4 years, no bonus.


With each passing second, Ronin found himself respecting the boy, he fought hard, unfettered when others would have balked or backed off. He continued to press forward, pushing the warmonger. Even now, with no alternative, the boy would cock his skull, trying to rip his skull free of his grasp. It was bold and it left Ronin with only two choices, either have his throat captured (hell to the no) or let go. He had not fought this long, this hard, for it to be so easily taken by a boy. Frustrated, Ronin would stretch his sore jaws wider, to their full extent, allowing the boys skull to come free. For a moment. Head would jerk back, arching protectively so that the boy would not grasp his throat, but the lower half of his face. So much for keeping his face pretty for Nephthys. She’d forgive him…right? Especially if he offered her a crown?

His face and jaws occupied, Ronin would use his free paw to shift, releasing the grip so that he could reach and attempt to claw at the mans precious throat (given that it was positioned so awkwardly due to twisting it). Blood would flow from his wounds, burning his hide, reminding him that he was bleeding from his face, from his toes. The blood had already began clumping the sand beneath them. His anchored paw surrounded by bloody clumped sand, it felt odd between his toes- but he would get used to it.



Ronin vs. @Scorpius
for AO
Round 4 / 5
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 19 + 13 + 12 + 7 + 18 + 17

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 13 + 3 + 12

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 3 + 20 + 1 + 17 + 7

But I still got miles to go before I sleep
Still got miles to go before all is revealedThis battle moves quickly, he notices, and do does the inevitable crowd that narrows in on the location.

Darcia remains in the shade of the date tree, letting his amethyst eyes check off each new addition to the crowd that he could see. There had yet to be as much violence as the previous challenge, but he kept himself steeled. It was no longer a simple case of lionwatching when he came to these, now that he'd seen how quickly these fights could spread through a crowd like poison through a vein.

The prince settled back onto his haunches, dual tails swishing lightly across the sand as he focused back in on the fight briefly. They really weren't wasting their time with it, huh?

Still got miles to go before I sleep
Still listening to the chainless wind sing

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There was not much talk to be done at this challenge, it seemed. The two engaged in vicious combat over the golden sand, a flurry of teeth and claws til blood soon flowed. The sand was churned, spotted with red and Leila squinted through the kicked up dust with interest. It was like a dance, a violent and snarling one. She wondered what this land meant to the both of them.

Brown eyes slid over the crowd, finding few familiar faces aside from the silver piebald lioness - whose name she didn't yet know, but recognised from previous challenges. Dragos had known her. Leila's eyes lingered, but that steely gaze didn't seem inviting and she hesitated to sidle over. Just as well, she had company in the form of a large grey lion. Leila glanced back to the battle and wriggled her paws into the warm sand self-consciously.

art © rabbit

His company is always perfection and Septima treasures it, more than happy to play the role she has always been trained for. Being a mother has breathed new life into her lungs and she vows to keep her cubs safe from any and all threats – internal, external, from wherever they might possibly arise. She presses against him, grateful for the support as her stomach swells and becomes more and more uncomfortable by the day. It is a vulnerability she shares with him in secrecy, because out in the world she is unable to let even the smallest of cracks show. Everyone is a potential spy, a potential enemy, a potential threat. She nods as she turns her head to plant a kiss on his cheek, not caring one iota who bore witness to the affection. "He's my little brother.. well, not so little anymore." There is pride in her eyes as she watches, anxiously biting the inside of her cheek. Win. @Prometheus

There had been a number of challenges since her return, but Zaynab had avoided the majority of them. In her time here before, she’d come to realize what brutal, bloody events they seemed to devolve into and while she wasn’t entirely opposed to that, she wasn’t exactly in any condition to be dragged into conflicts that had nothing to do with her. It was only Reah’s scent trailing off in the direction of the desert from which the call came that drew the pink assassin in. Her nose wrinkled at the sandy wasteland, reminding her far too much of her youth and the dunes she’d once trained in. The sooner this event was over with, the better.

She spotted Reah separate from the crowd, peering through the foliage to watch the battle and moved to sidle up next to her. "I’m surprised things are so quite. Events like this usually turn to madness so quickly here." She muttered the words quietly, so that only the medic at her side could hear. It was clear Reah was trying to not draw any attention to herself, and Zaynab would respect that and try to do the same.

@Reah
"Speech"

It works. Scorpius doesn’t have time to think it through - but it had worked, and some small part of him is thrilled about it. Later. He can replay it later. Ronin retreats those precious few inches, surrendering his face for his throat and Scorpius attempts to grab the lion’s lower jaw with his own and hold on tight.

It means it leaves his throat more vulnerable, and Ronin is quick to take advantage of that - but he finds, now, he can’t make himself care. Would this man try to slit his throat to rule? So be it. Scorpius would die where he was born, where he was meant to be. But he is not done yet. The boy’s free paw is finally able to lift, and he attempts to slam it into Ronin’s eye with sand and claws both - a copy of the same move Ronin had made before, but Scorpius would attempt to hook his claws above the lion’s brow as well.

Scorpius vs @Ronin
For Andal Oasis
Four of Five
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 20 + 19 + 18 + 15 + 6 + 8

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 5 + 13

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 7 + 11 + 17 + 3 + 20

All the blood that we're bleeding

Could fill up a broken heart

code by corvus; image by yumpy

His chest cannot contain the low growl from escaping at her affections, not in anger but a primal thing - a selfish mine sort of thing as he does not restrain from aiming a soft bite at her shoulder. Though all the while his cerulean gaze sifts like a sieve to their surroundings. It was an almost eerie calm; but given all the disturbance prior many were perhaps home licking their wounds.

However once @Septima explains the patched lion to be kin his brow quirks with genuine surprise. One of Seneca's sons? Although he was by no means little as she pointed out, Rome could gather part of her excitement came from his presence. Wondering then what sort of emotions might be brewing beneath her sweet complexion at the potential of their familial home being returned... Hope however, was a dangerous thing at time. It's good you're here then. No matter the outcome.

Reah kept her obsidian-colored eyes locked onto the fight. The smaller man was bleeding from his face, and leaving blood on the sand. The younger lion was exceptionally vicious and left an open tear on his opponent’s jaw. Yet, it seemed that Ronin had been able to get a hold of Scorpius’ throat. Reah couldn’t help but clench her jaw, wondering if the younger man would die in just a few moments.

In the chaos of it all, @Zaynab appeared. She was quiet and Reah almost hadn’t noticed her, but she noted how usually there were a few more skirmishes that would’ve broken out by now. Reah quietly nodded, noting how Zaynab seemed skilled in cloaking herself within the foliage.

Both men will need medical attention after this, Reah murmured back, yet she was still a bit uncertain. It truly did seem like it was about to turn into a fight to the death, especially after the attack on the throat. But she wasn’t too sure, she simply had to wait for the outcome. It was tense, and she quietly unsheathed her claws and poked at the sand underneath her.

CODE | ART

4 years, no bonus.


Teeth would find his lower jaw, wrapping around them painfully, cutting into tender flesh, scraping canine against canine. The sound and feel would make him wince, the sound like nails on chalkboard, only much worse and far more painful. Yet, Ronin did not think of pain as others did, he lived for it, feeling it now he was only spurred on, to continue the blood bath until one would yield. It wasn’t yet clear who that would be.

Claws would sink into the throat of his adversary and he was once more surprised that the boy did not shrink back, as expected. He would continue his attack, throwing caution (and sense) to the wind all in the name of this place. Ronin would be caught off guard by the next attack, a paw to the face- filled with sand. The tiny grains would be pressed into his eye as the paw connected, claws digging into his upper brow. Instinctively, Ronin would attempt to jerk his chin downward, so that if those claws came down, they would be more inclined to graze over his eye rather than stab into it. The eye would water as the grains of sand burned his eye, scratching it and no doubt causing it to be hard to see out of for some time.

His weight would attempt to crash down on Scorpius more fully this time, he could only hold their weight for so long, something would have to give- right?

Either the titan would fall - or Ronin would.



Ronin vs. @Scorpius
for AO
Round 5 / 5
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 19 + 17 + 9 + 18 + 11 + 6

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 5 + 20 + 12

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 14 + 18 + 16 + 3 + 4

Following the path her brother had recently taken, guided by his scent and his summoning, Léonie quickly arrived to find @Scorpius already engaged in battle with an older opponent. She slowed as she reached the sidelines, her spotted ears cupped and eyes shining with manic giddiness. C’mon, the Miroslav imp chanted in her head, the white tuft of her tail twitching excitedly in time to her racing heart. C’mon c’mon c’mon!

Briefly, she looked away from the battle to see who else had gathered — and when she saw @Septima, she beamed. The younger sister eagerly made her way over to join her and her companion. Her condition did not escape Léonie’s attention.

“You’re looking lovely, sis,” the charcoal lioness hummed with a pleased smile. Septima had always been pretty — the spotted pattern she shared with their father and brother was something Léonie envied her for. But it was the flush of budding life in her that really made her glow.

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