Defending the Border

Early Winter, Year 759 of the New Age
Near Ridgeback River, Glenmore

Aytan
The sky was a bleak grey-blue that morning, and there was a bitter chill in the air that warned of the oncoming Winter months. There had been rain in the past few days, and moisture seemed to hang in the air, clinging to Aytan’s coat as he trotted calmly through the trees, heading for his patrol.

His breath puffed out in faint clouds as he moved, his hooves crunching softly through the already fallen leaves. It was too early for any of the larger mammals to yet be awake, but faint birdsong echoed through the trees. He thought of Elysia, left behind with Eldhara again, and his ears flicked backwards in regret; he hated leaving her, but it was necessary if he wanted to retain his position in the Guard. Besides, she didn’t seem to mind being able to have more lessons with Eldhara.

A sudden heavy footfall ahead made him stop, ears and eyes alert and focused. The sound was dull in the quiet trees, telling Aytan it was something as big as - if not bigger than - a Fawnling. It was unlikely that any Glenmoorians would be awake and moving so early on, so he could only assume the threat was from somewhere outside the Glenwood. He scanned the treeline, looking for an indication of what was ahead. There; a dim shadow of a Fawnling moving through the trees, unaware of Aytan’s presence.

Skoll
Maybe he was paying  little too less attention, he would likely be mad at himself later, but at the moment Skoll was lost in pondering about many things that lay ahead and behind him. His life never had been easy so far, in fact, his life so far had just been a bunch of ridiculous tragedies no stag should ever have the burden to endure and still, he had. Hagen had once said, that maybe it was all just a test by the mother, to show he was worth something better. Skoll didn’t know, he was none to see himself capable of speaking of what the Mother might plan or not, but what he did know was, that his life was beginning to take a turn for the better. Finally. The road had been rocky, as rocky as climbing the Ridgeback Mountains, but now. Now that there were Deyanira and Skjalddas he felt, well, he felt like it was a new beginning.

He had long talked to Hagen about it. About his fear of really starting over new with Deyanira, about his fear of everything repeating himself, his fear about being just as bad a father as he had been to poor Fenrir. He didn’t want to be the reason for another life to be wasted, just because he was not capable of protecting those he loved, no matter how hard he tried. Hagen had assured him, well, he had plain told him he was a stupid idiot to think such things and after first being angry, Skoll was now thankful for those harsh words. He however was even more thankful for the suggestion of the older stag, to maybe go and wish his old life a final farewell, so it would no longer haunt him, so he could free himself of it and release the ghosts of the past forever and be free to begin whatever lay ahead of him.

It was a good idea, an idea that made Skoll feel comfortable, he felt he needed to pay his old life and especially his son this kind of respects, before he ever could be happy without feeling bad about it. So, he had left his mate and little adoptive daughter and travelled to Glenmore, to visit the grave of his son. He knew still exactly where it was. A beautiful old tree on a little clearing. He sighed to himself as he walked, lost in thoughts. He really hoped he wouldn’t bump into some Glenmore guard, he really wasn’t in the mood for that.

Aytan
Aytan paused, waiting for the shadow to pass out of range before taking a step after it. The fawnling had been tall; a stag, complete with an impressive rack of antlers on top of his head. But, there was no attempt at subtlety in their movements; they weren’t making an effort to stay hidden or out of sight, and Aytan could easily follow the path in the leaves after the mysterious stag.

The intruder was weaving through the trees easily, as though they knew where they were going. Aytan could smell the harsh scent of Blackwood rolling off his coat, and wrinkled his nose a little as he tracked the stranger, trying to stay quiet and hidden. They seemed to be heading towards the river, and the trees seemed to be getting thinner and thinner as they moved through the woods. Aytan could now see the dark figure of the Fawnling up ahead, and he shook his head, speeding up a little to catch up.

“Halt,” he called ahead, snorting. “What business do you have in Glenmore, Blackwood?”

Skoll
The dark stag smoothly moved down a little hill, brushing through the brush, which already was lush here, compared to Blackwood and they were even just at the border of Glenmore. He never had gone to the very heart of it, not even during the raids of his youth or the time he had spent with Lira, but from her stories and the places he had seen here, he already could imagine, why the Glenmorians were so protective about their precious border.
They knew nothing of the hardships in Blackwood, they lived their happy little lives and truth be told, he hoped also Lira lived a happy little live now. He held no grudges for her and he held no grudges for Glenmore, just the envy of someone, who knew that all these fawnlings had no idea just about how easy and lucky their lives actually were.

Still lost in his own mind, he did neither hear nor see the large, red shadow, who had begun following him. He would be very angry at himself later, for having acted that lax in a foreign kingdom, where he knew his presence was definitely not welcomed, but for the moment his thoughts were elsewhere, until all of the sudden the stern voice of another stag made all his muscles grow tense, his caution shooting in from one moment to the other, like to make up or having trailed off like that before. The dark bull spun around, ears perked and head high, his tail giving a single lash, while his eyes scanned the area around him for whoever had spoken, soon spotting the large, fiery red stag. How could he have overlooked him! He was about his same size and red like the autumn!
His anger at himself eventually turned into an irritated stomp of one hoof at the demanding question of the Glenmorian.
“My business is my own concern!” he huffed, “But what sort of warrior are you, sneaking up behind another, instead of facing him like a true warrior would!”

Aytan
Aytan stood tall as the other addressed him angrily. “Your business,” he retorted with a snort. “Is on Glenmore land and therefore is my concern, Blackwood. And you are the one who’s skulking through the trees like some spy.”

Now that he had stopped, Aytan could see that the other stag more clearly. He was tall, perhaps a little taller than Aytan, though wasn’t quite as heavily built. His pelt was dark, like the Kingdom he came from, though with small white marks around his nose and eyes, which were narrowed in dislike at him.

Aytan took a step forwards, dropping his head a little to show his antlers and flicking his tail in anger at the stag’s boldness. He stopped a few paces away from the Blackwood and snorted once, glaring at him. “I will ask again,” he sighed. “What is your business here?”

Skoll
The dark stag gave an irritated snort, his ears folding back. On the one hand, he didn’t want to start a fight with this guard, he had come here to visit his son’s grave and far more important things to do at home in Blackwood anyway on the other way, he really couldn’t stand how that brute was talking to him and it just really annoyed him, that just because of him, he couldn’t continue his journey. Why did that stupid stag have to patrol right here, right now? Why couldn’t a stag just pay his son’s grave a visit without being bothered by this prejudging, inbred lot? He felt his temper bubble up inside him and even though, he knew it was not wise, he could not do anything against it.

When the red brute stepped forward and tilted his head forward, his subtle threat made Skoll snort in irritation. How could he! He hadn’t done anything and that guy was threatening him like this! He would not have this! Definitely not!
“And I will say it again - it is none of your or your in-bred little king’s business!” Skoll returned with a dangerously smug smirk on his lips, before also tilting his head to return the other male’s gesture, stomping a hoof once. He wanted to fight? Good!

Aytan
The evident anger on the dark stag’s face made Aytan smirk, but the sudden aggressive stance made him grimace. He really didn’t want a fight. They always seemed so pointless, he almost always beat the intruders away, giving the same result as if they’d just left quietly, only they both had a lot more to complain about in terms of injuries.

But still, Aytan wasn’t about to let the Blackwood intruder get his own way, and so he gouged at the soil a little with his hooves before taking a step or two forwards, snorting. The Blackwood mirrored his movements, and suddenly they were clashing together, antlers locking as they tussled for dominance, straining against one another.

With a grunt they broke apart, neither of them a clear victor, and Aytan glared angrily across the small space between them. The two of them were fairly evenly matched it seemed in terms of strength, but Aytan was still confident that he would win. He hadn’t yet lost against a Blackwood, after all.

Skoll
If only the stags would have known, that neither wanted a real fight. However, neither did know and so one thing lead to another and Skoll was definitely not going to back off to such a red brute, who was treating him so very much from above! He probably thought he was something better, like all these Glenmores did, well, Skoll would make sure to show this guy who was something better here!
And then he would go and pay his respects to Fenrir, this oaf definitely wouldn’t stop him!

Like on an unseen signal, both stags sprang forward, their antlers meeting with a clash. Skoll giving a silent snort, the other was strong and bulky. He was probably somewhat older than Skoll and had him down on weight, yet Skoll was sure, they still were about even on other matters such as speed and stamina. Maybe if he managed to wear the other out, he could turn this fight to his favor in no time!
He was not planning to hurt or even necessarily hurt the Glenmore. He just wanted him gone and if he’d manage to drive him off, he probably could disappear in the trees faster, than he could return with a patrol.

Skoll lowered his head again, springing forward, but leaping off to the side the last moment, kicking out with his hind legs, in hopes to stroke the other in the face, before sliding to a stop and spinning around again, ready for what might come next.

Aytan
The kicks hit Aytan in the neck, luckily missing his face, and the Guard spun around just in time to meet the dark stag’s antlers as they clashed again. As if this stag was attacking him so deep into Glenmore territory? Even if he did escape there were other patrols that would pick up on his scent and chase him out of the green kingdom.

The Blackwood was certainly strong though, and was a worthy opponent for Aytan, even if he was a mangy Raider. Still, Aytan didn’t necessarily want to inflict too much damage on this stag, he just wanted him gone from Glenmore so he could return to his patrol.

They broke apart for a moment, rearing up to strike with hooves before crashing together once again, their antlers cracking against one another dangerously, tines locking together and straining against the force. However, the dark stag suddenly slipped, and Aytan was able to push him over with an almighty shove, grunting with exertion.

“Go back to Blackwood, scum.” He spat, stamping a hoof close to the Raider’s face. “You have no rightful business here.”

Skoll
The guard he was facing definitely wasn’t one of those, who just were guards for the matter of prestige, he knew his business! He was strong and tactical, obviously having a lot of experience in real fights and not just the little games the guards of Glenmore seemed to call ‘training’. Skoll however also had quite a number of fighting experience on his plate and so he managed to catch the other’s rack with his own again, pushing against him, trying to make him push hard into him, before quickly taking a step back, to make the other lose balance.

Yet, the red stag didn’t slip enough to fall, he soon caught himself again, the two rearing up and letting their hooves meet, Skoll lashing out at the other’s chest and neck, only briefly taking notice of the short pain, as the other’s hoof apparently met his neck, scratching the skin deep enough to make a thin, hot trail of blood run down his neck.
Both noticing that this was not going anywhere, they threw themselves forward again and let their main weapons, their racks, speak once more, the clashing sound of bone against bone echoing through the woods.

It was then however, that Skoll made the capital mistake of drawing back to early, slipping on the uneven ground with one front hoof, the red stag taking his chance immediately and before Skoll could react in any way, the other had summoned all his powers and tossed him over, Skoll landing in the dirt with a thud hard on his side, briefly groaning to himself, as the air was knocked out of him from the impact.

“My business is as rightful as they get, you idiotic piece of inbred stupidity!” Skoll yelled up at the guard, not willing to take his insults, not on this matter, even now that he was defeated and risked the other killing him.
“Or do you feel a father wanting to pay his dead son his respects is something unhonorable! If you do, then so it is and kill me here and now, like the cowards your lot is!”