don't say it's love!
your fragile heart feeds my contempt

Perhaps it was not the best time to be complimenting her, but he had no idea the things that would follow. Still, she presses into him and he is happy for the contact. Harsh words fill the air, clear as day as @Alaric threatens the Summit Heiress. The hair along his back raises, lips quivering and peeling back in silent warning.

Morrigan, the woman he had met before, was defeated in battle and her throat in the jaws of another. His heart sinks, vividly aware of how this might affect Isla moving forward. In fact, it immediately did. The Heiress moves toward the Summit leader, calling out to her like a child. The pain in her voice was thick in the air and it made Alexander's throat tighten with awareness.

Following tentatively after the woman, he keeps back a bit, but as Isla attempts to hoist Morrigan up, he steps in, attempting to stop her. Before he can, the woman collapses and flutters into a deep unconsciousness.

A flurry of movement catches his attention as the fight with Celestia comes to a close, but the Savante woman does not see him and immediately moves to leave - having clearly made her mark. He would need to check up on her soon, see to it that those wounds she received were healed.

He knows that others from his family were here as well, his son, his Aunt and Csitri. Yet all he could focus on right now was Isla. Quietly, patiently he waits for Morrigan to be taken, removed from the Heiress by others and to a safe location.

Blue eyes settle on his Heiress and he moves to try and pull her onto his back. The Savante had no idea where her den was, but he would attempt to follow the familiarity of her scent to whichever one was closest.

/exit Alexander with Isla?

postscript by aurora & lyrics by kamelot

His mirth was not matched, but when had it ever been? It took a moment for the prince to realize that his companion did not share his amusement at the situation – that same light did not glitter in his eyes. Bruno quirked a brow as he continued to watch the scene unfold, finding that no words came then. There was only brutality – only violence and betrayal that he could not quite comprehend. His heart thrumming rhythmically, Bruno furrowed his brows with disgruntlement as he watched Tai make a hasty getaway from the scene. Perhaps it should not have come as a shock that the berry-pelted lion was eager to be away from him. Perhaps he should not have felt a deflation at his departure.

Craning his neck, the prince caught another glimpse of his father, though the king seemed to be fretting over a fallen Ecrosian. Wordlessly, Bruno lifted himself to his paws and trotted over to the small grouping to stand in wait. He would offer whatever muscle they required.

---

-exit- @Alaric

code by corvus | image by moogle

WE'RE BORN INTO THE GRAVE

His time in Illyria is - hardly disappointedly - cut short as Keligan breaks away to failure; bloodied, bruised, Gauthier matches his eyes briefly before the successor finds him. Oddly jovial for greeting a trespasser, the heathen king raised his chin as he was ushered to leave, though it isn't a too arguable command. The trek alone was a long one, and the thinning numbers of beaten allies proved that the Summit could well hold its own against one more meager fight. All for naught, though he is a violent creature by heart and hunger, he is not entirely foolish.

Callous, Gauthier's eyes passed over the colossal brute coldly and on to family and pride caught in their grievous ties. He turned the direction Keligan had gone, but stayed long enough to watch his sister slip beside her husband (curiously calling for Alaric) and Morrigan fall to the familiar might of Andras. Too much threaded through the eye of madness - his head spins, the noises blending into one great cacophonous drone, unable to separate one voice from the next. He lunged toward his sister, but bodies fill the gap between.

Before he could drop slope for slope, he hears the bitter sound of beaten bone and flesh, the jeering of @Valaine's opponent and watches the slump of her silhouette against the wintry backdrop. Keen not to draw too much more attention, he swiftly made his way to her side and collected her best as he can, attempting to wake her just enough that he could carry her back to the Cove as a crutch.

exit w/ Valaine.

there's a beautiful storm in your eyes

it was only a matter of time before those who sought to make what was that of his family their own would try again, it was the way of the land. who could even blame them? aside from all its grandeur, the summit was a prime location of defense in which to shelter a pride at. atop their towering perch the greyfloods looked down on all of amaryllis, alert to any and every soul who dared trod up the dangerously narrow mountain paths to meet them. as the startling call for a challenge echoed throughout the land, the princeling stood from where he sat and sprung to action towards the very source of the call. unfortunately, the last time some would be usurper tried his hand at taking what was theirs, lützel hadn’t been able to be there to witness his mother’s victory, so he dared not miss this chance for the world.

as he headed towards his destination, the young greyflood’s heart beat not with worry but strangely, excitement. raised on the exploits of morrigan’s martial ability, the possibility of his mother taking a loss and his family losing their home hadn’t dawned on him; instead a chance at unleashing brutal justice upon the enemy and forging glory of his own was what filled his naive mind. having arrived just in time to not miss the most glorious segments of this occasion, lützel for his very first time witnessed the unbridled brutality of war with his own two eyes and he could not help but laugh. the insanity of it all proved disorienting, so humor, when surrounded by insanity, was what the boy would hang on to. a cheshire smile remained plastered to his face at the sight of the ferocity his kin were capable of, "back down the mountain they go!" judging off the thick swamp smell that wafted about polluting the pristine alpine air, the mire had failed in their plots once more. as expected things had been going to plan, until they weren’t of course.

the next span of events seemed to happen all in a blur, betrayal at the very hands of the rike prisoner his mother had saw fit to show mercy to for the sake of cousin fernweh’s love, resulted in his mother’s motionless frame now resting on the cold hard terrain. the gleeful look that donned his face had long been replaced with one of shock, and shortly after, anger. he would have done some screaming of his own but isla and talisa’s bloodcurdling screams served enough, instead he pushed himself through the sea of bodies surrounding him in pursuit of his queen mother’s assailant, but to no avail as the traitor had already put in quite the distance. taking note of his enraged mutti’s command, lützel scanned his immediate surroundings for a target with vengeance in mind. it was then the familiar frame of his brother, @Virgil, would be sighted surrounded by what looked to be the enemy. inching closer with concern for his kin, the smell of the mire that coated a couple of the lions amongst the group agitated him.

"bruder!" notifying the gathered group of his presence, he would proceed speaking once eyes was on him, "that’s the enemy you’re next to!" surely it was something his brother should’ve been aware of but lützel put nothing past virgil’s capability for foolishness. with his eyes fixated on who looked to be the biggest threat, lützel shifted to a stance of battle whilst proceeding forwards; "move along lest you take the same…tumble your comrades have." filled with bile and angst at the sequence of events that played out today, lützel would also engage in a foolish act of his own and explode towards the gathered group at full speed with no context as to what exactly was going on. seeing no opening he could possibly squeeze through between the various frames surrounding his target; the young lion took to the air with a leap above whosoever stood in front of him in a reckless attempt to slam into alaric with the little momentum he had managed to acquire.

@Lützel vs @Alaric
for gtfo!/dominance
round i / iii
hits:

Rolling 2d20: 12 + 19

dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 10 + 2 + 13 + 16

luck:

Rolling 5d20: 8 + 5 + 10 + 20 + 19

He was not the only one to continue throwing bodies off the Summit cliffs. Isla had followed suit with the red lioness Adalwolf had sought to protect and he'd noted the missing tail from her as she fell. Though Morrigan kept the Summit within her hold, she did not win the second fight no one had anticipated. Isla kicked out Fernweh in a fury and he could only guess that she and the pale lion who had attacked his wife's mother were related in some form. The rest of those here had things handled as Talisa raised her voice for the first time he could recall banishing the unwelcome. He would spot his crimson daughter Eisa, who he would follow after to join the quest to check on Morrigan before returning home.

/exit

ART BY MOGGLE - CODE BY LARS

i'm ready for the fight, and fate

@Arachnae did not even have a chance to answer before a sudden movement caught his eye. alaric was, as ever, on guard -- in enemy land, with a wounded pridemate -- so the boy does not catch him unaware. he shifts his bulk towards the attacker, ears flattened back against his head and frustration clear in his eyes.

"stand down little boy," he snarled in response, more annoyed than anything that his attention was being taken by such an unworthy opponent.

ah but the child would not stand down. instead he'd make the vastly foolish attempt to leap over? somebody to get at the wheat king. rather than go around. so strange was the sight that alaric watched, amusement replacing the frustration for a moment or two.

he does not bother to move out of the way, absorbing the impact of the boy with his chest. whatever bruising would result from the hit was irrelevant now, he pays no mind to the pain that blossoms from the point of collision. he does lift a heavy paw and attempt to sling it over the yearlings shoulders, to press him down to the ground and put an end to this ridiculous fight. "i said stand DOWN" his words were accompanied with a warning snap of teeth, willing to shed blood if he needed to get his point across. but he'd rather not rough up the kid if he didn't have to.


alaric vs. @Lützel
for pesky little bug (dominance)
round i / iii
hits:

Rolling 9d20: 13 + 19 + 1 + 4 + 10 + 6 + 11 + 17 + 18

dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 13 + 12 + 19 + 17

luck:

Rolling 5d20: 6 + 12 + 8 + 17 + 16

image by cloudy, code by corvus

And it'sx my whole heart, xxweighed and m e a s u r e d xxxxxxxxxxx i n s i d e And it's an old scar, trying to bleach it out

Chaos, chaos everywhere- the roaring and snarling and slamming of bodies all around made it hard for the witch to focus on the mire king as he spoke to her, his own words frantic enough that she would waste no time beginning to look @Rusalka over. She gingerly ran her paw over the girl, stepping back as she opened her eyes and lifted her head, coughing and spitting blood onto the ground. She proclaimed needing help, and the Arachnae would waste no time moving forward again.

@Solanum would give her apologies for not being able to help, quickly claiming the girl couldn't be moved far and the witch would nod her head in concurrence, feeling awful dents and malformation in the Rike child's side. Though, before she could even answer @Alaric, another wolf child would leap over her and engage with the much older, far more experienced king. She would huff angrily, their time far too strained to deal with this. Bodies flew from the cliffs, her queen screamed for all who did not belong to vacate form their lands. They had no more time, she had to help her, get her out of here now.

She turned to @Virgil, the prince asking how he could help and witch fully willing to use her colossal friend's aide. Her ribs are broken, a trek back down the mountain could puncture her lungs, it's just not possible. She will have to remain here, and as Noble of Illyria, I will take the fall if bringing her into our home results in trouble. She stated. She didn't want the boy to get into trouble with his mothers- one of which fell to the ground unconscious, their heiress screaming for someone to do something. Too much was happening, they had to get out of here, now- she had to start healing the injured; this girl, their sovereign. Help me take her to the healers den, I need to get her taken care of soon at possible. Don't apply any pressure to this side. She stated, pointing to the side she had fallen on and cracked her ribs.

who's a heretic now?

code by loki - art by Aurora

there's a beautiful storm in your eyes

the princeling had at the least managed to make contact with his target, although, it perhaps didn’t go as he had initially planned it to go. the way lützel had pictured it had been that upon contact, he’d have swept the ecrosia lion’s paws up off the ground and sent him tumbling down under the meager amount of weight he had to work with. now of course he had took note of the fact that the individual before him happened to be a much larger and more dense lion than himself. accounting for that, lützel had made sure to give himself an explosive running start, barreling toward his opponent at full speed in an effort to use whatever momentum gained to his advantage. having been all for naught, it seemed the brunt of the impact had affected the princeling to a larger degree upon collision; he’d wince whilst alaric stayed stoic.

instead of knocking his opponent on his back as he’s hoped, lützel would end up being the one pinned to the floor. the older lion’s hulking paw managing to place and keep him down in a crouched position. had he been any other youth, perhaps he’d have heeded such warning and recognized he was way in over his head, his opponent clearly being the better combatant. instead it served to further enrage the stubborn boy, his feelings towards the ecrosian lion practically being engraved on his face; who are you look down on me bastard? since birth, having been born the runt of his litter, lützel didn’t take kindly to being manhandled or being called little as a matter of fact, by either his siblings or much less, strangers.

"Ich zeige dir einen kleinen Jungen, alter Mann!" soon as alaric snapped his teeth to caution him of what was coming next; lützel defiantly raised his left front limb, the one not hampered in movement by the massive paw on his shoulder, to reach for his enemy’s cheek with unsheathed claws in an attempt to serve him a sharp slap. the boy’s neck also shifted to the right, towards the domineering paw holding him captive with his mouth agape in an attempt to hook his incisors to his enemy’s wrist. betting on his opponent recoiling, whether it be through a reaction to pain or an effort to dodge the pain, the rest of lützel’s limbs would push up and forwards in an effort to stand erect and get the weight of alaric’s paw off his shoulder.

@Lützel vs @Alaric
for gtfo!/dominance
round ii / iii
hits:

Rolling 2d20: 18 + 19

dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 9 + 13 + 20 + 18

luck:

Rolling 5d20: 14 + 19 + 16 + 11 + 20

Shit, she ripped through his left ear leaving it torn and bleeding. Still, he could have lost so much more. Claws were still out ready to keep going until she retreated from the fight. He had half a mind to follow, but decided it was better to see if any of his fellows were injured. Yellow eyes landed on the form of @Rusalka and he frowned. Approaching the gathering group, he was still tense while they were deciding how to move her. A youth went after Alaric causing Livyatan to snarl, he wouldn't interfere, but he turned to the group mulling things over. "Let's go. I'll cover your back," he instructed firmly. This was not the best place to mull things over.



exit Livyatan is guarding Rusalka and partys retreat?

ART BY IRISH / CODING BY SENTINEL

@Virgil @Alaric @Arachnae

i'm ready for the fight, and fate

Annoyance flares as the boy ignored all of his warnings. Claws slash towards his face and the king jerks his head away from them; they scrape shallow wounds in to his flesh that earn a hiss from between his teeth.

Alaric attempts to keep his paw slung over the boy, putting more weight in to the limb. Unsheathing his claws, now, in a further attempt to convince the boy to abandon his efforts. He pays little mind to the teeth that sink in to his leg, though he does respond.

Alaric dives down, opening his jaws and attempting to sink his teeth in to the bridge of the yearlings nose, seeking to deter him from his foolish attack. Attempting to bite down on his muzzle and pull it away from his leg. He shifts slightly to maintain his balance, keeping his focus on stopping the boy rather than causing him any significant or lasting damage.

alaric vs. @Lützel
for pesky little bug (dominance)
round ii / iii
hits:

Rolling 9d20: 16 + 8 + 7 + 17 + 1 + 11 + 6 + 18 + 13

dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 20 + 17 + 8 + 15

luck:

Rolling 5d20: 14 + 4 + 5 + 7 + 8

image by cloudy, code by corvus