I Hear Footsteps

[[Midnight]]

His puffy, white pelt stood out contrastingly against the marshy, dirt grounds and the surrounding territory. He looked intimidating, too, the way he stood with his head held low and his shoulders and rump reaching their highest point. And though Frosty looked like he was looking for a fight, he was actually on a larky walk, just taking time to explore the literal edges of Caerwyn and Midnight's territory. His heart was aching right now and he wasn't sure why. He felt like something was missing.

There was a rustle in the underbrush just ahead, and Frosty stopped his huge bulk to inspect the bushes with his piercing blue eyes. He spotted a small rodent and his ears relaxed once more.

He was getting older. He probably only had a few more springs to go until old age truly grabbed him. Then he would join Xaka in rest and watch his family line grow through eternity. Or at least, that was what he was assuming.

As he padded forward, he began to feel a twinge of unease run through his spine, and he walked a little slower and much more silently.
There was something here. He wasn't alone.
It was to the left. Following him. He lips twitched and he growled deep within his throat, quietly but ferociously. Then he stopped walking.
He waited a few moments. Listened closely.
Then he whipped around to face the shadows, the creature that had been stalking him. That's when he came face-to-face with a huge grizzly bear.

Fear told him to flee from this massive creature, but it was already to late. The bear had lifted a paw and swiped it at Frosty's head, landing a blow to his face. Frosty was knocked away, stunned for a moment and bleeding from his ear. But he quickly shoved himself up with a snarl and turned back to meet the bear again.
His head was spinning and he barely dodged the bear's next paw swipe. The brown animal was heavy and so his attacks were slow. Frosty took advantage of that and slashed his jaws across the bear's nose. It yowled with pain and rage, backing away for a moment before coming at Frosty with the intention to retaliate. To kill.

He dodged the bear's next attack with ease. And the next. But his head was still spinning and when he turned to escape the area, the bear outran him and crushed him against the ground with a loud bellow. It pressed down against his ribcage and Frosty squealed with pain.
He was going to die today!

[Pokemo~]

ooc// TOPAZ AND QUARTZ TO THE RESCUE! *trumpets sound*

bic// Topaz's ears pricked at the sound of a roar. Well, more of a yowl, but it was so loud it could of been a roar. She heard a squel next, she recognised it from somewhere.... 'FROSTY!' she screamed, looking at Quartz in horror, but he was already bolting off towards the sound. Her heart thundered in her ears, she bit her lip, then made a decision, racing after her brother.

'Wait up!' she called, the panic clear in her voice, Quartz didn't slow down, he was intent on getting to Frosty. They both arrived at the border to see Frosty getting destroyed by a huge bear.

'Frosty!' she wailed again, rushing to help Caerwyn's uncle. A growl of frustration erupted from her chest, that even her brother seemed shocked at. She leapt at the bear, aiming to bite into it's flesh, she had never been so angry. 'No-one...Hurts...FROSTY!' she screamed between bites (If she gets it)

At the same time Quartz bolted in from the other side, leaping at it moments after his sister did, snarling.

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[[Midnight]]

Frosty heard Topaz's voice, and he struggled to stay awake beneath the heavy paw of the grizzly. He wished he could speak, to yell to her to get away. If she died, too, he'd only blame himself.
The crushing weight suddenly became lighter, and released him altogether.

The bear was surprised to see more wolves, and even more surprised when they started attacking him. It felt overwhelmed and began to back away, shaking its massive head from side to side. It growled first at Quartz, swiping his paw towards him. When Topaz starting biting at its flesh and roared angrily and turned towards her, snapping with its jaws.

[Pokemo~]

Quartz snarled, feeling a large weight hit him in the chest, and send him flying backwards. He tried to turn around in the air, he tried to land on his paws, but he landed on his stomach with a thud. He groaned with pain, and pushed himself to his feet, his legs wobbling slightly. He turned around, giving the bear a snarl, then lunged once again, aiming to bite it anywhere.

Topaz whimpered and leapt away from the bear, it seemed busy with her brother. She grimaced, worried for her brothers life. She knew he could handle it for a short while, while she helped Frosty, well, she hoped he could handle it.

She bounded to Frosty, her eyes wide with fear, 'Frosty! Are you okay?' she nuzzled him on the shoulder, wondering if he could get up.

[Arbie]

Roan snarled, pouncing from behind Frosty and Topaz, going right over them. He aimed for the bear's side after it turned round, claws aiming to dig into the skin and teeth ready. He didn't want Frosty to die, but something at the back of his mind told Roan that it was inevitable. He was hardly a fighter, but when it came to pack-mates, Roan was all over it.

"Get away from here!" Roan snarled on instinct, hoping he would catch the bear by surprise. It seemed Topaz and Quartz were good distractions, so there was nothing to worry about there. This bear was slow because of weight, so there was a high chance it couldn't get Roan, yet it was always possible.

Roan took a sneaky glance at Frosty at the corner of his eye, and his fury was replaced with worry at the sight of the white wolf. No, he couldn't get distracted at a time like this. Roan looked back at the brown fur, the bear looking bigger than he first seen it when he arrived. A trick of the eye.

[Maybe]

Loch had heard the distressed calls from quite nearby, and as he rushed to the scene, he was horrified by what he saw. He bounded past Topaz and an older-looking male with a snow-white coat. It looked as if the bear had attacked the aged wolf. Loch snarled in fury as he leapt to Roan and Quartz's side, but instead of aiming for the bear's vital organs, Loch did something quite interesting.

He lunged at the beast's ankles, attempting to tear savagely into the flesh and throw the maniacal animal off-balance. He only hoped that the other warriors would be safe if the massive bear fell. As the bear began to sway slightly from the impact, he screamed to his pack-mates, "Move! Get offa him!" He only hoped there was enough time before the beast toppled to the ground.

[Maybe]

ooc// Dang, this is hxc. XD I hope the bear dies. What is all this commotion about bears anyways? Vixen wants to kill one too. :/

[[Midnight]]

Another wolf appeared, and the bear found itself fatally outnumbered. But it wasn't leaving without getting in some retaliation. It was confusing, having two wolves snapping at him, but the big male bear just took turns charging at each one and slashing its long claws at them. First it aimed at the newcomer, replying to his howl with a big bear-like bellow and a slow, smooth movement of a paw swipe.
He growled at him and turned away, looking towards the other male, Quartz. He charged at Quartz, trying something new, and tried to bite him with his prickly teeth.
But something stopped him; a burning pain at his ankles seared up through the nerves in his legs and he started to collapse to the ground.


Frosty stirred, shifting his eyes and trying to focus on Topaz. He could see just fine, but his head was spinning and his belly felt like it had imploded. He tried moving to get up. He felt battered and just collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
Crystal!

[Pokemo~]

Topaz looked scared. Vey scared, 'Frosty!' she wailed, 'Please get up!' she didn't want him to die! She gave him another nudge, but he looked like he wasn't going anywhere soon. She sat down by him, making sure nothing could hurt him, 'Don't worry...' she said quietly, 'Everything will be fine...' she glanced at the fight, her heart tugged at her to go after Quartz, to help him, anything! But she couldn't, she had to watch over Frosty!

Quartz was about to leap away, but he was too slow. He braced himself to be crushed, but the bear landed millimeters from him, collapsed in a pile. He grinned, looking at Loch. He pranced aroung the bear joyfully, then stuck his tongue out at it, 'Ha! That'll teach you to mess with a dancing star!'

[Maybe]

Loch leapt out of the way just as the bear began to topple to the ground, but he wasn't quite fast enough. The bear caught his left hind leg on its razor-sharp claws and tore the skin savagely. Crimson liquid soon began to ooze from the laceration and trickle down Loch's flaxen-colored leg. He didn't feel the wound, though, because of the adrenaline surging through his veins. He looked to Quartz and howled triumphantly.

"Damn skippy!" He would've bounded with joy, but the pain had begun to settle in now, and it seared up the male's leg, practically seeming to set his every nerve on fire with agony. He did his best to ignore it and limped slowly over to Topaz.

[[Midnight]]

The bear got up and limped away without looking back. It had been defeated.


He didn't think any of his bones were broken, thank the Creator, but Frosty still wasn't sure he could move very far. Not yet. And unfortunately for him he had gone down at the wrong spot; very, very far away from the dens.
He heard others around him now, and he felt better. He didn't hear the bear anymore.
He tried moving again, and this time he made it to the laying position, letting his head rest on his paws painfully. He was bleeding but he wasn't sure how badly his ear had been torn. If only he knew that the entire tip had been torn off. But it was still there, nonetheless. And he was alive.
"Is everyone okay?" he wheezed, wincing as he felt the bruises of his stomach.

[Arbie]

Roan bounded off of the bear as it toppled over, stumbling as he landed. Finding his balance, Roan looked at Quartz and Loch, frowning at Loch's wound before looking at Frosty urgently, his frown increasing and he went to his side quickly.
"Frosty, try not to move too much..." he said soothingly, trying to keep calm. Panicking wasn't the exact thing to do here, and Roan didn't know if Frosty was hurt on the inside physicaly.

Roan gulped down most of his fear for Frosty. There wasn't much they could do but soothe him, his ears perked forward. What if Crystal wasn't here? No, it didn't matter. Frost won't die, it wasn't that bad. At this thought, Roan calmed down slightly. He looked at Topaz, his eyes betraying his calm expression, and he looked at the old wolf again.

Roan felt guilty that he had no wounds. His heart sank, like his shoulders. His attention was brought to Frosty's ear, but he ignored it, and nodded in reply.
"Yes."

[Maybe]

As Loch limped toward the small congregation, his leg became less and less useful. Eventually he was walking on three legs, the crippled one held gingerly in the air. Loch's ears flattened to his head and he bared his teeth in pain. He snarled, but it was obvious that he wasn't trying to scare anyone. Especially not the injured wolf.

He lay down very slowly beside Topaz and looked around. He was glad to be in such a devoted pack, though he only knew Topaz and Roan out of the wolves present here now. Shaking his fur, he nodded to each of them and began to quietly lick his wounds. This silence was not like Loch at all.

[Pokemo~]

Topaz breathed a sigh of relief as she bear was defeated, and nodded at Frosty's question, 'Fine, what about you?' she asked, tilting her head to the side anxiously. She looked at her brother, who seemed to be celebrating their victory. She laughed lightly, and watched as he began to pad towards them, a grin plastered to his face.

Quartz breathed a shaky sigh, and sat down next to his sister, watching Frosty carefully. The place where the bear had hit him with his powerful paws in his chest throbbed painfully, but he ignored it, Frosty was more important.

[/size]

[Maybe]

Loch smiled wearily to the group, happy to see that everyone was basically okay. He nodded and slowly hoisted himself up, grimacing through the pain that shot up his leg. He winced and hobbled off at a slightly delayed pace.