Cretatous Survival (Ash)

Patchy gave a smile and he tilted his head lightly, letting his father's horn slip into the hole in his frill, locking them together, "She isn't too bad anyway, too bad you got her first" Patchy teased, pushing against his father.

Scowler nodded, "thanks for understanding" he told his son, playfully returning the headbutt, Scowler twisted his head lightly with a playful grunt.

Patchy raised a brow at first, wondering why his father was asking, then he figured it out, "Everything's fine Pa" He said, moving toward the other male, giving him a light butt to the head, locking their horns playfully, "We're good dad, really" He said, offering a small smile, "It's what she would want" He said softly.

Scowler noticed Oceana with Patchy, as he stood he watched Oceana turn her attention to him, rubbing against him affectionately. Scowler nibbled at her frill affectionately and turned to stand near his son. "How are you?" Scowler asked his son, Scowler had never been emotional or attached to anyone, where his mate and son had been concerned, however, he'd become slightly soft, yet it still seemed to be difficult for him to express emotion or be anything other than stubborn and brooding. Scowler hadn't really spoken to Patchy about his mother or really about anything since the attack, and he was eager to make sure that his son was okay with Oceana, moreover, that he wasn't resentful toward him or Oceana. While he knew, that it had been Patchy to suggest that Scowler should be prepared to lose Trics, Scowler still wanted to be sure. Plus, the conversation may lead to any other issues that his son might be having, while Scowler knew Patchy was old enough to hold his own, he was still prepared to lend a hand wherever necessary.

Oceana stayed quiet next to her mate, standing to graze off and on, by the time Scowler was awake, the female was standing with the male's only current offspring, the pair grooming one another lightly, Oceana taking her time to be gentle around the hole in the other's frill, glancing back as she heard movement behind her, spotting her mate and she snorted softly, rubbing against the large male softly.

Scowler chuckled at her response, eventually, lulling gently to sleep. The herd for the most part, remained quiet for several hours, grazing quietly and making trips back and forth to the large lake. Giving scowler enough rest to regain his strength and moreover, begin the slow healing process. The deep gash in his side, looked much less enflamed today, and while it would still cause him a bit of pain, it would be no where near the disability it had been the day before. When Scowler woke, his first instinct had been to find Oceana, grunting out affectionately when he saw she was still beside him. He eventually stood, and yawned, his tail swaying heavily, the way he moved would indicate that he was feeling much better.

"Yeah yeah" She murmured and leaned against him softly.

Scowler grunted affectionately but gave her a pointed look, “doesn’t mean I’m going to be any less observant of you” he warned, nuzzling her and laying his head under hers.

Oceana snorted as she turned and nuzzled her mate, "I tried to tell you" She cooed soft, laying close to him.

Scowler grunted a warning to the male, but had only just had it to his feet before Oceana downed the small male. Scowler nuzzled her side, admiring her, “maybe I don’t need to worry so much” he chuckled lightly, laying back down.

When a smaller male tried to come close, Oceana snorted and locked horns with the male, despite her size she toppled the male, chasing him off, "Moron" She snorted.

Scowler settled down a little, although still have a conscious effort to watch his mate and herd, unwilling to allow someone another chance.

She stayed standing next to her mate, nuzzling him softly and sighing lightly.

Scowler nodded halfheartedly, easing himself onto the ground with a pained grunt.

"Scowler... Everything is fine now" She said softly, rubbing against him and gently grooming his wounded side.

Scowler grunted irritably, “it worked” he huffed, her words didn’t move him, in that while she might not voluntarily go to another male, if he didn’t keep his guard up, a male might get to her. This wasn’t acceptable to him.

"Scowler... You know I wony go to another male" Oceana murmured once they were away from the herd, "He's just trying to agitate you" She said.

Scowler hit the smaller males leg with his horns, however Oceanas words stopped him from killing the male. Scowler huffed aggressively at the male and nuzzled Oceanas rear, bullying her away from the herd with his superior size. Once they were a safe distance, he seemed to relax greatly.

Oceana stepped forward as she watched Scowler, lowering her head slightly, "Scowler.. I think you've made a point.." She said quietly, moving closer to her mate but staying away from the smaller male.

The smaller male stood up and made the mistake of looking at and then calling to Oceana, purposely trying to anger scowler. It worked. The large male roared in anger and charged blindly at the smaller male, unfortunately for the other male, he hadn’t expected Scowler to charge and found himself again on his side. However, this time, scowler didn’t allow him time to get up, charging at him again.

"Easy Scowler..." Oceana said quietly as she stood at a safe distance, worried for her mate, her tail swaying lightly, worried he would hurt himself.

Scowler roared warningly, which seemed to catch the attention of most of the herd. The smaller challenger rose up on his back legs and crashed down before charging at Scowler, who didn't move, instead the larger male braced, and when their horns collided, he was able to twist his head and send the smaller male onto his side, huffing angrily and waiting for him to stand back up.

Oceana jolted awake, jumping up and moving out of the way, snorting and breathing heavily, looking to Scowler nervously, unsure if he would be okay.

Scowler woke to a loud roar, standing just in time to miss getting stomped by a smaller male trike. Scowler roared dangerously at the smaller male, who thrashed his frill in challenge.

Oceana stayed awake, keeping an eye on everything for Scowler, though eventually, getting too comfortable and dozing off.