Hunting the Great Wolf

[Therak]

Large, fat, soft snowflakes were gently falling through the air as Therak stepped out of the hut. The sun hadn't quite risen above the horizon, leaving the pre-dawn grey and murky. There was only a gentle breeze, and not even the Frostwolves were truly up and about. A handful of huts had smoke rising from them and it was mostly quiet.
Therak smiled to himself, looking up to the sky to let the snowflakes brush across his face on their way down. He stood there for several moments before seemingly reaching a decision, removing his hat and sneaking back into the hut to leave it on his backpack.
As confident as he'd tried to seem when he spoke to Rhonya, and in spite of hers, and Feraleyes confidence he wasn't nearly as sure of his chances as he'd like to be.
He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and went back out into the snow.

The snowfall continued without pause By now the sun was truly up, turning the snow covered plains of Frostfire into a glittering surface that almost hurt Theraks
eyes. He was holed up in shelter from the wind in a small opening in a cliff. Too small to be called a cave, it still offered shelter from the wind while he boiled water for tea, ate a few strips of dried meat and worked on a piece of bark to make thin slits for his eyes in order to keep his eyes from the snow blindness.
So far, his journey had been uneventful. Trudging west through the snow, avoiding other travellers while looking for his prey.
What had he gotten himself into? ...A great wolf... With no weapons...
He chuckled faintly, without any real amusement. He couldn't imagine backing down from it now, not after his discussion with Feraleye. Not after having been tasked with it by an orc he found himself respecting to that degree.
'Seems times aren't the only thing changing...' he muttered to himself before downing his tea and packing his things to leave again.

The glare of the reflected snow was much more managable now with the bark shielding his eyes from the worst of it. His steps took him further west, wading through the snow, in some places it reached as high as his waist. By the time he reached the western reaches proper he was tired and sweaty beneath his furs. He crested a small hill, taking a moment to breathe and rest while looking out across the landscape. He was still outside what was supposedly the lands where they roamed, but in the distance he could see a pack of them. Or at least he thought it was a pack of them, fortunately they were still distant. A whole pack would tear him apart like a chewtoy.
He took another deep breath, pushing the thought aside. He could still turn back, still return... But could he? Could he and still face himself when he woke? He'd promised to do this, it'd prove something.
He turned to look back, only to face a wolf seemingly as tall as he was, already crouching to pounce and leap at him. The brown fur covering lean muscles coiled to put the force into it.
All he could do was throw himself backwards, reduce the force of the massive package of muscle and teeth as it slammed into him.
They tumbled down the hillside, kicking up a cloud of snow. The wolf trying to go for the throat while Therak desperately struggled and wriggled to avoid his death just a little longer. He briefly considered going for a knife, but even if he decided to do so it would have been impossible to spare one of his hands long enough.
He could feel the teeth snapping, could feel the breath of the beast washing across his face, could smell the stench of death coming from it. His hands kept trying to shove the jaws aside, one way then the other while his head and neck twisted to buy himself time. His knees kept trying to find enough force slamming into the ribs of the beast, but it didn't seem to have much of an effect.
Pain flared into his arm as the creature bit through his furs, staining them and the snow around them red. Therak roared in pain, and to his surprise, in anger as the beast shook its head. He kicked out immediately, more in panic and pain addled confusion then with any true purpose. His feet connected with... something, making his opponent let out a mix between a yelp and a growl. But more importantly, making it lose the grip around his arm. Therak didn't let up for a moment, he slammed one hand down on the top of the nose, the other clawing towards the eyes of the beast. He gathered both his feet close to him and pushed off, finally getting the beast to roll sideways off him.
Therak rolled with it, landing on top if it and raining blows with his fists, elbows and even biting it. The wolf recovered swiftly and began rolling back to crush him beneath it, but Therak scurried aside and actually managed to get on to its back. The beast kept rolling, but this time Theraks head had cleared, and as it rolled he slammed his thumb into its eye.
The eye popped and the beast howled, still trying to roll in order to dislodge the small orc clinging to it, an orc who was digging his thumb deeper and deeper.
The beast rolled a final time, pinning Therak beneath it. He could feel ribs cracking, but all he could do was keep digging with his thumb. It was finally all the way through, and then the wolf shook and shuddered before all movement ceased.

Getting out from beneath the beast was a time consuming and painful affair. His left arm was while not entirely useless, certainly not much help. Fortunately the snow was deep here, and he could dig a little downwards and finally crawl out.
His first look at the wolf was... a dissapointment. It'd seemed much bigger when it was coming for him, and it certainly felt bigger when it was crushing him beneath it.
It was still large, just smaller then the Garn he'd seen at a distance once. And fortunately it'd been alone.
If Feraleye didn't think this was enough... He could go hunt his own damn beast...
First things first, he had to bind his wounded arm, then he could begin taking the skin...

Therak came stumbling into Wor'gol at nightfall, the rolled up wolf skin tied to his back...

[Kozgugore]

Neat little story! Thanks for going through the effort of conjuring one, even if it wasn't -totally- necessary. :3 For all the harm done to Therak, at least he'll have a new, dead companion for life now! \o/