Amara could only hear the sounds of their breathing, their grunts, growls, snarls. The outside world had fallen away as the rush of the fight took over. Her grip on his neck was adjusted and her claws dug into his flesh near his armpit. It was enough for her to feel gleeful at causing him pain even as the male managed to land his own pain on her pelt. Amara felt him moving again, the combined attack from his teeth and claws to her face caused her to no longer want to be in that position. Blood seeped from her face and leg as she quickly decided what to do next. She shifted her weight backward and attempted to change her position, taking on any damage that was caused by her moving away from his teeth and claws. She placed her weight on her back legs and lifted both her front paws off the ground and attempted to claw into either side of his face, aiming to claw just under his eyes. If he wanted to attack her face, she would do the same. A snarl left her as she looked at him. She wanted far more than she would be able to take from him with this many eyes. Another time it would seem.


Amara Vs. @Rielus
For Wolfbron Bluffs
3/5

Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 2 + 17 + 16 + 1 + 11 + 15 + 13

Dodges:

Rolling 6d20: 9 + 8 + 5 + 6 + 20 + 2

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 17 + 16 + 3 + 20 + 11

Image by Machati and table code by Amanda

Across the rocky terrain, a challenge for the Bluffs fails to alert the deaf lioness. It is a threat of invasion; a stranger seeking to spoil the safety of her family's home. And instead of turning to confront her newest enemy, Ursula remains as she was, crouched in the scrubby bushes that litter some of the lower plateaus. She's found that hare are more plentiful where they feel half-concealed by the twiggy flora, and so she frequents the area every few days. Y'know, to clear out the population a little and all of that.

Already there is one hare being loosely held by her dark mouth, and those lilac eyes of hers' are locked on another long-eared snack. It's been on a hunt of its own for the last five or so minutes, scrabbling in the half-stone half-soil. A few feet from it, the huntress is playing at being a statue, crouched with her ears low and not even her whiskers tremble. Within another thirty seconds, the hare hops just close enough and meets a swift end. Ursula doesn't even drop her first kill to secure the second, nor to pluck up the newest body.

For now they're all she needs, and so she turns away from the warren to find a place to eat. Out here, near the border, the lioness can usually find a spot where pesky younger siblings don't beg for a share. It's not long before she realizes that's the least of her concerns today. Wolfbron has the luxury of an absence in trees, so it's from quite a distance that she spies a rather odd scene. There seem to be.. lions over there. Quite a few of them. Maybe it's another one of those meetings that she doesn't ever really have a part in but shows up to anyway.

Jogging brings her in efficiently, but even so by the time Ursula becomes privy to any of this at all, there's a sizeable crowd amassed and Amara is already in the throes of battle. Slowing to a trot when she's close enough to recognize faces, the huntress quickly glances around for her family. The scent of foreign lions is in her nose, stronger even than the prey she carries, and the permeance of Andal and Scilla has her chest tightening. Is this an attack on her family?

Easing her way through the throng, she notes that no other fights seem to be ongoing, and slowly but surely she finds one figure of importance after another in the pond of faces. The youngest Bezras and Baphomè with a stranger who receives a squint (Iseult), Narcissa with one of Magnus's lackeys, Bee and Cassine with Oleander. It's the latter that she nearly goes to, wanting to press her sister for the whereabouts of their other sisters (truthfully, she's curious where more than just they are), but a gaggle of cubs catches her attention in her scan of Wolfbron's visitors.

Eyes narrowing with irritation, Ursula makes her way over to where @Louve ♔ currently seems to be participating in something that looks an awful lot like a stand-off. Had she actually wandered over to pick a fight with three (@Diantha, @Victoria, @Zahra) cubs? The rest of Amara's lot wasn't even here to back her up. The Bezra supposed some truly bad blood had been created between the cubs that day if the girl is bold dumb? enough to chance the odds like that.

And while she's a believer in spilling said blood where necessary, this wasn't the place for it. Even the unhearing can ascertain that their leadership is being fought for. Approaching smoothly, neck low and ears back, the lioness eyes @Seneca, gauging. She's not looking for a fight, quite the opposite, but if he makes a threatening move she's not afraid to take him on. It's evident in the steadiness of her stare, the lack of hesitance in how she attempts to step close enough to their cluster to place a heavy forelimb between @Louve ♔ and the other children.

coded by flea + background credit

The onlookers had either grew silent or the din that surrounded them had fallen to the background of his senses; likely, it was the latter in which he was focused on the fight enough that all else faded around them. Unexpected movement had occurred and while his hold had been broken from Amara's face by her movement there was still hope as his paw found the ground once more. His eyes had stayed narrowed, though he could see the lioness's body shift upward, and this seemed a prime opportunity for him to retaliate against her. Head had lowered as he had seen the cloudy undersides exposed for the female, with hind legs steeled against the ground he pushed forward, aiming to headbutt Amara square in the chest, turning his head to try and catch the queen's meaty left armpit in his jaws. Claws raked the top of his head, pulling strands of mane hair with them as he felt them sink into the thin skin atop his crown while the other side pulled down the right side of his face, just missing his eye by millimeters so that a small rivulet of blood snaked into his right eye and caused it to blink away red.

Rielus vs. @Amara
for Wolfbron Bluffs
3/5

Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 10 + 6 + 18 + 2 + 8 + 11 + 1

Dodges:

Rolling 6d20: 3 + 15 + 5 + 18 + 16 + 4

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 5 + 7 + 11 + 9 + 18

*extra dodge dice added for Andal Oasis being a tier 4 pride

CODE • BG

Her successful movement away from his teeth and then attacking his head was short-lived. As her claws managed to grab into his head the male's head was shoved into her chest and caused her back legs to buckle slightly as she tried to maintain her grip and position. She was pushed back slightly but did her best to stay in place as his teeth sliced into her leg causing pain to ripple through her. Echo was going to need to take a look at that wound first likely. Amara attempted to dig her claws deeper into his head and attempted to bite down around his ear to get a grip on the fleshy area there. She could feel the wounds littered on her body throbbing as she fought to stay in control knowing it would only take one wrong move to change things. She had too much weighing on this, what did he have to lose? Her guess was nothing.


Amara Vs. @Rielus
For Wolfbron Bluffs
4/5

Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 6 + 15 + 3 + 9 + 12 + 16 + 10

Dodges:

Rolling 6d20: 13 + 10 + 3 + 12 + 17 + 4

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 2 + 13 + 15 + 14 + 17

Image by Machati and table code by Amanda

It had been some time since he'd found himself within a fight that lasted a lengthy amount of time, this one felt as if it would last forever as his several lacerations pulsed. While the headbutt didn't do what he'd hoped to knock Amara off him, it had jostled her some, just not as much as was needed to force her to lose grip on his head. He had felt claws sink deeper onto his face and the crown of his head; the pain was astonishing as the delicate nerve endings were slashed. Jaws sought to close around his ear tucked within the thick strands of his mane, where they had been since he'd stood watch for his opponent, and they found purchase on the outer fold, piercing in a way that made his ear ring with the pain. He attempted to take the grip he had found on Amara's arm and drag it up as he tried pull away from the grasp on his ear with a sharp movement of his head at the same time he pushed his back legs upwards to reach both of his paws with claws unscathed up to try and grab both of Amara's shoulders and pull her back down to the ground, feeling her claws draw gashes in his skin as he took the wounds for a hopefully less stuck outcome; all the while ensuring to keep his chin tucked over his throat even as part of his ear had likely gone missing with the effort.

Rielus vs. @Amara
for Wolfbron Bluffs
4/5

Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 15 + 12 + 6 + 13 + 19 + 5 + 16

Dodges:

Rolling 6d20: 14 + 18 + 19 + 4 + 1 + 20

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 19 + 7 + 20 + 18 + 1

*extra dodge dice added for Andal Oasis being a tier 4 pride

CODE • BG

The longer that he stood on the outskirts, hiding among what little he could hide along, he couldn't help but be frustrated. They seemed to be neck and neck, perhaps even literally at times. Jaw clenched tight as he held his statuesque pose in the dead brush; not so literal flames burning off of his dark body as he controlled his burning ire. Not knowing who this male was but already wanting to destroy everything he was without any information. More than that, he felt that he was ready to go and defend his pride but this time he wanted to participate and wreak havoc like they had before. Thankfully, the longer he crouched there to control himself the easier it was to see that it was hard to even make out a winner. He felt that Amara had the upper hand here but Rielus wasn't doing too bad, either, which only proved to mentally slap himself seconds later. Mithros was going to find information on this male regardless of the outcome... he needed to know what had fueled this male into coming for this pride and not someone else. Was he an enemy? Or simply someone aching for power at the first sign of opportunity? mithros is hidden.

table by sentinel

A call for the Bluffs was certainly an intriguing concept. Roan immediately wonders if Vermier will take the fight himself or if Amara will as the true High Sovereign. Will she show her cards to this challenger? The Hodari has little invested with the Bluffs, and the challenger's voice is unfamiliar, but still, the mauve lion wanders towards the arid mountains out of sheer curiosity, if nothing more. The scent of Andal grew heavier the closer he got to the Bluffs, finding it interesting to conclude that another challenge in Amaryllis would come from the Oasis. He did not know its ruler, but recent encounters would lead him to know that at least Drakon was part of the leadership now. Interesting, indeed....

A crowd had already gathered around the fight, as was expected, as Roan soon laid eyes on the speckled monarch defending her crown. Now, it would be common knowledge that Amara was the one running things in Wolfbron. Why else would she be the one fighting? Surprisingly, the puppet Dieudonne was no where to be seen, only further confirming the speckled woman's place as head of the Bluffs. Finding no one of particular familiarity within the crowd at the moment, Roan opted to simply slip into the background, only keen to see the outcome and little more. He could have wandered towards Drakon, but seeing as how this was yet another challenger out of an Andal lion, Roan didn't know how he felt about the Tollaire's association with the pride right now. Best to just stay on neutral standing for the time being and see how things played out.

Table & Image by Amanda | Background | Lineart

alas, peace is never an option in this shithole. diantha wishes she's old enough to start maiming the first face that sneers at her or her family wrong. but it seems like she's getting her wish anyway when that ugly little cunt @Louve ♔ hisses at her in her annoying tongue. papa is near her, but that doesn't stop diantha from puffing out her chest. stupid bitch she says out loud, remembering how all the adults used to hurl insults at each other. if it had been months before, that insult would've been thrown at aarani. but, now that diantha's older, she realizes that the real bitches are living here in the bluffs. jealousy bubbles inside her chest, not because she thinks these bluffs cubs have more than her, but simply because they have something when they should have nothing. and diantha doesn't know what to take and what to steal from louve aside from a win. her ears peel back and her lips twitch into a snarl. with @Zahra and her sister @Victoria by her side, diantha feels more confident and empowered. the memories of seeing victoria sick and injured, and of her own insulting defeat, makes her all the angrier. watch uncle rielus rip your kingdom from that ugly woman's paws! and then i'm gonna rip you and your siblings apart too! yes, dad is watching. but can he really stop her from her instincts? diantha dives forward, claws out and hissing, spit cresting into the air as she attempts to drive her left paw into louve's right cheek. meanwhile, diantha lifts her right paw in an attempt to strike louve's left eye.

diantha vs @Louve ♔
for vengeance/dominance
move: 1/3
hits:

Rolling 4d20: 20 + 7 + 5 + 8

dodges:

Rolling 0d20: 19

luck:

Rolling 5d20: 5 + 9 + 8 + 12 + 4

_{BG — DUSK/ALE-TIE — CODE}

If the Wolfbron lioness could hear, she'd ask @Seneca what in the hell he's teaching his children. Almost immediately after she places down her leg as a barrier between the cubs, one of the desert girl spits a heavy threat and reaches forward to lash out at Louve. Of course Ursula hasn't heard the words, but the monochrome trespasser's (perhaps not now, but once a trespasser always a trespasser) actions speak volumes anyway. She's mildly surprised that the cub is not deterred by her looming presence, by the attempt to communicate that their petty squabbles would not be allowed here.

Is she oblivious? Or did she really think that Ursula wouldn't back up her own unspoken warning? Reflexively, as Diantha seeks to bypass the Bezra's forelimb to attack the Dieudonné child, Ursula flicks that same limb out, attempting to back-hand Diantha away from them. The power behind the blow isn't very well mediated, most definitely hard enough in an effort to shove their assailant away, uncaring if the brat takes a tumble across the stone. If the huntress has anything to say about it, this'll end before it begins.

Ursula & @Louve ♔ vs @Diantha
No Means No Dominance
Round One of Three

Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 3 + 13 + 10 + 20 + 11 + 14 + 6

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 8 + 3 + 18

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 2 + 14 + 11 + 7 + 15

coded by flea + background credit

i

have known anger before war or walking / i have known fear before i have known love

---

The child is late, trailing his mother's scent to the challenge after being caught across the territory when the call rings out.

He doesn't fully realize what's going on until he arrives at the gathering. His fur bristles along his spine at the wealth of intruders that have the nerve to arrive on their doorstep. Fury bubbles in his gut as he sees the man from the border scuffle not long ago locked in combat with his maman.

Xavier sees now, why threats are better dealt with the first time.

There's a momentary flash of fear in his gut as he watches the them fight -- a flicker of something he'll never admit chased quickly again by the fire of rage, a fierce protectiveness over his mother and the rest. Dad isn't here anymore. It falls to them, now, to keep them all safe. Xavier hoists that burden onto his shoulders and guards it. Narrowed bi-colored eyes sweep around the dusty cliffs, committing to memory as many faces as he can -- even if he'll undoubtedly fail to recall them all.

He spots Louve in a stand-off with the familiar meat from the border, with the speckled form of Ursula lurking -- to him, seemingly protectively -- above his sibling. He heads toward the scene. He's growing, his colossal physique chasing the bulk of his overgrown paws.

Xavier had missed maman's instructions to stay out of trouble, and misses the mottled cub's threat as well. Even then, perhaps if he didn't see Diantha lunging at Louve, he might have been content to hang back and just glare. But the moment he sees the heathen move toward Louve, it's all over. He barrels in from the outskirts of the crowd, seeking to approach from Diantha's right side. He seeks to raise his front limbs off the ground, trying to plant his left paw on the top of the older cub's back, and trying to wrap his right to land on the front of her chest in a grappling bear hug. Offa my sibby!

xavier, @Louve ♔, @Ursula
vs
@Diantha
for
dominance !!

round one of three

Hits:

Rolling 4d20: 20 + 9 + 16 + 2

Dodges:

Rolling 0d20: 20

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 18 + 19 + 3 + 4 + 13

Art by Rabbit, table by cala