21st is fiiinnnne 
Zalen was beginning to regret how far he had strayed from the heart of the pack land on his own. He had gone out the evening before to do his usual marking rounds when he had caught the scent of something that set his fur on edge. It was clearly the scent of a big cat, and he knew it was not Noah’s little bobcat friend, which had chosen to sleep in a large tree near the den. No, this was a cougar, a danger, and when Zalen had decided to track the scent for a while he realized that it lingered here, fresh smells mixing with fading ones. A large feline predator on the pack-lands was not good news, and he knew that he had to find and chase off the cat, and make it clear that it was not welcome here. Not only was having a predator nearby dangerous for the lives of all the pack-mates, but it was also hunting here which meant it was basically stealing food from the mouth of New Dawn.
Zalen, still high from his feelings of superiority and domination as alpha, foolishly had decided to go after the cougar himself without returning to the den and asking for help from the other strong males of the pack, such as Shandom or Thoirni. It was his folly, and he was beginning to realize it, especially now that the sun was starting its downward descent in the sky, and the slowly falling snow made visibility that much harder. He was becoming nervous, for he had tracked this mountain lion all night, and now, its scent seemed to have run dry.
He was nearly about to give up, admit defeat and decide to chase another day when he came upon the bloody remains of an elk. The body was frozen but the blood fresh, and the meat was half eaten. Cautiously Zalen moved to the kill to sniff at it; it reeked of cougar. Warily he scanned the trees around him, but heard and saw nothing; he assumed that the cat had left its kill here for a later meal, which meant it would be back. If he could ambush it, maybe he stood a chance in his Optime form.
With the decision made, Zalen shifted into his two legged form and found a rocky outcropping nearby to hide behind. Once there, he hunkered down, taking some time to braid his long mane and tie it with several long blades of dried, dead grass. He waited then, silently, the only indication of his presence being the breath that rose in the air from his nostrils. He was not worried that his scent was now clearly around the carcass, for he knew that the cougar would pay it no mind. Once the cat showed itself, Zalen would mount the peak of the rock and jump down upon the feline, hopefully scaring it enough that it would not stay to fight but run off never to return.
He waited for some time before a sound came his ears. Keen apple eyes peeked through a crevice in the outcropping to see a large, and very well fed female cougar exit the tree line and saunter over to the corpse. Zalen’s ears flicked back against his head; she was large, larger than he had expected, but in this form he still outweighed her. Still, a cat’s claws and teeth were sharp, more so even then a Luperci’s, and for a moment he wasn’t sure if he would be able to take her.
But any chance to escape silently was lost when the cougar halted in its licking and gnawing of a rib bone to sniff the air, and then her golden eyes trained themselves directly on his outcropping. He ducked low, hoping she could not see him, but it was of no use, she knew he was there. Slowly, crouching low like felines did when they stalked, she started slowly towards the outcropping. This was his only chance and it was do or die now. Quickly, Zalen clambered to the top of the rock, his hackles, tail and ears erect, making him look a large as possible. He opened his mouth wide, white teeth gleaming as he let forth a deep and dangerous snarl at the large cat.
For a moment he felt that his threat display might work, as the cougar took several steps back and crouched as if it was planning to spring away. But then it sized him up, and made the decision that it could take him, and it returned with a vicious threat display of its own, letting loose that classic cougar call. So they would have to fight then. Zalen let forth a quick but loud howl before he sprung downwards towards her.
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