that endless hurricane, you have the will to fight, and find your way through

It wasn’t supposed to be there.

The wind roared in their ears, the blizzard’s chill threatening to bite through even the nyulops’ thick fur, but it did nothing to quell the great, deafening shriek of that bird as it swooped towards their location.

Scout wasted no time in throwing Koma out of the way, ill-advised decisions already made long before she even had a moment to think - they were given the briefing, they were advised against engaging it in melee…

But she wasn’t alone, and a knife was all she had. If the flimsy blade she’d grabbed in her hurry to catch up to the expedition was the one thing between Koma and those talons, then it’d have to do. She’d made him a promise, she wasn’t about to break it now.

The bird gave another warning screech, slicing through the wind’s howls like a knife through paper. Scout didn’t back down, despite Koma’s protests, mostly because the wraithel was blocking their path.

The pair had been separated from the main group. In their hurry to keep up, Koma had tripped on a rock, and despite their best efforts…the higher they got, the thicker the blizzard became, and the more difficult it became to keep track of even their own paws in front of them. A cloak and jacket had not been enough equipment for this at all.

Specks of red splattered across the white snow beneath, the wraithel’s cry one of pain rather than threat this time. The unlucky nyulop took just a moment to admire her work, a confident, if disbelieving grin spreading across her face as she recognised that the blood was not her own - she’d made contact, and it bled! 

Maybe now it would flee, having recognised that the pair meant business-

Koma’s shout came a minute too late. A moment was all it took for Scout to be sent tumbling onto her back, more deep red liquid staining the snow beneath her as her body was smacked against the rock floor.

The nyulop sat up, squinting at the scene before her. She recognised the blurry white shape of her lucky nyulop companion, and the fuzzy purple of the great avian beast before them. 

Scout frowned, an attempt to stand ending in predictable, pathetic failure, the world a blur of white and grey and red. She placed a paw against her face - why did it hurt? It felt warm, wet. A hiss of pain involuntarily left her throat, sucking the frigid air through her teeth. 

“Scout, Scout we need to go-” 

The unlucky nyulop almost didn’t respond, unsure when the wraithel had left, or when Koma had turned around- was it still there? Why was he worrying about her?

She felt something hot against her paw - breath, hot breath against it. She weakly petted Temper, the vertois offering a relieved headbutt in response. 

“I-I don’t know if it’ll come back, but we need to go, we need to catch up with the others.” Koma seemed frantic, having grabbed her shoulders and lightly shaking her at some point between her petting Temper and acknowledging him again. “I can try to help?”

“I can walk.” She said. In any other situation it would’ve been a lie, but she had to. She had to keep going for Koma. 

They had to keep going for the Island.

They didn't plan for this.

Having only been engaging in light-hearted banter and snowball lobbing mere minutes earlier, in an attempt to lighten the sombre mood from how difficult things had gotten as they climbed further and further up the mountain's ascent. Koma had tripped on a rock after all, both he and Scout needed the pep but the world refused to let it be more than just fleeting.

A harsh shriek was heard from above, like a dagger drawn across stone. It made the pair's ears wince and their eyes widen at the smoky terror that darted towards them, not even the din of the raging blizzard was enough to hide its presence. Koma gasping at the very sight of it, its stormy lavender feathers instilling what almost felt like a muted awe at such a horrid creature.

It wasn't even moments before he found himself shoved away from the bird's line of fire, stumbling into the snow with a thud. Barely able to get their bearings as they gazed upwards to the scene before him; Scout, their own expedition partner no less, daring to engage it in combat if she had to. Bone dagger in paw with a look of shaky confidence if not panicked stupidity, making Koma's heart race from the anxiety.

"Scout!?" He cried. "What are you DOING??"

She didn't seem to answer, too focused on the wraithrel as it made its bone-chilling warning calls. 

"Th- The elders said NOT TO ENGAGE IN MELEE!"

Watching in horror as she readied her blade.

"SCOUT!"

There was a shrill howl of pain, but the blood that splattered out across the snow thankfully wasn't that of his friend. Deep but slender wounds now split through the avian's feathered legs while Koma let out a sigh of relief, the cold air constricting his throat flowing once more. Perhaps this strike of hers was enough to deter it, at the least enough for them to make a break for it right? The rest of the expedition can't be that far off, they could regroup and travel in ways that'd give the poor boy a much needed mental rest.

…Perhaps that sigh was ill-deserved.

Seeing out of the corner of their eye something Scout wasn't prepared for in the slightest, amidst her disbelief the bird had prepared for a retaliation. Using the time that unlucky lop had spent staring in pride at the wounds she caused to ready its talons, the wounds still bleeding as a seething reminder with every flex of its muscles. Koma feeling his body tense up as the cogs whirred in their mind, it was going to strike her. It was going to strike her. 

Not even his warning shout was fast enough to save her, being forced to witness as the wraithrel raked its claws across Scout's face. Dragging them more than far enough to dig through her neck fur and even part of her chest and shoulders in the process, the force of the whole movement causing the darkly coloured lop to slam against the freezing, hard, rocky floor.

The snow was stained red. Half from her, half from their foe.

Koma felt a rush of adrenaline shooting through his very body, pulling themselves up from the floor with palms shaking from the stress of the situation at hand. They were feeling all sorts of things, rage, upset, fear for their very lives, whatever it was it was what kept him from stumbling as they reached for his bow, barely even paying attention to the soft fur of Temper brushing against their legs as the pair stood bristling in unison. Their companion had been harmed, it was their job to fight back however they could.

Keeping his distance as they drew an arrow back, watching the bird's every move as it did his. Each side ready to strike the moment the other dared to draw further blood, though Koma wasn't as keen on shooting to kill as the Wraithrel was. Trying to steady their hands without losing the fire of determination that burned within, this was for Scout. He can't fail, he shouldn't.

The creature went to strike again…

Neither side missed.

The arrow firmly lodged itself in the avian's uninjured thigh as it lunged for Koma's raised arm, being forced to wobble in the air as it struggled upon which ailing leg to use mid-flight. Still, it dug its talons in deep and painfully all the same for the lucky lop; though the pain of trying to hold its grip did cause more harm than he was hoping it would. The wraithrel shrieking half in ire and distress as it floundered and flapped at its own attempts to disengage, only dragging those claws further and further across their skin till it was free at last. 

Glaring at one another with bloodied limbs, lightly cream fur running blood red as the bow was lowered from the pain of such a strike. But Koma did not falter, growling under their breath a threat unintelligible for the iris-coloured intruder before him, taking one intimidating step forward as it seemed to hesitate between further assault and fleeing…

Seems the wraithrel found better success in turning tail this time, taking its bleeding limbs back to the skies as it deemed this bold lop no longer worth the risk.

Turning to Scout, still running on the adrenaline of it all, only to find her sat on the floor in a bloody and dazed mess. Stumbling his way towards her with a new worry in their mind, to relocate the main group and get as far away from here as they can. 

"Scout, Scout we need to go-"

They didn't have time to dawdle like this, clutching his throbbing arm with a wince as Temper came to give their own check as to their bond's responsiveness. Their green eyes frantically looking to the skies and back to his expedition partner as if the bird was to come back at any moment, he was terrified of another ambush making things worse than they already are.

"I-I don't know if it'll come back, but we need to go, we need to catch up with the others." 

Their breathing was panicked, the adrenaline that steeled his resolve ebbing away as the gravity of it all began to truly set in; he was only 15! Fifteen year olds don't often have to defend their friends from killer birds on mountain tops, let alone doing such things on their own after being separated from the actual adults here. They felt out of their depth, shaking Scout's shoulders as if that'd help her even acknowledge what he was saying let alone respond coherently. "I can try to help, I-I'm a bit jittery but my legs still work-"

"I can walk."

The bluntness was not what they expected. Staring gormlessly, before at the very least helping her up and back onto her feet. Koma just quite didn't get it, but in all honesty he was too scared to even ask at this rate.

It was going to be a long night, they were sure of it.