Livestock Guarding 2

With wolves lurking in the distant treeline surrounding the fenced in field of sheep and their young, the Vayrons left to guard them are quick to get into position to guard the flock, with Torin and Valor on opposite sides of them, Zephyr herding them to stay close together, and with Orochi serving as their eyes from his mild vantage point.

The Vitalus night is cold, with only the moon looming above serving as their light as they pace about, eyes locked on the prowling threat.

Orochi watches as more and more wolves gather at the treeline, their dark shapes barely visibly amongst the thick brush, he glances to the opposite side of the field, but sees no movement, the likelihood of a flank is low, the beasts probably too hungry and too used to minimal resistance to bother. “You’re better off joining the feathered one,” he speaks out, glancing to Valor, whose the furthest away.

“Nothing on my side?”

“No.”

Valor is wary, but is deciding to trust his judgment as she migrates over to Torins side, the females holding themselves strongly to try and intimidate the distant threats… but the wolves are undeterred as they finally begin to emerge from the treeline, their jaws snapping together and fur bristled as they creep forward, as if unsure, but still determined to try and claim prey.

Zephyrs ears flatten at the sight, the ewe and lambs are rattled, bleating in distress as they shift on their hooves, trying to back away from the danger. Zephyr moves swiftly around them, doing his best to soothe them and keep them from panicking, if they stampede and split off, there’s no way they’d be able to protect them all.

Torin begins to show teeth as the wolves approach, “they’re not backing off,” she rears up onto her back legs, placing the front ones onto the fencing, prepared to lunge over it, “I think we’re going to have to fight them off.”

Valor grunts, “seems likely.” She peers back towards Zephyr, whose still trying to herd the sheep to stay together, and then to Orochi, who seems content to merely watch, “are you going to help?”

Orochi huffs at being addressed, “only if I must.” If they prove themselves incompetent, then he’ll think about coming down to them. Right now, it’s a hard maybe.

The girls narrow their eyes, ever so slightly, at his attitude, but they have better things to focus on at this moment, especially as the wolves close the distance further, their pack sticking close to one another, as if sensing that splitting up would work against them in their hunt.

In an instant, the wolves are charging, descending upon the fields with desperate ferocity.

Torin leaps over the fence in that moment, with Valor following her swiftly so that she isn’t facing them by herself.

Zephyr flinches as he watches the two groups clash, Torins jaws finding a wolf first, biting down with 0 zero, as Valor uses herself as a barricade, keeping the beasts from being able to retaliate as she uses claws and teeth to ward them off.

A majority of the pack is caught up in the fight, but there are a few who split off from their pack, circling around the chaos to dash to the field, eyeing Zephyr as an easy foe due to his small size.

The sheep bleat louder in panic, threatening to stampede as the wolves jump the fence… only for the predators to yelp and snarl in surprise as a sudden, massive, figure leaps down in front of them, cutting them off from their target.

“Stupid things,” Orochi growls, his magic flaring through his being as he narrows his eyes down at the wolves, before, without warning, one of their necks is suddenly snapping back, its eyes a pure blue as Orochi uses his magic to forcibly control it, contorting its body and breaking it beyond repair, before it’s dropping to the ground, limp and lifeless.

Its companions panic at the pressure of Orochis magic, scrambling on their paws to retreat away from him, back towards the group they split away from, who are having their own problems with the combined effort of Torin and Valor, who are busy ripping and tearing at any wolf that dares get too close to their jaws.

It all proves to be too much for the pack, who are finally deciding that they need to cut their losses as they trip over themselves in an attempt to flee, and while hesitant, the females are allowing it, with bared teeth and vicious snarls as the beasts bolt away from them, with the ones too injured, or dead, left behind in the bloodied grass.

Zephyr breathes a sigh of relief, a paw resting on his chest as he tries to calm his rapidly beating heart, it feeling as though it’s about to burst out of him. The ewe and lambs, while frightened, are calming down, somewhat, as the wolves vanish back into the trees, their hooves dragging across the grass as hard huffs of air escape their nostrils.

“Are… are you guys okay?” Zephyr calls out to them, trying to see if he can spot any wounds on Valor or Torin… they’ve sustained some bites, but for the most part, they’re alright, especially since Torin can patch everything up.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Valor answers back, her gaze flicking back to the herd to see that they’re all in one piece still. Good.

Orochi doesn’t bother to check on them, instead lazily trudging back to the hillock to go back to lounging, a bit peeved that he had to get up to begin with, but whatever. Though he is shooting a judgmental glare towards Zephyr, who is quickly shying away from such a thing, “fend for yourself next time, boy.”

“R-Right…”

Torin huffs, “leave him alone, he did fine.” She’s turning to trudge back towards the fenced in field, a bit of a limp in her step due to her wounds, “hopefully they don’t return anytime soon.” She doubts they’ll come around for a while, with the losses they’ve sustained.

A-Quest 2: Wooly Business for Alliion and QueenOfOpals ~ Orochi is not rolling for the quest!

Vays: Valor 12655, Torin 15324, Zephyr 15376, and Orochi WC: 1022