As she feasted on her free and easy meal, some of the others gathered were talking about saving these creatures. Axelle listened as they tried to figure out how to climb the cliffs, to get close enough to the entrance without falling and dying. Now that would be the best kind of meal - lion meat, free, and she wouldn't have to lift a toe to kill them.

If the lions would just leave well enough alone, they could provide their own with enough easy meals to feed even the most starving, sickly, or lazy of their own. Why was no one else seeing this as a good thing? As a ranger, she saw this as a perfect opportunity to fill up food stores, to replenish what was lost from the terrible weather and phenomena they were having.

Axelle crooked an ear as she heard one of the males (@Edward) mention her pitching in, and she shook her head. "Don't include me in zis l' effort. Zough, I will 'appily watch from 'ere and lick any of your wounds if you are 'urt." She offered a suggestive smile, creepy in its origins. Truthfully, the cannibal just wanted some free licks to taste the blood of her favorite meal, no matter if it needed to remain alive.

Though her demeanor quickly changed when she heard a plum-colored male (@Recluse) mention the bats had the potential to have rabies. Axelle's smile fell and she spat out the remaining meat that was in her jaws, kicking the creature's carcass away from her. Non, merci.

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She was rather blissfully preoccupied with the murder of the creatures for the sake of her hunger, mostly zoned out to the sudden numbers that began to litter the caverns. Still, as they bicker amongst themselves, Archesia becomes aware of @Edward - a crew member she knew in passing but had yet to personally engage with.

Regardless, the golden lioness is immediately of the impression they are family, and after slurping down the last of some bat-meat she saunters with her usual animated femininity; the sway of hips and rise of shoulders thoughtlessly executed.

"Are the bat's stuck, truly?" echo-location and all that, she sought to approach the black male and run the length of her body against his dark breast in an unreserved greeting - if he didn't seek to avoid it, "But your point is made with more sense than others, I will go."

Just because, she departs from the salty sea-man with a tongue lapped at blood-marred lips, and seeks to slip outside the cave to seek the entrance from the opposite end.

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One small, dark, man (@Recluse) spoke up, offering information and confidence. Ed would nod at the invitation, intending to turn and follow before the french-accented girl (@Axelle) spoke. She wasn't the first he'd met in his life to seem enticed by blood, no matter the source, and so he simply arched a brow, and offered a short exhalation in amusement, "Je pense que tu vas être déçu."¹ He hoped, at least, that they would all emerge from this unscathed and the girl would go without her treat. In any case, she seemed smart enough to avoid eating potentially-contaminated food, so there was that.

In the dim light of the cavern, and with the smell of bats and others thick in the air, he hadn't recognized her at first, but as @Archesia moved forward the light of recognition and warmth of welcome sparked in his eyes. He'd lean in to her touch, easily accepting and returning the greeting with a rub of his cheek along her back as she slid across his chest "Aye, seems so. They're simple things; get used to a path an' stick to it."

As she passed, he'd finish his turn and follow behind, intending to join the rest in opening the creature's usual path.

-exit-

¹ I think you will be disappointed.

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Standing still and quiet in the trembling quakes of the ground and the way the bats seemed nervous as they flittered above, she felt their anxiety brimming in her own veins. Attention turned swiftly to @Khal who mentioned that they could catch and release most of them. To this she gave a small amused smile at his suggestion as she certainly wouldn't mind taking a few of these for herself. Though, it hardly seemed fair but ain't nothing fair in this circle of life.

A lion had arrived and spoke what sounded like her language but had such a thick accent that she hardly understood a word he said (Edward). So she lingered there for a second, dumbfounded and stupid, trying to unearth whatever he had tried to suggest there. Thankfully he added on something else that sounded a bit less jumbled and she understood. Zulema could find their usual entrance and exit and make it for them.

@Recluse's warning only proved that that was probably the only option they had if they wished to avoid coming down with some sick disease. The male also happened to indicate that he had mapped out this area (much like she had) and was willing to help them get out. Zulema was all about doing minimal work at the moment for little reward so she was happy to let the warning man take the lead.

Zulema did what she could in trying to unlock one of the passageways that she knew the bats to go in and out of, leaving a fair chunk of light to shine through and enough width and height that they could fly through and up with ease.

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A plan had been set, and it would seem that at least one of them intended to brave the outside with him. Some might question why bother to save a large colony of bats, even more so now that he suggested some of them might be carriers of disease. You would have to forgive him if he did not hold any animosity towards a creature that played host to a disease, he could relate to them after all. Recluse would find a safe passage out of the cave, taking a moment to familiarize himself with his surroundings. It would be difficult to reach the opening, but with some careful footing and recalling past exploration of the area, he was sure he could manage it. -exit Recluse- 🎫 +1 - Make a BWP-related post x3 🎫 +5 - Complete a BWP-related thread (with 10+ posts) 🎫 +20 - Complete a thread with a character you've never threaded with before (Edward, Baltasar, Zulema and Khal)

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Alright, so bats were not the way to go and they were going to have a find a more humane way to fix the problem. Every idea seemed like a good one in her book but she would much rather remain healthy under threat of rabies. So she set about to go and fix what had befallen the bat cave. Interested in helping the bats to retain the home that they had become so accustomed to and which nature had decided to rip it apart and redecorate without their permission. Wandering higher and higher she began to pull apart as many caved in exits and entrances that she could find. It had taken her an hour or two before she had unclogged two of them and decided that that was her good efforts for the day. Taking a step back, admiring her work and leaving before anyone else wanted some hard labor out of her. exit zulema.

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+5 - Complete a thread with a character you've never threaded with before (Khal)

Khal wasn't actually paying much attention to what his fellow felines were discussing, but nor did they seem to pay him much mind, apart from one in the form of a ruby colored lioness who seemed to at least agree with the easy prey part. He'd remember @Zulema's face in the future and gave her a small smile before she departed, not knowing she already knew his own mother fairly well. He figured there were plenty of those gathered to try all of their ideas at once, but one such idea did prove to be a bit too ambitious as when he released the bat he'd been holding onto it flew right back into the panicking mass rather than finding its way out of the collapse cavern. Failing at his own idea, he returned to his initial one of just catching a few bats out of the air. He figured it was a better, quicker death than battering themselves against a stone wall in a futile attempt to escape. He'd heard something about the potential for them being rabid, but he supposed it was a little late for all that since he'd already been crunching on a few, so he tried to focus instead on catching the bats that already seemed worse for wear. Putting them out of their misery, so to speak.

Axelle's eyes sweeped the group as they assembled, more and more seeming to agree to the space-colored lion's proposal. Out of the common-tongue's murmur, she caught a familiar language coming from a black-furred Rogue (@Edward). He told her she would be disappointed, and she pouted, lowering her ears and putting on an exaggerated sad face. "Je pense que vous aurez tort," she retorted, offering a mischievous smile at the end of it.

Those that agreed to help began making their way towards the cave, while the others who wanted no part of anything began to depart. Axelle did neither, instead sitting beneath the shade of a nearby cliff. She angled her head upwards, watching the lions begin their task of helping these bats out of their predicament.

Hungrily, she licked her lips and watched.

/exit via fade

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+5 Complete a thread with a character you've never threaded with before (Edward)
+5 Complete a thread with a character you've never threaded with before (Recluse)

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Khal continued for a little while longer until he muscles were burning from the effort of pushing his large weight off the ground so many time, lungs starting to burn as he pushed himself to tiredness. He would look around again, noticing a couple of others still lingering before doing his best to fit as many of the bats into his mouth as he could. He probably looked silly with a mouth crammed full of dead bats, but he didn't mind. Maybe some of the younger kids in the Brook would want to try out something new to eat. Satisfied that there was little else he could do for the panicking creatures, Khal would turn to follow the others out of the caverns back to the surface. exit khal

Delighting within the familiar touch of Edward, Archesia lingered within his contact blissfully; completely unfazed by their vague familiarity. "Aye, seems so. They're simple things; get used to a path an' stick to it," he had said, but by that point the golden woman is already off on her mission - with her mind far, far away.

She snooped about upon the surface for as long as it would take to find the opening, and set about digging at the rubble for a short while. Soon however, the woman grows bored, and slinks off to find something else to do - not caring all too much about the brewing storm overhead, or the bats.

-- exit

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