finds himself face to face with the three wolves: they're taller than him, burlier, bulkier, hungrier. Savage animals raised on the scraps Caido has to offer, all sharp teeth and violence. Lips pull back menacingly to reveal worn and chipped fangs, growls reverberating through their chests; vibrating like engines they close on the white creature, when fortunes change.

The frozen hawk crashes into the snow, and in the blink of an eye, the three hungry predators reevaluate their plan—and put it into merciless motion.

The center wolf lunges for Jigano, and for all his grace, the little white creature just isn't fast enough this time: teeth sink into his left shoulder, red stains marring the perfect white.

The other two wolves circle the scuffling pair, one snatching up the frozen hawk in its jaws, and off they go, into the forest.

---

Ruh-roh, the wolves stole Remi! Jigano's on their trail though, and one of them has stayed behind to fight the fox off. It bites down on Jigano's left shoulder (you're welcome to shake yourself free in your next post).

As Remi's wings hardened against his sides, his feathers feeling like lead, hollow bones that were never meant to support such weight dropped like anchors, swiftly pulling his body towards the ground. Landing with a wummpphhh in the snow, the alchemist's golden eyes were wide as he instinctively attempted to flap his wings but found the icy paralysis seemed total. Indeed her tried to open his beak to cry out, but it was as if his entire body was encased some sort of magical wintery prison. Rather than immediately calling for help, Remi tried to spy the white fox. Without being able to turn his head though—and nearly buried in the snow—he cried out to warn the creature. There's something here. Something magical, I can't— But his mental cry came to an abrupt halt as he felt teeth and a wet and hungry mouth suddenly wrapped around him. Canine ivories pierced his soft flesh, and he could feel the way the wolf's tongue curled around the font of blood. WARN THEM Remi shouted in a shrill mental plea. His cry was met by three chickadees who, if not for the barrier, would have migrated by now. Instead they flit from their place in their nest towards where Rory and Vai were dressing the deer. To get their attention they would dart and chirp, trying desperately to get the humans to follow them back into the woods towards where the wolves were making their attacks.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Vai said of the wolves, her eyes still peeled and flicking between snow and sky to try and watch for Remi. Alas, the hawk had already disappeared, presumably to scout ahead for their canine friends, and Rory and Vai were left alone with the deer - and the fox too, of course. Except... apparently not. "I don't know... perhaps he followed after Remi?" she mused, nodding and dropping down to help with the other deer, her hands swift and her gaze still lingering on their surroundings when it wasn't focused on her task.

She was still in the middle of it (literally) when the chickadees appeared, flitting and chirping to them in a way that seemed anything but natural. Vai scowled, rising to her feet with her hunting knife still in hand. "Something is wrong," she said to Rory, thinking nothing of setting off across the snow in pursuit of the birds, beckoning the other hunter.

"Come on," she called. "I can't see Remi or our fox friend. The wolves have stopped, too."

The wolves were bigger than him, but when one was a fox that was true of most of the world. Even as a man he was used to being the weakest of any group, tall but slender, who used words as weapons rather than steel.

But for all he lacked strength, he was swift and nimble of both step and mind, and though he tried to be a good man, that wasn't the same as being nice. The little fox looked at the wolves that towered over him, and as they growled he grinned, white teeth against white fur and white snow, already planning the merry chase he'd lead them, leaping just ahead of fanged death--

The damnably intrusive voice in his head went silent for a breath and then something impacted the snow behind him. Even then he wouldn't have turned away from his opponents, but Remi's voice babbled out, confused and afraid, and for a split second the fox looked away, looked back--

He tried to twist, knowing he had made a mistake, but even his vaunted agility couldn't dodge the swift lunge of the wolf. A high-pitched yip rang out as teeth closed on his shoulder, and he turned his head back around to snap small, vicious teeth at the nearest eyeball of the beast that had caught him, struggling to free himself, wriggling loose and leaving the wolf with a mouthful of bloody fur for his trouble.

The wolves had Remi. Somehow, the hawk had been brought down and the wolves had the boy.

With a snarl the fox flung himself not away from the wolf, but under it and between its legs, dashing on three good legs. He wasn't as fast this way, nor as quick, but now he didn't need to outpace the wolves - he needed to catch them.

And if the wolf behind him was foolish enough to try for another bite of the white fox, he could lose his other eye in the bargain.

"Probably," Rory agreed to Vai's theory about the fox, albeit uneasily; he didn't like to have the little creature out of his sight, especially not with a pack of upset wolves on the loose. Remi was relatively safe in the sky, since the last time Rory checked, wolves didn't fly.

But he had to trust that they all knew what they were doing, from Remi and the fox disappearing to Vai sliding her knife into the gut of the other deer.

Rory wasn't great with trust.

He worked as quickly as he could without messing up, tugging out bowels and organs, putting heart and liver aside, bloodied to the elbows when three little birds came flitting onto the scene; he only noticed them when Vai stood up. "Something is wrong," she said, and he raised his head. The cold feeling of dread remained in his gut, and the sight of the chickadees did little to ease it. The small hairs on the back of his neck prickled.

Rory cursed under his breath. "I'll catch up," he said, standing up and producing a length of rope from somewhere. "I'll just put these somewhere safe..r." Nowhere was safe for a dead body in Caido.

So without further ado he carried the two deer to the base of the nearest suitable tree, and did his best to get them off the ground with the rope and a sturdy branch. He could only hope the savory scent of the offal left out in the open would keep the craftier predators from getting to the now-elevated carcasses.

He wiped his hunting knife on his pants, sheathed it, and set off at a fast jog after Vai. Fuck running in snow, but what are you supposed to do when you've elected to stay behind and hoist some deer instead of take off to save your friends immediately.

Cheap bastard.

It wasn't many minutes he'd lost, but what if he'd erred in his judgment? What if his faith in Remi and the fox was misplaced, that they couldn't take care of themselves? Too late, too late, and he swore with uncharacteristic fervor as he finally caught up to Vai.

The snow was disturbed. Paw prints. And .. blood.

Rory froze.

---

The two wolves are swift, disappearing with their snack—he's hardly enough to fill the belly of one of them, least of all two, but he's a free meal. After a couple of hundred yards their lope winds down to a trot, then a walk, as their greedy eyes lock together more and more: which one will get to devour the bird? A warning growl rumbles from the chest of the one currently in possession of the hawk.

The wolf left behind growls around its grip on Jigano's shoulder, when the smaller canine twists and comes for its eye.

Instinct has the lid going down, sharp teeth connecting with the thin skin and smashing into the harder bone of the socket. It's painful, and rather bloody, but little more than an annoyance; the wolf avoids critical damage of any sort, but it serves to pave the way for Jigano's freedom. Blood and white hairs smears its muzzle as it growls in frustration, snapping harmlessly after the white tail disappearing between its front legs. Significantly slower, the animal hops around, but Jigano is already out from underneath him and following the tracks leading away.

The wolf suddenly stills, hearing the approach of Vai; stealthily he slinks into the underbrush, shadowing the fox from the side.

He'll get his turn.

---

The wolf that stayed behind to fight Jigano is wary of the hoomans, but keeps abreast with Jigano.

Vai wouldn't have recommended that Rory wait to catch up, but the words died on her tongue when she realised that the other hunter was already hoisting the deer away. Their catch was important, that she wouldn't deny, but in a choice between losing two deer and losing a friend, Vai didn't have to think. So, moving as quickly as the snow would allow without putting herself in danger, and keeping her hunting knife out for the time being, she followed after the chickadees.

Her blue eyes were hard as she came upon the blood and the tracks, and she hissed a curse through her teeth. Rory joined her soon enough, swearing just as colourfully, and Vai leant down to examine the tracks and where they shot off across the snow. A tracker by nature, the huntress was exceedingly glad for the wintery weather and its ability to leave such clear prints.

"This could be bad..." That was an understatement. Still, Vai examined the sky as she set off after the fox tracks, oblivious to Remi's situation.

He was hurt as he ran, and worse, he was bleeding red into the snow behind him, leaving a clear trail for the wolf at his tail. Having lost some of his speed and more of his nimbleness there were fewer tricks Jigano could try, and no time to think of new ones as he sped after Remi's captors.

This was the last place he'd wanted to be when he'd started off - wounded, between the small pack, having to worry about another. If only the blasted boy had stayed with his mother and Rory! Jigano still didn't know what had brought the hawk down, but he could hardly leave him to become lunch. At least the wolves had been drawn away from the humans and their kill, and he felt a quick rush of relief that he didn't have to worry about Rory and Vai as well.

He didn't glance back - didn't have time to do more than keep his ears tuned for the one who had wounded him - all his attention focused on the scent of blood in front of him, Remi's blood, a brilliant coppery tang in the air. He skimmed over a fallen log, three legs bounding swiftly and the fourth dropping only occasionally for balance, still bleeding as each move flexed punctured and torn muscles. The two wolves were right before him, glaring at each other as they walked, and Jigano's sharp eyes quickly found the one who had Remi.

He was small, but he was fierce - though that limited his targets. Still, if the wolf wanted to retaliate it would need to drop Remi to do so. Hoping he had the element of surprise, the quick white fox would lunge at the left rear leg of the female wolf - keeping most of her body between him and the male - in an attempt to lock sharp white teeth onto the ligament behind her knee and tear or damage the ACL there.

Whatever magical force had bound Remi's wings to his small body continued to restrict his movement. His mind however was still just as sharp and alert inside of his skull even as the wolf's jaws held him captive in an all too warm and saliva-filled cage. Here goes nothing Remi thought to himself, not even bothering to try and mentally warn the wolf who held him captive. He didn't blame the canine, it must be hungry with LongNight approaching as well, but neither a fellow shifter nor avian or feline, it wouldn't be able to hear him anyways. In what was sure to be a painful shift for them both, Remi focused on his lion's body and allowed the shape to take hold of him. Instead of a still hawk, the wolf would find a furry and considerably  larger creature in its jaws, before of course her jaws unhinged or she was forced to let go of the hawk-becoming lion in her mouth. REMI How do you steal what you really want When what you really want is free?

His chest was heaving as he stared over Vai's shoulder, for a moment lost, trying to sort out his thoughts. How? And why? "Why did they engage..?" he asked, pointlessly, as Vai commented on the situation and set off after the fox tracks. Rory, late to the party, knelt down to study the scene for himself. Tracks: wolves, no doubt, and the smaller ones of the fox. Blood and.. Rory pulled a hand out of its glove, fingering the blood-stained side of a paw print. His fingers came away bloody, a few crimson-and-white hairs stuck to them.

Without having seen the wolves it was easy to assume it was the fox's.

And the tracks leading away—two wolves disappearing, the third veering into the underbrush, and the fox, accompanied by bloodstains, following the two. Rory cursed under his breath as he nocked another arrow, running after Vai as fast as he could.

---

There's much strangeness afoot: the she-wolf growls around her captured prey, warning off her brother, who snaps towards the tailfeathers hanging out the side of her mouth, when.. when a lot of things happen simultaneously.

Jigano's jaws collide with her leg, though not quite in the manner he had expected; she's viciously bouncing backwards, so her hock smacks into the side of his muzzle instead.

Because in her mouth is a lion, and very gracelessly does she spit the thing out, barely getting it out of her teeth before it's too big for her to hold; her tail's up and her ears forward and a growl rumbling in her chest as she stares at the morphing thing.

Her brother mimics her pose. They're not sure what devilry this is, but.. it's more food for them, right? Caido provides. Hesitantly, the need to bicker gone, the brother slinks forward, sniffing along Remi's shoulder. Frozen food is still food; just takes longer to gnaw it apart, heating the flesh with your breath and saliva, millimeter by millimeter. His warm tongue starts licking along the lion's skin.

The second brother, hiding in the underbrush, knows there's warm food to be had: he seizes onto the confusion and darts forward, sharp teeth reacquainting themselves with Jigano's left shoulder.

---

Jigano deals minimal damage to the she-wolf, who spits out lion!Remi (she's offended by his shenanigans)

Meanwhile the third wolf reappears and keeps on nomming on the fox

Vai could hear her pulse pounding in her ears as she ran as quickly as the snow would allow. She alternated her gaze between the tracks and the sky, though she concentrated more on the former as it became clear that, wherever Remi was, it wasn't here. She could hear Rory behind her, the huntress glancing over her shoulder to him, though she still held her hunting knife rather than falling back on her bow again.

Soon enough - though it felt like forever - she started to hear a scuffle up ahead. There was no creeping up on the wolves, not with the situation so apparently dire, and Vai skidded to a halt as she came upon the trio, the fox and the... lion.

Fuck.

It would be difficult for her to get a shot with an arrow off without risking hitting either of their friendly targets, but it looked like they had little choice. Stabbing the knife into the snow and taking her bow off her back to knock another arrow, she called to Rory. "I'll try and get them away from the fox," she said, taking careful aim before letting the arrow fly.

His plan might have been a good one if Remi had shifted sooner, but the ensuing chaos caused by a frozen hawk becoming a frozen lion destroyed all plans. Even so it might not have been so bad if he'd been a larger animal, but the wolf's hock slamming into his jaw was enough to stun the little canine, and he stumbled back on unsteady paws.

The third wolf pounced before he could recover, jaws closing anew over the white fox's already-wounded shoulder. He let out a high pitched "Yipe!" and scrabbled ineffectually at the larger predator, trying again to nip at its eye - the only target remotely in reach given his size and the increasing severity of his injuries.

Vervain's arrival went unnoticed in his panic, even Remi's lion-form banished from his thoughts by the life-or-death struggle he found himself in, feeling jagged teeth sink deeper into flexing muscles and scraping off bone as his shoulder compressed to the breaking point beneath the steel-trap pressure of the wolf's powerful jaws.