the vultures descend upon the remnants of a kingdom her friend abandoned, covetous as they grapple for the final scrap to slake a thirst for power. and there exists a trace amount of indignation that glosses her stare as she maneuvers to the outskirts of their makeshift ring, vexed only by a false belief that the women were attempting to steal from violarum. despite his founding of an empire in greener pastures (quite literally), despite her acknowledgement of his willing release of the firnen crown, despite her pledging allegiance to lorien and joining its ranks under his reign, the champions’ efforts feel wrong. and the sour scowl that paints her features speaks volumes of her disdain towards the hopeful women. but it evaporates from her countenance as she spies her former king, who still hadn’t had the pleasure of her delightful company. and for once, he is without his typical flock, apart from one she recognizes as antares’ counterpart, and one she doesn't know at all. she sidles into his vacant proximities as if he were a long-lost companion, but she is deferentially silent in acknowledgement of his eminence and hold upon many. but her gaze does drift after that of his own, and it just so happens to land upon @Ghyslaine. she knows little of his relationship with her roommate, knows even less of when to tone down her mischief, and when to read the room. and worse still, she is blind to his disappointment, only offering @Alaric a sideways smirk as she reclines beside him. “you love her?” she asks, her assumption likely wrong, but spoken as fact. it would not be a crime for the mire king to fall for the pallid beauty, and the youth would not blame him. he were but a man to the woman’s enduring charm, after all.

art by yumpy!

She didn't know much of Aidoneus. She'd smelled the woman around the Oasis but that was about as much interaction as they'd had. Their paths crossing had been near-misses, never quite destined to meet at a head until now; now, when the former Andal Queen was locked in another battle for the throne, and now, when Halimede had her sights set on what she'd considered a friend. A friend who had either left or been forced to leave, and one she was not quite sure she was ready to let go.

Blissfully, would she pluck poor @Olive from Violarum, for Halimede was far more desirable than he; such a fact she knew personally, for she was a friend to him too, and didn't quite understand why there must be some strange back-and-forth, some push and pull between prides that ignored the open boundaries of friendships in favor of walls and borders. She knew not what all had gone on in the moments of clarity once the chaos of nature relinquished its hold; what had once been the Mire had then become Firnen and was now...something else.

And yet she was there. Constant, waiting. Halimede slipped up behind Olive, her paws attempting to wrap around the girl's neck in a blatant display of friendliness and affection. “Mine,” she crooned.

Halimede is claiming Olive!

Part vampire Part warrior
Carnivore and voyeur

Their violence begged for release, and Harou is here to witness the bloodied scene, unfolding. His wintry form, lean and toned from warfare, unfurls into view. Grey-merle flesh, swathed in lines of predatory silver, accentuating his rabid, crimson eyes as they seek the moving bodies. The hunger within him escalates, when he sees that it is two beautiful maidens, now locked in a furious embrace. It is almost strange, when it is women who fight for the throne; when Harou had hailed from a land of gods and patriarchy. Where he came from, it was men who would draw first blood, although the women (the valkyries) would often accompany them as equals. Silently, he weaves through the dense shadows, lingering along the edge of the congregation, his stare sharp and keen.

+5 Observe a fight

we all feed on tragedy,
it's like blood to a vampire

Violarum had no intention of being here, with far too much excitement back at home. Things were falling into place, with friends and family all together under their new glorious kingdom. Except they weren't. He noticed the absence of a select few, and decided during his border wanderings to go and see who had decided to claim their brief home for themselves.

Yet, on approach, he does not particularly like what he see's. @Olive had a knack for finding herself in trouble, and Violarum was entirely surprised to find @Halimede was the cause of it. "No, she is nobodies," he approached his friends with a frown, pausing lazily to ogle with apparent confusion at the two women.

"Halimede?" please explain.

Violarum vs. @Halimede
For Olive - Round 0 of 3

_{art by kairi —}

Further they would drift. The bits of her that still cared and still felt the absence of Violarum, Ghyslaine, and Olive, would hopefully wither faster if someone else had the Rainforest. Because it was easier to let her vulnerable wounds close instead of striving to heal them and let anyone know just how much she hurt when they'd left.

She did not make it all the way to the Mire lions when she spotted one of the lions she came looking for, the only sign of any of them was @Olive... and slithered around her neck a woman cloaked in the scents of sands and the Oasis Brynja had escaped from with Olive not long ago. Cruel, almost truly happy, smirk appeared. "Let them have her." Came her dark and bitter, unsolicited opinion to the nobody around her. Willing fate. There was not a sign or inclination of any of the Mire lions rising to do anything about the Oasis's claim over Olive. And let it stay that way. Brynja's bridges were burned and she sat amongst the ashes of literal Jungle fire's. The last lioness she rose to defend had come with poison thorns and chains. Olive and friends had left the Mire. Had left Brynja behind after what felt like just a second at home with them. She hoped fate would be laughing, she hoped this would quell the ache in her heart to see it come full circle. But no mistake this time. Brynja was jumping to no one's defense.

The boy king could handle that. Violarum arrived too and he looks surprisingly well for the Rainforest being abandoned. Bizarre. From her distance Brynja, alone, watched the growing group.

What fight for the Rainforest?

+5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds

Oh, well that was an interesting call.

Faelyn would never begrudge any of her pride mates for wanting a place of their own, where they could rule by themselves, but she was a little surprised to hear Maia calling out for it.

She hadn't been back to the rainforest ever since that ill-fated fight between Sangria and her husband, where the enormous woman had performed an even bigger betrayal, and it was with some slight dismay that she approached and entered it once more, though that time had long since passed. Now she was here to root on another, and she moved to join Jafar and his group and silently cheer.

It was hard to miss the gathering of lions, their smell and gathered voices echoing across the land. With the Mire so near, Bordeaux would listen and observe lions as they moved through the charred regions in order to observe the goings on. At first she dismissed it, but curiosity carried her frequently from the den to see and to wonder where everyone is going.

"We go to see? They all go somewhere in the wood." She questioned her mother, already heading out before Patchouli could do more than frown with concern. She had not denied her though, so she assumed they would go, and for once, the most feeble of them would lead the way.

Upon arrival she would state up at all the strangers with mouth agape, beginning to doubt her decision to come. For now she would do her best to sit off to one side in clear view so as not to be stepped on within the thick vegetation.

image by moogle/code by saph

+5 Observe a fight

He typically didn't care about such things, but when it was a member of their own pride calling for a throne (again), he would always go to support them. Particularly when tensions were so high within the lands, and he could be certain the Mire and Bluffs both would be present. Aidoneus could fight for herself and everyone that knew her was aware of that, but he would not allow her to do this alone, or unsupported.

As he had expected, the lions of the Mire were present, but so too were the Hollow lions. It would seem one of their own was fighting. Well, he'd heard their pride challenged for several times, so he supposed it was only a matter of time before one of them made a similar effort elsewhere.

He settled himself on the sidelines, seeing no one from the Oasis yet... except for Halimede who seemed to be causing some sort of trouble. He kept an eye on that as well, to see if she would be jumped.

Morrigan had told Maia she would be there to support her when she challenged Alaric, so when the call came from the Rainforest in the south she was a bit confused but still ready to support her friend. Descending from her new mountaintop throne after getting the surprising number of new recruits settled in to properly explore the territory, Morrigan would have liked to stay back with them all. Instead, she knew she needed to see if Firnen would be enemy or ally by the end of the day.

When she reached the claim on the abandoned territory, the fight had already begun and tension were risen in some watchers already. Morrigan saw her own enemies there but she chose to ignore them this time in favor of joining a much calmer @Aquila than the last challenge they'd been at together. "Comrades," she greeted, though she did not recall the flame colored man's name, she knew she had at least seen him around.

"Morrigan," she introduced to @Jafar as she would settle down next to the two men to support @Maia.

table by ferus, art by mono

Halimede may not understand well the nuances of politicking and the rules of this culture with which she was unfamiliar, but she knew when things were unfair. Reluctant was she to pry herself from the form of Olive to peer at @Violarum, who with every passing breadth seemed like he was more and more prepared to fight to keep her with him. Halimede could not understand the small nuances, the etiquettes and intricacies that came with such barbaric events; such as it were, despite their brutal use of tooth and claw lions cared too damn deeply about their borders and their alliances.

Things were much simpler back then. Perhaps the past she'd come from was starting to look much less undesirable.

Her lips curved into a frown, brows knitting as she regards the Plains King with a look of hurt. “So you—” she began, her head lowering, “—get to waltz on over to my pride and take her? But I can't do the same?” Her question is sincere, wondering just how Violarum would justify himself. Halimede did not quite subscribe to the idea of women being belongings, but she did not quite understand the gravity that was claiming, fettering. She had hoped Olive wasn't going to feel forced. She thought that perhaps that they had simply forgotten about her. That they'd left her behind, as if she'd never meant anything at all.

Just as he had done.

“That was sneaky, Vio.”

Halimede vs Violarum
for Olive
o of iii