+ 5 -- observe a challenge and learn the results (2 of 2) my, my; doesn’t she feel like quite the hot commodity? she is unaware as to the reason why their petty argument has persisted as long as it has, for she has remained completely indifferent to the claim placed upon her hide. her only alliance lies in @Ghyslaine, after all, and she is not particularly partial towards an allegiance to either pride when she knows so little about them. thus, she is silent as the pallid woman demands the oasis take her in her place, and suspicion and confusion becomes apparent upon her countenance in the form of furrowed brows. ghyslaine’s adamance almost sets the yearling’s nerves on fire; was the oasis truly the antithesis of its namesake, or did bad blood simply taint the opinions on either side? she retains her hesitance as she waits for a decision to be made, feeling less like a prize and more like a bartering chip as their dispute continues – without her consult. the male her claimant had thrust her upon (@Leander) at last refutes ghyslaine’s request for a trade, and olive’s gaze turns towards her as she offers up a shrug. “it’ll be alright,” she grins to her in an attempt to placate the tension. “i need good food, and they probably have it, right?” she states softly for ghyslaine’s ears alone. winter had arrived, and a lone yearling was hardly equipped for survival, after all. joining a pride (whether on her own accord or not) would relieve her of that stress. her attention returns to the battle as it concludes, and she watches her ally’s friend fall; it seems her new king had proven successful in maintaining his crown, and olive cannot help but respect his triumph. with the thinning of the crowd, she slinks towards the ginger lion whose care she had been assigned to, and waits for his departure so that she may follow. -- exeunt olive with leander?

art by yumpy!

Sleuth EXP +10 Sneak into a pride or group without getting caught +10 Remain undetected in a large thread (5+ characters) +5 Practice hiding your scent Hiden and with her scent washed she observed, she lurked while all the events unfolds before her eyes. Ears lowered as she narrowed her gaze over the lions gathering around the two fighters, from the prides she guessed. She smiled when the Oasis' leader came up as the victor, feeling some relief that he managed to keep his home. She smiled as the enemy lions one by one left, she almost though on approaching the winning king to congratulate but it was better she didn't. She didnt want to bring attention to her and her new born. Perhaps she could later come without so many eyes watching. All done she decided to go as quietly as she came, lowered body disappeared into the distance. exit

table by koi // art

attention flickers as the challenge processes, but it comes to an end as all things do. the end is an easy thing — leaving the piebald man the clear victor. the skagos has no dogs in this race and so it is nice to simply sit back and watch, his positioning made even more lofty by his seat upon the wall. the advantage the view provides isn't one to be overlooked and he feels strangely othered by it. from up above, everyone seems to look like ants — small and unimportant, as only the most distant voices reach him. he doesn't care much about that, though — he was only here to observe, not to get into the nitty-gritty of it all. pushing himself back up, the brute seeks to leave — making a mental note to always watch challenges from up here.

because — there will always be more challenges.

exit

what makes you think i'm enjoying being led to the flood?

table by sentinel / art

she is shaken from her observations by the woman who joins her. @Eve glides in to stand at her side, reaching forward in a gentle embrace. a brief thing is the brush of her muzzle to her brow but she delights in it still — feels hot heat race up her spine, skittering across her ribs. a far cry to the chill in the air. of course i am here! she says with a little laugh. they are fighting for your home, after all. as if talitha would be anywhere else when her friend needed such support.

truthfully, talitha is not sure if eve enjoys the desert but she assumes so. why else would she live there? of course, there was a brand new forest that could have her name on it, too.... tufted ears pitch forward as the fight draws to a close, leaving the piebald man the winner. is that your king? she asks, head tilting slightly. she knew woefully little of the politics of this island — that was more mordecai's strong suit than hers — but this mattered.

if only for eve.

( are you happy there? )

CODE BY LARS; ART BY TANZANI

She offered herself as a trade just to protect the yearling that she’d slowly begun befriending. Simply to give her a choice in whatever home she chose. She knew little about the Oasis- except that Leander lived there. She didn’t have any opinion on it as a home except for that she didn’t want Olive to be forced anywhere. Not even the Mire, but in Ghyslaine’s mind her home was the lesser of two evils. Somehow in all of this Ghys has missed that @Zelda and Antares had been talking... and that it was the gray yearling who was the intended object of the Oasis male’s trade. Not that it mattered as Leander shut the trade down with little thought.

When @Leander speaks, her conflicted feelings about the Violarum situation feed into now conflicted feelings of anger at the male who had been another who she felt she was becoming friends with. She cared little for what his excuse would be to ally with that Oasis brute (Antares)- she did not understand how he could actively deny doing the right thing. Loyalty be damned- no one was worth sacrificing what was right. And it wasn’t right for Olive to be denied her choice. Nothing could defend that. She can’t help the snarl she shoots @Leander’s way, and the glare of rage that she shoots the male.

Then the fight that had drawn them all here, draws to a close. @Violarum loses. Is that a flicker of relief that she feels? She feels for her friend but she’s glad that he isn’t leaving her anytime soon. Or at least as far as she knows. As he joins the tense group, her glare softens as she takes him in. She finds her attentions snagged again as at the same time @Seneca approaches the group. He speaks, and Ghyslaine snarls at the king, her teeth slamming together. He is just as disgusting as @Leander and @Antares- willing to use @Olive like a damned pawn.

@Olive seemed fine with the situation, and Ghyslaine worried for her, but finally she would nod to the yearling- realizing that if she disregarded how the yearling felt- she was just as bad as the males who were taking her choice away. So she let it go.

Her king, @Alaric draws her attention back to him, and she shoots @Seneca, @Leander, and @Antares one final glare and growl before she stands and follows Alaric, pausing to speak lowly to @Olive. “Call for me if you need me. I will come.” She promised the yearling as she turned to follow the king. Ghyslaine would pause by @Violarum and offer him a gentle nudge with her shoulder, against any uninjured part of him he could find. She glances over her shoulder as she passes her friend, offering her own shoulder for him to lean against should he need it. The rage that simmers within her would lend her the strength to assist him home.

-exit Ghyslaine unless stopped-

words

_{— art by yumpy}

leander comes to ruin his fun and annie pouts at him, dramatizing the moment. but the heir apparent ™ takes easy charge and smooths over ( maybe ) any concern with the mire king. seneca's fluid approach backs up his brother's thought and antares manages a dark little smirk at the thought. 'yes, be concerned. i'll bring you all home - fuck the mire king.' but then the sovereign's eyes find alaric's and annie's joy dissipates into tension. his muscles ripple as he straightens up, body going rigid, and eyes narrowing upon the ecrosians. they all exchange very serious and broody glares before the two groups split and begin a determined but not-too-hasty retreat.

he lingers, waiting, as @Zelda's eyes find him. she stretches and he presses his lis together in a firm line, trying for unamused and failing miserably. she bids him farewell and he says nothing, simply following her departure with his eyes thinking 'oh, yes. next time indeed.' before snagging the remainder of the hare in his jaws and turning to begin trotting away.

he pauses only for a moment, flicking his tail out to try to bat @Diantha with it. "c'mon, squirt." he teases, hesitating long enough for her to, presumably, leave with him. exit

BG CODE ART

The battle draws to a close and it is no surprise that @Seneca finds himself victorious -- Leander had never doubted his brother though he had not taken the time to involve himself in frivolous activities as @Antares had. There is much ado about nothing -- those gathered all coming to terms with his younger sibling's actions and Leander doing his best to back his brother to ensure that the Miroslav stood tall and unified on the subject.

@Seneca too, agrees, coming to stand by him as he speaks to @Ghyslaine in no uncertain terms. He also shoots a fiery retort in the direction of the Mire King, inwardly relieved that his brother would hold @Alaric accountable for his enabling.

And though he cared little for the majority gathered, he had to admit that it did sting when @Ghyslaine responds to him in spite, snarling in his direction -- blatantly displeased with his decision on the matter of the claimed rogue. But he had only just met her -- there was little sense in taking her side when there were bigger and more important matters at hand. He is unsure if she will ever forgive him but Leander Miroslav is well accustomed to burying the thoughts and situations that made him uncomfortable.

With the challenge over, Leander is eager to return to Andal, turning to @Seneca and @Vesuvia with a look that read, Shall we?. To @Olive he turns then, motioning in the general direction of the Oasis, "This way." And with that, the patched male makes way for home, thoughts swirling in his head -- many of which revolved around teaching @Antares a lesson.

Exit Leander

IMAGE COPYRIGHT NESLA

A chuckle rumbled in Myra’s throat at the wheat King’s words. A simple matter of ambition, was it? Well, she supposed that Violarum’s actions were technically still in accordance with the way that Alaric ran his pride. It just happened that he was reaching for a position outside of the Mire’s borders today. Regardless, the red-eyed brute’s success would undoubtedly be the best outcome for this situation, now that the desert pride had been provoked.

Pointed ears flicked at the sound of raised voices and a scuffle breaking out, her attention drawn farther into the sidelines. "Ghyslaine?" It seemed that the smaller woman had been quite serious about wanting to be a protector, though Myra had no clue who the young girl everyone was getting so worked up over was. In all honesty, she couldn’t imagine the girl to be worth the effort, at first glance. How useful could Olive be to them, when she seemingly wasn’t even willing to challenge the ginger piebald’s claim herself?

It wasn’t her problem though, and so her blue gaze returned to the main battle just in time to see the desert King claim victory over her pridemate. Unfortunate. And Violarum had seemed to possess such fire, too. With a huff, the huntress returned her focus to shearing away at the bone she'd brought with her, adopting a look of utter indifference, though pointed ears still angled themselves to catch the conversation happening around her.

Alaric shut Ghyslaine down, though his promise to potentially retrieve the girl later still seemed like far more trouble than it worth, if you asked her. But no one had, so whatever. It’s more noteworthy that the situation seemed to add the subtle tension charging the air, as they suddenly have three piebald beasts of the Oasis in their midst, High Sovereign included. It made the fur rise up along the length of her spine, and she side-eyed the foreign males with some level of suspicion. No friends to be made here today, she could tell that much.

Alaric calls for them to leave, and Myra shifts onto her feet, bone in her jaws, though she doesn’t follow immediately. She waits for Antares and Leander to depart before turning her back on them. Slitted pupils swept over Seneca as she turned away, her movement pausing briefly as she took a moment to study the Oasis’s ruler up close, curious. This man easily could have been one she’d thrown her lot in with, after all. Had almost been, that day at the Passage. It wouldn’t have been a terrible choice, perhaps. But the desert sands held memories not easily blown away in the wind, memories that she wasn’t ready to face. She held no regrets about her decision.

With that thought, the contemplative moment was over, and Myra takes long strides to catch up with Alaric and the others on the path to home.

/exit Myra

+5 Observe a fight
+5 Maintain your weapons (Care for teeth)

ART COPYRIGHT IRISH

Keir would continue to watch the battle with a rather intense stare, continuing to silently cheer on the piebald lion. Ecrosia didn't need to infiltrate and gather up more allies by having one of their own obtain a pride. Every now and again would his attention flicker toward the rest of his crowd, watching and listening, until finally the challenge was over and a soft breath of relief was released at who came up on top. While Keir had faith in Seneca to keep his crown, there was always that chance where one wrong move or turn could cause for the whole battle to be thrown in the opponent's favor.

Blue gaze would watch as the reigning Oasis King moved toward Alaric, watching and listening to their little spat and finding himself smirking - it was nice to know that he weren't the only one that didn't care much for the Mire leader. As others took their leave so would Keir, giving @Nero a glance in farewell before he started back in the direction he had come from.

exit Keir.

CODE • BG

Barb: EXP +5 Observe a fight +5 Maintain your weapons (sharpen claws or care for teeth) She ignored the rest of attendants, eyes completely fixated into the king's fight. She held no fear though, she knew Seneca would win and no doubt in that. These idiots will see it soon enough. Her claws extended into the claw, aiming to sharpen them on the process just in case someone wanted to test their luck against her fire. She always did her best to get a message go through the most painful way she could, pain was often a good reminder. But as she predicted, @Seneca kicked the idiot's ass. She smiled shortly. She looked at the others. *"Idiotas." She said uncaring of how she would be seen, she never stopped her mouth to run what was in her mind. *"Largo." She ended before leaving to do whatever she had in mind. They werent worth her time. t- *Idiots *Go

ART By Cloudy ,CODE BY Cloudy