[justify][size=11px]Exhaustion sprung up behind his eyes, and he stared out across biome one, his tongue caught between his teeth. The cold nipped at his paws, but he was feverish hot, and his legs burned with lactic acid, energy pent up despite his fatigue. How far from camp was he, now? He could see the odd fuzz of unnatural colour to his right, which meant that he had wandered far enough into this land to spot another, but he had no idea where he was. It was easy to lose oneself in the rolling hills of this first biome, and if he was not careful, he'd never get out; a good way of mapping location was to find the valley, but he could see nothing of the sorts.
What he could see, though, was death on wings. A brazen eagle overhead, but it was rushing towards him at an inhuman pace, its great wings spread, presumably ready to pull it into the air once it snatched him away. Knightpup leaned away from it, and once it was within range, swinging its feet forwards, ready to grip him with sharp talons, the blonde pup scrabbled out of the way and beneath a flurry of feathers; the eagle landed, unexpectedly, and the wolf was on it, ignoring its maddened wing beating as he struggled with it, keeping out of the way of its beak and claws, not wishing to be disembowelled.
He wasn't sure what took him next, but Knightpup fought valiantly. He was with honour when he struck, no dirty tactics, even if the eagle had him in a deadly embrace, and was doing all it could to tear out his lungs. Each sweep was one of a boy wanting to play warrior, but he threw his weight into it when he moved, and each hit thudded against the eagle as he writhed, trying to keep out of the way of his demise. It gripped at one of his legs and pulled the flesh there, ripping crimson from his body, but he did not care for that. Adrenalin pushed blood out faster, but nullified the pain. He was invincible and vulnerable all at once.
Knightpup still had his mind, though. He twisted his form and managed to lift his upper body and snap his jaws against feathers, pulling them out. A slam of a ferocious wing to his head temporarily stunned him, but then he lunged once more, hooking one paw over the eagle's neck and the other pressing against its beak, cutting deep into his flesh, but he did not care. Face. Neck. He had to protect his and get to the bird's.
They pulled apart suddenly, but not before Knightpup caught the eagle's wing accidentally. The fragile bone bent beneath his weight, and at a nauseating sound, both knew it had broken. No matter. The eagle was grounded, but fierce. And the two clashed, oh, yes. Knightpup was ripped apart. Cuts marred his golden form and stained his knightly fur red, but he did his fair share of damage, until, inevitably, the killing blow was landed and the fight ... Ceased.
A throat was ripped out, claws digging into flesh to steady a writing victim, but the kill had been honorouable. Clean. A good death for anyone. Knightpup stepped back, ruby dripping from his lips, and he heaved a gentle sigh, closing his eyes and gulping the metallic taste down, as vile as it was. Kill. He had killed. But he had killed a threat, a real threat. Perhaps not to the adults, but to those his age.
Swaying a little on his paws, Knightpup sat, huffing a breath that steamed in the frigid air.
[size=2px][color=transparent] #knightlegendstark