The pines, they often whisper

They whisper what no tongue can tell

The presence of a familiar small shape had gone entirely unnoticed, even before. The cub certainly had done a good job at hiding herself. At least from the yearling, who in the end was not so well versed in such skills. Perhaps, had things been different, she could have taught the older girl a thing or two.

But even if she had noticed anything around her, it wouldn't have mattered. Not when there was something more important. At least in her mind this was far more important than anything else. She'd been so, so confident in being able to handle this all by herself. But the moment @Ryker spoke and told her that she would be staying as well, all that confidence evaporated. Floppy ears drooped and her lip quivered. No. Don't let him see he's getting to you. With a shake of her head she stomped one of her large paws. "Not fair," she hissed but moved past the male and his family to press against @Kireena, trying to help her up while at the same time seeking her comfort. But she did glare at the Rainforest King. Oh, there was so much she wanted to say. So much that she held back. All these political games were something foreign to her, but she knew one thing. Losing and taking lands was what was done, how it had always been and would always be. They'd lost their home because another won and now they were trying to carve out a place for themselves again.

Nothing else was said as she tried to gently nudge the red furred woman along, hindlegs scratching at the ground, throwing some of the dirt back with a small snort.

code by corvus

She leaned on @Etain a little more than she might have normally. Mostly to keep the younger female focused on her and not on turning back against Ryker or his mate. Kireena knew that imprisonment was a heated topic for the curly eared girl, but this time would be nothing like the last - she would make sure of it. Together, she would make her way to an unoccupied den so she could get some much needed rest - and to see if this poison would run its course or if she would need to go scrounge up the correct plants to make things a little easier. It would be a good time to teach the young female a little more about healing and how to identify plants that were both beneficial and not so beneficial. //Exit//

code by koi

once @Lazare arrives the matriarch is even more on guard. watching closely for any threat, perceived or otherwise, and ensuring her daughter stays near. "oui," she murmurs to her daughter, though her voice is clearly distracted, "et maintenant c'est fait." and now it is done. ryker makes quick work of the challenger, a fact which relieved louve to some extent. he makes another equally quick move to name her a prisoner, and while she does not necessarily agree with this move she makes no sign to indicate so. instead she is quiet, watchful, and when the chaos settles and the challengers leave she nudges her young daughter.

"à la maison maintenant." home, now. rising to all fours and herding lazare home, with a small nod towards @Aideen and @Laerra to see if they would follow.

-exit-

code by scorpixia♡︎ | art by Spu

The mottled girl watches eagerly, staring balefully with wide, glassy eyes. She barely blinks as the fight continues on, ears twitching with each growl and snarl; it's clear that she does not want to miss a single second. Unlike her sisters lazare does not care much about fighting -- it's not the violence that draws her attention like a moth to a flame, simply the act itself. It was all a show, a spectacle -- @Louve ♔ watches intently and that is enough for her to follow suit.

A strange, ill-fitting shadow.

Soon enough the fight ends. Lazare let's out a big, ragged exhale -- as if she'd been holding her breath this entire time. Ears tilt up as her face follows suit, looking up to louve as the queen decides they're leaving. A little pout-y sigh hisses from between her teeth but she rises regardless, a little prance in her step as she follows after louve. Already eager to attend the next challenge. As they approach the prides borders lazare notes them and she jumps across it, a big hop as she exits after her mother.

Exit

code; background

LUCÍA

'Little fireball, what are you doing?' The voice comes from her right and the girl peers upward with large ruby eyes at @Amandil, a small smile forming on her muzzle. Maybe she should have felt nervous that she had been caught but in all honesty she was glad that she'd been followed, now she didn't have to walk all that way back home! "I followed tía here. She was here I thought." She murmurs, brows scrunching slightly as she scans the crowd and still has yet to find her. Oh well, she would simply have to give her hell for disappearing on her later. "You carry me?" She asks with the very sweetest of smiles, batting her large eyelashes and even sending a purr in his direction in hopes of convincing him. "What is prisionera anyways?" She asks him then, wondering what would happen to the big red woman now that she was one of those.


exit w/ Amandil

---

*tía - auntie
*prisionera - prisoner

code by flea, art by yumpy

The pines, they often whisper

They whisper what no tongue can tell

Though it was all quite overwhelming for her and she wanted nothing more than to run and hide, to make it all go away, she kept her posture as straight as she could so that @Kireena could use her as a crutch. For the moment there wasn't much else that she could do. They were staying now, after all. So now they had to find a place to rest, to make her mother better. And even though she knew so very little, she was determined to do what she could.

Using her own strength to keep her up, she did her best to help the larger woman walk away to find a den to rest in.

Exit

code by corvus

It is not long before the violence finds its natural end, and though Maven knows nothing of the challenger, her heart still drops at the sight of the red woman falling at the mohawked male's feet. Something's wrong...isn't there?

But even worse than the defeat itself is the Rainforest King's obvious intentions to keep her. Maven's dark ears sweep back against his skull when Ryker turns his attention upon the gathered onlookers, her lips parting on a sharp intake of breath at the clear threat in the man's words.

This welcome has been overstayed.

"Come on. We should go." She murmurs lowly to the other yearling girl before backing away, mismatched crimson eyes slow to pull away from the retreating forms of Firnen's new prisoners. Such barbarism. It didn't seem right to leave them here, strangers though they were, but what other option did Maven have?

She hardly needs to persuade herself into sprinting back to the Summit's peak. The burn of her muscles pales in comparison to her sudden and overwhelming need to get away from this place.

/exit Maven

+5 Observe a fight (Ryker vs Kireena)
+5 Exercise to gain endurance (excluding spars)
+5 Learn information about a potential threat

You're only sixteen, going on forever

art + code by sammiie

Man this sucked. Aideen really liked the challenges that devolved into wars, but this one was oddly... calm. She watched, noting that @Ryker won, and she was starting to think that the strangely stripped male was invincible or something. Or maybe everyone else was just weak? 'Cause she'd seen him win a few fights now- most notably against her own father. @Louve ♔ spoke then, her french words considered only for a moment in silence, before she muttered a quick- "Oui."

Then she would turn, her paws carrying her away from the rainforest, and back towards the Bluffs, where she belonged.

-exit-

VIVEKA

The woman is defeated by the mohawked King. Because of course she is. All those colossal proportions and rippling muscles only serve to make her fall harder. How else could such an attempt to reach for the stars end, if not with getting knocked back down into one's proper place? At the end of the day, the challenger was nothing more than the property of a man.

Viveka turns away from the display with a sneer, upturning her nose as if that might keep the visceral feeling of bitterness rising up her throat at bay.

She has no desire to linger here any longer, and so she lunges back into the dense labyrinth of the jungle, losing herself once more in the fiery push-and-pull of her muscles as she navigated over the broken logs and choking vines at a break-neck pace. And if she etches her mark into the trees with even more violence than she had before, her claws sinking deeply enough into the bark to smear sap across her pale toes, well...

Who is there to care?

/exit Viveka

+5 Observe a fight (Ryker vs Kireena)
+5 Maintain your weapons (sharpen claws)
+5 Exercise to gain strength (excluding spars)

code by flea, art by irish

She can feel a subtle sting in her eyes as she watched the fight unfold before her, knowing how long she had wished for her father to come and take back the Rainforest. Each vicious attack against the red woman, Valeria imagined Jafar in her place, and her throat tightened at the thought. She almost didn’t notice the other yearling arrive at her side until a question was asked. It took her a moment to process the words before she shook her head. "No, I don't recognize any of them." She didn’t know any of them, but she did know that she would gladly live the rest of her life in the Summit if it meant she didn’t have to see either of her parents endure… this. Whatever this was.

When it was over, she might have stood frozen even after the demand from the King for them all to leave. It was only the words of @Maven, faintly heard over the buzzing in Valeria’s head, and the sudden emptiness at her side that had her limbs moving. Numb, she turned away from her birthplace, she began to run towards home. She matched the near frantic pace of the other girl, pushing herself to move as quickly as she could in her retreat, hoping that the burning of her lungs and muscles would distract her from the tightness in her chest.

-exit-

art & code by vasilia