Amara looked over the male as he focused on her and waited only a moment for his reply. Her body tensed slightly at his answer. Well that wasn't the answer she wanted. Her ears flick as @Ryker started talking and her annoyance started to rise due to the males around her. Nothing Ryker was saying was different than what she wanted to know but she was used to having control and giving out the ability to those who may have earned it. Still her focus was on @Caelum and then @Alaiya as she spoke up and claimed he had overpowered her in her sleep. That was... concerning to Amara. She was willing to give her members a lot of freedom in what they did as long as it didn't cause her issues at her border. This seemed like it may. Her golden gaze focused in on Alaiya as Ryker had already spoken to Caelum. So he managed to enter the brook and drag you out without any of the members there stopping him? Middle of the night or not, that wouldn't happen here. Amara's members were always on alert and always ready to attack. She wasn't sure what she was going to do but a fight was needed and it seemed that the Brook didn't care enough to make sure their borders are strong.

code // art // do not use without permission

Maybe Xerxes didn't have a rank anymore. Maybe he wasn't as important to the pride anymore. Maybe he was wasting his time showing up at all, but he couldn't help the fury that surged through his veins as he approached with fangs flashing. "This piece of shit was too busy feeling up some random bitch at the beginning of the war to even have a pride member's back." Xerxes face, the jagged scar now permanently engraved into his flesh, scrunched up in annoyance. "Now he's stolen someone, jesus fuck." Xerxes rolled his eyes, tense alongside Amara.. and ready to deliver punishment if his master commanded it.

code by Cloudy; art by irish

It would seem that he was beginning to draw quite the crowd as he was questioned at the border. He hadn't assumed it would be easy to bring @Alaiya here, but he didn't really think that everyone here would be questioning why he was asking to bring her passed the Bluffs borders either. Plenty of lions here did questionable shit, and no one batted an eye... None except when he did these questionable things.

"Tomayto, tomahto. Can I bring her passed the borders or not?" he growled in response to @Ryker, flicking his gaze between him and @Amara. But then Alaiya piped up and added her comments, and Caelum looked back at her, eyes narrowing. He wouldn't strike her here and now, but she'd pay for this later when they were alone... or at least, not surrounded by a third of the pride.

Amara seemed concerned that Caelum hadn't fought anyone for her, so that lingered in the air. Caelum wondered if he had brought Alaiya back to the Brooks' border and laid claim on her, fought someone, won, and then took her back here... would that have eased everyone's concerns? It seemed like a stupid formality that wasn't needed in the time of theft, so why was it so important now?

And then he showed up.

@Xerxes spewed some kind of nonsense about what he thought he knew about his actions at the war. Caelum was quick to get defensive, turning fully to the male and snarling at him. "Mind your fucking business. You have no idea what you're talking about." He was referring to Dhaveira at the war, yes, but clearly he had no idea what transpired after that. "I fought Sigrun scum at the war and won. How is that not having someone's back?" Things were starting to get heated at this little border meeting. Caelum couldn't doubt he'd be fighting for some reason or the next today.

ART

Things were coming to a head, it seemed, ans for the moment she thought it might be going in her favor. None of them seemed particularly happy with @Caelum, so even when he turned to narrow his eyes at her she met his gaze with pure defiance.

@Amara spoke directly to her, and Alaiya turned her gaze to her. This was not the same lion that had defeated Zoticus, but she was quite certain that it was still the same group that held these lands, even if Amara now seemed to be the leader. So she gazed at the dark lioness with dislike in her eyes. "I keep a garden on the border with the grove," she said, her voice not wavering. "He took me there. He barely had to step across it. It was no great acconplishment."

If she could just get out of this she could go back to the Brook and tell them what happened. They'd help her...right? She wasn't certain, and that uncertainty reached her eyes. She wasn't sure the Brook really cared about her at all. She barely knew them, after all.

"It's not like I want to stay here with you," she said, clearly indicating all of Wolfbron and not one specific lion. They'd stolen her first opportunity for a home here, under Zoticus' rule.

@Ryker @Xerxes

The growled question was amusing, and Ryker lifted one shoulder in a shrug, "Not really up to me, is it?" A slight nod toward Amara followed - it was her pride, after all. But the grand reveal of how the man had acquired his prize...well, Ryker hadn't dared hope the impromptu meeting could get any more amusing, but he occasionally liked a surprise.

While @Caelum argued with @Xerxes, Ryker turned his attention to what the pink girl was saying. The bickering of those two particular men was a bit like the buzzing of flies around his ears, annoying but easy enough to ignore if he turned his focus elsewhere. So far, she seemed rather believable, and he really had no cause to suspect the girl thus far, but what was life without a little fun.

He would lean slightly toward @Amara, "It all sounds a little too easy, doesn't it? Are you confident she didn't let herself to be captured? And are you confident she won't run back to the brook with all your secrets at the first chance?" If he was to send spies into other prides, he'd pick the most harmless-looking ones, after all. She was a bit battered, but it was difficult to believe not a single one of her pride mates had heard whatever commotion must have come from the scuffle. And even if their story was the full and naked truth, well, Caelum seemed to harbor some sort of one-sided grudge against him and Ryker found entertainment in getting a rise out of him.

@Alaiya

I'm a friend of the devil I'm a dangerous rebel

Fighting my way through the sins of the street I'm feeling psycho, psycho Where did my mind go? Biting my tongue and I'm loading my gun Back to the wind, better run, better run I'm feeling crazy, crazy Go 'head and make me It's the life that I can't escape, can't walk away There's blood in the ocean And I'm losing focus I'm a friend of the devil I'm a dangerous rebel

code by corvus

Moments like this, Amara wasn't built for. Nothing in her life had gotten her to a spot that she would know how to navigate this without causing to many issues for her pride, herself, and her family. Ambro had been built for it, Amara was just trying to get along. Currently, they didn't really have any direct issues with the Brook. She had helped them in a time of need but she doubts that would go very far and she hadn't asked for anything of it. She offered what she felt was needed, what she would want, even from strangers if a loved one were to die. Her mind was working things over but it was the outside influence that was making it harder for her to really work it all out. A flash of annoyance crossed her eyes as it seemed that @Caelum was seeking approval and acceptance from Ryker, who quickly made it clear he wasn't the one to make that choice. The lioness's words caused her to look between the pair for a long time, What's wrong with her? You know nothing of us aside from the fact that he brought you here against your will do you? She questioned her flatly. Amara was over being judged by those who didn't know her or her lands. @Xerxes arrives and Amara's gaze swings to him as he speaks. What was he talking about? She had a vague memory of seeing the male in a fight but so much was happening there, she was sure that things happened that she just wasn't aware of. She had been attacked twice and wasn't able to keep up. Caelum's reaction to Xerxes boiled Amara's core as her gaze hardened and she stepped toward them. His business is this pride. Her words were steady as she focused on him alone. Ryker's words filter in and linger for a long moment. You will fight her. If you win, she has been won and will remain. If you don't she goes free and you will be left to deal with any fallout. It was her rule and it would stand here just as it would for anyone who claimed someone. She watched him carefully to make sure that this would be done. She wasn't all the keen on this but she would figure out how to wiggle out of it later if needed. Though she really wasn't sure how much thought about the pride he has given before pulling her out of the Brook.

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Caelum was slightly relieved that @Ryker's claims of Pinky being a spy were dispersed when Amara seemed sure that what Pinky claimed of her was false.

Somehow he had guessed that he'd owe @Amara a fight, though he was sure it'd be against @Xerxes and not his captured lioness. On Caelum's face is a quiet snarl as he is reprimanded for going after Xerxes. The man still knows nothing of what he's talking about, and for the moment, Caelum is content that Amara hadn't questioned him further. When he joined, he had a neutral opinion of the white, speckled male, but the longer he stayed here, the more he started to dislike him. Perhaps that would come to a head someday. Right now, it seemed, it would not. He was faced with Pinky yet again.

"I had beaten her into submission on the way here, but I don't suppose that'd be enough to appease you, Amara." His tone was a little condescending as he turned towards @Alaiya and readied himself. He supposed he could punish her for all the mouthing off she was doing at these borders today. Show her who was in charge and who would remain in charge of her...

Pushing himself off of a rock, he launched himself straight at her. With claws outstretched, he intended to crash into her and sink his claws into her skin... somewhere.

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Pinky is Alaiya, but Caelum forgot her name so he calls her Pinky xD

Caelum vs. @Alaiya
Dominance
Round 1/3
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 1 + 20 + 7 + 5 + 18 + 4

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 6 + 12 + 4

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 4 + 5 + 2 + 1 + 14

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For a brief moment she thought she was going to get away from all of this, but then things seemed to turn against her just as quickly and she began to falter. Almost the only ring she had going for her now was that it seemed like none of these lions held a particular fondness for their pride mate.

And then @Amara asks what's wrong with her and Alaiya feels her own irritation boiling. She hated all of them. She hated Caelum the most, but she hated Amara and the other two as well. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? She turned a scathing glare Amara's way when she questioned what Alaiya knew of them. "You took this land from Zoticus," she hissed angrily. "This would have been my home, but you bastards stole that chance from me." She would have joined here, might never have met Caelum if they hadn't taken the Bluffs from Zoticus, who had offered her that chance. "All of this is your fault!"

They wouldn't understand how, but it was their fault. It really was.

She was angry enough that it took a moment too long for Amara's declaration and Caelums reply to register. Startled, she turned towards her captor, but he had already launched himself at her. He slammed into her shoulder and side, one set of claws digging their way into the flesh of her chest and the other set finding purchase along her spine. The wounds were painful, as she was certain he intended, and she did her best to block out the feeling.

Her best really wasn't very good.

If she won this fight then she would be free to go. She doubted her own capabilities, but she had to try. His weight slamming into her threw her off balance, but she managed to catch herself, tensing the legs on the other side of her body to try to remain standing. If she ended up on the ground she may as well have already lost.

His head came close in his attack and he was taller than her. Seeing an opportunity, Alaiya aimed her jaws for his throat, just beneath his jaws. She spared no feelings, pushing forward and aiming to bite down as hard as she could.

Alaiya vs. @Caelum
Dominance a.k.a. fuck all of you jerks
Round 1 2 3
Hits:

Rolling 4d20: 13 + 10 + 16 + 4

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 9 + 6 + 1 + 15

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 18 + 10 + 5 + 11 + 17

As they crashed, Caelum was almost certain Pinky was going to go down, but alas, if the lioness was anything, it was sure-footed because she held steadfast. He felt her bones jar against his body, and felt a bruise forming at his chest even before he could feel her teeth break his skin. His claws sunk into two points of her body - her spine and her chest. The claws that held her chest were quickly removed as he needed it for balance. With that paw placed on the ground, he was now closer to her in height - she did not waste this opportunity.

He saw her head swing in his direction, and he tucked his chin at the last moment, attempting to stuff the side of his neck into her open jaws instead - hoping that he could redirect the bite to a much more convenient place where she would swallow up a thick mane and fatty neck tissue instead.

Only then would he open his own jaws and attempt to chomp them down on the thin skin of her side, just behind her shoulder. If it landed, he would then have attempted a vicious, little shake to increase the damage.


Caelum vs. @Alaiya
Dominance
Round 2/3
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 11 + 12 + 2 + 6 + 20 + 17

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 13 + 6 + 1

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 4 + 14 + 20 + 15 + 3

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Almost as soon as his claws gripped her chest, Caelum let go of her, placing that leg down on the ground for balance and bringing his head and neck even closer to her level, giving her better access to him. But he wasn't a bad fighter - at least he was better than she was - and he seemed to notice her intent before she had even fully committed. He tucked his chin in, removing her access to his throat beneath her jaw and redirecting her hit. Her teeth hit the side of his neck instead, his thick mane cushioning the blow and filling her mouth with his disgusting hair.

She resisted the urge to gag and choke, forcing forward to finish the attack, her teeth hitting the fatty tissue of his neck. Even though it wasn't as vital as a spot, she attempted to bite down hard, doing what she could to work past the mane, even though it was difficult. Struggling to breathe, she drew back after trying to bite him, but did not lessen her hold, hoping that as she pulled away she might be able to tear his flesh apart in the process.

Even as she moved, his teeth dug into the flesh just behind her shoulder, his head shaking and tearing the wound deeper. She hissed in pain, blood already dripping down towards the back of her leg from the wound. In response, she balanced on one front leg - as he did - and brought the other to swing at the side of his face and neck, hoping to drag her claws down the flesh there in retaliation, to get him to let go.

Alaiya vs. @Caelum
Dominance a.k.a. fuck all of you jerks
Round 1 2 3
Hits:

Rolling 4d20: 19 + 10 + 20 + 16

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 1 + 6 + 20 + 12

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 11 + 16 + 12 + 10 + 8

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Broken center tag edit approved by Ice.