The bear had lunged at Enya, grabbing hold of her. Caedwyn felt his stomach drop and his heart pounded. Even though Enya was a skilled warrior, for some reason he suddenly felt more concerned for her well-being. Watching the bear land an attack on her made his insides quiver with anxious energy. He jumped forward, ready to do whatever he needed to get the bear off her but when he reached her, something surprising happened. Her form began to grow in size and long hair grew from her body. It kept the unmistakable magenta and brown hues, and yet there was something different about this fur. The bear stumbled back from her and Caedwyn watched with astonishment as Enya morphed into a bear and let out a mighty roar.
He let out a relieved breath, seeing her break free from the bear's attack and his eyes lingered on her. He felt a bit stupid for worrying now, like he should have known Enya would have the situation completely under control. He'd never seen her lose a battle (though, admittedly he hadn't seen too many of her fights). Of course she'd be able to handle herself against a bear.
While he was distracted with his thoughts, the bear had regained its footing and started charging at him. Caedwyn was now standing just as close to the bear, having moved closer to Enya's side earlier when he thought she needed assistance. It gave him much less time to react to the bear's charge. It swiped at him and Caedwyn jumped back, narrowly avoiding the claws as they breezed by his shoulder. But not only that, he had a plan this time. After the bear swiped at him, he quickly jumped forward again, biting down at the bear's paw. If he could get hold of it's paw, maybe he could rip a few of its toes off or slow it down.
---
Attack Roll: Bites at bears foot to injure the foot and hold onto it.
Success: -1HP
Fail: Misses.
With her shift injuring the bear, he suddenly seemed to shift focus from her to Caedwyn. As the bear charged, Enya bear-ran after him, roaring her hatred and fury after the beast as she huffed along snapping after it. Her large lips pulled back to expose several inch-long fangs reach to rip and tear the bear's flesh. When it slashed at Caedwyn, Enya lunged forward to grapple the bear and bite at it's head, aiming to grab behind the ears and take control of the beast's skull. She heard it cry out as she wrestled with it, saw out of the corner of her eye that Caedwyn had dodged the swipe of their foe.
There would be no way for her to dodge an incoming attack, so instead while she grappled the bear she braced herself against it as it thrashed. She tried to keep herself position behind it's shoulder where she stood on two legs as she attempted to grapple. Hopefully she could end this fight sooner rather than later. She wouldn't be able to hold this shape for terribly long.
Attack: +1 level due to successful morph roll
Attempts to grab the bear by the skull behind the ears to twist and break it's neck
Success: Seriously injures/snaps the bear's neck
Failure: Grapples briefly with the bear but is pushed off/back
When he swiped with his claws, the brown wolf dodged and snapped down. The bear felt a sharp pain in his foot and a tugging as the wolf's teeth clenched down on his foot. He let out an angry, pained screech and tried to pull back - only to be body-slammed by the other one (the one who had shapeshifted into a bear). He stumbled backward, lifting up onto his hind legs to break away from the other bear's grasp. He batted wildly with his free paw and gave a strong yank backward trying to free his other paw from the wolf's jaws. He had to get free of them! He could easily outpower the wolf but with this false-bear, he had to be more careful. He needed to get his paw free now!
Suddenly he pulled free of the wolf's jaws. Now was his chance! Quickly he scrambled, turning his back briefly to his attackers and climbed - up, up, up the tall tree at the edge of the cliff behind him. Trees were safe. They were shelter. The wolves wouldn't be able to get him up here, he was sure of it. He scuttled higher and higher, frenzied with panic and the tree swayed under his weight pushing up through the branches. Small branches and twigs were breaking under him and a flurry of evergreen needles were flying off into the air and dropping down below. But he didn't care. He had to make sure they couldn't reach him. And what if that other fake-bear came after him!?
Up higher. Up higher.
Then suddenly a crack split the air. CRACK. Like a bone breaking, like a bolt of lightning piercing the air, the sounds shot out. But it was too late. The weight of the bear was too much for the thin, weak branches at the top of the tree. The top portion of the tree that supported the bear had snapped off, quickly flinging the bear forward and down in an unbalanced motion. The broken tree toppled, down down down. Over the edge of the cliff it went, taking the bear with it. With a crash and a heavy thud, the bear slammed into the rocky hillside below, rolling and then toppling as his body slammed into the rocks and rolled down onto a lower ledge below where the tree was growing. His body was bashed and broken and the wind had slipped form his lungs. From his nose and mouth, blood dribbled and drained onto the rocky soil.
What had happened? His mind was daized and the pain was too immense for the bear to make coherent thoughts. Instinctually, he tried to get to his feet but he had no strength left. Instead he laid limply on the ground and a soft, pained groaning noise came from his throat almost like a whimper.
The bear had finally flung him away and Caedwyn went flying backward, sliding across the ground though he managed to keep his footing under him. He quickly started to charge forward again, preparing to bite at the bear again; but this time the bear didn't swipe and attack him again. Instead it turned and scampered back up the tree! Caedwyn jumped after it biting at the air just behind it but didn't manage to catch it. He stood at the base of the tree looking up. "Quick, we've got it on the run now," he shouted excitedly to Enya. The thick windy jungle trees were one thing, but this tree was damn near straight up and down. He definitely wasn't able to climb up after the bear. But perhaps Enya could? She had taken on a bear-form and presumably had the same abilities as the bear itself.
But before Caedwyn could suggest going after it, a large CRACK sound shattered the air. Branches and needles began raining down on him and Caedwyn jumped back once more, unsure of what was happening. He watched as the top of the tree broke off and the bear tumbled over the hillside. Caedwyn ran to the edge, his claws digging into the soil to prevent any accidental slipping, and peered downward. Below him lay the broken and injured monstrosity of a bear. He waited a moment, cautiously preparing should the bear scramble back up the hill and attack them again. The moment turned into two and then another, until a soft whimpering sound met his ears, and soon it was clear the bear was not getting up.
It wasn't the triumphant victory he'd imagined, but this was still winning, right? He almost felt bad for the poor thing. It was just trying to get away and had caused it's own downfall. And yet, the small amount of pity Caedwyn felt for the beast was quickly pushed away. Caedwyn had been raised on Tsillah's mercy. Tsillah took those who were too weak to continue being alive. The death she brought was mercy, in it's own way.
Caedwyn let out a huff of relief that their fight hadn't gone sideways and his eyes glanced back at Enya. "Shall I finish it off or would you like the kill?" he asked. "We should end it quickly before its suffering attracts more predators."
ooc. Just wrapping up this old thread. Taking some liberties here if that's cool.
Having defeated the bear, Caedwyn descended down the rocky slope toward where the beast lay broken and in pain. Pained screeches came from its jaws as it sensed Caedwyn's approach and it thrashed its paw out to the side wildly in a last ditch effort to fight him off. Caedwyn paused his descent, stopping on a small ledge just above the bear. Perhaps it would be a better idea to do this from a distance, he wondered. Although appearing mortally injured, Caedwyn had seen creatures on deaths door suddenly summon unusual vigor in their moments. He didn't wish to test his luck much further against those slashing claws. He looked around the ground for a moment before shuffling a bit to the side. With a little straining, he managed to lift his paws and pry a particularly heavy rock slope and gave it a strong push. It tumbled quickly before slamming down on the beasts head, sending a splatter of blood across the dirt and rocks. The pained sounds of the bear grew silent, as did it's movements.
"I suppose that'll do," Caedwyn said, before a frown came to his maw. It was unfortunate he had smashed the beasts head to bits. He would have liked to have had a nice big skull to add to his collection. "The pelt looks salveage-able," he muttered, more to himself than to Enya. But that would have to wait. He let out a little 'good-riddens' scoff before climbing back up to Enya.
He looked her over, giving a a few concerned glances here and there to check her for any serious injuries and inquiring to the same effect. Once he was certain she was alright, he bid her to investigate the cave they had found before. It seemed spacious enough and not too unkempt. He was sure that with a little 'house-keeping' it could be turned into a suitable den for the pair. So as the afternoon wore on, he took to such activities as caring for their wounds and began clearing out what would eventually become their den, before eventually resting for the night.
