Showdown.

[.::Tyrant::.]

<sup>Reverie was surprised to see Laion leap into the fray, but she had not time to express that surprise. Jaegar was on his feet in an instant. A feeling of grim satisfaction washed over Reverie as she leapt at the wolf, jaws agape. It was two... no, three, against one - Tyrant had scrambled to his feet and was closing swiftly in on Jaegar, looking grave but determined. They were almost certain to win.

The Mountain Dog's brain switched off then as she tumbled into the fight, clawing and biting at her wolven opponent. Her vision had turned red, and there was no room in her brain now for rational thought. Tyrant, too, was lost to the outside world, as he fought side by side his best friend and his mate's brother, slowly gaining the upper hand on Jaegar, who, despite his superior size, weight, and, when it came to battle, frame of mind, was heavily outnumbered.

Reverie and Tyrant both leapt backwards as Laion grasped Jaegar's throat. Reverie, filled with adrenaline, made to lunge forward again. Jaegar was the demon who had haunted her home, and she wanted to cause him pain. Tyrant jumped before her with a snarl, and she stopped in her tracks, Jaegar's desperate, choking breaths causing her to shake with exitement. However, as her vicious, wild eyes took in Tyrant's stern expression, she sobred up and stood still.

"He's gone, Reverie. Leave it." Tyrant commanded in a low voice. He, too, had been shaking after the frenzied battle, but now he calmed down, and the sounds, sights and smells of his surroundings began to rush back to him. He watched as Jaegar fell unconsious, and then stepped forward with Reverie to cautiously inspect his fallen opponent.

Valentina rushed over, and Tyrant pushed aside his susprise to see her there, deciding there were more important things to worry about. What mattered was that everyone was safe. He watched her and Laion gravely, and embraced her closely as she flew to him, murmering softly in her ear, doing his best to comfort her. Reverie, however, simply sat and watched Laion as he ended Jaegar's life, taking a perverse pleasure in the site of the blood flowering at the wolf's throat. The threat was gone, and her loved ones were out of danger. Reverie did not feel in the least bit sympathetic towards Jaegar, for he had threatened her and everything she held close. She didn't stay to mourn the wolf. As soon as she had confirmed him dead, she turned and padded over to where Tyrant and Valentina stood. She touched the Top Dog briefly with her muzzle, and he offered her a small smile. Then, the guardian turned and slipped from the clearing, Valentina and Laion's howls of grief floating after her.

ooc: Bleh... cruddy post. I'm confused. I'll do another one with Aphro and junk... basically a continued version of this one.</sup>

[.::Tyrant::.]

<sup>Aphro had taken a vicious blow to the head and had been deep in the realms of unconsiousness. Valentina's sharp nudge brought her round, and pain exploded in her crania, bright stars flashing on the backs of her eyelids. She screwed her orbs tightly shut, whining softly, tense as she waited for the agony to subside. It did, finally, but it left her feeling quite worn out. She felt too fatigued to even open her eyes, let alone lift her head, so she simply lay listening to the snarls and cries and feeling utterly helpless.

Finally, the noise subsided. Aphro's chest tightened, and she whimpered feebley, listening for Tyrant's voice and hoping against hope that he wasn't dead.

He's gone, Reverie. Leave it. Tyrant's deep, rumbling tones filled Aphro with relief, although she did little to express it. He had mentioned Reverie's name, and that meant she, too, was alive. Aphro could sense a feeling of triumph charging the air of the clearing, although it was tainted with regret.

Laion and Valentina's howls were the things that finally drew Aphro's eyes open. She had recovered slightly, although as her lids lifted fresh, blinding pain shot through her skull. Her whine of protest was louder this time, and Tyrant heard it as the howls faded. Whipping around, his dark eyes took in Aphro's tense form and he rushed to her side, crouching beside her, eyes filled with concern.

"Aphro! Are you ok?" The Top Dog asked, his soft voice urgent, licking her gentley. She smiled weakly.

"I'm fine..." She whispered, although this obviously wasn't true. The pain in her head had dulled, but it was constant and still very obvious, a blunt, throbbing ache, originating from a spot at the back of her head where she had collided with the tree. Tyrant smiled bracingly back. He could see the pain in his sister's eyes, and wanted nothing more than to quench it there and then. But he had no way of doing that. He had to get her back to the healing den.

"What happened?" Aphro asked feebley, as Tyrant suddenly rose to his feet. He looked down at her, touching her shoulder softly, reassuringly, with one of his large paws.

"I'll explain later. We've got to get you back." He murmered. Aphro nodded, and closed her eyes again. The Top Dog fell into a crouch and wriggled beneath her, taking care not to jog her head. Straightening up with difficulty, he paced over to where Laion and Val stood, his tense, corded muscles protruding sharply from his hide. Aphro was no light load, but Tyrant was a strong dog. He could take her to the healing den without too much of a struggle on his part.

"I'm taking her back to Triss..." Tyrant explained, his voice somewhat strained. He planted a quick lick on Val's face, smiled seriously at Laion, then turned and bounded off towards the den, Aphro draped, a dead weight, across his strong back.</sup>

[Valentina]

The three wolves sat in silence as the area cleared out around them. Finally the solitude became complete. They were, of course, all silent for different reasons. Laion felt numb, his inky ears flicked in sync with his icy eyes that darted about the green forest and saw nothing, and his ebony talons slowly sunk deeper into the earth the farther he became lost to his thoughts. Valentina sat desolately, her composure regained but her blue eyes weary. Memories flitted through her mind, and now and again a sharp breath that was almost a whine would escape her lips. Jaegar, they decided unanimously, was lucky. He would never again have to face this pain and blood.

The husky-dog finally forced her gaze to stay on their fallen friend. She had to face it: he was dead. And what's more, his own best friend had been the one to kill him. Laion's not a murderer, she reassured herself. He was putting Jaegar out of his misery. It's different.

Laion sighed deeply, breaking the silence. Valentina looked sideways at him through her icy slivers of eyes, then she sighed, too. They just sat, side by side, and stared down bleakly, Laion fidgeting and his sister almost as still as the dead before them. As many thoughts as were running through Valentina's head, Laion was forcing his into something resembling a snowstorm. All his thoughts were out of order and hazy, thousands of things running through his chaotic mind. He saw the faces of all the dogs and wolves he'd killed, telling himself each one was for a good purpose. That he was not heartless. He saw all the faces of the men whose blood he had tasted and a small grin flickered across his black lips, the tip of an enormous white fang glistening faintly. All along I was avenging my pack, he thought. Even you...it was them who did this to you. They killed you in a far worse way than the others. The wolf blinked, and behind his closed eyes he saw the crimson liquid trace the bullet's path out the side of his mother's head and dissppear into a tiny hole in the snow. The life behind her eyes shut of instantaneously as if someone had flipped a switch off inside her. He whimpered quietly.

"You had to do it you know." He started. The silence of the woods had enveloped the two so much it had almost seemed loud. Her words dragged him out of his drowning thoughts like she'd caught him with a fishing hook.

"I know." And then the silence engulfed them once more.

Valentina threw her head back, thinking vaguely of how she had once been so determined to be neither dog or wolf, not howling, not barking. Her eyes roamed over the blue sky as if seen through a bright green halo formed by the tops of trees. What had she been trying to prove? It was her wolven blood she was sure that had kept her clinging to life since the incidents of the harsh winter, and yet she was sure it was the dog in her that made her love Tyrant so selflessly. Why not just embrace them both?

"Go home Valentina." Laion said suddenly. She was taken back, both by his tone and that he was now referrring to the Hollow as home. Under other circumstances she would have smiled.

His blue eyes met hers and Valentina thought about staying anyway. She wanted to help, and she knew he had intentions of burrying him now. His tone had been both pleading and demanding, but what made the half-wolf give in in the end was knowing that he probably wanted time alone wih Jaegar. He had been much closer to the wolf than she, after all. Valentina nodded at Laion in understanding, and turned and trotted solemnly away through the trees, masking her limp and the pain before Laion noiced and decided he had to carry her back.

Eventually she became no more to him than a red shadow through the thick trees, and when she looked back over her shoulder, he was still simply standing there, the bass of his voice reaching her ears as he spoke to the dead. She didn't look back after that, but Valentina knew it would be a long time before they saw Laion again.