"Cut his paws off." The large ursine stood with his arms crossed, a jagged and scarred face staring down at a quite defenseless feline. Surrounded by a pack of four goons, each more terrifying than the other, the cat's only weapon had been stripped from his frame and left him with little chance against the five large brutes circling him.
"H-hey...!" Squirming in the iron grip of an ursine bandit, it didn't take long for the cat to realize the futility of his efforts. He had truly gotten on the wrong side of unsavory ilk indeed.
"Pain ain't a good color on me!""Should have thought of that before you stole from me, Ravio." With a voice dark and rumbling, the ursine's lips managed a string of words easily echoing throughout the forest. Though an unpleasant meeting, one could not cast shame on the quite beautiful background hosting this event. Six individuals, five of them ursine and one of them a small cat had found themselves atop the age old remains of a ruined temple, a place once buzzing with life, riches and relics.
"Didn't steal from ya'!" Kicking and squirming did nothing in Ravio's benefit and grabbing hold of his legs ended the little resistance he could manage.
"W-wait...! C'mon, hold up Grond! This is so not nice!""Tell me what I want to know or you'll end up being a house cat until the end of your miserable days." Rolling his one good eye, the leader with the revealed name Grond rubbed his chin with a heavy sigh. It was quite apparent that the two of them had been through this dance many, many times before.
"Alright, alright!" With a blade uncomfortably close to his ankles, Ravio jerked back with a fearful gulp traveling down his throat.
"Listen!" He began, earning Grond's attention as the leader motioned for his goons to halt.
"Yes?"
"I've a confession..." With a deep breath, the cat looked at the five faces before him, each one gruff and battle hardened.
"You lot ain't the only ones chashin' me..."With another heavy sigh, Grond rubbed his forehead with a set of thick, muscular fingers. "So you pissed someone else off? Yeah, you do that. Cut em' off."
"For fuck sake, Grond! Look behind ya'!" With rising desperation, the cat's voice followed suit, his fruitless efforts bearing no results. However, despite Grond's refusal to heed the cat's words, the grunt ready to slice Ravio's paws from place did indeed notice the incoming threat.
"Boss, the cat ain't shitting with us. Look..." Lowering her blade, the ursine thug pointed at the humongous
creature crushing its way through the forest.
"What in the actual fuck...! What did you do, Ravio!?" Grond tried, but before anyone got a chance to react, the gigantic monstrous wurm rammed itself into the ruined temple and caused the stone to falter beneath its force. Stealing the split second granted by the beast, Ravio managed to slip out of the iron grip he had found himself in. The cat's new found luck, or perhaps the second of his nine lives shone brightly once the grunt who held his sword was shaken off of his feet, dropping Ravio's scimitar. Before the blade could reach the crumbling foundations below, Ravio dove after his blade and caught it midair moments before his paws took hold of a piece of falling rock and launched him to a more stable location. "Ravio!"
"I am so sorry, Grond! This totally wasn't my plan!" With a bright grin stretching across the cat's lips, he gracefully leaped down from the shattered temple as soon as opportunity gave way. Landing on the massive wurm, the cat's claws held him onto the monster's thick scales as well as they good though this beast was well aware of the feline. Continuing through the now leveled temple building, the wurm moved through the sea of trees, viciously shaking its head to force Ravio down.
"This is so amaz-...!" However, no one said that luck tended to remain for very long. Indeed, the wurm's entrance had saved the feline's life but its intentions resided far from the fact. With one final attempt, the humongous wurm managed to shake the feline off and sent him flying into a tree. The impact did more than a little to damage his frame, but running on pure adrenaline would allow him a moment's strength.
Ravio fell down the trunk, hitting several branches before finally reaching the bottom. Coughing heavily from the unfortunate outcome, the cat tried to ascend to his paws though only managed to fall to his knees as a result. Yet again, luck would spit him in the face with a large hand grabbing hold of his throat, pressing the cat up against the tree. It was Grond, well and alive. Well, alive, at least. With blood leaking from several wounds tearing their way through his fur, the bear had indeed seen better days. The debris had managed to steal his breath and much of his health on his way to the grassy ground. "You fucking lunatic..."
"Shit...C'mon Grond, here...!? Really!?" Fnding himself in the grip of an ursine a second time, the cat tried to desperately point at the massive, hulking wurm which now turned its attention to the two remaining people. Opening its tremendous maw, the wurm's loud roar shook earth and trees alike, enough to catch Grond's attention.
"How the fuck did you piss
that thing off!?"
"We just didn't get along, okay!?""What the hell, Ravio!?"
"Stop screaming!""You stop screaming!"
"Shut up and run!" Kicking the ursine square in the chest was enough to loosen the grip and allowed for the cat to escape, immediately launching him in the opposite direction.
"Come back you filth!" Heaving his heavy legs after the much more graceful cat, Grond managed to keep up quite well due to his massive strength, however the incoming wurm was no slow mover itself.
"Grond...!" Ravio shot back, heavy breathing leaving his lungs.
"Ya' know I love ya', buddy! But I ain't gonna' end up as worm food for ya'!" Moving like a graceful wind past the endless sea of trees, Ravio could only run for so long until he reached a fissure in the ground. Indeed, this was the location called home by the very wurm chasing them.
"Come the fuck on...!""Nowhere to run now, Ravio!" Stopping in front of the fissure alongside the cat, Grond spun around to see the wurm closing in on them.
"Yeah, 'cause that thing won't kill you or anythin'!" Reaching behind his shoulder, Ravio released his scimitar from place and clenched his teeth. There was no way in hell he could fight this thing alone and with Grond the chances accelerated all the way from impossible to improbable. Even so, Grond unclipped the large axe hanging from his belt and held onto the weapon with both hands.
"I swear to the fucking divines, Ravio. If we get out of this alive, I'll kill you!"
"One thin' a time, big boy!" Twirling the blade around his hand, the feline prepared for a fight that appeared absolutely futile. The best he could hope for was to let it get the big guy and use whatever opportunity he could get his hands on to run for it.
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