Ari

Hope is but a waking dream

It had taken merely moments for everything to happen. He had entered the ruins cautiously, but not cautious enough. As soon as he was inside they fell upon him like a swarm of locust. The rats sprang and tore at his more fleshy bits. The lion let out a wall shaking roar of anger. Though he was more concerned about Comet than himself. ”COMET STAY BACK! RUN AND GET HELP!” Aristotle roared demanding the child listen as he felt her slip in close.

She hadn’t listened. Now he would have to fight differently. He would have to defend them both. The lion swept a from paw in front of him swiping at the rats. The lion moved his body to be completely standing over the young wolf, making sure his body took the brunt of the rats attention. However the lion gathered himself and roared again. ”Friend To me!” His voice rang out and the ground shuddered.

From every direction thick roots sprang from the ground and began lashing out wildly at the Rats attacking the pair. The lion stood focusing on pushing his magic into the roots to make them do as he wished. The roots struck at the rats with such ferocity and power it was almost astonishing.

Now, let it be said, first and foremost, that Orion was not a cave of plants. Most of it was solid, bare rock, without a soil floor to speak of, and certainly there weren't rooted plants to grow. There were, in places, tiny gardens that Gembounds had manually grown.

And perhaps it was one of these, lying dormant, that Aristotle was lucky enough to have stepped right into: his magic, against all odds, found a few convenient plants to manipulate. They twisted up, flailing, grasping: and sixteen of the echoing grays streaking for his underbelly and his vulnerable hindquarters found themselves ensnared. There was angry squeaking, and clawing, chewing, as they rapidly began to rip through the plant-stems. It would not hold them for long. And still, on the rest came: seven more rats, darting for him...

...only to find a suddenly icy ground beneath. Two slid past, another four scurrying in place against the slick, one spinning rapid, confused circles.

The pair had time to escape--or to try and fight, though they were vastly outnumbered--before the rats regained their freedom, and their feet.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet knew she had not listened to her dad's words. He told her to stay back, but she wouldn't do that. She needed to protect him! And that meant helping him fight off those rats. She knew that he would be angry at her once they got out of this mess, but it was worth it. She couldn't stand back and let the pesky things tear him apart.

Aristotle moved so she was under his belly, him taking the brunt of the attack. Comet worked on keeping the rats away from his neck, belly, and his more vital parts. Suddenly, plants burst out of the ground, ensnaring sixteen of the rats, while her own spell slipped up the rest. Here was the opportunity for them to escape. "You go first, daddy! I'll be behind you!" Comet hoped he would listen, she could fight off the rats behind them.

@Aristotle

Ari

Hope is but a waking dream

As he saw those ensnared by his plant friends. The Lion growled knowing he was outnumbered and that he would have stood and fought on his own had his daughter not been with him. However at this point Comet was directly beside him and they were going to die if he didn’t do something fast. It was more on muscle memory and instinct rather than thought. He felt Comet’s body move beneath him, the rats aiming to attack him now.

The lion twisted in a rather odd position. The lion leaned down and grabbed the girl by her scruff. In one swift motion the lion uncoiled his body and took off with a flying leap and a dead run. The lion wasn’t going to run and leave her here and if she wouldn’t go before him they’d go together. With that Aristotle ran through the alleyways to the main thoroughfare, his held back at a strange angle to hold Comet off the ground and support her weight in his jaws.

The lion dared a half glance behind him, he was checking to see if any had followed them.

@Comet

The two could easily escape whilst the rats were entangled; a few struggled over the ice and pursued, but halted when they realized they were alone, returning to the pack. In moments the rats had returned to the shadows, lurking; the fleeing pair was safe for now.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet was prepared to fight some more, but before she knew what was happening, she felt teeth close on her scruff and lift her from the ground. He bounded away with a big leap, taking them out of the circle of rats. Even though she had gotten heavier from when they first met, Comet had never seen the lion run so fast before. The alleyways were a blur, and before she knew it, she could not even see the Ruins where they had encountered the rats.

"That was close!" A simple tracking of a rabbit had led to a near death situation, but at least now she knew what rats smell like. And what to do when you encounter some. Comet couldn't help the fact that she ran towards anything that called for help, no matter how off or creepy it sounded. This meeting should have taught her not to do that, but her morals over rode that, and that lesson was left unlearned.

@Aristotle

Ari

Hope is but a waking dream

The lion finally began to slow his pace once he saw that no rats followed. The lion let out a soft sigh, his pace falling into a slower lope until they reached the main thoroughfare of what was Orion’s streets. The lion stopped and gently dipped his head setting Comet gently back on her paws. The lion’s sides heaved as he tried to catch his breath. If he had just been carrying his own weight a short run from where they were to where they are now would have been fine. But he had been carrying Comet’s growing weight as well and she was nowhere near as light as she was when they had first met.

Leaning down Aristotle nuzzled his forehead against Comet’s shoulder. Then she burst out saying that it had been a close call. The lion pulled his head back and nodded looking behind him. ”Yes that was. I’m glad you’re safe.” He said his voice full of relief. The lion looked around to catch his barings, he had been around this area before. They were a bit of a way from home but not too far. ”Let’s not tell James about this when he gets home, okay?” He wasn’t sure he’d so much want James fussing over them having a close call like that. ”Let’s head home, I’m sure Sun will be waiting for you.” The lion urged as he leaned down and gently nudged the girl in the direction of home.


EXIT ARISTOTLE TO HOME
@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

As his pace started to slow, Comet saw that Aristotle was panting heavily, probably from the exertion of carrying her. She would have to learn how to run fast like that soon. He couldn't carry her forever.

The lion placed her down and nuzzled her shoulder. She responded with a lick on his nose. Comet was glad that they were both safe. It had been close, too close. "Okay, I won't tell him." she agreed. She hoped that he would be home by now too, she wanted to meet him. And she followed Aristotle home, and back to Sun.

"Exit Comet to home"