Passing through along the way to the southern mountains, she had only been passing by when she had heard the call. Casually moving along the outskirts of the mountainous region before locating the fight. Just barely arriving in time to see someone attack someone else -- vaguely remembering the dark figure attacking -- before she settled in to disguise herself amongst the dying, oak-white plants of the land. Seeking the bodies out as she could see the attacker going in for a wild leap with jaws open and ready to play. All she knew was the Hollows were allies to the Bluffs but anything more than that was nothing short of air in the wind.

laerra is hiding
+10 - remain undetected in a large thread (5+ characters)
+10 - sneak into a pride or group without getting caught
+5 - Observe a fight

^{ART BY CUSH, CODE BY CALA}

He didn't know the challenger, didn't know the incumbent, and didn't care. He did know that not caring about things like this made him Cool As Fuck, which he did care about but just a little though.

Cool as fuck, the most handsome cat of chiseled steel, Aurochs arrived to a distinct lack of wailing maidens and clashing dragons. There was 1) one maiden who'd just tossed an insult to a male who didn't even bother to fight back or reply in English, and just then that male got into 1 (one) fight. He wondered if there was shit between the mud pride and the dust pride. Everyone had shit with everyone... guess he'd find out.

Shoulders bolstered, head high, he looked around again with disheveled bravado. Steps slowed. Finally, with nowhere else to go except between two stinking males (and, nope), he stopped and looked around. No twitching. His paws were set wide and square. He was the most handsome knight on this block but most of the females looked too assured, either frothing like the males or cold and quiet. He'd take the former over the latter - but trying to interrupt their wrath with a little flirty flirt would probably get him smacked by a possessive mate.

Now that his player had written all this and scouted the thread for unattended and Aurochs-appropriate females, Aurochs looked around for an unattended female and found one. Actually two. Close together and looking related in desert colors, one his size @Ember and one so tiny he just wanted to squeeze her little cheeks @Sedona. Aurochs jolted a little upon noticing them, and sallied over all smooth-like to aim to place himself in the space between them. "Pride challenges can be dangerous. You ladies better stick by me." He looked back and forth, forth and back, trying to look stern but suppressing a little grin.

+5 Witness drama between prides
+5 Get into some mischief
+5 Protect a rogue from danger

Ears perked forward when she'd felt the wind shift and the sounds of battle roared in her ear, the girl stood up from her lying position, swollen stomach slowing her down as she gently chuffs for @Ryker, atleast letting him know she was heading out. Maybe not the smartest idea with her pregnancy progressing as it was, she was bigger each day, but that hadn't stopped her yet.

The sovereign slips into the hollow, and finds those responsible for the noises, Alexander was challenging Vermier, her thoughts went back to Rykers explantation as to what had caused the tension between the bluffs and the Savante. Will thy never learn? She sits back on her haunches and watches, forest green eyes dark with a amalgamation of emotions. Her tail idly flips and twitches in the ground, her anxiety tenfold.

For some reason her stone-cold, unwarranted expression gives a stranger the inclination that she was friendly. This alone was enough to cause her eyes to trail over the excessively tiny @Sedona. No words were spoken by the tiny sand-colored cat which caused her to feel a little less betrayed by her own outward reflection but nevertheless, she tried to offer a smile back. That was until something else decided to get even closer to her by putting himself into what was a hardly bearable distance from Sedona to an entirely unbearable space between herself and a male stranger.

How very chivalrous of you. She comments dryly, her eyes half-lidded as her head was turned to look at @Aurochs. Curious as to how the other female now felt to have some half-brained moron sitting even closer to her, too. Ember wasn't very good at company and this was right up in that alley. Especially when it came to folks who thought that she needed protection.

^{ART BY LARS, CODE BY CALA}

Of course, the arena was not empty for long. Sedona sat at the outskirts of the pride in wait, ignoring the subtle tension of having a stranger at her side. At least she was tall – perhaps it would be enough to ward off any nefarious folks. Her attention was pulled away from the bickering before her by the sudden presence of another, his voice echoing out decisively. The tiny lioness stared as another giant joined them (why were Amaryllis lions so large?!), this one daring to place the bulk of his frame squarely in between them. Irritation simmered in her chest as she leaned forward subconsciously, trying to follow the lioness' gaze so it could not tear from her. That scowl was hard to miss.

"Aww, is this your first one?" She cooed to their new companion, each syllable dripping with potent, patronizing fervor. "Don't worry, you can close your eyes for the scary parts." Purposefully, she rose to her tiny paws and made a show of relocating herself from one of the man's sides to the other, attempting to shove her way in between the pair of them as a deliberate barrier. Sedona attempted to press stubbornly at the woman's flank, her nerves alight at the sensation of their pelts brushing and at how potent her scent was now – sea salt and pine like a shaded island grove. Evidently, a mean-mug did little to deter her.

---

@Aurochs @Ember
+5 - Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds

image by moogle/code by saph

Should she have stayed home? Yes. Was this a stupid idea? Also yes. But she couldn't remain at home, especially not when she both heard the challenge ring out and found her daughter's scent leaving the pride shortly after. Not wanting to risk losing her daughter, Cassandra followed after her yearling daughter's scent trail towards the challenge. If she was being honest, she would not mind seeing the hollows fall. It was an enemy of the Brook by proxy, since the lion leading it had stolen a member of her mother's own pride.

She saw lots of lions moving past the border marks, but saw her daughter's jet black frame staying just outside the border. Smart girl. Cassandra thought to herself before coming up alongside her daughter's side. She aimed to come up on @Analía's side that still had sight, so as to not startle her daughter. "Do you know the lion that seeks to take the crown from Vermier?" She asked softly, for her daughter's ears only, sitting down next to Analía, making sure she was clearly outside the borders. She was there to help protect her daughter from any who sought to attack her for simply existing there, and despite her injuries, she would protect her children and family until her last breath.

---

OOC Note: Please reach out before instigating a fight with her to make sure its okay - I'm not looking for a fight at the moment.

actions. "speech."

Art & Table code by Zodiac

Mum.. she said as @Cassandra came into view as the mother sat down beside her inkjet child with ease. Ana on the other hand was not so pleased to see her injured and healing mother come so far. You should be at home... resting. After all, she had fought long and hard to protect Vermeda and should be there with the young ones, healing and caring for them while also looking after herself. Surely father was there to aid in the cubs and any of her own littermates but her thoughts remained clear.

Though, she did answer her mother because it was respectful seeing as she had come this far anyways. I don't. I don't know either. Thought it would be good to know what happens here. The Hollows had never been one way or another with Vermeda so Ana thought it was safe to assume that things just weren't laid clear either way. The male didn't smell like any pride she was astutely familiar with (yet) and thus couldn't make out where he belonged. The best she could get was that maybe the smelled a little sand-ridden and like its fur was singed from afternoon heat but it was certainly too new of a scent to be able to place him specifically. Not when there were so many other lions present.

At least she could see that the two fighters were making use of their offense and defense, claws scraping against faces and a shoulder or two. Wounds that she could easily treat but hadn't the slightest idea as to if she even could without crossing a line. So she was mostly here for her own personal medical training so that she could make guesses -- knowing she could use some oil palm but that it would be a hasty trek to get to it.

+5 - observe and study a new scent
+5 - observe a challenge and learn the results
+5 - attend a challenge to assess the wounds

^{ART BY RABBIT, CODE BY CALA}

Aurochs sensed that his presence was not yet welcome, but he could fix that. The larger lioness @Ember, who he hadn't looked at very much beyond her body, seemed to be the cold and dry sort. Also something he could fix. He didn't miss the lack of interest in her tone, and flinched an ear as though to say unfair!, but pressed on. As though the cool confident thing that he was would turn tail at a gentle rebuff. "Well, I don't know what you mean, but thank you." And dipped his head slightly. Aurochs had never been anywhere that "chivalry" had been a thing. Didn't know the word, didn't know the meaning, did have some sense that acting brave and talking tough was the thing to do.

Also? The other female? The smaller one? He hadn't noticed her interest in @Ember but did very much notice how she shifted around to become closer to him. Sure she was closer to Ember too, but, was he not the man around here? He was. And they were probably sisters or something. Score one, score the other? And this one was spicy. He grinned back, a bit relieved actually to be speaking to this one @Sedona rather than the cold one. Insults you didn't mean were absolutely his flirting language. "Pffft, I've been to like ten of 'em! They tear each other up real good, them fighters and the watchers, but nobody ever comes near me." This was likely because of his insignificance in the island's political landscape but he would let them believe it was due to his size. "One of those times, in this very place, I saw this old geezer get ripped apart! Like damn I thought I had little respect for my elders? It was totally gruesome, metal. as. fuck. Absolute overkill. Maximum carnage. Like, brain fluids, and shredded eyeballs, like you could dip a hoof in his brain matter and scoop it out like salsa." He nodded. It had gone exactly like that. Or not exactly, but, this was the cooler way it sounded. "So I don't want to see you ladies get salsa-fied or anything." aka justification for why he was remaining Right. Here.

+5 Get into some mischief
+5 Protect a rogue from danger

+10 Cast a curse or blessing on a character/group

+5 Observe a fight (Alexander vs. Vermier)

Where the Savante went, so too did the Katona. Therefore, so too went Dmitri. He hadn't been present for the previous disaster that had been the Hollow match, but he would be here for the rematch.

The tiger had no qualms about wandering onto the pride's territory, considering Alexander had already done so, and he lingered on the outskirts of the gathering to keep an eye on those who approached. At the first sign of danger to Alexander (like someone deciding to take him by surprise in his match) or to any of the other Savante if they should arrive.

Let the Mother watch over Alexander today. Guide his teeth and claws. Let him strike true, he murmured in Hungarian, keeping his gaze fixed upon the battle but his ears on a swivel for the sound of approach.

art by era, code by corvus

Thankfully the other girl seemed to be just as peeved at the male joining them as she was. Confused and frustrated that she couldn't just be left alone like she usually always was. At @Sedona's quips to the unsuspecting brute her mouth moved just for a fraction into a smile, humored by her own jokes that landed to the ears of this strange dude. @Aurochs was either incredibly uneducated or playing the role of a fool in not knowing what chivalry was so perhaps he was still just a horned up old dog from his teen years. Either way, Ember was still unhappy and quite uncomfortable.

The lioness decided to move herself once more and attempted to weave in between her and the dude which was both nice and aggravating in the same length. Frustrated now that she was having to move more of her body to weasel in her own. Despite how small she was, she still took up space. Ember shuffled awkwardly to her left away from the two. Making room for Sedona as their fur tangled briefly with each others while also wanting very much so to get herself out of this strange and uncomfortable web.

The male seemed to latch onto the other lioness and began making some long-winded story about the glory of a battle he had seen. But nobody ever comes near me... she heard him say and bitterly thought to add that was probably because no one wanted to be near him. Like how she felt right now to be swallowed up by chatty kathy over here. Ember instead decided that she shouldn't say or do anything more than just sit there.

^{ART BY LARS, CODE BY CALA}