Morrigan hated to go more than a few weeks at time without a good fight, and even that length of time was only acceptable when wounded or not occupied with war. The only reason the Greyflood hadn't been here sooner was the distraction of everything else happening. The attempted upheaval of the political landscape alongside the ravaged climate had been enough to keep her exercised at least, but nothing was as a good as a real brawl. She didn't care who, anyone would suffice so long as it kept her from lingering on anything deeper than the weather. So desperate to avoid particular creeping realizations that she would not even touch that path of thinking right now. Instead, she chuffed out a challenge to anyone nearby. Either for a real fight, or if they didn't wish for a fight, Morrigan would settle for a friendly wrestling match instead. @Kvare

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He would answer her.

What better way to see firsthand the strengths of these native peoples, after all? Kvare watched her as she entered the Pit, perched above in a nearby tree where he'd been waiting, watching. Kozrain had showed him this place a few days prior, this Pit of death and destruction, lionkind's greatest arena. As her call for a challenger went out, Kvare leapt from his perch on the tree and landed a few paces before her. He'd no intentions of appearing as if he were ambushing her, so he purposefully used his weight to shake the branches and leaves of the trees upon his descent, and land right before her, well within her line of sight.

He was still breathless. His swift break in the tree had followed rigorous training, running around the ring of the Pit and thrashing out against anything that fell in his wake. Eventually, Kvare had mustered enough agility to kick his legs out, mimicking the bucking of hooved prey; he'd been kicked in the stomach there, once, and figured that perhaps such a move might be useful. By the time he'd grown weary, he had begun to sharpen his claws against the bark of the tree; until she arrived.

If it were a challenge she wanted, Kvare would be happy to oblige.

{Ladies first,} he smirked, his lips pulling into a near-toothy grin. His shoulders squared, dark lips revealing a glinting canine, gaze resting intently on @Morrigan. Breath held in anticipation.

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+5 Exercise to gain strength (excluding spars) (1/2)
+5 Learn a new fighting move (1/2)
+5 Maintain your weapons (sharpen claws or care for teeth) (1/2)

Storm clouds roiled overhead and threatened to soak the usually dry pit in rain again, but purple and silver gaze shifted upward anyway at the sound of shifting branches, automatically taking a few steps back to avoid being ambushed that way again. She'd been burned by not being fully aware of her surroundings before, but it wasn't the shock of the man's sudden appearance that had her pausing in the middle of assuming her fighting stance. A look of confusion flitted across the dark winged woman's face as she spoke, "Normally I would leave the niceties for after..." she began, "But there is something terribly familiar about you, stranger." Because he was a stranger, she was sure they'd never met. But something told her to ask @Kvare anyway.

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"So polite," he cooed to his brother, effectively announcing his presence. Kozrain lingered at the edge of the arena, having taken up camp near it the past few days in an effort to fully acquaint himself with its wonders. He would consider a brawl between his dual and a stranger wonderful, indeed. He prowled forward, waving his tail behind him as if it were a dancing snake as he attempted to approach their stand-off more closely. "There is something terribly familiar about you, stranger." The lioness Kvare had answered posed aloud, propping one of his brows up with a curious arch.

"Am I familiar, too?" Kozrain teased, flashing his own ivory fangs as he attempted to complete their triad. The reveal of the carbon copy was perhaps one of his favorite games of all. "You would not have met us before," he divulged more seriously.

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|| june y8 | five years | vague pride | at the pit | @Morrigan @Kvare ||

So polite.

Kvare's gaze swiftly fell upon that of his twin as @Kozrain embarked to join them. His present grin widened, eyes glinting with boyish mischievousness, a sort of morbid playfulness that had become a sort of habit of the twins. “I'm capable of some manners,” Kvare retorted, his tail flicking at his heels as he feigned offense. The defensive posture and anticipating excitement he'd felt fell away into a curiosity, and now that he noticed her, he could indeed see some striking resemblance as well. Not just in the way she looked, but in the way she was. @Morrigan, too, had a presence unrelenting, a demand to be seen.

You would not have met us before, Kozrain states, and Kvare regards his twin for just a moment. Indeed, this was their first embarkment on these lands. They were strangers, and that was power. “If you had—,” he leaned forward, closing some of that comfortable distance between he and Morrigan. Though his intent was to get a deeper look and sniff at her, the feeling in the air between them was tense and electrifying. “—we would've remembered.” She was unmistakable, in that way.

Overcompensating for her prior experience with being ambushed out of a tree, Morrigan was focusing entirely on the first strange man who had appeared suddenly, and as such didn't notice his mirror image slinking into the Pit with them until he spoke. She took another step back as the other man approached, wondering if she was about to be attacked after all. That would have been fun. She hadn't often had the chance to take on more than one opponent at once. As the twins came together, though, the newcomer only spoke again, somewhat answering her internal questions but nothing important.

"In the same unfamiliar way he is, yes," she said with a smirk in response to @Kozrain's teasing, letting curiosity win out over caution. "So... if your names will mean nothing, why are you here?" she asked the pair of them outright, but there was little she do if they simple decided not to answer. If she hadn't seen them before, they'd picked a hell of a time to make an entrance to these lands, though truthfully they seemed to be enjoying the tail end of the upheaval. No doubt here to create more of their own. A threat really, but Morrigan allowed @Kvare to step closer as she dropped her jaw to breathe in their scents as well. She still held her posture at the ready, just in case this was all a feint.

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“I'm capable of some manners,” "––in front of beautiful lionesses," Kozrain countered, his flash of teeth blooming into an outright devil's grin. He slunk closer to his twin, finally turning his gaze to the stranger with narrowed eyes. She was a large woman, with a coat black as the night and scars littering her carelessly. Still, she had done nothing to prove worth to Kozrain beyond capturing their attention for a moment. He was not so easily impressed. "If your names will mean nothing, why are you here?"

"We didn't say that," he insisted neutrally, lowering himself into a seated position, not unlike a gargoyle. "Our names mean plenty. I am Kozrain Tolkien Tollaire," he introduced in a rumble, "and our mother brings destruction with her." He paired the ominous declaration with a subtle smirk, his gaze unwavering. Perhaps they should not have taken up camp somewhere so wracked with disaster, but Arsynia's scent trail did not lie, and Kozrain was not afraid of a little weather.

"Why are you here?" The lion asked vaguely.

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@Kvare @Morrigan

A dejected huff came about @Kozrain's jab, though he knew it were true. Kvare had a healthy appetite for the softer, gentler things. There was no feeling more pleasing than seeing a woman alight and flustered, red-cheeked, swooning. It was fascinating to him just how electrifying it was, similar to the heat of battle but without quite so much hurt. Kvare strived to be as good with his words as he was with his claws. @Morrigan were far from soft and swooning, however, and not quite an object for Kvare's affections, but moreso a morbid curiosity. The tense air of questioning that lingered between them grew stronger with each back-and-forth, a near-impatience taking foothold on the fringes of their conversation. And then, finally, Kozrain wrenched it all apart.

“Destruction and bastards.” Kvare finished, his fiery gaze narrowing upon the icy gray-and-purple of Morrigan's. The nature of their mother family was often promiscuous and polygamous (a practice both the twins continued), but there was something especially cruel about the way the wolfmother had abandoned them. In her wake she left children starved for glory, bred on tales of war and conquer yet not given the steps to live such a dream. It had always been just out of reach.

“I am Kvare,” he introduced, knowing well enough that Morrigan could gather he was Kozrain's family. It was unmistakable to most; in fact, for some, they were one in the same. He waits then, with bated breath, for Morrigan's response.

It was obvious enough as the two brothers bantered with each other that they must be close, and Morrigan was reminded how glad she was to at least have Avaneira back with her. She had no idea just yet how many of her own kin had decided to return at the end of the chaos tide. @Kozrain took a seat, which allowed Morrigan's posture to relax somewhat. The warrior would leave today without some kind of physical exercise but she was too intrigued in what they had to say, as it seem they were indeed going to answer her. Tollaire. Hah, so that was at least partly the answer.

They were kin, but more than that Morrigan could only see how much they resembled her own mother, how fitting the description he had given already was, even if she could not perhaps be blamed for the mass destruction this time. Did that mean she had returned, then? "I think I understand now," she said with a laugh now in her voice, "But let me introduce myself and see if that seals it; Morrigan, daughter of Dresden Greyflood and Arsynia Tollaire." She too would seat herself as she spoke, mismatched gaze watching @Kvare and Kozrain's expressions. Was it now her turn to have something over on them?

"As for why I'm here? Destruction. War. Maybe it's genetic," she finished with a smirk.

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“Destruction and bastards.” Kozrain withheld a grimace at the word, keeping his gaze even as he studied the stranger. Kvare was not wrong, of course. If anything, their time spent with their late father had revealed to them some of the intricacies of their parent's relationship and its demise. While it may have provided context for their mother's abandonment, it did not absolve her of the sin – not in Kozrain's heart. He pursed his inky lips into a thin line as the lioness laughed, of all things, revealing that she "understood" cryptically.

... daughter of Arsynia Tollaire. Recognition flashed over the embers of his gaze as Kozrain allowed understanding to overtake him, stealing a glance at Kvare as he felt his chest tighten with the implications of this. His mind spun with the possibilities, trying to discern things like who had come first and who had been left for whom. In the heat of it, he found himself speechless, only fixing her with that same hard stare.

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@Kvare @Morrigan