XVIII. HIGHER FORCE
"What have you inbred vermin's done to my prey!?" Lana shook her head like an angry pendulum trying to break free of her string. Her desires built up to being within reach only to now have a flightless, overindulgent sky rat, and three tiny gremlins take away her prize? "Worms! All of you!" She pounced at the kids, only to be knocked back by a whyte blur.
"It's okay, kids. The Wynter Force is here to protect you." Whyte has her paws over Lana. While her submission is strong, Lana grazed her teeth against her forearm. Whyte retreated from the pain and scudded behind her team. "Quite the bite coming from a stray." Her eyes twitched as she gently lowered her body to loosen the tension. The others shielded her so she could recuperate safely.
Lana stood tall like a giant as she spat out Whyte's blood from her mouth, the blood barely hitting her cowering face. "What's a group of four weak little dogs going to do to a Lion? Bark until I wet myself? Funny."
"Let me handle this." Wylbur came forth, only to have Wyggler put up his arm to stop him.
"Fat chance I'm letting someone who hasn't proven himself pull on deaths door."
Wylbur raised his brow as he backed off. Why is Wyggler being so kind to him? With all his ape-ish temper, and the dirt that was thrown towards his wife, surely he wants to wrangle him, not protect him?
"Look. A part of being loyal is picking up the slack. And I gotta let you know your place below me, kid."
"I'm not sure if you're coming from a place of bitterness or sincerity, but I appreciate you looking out for a pup like me, Wyggler."
"Don't get cocky. I'm here to show you how a veteran works. Heh. Take some notes, Brainiac."
As Wyggler approached Lana, Wynery called out to the kids. "Come on over behind me little ones. Let Offycer Wynery protect you."
The gang ran up behind her, but Blake’s movement went offbeat as if eyes from a beast with sharp teeth is studying him. When he got behind her, he opened his beak, but no words came from them. Perhaps now is not the time to ask about his father’s affair. Surviving Lana's assault came first, he thought to himself.
Wyggler ran up towards Lana like a bear trying to grapple her in its midst. Agile like an annoying fly, Lana is too swift to be caught. She clamped her body as she slid with the downward slope she faced from the high ground. She slid towards the other direction of the mountains fall. When Wyggler's grapple whiffed, Lana jumped on his neck with her teeth and slid him towards the mountain's edge.
"Heavy little wolf, aren't you?"
Wyggler screamed for mercy as Lana tried to push him off the cliff His overbearing body full of donuts is too heavy to be moved fast enough. With about three seconds passing by, he recomposed himself as Lana sensed his strength returning. She was too slow to throw him off, so she backed off before his returning strength reverse the situation. She knew he is strong enough to reverse the grab and throw her off if she isn't too careful.
Wyggler has been in many situations beforehand where he knew a moment to recover to be at full strength would be ideal. He let his body lay there to heal quicker. He signaled to Wynery by tilting his head towards her.
Hesitation never entered her body as Wynery went to assist her husband, but Blake opened his beak once again, but the words, "why did you put my mom against my dad?" escaped his beak this time.
Wynery stopped in her tracks for a second. Lana took advantage of her second guessing by trying to knock Wyggler off the cliff for sure.
"Now's not the time, brat!" She continued rushing to save her husband, but he was hit by a head-butt from Lana to the stomach. Her head knocked him back quite a bit, but Wyggler is just too heavy to move as far as Lana wanted. His feet floated above the cliff with the rest of him safe on the edge. He stood up as Lana saw Wynery rushing towards her. Lana knew she needed to create space to reassess the situation. If only she could split the force away from one another, then she could take them off one by one without doubt of losing.
Noticing the vulnerability of the kids, Wylbur took the initiative to run up in front of them. Not a single word came from his mouth as his entire body is tunnel-visioned on Lana. She is a formidable enemy. As much as he didn't want to admit he is wrong, Wyggler's correct. Lana could be too big a foe for his first mission as a Wynter Force Offycer. At least from watching on the sidelines, he could keep the children safe as he analyzed Lana's capabilities. Swift on her feet, but even more dangerously so, swift in her decisions coming from years of razor sharp experiences. All the clashing's against death itself made her a cut above anything he thought physically possible. What truly set his mind in unrest is her remarkable intelligence in understanding when to press her advantage and her awareness to let go and let his fellow offycer's move in tiptoes and trip on their own feet. Remarkable. The thought itself got him wanting to submit to even testing his abilities against her.
Knowing that Wylbur isn't going to move away from the kids, Lana set her sights on him. She remembered his conversation with the veteran force member. Taking out the newbie would be wise. One less thought to keep in mind. Her time ran short as she knew the other two would rush in as she would strike. Using his inexperience against him, Lana tried to get under his skin with her words as she etched closer slowly.
"Wouldn't it be nice if you could take in the greatest warrior of Billowing Embers?"
"S-Shut your mouth. I know what you're trying to do."
"Oh? And what is that, the sensible one of the bunch?"
"You're trying to force me to get ahead of myself."
"Why would you make such an assumption, intelligent one?"
Due to the high stakes in such a short time, everyone around felt like something was amiss, like something is missing. The sound of slowly dripping water nearby made everyone uneasy. Believing it is only the sound of the nearby water in the cave, Lana thought nothing of it. Even with her gut telling her to back off, her hunger to prove her supremacy overshadowed it. Lana made a dash for Wylbur. His running thoughts got the better of him as overthinking froze his body. Lana's assault became a feint as her teeth went for the children. If she could take out the children, surely the guilt would consume Wylbur enough for him to give up his will to be an offycer for good. Self-inflicted kills are the most savory kills.
Before she could lay a single teeth on the kids, she is struck by a red from above. Offycer Whyte had jumped from an elevated rock formation behind the kids and Wylbur. Whyte quickly followed the rock she threw. Once Whyte landed on Lana's body, she kicked it further down the mountain.
"Don't get so ahead of yourself, Lana that you forget all about me. Did you really think I'd be out of commission from a simple love bite?"
"Using my own trick against me, you manipulative siren!"
"It isn't only just me, sweet little sailor."
"What are you playing at?" A large shadow eclipsed Lana as she turned around to see Bearriana already striking at her. A lethal blow to her legs as she knew she would rather have Lana serve her time than let her get off easy with a visit beneath god's feet.
"I know Flora would rather see the best in you even after what you did to her. For her final wish, I will not pass judgement onto you. Let your own consciousness be who judges you."
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