Spotlight

Six-hundred and twenty pounds of muscle and fang crept through the ferns and low-hanging branches. Though vengeance still thrummed hungrily in his heart, it was his belly that growled louder today and guided the massive, spotted liger to seek new prey. Lupanare had not fully sated his hunger, especially when that single wolf had to be shared by the rest of his hunting party last night.

When the scent of wolf grew stronger, Spotlight's movements became more cautious. He lowered his head, keeping it even with his broad shoulders, and trying to better blend his dark mane in with the thick needles of the young fir and spruce saplings. Dusk provided him additional cover, and with that to aid him, Spot continued to descend deeper in the Silver Glade's territory.

Orcai

'What's that?'

It was the scent that caught Orcai's attention. The black and white wolf lifted her nose and sniffed again, then snorted faintly.

'Cat? But it's a strange odor.'

Curiosity got the better of her. Thinking back on the human she'd encounter in the strange hide-den, Orcai pushed caution aside and began to follow the gentle breeze that carried Spotlight's scent.

Spotlight

Spotlight crept deeper into the heart of the coniferous forest. The lush scent of damp soil and delicate ferns was a welcome change from the dusty grass of the prairie, and if he weren't currently on a hunting mission, the liger might have stayed away to enjoy the scenery.

'Hmm?' Spotlight stopped when he caught sound of something moving in his direction. He lowered his frame and pressed his ears back, flatting his big frame as much as he could until the source of the news came into view. A wolf. And it was alone.

The liger waited patiently for Orcai to move closer, and when she was just a few shy yards from his location, he pounced for her, trying to swipe her front legs out from beneath her and grab the back of her neck for a quick kill...

Orcai

Orcai wasn't prepared for the monstrosity that flew at her from the shadows. She had only enough time to bristle and make a frantic side-step before Spotlight was upon her and her legs buckled beneath the weight.

"HELP!" Orcai did manage a howl, and twisted around enough to stop Spotlight from grabbing anything more than muscle and fur. Hardly acknowledging the pain in her frightened state, the young wolf focused on biting at Spot's paws or sides while thrashing about to make his job more difficult.

Spotlight

Spotlight thrashed his dial back and forth, ragdolling the wolf in his clutches to keep her from landing a bite on him. He then shifted his big paws, pressing one against her head, and one against her shoulders, claws unleashed to use as anchors so that he could pin her down. He then tried to adjust his bite, going for a lethal neck hold to hopefully silence her before any pack members showed up.

Aakari, Orcai, & Sweetclover

Orcai continued to squirm and wiggle about, making Spotlight fight for the grasp he wanted. When he tried to pin her head, she wrenched it away, taking the marks of his claws in favor of a fatal neck bite. She pushed forward, clawing at the ground, and pulled herself out just enough to save her nape from further injury. Teeth instead would find her shoulder and upper back, but even then Orcai continued to throw her weight about and twist this way and that.

Like a avalanche Aakari roared in after hearing her daughter's cry for help. She crashed through the underbrush, snapping branches and crushing ferns that dared be in her thunderous path towards the vile cat. "You will pay for your intrusion!" The ghostly alphess snarled this threat in the last few yards of space before she was to reach Spotlight. Without slowing or checking her pace, she dove headlong for him, going straight for his face and all the sensitive features there. Eyes, nose, ears - she'd ravage whatever she could get a hold of to distract the beast from her daughter.

Spotlight

Spotlight was frustrated in failing to get that lethal hold, but he worked with what he had and gave Orcai another harsh thrashing with what skin and muscle he had between his teeth. And then, quite suddenly, a furious whirlwind of snarls and fangs came flying for his face, and the liger had little recourse but to release his prey and defend himself. Aakari's teeth managed to score his nose and tear his lip rather deeply before he draw back and offered a hefty, claw-studded swipe to her own face. He swiped again with the opposite paw, then lunged full-force at the alpha, taking whatever punishment her fangs had to offer so that he could in turn grab onto her...

Aakari & Orcai

A dazed and bloodied Orcai careened back from Spotlight the second she felt herself free of his maw. She put several hasty feet between herself and the terrible cat before daring to turn back, and that's when she realized it was her mother who had delayed Spotlight in his assault. There was fresh blood upon the liger's face, and not all of it was hers; Aakari had split the beast's lip and given him a good mark to remember her by.

Spotlight's counter was a brutal one though. Feeling the pulsing, white-hot pain of her own wounds, she shuddered at the sight of the cat's gleaming claws slicing through the air towards her parent. "Mom, we need to run!" Orcai pleaded in a sharp whine, while stepping a few more feet back.

Aakari saw the claws heading her way too, and she had no intention of standing there to take their punishment. The white wolfess dodged aside, suffering only a glancing blow from the left paw. She danced to the side then rushed forward, gnashing her ivories at Spotlight's side and forcing him to turn away from Orcai if he wanted to deal with her whirlwind attack. "GO Orcai! I'll be right behind you!"

Spotlight

Spotlight was enraged now. He bunched his powerful muscles and sprung aside to avoid Aakari's fangs, and slapped a paw at her face for daring to assault him so. "That's fine, I'll have two wolves for dinner today!" The threat came out in a wild snarl and he leaped for the white wolfess, with the goal to pin and crush her down as he had Orcai.

Aakari & Orcai

Feral yellow sights never left the big cat. When he sprang, she side-stepped, vaulting back and out of his deadly clutches. Fangs were snapped in his direction, though she made no strenuous effort to actually land a bite this time, knowing she couldn't afford to tangle long with an adversary that she had little hope of actually defeating. "If you want two, you'll have to work for it, cat." Aakari put more effort into her snarling words and gnashed her fangs against at his face before turning and bolting a few yards away, moving in the opposite direction of the liger.

Orcai had little recourse, being too wounded to be of any help in fighting off Spotlight. She backpeddaled few more wincing steps. Once she saw Aakari break away, Orcai finally turned tail and bolted herself, forcing her tattered frame into action as she put as much distance as she could between herself and the larger predator.

Spotlight

Teeth and claws met no satisfying resistance of flesh. Frustration began to bubbling within the cat, and yowling roar was unleased. He spared a split-second to glance back at the retreating Orcai, but decided against following her... for now. Not when he had a hornet of a wolf pestering him.

"Just for this trouble, I'm taking the time to hunt down every last miserable dog in your pack." He vowed as he sprinted for Aakari, fully intent upon making her his next meal. Covering impressive ground in a few sturdy strides, he stretched a paw out, striking like a snake as he tried to catch her lower hind leg and send her careening to the ground...

Aakari & Orcai

Aakari flew like the wind through her territory. She'd lived here all her life and knew the landscape it like the back of her own paw. She used that knowledge now to guide her through the densest thickets, crashing through the tangled branches of fallen trees where her frame could just squeeze by, but Spotlight's couldn't, and he'd be forced to go around them. The effort cost her a few bumps and bruises, and one particularly nasty gouge by a stubborn branch to her thigh, but it was far better than being caught in the clutches of the liger.

The white alphess eventually reached one of the older dens in the territory and dove headlong into it and crawled into the deep chamber. An auxiliary tunnel would offer escape if Spotlight persisted, but the alphess hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Panting hard, she turned about in the cramped chamber and peered up at what dim light could reach the end of the main tunnel. She hated running from any fight, but she knew her limits, and wasn't going to die a foolish death today.

Spotlight

If it wasn't for the density of the forest and uneven contours of the land, Spotlight was sure he'd have had his prey. In a prairie or meadow, she'd have been done for. Instead, Spotlight found himself battling through ferns and branches, where his massive size suddenly betrayed him. All that impressive strength and power meant little when the battlefield required fleetness and agility, and little by little, he lost ground against the far smaller wolf.

Eventually the chase ended with the plume of her white tail disappearing into the darkness of a den. Spotlight slammed into it with force, sweeping a paw into the inky shadows as he made a last attempt to snare his meal, but she'd scrambled down into the depths with practiced ease. A furious roar echoed after her, "Next time, wolf, you won't be so lucky." And he took a few testing swipes at the edge of the den, but his claws weren't made for digging, and he wasn't about to waste so much energy trying to dig out a wolf who might be several feet below him now. Huffing with anger, Spotlight paced for a short while before finally conceding defeat and stalking out of the territory.

Aakari & Orcai

Aakari had waited several minutes after Spotlight's departure before venturing out from the tunnel. With great stealth, the white wolfess had then stalked the cat from a distance, making sure he was leaving the territory and not circling back for her daughter or the rest of the family. Once she was assured that the threat was well and truly gone did she return to Orcai.

Her daughter was badly bloodied and weak, but she was alive. Aakari fussed over her, cleaning some of the blood away before sending forth a howl for the rest of the family. She'd then escorted Orcai to the old den before striking off to speak with a few old allies.

In the quiet that followed the harrowing attack, Orcai lay at the edge of the den's entrance, black and white muzzle resting on ghostly paws tainted pink. She had no energy to stand or join her mother when she'd howled for the others. She wasn't even sure if she could lift her head at this point, so wearied she was after the battle. Eventually, the young wolf let her eyes slip close and feel into a deep sleep.