mummy don't know daddy's getting hot

At the body shop, doing something unholy

Set right after this thread https://www.amaryllis-lions.com/showthre...?tid=15945 but before the Firnen claim

Tears soaked down the girls cheeks, she made no sound other than the quiet sniffles as she made her way to the den she shared with an apparent monster, according to her sister. She had stalked away after making sure her father was alright, anger and hurt on her usual happy face, her tail lashed behind her, she was angry, she was emotional. Once entering the den, she would go and lay down, knowing that right now, she wasn't not going to be able to speak without her voice breaking, not even a look was given to @Ryker, if he was in there.

A few sniffles could be heard as she curled into a ball, her shoulders shook slightly, it was obvious she was crying, though she tried her best to hide it. The usually flirtatious, happy girl hated others to see her break, she was used to being strong, and when she felt weak, it made her feel even worse. She'd fucked up with her entire family apparently, and being treated as a traitor felt like a hot iron stabbing her heart.

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Lucky for her, he'd been outside the den, but not so far away he hadn't glimpsed her slinking inside. Honestly, if it had been someone else, he would have slipped away unnoticed to give them a wide berth until the crying stopped. He still considered it, actually. Emotions like anger were more his area of expertise; he'd never been all that comfortable around tears.

Eventually, curiosity won out. Someone had hurt her, and maybe that someone would be a convenient target for revenge and an opportunity to further impress the girl.

Cautiously, he poked his nose into the den, a brow arched and an expression of suitable concern fixed on his face. "Levana?" He even made sure to inject his voice with that thread of concern, and he gave himself a mental point for that.

@Levana

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

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Anger was an easier emotion for the girl to slip into, it was the kind of emotion she wore as back up, always ready just in case her walls needed to be thrown up, but the lash out from Lilliana had gotten to her. Her twin, the only person who knew her best, who loved her unconditionally, and yet, she had been the first one to look at her as if she were a traitor.

His voice makes it's way to her, though muffled because of her being curled into a ball, head hidden and tucked, but her name coming from him, the one who Lilliana had apparently warned her about caused her to raise her head, wiping tears away before she looked to the male. A few sniffles gave away her attempt to look like she hadn't been crying, so she gives that up completely, and just goes for the elephant in the room, {My father was attacked by someone from Wolfbron, my sister thinks of me as a traitor, } even without saying it, she'd seen Lilis eyes, the glares, the accusatory tone, the rage in her sisters growl, {She warned me about you. That you were cruel, my family despises you.} She doesn't allow the accusatory tone like her sisters to lace into her tone, she allows the hurt she feels to seep into her voice, her eyes searching his face, {Are you a monster like they claim?} She asks, voice shaking, her breath baited, shakily she rose up to her haunches, ears pinned back.

**EDITED DUE TO COLOR CODE BREAKING TABLES**

The other brow lifted to match its twin as she spoke. So, she'd reunited with more than just her father. Interesting. He didn't interrupt, simply seating himself at the mouth of the den without actually blocking it. Had she ever told him which one her father was? He knew Alexander was her uncle, which narrowed down the choices.

Could he be cruel? Yeah, he supposed so, with the right motivation. He didn't remember any recent instances of undeserved cruelty, though. His head tilted slightly as she continued, as if thinking it over, "Depends on what sort of monster they think I am, I guess." It was a wry comment, though a little flat, "I don't recall doing anything monstrous to any of them." It was good to know they still seemed to hold a grudge, and that it seemed to have seeped through the whole of the family. It did make him a bit curious why none of them had directly targeted him yet.

@Levana

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

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i live inside my own world of make-believe

It's hard to breathe but that's alright, Hush

(keeping it vague due to unfinished thread)

Levana watched him, searching for the cruelty they spoke of, she shook as she tried to think of what to say, Bold Text hereMy aunt, great aunt, she came in, she made it clear if I chose you, I was no longer Savante. She felt her voice crack a little, they hadn't even wanted her side, they had just wanted another enemy made, Bold Text herewhat did you do to them? What could he have done to elicit such a response that they would threaten a youth of their own blood?

It was obvious, she was here, not back with them, her choice had been made before she'd even confronted him, the girl staggered a bit, the stress of this mess showing as she shoved herself forward, lunging and burying her face into his neck, instead of attacking she falls into his chest, unwilling to fall completely apart but unable to stand and not feel anything for any longer.

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[[referenced conflicts: here & here]]

"Well that seems a little extreme," he drawled, a half-mutter, though part of him was amused at the idea that they'd disown her over what he still saw as very small slights. Or, what they'd perceived as slights. Ryker, as far as he was concerned, had only ever been enforcing his own laws as any ruler should be expected to do.

What did he do to them? That was a fantastic question, actually.

There was the briefest tension in him when she moved, before he could recognize whether she was going on the attack or not, but he sighed as she pressed against him instead. "When I ruled Andal, I had laws against attacking allies, and laws governing how to get out of the pride." It seemed the best place to start, "You can't hold men over a year against their will," which seemed a bit sexist, actually, but such was the local culture, "but the women would need to find their own replacements, or petition for a trade, or fight their way out," he shrugged lightly, "pretty standard stuff, traditionally speaking."

"You need to know that to understand why, when I found Alexander and Anthonius fighting members of our allied pride at the passage, I ordered them to stand down." And, yeah, okay, he hadn't been nice about it, but he was rarely nice about much. And they'd stepped way over a line, anyway. "As Nobles of the Oasis, they were expected to uphold the laws, not blatantly break them." His tail flicked once in irritation, here, because he still didn't understand why they'd taken the positions if they couldn't adhere to his laws. They'd seemed like honorable men, and those types tended to like laws.

"Alexander backed off, but Anthonius didn't. There was an argument about claiming, because Ecrosia allows it and it wasn't our place to challenge them over it. Anthonius was stripped of his rank for defying direct orders. Alexander, pissed over my support of a claim - and, for the record, Andal allowed it, too, which he would have known - decided to pull his family from the Oasis." Seemed extreme, again, but maybe that should have been a clue to future actions. Maybe the whole of the family just dealt in extremes. All either-or, no middle grounds. Sounded exhausting, actually. "So I booted him and the men directly related to him, and under Andal law, the women would have had to negotiate or fight their own way out, or wait for the guys to challenge for them. They were never mistreated or imprisoned, their daily life didn't change in any way as far as Andal was concerned."

"After that, Alexander went and challenged for control of Obsidian Hollow, which is ruled by a relative of the dominant family here. Naturally, Wolfbron took offense, and targeted the Savante family as his obvious supporters and, thus, enemy of the bluffs. Apollinaire, the man you met here when we joined, attacked several himself." But he hadn't treated @Levana with any malice at all, had he. "He's proud, and protective, but not a monster either." Probably. Actually, Ryker didn't know that much about him. He really could be downright monstrous for all he knew, but the point was, he hadn't lashed out at her when he could have easily made the same assumptions about the girl as Ryker had when they first met, based entirely on appearance. The Savante weren't the only piebald enemies the bluffs had, after all. "The only thing I did to Alexander in that battle was stay on the sidelines and snark at him. At least none of my family or allies tried to squish a little cub as a threat." There was a thin rumble of a growl in that last bit, but there it was, his whole side of things. And he hadn't even lied, gold star for him.

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

i live inside my own world of make-believe

It's hard to breathe but that's alright, Hush

That wasn't even the extreme part, her eyes looked up at him, and finally she was able to speak as to why she was so shaken up, Bold Text hereI...Teodora... She looked like she wanted to kill me... She hissed/shakily spoke, her voice finally slipped, and for a second, the terror the girl had felt could be heard, but it was gone as quick as it came as she tried to steel herself.

She felt him tense and she has I just want to look around understood why, he was after all being confronted, though not as her family had done, she listened as he explained his side of things, he went into more details than just, they're this Cruel, monstrous, evil, terrible being, though no reasons are given, no details, just shortened versions. Instead of deeming her foolish, and childish, he spoke with a story, and gave it truth behind his words. Bold Text hereThe Savante are a proud family, our, they worship the mother, and our women are to be protected, kept safe. By keeping them, you stripped them of their ability to do that. She was not accusing him, she did not mean it as a slight, she was simply stating what could be a reason, maybe give him some insight.

It was exhausting honestly, the girl would agree with him if she could have heard his thoughts, and when he spoke of the challenge, and the man she'd met, however polite and courteous he was, hed apparently attacked multiple of her late family. But he put it into better light, but then the next sentence catches her attention and she leans back to look at him, her eyes widen but full of questions, Bold Text hereA cub...?

(Editing Due to Unfinished Thread)

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There was a rumble of displeasure at the idea they might take her tongue for something so..., well, so honestly stupid. His ears pulled back, tail flicking once more, "There are healers that can manage wounds like that. You wouldn't have been left crippled." Or had they hoped he might toss her away if she came back to him broken? If it had happened when they firs met, maybe he would have, but he was beginning to actually enjoy her company for more than the vague idea that keeping her around might annoy her family. Turned out it did, actually, but that wasn't really the point of it all anymore.

If the Savante had traditions they held so highly, they probably should have mentioned them. At all. At any point. Even a hint. "Alexander knew my laws when he brought the bulk of his family into the pride, and not a single one of them saw fit to mention anything about your culture. They can blame me all they want, but I'm not the one that fucked up there." Ryker thought he'd been wildly tolerant of various cultures, personally. How many times had he sat, respectfully silent, without complaint or even being asked, while Iofiel took the time to thank his gods for a successful hunt? Every single hunt with the two of them involved. Ryker may not have believed in a higher power, but he couldn't disprove the existence either, and the time spent within Amaryllis had made him wonder a time or two. "What's funny is they may have actually fit in really well here if Alexander had done a bit of research and not attacked another Dieudonné pride." Okay, maybe, maybe not. They did seem a bit offended by the whole cannibal thing. As long as they weren't trying to nibble on him, Ryker didn't really care.

She leaned back, and he sighed again, "One of the cubs did that stupid thing cocky little cubs'll do and tried to confront Dragos. Who thought it'd be a great idea to pin the kid under a paw and threaten to kill him unless Wolfbron let his family leave without any further injury." He expected the kid had gotten an earful once the little family had made it home. "If he'd paid any attention to anything else, he might've noticed most his family was already leaving while he argued." He couldn't guess at what might have been going on in the man's head, but had believed, at the time, that Dragos would end the day a dead man if he'd killed the cub. "You can ask Tripfire or Pyracantha about it, they're the parents. Trip's a big red dude, our Lead Scout. Pyra's all shades of white, gold, and blue." If she needed anyone to back up the story, he had plenty of witnesses.

@Levana

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

i live inside my own world of make-believe

It's hard to breathe but that's alright, Hush

The girl felt her lip tremble as his rumble of displeasure rang through her, she flicked an ear listening, she felt her heart beat against her chest, there were a mix of emotions going through her and she didn't know how to unpack any of them. She'd never not had her family before, and yet, there was a good chance she'd be cursed, The Mark of Death was uncommon, rare even, it rarely happened, they'd never speak to her again, they'd never love her again..

She was starting to see his point, and could not really argue with him, she'd not been there, she'd not seen it, but at this point @Ryker was the only one giving her any kind of information. A small short escaped her as she thought of the Savante, with all their high and mighty attitudes coming and living peacefully in the bluffs. Bold Text hereAre the Savante known through Amaryllis now? She asked softly, they'd been here for a short time and if so many people didn't like them, maybe there was a reason for that. Maybe , just maybe, though they'd be blinded to it, they weren't the good guys they tried to be.

Dragos was always never thinking about his actions and trying to prove himself and those two things rarely ever got him the effect he wanted, though she couldn't blame him, or hate him for it. Her head shook a little though, as if for a moment she couldn't believe it, Bold Text hereA child? She knew the parents in question, well not knew them, but they were in the same pride, so she'd seen the parents and their children about. Bold Text hereThat child must have been what, three months when I first joined? The challenge happened right after or around that time.. Her eyebrows furrowed, her heart pulling, she didn't even have cubs yet, but the maternal instincts that had buried themselves in thousands of years ancestors stirred.

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Shoulders lifted in a shrug, "I dunno, but they made a real bad first enemy." They were at least known through the bluffs, but his social circle was a bit limited since the desert itself had turned against him. "I dunno if they thought they could just settle right in without a fuss, make or take a place of their own, or whatever, but Amaryllis is a land full to bursting with arrogant types who all think their family is the best - the strongest, the most right about everything." Savante, Dieudonné, Miroslav, those were the ones he'd dealt with personally, but he knew of others just from living in the lands so long. "But y'know blood family's not a choice, you can't help if your relatives are all assholes." And plenty went out and cobbled together their own new, better, families, anyway. Hell, maybe this was more of an opportunity than a punishment for her, in the long run.

He made a sort of noncommittal hum at the guess made toward the cub's age, "Couldn't say, I'm no good at judging cub ages, but he couldn't have been very old." Probably born shortly before the sandstorm and all that, but Ryker couldn't guess. He barely kept up with the cubs while he was in a pride beyond noting there were new tiny terrors to get underfoot. "I'm pretty confident Dragos might have died that day if he'd made good on his threat." There was a lot that had happened in the span of that challenge that could have gone differently, or not happened at all, if Alexander had found the patience or intelligence to just research his intended opponent a little. Ryker, personally, had delighted in seeing the wrath of the bluffs on display, because he liked the lions who lived there, and he liked Vermier despite the man's oddities and broken English, and he'd still been pretty annoyed at Alexander at the time.

@Levana

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