Private for Fae and NPC'd Anselm. Mature because there's some death going on. :c Backdated to April 3rd! 500+ words.

Nala was as happy as a clam to be with Anselm finally, he was indeed. The pair walked along the new borders of the clan's territory, and Nala was filling the air with as much chatter as he possibly could. It had been quite some time since he had last seen the larger male, and the young coyote had a lot to tell him about. Nala had promised Anselm upon his acceptance that he would be useful to the clan, and he had tried his hardest to live up to that promise. It was natural enough that he would become as attached to Anselm as he had upon their first meeting. Nala, being a very simple-minded creature, had needed someone stable to look up to, and Anselm had provided that for him.

"I helped Inferni a lot!" he was saying, his voice high-pitched and very obviously excited. He waited until Anselm asked him about it before launching into a very excited explanation of the ways he had helped the clan, just like he had promised he would. "Some guy from Dahlia de Mai came here a long time ago and I beat him up until he left, but it was weird, because he could stand up on two legs!" At the time, Nala had ignored this fact because he had so desperately wanted to prove to everyone that he could be useful, and he certainly could not be useful by being distracted by the man's strange stance. It still seemed so weird to him that some canines could do that—he couldn't!

"Then, I went to Dahlia de Mai to try and scout and stuff, 'cause that's helping, right?" Anselm nodded, and Nala grinned widely. "But then this girl, she tried to stop me, and she was from Dahlia de Mai and stuff, so then we fought for a while. I got her face really good!" Of course, he had sustained injuries too, but he had not noticed if any had been long-lasting. And, he could not leave out the most exciting thing that he had done to help the clan win the war! Nala could only assume that they were going to win, anyway, because it was not over yet, but he did not think it would be possible for dahlia de Mai to win. The coyote clan was just too awesome for them to lose, and that was that.

"Then, I went with Kaena and everyone, and I ended up fighting that lady who had the puppy, because that's why we were there, right? Yeah, anyway, everyone else started fighting and nobody had gone to her yet and I knew that was why we were there, so I fought her! I didn't hurt the puppy, though, 'cause that would have been mean," Nala had been incredibly proud of himself that day. "She hit me with a rock, though, and that was not very nice," he added, most unhappy with that fact. It had hurt, and she had been cheating because he could not do the same thing to her, because he did not have hands like her.

It's okay! ♥ 300+ words.

"And then, I helped everyone move the spikes with the skulls on them when the territory was moved yesterday, but first I was trying to get some flowers for you, so I could tell you about everything. But now I'm telling you now!" Nala said while Anselm nodded, occasionally interjecting encouraging and quite possibly proud comments. The young coyote was very excited to finally have the chance to tell Anselm about everything he had been doing that he could hardly keep his mouth shut, but it did not seem to bother the larger golden male in the least. Nala was glad he had met Anselm; aside from Minos, the Optio was his best friend! Knowing Anselm had also given him something to strive for, as he really wanted to make sure Anselm and the rest of Inferni was proud of him.

Nala was trying to think of what else he could tell Anselm when a familiar scent reached him, the words from the angry female following quickly. His eyes widened as he whispered to Anselm, "That's one of the Dahlian wolves I fought!" Beside him, Anselm bristled, knowing that he was better equipped to chase off the wolf than Nala was, but the young coyote had already stepped forward, tail raised high, his stance commically defensive. "Go away, you, I'm talking to Anselm and you don't belong here!" he said, puffing out his chest before turning to glance proudly at Anselm. Finally, a chance to prove himself while Anselm was actually there! Nala was worried that Fae would try to attack Anselm, but there was no need to fear—Nala would protect him, of course, and he would do it really well. He had to, because otherwise, Anselm would not be proud of him anymore and then he would not like him anymore, and that would be very sad.

Maybe have her get her teeth on his throat in your next post, then I'll post once more, then you can post her ending? 300+ words.

Anselm was bristling with anger at the intrusion, not the type to simply sit by passively while others fought around him. Nala, however, was determined to fight this fight alone to prove to Anselm that he really could do this on his own. He wanted to prove his worth to the golden male and to Inferni as a whole, and besides, he apparently had a score to settle with this female. When he had gone to Dahlia de Mai to fight whoever he found there, he had not anticipated that it would be a big deal later. After all, the naive coyote had come to realize that a war was fought with battles. For him, it wasn't personal—it's just the way it apparently was.

At the insult, Anselm stepped forward with teeth bared, but Nala quickly leapt at Fae, screaming, "I am not a retard!" All his life, Nala Garner had been insulted and told he was stupid, or dumb, or retarded, or slow, and he was not any of those things. When he had come to Inferni, he had wanted those insults to stop, and they had, for the most part... but to hear it now was too much for the young coyote. Before Anselm could do or say anything else, Nala's body had collided with the wolf's and they were tumbling down the hill she had come up originally. He wanted the upper hand and he wanted to win, and he hoped that he had taken her by surprise.

As their tumbling bodies came to a stop, Nala felt disoriented, and for a moment he could not gather his bearings. It took him a moment to realize that, despite his original intentions, her body was sprawled over his much smaller form. He scrabbled, trying to fight his way out from beneath her while Anselm ran down the hill towards them, but it seemed to be of no use; he could not get a good enough amount of strength to push her off of him yet.

PP is fine, silly, since we planned it. ♥ FARE THEE WELL, NALA! D: Left the Anselm part very vague, so you can post again with him quickly killing her, ja? :3 300+ words.

As they tumbled, Nala had fought to gain control over the situation. Thus far, the young coyote had been doing very well in his defending of Inferni. However, things just were not working out this time—that was not okay, because Anselm was there this time. Nala wanted very much to prove his worth. As they his the ground at the bottom of the hill with a sharp pain shooting through his back, chocolate eyes turned to look at Anselm as he quickly approached them. The Optio was moving quickly to reach them, but they'd had the momentum of falling and grappling to move them significantly more quickly than he could, despite the fact that Anselm was trained and very capable. Things just did not work out right, at the moment.

And that was what he saw as Fae's teeth surrounded his throat: Anselm rushing to his aid. That was how it was meant to be, anyway. Nala would not look at Fae as she ended his life. The young boy's last image was the canine he had come to revere as his idol. The blood spurted from the force of her teeth pulling his throat from his body, but the life drained from his eyes quickly. His end was a swift one, and his only regret was that he had not succeeded in killing Fae. He'd wanted to protect Anselm, and even if he had not succeeded in killing her, at least he had distracted her enough that he felt like he had protected Anselm.

As the young coyote began his journey through the second part of his existence, his earthly frame lying still in a pool of crimson, Anselm turned on Fae. She had murdered Nala, and that was not forgivable. The Dahlian would die today for that.