BREAK THE CHAINS THAT BIND YOU
WarKvare had spoken the dreadful words at her sister's crowning as heir, at Yuna's rise to sovereign. And now, now the princess was staring into the maw of a beast. Dark curled roots and trunks for teeth and treacherous mud lining its maw. The yearling found the mire to be dark and dull compared to her coastside home. But it also proved useful, the mud and floral were plentiful. The strong stench of the swamps was so much easier to work into her fur than the dry sands of the beach. If only she'd known more of the flora that grew around her. Its poisons, then again wouldn't that also make her weapons less useful? An antidote for a poison known was always easier to make than one for something you didn't.
As Neeha rose from a puddle of mud, her paler undersides stained a darker brown, she turned to the plant left on a dry spot of land. Giant hogweed, carefully collected from the beach and brought along to the Mire. She hadn't known if she would use it, but she'd brought it, and when the echoing call of the summit queen reached her Neeha stood quietly for a moment.
Time had run out, but for who? Friend or foe? Time could and would tell, it always did. The yearling cut the stem of the plant open, sap seeping to the surface. She meticulously coats every front claw, being careful not to work the sap too high up along the obsidian blades. It would be a painful surprise should she get stuck in a fight but none lethal. With that she was ready, the sandy and mud-colored lioness set into motion. Keeping to the darker shades of the swampy forest she made her way towards the battlefields, crossing the strongly scented border of the mire with little hesitation. This was who she wanted to be, this was what she could do to help the cove, to prove herself as a Tollaire. For she was no queen like her sister or mother, no fighter like her father or brothers. She was a shadow, a lingering set of eyes and ears with poisoned claws and sharp teeth. Though today she did not intend to use them, not unless her hand was forced.
So as the sounds of combat grew louder she'd attempt to slip into the shadows, staying low to the ground and among foliage. Lavender eyes slowly swept over the lions, trying to make sense of what she saw. To separate ally from enemy. Prisoner from jailor.
So many fights were already underway. Three lions, one dark lioness and a brown lioness were fighting against a colorful pink lioness. Two against one though the black one seemed to be trying to run more so than fight. A prisoner Neeha assumed as her eyes shifted to the next pair.
A wheat-colored three-legged lioness was fighting a colossal maroon lion. Her eyes moved on, though snapped to the sight of a young brown cub trying to escape a large lioness. Neeha can feel her muscles tense watching the unfair fight beginning but some of the tension melts as a colossal maroon lioness seems to come to his aid.
A red lioness and a plum lioness were fighting and a bluish lioness was stopped by a white yearling before another white lion stepped in. Neeha watched them until the angry roar and unknown words drew her attention. A grey yearling is charging at the summit queen. Neeha watched them surprised by the viciousness of the yearling. Two other fights start. A cub tries to escape from an adult before another steps in to help the cub. And a pair of adults fighting. But Neeha's attention is fully grasped by the call of an old man.
This call she'd heard once before. When the summit queen fought and died. When death had been cheated by the woman and her allies. Neeha's body stiffened her folded ears rotating forward and lavender eyes watched the older lion. Death was coming, death would claim someone today. But would death keep them?
Then Luther arrived, the white high sovereign was unknown to her. But Neeha had no doubt about who he was as he engaged the older man in a fight. He was their enemy, the one who had caused war to rise, to threaten those around her. Even if the cove had nothing to do with the cause of this war, Kvare had said war was coming and that the cove would aid their allies. Her family would be in the line of fire and this white lion was the cause. The enemy, a danger and a threat to those the cove princess loved. If he didn't fall today something would have to be done, anything to keep danger from ever reaching the cove, from reaching her family.
The cove princess watched, still held low to the ground among foliage and mud. Her coat was stained by mud and plant matter her scent obscured by the swamp itself. Her claws were coated in poison and carefully held out of her paws above the ground to not ruin their painful coating. Neeha's eyes were locked on the death match but her ears twitched listening to her surroundings.
Death would come, death would take him. It would be the only way to keep those whom she loved safe.
<center><u>Neeha is trying to hide</u>
August Y11 || Caladan Cove || Caladan Cove Royalty || 1 year</center>
*Neeha's claws are coated in the sap of Gaint hogweed. Exposure to the sap can cause skin irritation, skin sensitivity to sunlight, rashes, and blistering.
Potential xp
Assassin
+10 Sneak into another pride's territory without getting caught
+10 Successfully poison someone (non-lethal)
+10 Successfully stay hidden for the duration of a thread
+5 Practice speed or stealth
+5 Practice covering your scent
Beatnik
+10 Witness an event worthy of making history (death match between Luther and Alaric)
code by corvus, Art by Irish
