They purred as they walked, grateful to hear the joy in her voice before Sam's scent rapidly approached them, their ears laying back as their tail lashed. bandits! fighting back a growl, the jaguar bristled, fur rising along their spine and tail bushing at the base as they turned their head to asteri before looking back at sam. "crap. you two stay together and try to keep up. we'll have to check out the houses!" they growled out, bunching their muscles to leap over sam and asteri, having pivoted on their toes, landing in the mud before streaking off. black body against the harsh outline of the rain, they took a deep breath, calling upon the air around them, drawing in air from the sea to create a blast of air around the other two, meant to clear their view of the ground, "don't lose your footing on the cliffside!" they roared, claws digging into the muck as they launched their body further along the path. it didn't matter if the bandits were their people or not, they could not, in good conscience let them die a brutal death such as that.

stopping as they reached the split in the pathways, they sucked in a deep breath, catching the terror scent that the bandits left behind, their trail streaking up the path towards the top of the cliff face. exhaling with a snarl, they felt some amount of hope and relief before their instincts kicked in and they tore off after the scent trail, not keen on losing a trail that could potentially be the end of their troubles. they didn't know what was going to happen, they only hoped that they could keep on the trail of the bandits.

barely pausing to make sure that either she wolf was behind them, they tore up the path, claws digging into peat and dirt, lungs screaming at them as they took the deepest and most extreme slant at a full run, leaping forward now and then, using their muscles to pull themselves up. they knew that the other two must be surprised, they weren't about to let anyone die. an honorable death was found through battle, not the misfortune of falling from a cliff in the middle of a horrid storm. they could feel vibrations from the one side of the collapsing cliff rumbling through the ground under them, breath coming sharper and faster, head dizzy from lack of air. pausing as they took a bend in the path, the beast coughed and heaved, waiting for their companions to catch up. once asteri and sam had caught up and they'd caught their breath, the jaguar took a slightly less reckless pace up the path, the scents of the bandits still drowned by the nailing rain.

"watch your paws, ladies! the path gets treacherous here!", they warned before disappearing around another sharp corner of the path, trotting as they went, mindful of the realization that one fall could wipe them and their groupmates out. making it to the top of the cliff face, the jaguar huffed and puffed for breath, heedless of the hot blood at their paw, unknowing and uncaring of the fact that they had wrenched a claw in the wild race. exhilaration trembled through their body, tail shaking as they fought the urge to tear off somewhere, trying to find a trace of the bandits. "sam. asteri. rest now. running from here, we have no trail to follow, we can only pray that the storm lets up long enough for us to find them.", they coughed out, drenched to the bone, the jaguar's eyes glowing with the force of the lightning inside their blood. they wanted to hunt them down, they wanted to fight them, they wanted to take them down. swallowing, the jaguar shook their body, chasing away the violent thoughts that belonged to another time, to another version of them, a version that had no business coming back here, near their family and friends.

they had forgotten that not everyone was as used to war as they were, that not everyone grew up biding for blood, to take down your enemies and watch them fall before you. shaking their head softly, they exhaled sharply, trying their best to quell the starvation for conflict in their chest. lifting their head to the skies, they felt the sting of rain upon their skin and fur, closing their eyes as they let the storm's rage roll over them, wishing fervently that it would take away their own storm within. there was no way of knowing if the bandits would attack them should they follow, and they didn't want to drag their friends into the conflict should it happen. there were rules to follow, rules that only their heart knew. shaking their head, they turned their gaze to sam, "there is no assurance in if they will or will not. we can get hurt, we can get lost, we can die. the omens and signs ... are foreign to us. if you do not feel safe, go back to the inn, it would not be held against you. i cannot let myself return yet .. the storm must work itself out before i step inside.", they murmured quietly as they turned their gaze away, back to the raging stom covering the territory. closing their eyes, they called upon memories of flute and a voice, hands on their shoulders keeping them from leaping into the fray, or encouraging them, a whisper in their ears. teeth grinding together, they pushed back the memories of the siren call of battle, ears laid flat to their skull. "go back to the inn, you two. we will finish our border patrol once the storm passes." they murmured in a neutral tone, turning their gaze back to sam and asteri, mindless of their injured paw, not recognizng the pain.