+10 Sneak into another pride's territory without getting caught
+10 Successfully stay hidden for the duration of a thread
+5 Practice fabricating another’s scent

The Rike-wife existed within hearing range of the challenge by pure chance. She knew there was no meaning to it. But she could create an advantage. Who knew when knowledge of the Cove might be useful? And she already smelled like the sea, like the brine crusted between the rocks along the Stygian Shore. She lifted her head to eye the challenge from a distance. Not very many here, and the fight was taking place near the borders. Hopefully few were watching anything but the battle. She crossed the sand-stewn wastes then veered south, heading toward the western line of the pride's coast. She did not try to hide herself while still in public land, not wishing to draw attention by a display of sneakiness. She could be just one of many unremarkable onlookers.

When she reached a scent post she stopped, but didn't head for the battle. She glanced around while digging up sand, coating her underside with the smell of whoever had made the latest patrol. Hopefully from a distance she would merely smell of Caladan and the fact that she was not this particular member of the Cove could be overlooked. Then she continued south, holding her body low and trying to blend brown fur with the shore's edge of damp sand. She didn't try to penetrate far - just enough to reach a dune that she could crawl up from the sea's side and glance through the stubby weeds along its crest.

-- within the borders but not very far, attempting to hide

A challenger. Emmeline had been watching in the distance, hiding and observing. Sunder was fighting hard for her crown and Emmeline wanted her to win. Her jaws were clenched, and her eyes narrowed as she watched the stranger fight for the Cove. Whoever he was, he was bold, but Sunder was a good queen and Emmeline was sure that she would win. At least she hoped so.

The Lead Scout would continue to watch. Normally she would've sat with everyone and shown her support more up front, but she wanted to conceal herself as much as she could at this moment.

Emmeline is hiding.

KEELIA

Something was wrong. And though the young princess wasn't sure what exactly she could just feel it, especially when she noticed the absence of her mother and sister in the family den. Immediately Keelia would jump to her feet, she had overslept! Where were they? She runs from the den, her limbs not feeling like useless jelly anymore. No the girl was finally coming into her own and figuring out how to maneuver a bit more gracefully. Which meant she was much quicker at getting to the borders of the pride. Mama was entangled with a strange man, her body bloodied and beaten. The stranger was ginormous, far bigger than any male that Keelia had laid eyes on. Her hackles rise instinctively, the cub never really seen her mother so savage and aggressive before. This couldn't be a good thing. And Papa was in no shape to protect them either. Her gaze would move to land on @Kvare, couldn't he do anything? Oh right, Mama was Queen which meant she handled it. And she could do it, Keelia believed in her. In the small crowd Keelia manages to spy her sister's strawberry form and makes a beeline towards @Bébhinn. Immediately she presses her nose into her sister's cheek, "Bébhinn, it's okay. Mama is going to be okay. She's strong, remember? Look at her! She's fighting for us." She would encourage her sister, rubbing her head against her sister's before leaning against her, providing whatever strength she might have needed from her in the moment.

code by flea, art by yumpy

His own slap lands and claws rip into the flesh there while jaws clamped around her outstretched leg. Arkyn would attempt to bite down harder with his current hold, hoping to fracture or at least leave Sunder with his own mark to remember him by whenever she took a step. It would be here that he attempts to jerk his skull back and forth with his hold, and with a jerking motion he feels her teeth pierce the flesh right above his left eye. The pain was a throbbing and deep pain, blood pooling before beginning to stream down the left side of his face. He'd have to close his eye in order to ensure none of the metallic fluid would mess with his eyesight, and as he moved he would attempt to lock his legs to help his balance, body beginning to feel the fatigue but the colossal refusing to give up just yet.


Arkyn vs @Sunder
For Caladan Cove
Round o i ii iii iv v
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 17 + 12 + 4 + 16 + 20 + 11

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 3 + 11 + 9 + 17

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 12 + 18 + 19 + 2 + 20

BITE BACK IN ANGER

ART BY 86, CODE BY DEE, MODIFIED BY GUNNER

@Lagertha came over and the eyes of the older lioness who felt very much not old at all turned towards her. Galaxia was trembling, her lips frozen where her jaw was tensed shut. EArs fell against her skull and the lioness looked towards the fight as it continued - winding down.

What would happen if they lost their home? What happened if their queen fell? So soon after Keligan stepped down and away, they could lose their leader again? Was this why her parents left? Was this why they told her to be careful? ""W-what's gonna happen?"" She managed to unlock her jaws, breath heaving in her chest in rapid succession.""

code by corvus

The little snow leopard was eager to be out in the world, learning as much as she could about this strange new world of hers. She was far removed from the remote and rugged mountain ranges, thrust into a place of vast gatherings of life and turmoil. She didn't imagine she would fair well in a battle if presented with one, so was cautious in her approach.

Along the way, she would happily pick a few herbs that might be useful to her, though it would take a great deal of trial and error. It was not enough to merely collect them, picking and tentatively tasting them in her mouth or rubbing them against a paw pad or the like.

With a small pile beside her she would sit, watching the last of the battle play out, taking note of the injuries sustained in the process. With each noted mark she would list in her head everything that could be used to tend to it. Repetition was important if she was to remember everything when it came time to tend to someone. She wasn't quite ready for that though.

MEDIC EXP
+5 Collect herbs
+5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds
+5 Test herbs for their healing properties

by the morning's light

We'll be half way to anywhere

code by corvus

+5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds
+5 Explore the borders of a pride or group
+5 Use the terrain to your advantage

This land was the first Parvati had joined after returning from an unsuccessful mission to find their father. Here where they had questioned whether Drakon was evil or not. Met by the male in the passage and brought kindly here. Parvati had been a yearling then but was no taller now. They approached slowly, subtly higher on their joints than normal, looking around warily as though suspicious of something that may or may not be out of place. For little had changed except for the scent. Still the coastline and still the scalloped dunes, though the wind over years had shifted one gentle slope into a harder, crumbly sand-cliff, and peering past the borders they could see others dunes topped with ferns where they had been barren, and new swells of sand where none were remembered being.

Absolutely no way Parvati was headed over the border line. They had scars from even being in the area when fighting was going on. They'd learned not to gather or bring herbs, no matter how tempting they looked. It was best to watch and ignore the world in hopes of being shut out in return. The silver lion recalled a move they'd done once before of pretending to be a stone in the sand. And this they would pull again. They crouched down, sweeping telltale white tuft under, and then folded in the little bleached paws. Nothing to see here but stone! This challenge seemed peaceful so far even though the battle was gory. The female seeming more grievously wounded to the medic's concerned eye, but the male peppered with blood. Both were tiring but stubborn. It would have been easier not to fight in the first place but Parvati had given up on pointing that out.

~Rainer is currently attempting (albeit halfheartedly) to remain hidden ~
The pair of prides dotted along the beach have always been a point of interest to the piebald Rike, though he's never bothered to toe at their territorial lines in the sand. For as long as he's been on this peninsula, he's never known to be a threat, when the Lagoon was tied to the Mire's King and his own cousin had resided within the Cove. (No, not the dead one, but the other one! The temperamental Valaine, unappreciative of his games.) He assumes she still lingers here.

But he knows it'll only be a matter of time, before the zealots seek to claim this place. It must be such an inconvenience to have to fling their children into the ocean's waves while they lived away from it.

Poor dears.

So of course, now that he's in the habit of traveling again, Rainer comes to watch how the cards unfold when the challenge rings out. A natural-born creature of the mountains, he chooses to scale the cliffs that enclose the Cove so securely, settling down high above the rather paltry crowd that has gathered, watching the battle from a distance. He laps at his paws casually, cleaning the sand from between his toes as if he was disinterested in the little spectacle, but his icy eyes are sharp.

He considers the striped male that fights with no small amount of suspicion, wondering just where his loyalties (his lineage) lie.

+5 Observe a challenge and learn the results

Show me the fear under your skin

Life is a game, are you gonna play now? Should I run away? Are you gonna stay now? Who can you trust? Are you one of us? Tell me where you got your gun. Tell me whose side are you on. Line 'em up and tell them run. Light 'em up now one by one. Are we the hunters? Are we the hunted? Are we the monsters? Show me the fear under your skin.

code by corvus

Once more, strangers have come to fight over the land of her birth. Hadiya is drawn towards the bright scent of blood on the sands as if her paws are tugged forwards by a string. Perhaps they are. The universe has facilitated stranger things.

She knows none of the scents scattered here, both the challenger and the woman he fights unknown to the al-Najma seeress. But it doesn't matter much to her. She feels nothing towards the sounds of splitting flesh and the grind of teeth against bone, no sympathy or concern. Only a distant resentment. "قد تظلم النجوم على طول طريقك." Let them keep fighting over what had never truly belonged to them. It would get them nowhere, in the end.

"سقي هذه الأراضي بدمك ، وختم اللعنة الموضوعة على مصائرك." There is nothing pleasant about the twist of her lips as she speaks, though there is no one left to know the meaning behind the exotic words that drip from her tongue.

For now.

---

1. May the stars darken along your path.
2. Water these lands with your blood, and seal the curse placed upon your fates.

ART COPYRIGHT ERA / CODE COPYRIGHT ANALESE

@Sunder VS. @Arkyn FOR Caladan Cove
— RESULTS —

Sunder Hits: 4 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 6 luck = 22
Sunder Dodges: 4 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 4 = 18

Arkyn Hits: 5 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 5 + 10 luck = 29
Arkyn Dodges: 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 11

Sunder Successful Hits: 11
Arkyn Successful Hits: 11

---

TIE-BREAKER

performed by @AbjectTerrier

Sunder Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 3 + 5 + 16 + 20 + 7 + 10

Sunder Dodges:

Rolling 6d20: 7 + 3 + 17 + 2 + 10 + 20

Sunder Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 20 + 10 + 11 + 2 + 15

Arkyn Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 15 + 1 + 9 + 6 + 12 + 8

Arkyn Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 5 + 8 + 16 + 6

Arkyn Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 3 + 10 + 19 + 16 + 14