The Journey Begins (private, me and Kit)

Frostbite padded in the other way quietly, she watched her paws carefully not to make noise.

Rain trotted after Orion, eager to fight.

Ooc: can you find a name for one for me?

Frostbite nodded, "Follow." She crossed through the middle of the open to a dense patch of undergrowth. "Stay here and let me fight. When I look back at you, jump out and attack." She whispered.

Rain growled, whenever the southern soldiers came to sight. He remained quiet, and he glanced at his sister. Remembering his training he stared a southern soldier directly in the eyes.

Ooc: If you just want a name, how about... Vervain? Or something, I think it sounds kind of intimidating x3 You can make two characters if you want, like I have. If you want another name, how about... Charlock? ;)

Seren followed his mother behind the shrubs and crouched down out of sight, nodding as Frostbite gave her orders. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled with anticipation and dread.

Rhea gulped as she face the enemy, letting know sign of fear or weakness show in her face. The she-pup returned her brother's look as she watched anxiously as Orion stepped up to address the group.

Before the infamous outlaws could speak, Scabious stepped forward confidently and barked across the plain, his voice echoing throughout the landscape.
"So, you are the one they call Orion," He began, smiling, "The infamous Winter Soldier, the Last of His Kind, the Dog of the North. And these must be the son and daughter of your fallen King. Well, I'm afraid I expected... more. We all did."

"Who is we?" Orion barked back as the dogs surrounding Scabious began to laugh.
"All those who have subjected to Lord Houvak's rule, the one true king!" Scabious growled, striking a fighting stance.
With that, Orion ran forward, Rhea close by his side. He could see the Southern dogs do the same, the Tibetan mastiff leading at the head. After what seemed like a silent eternity, the two armies collided in a blinding fury of fur, tooth and claw as Orion found Scabious and battled with his ferociously.

Anuke soon followed the scent to a wide clearing at the edge of the forest. The dalmatian pulled her patrol to a halt along the sides of the gap, her black nose held high, sniffing the air. She could smell them, but not see them.
"Scope out the area," she ordered in a hushed growl to the other soldiers, "Look for any signs of the malamute and her pup."

Rain crashed into a large Great Dane name Charlock. He jumped up at the tall dogs neck and latched on. Charlock fell to the ground purposely, he quickly, but gently got the pup off of him. Rain stood up and dashed straight towards Charlock, he appeared to be aiming for him but he dove under him and but harshly in his leg. The Great Dane growled in fury as a shock of pain went up his leg. Charlock snarled and kicked his leg back, which threw Rain far from the fight.

Frostbite leaped out of the bush where the patrol was and slammed into the Dalmation. She regained balance quickly and lunged for the dogs neck.

Scabious roared more like a lion than a dog as Orion ripped into his thick neck. the two rolled over and over, clawing and snapping at each other's flesh and leaving gaping gashes and crimson blood spilling out of every cut. 
The Tibetan mastiff shook furiously in an attempt to fling his opponent off his back. Suddenly, one of the German shepherd's front legs slipped into view and, seizing his chance, the Southern Commander locked the paw between his teeth and threw Orion clear, watching as his blood-stained bod tumbled over and over across the floor.

Orion lay stunned for a few seconds, unable to move. When he finally came to his senses, he managed to stagger to his feet again and narrowly dodge a second strike from Scabious. Soon, the two soldiers were once again locked in a ferocious battle, both gaining and inflicting terrible wounds.  

Anuke yelped in surprise as the malamute, twice her own size, hit her with full force and knocked her to the ground. After staggering quickly to her paws, the dalmatian grimaced with pain and snarled angrily back at the dog in front of her. 
"Get them!" she howled to her party, "Kill only the pup. Leave this one alive.
At this, two of the other three dogs ran for Frostbite's hiding bush, leaving the remaining dog to join Anuke's side. 
A second later, Lieutenant Anuke was flying through the air towards Frostbite, fangs bared and muscles tensed for the fight.

Seren waited in the bushes for his mothers signal, fretful of the oncoming fight. His eyes blazed with adrenaline as his mother leaped out at the southern soldier and could hear the heavy running steps of the others as they ran towards him.

Rhea was able to take out a young spaniel quickly, overpowering it with ease and tossing its shaking, battered (yet still living) body aside. But suddenly, from behind a pair of jaws latched onto the young she-dog's back as she cried out in pain and flung to the ground. Standing over her was the stocky frame of a pit-bull, teeth parted as growled a bloody smile at her. 
Furiously, Rhea scrambled to her paws and faced her new opponent off, the two of them standing on their hind legs and clawing at each other's faces.

Ooc: Sorry for the super long posts, I have to juggle five different characters at once at the moment x3

It's ok.

Frostbite reared back and raced forward, she looked back at the bush before turning to leap over the racing Dalmation. She crashed to the ground and quickly turned around. Frostbite ran back towards Anuke and went to pin her down.

Rain yelped but got to his paws and ran for a smaller dog. He rammed into the dog who was heading for Rain and sent him flying. The dog was about his age, but not near as big as Rain. He slammed the dog to the ground and sank his teeth in his neck. The dog was at the disadvantage right now. Soon Rain was in a pool of blood, the dog was growing still. Rain released the dog, and watched it die.

Charlock saw the death of the dog he was training. He howled in anger, "You killed him," he roared. The Great Dane raced towards Rain in blind fury, but Rain was quicker. He leaped out of the way, leaving Charlick to crash into a tree. The soldier fell to the ground unconscious, not dead, but he wouldn't be back for a while.

Seren's ears pricked as he saw his mother's signal, instantly leaping from behind the shrub and colliding immediately with the two dogs that had come for him. One was a male Labrador half his size, who the malamute mix managed to pin to the ground. The other was a female boxer who matched Seren's size and managed to topple him over. All three locked into a bloody battle.

It was a long and painful time before Scabious managed to knock Orion wearily away again, the two facing each other, panting heavily and blood spilling out of every gash. As he watched, the Tibetan mastiff's opponent's legs gave way and Orion spat out a mouthful of blood before he could stand again. 
Scabious smiled fiendishly, "Not doing so good, eh, Orion?" He chuckled through the pain of his injuries, "I could wait until you pass out and then kill you. But... that wouldn't be gracious of me, now, would it?" 

At this, Orion looked up and stared directly into Scabious's eyes, his expression flaring with fury. His whole body burned, not because of his wounds, but because of his anger and hatred. The Alsatian staggered strongly back into his fighting stance, baring his blood-stained teeth and lifting his head high with pride and defiance.
"How dare you speak of grace?!" He roared back.
The Alsatian flew through the air towards the intimidated Commander, frozen solid by the words Orion spoke and the fury in his eye as he said them. The two collided with a force so strong that it shook the earth beneath them. A billowing cloud of dust rose into the air where the two rivals had fought, blocking any view for the time being as it lingered.

Rhea had been fighting no-one else but the pit bull for the majority of the battle. Her white fur was hard and stained red with dried blood as she fought with the southern soldier tirelessly, as though nothing but instinct resided in her head. Suddenly, the tan pit bull managed to catch hold of one of Rhea's front legs, twisting it so awkwardly that the she-dog was forced to pull out of the fight. 
Fury flowing through her muscles, Rhea pulled her front leg, and the dog attached inward. In doing so, she had managed to get a clear shot at his head and struck the side of it with her free paw so hard that the pit bull released her leg and staggered backward, yelping in pain. Quickly, Rhea leaped forward, pinned him to the ground and furiously tor at his head, stopping only to evaluate with great concern the large dust cloud surrounding Orion and Scabious's duel. Which one of them had won?

Anuke skidded to a halt and turned round just in time to dodge Frostbites attack by leaping to the side. Swerving around, the dalmatian aimed a strike at the malamute's neck with her jaws as her remaining soldier, a male basenji, tried to grab Frostbite's hind leg between his jaws.

Frostbite yelped in pain, angrily she used the little movement she could to stab the dog in his upper mouth. She used her front claws to dig in Anuke's side, leaving herself very open.

Rain pounced on the pit bulls legs and snapped the legs straight down. He stepped back and said, "I am going to help mom." There was no point in waiting here with nobody to fight. The dog raced over to where Seren was and fought next to him.

Rhea nodded as Rain ran away, "We'll find you all later!" She called breathlessly after her brother. Every dog left in the clearing turned to face the place where the two leaders had fought as the dust settled. Rhea ran closer and saw that Orion was standing over Scabious, either dead or alive, she couldn't be sure which. The other Southern soldiers paused to behold their fallen commander, paralyzed with shock and terrified awe at the Northern soldier's ferocity.
"Orion, let's go!" Rhea called, desperate to get away whilst the enemy was stunned.

Orion looked over the body one last time, spitting out a mouthful of crimson blood onto Scabious's fur. Unsteadily but quickly, the Alsatian turned and ran for the distant mountains as if they had no wounds at all.

Seren looked with frustrated confusion as Rain joined his battle, not able to say anything to him before the boxer dog slammed against him once more. After suppressing the female under his gate, the malamute mix growled at his brother to help their mother. "I can take these two, now go!" he snarled, almost annoyed at Rain for barging in on his fight.

Anuke howled out in agony as she felt her opponent's claws dig into her ribs. She stumbled backwards as blood flooded from her wounds, spitting bitterly at Frostbite as the other soldier saw his chance. He leaped forward, aiming a strong blow at the malamute's stomach. Regaining her awareness, Anuke joined her comrade in the attack, aiming once more for Frostbite's throat.

Frostbite twisted away just in time to miss the attack. She slammed once more in an attempt to hold her in a death grip. She ignored the pain in her stomach as the basenji's teeth hit her stomach.

Rain turned form Seren's fight after shoving the boxer off of him. He aimed to tackle the Basenji down. His claws aiming for his eyes.

The boxer and Labrador soon regained their balance and continued attacking Seren ruthlessly. At last the dark grey dog managed to pin the Labrador. Seizing his chance, he bit down hard on his opponent's head, slicing the smaller dog's ear of on the process. Tossing the unconscious body body to one side, Seren locked his teeth the stunned boxer's neck, not letting go until he was certain she was dead.

Anuke gasped as she felt Frostbite's jaws clasp around her throat, unable to shake her off. She could see that her male counterpart, the Basenji, had a firm grasp on the female's belly. However, another dog, a paler grey male than the other one, came crashing into battle, locking in a separate fight with the other soldier.

Rhea sprinted lopsidedly alongside Orion towards the foot of the mountains, looking for some refuge against possible pursuers. Her wounds throbbed painfully as she loped through the foliage until the two of them reached the foot-rocks. 
"We'll rest here for now," she heard Orion say, "Then we will continue onward to find the others. Where's Rain?"
"Gone to help mum," Rhea panted.
"Good, he's more help there than here. Now catch your breath; we're heading out again soon."

Back at the battlefield that Orion and Rhea had left, the surviving soldiers athered around their commander's motionless body. The pit bull that had fought Rhea, face scarred and bloody, limped up to inspect Scabious.
"Go and retrieve Anuke at once," the soldier ordered, "The commander is still alive."
At this, a spaniel and a rottweiler volunteered, sprinting off into the woods in the direction of the battle between Anuke and Frostbite.

Frostbite dug her teeth deeper in Anuke's neck, her claws sinking into the female's underbelly. She saw the soldiers and figured Orion had won the Alphess realeased her grip and stepped back. "Never mess with the Alphess of the North or her Pack again." She slammed the Dalmatians head in the dirt before going towards Rain's battle.

Rain put up a seemingly endless fight with the dog, his fur less bloody and scarred than the Basenji's. After a few minutes the Basenji was dead, Rain looked at his mother and stepped off. "I-I can't believe I killed a dog." He said, his voice wavering. "Two dogs."

Seren looked up as he heard the footsteps of the approaching soldiers. Slightly panicked, the grey pup called to his mother and brother, "Mum! Let's go and find the others before more soldiers arrive."

Anuke raised her head weakly in the direction she could smell her fellow soldiers coming from. The Dalmatian let out a feeble yet thankful whimper at their arrival before closing her eyes and letting her head fall back onto her paws, on the brink of passing out.

"Ok! Come on, Rain! We have no time to talk right no." She said as she ran into the grass. The Alphess followed a bloody, metallic scent to where Orion was. She stopped, "We need to pick it up, there are more soldiers coming."

Rain ran along, though still obviously shocked. He stopped with his mom for a breath and licked his fur.

Orion and Rhea greeted the others joyfully, relief flowing through them as they saw that their family was safe. Orion agreed with Frostbite and after a few more moments rest, he set out at the head of the pack, Rhea following close behind.

Anuke had regained consciousness fairly quickly, and was returning with the other soldiers to where Commander Scabious had fought. Once they arrived, the Lieutenant froze, whimpering with shock at the sight of her leader'd body laying motionless across the ground. Running over to him and giving closer inspection, she thankfully concluded that he was passed out, nothing more.
When he came to, however, after several minutes, hauling his gigantic body into a sitting position, Anuke was once again struck silent with shock.

"Anuke..." Scabious began, wincing in pain as he spoke.
"Commander, you-" Anuke was interrupted by her Commander.
"Wh- what is-- Anuke-- my eyes... I--"
"Sir, please, it could be a lot worse-"
"What's happened to them?!"
"Sir, please... it's just one, sir... You still have your left eye, good as new!"
"But my right?"
"...Yes, Commander. Your right eye is gone."
And it was true. When Orion had struck the final blow, he had done so with such force that it had cost Scabious his left eye, leaving nothing but a swollen scar.
Scabious, with rage and a lust for revenge, roared out so loud that the bellow echoed from the mountains, "I'll blind him... I'LL BLIND HIM!"

Frostbite padded alongside Orion quietly, yet still nervous. Soon Scabious's words hit reached her ears making her shiver. "I think we need to run. Why didn't you just kill Scabious?" She said harshly.

Rain stepped beside her, "Calm down, mom. We are all tired and angry here," he said. He licked his moms ear and walked next to her.

"I did my best, Frostbite, you must understand," Orion pleaded tiresomely, "Scabious is a strong soldier. I inflicted as much damage as I could."

"We both did," Rhea joined in, "The soldiers were hard to beat."

After a moment of silence, Scabious straightened up despite the pain of his wounds and began to give orders to his comrades.
"Where are our messengers?" he demanded.
"One was caught up in battle and killed," Anuke informed beside him, "The other two are around somewhere... Sasha! Tafari!"
At that point, two whippets, one tan and one black and white, sprinted out of the crowd of dogs and stood before their commander. Whippets, along with many other breeds, are too small and weak to become soldiers, or so King Houvak proclaimed. However, whippets especially made excellent messengers as they were some of the speediest breeds out there, Sasha and Tafari were two of the fastest.
"You two are to return to Base Camp at the edge of the forest and inform those that remain there what has happened," Scabious ordered, "The most injured soldiers will return with you to be treated. Then, immediately make your way back to Lord Houvak and inform him on current events as they stand. Mention that his trusted Commander Scabious respectfully requests reinforcements."
After the whippets had set off, taking the most wounded soldiers with them, the Tibetan mastiff ordered for some to scout ahead and look for shelter and others to leave and look for food.

Should they run In to the Alpha, Splinter, and Black widow soon?

Frostbite sighed, "I know." Soon she was sprinting, her paw prints were very big and deep in the soft mud.

Rain ran after her as quick as possible, his paws sinking into her mothers.

Ooc: Not the Alpha yet I don't think, but definately the other two soon ;3

Orion ran along in silence, his wounds aching and slowing him down. Occasionally he looked over his shoulder, paranoid of the southern soldiers pursuing them, only to realize that they were in worse shape than he was, in no fit state to chase.

Rhea ran beside Rain and Orion until the muddy earth gave way to hard, wet rock. She hesitated for a moment, looking up at the towering mountain above her.
"We must ascend into the mountains in order to reach your father," She heard Orion bark, pushing her on, "I want to get clear of that lot down there too. Southerners don't do well with snowy mountains."

After what seemed like hours of trekking through the dismal landscape, Scabious, Anuke and the remaining soldiers were shown by the scouts to an abandoned cave, just large enough to house the tattered army. The commander and his loyal lieutenant slithered wearily into the shelter and lay down, tending to their wounds. 
"What is to be done now, Commander?" Anuke whimpered as she inspected her bleeding leg. 
"We will wait here for backup from King Houvak. By that time our wounds should have healed considerably. Those not healed enough will return to base camp. Once we have gathered a healthy army, we will track those treasonous mongrels until we find and kill them."

Frostbite forced herself through the snow, her brain not ready to quit. She paused for a breathe and her eyes wandered towards the snow that was stained red with her bled. The Alphess quickly continued, racing even faster.

Rain stumbled after his mother, giving no signal of giving up. Her blood mixed with hers, making the snow a very dark red.

After a while of running, Orion began to worry about the trail of crimson blood they were leaving behind them, clear as the sun in the white snow. "I think we should find a place to rest for a good, long while," he barked hoarsly, "Then perhaps continue in the morning."

Rhea looked around them as grey clouds started to gather in the sky, bringing the promise of snow. "I think Orion's right, mum," Rhea agreed, panting, "I can't go on much longer without a rest. Besides, I don't like the look of those clouds."

Anuke sighed tiredly and nodded in agreement with her superior as the rest of the soldiers crawled inside the cave. It wasn't long before the hunters Scabious had sent out a while ago returned to the rest of the army, dragging with them a thin, young doe and two hares. The party ripped at the bitter northern meat miserably, not a word said between them. Many soon dropped off to sleep, but for Scabious and Anuke, their wounds were far too painful to let them sleep.

" Let's walk northeast a bit and look for a place to stop, it can also throw anyone following us off." She said. Frostbite trudged on, her eyes were grey with sadness and her head was hanging. The Alphess missed Splinter so much, the pup had never even gotten to see his father. Soon she saw a large tunnel and she nodded for Orion to sniff it it. Frostbite sat down and barked, "whenever we get settled I will try and find some herbs in dry patches and stuff."

Orion approached the tunnel Frostbite had signalled at, inspecting it carefully before entering. Something had inhabitted it recently, but what ever it was, it had not been here for a while. 
"This cave will do nicely," Orion barked, poking his head out of the entrance from inside, "Everyone come inside quickly. It looks like a snowstorm's on its way. That'll be vey useful in masking our scent and covering the blood trail."

Seren limped hurridly after Orion, settling at the far end and tending to his wounds. Gushes of blood oozed out of every opening and the pup whimpered in pain. He tried to hide his misery from the others, acting as adult as he could as he cleaned his injuries. 

Rhea nodded and entered the cavern, giving a loving kiss on her mother's muzzle as she staggered past. Once her golden eyes became accustomed to the darkness, the white she-dog could see that several plant hung scattered around the wet, stone walls of the cave. 
"Are any of these any good, mother?" she called to Frostbite, her cracked voice echoing through the stagnant cave air.

Frostbite smiled and padded after her pup, she sniffed the leaves. "Dock, I didn't know it could grow in caves! This is perfect!" She licked Rhea's forehead then swept up some cobwebs with her paw and plucked plucked off all the Dock she could find. "Rhea, I need some help. Chew this Dock up and rub it onto a wound, then place cobwebs on it. I'll do you after were finished, then me." The Alphess padded to Orion after handing Rhea some Dock and began to chew up her own share of it. She spat it out onto her paw and rubbed it gently over Orion's wounds. Carefully, she placed cobwebs over them and said, "I'll tell you when you can take those off. I'm sorry we don't have any poppy seeds for the pain."

Rain flopped on the ground panting, his body was covered in blood. "I can't wait to wash off." He muttered.