i'm a taker, devils-maker

Louve didn’t often travel beneath the stone. Living on a peak had given her an appreciation for fresh air and she did not feel any desire to be trapped under the surface.

However, she had heard rumour of the effects of this phenomenon on the labyrinth and was drawn to investigate. As much as the young Dieudonne held herself above others (especially those not of her blood) she still possessed a natural curiosity about the world. Whispers of lava has piqued her interest enough that she made the trek to the labyrinth, pausing only briefly at the looming entrance to the tunnels.

Working up the courage she stepped in to the twisting maze of tunnels, determination set across her features.

@Kozrain

manip + coding by scarf | photos from unsplash

He followed the scent of a lioness like a bloodhound on a trail. Kozrain scaled the rocky surface of the labyrinth, having circled back toward the entrance of Amaryllis they had first come through. Sure enough, each territory brought with it its own disasters, with the more rocky terrain seeming to have been split into sections where the earth bore open. The labyrinth was no exception.

"Hello," he greeted in his bass tones as he approached the entrance, not yet venturing inside the tunnels. Kozrain could smell her there – young, healthy, likely part of a pride. It was clear to him then that each of these Amaryllis cats could hold a treasure trove of interest to him; it was just up to him to open them wide.

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|| june y8 | five years | vague pride | at grimoire's labyrinth | @Louve ♔ ||
+5 - BWP-related exp
+5 - Exercise to gain endurance
+5 - Learn information about a potential threat

i'm a taker, devils-maker

The walls felt smothering to her, and she focused on keeping her breaths steady and even. Yellow eyes trailed up the stone, taking notice of the stalactites that extended from the ceiling in places. Light filtered in in some places but it was still dark, causing her to strain to make out the shapes more clearly.

Focused as she is she is startled by his approach, swinging her head abruptly towards him with a slight hitch in her breath. A frown follows, hardly a welcoming greeting, before she looks away almost dismissively. In fact she continues a step or two, studying a place where stone seemed to have broken away, a long pause before she addressed him in return.

“what are you doing ‘ere?” how friendly.


+5 Study the landscape of an area 2/2
+5 - BWP-related exp

manip + coding by scarf | photos from unsplash

“What are you doing ‘ere?” Her question was more of a demand, though the lioness hardly bothered to look up at him. Arching a brow with interest, the lion surged forward through the doorway, attempting to cut off the forward path she walked with a lash of his ivory-tipped tail. See me now?

"Watching you," Kozrain answered, not bothering to dress it up. He narrowed his gaze of opal as he looked upon her, studying the earthy-green tint of her pelt and the patched markings there. "Seems dangerous to go alone," he observed, "with the cave-ins." He tossed his nose over one shoulder, gesturing to a pile of freshly-fallen boulders in one corner, laid there like a tomb for rest.

"Who are you?" The stranger asked finally, his stare unwavering.

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@Louve ♔
+5 - BWP-related exp
+5 - Exercise to gain endurance
+5 - Learn information about a potential threat

The flurry of movement drew her attention, finally, to him. A curl of her lip and an answering snarl as he blocked her path, immediately checking her defences in case he escalated this encounter to a full on fight. Louve, bloodthirsty though she may be, was not stupid enough to start things with a full grown male.

“I suggest you turn your eyes elzewhere, monsieur,” she snapped, the title laced with sarcasm. He was no sir.

Yellow gaze flicked to the pile of rocks and she sneered — “I am not afraid. Dieudonne are not afraid.” A lift of her chin, as if daring him to argue.

“who are you?” uncaring that she had only given him a half answer,

Image by Rabs

“I suggest you turn your eyes elzewhere, monsieur,” she urged, calling him by a name he did not know. He pulled one side of his mouth into a toothy smile, his gaze as fixated upon her as ever. He was not in the habit of taking orders from strangers.

"Dieudonne who?" The lion asked, assuming this to be her name. "I am Kozrain Tolkien Tollaire," he introduced, having started tacking on both names in case one might prove more interesting than the other. This land seemed riddled with those who knew Kozrain far better than he knew them.

"Not afraid of me, or of the cave collapsing in?" He tried to clarify with a smirk.

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@Louve ♔

Louve did not back down from the beast, holding her ground and keeping her gaze leveled on him. There was no reason for her to be intimidated -- she had faced down far creepier men in her very own family.

And Louve knew how to fight, if he decided to be so stupid.

"Dieudonne eez enough," she retorted, "perhapz if you behave you'll learn my first name. Kozrain Tolkien Tollaire." Oh and she had the audacity to tease him, to mock his lengthy name and his need to use all three of them. Bratty little princess.

"Neizaire," with a flex of her claws and an almost bored expression, playing with fire no doubt. "Now if you'll move..." A bold step forward, pushing dangerously in to his space and daring him to do something about it all at once.

Image by Rabs

"Perhapz if you behave you'll learn my first name. Kozrain Tolkien Tollaire." Oh, he knew he liked her. Kozrain let out a sniff of a laugh, straightening slightly so that he was merely standing in the corridor rather than blocking her so purposefully. If entertainment is what he had wanted, he had gotten it from the girl. She pushed closer to him, but he did not falter. Let her creep around, or let her bask in his closeness.

"Does this count as behaving?" He asked, flicking his tail against his ankles patiently. He could hear the drip of stalactites in the distance, echoing throughout the cavern so that the sound was all-encompassing.

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@Louve ♔

As confidently as she behaved (and felt) there was still some amount of relief as he gave in. Louve knew she had played a dangerous game, and she was fortunate he was not as viciously minded as some of her own kin, but she masks her relief behind an expression of simple certainty.

"You tell me," she murmured as she moved to slip past him, her side brushing the length of his as she did so. Whether or not it was purposely was to be determined, and she rather liked to think that she'd leave it up to him to decide.

Louve did not look back, though spoke again even as she continued down the corridor and perhaps that was enough that he would follow. "Assuming I do not get crushed by rock perhapz I will tell you next time."

A VOICE MADE OF TEETH

table by sentinel / art

She swept past him, the heat of their pelts brushing for a moment. Whatever possessiveness arose in him, it was quelled by the reality of her youth. She could parade as a dangerous woman all she liked, but Kozrain knew she was a mere girl wearing heels three sizes too large.

"Goodbye, monsieur,” he echoed the name she had graced him with earlier as she paraded down the passage, not bothering to look back at him. Luck alone allowed them to collide without the heat of violence – that, or a fear of setting off a landslide. With little fanfare, Kozrain turned to take his leave from the labyrinth.

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-exit- @Louve ♔
+5 - BWP-related exp