when the call comes, fang follows.

she shuffles onto the scene to press up against @Drakon, eyes wide where they rest on @Nephthys. she twines her tail around his hide leg, attention wandering from bluff lion to bluff lion. they all seem so... calm now. the leader is still angry, she thinks, but maybe that's just her default state. the two spotty lionesses are composed and the one who had been tearing up rielus before seems downright docile here. seneca is like a stormcloud and while she wants to tell her dad what happened, the force of his subdued anger and presence forces her into silence. she mouths i'm sorry as she focuses her attention back on her sister, hoping she hadn't done anything to make it harder for the wolfbron tollaire._{BG — ART: drifty — CODE: dee}

Amara's ears roll back as the other cub vomits but she doesn't look. She was with Echo and if it was an issue then it would be cared for if needed. The cub that she had dropped on the ground decided to get smart mouth with her. Amara flashed her teeth at the cub and a low hiss was given as she blocked @Diantha from going anywhere. Like hell. The females of her pride arrived with her and Amara was to focused on what they were doing here to notice that Ursula was hurt for the moment. Might be a good thing because it would have only added to her anger about the whole thing. Another cub arrives and requests access to the cubs. No. It was a simple answer. Amara wasn't here to deal with cubs. A moment later the male she was waiting on arrived. It was clear that he was on edge and Amara squared herself off to him. She was ready for it to spin out of control at any moment. His words were simple. We don't kill cubs. Well they did, sometimes and if others hadn't shown up the fate of the cubs likely would have been very different. They would have been missing and forgotten over time. It was their saving grace that it wasn't just family that had shown up. The male that was with them should count himself lucky. Had he not slipped away, his life would have been taken easily without any issue from those gathered. She had no faith that her cubs would have been given the same outcome, good thing she seemed to be a much better parent than the male before her. Her golden gaze flicked only for a moment to Drakon before coming back to the male in front of her. She was steady in her anger that her bounds hadn't been respected. Their fight was with cubs, a fair one that they both lost. Amara had made sure that the fight remained among the youth and was proud that her own cubs had won. It didn't matter to her that it was outnumbered, they had worked together and proven that they would protect what was theirs. That was enough for her.

Table by Ice. Graphic by Lars.

No.

Septima's ears wilt against her head as she tucks her chin to her chest, clearly upset she has been denied access to her own sisters. They were bullies and awful, but they were her blood and she loved them. Somewhat. Enough to want them safe, not enough to feel a spark of amusement that they had lost their fight. She thinks to offer the guests a meal, but she is quickly nudged by her father. Septima steps back and to her father's side, ever obedient and happy to keep her lips sealed while she watches the interaction with interest.

no damsel in distress, don't need to save me

table by sentinel / art

@Diantha had struggled all the way home, a feral kitten growl erupting from her with every jolt it seemed. Victoria felt too sick to tell her older sister to cut it out her head throbbing too horribly to even hiss at the Princess. It is easy to focus on Diantha's furious words, even as the nausea rolled through her and she vomited into the sand. Victoria did not think the Wolfbron adults likely to do as her older sister told them and she remained quiet, even though the snort of @Beezlebub from close by makes her teeth ache. As if their humiliation isn't bad enough, silver eyes land on the submissive form of @Septima, who sidled forward to beg for their release. It made Victoria was to puke again and the answer from the Bluffs leader was swift, blunt - No. It didn't matter anyway, because following behind her younger sister was the very person Victoria had hoped with everything in her being was beyond the borders, away from home, anywhere but there to answer the call. Victoria lifted her head long enough to assess her father's expression - stormy but calm, ears folded against his head and she was sure there was fury in his sunset gaze. She dropped her head back down, moments before the careful words of her father breeched the gap before them. Breathing slowly through her nose, the middle princess attempted to get ahold of her swirling head, the nausea in her stomach as @Amara responded. They had lost, spectacularly. Even in the whole heap of trouble they found themselves however, Victoria managed to glance up sharply at Amara, to protest that it hadn't been a fair fight at all with two to one against them. Maybe if Septima wasn't such a suck up, they might have had a fighting chance. As she did so, the sharp movement caused another swirl of nausea and she retched, having nothing more in her stomach to expel.

table by koi

The first lion to come to greet them is little more than another cub. Wasn't anyone here supervising these children? Obviously not. At least this one had the sense to stay home. She is polite enough, but Echo isn't surprised at all by @Amara's response.

No.

Besides, Echo had examined them and neither cub was in serious disrepair (despite the puking). @Victoria was clearly the worse off, and Echo suspects she suffered a concussion from the unfortunate crack of her head. Whatever healer they have here at the Oasis should be more than capable of handling it.

Echo is surprised to find that she recognized the man that finally comes to collect. Not that she knew him personally, but he had been at many of the challenges that Echo had been at. It made sense that a pride Sovereign would make a point to be at such challenges, as they so often shifted the balance of power. Echo knew in her mind that the lions of the Oasis were not friendly with the Bluff, but now she had a face to put with the name and memory of his surly demeanor at the challenge at the bluffs.

@Seneca assesses his children, with a gaze far shrewder than she imagined before finally speaking. She watches him with wide-eyed curiosity, expression otherwise unreadable, wondering what he will do next; wondering what this will mean for their tenuous standing.

Moving her gaze between Amara and the apparent father of the duo, Ursula begins to wonder about the way cubs were raised around here. While her own pa and pa may be angry at his children if he were in this Oasis man's position, the huntress cannot believe that either of the Osura men would be so... cold. Nonchalant, maybe? Unwilling to display concern in front of a band of pride lionesses? There's only so many guesses that she can make, and frankly she doesn't care enough about anyone else's cub to think about it too hard.

Curling her lip slightly, she politely looks away, watching impassively instead as more members of Andal move in to investigate. Fang's presence earns her an intent glance, one that travels to Nephthys right after, the interest in their relationship obvious. They are not paid mind for very long, though, as when Amara's lips begin to move, the motion draws the deaf woman's interest back to the exchange at hand. Were they to begin without the brown lion that had injured her? She sure the fuck hopes not. Ursula wanted an apology. Compensation? Maybe.. She is a greedy creature, after all.

Grunting, she glances @Echo and @Beelzebub's way, blowing air out of her nostrils with a motion toward her elbow, lifting it a bit even as it smarts. So what're they gonna do about this?

code by corvus

It's amusing, from the outside looking in, how similar Seneca and Amara are. Callous, cold, intelligent and calculating — never following through with an action without considering the reaction. It is, perhaps, also why they do not get along, and likely never will. So long as Vermier is involved in Wolfbron's leadership (where is he in all this, anyway?), there will not be peace between the Bluffs and the Oasis. Seneca knows this, and he imagines that @Amara does as well. We don't kill cubs. Under any other circumstances, a thin smirk would have curled across his lips, and he would have questioned the truth of such a statement. But he is no fool, and practices caution when it comes to getting his family safely returned. If his daughters were already under his claw, it would be a different story; but Diantha is still planted firmly between Amara's paws, and Victoria has a horde at her back. They are not safe, and he knows it. Her mention of a male being with them is met with a purse of his lips, an exchanged glance with @Drakon, and chagrinned @Fang beside him. Has she played a role in this? And what male is Amara referring to? It matters little — whatever happened, Seneca will get to the truth of it, and not from the lips of Wolfbron lions. Flashing his gaze back towards Amara, his lips settle into a fine line. "Let's hope they've learned some humility then," he says dryly, his eyes flickering between his sniveling, foolish daughters. Have you learned anything? Orange eyes level upon the star-pelted woman, his expression deadpan and unreadable. "What outcome are you after here, Amara?" he asks plainly, and he wonders idly if she knows his name as easily as he does hers. Genya had been useful for one thing, at least, and her time living under Dieudonné rule had benefitted him. If she's expecting an apology from the Miroslav patriarch, she'll be hard-pressed to find it here.

image by koafox, code by koi

Amara doubted very much that the cubs would learn anything. If they hadn't managed the basics of not entering a strangers lands by now, she had little hope for them. Though maybe it was just that reason that had spared the cubs this time, the ability to learn is something that they all seemed to have and while some in the family would have gladly taken the snacks Amara was learning the balance of leadership. This was one of those things. She would cash it in at some point she was sure but when and for what would have to come later. And it would come. She glanced only for a moment toward the cubs that she had dragged home before her golden gaze settled on Seneca. Parent your little shits or next time they won't be so lucky. Teach them and the others in your pride to respect borders. And maybe it is time for you to really think on what you know about the Bluff's and the family within. Her tone was low as she spoke. She was asking very little in the grand scheme of things (mostly because I forgot where this was gonna go). She needed to make some adjustments to how the island saw things if she was going to protect her pride long term. This was just a start.

Table by Ice. Graphic by Lars.