Hunting… skullpig?
Sunday, 18 March 2012 12:54![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flint_garouSkull pigs.
18 March, 2012
The moon is in the waning Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (27% full).
Earlier that day, Flint and Alex would find Nik hanging out in the general vicinity of the Edgewood in Glabro. After discovering that the Edgewood needs to be restocked with food and drink, they decide to head out for some more wildery lunch. Nik allows one of the others to lead the way, loping along after them, stretching bruised muscle and tendon and seemingly enjoying the little jaunt into the forest.
It's a cool, cloudy day, with temperatures enough to put a nip in the air, even on the lowlands around Edgewood. There's no wind, thank goodness, otherwise it would feel downright blustery. Not being on the bawn, or near the caern, the grounds are clearer than they are elsewhere—none of those devilish brambles and fungus to deal with here, thank goodness.
Alexandra, not being much of a hunter as yet, brought along her trusty guide to wilderness survival borrowed from the Edgewood library. She's more than content to lead the way, although how much luck she'll have in finding anything remains to be seen. "Hmm. I think I saw a plant that looked like this one somewhere over in this area."
Owen happened this morning to have been working out in the facilities within the garage. He's worked himself up good, and is only just now stepping out of the garage to head back into the woods for a run. He shifts down into lupus to do just that.
Flint raises his brows, then looks over at the page that Alexandra indicates. "I think, yeah," the cliath agrees. He's been happy enough to let her lead the way as well, enjoying the air but not necessarily the most comfortable in the woods were it not for her and Nik both, with energy that suggests he finally got some sleep last night. "We could see if. If we could find it again, yeah?" A glance angles back towards the Shadow Lord Elder, and a faint grin.
Lionheart is padding along from the opposite direction of where the others are coming from. He pauses and shakes himself before padding on. It looks like the dog-looking wolf is fairly accustom to this form. He immediately recognizes Flint and Alexandra but not the elder Garou with them.
Thunder's-Heart snuffs at the book, stepping away a little to gnaw on some green shoots nearby. From the smell, it might be wild onion. But now it's covered in wolf spit. Lionheart's presence earns him a greeting. This one's Thunder's-Hunter-of-the-Heart, darkmoon Fostern and alpha of Grandfather Thunder. The other lupus gets a good sniffing over. His ear twitches, and the small lupus straightens, his attention suddenly in one direction. He emits a huff, curious. Others?
There are some neat plants out there. Washington's wet forests are always good for edible greens, even this time of year. It's no berry season, but vegetable pickings are reasonable.
Wildfire first scents and then hears the small gathering. He turns and heads their way after a moment's thought to see what might be going on.
Alexandra has never actually seen Lionheart in lupus, so there's no immediate recognition there, although a look at the scar the wolf carries and she has her suspicions. She waits until his introduction to be certain, however. Her attention shifts in the same direction as Thunder's-Heart, following his lead, looking for any sign of the others that he references.
Flint purses his lips, noting the Gnawer's sign of recognition with a raised brow of question and then shrugging before the Glass Walker shifts slowly down to lupus. After all, it's cold, he notes as he nudges Alexandra's leg.
The Gnawer makes his way closer to the others and inspects what Thunder's-Heart is gnawing on. He takes a step back and replies to the Shadow Lord alpha. This one is Lionheart, Full-moon Bone Gnawer Fostern. This one recently returned a few moons ago but is from here, used to be named Savages-Enemy. The Ahroun does not notice Wildfire, but the battle-worn Gnawer may or may not be familiar to the Get of Fenris.
This means just about everyone is staring at Owen when Owen arrives. Talk about awkward. A small songbird flushes from some shrubs, like it's tired of everything going on there.
Wildfire can be heard and then eventually seen as he makes his way through the woods, ears attentive. Once he spies the others in return, he approaches, curious as to the congrgation at first but not voicing anything right off.
There's something rooting around behind them, that Flint just hears, now that he's on all fours. Some sort of small, cute critter. Brownish, on the other side of some shrubs.
Thunder's-Heart replies to Lionheart with a huff. Well met. The lupus is quite small for an alpha, that's for sure. Owen's appearance draws interest from the Shadow Lord, and the Get gets another greeting of familiarity. We're looking for breakfast. We can take something much bigger now. He moves towards Alexandra, poking his nose at her book. Bigger than plants.
"It is you, then. Hello, Lionheart-rhya." And then, as the Get comes into view, she offers him a greeting as well. "Hello, Wildfire-rhya." At her elder's prompting, she takes off her coat—it being the only item of clothing she's wearing that isn't dedicated—and wraps the book up in it, stashing it in a tree where it will hopefully be kept safe and dry until her return. That done, she takes a few steps off to begin moving through the forms until she reaches lupus.
Requiem looks between the Get and the Gnawer for a long moment, before quietly indicating that he is Requiem, a first-ranked galliard of Cockroach's tribe. Tail wags slightly in either excitement or amusement at Thunder's-Heart, but then, distractedly, the cliath paces a small circle and twists his ears towards the shrubs.
Wildfire grunts a short greeting to the gathered, familiar with everyone here at least. He turns to look into the woods briefly. A hunt, then?
Lionheart jerks his head at Alexandra and then wags his tail slowly. Unlike the Shadow Lord alpha, the Gnawer is tall and gangly, much like the built of a husky. He then turns his gaze over to Wildfire and takes a moment to regain some familiarity with the Get. With his question, the Gnawer perks up and dances around on his feet. Yes!
Yup, definitely something small and furry back there. About the size of a small dog. It grunts and roots around in the detritus on the ground.
Thunder's-Heart sits down, ears swiveling. A hunt, he agrees. The ragabash glances towards his cub before setting off once more, heading decidedly away from the Edgewood.
Once she's reached four legs, Masks-the-Storm falls into place behind her elder, ears perked and alert, nose lowered near the ground on occasion, then lifting back up to check scents that may be carried by the wind as well. She wonders if Requiem has ever hunted for food in a pack before?
Just about now, everyone, not just a few people, can hear the sounds of a small creature, rooting around about 20 yards distant. It's something small and brown, maybe the size of a small dog, and furry.
Lionheart jerks his head at Alexandra and then wags his tail slowly. Unlike the Shadow Lord alpha, the Gnawer is tall and gangly, much like the built of a husky. He then turns his gaze over to Wildfire and takes a moment to regain some familiarity with the Get. With his question, the Gnawer perks up and dances around on his feet. Yes!
Requiem moves to follow Masks-the-Storm and then turns, distracted back by the bush. No, though he has hunted small animals, he adds, tail flipping back and forth at the sounds and he trots towards the bush a little. There is a sharp huff that the young wolf then makes, towards the direction of the sound that he's been distracted by, almost greeting, tentative.
Wildfire does a great 'Squirrel!' look at the sound towards whatever may have caused it. His eyes are curious for a moment as he peers that way.
Lionheart senses something ahead but pauses to look back at the younger Garou. Why don't we allow the younger Garou try to take down some smaller prey? It would be good practice, he trails off as he sees Requiem already making his way towards it.
Thunder's-Heart ducks away at Lionheart's suggestion, heading not towards the creature, but around it, the almost reflexive move of a Ragabash, allowing the more burly to take the run while he attempts to block the creature's exit. He speeds up, keeping silent.
The small creature lifts its head when Flint says his beastly "Hello!" the thing showing it's skull like head as it stares at the group it had inadvertently wandered close to. Wee tusks protrude from its head, and the skin is so thin that it looks like it's pure bone. This, of course, provokes the small tapir like creature to run for its life with a squeal.
Well, so much for sneaking up on the creature. Masks-the-Storm breaks into a run, giving chase, hoping that either it will tire before she does, or that she'll be able to help chase it toward one of the others.
Well, that's interesting, is about as much as Requiem has time to think before the creature begins to run. There're no other attempts to speak to it, in any case. The cliath springs into his own run after it, tail flicking behind him in excitement, taking the other side from the cub.
Wildfire eyes the creature, somehing apparently tugging on a string in his head but nothing coming of it. He does advise caution for the cub, though, the thing obviously not a normal animal, before taking off after it as well.
Lionheart starts a little when he sees the small creature, but its too far from him to see clearly. What is it? he questions to the wolf that is closest to the creature who is now heading in the opposite direction from them. Along with the others, the Ahroun begins to run.
Thunder's-Heart emits a grunt of frustration when the creature takes off, confusion tinging the sound. Nothing I've seen before, he notes. The Shadow Lord picks up speed, but it's apparently not his strong suit.
The small pig like creature squeals and squeals as the Garou chase it down, with Nik getting rather close to doing so, with how nimble and quick the Shadow Lord is. However, the ruckus and the cries for help raise the attention of several of what presumably are its parents. Two large, pony sized pig creatures stand up, as well as one more of their young. When they see their young being chased by a group of Garou, well, they don't seem to like that. They squeal, one thrashes its head back and forth menacingly, and the other leaps in to charge the Garou. The second piglet doesn't look like it knows what to do, just yet.
Masks-the-Storm yelps with surprise at the size of the creatures. Boars? She asks the others, even as she's starting to grow in size from lupus to hispo to be able to deal with the animals on more even terms, size-wise.
Requiem snaps his jaws on mid-air and skids to slow down, snapping up in an instant to crinos. ~Stop!~ the cliath calls out at top volume. But it doesn't seem to be directed towards any of the Garou with him. Instead, the word is much more obviously towards the pigs, perhaps to get it to halt in the charge.
Lionheart nearly crashes into the Garou that have have come to a dead stop in front of him when they infringe upon the horse-sized skull pigs. The Ahroun internally groans. This is not going to be good, he communicates in lupus and instantly blurs up into Crinos as a precaution.
Thunder's-Heart has his eyes on the prize, surging to get a little closer to the strange creature, if anything to get a better look at it. The squeal of the parental units make him jump, however, and he turns to see one barrelling down on them. He makes a sound that might be the lupus equivalent of "wtf!" and jumps to the side, shifting up to hispo. Which makes him only a bit bigger than the largest lupus, albeit much brawnier.
Heeding Wildfire's advice of caution, Masks-the-Storm does not immediately attack, waiting to see first if the Glass Walker's attempts at reason have any effect, and second so that she can move into a better position to support her tribal elder.
Wildfire doesn't pause in his run after the little piglet-thing. Instead, once the parents of the thing appear, he instead shifts upward into his warform and charges right at the charging boar, making himself the object of attention for the others to react upon.
Against all odds and rationality in the universe, one of the large, skull-like creatures actually does stop when Flint asks it to, though it looks utterly confused why it should stop. Chalk it up to gravitas. Owen makes his impossible leap over the back of the skull pig, sailing over with a football with just a slight element of spiral. When he's directly over it, he gets an impressive rake off on the creature, but the thing's hide is so thick that Owen only manages to shave the boar's back some. The rest of the successfully achieve their desired forms. The first piglet, the one they were chasing, stops and quivers, deciding whether to run, or fight with its parents. The second has made up its mind—with a panicked squeal, the piglet runs. The Boar smacks dead into Alexandra, the large wyrmbeast goring her with his tusks, and giving her a little shake.
Requiem growls lowly. ~STOP!~ is directed again at the boar that's attacked Alexandra, an overtone of persuasion once again, even as the cliath now moves to charge at it from the side, claws reaching to dig in if he can in fact get purchase.
As soon as Wildfire reacts, Lionheart takes off at a charge to attempt to swing around to the back to the boar-like creature. The Gnawer has had more of his fair share of knowledge with such creatures and the inexperienced Walker's call to stop the boar-creatures does not slow him down, especially after Wildfire's gutsy maneuver.
Wildfire lands well, his heavy frame still giving a loud thump. His skin starts to thicken, callouses roiling over his skin and warty nodules geginning to form. He turns to the pig that charged Alexandra and barks a quick order. ~Everyone. That one. Now.~
Thunder's-Heart's ears zag to the side as he looks back towards the clash of heavy moons and the piglike things. He sees one of the babies make a break for it and dives after it, snarling. You're not gettin' away, bitesize!
Masks-the-Storm lets out a roar of pain and fury as she's gored in the side, nearly falling over as the creature slams into her. With the creature right on top of her, her head darts in for the creature's upper leg, attempting to catch it in the hispo's powerful jaws. While there's no question that she hopes to do damage with the attack, given that she rips upward once her teeth find purchase and shakes her head from side to side, she also hopes that by attacking a limb she'll throw the creature off-balance for the rest of the group to more easily attack.
The universe rights itself, and this time, when Flint asks the giant garou eating monster to stop, it cheerfully ignores him. Would you stop when you're snout deep in delicious garou flesh? Owen turns big and ugly, his skin oozing nastiness of all sorts, but it's not as nasty as it could be, and not as nasty and warted as Owen would want it to be. Nik jumps on the escaping piglet, and manages to get some claw slashes in, but god, it's a wily bugger. Alexandra manages to flip the boar that's on top of her, which falls onto its side with a mighty thud. Aaron, likewise, causes the sow to topple, through the old ahroun trick. The boar struggles to its hooves, while the sow is right upright again in a bolt, giving Aaron a solid bite across the arm he touched her with. The piglet manages to bite down on Nik, ripping away a large amount of fur in the process. But while that draws blood, it doesn't actually injure him in any serious manner. The second piglet, seeing what happened to the other one in its litter, gets the hell out of dodge and begins running off.
As the boar falls over, Requiem jumps to tackle it and keep it down, and begins to try and find where for claws to rend flesh, where there is flesh to rend.
Wildfire sneers for a moment, then charges the boar on Alexandra, following his own orders, at least. ~Do not bite! Only claw!~ he barks out, remembering something even as he throws himself into the fray once more.
The Bone Gnawer emits a silent roar of pain when the sow's teeth clamp down on his arm. While in pain, he attempts to keep his weight down on it to keep it from getting up onto its feet again. Heeding Wildfire's words, the Ahroun takes his claws and throws himself onto the sow, using rage to try to free him from it's teeth.
Thunder's-Heart's heavy hispo jaws snap towards the back of the piglet's neck, hoping to make bacon out of the little creature, or at least catch it. It's only then that he hears Wildfire's yell, causing him to hesitate.
Masks-the-Storm has already bitten to seemingly good effect, but trusting the judgment of the elder Ahroun, blurs into crinos and sends her claws tearing into the fallen boar's (hopefully) soft underbelly.
Flint makes a wild mess of blood and fur as he leaps on the fallen over boar, but the Galliard just fails to make any purchase on the wounded foe, its thick hide causing him serious problems. Owen, however, has no such issue, rendering through the sow's hide like he was carving a Thanksgiving day turkey with a chainsaw. Bits of skullpig flesh fly all over, splattering the trees, and the already hideous Get of Fenris takes a bath in the blood of his foe. Nik's hesitation is enough to give the creature the chance to worm out of the way, and his jaws snap closed on air. Aaron is much less efficacious in harming the sow, but when you're talking about something that Owen already removed a large section of the intestines from, it doesn't take much to pile on at this point, and Aaron's claws tear up one of its forelimbs. Alexandra actually gets some nice purchase on on the boar, clawing at its face, causing blood to seep over its eyes. The second piglet continues to run, now far out of view of the Garou. The one tangling with Nik takes another bite at him, but those wee tusks don't manage to really harm him, more from a bad angle than lack of ability. The Sow thrashes wildly, chomping at Owen again and again, in revenge for his assault. However, Owen is stalwart in his weathering that storm, and only one wild bites manages to draw blood. The boar turns its attention to Flint, jumping on top of the young cliath, snapping and ripping at his flesh, mangling his right arm in a frenzied attack.
Wildfire snarls down at the sow that's now drawn his blood (how dare it?). The look his gives is full of vile and hatred as he draws in a long breath, releasing it not in a howl but a roar as he sweeps out his claws, brandishing them in a horrific display of primal might. It is a display for the sow alone, it may seem, for her to think about the wrongs she's just committed.
There's a faint moment and then the Glass Walker howls in pain and fury as the boar gets his arm. His uninjured arm strikes against the boar once, and then there is froth around the edges of Requiem's muzzle and a glint in his eyes, and he pushes at the creature with claws, seeking to tear and bite—the Get's earlier warning not heeded in the cliath's frenzy.
Lionheart helps Wildfire in continuing to rip into the sow. He attempts to find more purchase on the creature and bringing it down. His arm is in pain but that doesn't keep him from slowing down.
Thunder's-Heart grumps as he loses the baby, but the little thing come back at him and once more gnaws ineffectually. Aww, how cute. Thunder's Heart makes that shift to Crinos and reaches out for the thing with his clawed hands, looking more for grasping than injuring. All in all, a human version of this awkward scene, paired with a vast amount of mud, could very possibly be a redneck sporting event.
Masks-the-Storm sees her friend injured, and lets out a snarl as she leaps onto the boar's back. She struck the creature's face the last time and got blood in its eyes—this time she means to drive her claws into the creature's eyes and rip them out, the claws of her other hand tearing into the thing's neck to help secure her purchase.
Owen is a sight to behold, and the sow goes from raging to beast to quivering wreck when it sees the full and terrible majesty of the Get of Fenris. The wounded beast begins running, dragging organs behind it as it flees from the blood-soaked champion of Fenrir. The near frenzying Glasswalker rends the beast above him, first ripping it from tongue to sternum, and then plunging his head in to snap at its lungs directly. The boar collapses on him, not dead, but unable to move under its own power. As the sow runs away, Aaron gets a quick attack off, claws lashing out to lance its hindquarter, rendering a leg useless as it drags behind him. Slowed by her wounded state, Alexandra is there for the coup de grace, driving her claws deep into the skull, scrambling its brains like farm fresh eggs. Nik's pig wrestling doesn't look nearly as glorious, as the Shadow Lord struggles with the small, feisty creature. He manages to claw it up some more, but the damn thing just won't go down. It mauls Nik again, but it just still can't get damage in on the Ragabash.
There is a long minute of trying to attack the skull pig above above him even as it's collapsed and then dead on top of him, and a snarl that fades as the cliath is first pinned, and then unconscious, froth still dripping from his muzzle.
Wildfire watches the boar go down for a moment, but this just isn't done yet. He refocuses now on the other large prey still in the vicinity, glaring at it for a moment before a look of concentration crosses his features. ~That one. Now.~ he barks, ordering once more.
Wildfire watches the sow run off for a moment, but this just isn't done yet. A look of concentration crosses his features as he snarls at it.
The Bone Gnawer keeps up his attack as the sow starts to run. This isn't over yet as he continues ripping at whatever he can find purchase on. Lionheart keeps his jaws clear from the creature, only using his claws as weapons.
Thunder's-Heart grunts obscenities, on all fours as he attempts to pounce the wiley little bastard. He promises sizzling bacon for lunch, dinner, and breakfast, threatening the pig with maple syrup, describing just how the thing will be fried up, nice and crispy. He twists and bites as well, just trying to pin the critter.
Leaving the others to deal with the badly injured sow—and the vicious piglet, of course—for the moment, Masks-the-Storm focuses her efforts on heaving the dead boar off of the Glass Walker, and checking somewhat frantically to make sure that he's alive, given that she can tell he isn't trying to get the thing off himself.
Owen's snarl causes the remaining adult to falter and stop in place, moreso than having its leg ripped off did. The pig rears around to snap at its attacker, catching Aaron's claws in her mouth. Neither party feels especially great, though all things considered, Aaron gets off better. The sow tears off his thumb and forefinger, and a bit of skin running all the way to the elbow, while Aaron tears the sow all the way up through the jaw hinge, ripping out the soft palate and finishing off the beast once and for all. It takes a hell of a lot of muscle to budge one of the adult beasts, as large as they are, and Alexandra doesn't have it in her to move the creature off of Flint. Nik gets that little bastard pinned, but it snaps forward, and bites off his nose and part of his muzzle. Those teeth weren't for show, after all.
Wildfire grunts, seemingly pleased with this turn of events. He shifts upward into the warform and paces over to the corpse pinning flint down. A snarl of distaste, and he reaches down to grab the pig by himself.
While the Gnawer finds relief in that the sow is finally giving up the fight, the loss of limbs doesn't sit well with Lionheart. Akthough he will look for those missing parts later, he hops off to help Wildfire with getting Flint unpinned.
Masks-the-Storm does not cease trying to budge the creature simply because she can't move it, her feet digging ruts into the earth as she leans her full weight into the thing in futile effort. Thankfully, help comes before the cub can work herself into a frenzy, though it's only once the thing is moved and she can see that Requiem is still breathing that she finally starts to calm down.
Ow. Thunder's Heart does not appreciate this, and now that he has the pig, his concern is less about captivity and more of pure anger. He moves to simply rip the little thing in half, dripping gore from his face.
It's not so much a group effort as, well, Owen, who budges the deceased boar. The Get seems to loom large, and when he plants his paws down, seems like he taps into the roots of the earth themselves. The boar is lifted like it weighed but a feather, and hefted on Owen's shoulder like a bloodsoaked champion holding the head of his enemy, before then being thrown aside, where it lands with a terrible crash. Flint is, indeed, alive, but unconscious. Nik claws at the small creature, but fails to do any real and serious damage, and the vicious spawn is getting more and more good shots in on him. It bites down on his arm, tearing away his flesh yet again, swallowing it down like a duck gorges on bread.
Lionheart puts his nose to the ground and begins looking for the direction of where the second piglet went, although not too concerned with finding it. Along with his scouting he recovers his missing fingers and holds onto them for reattaching later.
Wildfire peers down at Flint for a moment, then again over towards the Shadow Lord elder trying to defeat his declared breakfast. To all the rest that are capable, he points out the piglet for the rest to assist with even as he starts to settle down into a seated position, the just summoned strength now leaving him.
It's a game of who eats who, and Nik's just about had it. When the thing attacks his arm, he takes advantage of the opportunity to try and snap his jaws around it, bleeding profusely.
Masks-the-Storm reaches around to clutch at her bleeding side, only then taking a moment to take stock of the situation. Dead boar, dead sow…and her elder, looking quite bloody as he holds down a furious piglet. Wildfire's own indication only hastens her movement toward the Ragabash.
The dilly-dallying of the others has only let the young pig get more snaps in on Nik, nipping at flesh, this time getting his neck as Nik bites down on its side. Nik definitely is coming out on the worse side of this engagement. Left to its own, it could probably kill him imminently.
The Gnawer hadn't realized that the Shadow Lord alpha was having trouble. We he is made aware of the problem, the Ahroun runs back towards him, ready to attack the piglet.
Thunder's-Heart seems to understand the gravity of the situation, and Rage fuels his next attack. He claws at the creature in a flurry, emitting a growl of pain and embarassment that he has to do so, just wanting it to end.
Not having realized just how bad shape her elder was in, Masks-the-Storm channels her remaining rage into a burst of speed that brings her at the incapacitated creature in a flurry of slashing claws.
Nik is closest for obvious reasons, and with how long it took his compatriots to come over, he has plenty of time to totally flip his lid. The Crinos explodes into a flury of claws, only some of which being able penetrate the thick hide of the damn beast. It's down to the wire, him or it, and he finally splits the damn thing's hide open and rips with survival driven urgency. Alexandra, moving fastest of them all, arrives just in time to get showered with gore. Bits of eye clings to her fur. Aaron arrives just in time to see Nik tear the thing open above his head with a bloody scream, before more or less collapsing from the effort. The piglet, having been bodily trisected, is throughly no more, with Nik being close to having joined it in death.
Thunder's-Heart scatters the piglet and flops onto his side, a mess. His eyes roll up to Alexandra, bloody froth coving most of his face. ~This never happened,~ he tells her, a moment before his eyes slide closed and he curls about himself, still in Crinos, attempting to recover.
Requiem stirs to consciousness at this point, enough to push himself to his feet and look over the carnage, moving quickly towards Alexandra—and Nik—looking at the two Shadow Lords, though the more obvious concern is for the Ahroun cub. ~Of course it didn't,~ he comments to Nik, half a grumble as he cradles the mauled arm against his body.
Lionheart finds his help useless when he finally makes it to Thunder's-Heart. The Ahroun blinks at him for a moment and then simply shakes his head.
Thunder's-Heart shifts to lupus, and indeed is a nasty site to behold. He growls, hauling himself up with a great heave, and trails blood as he attempts to drag himself away from the scene and towards the Edgewood, having no interest in hanging out at the scene of the crime. The shameful, shameful crime.
With most of the others up and moving, Masks-the-Storm starts to say something to the Fostern Ragabash, but he starts dragging himself off, which leads her to fall silent. Instead, she turns to the two other more senior Garou present, ~It wasn't the hunt we expected, but thank you both, Wildfire-rhya, Lionheart-rhya.~ She waits to see if Requiem is going to follow, then drops to all fours to follow after Thunder's-Heart, though she keeps to the warform.
Requiem huffs out a breath. ~I'll be back to help with cleanup,~ he says, a nod to both Owen and Aaron, but for the moment, he does follow Alexandra with a silent glance that indicates concern for her, at a fast enough walk. He too, remains in the warform for the moment, mauled arm held against his side rather than try and use it.
18 March, 2012
The moon is in the waning Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (27% full).
Earlier that day, Flint and Alex would find Nik hanging out in the general vicinity of the Edgewood in Glabro. After discovering that the Edgewood needs to be restocked with food and drink, they decide to head out for some more wildery lunch. Nik allows one of the others to lead the way, loping along after them, stretching bruised muscle and tendon and seemingly enjoying the little jaunt into the forest.
It's a cool, cloudy day, with temperatures enough to put a nip in the air, even on the lowlands around Edgewood. There's no wind, thank goodness, otherwise it would feel downright blustery. Not being on the bawn, or near the caern, the grounds are clearer than they are elsewhere—none of those devilish brambles and fungus to deal with here, thank goodness.
Alexandra, not being much of a hunter as yet, brought along her trusty guide to wilderness survival borrowed from the Edgewood library. She's more than content to lead the way, although how much luck she'll have in finding anything remains to be seen. "Hmm. I think I saw a plant that looked like this one somewhere over in this area."
Owen happened this morning to have been working out in the facilities within the garage. He's worked himself up good, and is only just now stepping out of the garage to head back into the woods for a run. He shifts down into lupus to do just that.
Flint raises his brows, then looks over at the page that Alexandra indicates. "I think, yeah," the cliath agrees. He's been happy enough to let her lead the way as well, enjoying the air but not necessarily the most comfortable in the woods were it not for her and Nik both, with energy that suggests he finally got some sleep last night. "We could see if. If we could find it again, yeah?" A glance angles back towards the Shadow Lord Elder, and a faint grin.
Lionheart is padding along from the opposite direction of where the others are coming from. He pauses and shakes himself before padding on. It looks like the dog-looking wolf is fairly accustom to this form. He immediately recognizes Flint and Alexandra but not the elder Garou with them.
Thunder's-Heart snuffs at the book, stepping away a little to gnaw on some green shoots nearby. From the smell, it might be wild onion. But now it's covered in wolf spit. Lionheart's presence earns him a greeting. This one's Thunder's-Hunter-of-the-Heart, darkmoon Fostern and alpha of Grandfather Thunder. The other lupus gets a good sniffing over. His ear twitches, and the small lupus straightens, his attention suddenly in one direction. He emits a huff, curious. Others?
There are some neat plants out there. Washington's wet forests are always good for edible greens, even this time of year. It's no berry season, but vegetable pickings are reasonable.
Wildfire first scents and then hears the small gathering. He turns and heads their way after a moment's thought to see what might be going on.
Alexandra has never actually seen Lionheart in lupus, so there's no immediate recognition there, although a look at the scar the wolf carries and she has her suspicions. She waits until his introduction to be certain, however. Her attention shifts in the same direction as Thunder's-Heart, following his lead, looking for any sign of the others that he references.
Flint purses his lips, noting the Gnawer's sign of recognition with a raised brow of question and then shrugging before the Glass Walker shifts slowly down to lupus. After all, it's cold, he notes as he nudges Alexandra's leg.
The Gnawer makes his way closer to the others and inspects what Thunder's-Heart is gnawing on. He takes a step back and replies to the Shadow Lord alpha. This one is Lionheart, Full-moon Bone Gnawer Fostern. This one recently returned a few moons ago but is from here, used to be named Savages-Enemy. The Ahroun does not notice Wildfire, but the battle-worn Gnawer may or may not be familiar to the Get of Fenris.
This means just about everyone is staring at Owen when Owen arrives. Talk about awkward. A small songbird flushes from some shrubs, like it's tired of everything going on there.
Wildfire can be heard and then eventually seen as he makes his way through the woods, ears attentive. Once he spies the others in return, he approaches, curious as to the congrgation at first but not voicing anything right off.
There's something rooting around behind them, that Flint just hears, now that he's on all fours. Some sort of small, cute critter. Brownish, on the other side of some shrubs.
Thunder's-Heart replies to Lionheart with a huff. Well met. The lupus is quite small for an alpha, that's for sure. Owen's appearance draws interest from the Shadow Lord, and the Get gets another greeting of familiarity. We're looking for breakfast. We can take something much bigger now. He moves towards Alexandra, poking his nose at her book. Bigger than plants.
"It is you, then. Hello, Lionheart-rhya." And then, as the Get comes into view, she offers him a greeting as well. "Hello, Wildfire-rhya." At her elder's prompting, she takes off her coat—it being the only item of clothing she's wearing that isn't dedicated—and wraps the book up in it, stashing it in a tree where it will hopefully be kept safe and dry until her return. That done, she takes a few steps off to begin moving through the forms until she reaches lupus.
Requiem looks between the Get and the Gnawer for a long moment, before quietly indicating that he is Requiem, a first-ranked galliard of Cockroach's tribe. Tail wags slightly in either excitement or amusement at Thunder's-Heart, but then, distractedly, the cliath paces a small circle and twists his ears towards the shrubs.
Wildfire grunts a short greeting to the gathered, familiar with everyone here at least. He turns to look into the woods briefly. A hunt, then?
Lionheart jerks his head at Alexandra and then wags his tail slowly. Unlike the Shadow Lord alpha, the Gnawer is tall and gangly, much like the built of a husky. He then turns his gaze over to Wildfire and takes a moment to regain some familiarity with the Get. With his question, the Gnawer perks up and dances around on his feet. Yes!
Yup, definitely something small and furry back there. About the size of a small dog. It grunts and roots around in the detritus on the ground.
Thunder's-Heart sits down, ears swiveling. A hunt, he agrees. The ragabash glances towards his cub before setting off once more, heading decidedly away from the Edgewood.
Once she's reached four legs, Masks-the-Storm falls into place behind her elder, ears perked and alert, nose lowered near the ground on occasion, then lifting back up to check scents that may be carried by the wind as well. She wonders if Requiem has ever hunted for food in a pack before?
Just about now, everyone, not just a few people, can hear the sounds of a small creature, rooting around about 20 yards distant. It's something small and brown, maybe the size of a small dog, and furry.
Lionheart jerks his head at Alexandra and then wags his tail slowly. Unlike the Shadow Lord alpha, the Gnawer is tall and gangly, much like the built of a husky. He then turns his gaze over to Wildfire and takes a moment to regain some familiarity with the Get. With his question, the Gnawer perks up and dances around on his feet. Yes!
Requiem moves to follow Masks-the-Storm and then turns, distracted back by the bush. No, though he has hunted small animals, he adds, tail flipping back and forth at the sounds and he trots towards the bush a little. There is a sharp huff that the young wolf then makes, towards the direction of the sound that he's been distracted by, almost greeting, tentative.
Wildfire does a great 'Squirrel!' look at the sound towards whatever may have caused it. His eyes are curious for a moment as he peers that way.
Lionheart senses something ahead but pauses to look back at the younger Garou. Why don't we allow the younger Garou try to take down some smaller prey? It would be good practice, he trails off as he sees Requiem already making his way towards it.
Thunder's-Heart ducks away at Lionheart's suggestion, heading not towards the creature, but around it, the almost reflexive move of a Ragabash, allowing the more burly to take the run while he attempts to block the creature's exit. He speeds up, keeping silent.
The small creature lifts its head when Flint says his beastly "Hello!" the thing showing it's skull like head as it stares at the group it had inadvertently wandered close to. Wee tusks protrude from its head, and the skin is so thin that it looks like it's pure bone. This, of course, provokes the small tapir like creature to run for its life with a squeal.
Well, so much for sneaking up on the creature. Masks-the-Storm breaks into a run, giving chase, hoping that either it will tire before she does, or that she'll be able to help chase it toward one of the others.
Well, that's interesting, is about as much as Requiem has time to think before the creature begins to run. There're no other attempts to speak to it, in any case. The cliath springs into his own run after it, tail flicking behind him in excitement, taking the other side from the cub.
Wildfire eyes the creature, somehing apparently tugging on a string in his head but nothing coming of it. He does advise caution for the cub, though, the thing obviously not a normal animal, before taking off after it as well.
Lionheart starts a little when he sees the small creature, but its too far from him to see clearly. What is it? he questions to the wolf that is closest to the creature who is now heading in the opposite direction from them. Along with the others, the Ahroun begins to run.
Thunder's-Heart emits a grunt of frustration when the creature takes off, confusion tinging the sound. Nothing I've seen before, he notes. The Shadow Lord picks up speed, but it's apparently not his strong suit.
The small pig like creature squeals and squeals as the Garou chase it down, with Nik getting rather close to doing so, with how nimble and quick the Shadow Lord is. However, the ruckus and the cries for help raise the attention of several of what presumably are its parents. Two large, pony sized pig creatures stand up, as well as one more of their young. When they see their young being chased by a group of Garou, well, they don't seem to like that. They squeal, one thrashes its head back and forth menacingly, and the other leaps in to charge the Garou. The second piglet doesn't look like it knows what to do, just yet.
Masks-the-Storm yelps with surprise at the size of the creatures. Boars? She asks the others, even as she's starting to grow in size from lupus to hispo to be able to deal with the animals on more even terms, size-wise.
Requiem snaps his jaws on mid-air and skids to slow down, snapping up in an instant to crinos. ~Stop!~ the cliath calls out at top volume. But it doesn't seem to be directed towards any of the Garou with him. Instead, the word is much more obviously towards the pigs, perhaps to get it to halt in the charge.
Lionheart nearly crashes into the Garou that have have come to a dead stop in front of him when they infringe upon the horse-sized skull pigs. The Ahroun internally groans. This is not going to be good, he communicates in lupus and instantly blurs up into Crinos as a precaution.
Thunder's-Heart has his eyes on the prize, surging to get a little closer to the strange creature, if anything to get a better look at it. The squeal of the parental units make him jump, however, and he turns to see one barrelling down on them. He makes a sound that might be the lupus equivalent of "wtf!" and jumps to the side, shifting up to hispo. Which makes him only a bit bigger than the largest lupus, albeit much brawnier.
Heeding Wildfire's advice of caution, Masks-the-Storm does not immediately attack, waiting to see first if the Glass Walker's attempts at reason have any effect, and second so that she can move into a better position to support her tribal elder.
Wildfire doesn't pause in his run after the little piglet-thing. Instead, once the parents of the thing appear, he instead shifts upward into his warform and charges right at the charging boar, making himself the object of attention for the others to react upon.
Against all odds and rationality in the universe, one of the large, skull-like creatures actually does stop when Flint asks it to, though it looks utterly confused why it should stop. Chalk it up to gravitas. Owen makes his impossible leap over the back of the skull pig, sailing over with a football with just a slight element of spiral. When he's directly over it, he gets an impressive rake off on the creature, but the thing's hide is so thick that Owen only manages to shave the boar's back some. The rest of the successfully achieve their desired forms. The first piglet, the one they were chasing, stops and quivers, deciding whether to run, or fight with its parents. The second has made up its mind—with a panicked squeal, the piglet runs. The Boar smacks dead into Alexandra, the large wyrmbeast goring her with his tusks, and giving her a little shake.
Requiem growls lowly. ~STOP!~ is directed again at the boar that's attacked Alexandra, an overtone of persuasion once again, even as the cliath now moves to charge at it from the side, claws reaching to dig in if he can in fact get purchase.
As soon as Wildfire reacts, Lionheart takes off at a charge to attempt to swing around to the back to the boar-like creature. The Gnawer has had more of his fair share of knowledge with such creatures and the inexperienced Walker's call to stop the boar-creatures does not slow him down, especially after Wildfire's gutsy maneuver.
Wildfire lands well, his heavy frame still giving a loud thump. His skin starts to thicken, callouses roiling over his skin and warty nodules geginning to form. He turns to the pig that charged Alexandra and barks a quick order. ~Everyone. That one. Now.~
Thunder's-Heart's ears zag to the side as he looks back towards the clash of heavy moons and the piglike things. He sees one of the babies make a break for it and dives after it, snarling. You're not gettin' away, bitesize!
Masks-the-Storm lets out a roar of pain and fury as she's gored in the side, nearly falling over as the creature slams into her. With the creature right on top of her, her head darts in for the creature's upper leg, attempting to catch it in the hispo's powerful jaws. While there's no question that she hopes to do damage with the attack, given that she rips upward once her teeth find purchase and shakes her head from side to side, she also hopes that by attacking a limb she'll throw the creature off-balance for the rest of the group to more easily attack.
The universe rights itself, and this time, when Flint asks the giant garou eating monster to stop, it cheerfully ignores him. Would you stop when you're snout deep in delicious garou flesh? Owen turns big and ugly, his skin oozing nastiness of all sorts, but it's not as nasty as it could be, and not as nasty and warted as Owen would want it to be. Nik jumps on the escaping piglet, and manages to get some claw slashes in, but god, it's a wily bugger. Alexandra manages to flip the boar that's on top of her, which falls onto its side with a mighty thud. Aaron, likewise, causes the sow to topple, through the old ahroun trick. The boar struggles to its hooves, while the sow is right upright again in a bolt, giving Aaron a solid bite across the arm he touched her with. The piglet manages to bite down on Nik, ripping away a large amount of fur in the process. But while that draws blood, it doesn't actually injure him in any serious manner. The second piglet, seeing what happened to the other one in its litter, gets the hell out of dodge and begins running off.
As the boar falls over, Requiem jumps to tackle it and keep it down, and begins to try and find where for claws to rend flesh, where there is flesh to rend.
Wildfire sneers for a moment, then charges the boar on Alexandra, following his own orders, at least. ~Do not bite! Only claw!~ he barks out, remembering something even as he throws himself into the fray once more.
The Bone Gnawer emits a silent roar of pain when the sow's teeth clamp down on his arm. While in pain, he attempts to keep his weight down on it to keep it from getting up onto its feet again. Heeding Wildfire's words, the Ahroun takes his claws and throws himself onto the sow, using rage to try to free him from it's teeth.
Thunder's-Heart's heavy hispo jaws snap towards the back of the piglet's neck, hoping to make bacon out of the little creature, or at least catch it. It's only then that he hears Wildfire's yell, causing him to hesitate.
Masks-the-Storm has already bitten to seemingly good effect, but trusting the judgment of the elder Ahroun, blurs into crinos and sends her claws tearing into the fallen boar's (hopefully) soft underbelly.
Flint makes a wild mess of blood and fur as he leaps on the fallen over boar, but the Galliard just fails to make any purchase on the wounded foe, its thick hide causing him serious problems. Owen, however, has no such issue, rendering through the sow's hide like he was carving a Thanksgiving day turkey with a chainsaw. Bits of skullpig flesh fly all over, splattering the trees, and the already hideous Get of Fenris takes a bath in the blood of his foe. Nik's hesitation is enough to give the creature the chance to worm out of the way, and his jaws snap closed on air. Aaron is much less efficacious in harming the sow, but when you're talking about something that Owen already removed a large section of the intestines from, it doesn't take much to pile on at this point, and Aaron's claws tear up one of its forelimbs. Alexandra actually gets some nice purchase on on the boar, clawing at its face, causing blood to seep over its eyes. The second piglet continues to run, now far out of view of the Garou. The one tangling with Nik takes another bite at him, but those wee tusks don't manage to really harm him, more from a bad angle than lack of ability. The Sow thrashes wildly, chomping at Owen again and again, in revenge for his assault. However, Owen is stalwart in his weathering that storm, and only one wild bites manages to draw blood. The boar turns its attention to Flint, jumping on top of the young cliath, snapping and ripping at his flesh, mangling his right arm in a frenzied attack.
Wildfire snarls down at the sow that's now drawn his blood (how dare it?). The look his gives is full of vile and hatred as he draws in a long breath, releasing it not in a howl but a roar as he sweeps out his claws, brandishing them in a horrific display of primal might. It is a display for the sow alone, it may seem, for her to think about the wrongs she's just committed.
There's a faint moment and then the Glass Walker howls in pain and fury as the boar gets his arm. His uninjured arm strikes against the boar once, and then there is froth around the edges of Requiem's muzzle and a glint in his eyes, and he pushes at the creature with claws, seeking to tear and bite—the Get's earlier warning not heeded in the cliath's frenzy.
Lionheart helps Wildfire in continuing to rip into the sow. He attempts to find more purchase on the creature and bringing it down. His arm is in pain but that doesn't keep him from slowing down.
Thunder's-Heart grumps as he loses the baby, but the little thing come back at him and once more gnaws ineffectually. Aww, how cute. Thunder's Heart makes that shift to Crinos and reaches out for the thing with his clawed hands, looking more for grasping than injuring. All in all, a human version of this awkward scene, paired with a vast amount of mud, could very possibly be a redneck sporting event.
Masks-the-Storm sees her friend injured, and lets out a snarl as she leaps onto the boar's back. She struck the creature's face the last time and got blood in its eyes—this time she means to drive her claws into the creature's eyes and rip them out, the claws of her other hand tearing into the thing's neck to help secure her purchase.
Owen is a sight to behold, and the sow goes from raging to beast to quivering wreck when it sees the full and terrible majesty of the Get of Fenris. The wounded beast begins running, dragging organs behind it as it flees from the blood-soaked champion of Fenrir. The near frenzying Glasswalker rends the beast above him, first ripping it from tongue to sternum, and then plunging his head in to snap at its lungs directly. The boar collapses on him, not dead, but unable to move under its own power. As the sow runs away, Aaron gets a quick attack off, claws lashing out to lance its hindquarter, rendering a leg useless as it drags behind him. Slowed by her wounded state, Alexandra is there for the coup de grace, driving her claws deep into the skull, scrambling its brains like farm fresh eggs. Nik's pig wrestling doesn't look nearly as glorious, as the Shadow Lord struggles with the small, feisty creature. He manages to claw it up some more, but the damn thing just won't go down. It mauls Nik again, but it just still can't get damage in on the Ragabash.
There is a long minute of trying to attack the skull pig above above him even as it's collapsed and then dead on top of him, and a snarl that fades as the cliath is first pinned, and then unconscious, froth still dripping from his muzzle.
Wildfire watches the boar go down for a moment, but this just isn't done yet. He refocuses now on the other large prey still in the vicinity, glaring at it for a moment before a look of concentration crosses his features. ~That one. Now.~ he barks, ordering once more.
Wildfire watches the sow run off for a moment, but this just isn't done yet. A look of concentration crosses his features as he snarls at it.
The Bone Gnawer keeps up his attack as the sow starts to run. This isn't over yet as he continues ripping at whatever he can find purchase on. Lionheart keeps his jaws clear from the creature, only using his claws as weapons.
Thunder's-Heart grunts obscenities, on all fours as he attempts to pounce the wiley little bastard. He promises sizzling bacon for lunch, dinner, and breakfast, threatening the pig with maple syrup, describing just how the thing will be fried up, nice and crispy. He twists and bites as well, just trying to pin the critter.
Leaving the others to deal with the badly injured sow—and the vicious piglet, of course—for the moment, Masks-the-Storm focuses her efforts on heaving the dead boar off of the Glass Walker, and checking somewhat frantically to make sure that he's alive, given that she can tell he isn't trying to get the thing off himself.
Owen's snarl causes the remaining adult to falter and stop in place, moreso than having its leg ripped off did. The pig rears around to snap at its attacker, catching Aaron's claws in her mouth. Neither party feels especially great, though all things considered, Aaron gets off better. The sow tears off his thumb and forefinger, and a bit of skin running all the way to the elbow, while Aaron tears the sow all the way up through the jaw hinge, ripping out the soft palate and finishing off the beast once and for all. It takes a hell of a lot of muscle to budge one of the adult beasts, as large as they are, and Alexandra doesn't have it in her to move the creature off of Flint. Nik gets that little bastard pinned, but it snaps forward, and bites off his nose and part of his muzzle. Those teeth weren't for show, after all.
Wildfire grunts, seemingly pleased with this turn of events. He shifts upward into the warform and paces over to the corpse pinning flint down. A snarl of distaste, and he reaches down to grab the pig by himself.
While the Gnawer finds relief in that the sow is finally giving up the fight, the loss of limbs doesn't sit well with Lionheart. Akthough he will look for those missing parts later, he hops off to help Wildfire with getting Flint unpinned.
Masks-the-Storm does not cease trying to budge the creature simply because she can't move it, her feet digging ruts into the earth as she leans her full weight into the thing in futile effort. Thankfully, help comes before the cub can work herself into a frenzy, though it's only once the thing is moved and she can see that Requiem is still breathing that she finally starts to calm down.
Ow. Thunder's Heart does not appreciate this, and now that he has the pig, his concern is less about captivity and more of pure anger. He moves to simply rip the little thing in half, dripping gore from his face.
It's not so much a group effort as, well, Owen, who budges the deceased boar. The Get seems to loom large, and when he plants his paws down, seems like he taps into the roots of the earth themselves. The boar is lifted like it weighed but a feather, and hefted on Owen's shoulder like a bloodsoaked champion holding the head of his enemy, before then being thrown aside, where it lands with a terrible crash. Flint is, indeed, alive, but unconscious. Nik claws at the small creature, but fails to do any real and serious damage, and the vicious spawn is getting more and more good shots in on him. It bites down on his arm, tearing away his flesh yet again, swallowing it down like a duck gorges on bread.
Lionheart puts his nose to the ground and begins looking for the direction of where the second piglet went, although not too concerned with finding it. Along with his scouting he recovers his missing fingers and holds onto them for reattaching later.
Wildfire peers down at Flint for a moment, then again over towards the Shadow Lord elder trying to defeat his declared breakfast. To all the rest that are capable, he points out the piglet for the rest to assist with even as he starts to settle down into a seated position, the just summoned strength now leaving him.
It's a game of who eats who, and Nik's just about had it. When the thing attacks his arm, he takes advantage of the opportunity to try and snap his jaws around it, bleeding profusely.
Masks-the-Storm reaches around to clutch at her bleeding side, only then taking a moment to take stock of the situation. Dead boar, dead sow…and her elder, looking quite bloody as he holds down a furious piglet. Wildfire's own indication only hastens her movement toward the Ragabash.
The dilly-dallying of the others has only let the young pig get more snaps in on Nik, nipping at flesh, this time getting his neck as Nik bites down on its side. Nik definitely is coming out on the worse side of this engagement. Left to its own, it could probably kill him imminently.
The Gnawer hadn't realized that the Shadow Lord alpha was having trouble. We he is made aware of the problem, the Ahroun runs back towards him, ready to attack the piglet.
Thunder's-Heart seems to understand the gravity of the situation, and Rage fuels his next attack. He claws at the creature in a flurry, emitting a growl of pain and embarassment that he has to do so, just wanting it to end.
Not having realized just how bad shape her elder was in, Masks-the-Storm channels her remaining rage into a burst of speed that brings her at the incapacitated creature in a flurry of slashing claws.
Nik is closest for obvious reasons, and with how long it took his compatriots to come over, he has plenty of time to totally flip his lid. The Crinos explodes into a flury of claws, only some of which being able penetrate the thick hide of the damn beast. It's down to the wire, him or it, and he finally splits the damn thing's hide open and rips with survival driven urgency. Alexandra, moving fastest of them all, arrives just in time to get showered with gore. Bits of eye clings to her fur. Aaron arrives just in time to see Nik tear the thing open above his head with a bloody scream, before more or less collapsing from the effort. The piglet, having been bodily trisected, is throughly no more, with Nik being close to having joined it in death.
Thunder's-Heart scatters the piglet and flops onto his side, a mess. His eyes roll up to Alexandra, bloody froth coving most of his face. ~This never happened,~ he tells her, a moment before his eyes slide closed and he curls about himself, still in Crinos, attempting to recover.
Requiem stirs to consciousness at this point, enough to push himself to his feet and look over the carnage, moving quickly towards Alexandra—and Nik—looking at the two Shadow Lords, though the more obvious concern is for the Ahroun cub. ~Of course it didn't,~ he comments to Nik, half a grumble as he cradles the mauled arm against his body.
Lionheart finds his help useless when he finally makes it to Thunder's-Heart. The Ahroun blinks at him for a moment and then simply shakes his head.
Thunder's-Heart shifts to lupus, and indeed is a nasty site to behold. He growls, hauling himself up with a great heave, and trails blood as he attempts to drag himself away from the scene and towards the Edgewood, having no interest in hanging out at the scene of the crime. The shameful, shameful crime.
With most of the others up and moving, Masks-the-Storm starts to say something to the Fostern Ragabash, but he starts dragging himself off, which leads her to fall silent. Instead, she turns to the two other more senior Garou present, ~It wasn't the hunt we expected, but thank you both, Wildfire-rhya, Lionheart-rhya.~ She waits to see if Requiem is going to follow, then drops to all fours to follow after Thunder's-Heart, though she keeps to the warform.
Requiem huffs out a breath. ~I'll be back to help with cleanup,~ he says, a nod to both Owen and Aaron, but for the moment, he does follow Alexandra with a silent glance that indicates concern for her, at a fast enough walk. He too, remains in the warform for the moment, mauled arm held against his side rather than try and use it.