His jaws tighten around the skin of her scruff as he pushes her down towards the ground, attempting to control her with his grip. There is little she can do to prevent that without relinquishing her hold on his neck. Her shaking has done some extra damage to the skin there and, now that she is in a more vulnerable position, she clenches her jaws, attempting to tighten her grip and dig her teeth in farther. She refuses to let go.

Her claws snag skin on the back of his leg, tearing down the back of his leg but failing in their purpose. He remained balanced, largely because he had braced himself to do the same to her. She felt his claws on the back of her right elbow. Just as he begins to hook into her skin she twists, attempting to flip onto her side. His claws tear through her skin as she moves, but he fails to grab hold of her arm. As she twists she still refuses to let go of his neck and the skin he has hold of at her scruff begins to tear. There is no way she can flip onto her back without one of them letting go, but falling onto her back is not her goal yet. Instead, she turns just enough to take the weight off of her left front paw, letting herself hang from his neck, and reaches up to try to snag the side of his face or neck with her claws.

Revna vs. @Vermier
for Obsidian Hollow
Round 1 2 3 4 5
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 11 + 10 + 15 + 3 + 19 + 18

Dodges:

Rolling 5d20: 16 + 8 + 11 + 12 + 4

Luck:

Rolling 6d20: 14 + 19 + 11 + 13 + 17 + 2

_{BG — ART — CODE}

Nazonal is getting more tense the longer they are standing around and talking. It's just going to be a matter of time until someone catches sight of them, someone unsavory or someone looking to cause trouble over any number of the cubs they were trying to usher to safety. The fur along her neck and spine was bristling like a porcupine's quills and they couldn't find anywhere to rest their eyes long before it was darting away to someplace else to watch. Hoping to catch just a glimpse of @Adrien before they left, to feel some sense of security that her friend was safe...

Spider's voice. Nazonal finally finds reason enough to look away for a moment and down towards the small child. She grins just a little bit and they bend their limbs to get closer to her. No one is touching my friends. They wink a brown eye at @Spider but are then quick to stand back up and be ready for anything. Ready to fulfill her promise to her little best friends.

Finally the other adults were beginning to move, Nazonal holds their position for a few seconds and watches the crowd beyond them, watches for anyone positioning to follow or come after them. And then, sticking close to the Asteria child, makes their exit as well.
/exit

@Marja turns to her and states that her head hurts. The High Sovereign frowns and looks a little closer, noticing a small amount of blood coming from the wound site. You're injured. She states plainly, looking to the black lioness. Do you want to come and stay in the Rainforest? I can heal that wound and you can be closer to your swamp. She invites, remembering Marja from the challenge for Firnen.

Eyes turn briefly to @Asteria and @Nazonal who seemed more interested in the welfare and safety of their cubs than the offer of safety within Firnen. There is a slight sense of annoyance that ripples through her body, resulting in a single flick of her right ear before she settles beside Marja. The High Sovereign could understand the need to keep the little ones safe, but there was no need to ignore her. But alas - challenges were tense places and so for now, Maia would let it slide. She was more concerned about the safety of Roan and Faelyn, who she had not seen here today. Quietly, she continues to search for them - and anyone else - within the crowds.

table by ferus, art by ale-tie

Marja nods as @Maia speaks, and it is a plea that leaves her. "Close to swamp. Swamp no have mean rocks. Miss swamp." She agrees- but she's come to like living in a pride, so perhaps the rain-forest would be a perfect place for her. It was less of a trek to the swamp and Maia had respected her mud, and she seemed to care about her head now. Marja nods, and accepts the offer, with a soft huff- not looking forward to what will surely be a very long walk. Plus Roan had said they were allies and good friends and Roan liked them then they were good- right?

ooc: Marja accepts, in all that rambling, haha

always alone and unwanted

I don't mean to be so crass about the situation -- But it's easier than breaking down -- The reasoning your loose interpretation --
In a sea of motherfuckers, man, you were no salvation

code by corvus |art by dispero

When @Ronin speaks, she offers him a smile and a quick explanation- "Violarum claimed the pride, but had to take a step back. We left the Mire a few seasons ago." She pauses, her eyes traveling back to the fight, before answering his question. "Centrally located near the fields and watering hole. Feel free to come check it out and visit, you're always welcome." She shares warmly with the male. She offers him a sympathetic smile, though she does not know what trails he has experienced- does not know what has occurred with the male. Yet, the offer she gives him still stands, and her gaze travels over the gathered lions- as she sighs softly. Ghyslaine is sad to see the Hodari family fall, wondering what had become of them.

ART COPYRIGHT RABBIT / CODE COPYRIGHT ANALESE

She does not miss that his eyes do not linger on her like they should. @Tripfire plays a dangerous game by dismissing her, and she does not miss the dainty sort of female next to him, the way she presses into her. Her eyes mark her- noting her. It's a sharp assessing look- and in an instant it is gone, and a small smile is all that is on her lips. It is not time for that move, it is just a time to go on.

She focuses instead on the tiger she speaks too, and from the corner of her eyes watches the group take their leave- focusing instead on what is right in front of her. "This is... the third or fourth challenge in the last few months, it seems these beasts can't keep ahold of their thrones." She muses softly to the tiger. "Though this time, I suppose that the earth helped."

@Azhira

ART BY MOOGLE, CODE BY LARS

  

  

Milk! He was desperately trying to crawl to Asteria completely oblivious to the tension around them. Grunting with effort he could almost get free, and then DINNER! grinning he had just popped out from beneath Pyracantha when a cub was in his way. Falling back in surprise he blinked a few times, looking at Asteria's stomach behind him with a hungry mournful gaze. One could almost see the drool bubbling in his mouth. Then the cubs question got his attention...name?

"name...? name... nammmmme..." he over pronounced the word then suddenly burst out laughing gleefully. "I Twig!" he giggled, he could give himself a name yes? Why not? And he could change it as much as he liked! Unaware this would only confuse every single lion he ever spoke to in the future. Grinning from ear to ear he moved to attempt to waddle past Beetle but was suddenly lifted into the air again.

Ok, NOW the protests began! "n-no! milk! hungee! Beetle help Twig?" he asked pleadingly looking at the older cub with a sulking expression following. But once he saw that the food (Asteria) was following them he quickly relaxed in Pyracantha's jaws. Oh, good food was coming with them and his new friend Beetle!


exit through Pyracantha carrying him

coded by flea + background credit
@Pyracantha @Asteria @Nazonal @Beetle

Turn the noose of war

The chain of events that follows is rapid, but fortunately for Adrien, it is not to her detriment. Rosy ears disappear into the curls of her fiery mane at the sound of @Marja's mournful, her heart clenching in empathetic dismay. "I'm so sorry, Marja." Though words can do little to ease the pain of this tragedy, Adrien does truly mean it. She is familiar with the terrible feelings of loss that come from having a home torn away from you in an instant. She'll do everything she can to help the swamp witch find another place to call home. "You can stay with me if you need to, alright? For as long as you want."

But there are matters even more pressing to deal with right at this moment. Marja says that her head hurts and when the noblewoman carefully brushes her nose over the other woman's dark crown to inspect it, the scent of blood floods her senses alongside the feeling of stiff, crusted fur. That's...not good. It's worrisome enough that her concern does not fade even through the relief she feels at @Tobin's appearance at her side. "Oh, Tobin, I'm so glad to see you're safe. I feared you might've still been beneath the mountain too." The older male comes bearing worrisome warnings of her own, however, and Adrien's gaze strays nervously towards the raging battle once more. "I've certainly no desire to linger here, but she's injured and needs a healer. I'll need help moving her." She murmurs softly to Tobin, a request lying in her gilded eyes. She might be tall enough to have Marja slung over her back, but Adrien would prefer a gentler route that wouldn't risk jostling her friend's skull any more than strictly necessary. And then, where to find a healer...?

Fortunately, there is aid to be found in the arrival of @Maia, whom Adrien vaguely recognizes as Firnen's High Sovereign even before the introduction, and it seems that she is a friend of Marja's as well. Or at least, she assumes that must be the case - the injured woman seems agreeable enough with the idea of going to the Rainforest. Either way, Adrien certainly isn't going to try to turn away help on Marja's behalf.

"Ah, I've no need of a new home for myself," The territory she shares with @Nazonal is enough (Were they still safe? Adrien has yet to catch sight of them again in the midst of all the chaos...but she can't leave Marja like this.) "but please, allow me to help guide my friend away from here. I'll not sleep until I know she's been properly tended to." Her tone is kept respectful as she addresses Maia, if a bit strained from the worry and tension that still lurked beneath the noblewoman's refined mask. She has no intention of trespassing over Firnen's borders - she just wants to make sure that Marja gets there safely, if that's indeed what she wants, and that she gets her wound looked like at by someone who actually knows what they're doing, unlike Adrien.

A questioning glance is given to Tobin as well. Where will he go next, now that the Hollows have crumbled?

So many begin to leave the battlegrounds — bored of the entertainment, or frightened to learn of the outcome? Banshee watches them leave, her eyes drifting towards the cub and the pair of lions she had a brief interaction with — they, too, choose to make their departure. How dull.

Do they not wish to see the end of the fight? Then again, it's almost torture for her to just sit there, idle — unable to start a fight of her own, even though there's so many easy targets surrounding her. She huffs, mismatched eyes once more focusing on the fight in front of her. Only one of them is destined to come out victorious, with a shiny new crown to grave their head.

A fight to the death would have been far more interesting.

In the end, she decides to follow the lead of others and leave as well; she's certain that, should she be around tomorrow, she'd learn of the outcome one way or another.

exeunt Banshee

He listened as the women spoke, deciding where they would go and when. A nod of thanks was given to Maia as she offered a home in the Rainforest to them. He expected that was where everyone would go, but he would wait to confirm that. "I will relay that to the others I find," he promised. "I suspect Roan and Faelyn will go there but I will confirm with them before agreeing." They had allowed him to serve even at his age, and so he would continue to do so as long as they continued to allow it.

"I will help move Marja," he confirmed aloud. He wasn't built for doing so as much anymore, but surely between the two of them they could manage it. He'd make it work. Marja was a friend of the former sovereign, and Adrien was a friend of his, and so he would do his best to help them both.