"He's targeting my pride. Targeting my family over a hurt ego." Cassandra said with a huff as she spoke. That's definitely what it felt like. It felt like that bastard was purposefully targeting her family just because he had a bruised ego from getting beaten by a female. A dark ear pushed back as she spoke, annoyance clouding her tone as she spoke. Her comment of strong women like Amara and Morrigan was not unnoticed by her mother, and she couldn't help the warm flush that spread over her face as her mother made sure she was among those strong women within the land. She never wanted to brag about her own abilities, but she knew she came from strong bloodlines. "I have the power of family and bloodlines behind me to back me up." She said with a smile to @Talisa.

"Big men with secret soft sides? I can definitely understand that one." Cassandra said with a chuckle. Myrkvi might not have been as large as some of the men in this land, but she loved the soft side that he showed her and their children when they were alone. It was sweet. Her ears would perk up as Talisa went to answer her question as to how she was. An eyebrow raised as her mother took a pause before speaking on being glad that Morrigan was alive. "I wasn't at the challenge - hay exactly happened? I've not come across anyone to tell me what happened yet." She asked, curious as to what had happened for Talisa to be grateful that her darker half was still alive. Her mother's fears were warranted though - and if she knew how her daughter had been fighting she'd probably be afraid for her daughter in the same way too... "I know - I don't want to lose mummy like that either. But it's the way she - we - are. We fight to protect those we love. Even if it's at the cost of our own lives..." She said softly, curling her tail around her hindquarters as she spoke.

She feared the day that she herself came to a situation like that. Where it came down to her life over another's.

actions. "speech."

Art by Rabbit | Table Code by Zodiac

Talisa would have liked to give a big middle finger to the generic whole of the male population and yet, she knew better. There were so many great and wonderful men that could be strong and powerful but for the right reasons. Males that could truly show their strength in other males rather than to (presumably) attack a pride and its members simply because they could. Talisa could not read the male's mind and know his reasons but for now, she could not imagine he had any good reason to truly do so.

Yet, she chose to listen and stay sympathetic to @Cassandra's situation because it was terrible no matter which way she looked at. That meant that there was truly nothing she could other than be present for her daughter as her mind tried to figure out why he had chosen her, out of everyone else. And you always will. For that was what family was for. To be there when you needed it most and to call upon your family, living or dead, when you need support in any form. No matter what, Cassandra and all her siblings would forever be guarded. That was a comfort that Talisa was glad to embrace.

Indeed. I suppose that's a trait that runs in the family. Attracted to all the men that are strong, powerful but also are gentle and kind and fatherly to their core when it came to those they loved. Talisa continuously seemed to find those who held such a different path prior to coming here, prior to being with her. She never sought to change any of them from who they were but it certainly gave them a moment or two to shine.

As for the challenge, well. You may want to sit, for if she knew her daughter well enough then she was certainly going to be all the more irritated by men and the things that they thought they could take. Morrigan fought off a Rike that came for the Summit. She was ruthless, of course, and fought .. as she does. Talisa's inhale was deep for she was no fighter but she did love to see her wife battle for the things that were theirs. To show ownership and to show why they continually ruled where they did. When the battle was over and the male fell to the ground, Morrigan heaved him over the side of the cliff. Because that was what they did now and to be honest, Talisa didn't give a single fuck if they lived or died. That's what they get for trying to come for them.

Fernweh, a daughter of Avaneira, had been living in the Summit with us and I suppose unknowingly wed a Rike and became pregnant with his children. The news was brought to us and Morrigan decided and kind of her but mostly Morrigan, that he would stay in the Summit to raise the children but he would stay as a Prisoner until we could see that who, exactly, he was. Again, a mighty inhale as her gaze turned to the sky as she collected herself mentally and emotionally as the memory caused her heart to fog and shrink.

When he saw his kin be thrown from the mountainside, he attacked Morrigan. His jaws were tight around her throat... she breathed, raspy and dark while her eyes got watery with her own pain, he nearly killed her. He would have -- maybe he thought he did -- and he fled; leaving her unable to talk. Everything from there had been difficult and she had hated every second of it. She still hated it and wished the man dead. Their discussions carried on and she addressed as much of the scenario that she could while gritting her teeth. An effort to not show just how angry and dark that she had become since then. Dreading that side of her reaching any point larger than it already had. exit via talking

^{ART BY CUSH, CODE BY CALA}