Some of Khal's carefully dressed wounds had reopened on his sprint here, noting the disturbing absence of Aquila as he crossed the borders. It was only the promise that the usurper would not keep prisoners that stilled the Valour man's resolve in the moment. The damage was done, he tried to soothe himself, focus on getting them all to safety. Khal had truthfully had two paws out of Vermeda for some time, but his loyalty to his kin was unshakable. He heard @Amara make her promise of an escort, not something he had expected but welcomed nonetheless.

To @Lachesis he would turn silver-streaked purple gaze before speaking, "I will leave as soon as I can escort both my nieces out of the Brook. There is nothing for me here," as he had no beliefs that Voluspa would remain behind under anyone other than those she had loyalty to. He finished speak as he came to stand by @Analía, claws flexing into the earth as he noted just how brutal the Lorien King was. Silver light lit his gaze but there was nothing to be done for this vengeance right now. Not when he still needed to get @Freyja safely to the Summit.

coding by flea & image by yumpy

Aquila had taken so much onto his shoulders lately, that Castus was not surprised he hadn't seen his stepfather lately. So when a challenge rang out underanswered Castus moved on the cusp of the group. Venomous green eyes watching everyone speak and bicker, noting the fights and he found himself uncaring. Without his family here, there was nothing for him. Doing a once over of the crowd the grey lion shook his head a bit allowing the feathers in his mane to dance a bit. Castus made for the borders of Vermeda, his gut twisting in discomfort at the idea of losing his once peaceful home. He silently prayed at the borders that chaos would reign and rip every future king asunder. Until a truly peaceful being wished to ascend the throne.


Enter & Exit, castus has left the Brook

ooc

Bronx was uneasy, a challenge had been made for the Brook and by the sounds of it no one had responded. The golden maned lion gave his children strict instructions to remain in the den while they checked it out. He assumed @Seraphiel was not far behind him.Arriving he noted @Amara but he no longer felt fear or anger, they were too damn old for that were they not? A thin frown crossed his maw before he addressed the new king (@Lachesis) "My family and I have no interest in remaining here. We will collect ourselves and see ourselves out," he announced firmly a stoic expression on his usually kind face. It was hard to not be sad about this, he made a mental note to find Caligula later if he could. Right now he was turning to go to the den to collect their cubs and leave.



exit

Curiosity gets the better of him, and so he comes to see this challenge for the Brook - only to arrive to a lack of battle. Instead, the challenger claims the land without a fight. The man who ruled does not come.

Scorpius lingers in the shadows, not exactly hiding, but staying back. He’s tall enough to see the gathering without needing to press inward anyway.

“I am Lachesis Peitho -” the newly crowned lion announces.

Scorpius doesn’t hear another word.

Peitho.

Her.

Scorpius does not move, but it feels as if the earth had fallen out from under him. Had he truly thought he would escape that twisted side of his blood? And now one stands, king without drawing blood. His lips pull back in a silent, frustrated - but utterly impotent - snarl.

Léonie Miroslav

 

She recognized that voice — @Lachesis, her weird uncle. The dark imp had not seen him for a while following their one and only interaction, so she’d assumed he’d disappeared. On the contrary, it seemed he’d been rather busy. Léonie followed Scorpius’ trail, and quickly found him in a dissolving crowd. “I met him once,” she murmured in such a way to keep others from eavesdropping — not that anyone was really close enough to. “He’s not fond of her. Called her a cowardly liar, capable of only hurting,” she revealed to @Scorpius. Léonie could sense the tension in her brother, but she hoped a little mutual hatred between an uncle and his sister’s scorned children might improve his mood, if such a feat was even possible.

artwork • coding

all of my devotion turns violent

Normally, Nike would have bypassed any challenges in a new land. There were too many lions gathered, too many questions that could be asked with no answer for her to give.

This one felt different, sounded different, and her curiosity got the better of her before she could convince herself not to. Maybe this time he would be there. Maybe this time she wasn't just chasing the footprints he left behind. But the voice that floated on the wind towards her was true.

It had been so long since she last heard it that she was ready to convince herself that she was still sleeping. But she knew his voice better than she knew her own at this point, hearing it endlessly in your dreams nightmares will do that to you, and she pressed on with surety in her heart.

She pressed herself into the crowd, the gathering faces around the newly crowned King. She did not say a word. She did not look at anyone else, did not search their faces for anything familiar, any threats. She was focused on him, and him alone. @Lachesis

When she was sure she caught his eye, she smiled. Slowly. Sweetly.

And then, as quickly as she had come, she turned and disappeared into the fronds surrounding the Brook.

Until we meet again.

-enter and exit nike-

For once, he was... tired. Indescribably tired. Tired of the constant calls for the pride he was living in, the fights that occurred that he hadn't started but that somehow was dragged into repeatedly. He knew if he remained here, even if Aquila won, it would continue. Though it seemed Aquila had disappeared, or was otherwise uninclined to answer the man's call. Perhaps he too was tired.

@Bronx was ahead of him as he lagged behind, not out of an intention to have his mate go first but because he was just... tired. Not to mention injured. So he didn't even bother to fully enter the area where Lachesis had called for the battle as he heard Bronx comment that they were leaving. He would've said the exact same thing, honestly.

He immediately turned, waiting for Bronx to join him as they walked back to the den. I'm tired, my love, he admitted softly. He didn't know where they were going to go now, but he wanted it to be somewhere quiet.

-exit Seraphiel-

art (c) sammiie

The truth was, she didn't know what was going on. The spirits were oddly quiet on the matter, like some great tragedy had befallen their realm as well as the Brook, and a hush had fallen over them. So she was, for once, without their constant chatter when the call rang out, making the following silence all the more deafening. Where was Aquila? She didn't know, but it meant the Brook was without any of its leadership.

Well, she certainly wasn't going to stick around. She didn't know where she would go (the Summit was the most logical place, but she'd never liked the cold and she would stick out like a sore thumb) but it was going to be somewhere that wasn't here. Perhaps she would consider returning to the Mire, to her family's ancestral land. She was still incredibly angry that someone had dared to take it from them, of course. Maybe she wouldn't go there seeking to join, but as a one-woman army.

Still, she had plenty of time to think about it, she decided as she walked away from the gathering she'd stood only on the outskirts of and only briefly, passing over the borders to the lands beyond.

-exit heloise-

Helah was forever a creature of chaos and insanity- but she was also a sponge for information, and her disastrous mind soaked up all the information displayed before her. Amara's comment about the male stealing cubs, did little to deter Helah's interest in him. Could she give him one of hers? Then, the Queen spoke, as no one contested for the pride- and she almost wished... she had come for this one to win a throne so easily. Yet, her body ached to feel the claws and teeth of another buried in her flesh. Win or lose, she would feel the sweet ache of battle, the feeling of her flesh tearing and shearing under claws. She craved that.

She looks to the male, offering him a small coy, almost flirty smile as Amara finishes speaking- volunteering her for an act of charity. She would linger, along with the Queen for the battle to finish between Aeistrios and the cub, with little interest to involve herself- and instead, she'd enjoy watching the plum male fight. Maybe she should invite him over to put her cubs through their paces?

Yet, silent as a wraith- she remains, waiting for Amara's cue to take her leave-- apparently to the Summit.

ART BY YUMPY, CODE BY LARS

Monster.

It was a common name thrown at his surname. The Saxe, always glorious for their crimes; their darkness. Hearing it protrayed to him... shifted something. He had thought he felt it come alight in the raid on the Brook soil, felt the gripping claws of madness tugging at him. Tempting him... and now it pulled harder. As if a leash was around his neck, dragging him to the destination that was to become his life.

Monster.

He smiled. The expression faint as his jaws were full, but the corners of his lips had lifted. Anyone viewing could see, could assume, his smile meant he enjoyed this. What else was a monster to do?

She moved in his grasp, a lot. It didn't take too long after her loud scream to be dropped, his damage dealt as she swung her forelimbs out. Her claws hook and tore different parts of his body; his chest, his shoulder, his lower neck - all bled with lacerations given from her in the wake of her struggle. Aeistrios could not use his claws on her, for he hadn't mastered his new struggle of balance; and so he dives his head forward one last time, attempting to snap at her harshly; fangs a beckoning taught as they attempt to snag tender flesh and harm her more.

Aeistrios vs @Freyja for minor maim
4/4

Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 20 + 5 + 16 + 19 + 12 + 2 + 9 + 7

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 17 + 19 + 5

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 10 + 9 + 15 + 20 + 13

art by riot/coding by riot