Epic-Final fight.

[nightblood]

{{Naw. I think it did need to be nudged. Shade's been doing a lot of running.}}

"Shade, Blood, Umbra keep an eye out!"

NightBlood turned to her mate, a maniac grin on her face. Blood found much humor in the order, but there was no time to laugh at it. She could only give her input.

"You forget. I only have one!"

With that, she jumped forward, running as fast as her limp would allow. She aimed herself for another attempt to kill Bloodloose. He ran at her, head on, now with only three legs. Apparently, she had been looking at Archer while Umbra had taken the other one.

"NICE one, Umbra!" she shouted in his direction, complementing his skills.

"Your dead, wolf," the tan-and-gray male vowed.

-I think not.-

"Shadeblood! Get out of here. I smell it on the wind, I can feel the dread, the dead sense of more than one death in the air. Bloodloose will be your doom, Shadeblood! Leave while you still can!"

ShadeBlood heard the words, but did not comprehend. Shade was pushed back into the confines of his mind. His Blood had taken over. He had one objective now: Kill the tan and gray male or die trying. He had shifted his path, heading for a direct impact. He was five feet away now. A mear leap.

He tenced his muscles and pushed off the ground with all his might, opening his jaws for a bite to the back of the head. There was no playing, no need to bite at anything else. He was defending NightBlood. She was in danger. There was no hessitation such a situation. The strength of his jaw and force of the impact would be enough to crush the toughest of skulls.

Only a single word was uttered from his vocal cords a split second before he would make contact. IF he made contact.

"DIE."

{{*picks up radio* "K-9 to Black Wolf. Target in range. Permission to terminate. Over." XD }}

[archer]

[Black wolf to K-9. Permission to Terminate granted.]

Bloodloose snarled as he lost a leg and an eyes simloutaneously. Blood was everywhere, his blood, but he did not care. He knew this was thwe end, but how little did the predator know. Oh, how Archer would ber surprised when he spoke his last words. The black wolf snarled as he roared forward with all his weight but stopped in mid lunge and landed slightly to the left, as he tensed, looking a little stunned. DeJaVu was unfair to him and as he looked over his shoulder he could not help but grimace, fangs mashing together as he struggled with the urge not to empty his stomach as blood leaked into his mouth. Then, he looked over at his mate and saw the maniac grin. It hit him why it was funny and he snickered lowly in his chest, the sound rising to a terrifying mindless howling glee.

"You forget. I only have one!"

"You and Umbra alike. Why do ya think I said eye?" His laughter stopped as he heard Umbra. This was not a good feeling it made his fur bristle and his heart ache with the familar feeling of loss. He knew it was going to be one of them, someone here was going to die, but he could not prevent it. He saw Shadeblood move forward in a leap, ready to kill. Archer then knew who it was. He only had a moment to react, but he knew it would not be enough. It was about to see a commrade die before his eyes.

"DIE."

"NO!" He yelled, body swinging forward in a desperate motion as Bloodloose side stepped the attack. Archer moved forward, hoping to stop the attack. The gray and tan wolf parted his jaws and brought them down, a straight line for Shadeblood's throat, aiming to kill. The old master knew there was little this wold could do to avoid his fangs. He glared at Archer, Umbra, and Nightblood, eyes dancing with a crazed light. He bit down. If the blow was sucessful, Shadeblood would die almost instantly.

Archer froze. "Shadeblood!" He yelled in hopelessness.

[Electus]

Time seemed to move in slow motion for Umbra. The ash-grey wolf watched as ShadeBlood made his attack. It was so wrong...it shouldn't end this way. It couldn't...
Umbra shook his head. Why was he thinking like this? He didn't care. He shrugged inwardly.

~What? Did you want to take over?
~YES!
~Oh, very well then. Try not to get us killed.

Umbra closed his single eye, and he and Mortil switched places. As the ash-grey wolf opened his eye again, he still thought everything was moving in slow motion. ShadeBlood was too far gone to avoid BloodLoose's impending attack. But Mortil didn't care. By whatever gods there were, he swore to never let a comrade die in battle, come Hell or high water. But it looked like he was about to fail. And nothing he could do could stop it. But he surged forwards anyways, and he was dimly aware of Archer doing the same.

"NO! Mortil screamed vindictively, his voice full of anger and rage. His speed was blinding, but still, he was not Umbra. No matter how fast he was, he wouldn't make it...

"NO!"

[nightblood]

NightBlood watched in a shocked silence as Bloodloose's jaws closed around ShadeBlood's throat. Her ears were deprived of sound. Her heart skipped a beat. She couldn't breath. All she could do was keep running forward. She wouldn't make it. She knew this. Nor would Archer. Nor would Umbra. ShadeBlood was already dead. He just didn't know it yet.

ShadeBlood was out of the air so quickly that he didn't even have time to blink. He had only glimpsed the tan and gray target as it moved to the side, avoiding his attack. He felt pressure on his neck and a swift pain as his very vocal cords were ripped out along with half his throat. He landed on the ground and rolled untill he was a few yards away before coming to a stop. The body lay there, motionless, eyes open and gleaming, captured in the last second of battle.

NightBlood was upon Bloodloose in the next second, too angry, to drained of emotion to do anything but attack mercilessly. Her brother was gone. This wolf would die. End of story. Oaths and vows were sounded. She heard nothing but the blood rushing to her head until her mate called out.

"Shadeblood!"

"NO!"

"NO!"

The sounds were deafening, and were followed by the slashing sounds of battle. The last voice was strange, but it didn't matter to her. Not now. There was no ShadeBlood. There would soon be no Bloodloose. She didn't know how many, if any, of her attacks had so much as wounded the monster before her. She didn't know if Umbra or Archer had joined the fight yet. She only saw Bloodloose, the soon-to-be-dead murderer of her brother.

In an effort to hold him down for a killing blow, NightBlood aimed a bite to his left ear. If she hit her target, she'd bring him down in an instant and not care who got at his neck first as long as he died.

[archer]

Archer froze in mid step as he saw death occur. His eyes werr wide, but coated red with Archer's fury. His mind went black to prevent the horrible truth from settling down immediatly. His feet skidded to a stop and his heart could have stopped from the pain he felt. Archer had already lost too many lives to count, his whole clan almost destroyed and those that remained were few in number. Archer screamed out og agnoy, head going high in the sky as he sounded an enraged hymn. His voice shook and he closed his eyes, trying not to cry. He felt as if his heart has been ripped out of his chest and torn to peices. The black wolf lowered his head again, but this time, something was different than before. Instead of loosing al that he had been, he had accessed Archer and they were one, cooperating and willing to get revenge for Shadeblood. The male heard the cries of his comrades and a hurting aura filled the air.

"NO!" Umbra………

"NO" Mortil……… and Umbra

Archer moved as if in a dream, his body burning from loss and a absolute feeling of helplessness. Archer leapt onto Bloodloose, who undee the combined wieght of his mate and himself, fell to the ground just as Nightblood got him by the ear. The wolf was laughing and laughing, louder and louder. "Loved him, didn'y ya? Too bad Archer, if you had just stayed put in your old pack he'd never would of died, its all your fault." Archer tensed and bit into the wolf hard. As he looked the wolf in the face, he growled and bit down on his side, removing a large amount of fur. Then he spat it in his face. He had gotten his two cents and it was only fair to allow Nightblood to kill, after all Mortil got a leg, and eye and he furas well as knowingly defiling the wolf, she got the right to kill him. Shadeblood was, after all, her brother.

Archer stepped away and looked at Shadeblood. Gathering himself, he walked over there and gently looked inot the eyes of his brother. The male just lost it then, laying down and placing his head on his brother's side and just crying, shoulders shaking in sadness.

((Poor Arch))

[Electus]

It was ugly. Mortil knew that it would be. He had taken lives, or rather Umbra and he, but he never got used to it. Umbra did, but he did not. Not the death of someone close to you. Shadeblood was a comrade, a pack mate. It was the cruel strings of fate that did this, an evil that Mortil hated, hated with a burning will of fire.

For was it not fate that he was paired with Umbra in his body?

Mortil was standing surrounded by corpses, the wolves of his old pack. Umbra had slaughtered them all, for his 'benefit', he knew. The body closest to him, mutilated and beaten, his closest friend, a brother to him. All for loyalty, all for survival...

Mortil couldn't believe it. It didn't happen...did it? But it did. Shadeblood's bloody corpse lay only a few yards away, and he had done nothing...he had been powerless to stop it. He no longer cared. Bloodloose would die without his need to watch. He numbly walked pass NightBlood and Bloodloose, his single eye focused on Shadeblood. It was like a dream...a nightmare. How cruel was this world...
He stopped at Shadeblood's body, looking down at it. He felt a single tear well in his eye, and he could do nothing to stop it from winding its way down his face.

"Rest in peace Shadeblood..." Mortil whispered, his voice barely audible. A comrade was dead, when he didn't have to be. Damn it!

Mortil felt another tear begin its descent.

[nightblood]

NightBlood held the murderer down as Archer ripped the fur from his side and spat it in his face. With that, she put a heavy paw on Bloodloose's neck and pulled hard on his ear until it ripped away completely. She didn't completly understand why Mortil hadn't wanted a bit more of this evil wolf. Perhaps he decided he'd had enough. The gray wolf had, in fact, gotten a leg and an eye.

The female snarled loudly above the gray and tan wolf, glaring at him with more hate in her eye than she had ever held before. The look alone had the gleam of death hiding in it. She picked her free paw up, focusing all her weight on the paw that was on his neck. There was no way in hell she would let him die quickly. As soon as she heard bones creaking and popping, she lowered her head and parted her jaws.

She felt them taste the blood that had already fallen around his shoulders and head. ShadeBlood's blood. The scent alone made her eyes widen in rage. She bit down around his neck, not holding back as she clenched her teeth until they met after breaking through the bones. If Bloodloose wasn't dead yet, he would sertainly be in pain until he bled out.

Wether that curssed wolf was alive or not, NightBlood lifted her head, spat on his face, and turned to join the boys as they surrounded her cousin's body.

"Move!" she ordered to both of them ashe she pushed her way to ShadeBlood's head. She looked at his face, caught in his last moment of life. The Blood in him had died at the peek of his happiness. Shade had died defending her, and she knew that was what he would have wanted.

Like Umbra, tears welled in her eyes as she layed down beside her cousin. She put an arm on his neck, or what was left of it, and layed her head on his. She bared her teeth and growled, angry that she could not feel his breath or a pulse.

"Damn it...!"

NightBlood lifted her head and shot a howl to the sky, cursing the day and the soul of the wolf who had taken his life away. There would be no end to her grief in this life time, or any other. However, she was not the fool to follow him. She, Archer, and Mortil would continue their life until it was their turn. For now, they gathered around the corpse of a beloved comrade and friend.

[archer]

Archer tried to fight back the tears that built in his eyes, swallowing several times with much noise and wincing as the lum[p in his throat thretened his breathing. He did not want to cry, not now, but he was and horribly so. He shook as he struggled to regain his composrue, fighting it and wanting to scream, his claws knitting the death. He knew Shadeblood waqs gone and died as he might have wanted to, but he was having trouble with his emotions and keeping them under a tigher reign. Archer growled and lashed out at the flies that made to settle on him. He grew angry as he watched them try to dig into the corpse. His brother deserved better than that and he knew it, but it was so sad. Shadeblood was more than he had ever hoped for and as he heard footfalls behind him, he hissed as he finally was able to control his emotions again and in a single motion, turned to look blearied eyed at Mortil and shook his head. There was no life here.

He looked away from Mortil as he mourned, giving him privacy. Archer than heard him speak.

"Rest in peace Shadeblood..."

Then, Nightblood was there.

"Rest in peace Shadeblood..."

Archer watched her carefully as something hit him hard like a thousand bricks. His master had followed him here and he alone had been the reason that monster had kill Shadeblood. He whimpered as guilt filled his eyes and took on a hollow and haunted look. He deftly stepped away and began to shake his head slowly, repeating it over and over. The dying words of Bloodloose stung his heart and made him feel horrible.

Bloodloose was in pain as the wolves began his demolision. He felt fangs break his neck, then his body go numb and darkness take him. He was dying, he knew it, but ther was nothing he could do aboutit, the sudden amount of bliss made him dizzy and he was sure he was going to hell. The last thing the gray wolf could hear was his students sad sobbing, a thougt that amde him smirk even in death.

[Electus]

Mortil shook himself. This was it, Shadeblood was dead. Mourning would do nothing, and he knew it would only make himself feel worse. He sighed softly, his breath stolen away by a sudden breeze. As the days and weeks doled by, he found himself less...caring. He had developed a more callous nature, one that seemed less than humane. And furthermore, what was that odd moment? It seemed that he had merged with Umbra...He frowned solemnly. That surely did not bode well. He looked at the two lovers. The two were wrapped in their own little worlds, grieving for Shadeblood even when Mortil had nothing left in him that felt sadness. It had slowly drained out of him like a seeping wound, and that sense of loneliness dogged him again. He felt a wild scream building in his vocal chords, and he let it free, the sharp sound echoing around. He looked back, calmed himself, and spoke.

"I...am sorry about Shadeblood. I also let Umbra take control. For that, I am truly, truly sorry. But I have nothing left here. Sometimes I think that my heart turned to stone long ago. I'll see you both around."

The ash grey male smiled briefly, and in that smile lay the barest hint of Umbra's madness and glee.

And in a twitch of shadow, Mortil was gone.

[nightblood]

"I...am sorry about Shadeblood. I also let Umbra take control. For that, I am truly, truly sorry. But I have nothing left here. Sometimes I think that my heart turned to stone long ago. I'll see you both around."

NightBlood nodded at the statement. Nothing more. Her tears had dried. Mourning would not bring her cousin back to the land of the living. He was gone.

The Sentry had passed the two first steps of grievence: Denial... Sadness... She was at acceptance now. However, her aggressive nature pulled her further. Her sadness could have been prevented...

NightBlood shook her head and sat up properly, pulling away from the freezing body of ShadeBlood. With ears pressed firmly against her skull for consentration, she would hear nothing around her. She burried herslef in her thoughts.

ShadeBlood might have lived. There could have been only one death on the border, one carcass. Archer had the chance to strike before... and yet, he chose to obey Bloodloose instead. Why? Was their bond not strong enough to keep him from attacking? Or had he seen it as a chance to destroy her? Either way, Bloodloose had lived long enough to take another with him in death. In a way, Archer was at fault.

Without a word, NightBlood stood up and headed in the direction of her den. She would not stop there, however. She needed time alone to think. She would pass her den and go to a more secretive place to retreat into her mind. The conclusion she came to would determine if Archer would continue to wear her pendant.

{{MWAHAHAHAAA! Thread closed. XD }}