Animation Source Forums

*Sorry, am back from Italy now, and I wasn't planning on killing Kalgorn ^-^.*

Cale seemed to be lost deep within his bloodlust, raking away deep into Kalgorn's exposed backside, and would have continued had he not been snapped out of it by the sound of Haldor's voice and he would stop and turn his head slowly towards the wolf, a complete bloody mess, "oh fine, I guess he's had enough...for now, take him captive while I go to give any needed assistance to Keso." At that he would jump down wobbly off of the large wolf's back, leaving crimson paw prints upon the soft earth as he made his way towards where the ensuing fight with Balto was, a dangerous look in Cale's eyes as he was still driven for the smell of blood, and the excitement of the fight. The now red wolf would stop within a few feet of the fight, prepared to jump in at any moment when the time seemed right, that is if any assistance was even needed, for it looked like the situation was already well under control, and he would let out a large grin towards the filthy mutt, "you mise well give in, all of your friends are either injured or captive now, and fighting back now will only cause you more suffering in the end."

(Nice reaction! Very creative, Lone. ^.^)

Keso barely raised his eyes and found that all of a sudden, a grey-brown body was falling backwards on top of him. His first impulse was to let go of the leg he'd clamped so viciously on and try to somehow to dodge the impact. He didn't have to think about it though, to know that this wouldn't work. He Balto was already falling on top of him and there was absolutely no way he could move from that close proximity in the amound of time he'd been given.

Nor could he afford to lose his valuable grip on Balto's leg and allow the mutt to be able to move freely though. And so Keso moved only the muscles in his jaw to tighten his hold on the leg. He would not be knocked off so easily. As Balto crashed into him, he grunted with difficulty and from the force of the impact and tried to dig his paws into the ground, sliding backwards only about a foot and hanging on like a tick.

Gilroy on the other hand, who was still charging head on towards Balto's chest, had also had no time to alter his course, but did manage to raise his head in surprise. His feet carried him swiftly over to the heap of dogs and his paws caught on Balto's other leg, tripping him roughly to the ground. He lay sprawled on the ground for a few minutes, just trying to catch his breath and plan his next course of action.

Adacia and Nutik, seeing a chance as their comarde fell, both sprang from opposite sides, fangs bared and craving for the stomach of their enemy.

Haldor blinked in surprise and then nodded, flicking an ear to Darkmoon as they both padded swiftly over to the unconscious body and each grabbed a hunk for flesh and fur near the shoulders, beginning to drag him the long way back to the den. The second phase of the plan was complete, the mate had been taken captive and the sidekick knocked out. Now all that was left was to incapacitate that hero wannabe and torture and maim the female until she was nothing like she had been before. Maybe they could even make her infertile. Balto would truly have little left to live for then, once he finally came to retrieve her.

Balto groaned in frustration as Keso skidded to a stop behind him. So much for that plan, he thought. It was then that he realized that he was loosing feeling in his leg, but even so, Keso's iron grip continued to send searing pain through his entire body. Every nerve ending in his leg was screaming, and he felt his precious life blood seeping out between Keso's jaws.

It was also then that he noticed the two other wolves, one on each side of him, leap toward him, teeth bared. With only a split-second to react, Balto resorted to the same tactic that he'd used on the first wolf. Rocking forward onto his fore legs, he lashed out toward Keso with his one free back leg, hoping for the throat. At the same time, he bared his own teeth and prepared for the inevitable strike of the other two.

The searing pain that tore through his body was almost more than he could bear, but Balto held his ground. His only hope was to somehow dislodge Keso and slip away from the fighting long enough to regain the use of his leg and find Jenna's scent.
He'd know it anywhere, esspecially after the time they'd spent together in the forest. His own scent would be mixed with hers, making it stand out all the more. She would not be hard to find, and he was not worried of that; what worried him was her safety. If Keso's followers were half as crazy and blood-thirsty as he was, Jenna was in terrible danger.
Hang on, baby, he thought, Hang on, I'm coming. And nothing in the world will stop me! He looked back. Not even you, Keso.
Suddenly, he was flung back to the real world, his thoughts shattered by the snarls of the two wolves bearing down on him. He had only time to bare his teeth again and brace for the impact...

Once again Balto rocked forward and kicked back at Keso with a hind paw. Perhaps the dark wolf should have seen this coming, but for some reason or other, he failed. By sheer luck, Balto's leg did not strike his neck, though by sheer misfortune it slammed directly into his chest, completely knocking the wind out of him. His jaws slipped in their grip from the force of the backward blow, tearing some of the muscle on the hero's leg, before he was forced to let go and was sent sliding backwards. The alpha coughed and spluttered quite a bit, looking on his foe and his pack with disdain and fury.

Adacia and Nutik had of course missed because of Balto's quick dodge, however they were not so lucky as to miss themselves. The two masses flying in the air collided fiercely and fell to the ground where Balto had been only seconds before, glaring ruefully at each other before standing quickly and rounding on their enemy.

Gilroy saw that his alpha had been knocked away and his pack mates had been dodged and leapt for another attempt at Balto. This time he came from behind, and not to strike a fatal blow, but with his bent in-line with Balto's. He was trying to headbutt him again, but aiming for the head, and hoping he could knock him out, at least long enough to allow his packmates to incapacitate him for their plan to work.

Haldor and Darkmoon gasped, dropping the limp body of the hero's comrade and rushing over to the fray as things seemed to spiral a little out of control. They each rushed for a different part of Balto; Haldor to his side and mainly aiming for a shoulder, Darkmoon to his front and aiming for the chest of the Hailstorm pack's foe. They had to secure a hold on him, otherwise they stood the chance of him escaping and that could not happen at any cost if the plan was to succeed.

Cale would pad his way slowly towards Balto's direction, his one good eye focusing closely upon the mutt. He was feeling a bit funny, more so as the fight had been going on now, and would blink and stop a moment turning, suddenly feeling quite lightheaded, possibly from all the excitement? As he turned he noticed a trail of blood where he'd just been, and would look himself over, realizing a bit too late he'd overexerted himself. He'd weakly turn towards his leader, his voice jumbled a bit, "I..am...sorry...K..Kee..." A loud thump would be heard by all as the now red giant seemed to fall to the ground unwillingly, his good eye fluttering shut, and his whole body going limp as everything around him swirled into darkness. A pool of blood was already forming around him as he continued to lose blood from all his injuries he'd sustained, and his ears atop his head lay flat, while his tail lay curled behind him. Cale was out cold and down for the count.

Balto screamed as Keso's teeth tore away muscle from his near-useless leg. True, he had finally dislodged the dark wolf, but now what? One of his back legs was nearly laid open, bleeding and going numb. Whatever other scrapes and cuts he'd accumulated paled in comparison, both in size and pain.

As he looked around, he noted with some satisfaction that Cale had collapsed, but so had Kalgorn. Kikki and Treffen were still busy holding off Keso's first few wolves, the ones that had killed Milo and Gunther, so they could not help him.
That would be his undoing.

For now, as he looked around at his enemies, there was not a direction he could turn where there wasn't an angry, glaring face. The two wolves who had tried to catch him between them now began regaining their footing and eyed him angrily. Another, the one he had first knocked away with a blow to the chest, now came at him again. At the same time, two others were rushing at him from where Kalgorn lay unmoving. And, of course, there was still Keso behind him.

With no time to plan or even think, he let instinct take over.

He moved as quickly as he could to counter the new threats. First, he turned toward the one leaping at him. Normally, he could have side-stepped this kind of attack, or even swatted away the unlucky wolf with one paw, but with a hind leg limp and useless, he was forced to meet the attacker head-on.

And as the snarls of the wolf rang in his ears, one thought reared itself above all others:

Jenna.

I hope this one didn't die. It is a good one after all...
AND I HATE UNCOMPLETE ENDINGS!!!!

Oh good! ^^

I would post, but Kalgorn's kinda unconsious right now.

In those split seconds as he hung in mid-air, arching toward the wolf coming straight at him, Balto's mind raced. But he thought not of how to best the many wolves attacking him. Instead, he concentrated on Jenna.

Oh, Jen, where are you? What have these foul beasts done to you?

He met the eyes of the wolf in front of him, and set a cold, determined look on his face.

Don't worry, baby, I'm coming. Your Balto's coming for you, not matter what.

Darkmoon, being the faster of the three wolves rushing at Balto now, overtook Gilroy's headbutt and charged directly for Balto's chest. It seemed to be a simple enough attack, a head on rush to rip into one of the most vital parts of the body. But even this first attack was somehow complicated by Gilroy's charge. Gilroy, though slower than his comrades, was still managing to stay right on Darkmoon's heels, just hidden behind the brawny wolf's body. Darkmoon flicked his tail almost normally, though to a trained Hailstorm, the sign would have signified a change in plan. Gilroy didn't need to see anything else save what would come as soon as the assault was fully launched.

And so, as Darkmoon came within inches of Balto's chest, he feinted to the right, then quickly switched to the left, lowered his jowls and aimed the dagger-like teeth for Balto's paw. The chest charge had all been an act. But the charge behind the humongous wolf and not. As Darkmoon moved out of the way, Balto would finally be able to fully see Gilroy headed at him, head down in a straight line with his spine to magnify the blow. At this point, he didn't care much whether he clipped Balto on the head or somewhere else. The blow would hurt him as much as the hybrid and he would likely be knocked out after this. But that didn't matter, especially if Darkmoon could detain him, or if Gilroy could manage to take him down with himself.

Haldor, meanwhile, was still coming from the right side, aiming directly for that shoulder that was sticking out there in the open. But seeing his packmates' positions and noticing that inconspicuous little flick of a tail, he changed direction at the last moment and went for Balto's rear leg. Hopefully the feeble feint would work, since it was timed very closely with Darkmoon's and Gilroy's attacks. If he could just manage to get hold of that leg, it would help hold their enemy stationery. Once he was still, he was theirs.

Adacia and Nutik noticed what was happening, late admittedly, but still sprang into action. Like twin falcons, they wheeled in a synchronized pattern to the side opposite the one Haldor had charged. Their speeds akin to one another, neither passed or fell behind. It was as if they were one in the same, but two seperate bodies with one goal. Despite their own assault being several moments later than the others, they were still at one. Within about two feet of Balto's body, Nutik split from Adacia's side and went for the other rear leg, hoping to secure hold of it, like his partners. Adacia kept going straight, but jumped hard and left the ground. Still flying at him, she parted her lips and fangs, aiming her pearly whites for a place on his back. She'd close on the flesh on his back, if she managed to get hold of it, but still flying through the air, she'd probably end up pulling him along with her.

If she was able to latch onto Balto, she would pull him over onto his side and with nowhere else to go but where the physics pulled her, she'd most likely land on top of him, one side to the ground. And she wasn't a light wolf either. This would probably pull the others to their sides as well, but if they had a grip, they wouldn't let go. Not this time. If she couldn't manage to get hold of him, she'd continued to fly straight over him, though she might attempt a kick at him as gravity pulled her down on his other side.

Keso, still winded and furious, didn't move as his underlings proceeded to do exactly what they were trained to do: overtake the enemy. He watched them synchronize their attacks to the best of their ability and critiqued them in his mind, somehow still having the capacity to think about things other than strategizing his own next attack. 'Haldor's feint was weak at best. And Nutik broke off much too early. He was supposed to break off just as Adacia jumped. And that jump was too high, but it'll have to do for now. These five will be doing drills for weeks if this is how they're going to treat a battle. Pathetic, worthless fools.' Despite his thoughts, he knew the plan still stood a good chance of working. And pending its success, he stayed put until the results were plain before him.

Ooc: Yes, I did use fuschia for the bad guys. I thought it would be funny ^.^ Once again, sorry that this was delayed, but hopefully I made up for it!

To say that Balto was not doing his best would be a lie, but to say he was still unprepared would be an understatement.

He'd once fought three wolves at once and held his own, but that was when he had full use of all his legs. Now, there were five wolves coming at him from all directions, and he had all but lost feeling in his back right leg. Still, he managed to stay on target with the wolf coming at him, that is, until the wolf changed direction. Rather than meeting Balto head-on, he went for Balto's right forepaw. As he felt teeth close around it, Balto whipped his head downward, trying for the back of the wolf's neck. Only then did he see the other one coming straight for him, head down. With no time to react, Balto could only brace for the impact.

Suddenly, there was searing pain all over his body. Not only had the wolf in front connected with him at the base of his neck, but two more wolves latched onto his back legs while a third sank her teeth into his back. His torn back leg, still bleeding, sent such a wave of agony to his brain that he nearly blacked-out. Still, he tried valiantly to remain standing, for he knew that once he fell, he would not get up again. For a second, he tried to throw the wolves off him, but the weight of the wolf coming at his back was more than enough to send him crashing down.

"No!" he shouted, his legs giving in beneath him.

When he collapsed, he came down hard on his torn back leg, and the wave of pain was more than he could bear. Before his proud head sank to the ground, he cried out one last time:

"J-e-n-n-a-a-a-a!"

(Yikes. That's not good. Im still not sure if Kalgorn should come to just yet. This is the second time he's been knocked out by Cale.)