A sleepless night sometime during the Summer of 513 AV
Uschi stared at the sky through the trees, noticing Leth in the sky. He was quite bright, and surrounded by stars. The Kelvic girl wished she could sleep. Her hand went to the fang attached to a leather thong around her neck, rubbing her thumb along the smooth curve of the bone. She held it up to what little light shone through the branches, noting the now-dulled tip of it. A very, very faint red tint covered about half of the fang, and memories flashed in her head...
77th of Fall, 511 AV, somewhere near Zeltiva
Uschi was hungry and desperate. Winter was fast approaching and food was getting scarcer. She avoided other bears, especially the big males, since she knew they too were looking for a meal. Her stomach was tight. A northerly wind brought the scent of something that was recently killed, and she decided to try her luck. She rolled onto her belly and stood up, shaking twigs from her fur. The bear lumbered towards the scent, keeping her snout high and making sure she was going in the right direction. Fresh meat would be delicious, providing the hunter had gone already in search of better food. She doubted this, but it was a possibility.
She arrived unlucky. The hunter was one that she didn't want to encounter, not in her starved state. He was a big male, a good ten feet long from nosetip to tail. However, he was just as thin as her. She began to back away, but he had smelled her already and turned to look.
"What do you want, girlie? If you're looking for food, you should look elsewhere. This is mine, and if you're trying to get any then you'll eat it over my dead body."
She was thoroughly frightened, as he was obviously more experienced. But... There was something about him. He didn't smell like the younger males did. He was an old, old bear, just trying to pass through the winter. She could almost hear the creaking and complaining of his bones, and wondered how she missed his fur, silver with age. Which meant he was weak. An easy kill, but not an honorable one. Honor or life?
The answer was simple: Life. She would kill this elderly one to live herself, for he was no longer useful in nature's cycle and would only die when winter came and he froze simply because he was too old. She stepped forwards, not scared any longer. Her eyes hardened.
"Old One, I'm simply passing through. I did not mean to disturb you..."
She walked in front of the kill, barely hiding her intentions with a thin veil of innocence. She was convinced he could see through it.
He could.
The male lunged before she could, tackling her onto her back. He was bigger, but it meant he had a harder time getting at her when she was close to him. It was a flaw in his strategy, and one she would use to her advantage. He roared as they went down, both sets of claws raking her forehead to her ear, but not deeply. Blood creeped through her fur, oddly warm like her meals. It ran into her eyes, and she struck out blindly. Her own claws met flesh, tearing through it. She wasn't sure what she hit, but she knew it hurt him because he paused in his attacks for a precious moment, rearing back, which she used to get up and headbutt him in the chest. They fell again, but their positions were reversed with the younger bear on top.
If one had stumbled upon them and they had known nothing about bears, they might've thought they were father and daughter with the exception of the blood and roaring coming from the both of them. Time passed, the two attacking each other and trying to gain an advantage. The male was bigger, older and more experienced, but he was wearing out whereas Uschi was young and could last far longer. Long gashes covered her shoulders and thighs, but he was covered in blood. The girl was grateful for having sharpened her claws earlier, as the cuts on him were deeper and close to fatal. She could feel him weakening, and lunged for his throat. A massive paw batted her head away, knocking her onto the grass.
Uschi stood shakily, but charged him again nonetheless. She could just barely turn him onto his side and sink her teeth into the thick fur around his neck, biting down as hard as she could. The younger bear pierced the male's flesh, then the trachea. She moved backwards, pulling the dying body with her until her teeth scythed through the remaining skin, causing her to land on her rump and fall onto her back. She spat out the clump of skin and fur, watching the elder die. When he finally ceased to breathe and she could smell that he was no longer with the living, she laid down to sleep for a while.
Hours later, Uschi blinked open her eyes and stood wearily, the soreness and pain from the fight earlier in the day taking effect. The girl plodded forwards, wincing as scabs broke open, but managed to arrive at the prey the male had fought for. She plunged her muzzle into the meat, gratefully swallowing it. It was a little dry, but fatty and exactly what she needed. When she finished it off, she turned to look at her deceased opponent. She felt the urge to rip a fang out and did so, taking the upper left canine. It was the larger of the two, and whereas the right one was broken the left was perfectly intact. She willed herself into human form and held the bone in her hands, weighing it.
She had gotten a prize, but at a great cost.
OOCSomething tells me I didn't do the fight as well as I should've, and possibly went over her abilities. If I messed up, please tell me!
