A wide ravine where a shallow, gentle river flows. Years of drought and silt deposits have built this area into a fertile delta. The river remains low and dry most of the year, staining its waters brown and creating muddy shores.
Enya didn't know what had drawn Caedwyn to call off the hunt - her yelp of pain, her shouting at him, Buck's wild bucking- but she was grateful that something had. The sharp pain in her neck and back smarted terribly, blood leaking and pooling in the guard hairs and undercoat. Equally, the claw and bite marks on Buck dribbled and ran as well, permeating the air with the scent of prey that drove a hunger inside her. The scent struck her, but she refused to let the drive of blood push her beyond reasoning. She prayed to Tsillah that Caedwyn could - no would - resist the urge as well. Her life likely depended on it.
Caedwyn joined her with great haste at her side and asked her questions she didn't have time to answer. "Yes." she quickly responded as he asked her if she was hurt. "It's him." she responded to the 'How' question. Enya threw her head in Buck's direction as he turned around to face the pair of wolves, snorting and dropping his head down as he stomped the ground furiously with his hooves. Caedwyn quickly inspected her injuries and Enya lingered and allowed him to do so while never letting her eyes leave Buck. She wasn't sure what she could do here in this situation she found herself in.
Then, with a suddenly shaky voice, Caedwyn spoke beside her. She dared to let her eyes leave Buck for a split moment to see a look of pain on Caedwyn's face. He didn't know. Of course he didn't know she mentally reprimanded herself. She'd given him zero information in regards to the situation. There was no way for Caedwyn to possibly determine that this wasn't just some random stag standing before them, it was her stag, who was currently hell bent on killing them from the looks of the evil in his big round eyes. "It's alright" she tried to say as calmly as possible while still keeping Buck in her peripheral vision. "These are just flesh wounds. Help me bring him down, but don't harm him." She dared to smile at Caedwyn, trying to reassure him that she was fine, when action broke out from Buck.
The stag had grown impatient with his waiting and was charging the two wolves who now stood beside one another. "Stop!" she shouted with authority in her voice, trying to force Buck to yield to her and bend to her Will. If the buck could grin, she was sure he was doing just that as he continued his charge at the pair. 'Not this time, Wolf' the angry voice returned to her. "Look out!" she quickly shouted at Caedwyn as she leapt to the side, trying to dodge out of Buck's way. As she dodged, she pulled at the plant life around her, siphoning their water from within, and pulled it to her, causing the plants around her to quickly wilt from dehydration. The water droplets shot across the air, then splashed against her body to move and soak into her wounds. The water glowed. Hopefully it had been enough to heal and seal the surface wounds across her back and neck.
Combat: 7/8
Dodge: Attempts to dodge the oncoming attack from Buck
Success: Dodges to her left and avoids the trample attack.
Failure: Does not dodge in time and her hind legs/hips are ran over, knocking her to her side again
Special: Attempts to heal herself from the damage Caedwyn did through her link with Buck +1
Success: The water was enough and closes up her open wounds
Failure: She did not pull enough water, the wounds are washed out but are not closed up and are still bleeding
How in the seven Hells had she found him? It had been months. Months! And yet here she fucking was, standing right here in front of him with some other wolf joining her. He had been the one to attack, the one who had started the conflict between the three, and yet his anger and focus was on the wolf whom he was bound to. It must have been her. It had to have been her who had started the hunt. He hadn't felt her coming which was odd in and of its self, and yet there she stood, ruining his life once more, and perhaps even trying to take it.
At least he knew that she was still bound to him enough so that when he took damage, so did she. It would save his life, he figured, but was his life even worth saving anymore? He stunk of wolf odor long after the Wolf had left him before, stopping him from living any sort of normal life of a stag. No matter how much he bathed, no matter how much he rubbed himself with mud, against plants and trees, there was always that feint scent alongside him. All the does fled at first sight of him and refused to give him any attention. Even when she hadn't been around, she was still hindering his way of life. He was cursed.
He was cursed because of her. Perhaps his life wasn't worth saving anymore. Perhaps it would be better served with taking the both of them down, better served by destroying at least one god forsaken wolf on this newfound world. He dug in his hooves and charged forward at the pair as they quickly interacted with their growls and woofs speaking in a language foreign to him. Odd. He had been able to speak with her more clearly before. The Wolf suddenly looked up at him and shouted with a snarl, but he didn't understand her. There was a tension on the very feint link they shared, but not enough to force him to obey her Will. He grinned at her as he continued his charge forward, roaring his own reply at her in a loud grunt. He then thrashed forward, stomping both his front and hind legs at the pair of wolves that stood so close together, hoping to catch at least one of them off guard.
Stats:
Health Points - 5
Attack - level 4
Dodge - Level 4
Special - Level 3
Combat: 5/5 HP
Attack: Charges forward at both Caedwyn and Enya with a thrashing attack. This attack misses Enya due to her dodge roll.
Success: Strikes Caedwyn at his chosen location with his hooves for -1HP
Failure: Strikes at Caedwyn with his hooves but Caedwyn dodges
"It's him." So something was going on with the deer. But what exactly? When Enya instructed not to harm the deer, something in Caedwyn's mind connected. A red deer. Buck. Was this her familiar she'd been searching for? It made sense now that he thought about it. Somehow Enya and the deer were connected, he just hadn't realized how deeply. He gritted his teeth in anger. This was his fault. He'd been so eager to take charge, he'd told Enya to stay put and ran off to attack the deer without giving her a chance to speak. If only he'd taken a moment before she might have been able to tell him that that was her familiar. She might not have gotten hurt.
"Stop!" Enya had gotten to her feet and was shouting at Buck. The deer was charging forward at them. Enya had managed to leap out of the way one direction and Caedwyn jumped the other way was the stag's hooves came kicking downward. Caedwyn had been distracted watching Enya that by the time he jumped, he was a bit too late. The stag's hooves came slamming into his shoulder, throwing him to the side and Caedwyn stumbled. With a growl, he slid across the dirt and clacked his teeth together. He wanted nothing more than to jump back up and grab the beast by it's throat and slam it to the ground; but that would mean injuring Enya as well. He let out a deep, growling sigh of frustration as he clamored back to his feet and stood tall, staring down the beast. His tail was pinned up over his back and hackles rose, making his stature seem to grow significantly in a threatening display.
"Do you see any vines or something we could use as rope? Maybe we could subdue him that way," Caedwyn barked to Enya. How the hell were they supposed to catch him without hurting Enya? Caedwyn supposed he could try to tackle the beast or trip it... A rope would be ideal, but this wasn't the jungle. Vines weren't so common out here.
His teeth were bared but he didn't charge back at the beast. Instead he took a slow, steady, calculated step forward. He didn't want to spook Buck into charging again. "Calm yourself, beast." He ordered. He wasn't even sure what he was doing. He'd never had a familiar and he wasn't sure if Buck would even listen to him since he wasn't the deer's master... but he had to try. He didn't even realize that as he spoke, magic was flowing out of him toward the beast. The deer had seemed to pause for a moment, stomping and grunting in place with anger. Maybe they could use this moment to their advantage?
---
Health: 8/8 Dodge Roll: Attempts to jump out of the way of the hooves. Gonna say the hooves hit him either way:
Success - No damage to HP, just got the wind knocked out of him
Fail - Shoulder is cut from the wound and -1HP
Special Roll: Attempts to calm Buck with Empathy to keep Buck from attacking
Success: Buck can't attack next turn
Fail: Buck can do whatever
Buck lashed forward and while she had managed to dodge out of the way, she couldn't help but notice that Caedwyn had not been as lucky or agile as her. She heard his growl, his snap of teeth, and closed her eyes to pray to Tsillah to give him strength. She herself wanted to turn on Buck, to grab him by the throat and hold on until he ceased to move. She wanted to so badly she could almost taste his blood on her tongue, and yet she stilled herself, standing firm. Even as Buck thrashed through Caedwyn, injuring her mate, she held herself still. He would be ok. He had to be ok, and if he wasn't ok, well, she'd make him ok if she survived this. She'd make him ok, and thank him profusely for enduring the wrath of her stupid dumb fucking dip shit of a familiar.
Her teal eyes quickly shifted from Buck as he continued to thrash forward, past Caedwyn, to make a half-circle for a return trip, to Caedwyn who was standing there protectively, aggressively, staring down the beast while seemingly growing to twice his size while tossing ideas out at her on how they might stop him. She saw him and marveled him. She watched as Caedwyn took a steady step forward, resisting the urge to leap at Buck, to bring him down with force. She heard as Caedwyn spoke to Buck, trying to command him to calm down. 'It won't work!' she wanted to shout at him. If he wouldn't listen to her, then why would he listen to Caedwyn? Even as she thought the words, she waited and held her breath to see. Buck stilled and held his position, shaking his head at the two, his eyes turning onto Caedwyn as he made his command. Was he... was he obeying Caedwyn, or was it pure chance?
She saw her opportunity and went for it. While there perhaps weren't any jungle vines available to them in the immediate area to use, it had given Enya an idea on how she might be able to capture Buck. It would mean draining more from the foliage around them leaving a mark for a long time on the lands. It would have to do. Perhaps if she survived, she'd make a point to return here and nourish the lands back to life once more. Like before, the plant life around her withered away and drained of it's liquid essence. The water droplets pulled and formed into a long vine-like shape while simultaneously dashing across the air in Buck's direction. Her teal eyes glowed as she stood her ground, focused on her Will and commanding it. If Buck changed his mind and charged at her, she would be a sitting duck if her magic did not succeed.
Enya: 7/8
Special: Attempts to trip Buck with her water-vine
Success: Buck is tripped up and falls forward, briefly stunned
Failure: Buck leaps gracefully over Enya's magic vines
Buck grunted loudly and roared in his deer-grunt as he thrashed his hooves, landing a blow successfully to at least one of the wolves. Which, he wasn't sure, as they both dashed from beneath him, letting him keep his footing as he continued his charge forward. If only he had his horns! He'd have much more power within his grasp, able to twist his thick neck and head to slice and cut with the points. If only, if only!
His charge continued forward until he saw room to turn in his charge, making a half-circle. He slowed in his advance and came to a stop as he saw now both wolves staring him down, one larger than his own. It was the male who had jumped him, and yet he looked so much larger than before. He took a step forward and Buck snorted and shook his head, wishing once more that his rack of antlers was present. A front leg came down in a stomp several times, his muscles in his chest, neck, and shoulders flexing from the motions.
The large wolf spoke and though it came out as a bark to Buck, somehow he felt that he knew the meaning. It reminded him of his bond with the female wolf, and just like it, Buck resisted the command. "Never!" Buck roared in a loud grunt at both of the wolves, moving once more to lurch forwards, his eyes on the smaller female wolf who seemed frozen in place. He ran, and as he did so, he forwent the leaping bounds of a deer to take up thrashing his front legs once more as he pounded the ground in his stampede. Both front legs came up, and when they came down, they suddenly fell out beneath him.
The ground met Buck quickly as he stumbled and slid forward, unsure of what he had tripped over. A grunt of pain left him along with the air in his lungs and his face slid across the soil, his shoulder absorbing most of the impact. With as much speed as he could muster, Buck attempted to get back to his feet before the wolves could pin him down.
Stats:
Health Points - 5
Attack - level 4
Dodge - Level 4
Special - Level 3
Combat: 5/5 HP
Special: Buck tries to get back to his feet
Success: He manages to scramble to his feet in time to face down both of the wolves
Fail: He doesn't get back to his hooves in time. Next attack made on Buck increases by 1 level due to his prone state.
--- Speech.
