Death assaulted the dragon's senses, and by extension her companion's. Death, but also... something else. It was enough to keep Tal on his toes, Dagger drawn as he came around the other side of the bear and saw its glazed eyes.
Saw the cubs nearby, cold and still.
He didn't relax fully, not with Boreal still tense and watchful above, scenting something still warm amid the carnage, but he didn't protest as Alys moved nearer. He didn't feel the same pain that she did, too inured to the casual death that stalked Halo, especially in Deepfrost. He recognized it in his gentler friend, however, and all he said was a quiet: "Yeah..." as she mourned a creature that might well have killed and eaten one of his neighbors in previous seasons.
The sound of something not Alys had the courier tensing, but the tiny bundle of fur that toddled away from the larger corpse towards her was no threat, even to the seer. He exhaled a tight breath, a scowl tugging at his features beneath his scarf as he contemplated what needed to be done with reluctance. He'd kill a full-grown bear in defense or for food to get his people through the dying season, but was quietly as reluctant as Alys to slaughter a baby. But it was better than letting it starve and freeze to death, slow and painful...
Assuming whatever killed its mom didn't come back to finish the job. He and Sah and Remi had found a manticore out here last season, and that memory raised all his hackles as he glanced down for tracks--
Alys's gasp drew his attention back to her with a worried: "Are you okay?" as she fell back. He took a protective step towards her, but she was already getting up and the ursur was acting heart-rendingly like a puppy and fuck, what were they supposed to do with it now?
A conundrum solved when Alys picked it up and tucked it into her jacket, an act which had Halo-bred Tal stifling a yelp and stumbling forward to try and stop her. "Don't--!" Losing body heat in Deepfrost out on the Tundra was swiftly lethal and for a panicked moment he was afraid his friend had lost her damned mind. Too late to stop the inevitable, he could only watch in helpless confusion as she tucked the bear into her coat while Boreal sent a reassuring croon down through the trees to her perplexed human.
"Y'can't-- I mean, it's an ursur!" he tried helplessly, but Alys's sudden insight stopped him in his tracks and he furrowed his brow. "Wait... how d'you know that?"
Saw the cubs nearby, cold and still.
He didn't relax fully, not with Boreal still tense and watchful above, scenting something still warm amid the carnage, but he didn't protest as Alys moved nearer. He didn't feel the same pain that she did, too inured to the casual death that stalked Halo, especially in Deepfrost. He recognized it in his gentler friend, however, and all he said was a quiet: "Yeah..." as she mourned a creature that might well have killed and eaten one of his neighbors in previous seasons.
The sound of something not Alys had the courier tensing, but the tiny bundle of fur that toddled away from the larger corpse towards her was no threat, even to the seer. He exhaled a tight breath, a scowl tugging at his features beneath his scarf as he contemplated what needed to be done with reluctance. He'd kill a full-grown bear in defense or for food to get his people through the dying season, but was quietly as reluctant as Alys to slaughter a baby. But it was better than letting it starve and freeze to death, slow and painful...
Assuming whatever killed its mom didn't come back to finish the job. He and Sah and Remi had found a manticore out here last season, and that memory raised all his hackles as he glanced down for tracks--
Alys's gasp drew his attention back to her with a worried: "Are you okay?" as she fell back. He took a protective step towards her, but she was already getting up and the ursur was acting heart-rendingly like a puppy and fuck, what were they supposed to do with it now?
A conundrum solved when Alys picked it up and tucked it into her jacket, an act which had Halo-bred Tal stifling a yelp and stumbling forward to try and stop her. "Don't--!" Losing body heat in Deepfrost out on the Tundra was swiftly lethal and for a panicked moment he was afraid his friend had lost her damned mind. Too late to stop the inevitable, he could only watch in helpless confusion as she tucked the bear into her coat while Boreal sent a reassuring croon down through the trees to her perplexed human.
"Y'can't-- I mean, it's an ursur!" he tried helplessly, but Alys's sudden insight stopped him in his tracks and he furrowed his brow. "Wait... how d'you know that?"
