it seems they have the same idea to haunt the area surrounding the bluffs. léontine looks up at it, from time to time, with a mixture of longing and rage simmering in her heterochromic gaze. they had comet to their so-called family with the intent to help, only to have an unknown lioness interrupt her gods-given right to take something from a man.

they were dieudonne - she had claimed to be dieudonne! and to deny her the right to a feast from the man? even he had known, even he had backed down and allowed her to slip the meat from his paws.

but that bitch had interceded and then her daughter had managed to take @Ludivine down, after a ridiculous slip up. it was her mercy that has held léontine back from marching up the ridge to take revenge upon the swampy lioness immediately. she would get one free card.

mercy for mercy.
but only once.

the woman ponders this as she stretches out amongst the bones of the boneyard, at home with the vultures hopping about and shrieking as they fight for the scraps hanging from the corpse she'd happened upon. she'd claimed herself a femur and gnaws on it absently, gripping the bone in her forepaws. she's on her back, the crown of her head pressed to the sandy wasteland and eyes aimlessly traveling the lands, darting again and again to the distant silhouette of the bluffs.

!

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@Faustine

the boneyard was next to the bluffs enough that it was faustine's third home. she had came fresh from the zaharli swamps and wanted to cut through the boneyard so she could find bone accessories for her den and siblings— as a little treat. however, none could compare to the pleasures of fresh kill and the taste of leonine flesh. faustine had gone too long without the latter to keep herself from imagining a hunt with only her siblings at its helm. they were the pride of the dieudonné and the crowning jewels. how could they not stray away from what made them cannibals? and with her body dressed in the rot and fetid stench of the swamps, faustine wove through elephant bones until she spotted an unfamiliar lioness stretched against the ground, a bone in her grip, and vulture aplenty a few feet away. the young heiress watched, half-hidden behind the skull of an elephant, dark red eyes alight with curiosity and hunger. rather than attack now, faustine thought it would be better if she got to know a potential meal first. hello, are you enjoying those vultures? she asked as she slipped out from her spot and out into the light. i heard they're quite tasty. yet, faustine paid no attention to the birds at all, but instead kept her gaze on the older woman. @leontine

ART BY RABBIT, CODE BY LARS

She'd gone ahead to scout — to hunt. The line they tread was treacherous, shadowed by the rocky jaws of the enemy's front lines. She knew of the place; visited once before, only to be cast aside by so called family. The irony of the situation was not lost on her, though she would not allow it to do more than sweep cold wind across her spine, a solemn reminder of that day.

A hunt amongst the bleached spines of giants was humbling, keeping the serpentine feline on her toes. Thick fur pads her body as she maneuvers amongst the bones, keeping herself well within the shadows to blend better with the terrain. The hunt, however, is abysmal. Small flights of birds is the only prey to be found — with great frustration Ludivine turns and heads back in the direction of where she'd last spotted her sister, playing amongst the bones like a macabre necromancer. As one does, of course.

Ears perk as an unfamiliar voice rides upon the wind, carrying her closer and closer to her initial destination. Ah — who might that be?

Silent, Ludivine approaches the pair, keeping herself behind @Faustine so that she might approach from the back — the small but mighty huntress, now trapped between the two cannibal sisters. Salmon gaze drifts over @Léontine, a small smirk upon Ludivine's lips before her attention once more returns to the stranger.

“There isn't much flesh to be found upon their bones — much like that which they prey upon,” she muses aloud as an answer to Faustine's question, a poisonous quip.

YOU ARE LETHAL TIL THE END
the stench of the swamp is pungent but she ignores it aside from a wrinkling of her nose. she thinks perhaps that @Ludivine might have traipsed through the fetid waters or that a stranger was passing through. she was far more interested in working the marrow from the bones she chewed ( buffalo? antelope? she's not sure ). the vultures could make a small meal but she was far too comfortable and warm to drag herself up to try to take one down. her sister is out hunting, after all, and she is hoping for some delectable prey when the brains of the operation returns.

that's when @Faustine steps out from beyond a nearby elephant skull, her red eyes luminous in the sunlight that filters through the pallid clouds.

through the stink of the bog, she doesn't catch the underlying scent of wolfbron ( lucky for the child ) and léontine regards the girl blandly. she doesn't rise from where she is, though she languidly rolls to her stomach and shakes the dirt from her skull. the bone remains possessively tucked beneath a paw, though she lifts her right and waves it dismissively to the birds. they're yours, she quips, eyes going to the shape taking form behind the girl. the smirk on her sister's lips is registered and her own expression suddenly shifts from bored to sharp, pupils shrinking and fangs poking from behind dark lips that twist into a vague sort of grin.

her claws unsheathe, playing along the edge of the bone beneath her foot as she rises, snapping the toy in half and leaving it where it's fallen.

it is no longer of interest.

good for small things, she adds, ears twisting up and cupping towards the child in their midst. perhaps good for you?

_{ART BY SPU · CODE BY DEE}

the fur on faustine's body rose as the sounds of a second came from behind. faustine twisted her head, noticing another lioness, similar but different to the first. sisters? lovers? or just traveling companions? she could offer them home in wolfbron; they were so close to the pride too, and there were no other lions here besides the three of them. yet, it didn't feel like the two needed a pride. faustine didn't readily answer that woman's response, as her eyes were redirected to the first lioness she saw. that was when the ghoul realized she was placed between two women, much older and experienced than she was. wolfbron was just past this territory, but faustine didn't care to bolt through the first lioness and into her home. there was a thrill in danger as much as a hunt could provide.

faustine chuckled and sat herself down upon her haunches whilst her tail curled around her body. her red eyes flashed, predatory and dark, at the woman before her. oh, how insulting, my taste in meals are far more exquisite than the likes of these vermins she said. the silken lilt of her french dripped off of each syllable as the little crocodile within struggled to not rear its head. you two ought to be careful, stumbling around, or you'll find a spider's next waiting...oui. @Ludivine @leotine

ART BY RABBIT, CODE BY LARS

Ignored — and the banshee wails within.

A hot fire licks through her veins like a toxin, bristling the fur along a scarred spine in hate. Salmon-coloured orbs flash with the hidden emotion, the only sign that something was wrong. Muscles remain relaxed, even as incisors carve against one another in agitation. How she hates it, the feeling of once more being tossed aside as nothing but garbage. Something that didn't even need acknowledgement. But she bites her tongue — long since risen above such petty desires — as she chooses, instead, to close in. Closer and closer like a bear trap slowly hinging its jaws together, her gaze trapped on @Léontine.

Tongue remains stilled in her jaws as she stops finally, not yet wanting to scare away the younger lioness. Not even as she has the audacity to lower herself to her haunches, not even an inkling of fear showing in her stature. Perhaps, if the insult didn't linger so deep, she would have almost been impressed with the onyx lioness.

Almost.

The French lilt in the young cannibal's tongue doesn't go amiss, and Ludivine allows the faintest of chuckles to worm its way out of her throat at the threat directed their way.

“Dit celui qui est déjà tombé sur une toile,” Says the one who's already stumbled into a web, she whispers in a hot breath, testing the waters now to see if @Faustine would understand the words. The flesh of her fangs accompany her words — making it clear, she doesn't just have a sharp tongue.

YOU ARE LETHAL TIL THE END
@Faustine blatantly ignores her sister and even as @Ludivine doesn't outwardly react, léontine does. her lips peel back from her fangs and her dual-toned eyes narrow to slits. she finds her paws, shifting a step towards the babe with a growl rumbling in her throat. her tail sweeps at her haunches, twitching in agitation. her sister's gaze is on her own as the fluffy dieudonne closes in.

the game is afoot and she finds her lips twisting from rage into some wicked, wicked amusement. her tongue flicks out to swipe across her fangs, sweeping the remnants of the marrow and bits of bone away.

ludivine has creeped closer and the girl, with her french-accented voice and word, coaxes the dark woman to purr a warning in her ear in their presumed mother-tongue.

but that's not quite enough for léontine.

she steps closer, slinging her head down and eyeballing the young lioness with the promise of violence in her gaze, her posture. peut-être que si vous vous excusez de l'ignorer, l'araignée ne montrera pas ses crocs cette fois-ci? perhaps if you apologize for ignoring her, the spider won't bare her fangs this one time? it's a hypothetical; because if leo has her way, she'd like to write the lines of apology into the other's very skin. but if the youth does repent and ludi accepts it at that?

she will, of course, back down.
ever loyal dog.

_{ART BY SPU · CODE BY DEE}

she had no intentions of speaking to the second woman in the first place. conversations were not a topic of interest to the ghoul, much less social etiquettes beyond the essentials so she could pass off as a normal girl. however, it wasn't that particular thing that caught faustine's attention enough for her to properly hear the second woman. it was the french that suddenly came from the woman's mouth. was this woman...? no, it wasn't also that thought that made faustine rise onto all fours. what did were the words themselves drenched in a dangerous suggestiveness.

non, vous avez tort, madame no, you're wrong, ma'ams. she said as her tail flicked and her ears cup backward. xc'est vous qui êtes entourés you are the ones surrounded. her gaze then turned to the first woman she stumbled upon. but then the first woman responded too. what a terrible notion to have a child, a creature younger than them to apologize to something so petty. comme c'est mesquin de votre part de m'exiger cela. how petty of you to demand such from me. faustine prowled forth, eyes kept on the first woman while her ears remained alert for the one behind. she itched to jump at one of them, to regale them with her teeth and claws. @Ludivine @leotine

ART BY RABBIT, CODE BY LARS

It as almost breathtaking in how deeply disrespectful the child comes to be, quickly slipping into a silken tongue of venomous French as soon as the familiar words reach her ears. She can see the way the youngster's words are affecting her volatile sister, drawing the lioness from her slumber and to her feet instead. A warrior, ever ready for the attack— non, it was a predator that she was.

A laugh thunders in her chest as the child's ridiculous rebuttal. Even with the two of them surrounding her like a pack of velociraptors, still she dares to try and threaten them? If she were any older... Ludivine would have ripped that insolent tongue from between her jaws. Perhaps she was simply getting too lenient with age. But the ravenous hunger that radiated like a wildfire from her sister— ah, who was she to interrupt @Léontine's wrath? She wasn't a greedy being, after all; she would gladly share the bloodshed.

“Oh really?” she purrs, deeply amused.

One look— one single, meaningful glance in Léontine's direction—

“Entouré de toi et quelle armée?”
Surrounded by you and what army?

YOU ARE LETHAL TIL THE END
the youth stands and leo's eyes narrow, shifting between her and @Ludivine. she says they are wrong - that they are surrounded and léontine feels her dark lips twist up, up, up until she is grinning like the cheshire cat. oh, no doubt she means her pride, and at the thought the dieudonne woman rolls her gaze up to pointedly stare at the distant peak of the bluffs. surrounded, mmm? when the pride was so far away? she snorts but says nothing, allowing the girl to prowl a step forward with her insolence continuing to drip from her tongue like venom.

while faustine stands between them, ludivine manages amusement - and that coaxes the more volatile sibling to glance up, to meet her sister's gaze. and the meaning in there is the flick of a thumb across the tether of a dog.

she doesn't wait - springs before ludivine even finishes her sentence.

with the minimal space between them, the woman shoves off against the dirt with the force of her coiled haunches, forepaws outstretched. her already-unsheathed claws are poised to attempt to slam into the youth's shoulders and her dripping jaws aim for her mouth - a kiss of violence, if you will - in an attempt to slam her jaws across the younger dieudonne's snout and clamp shut while simultaneously hoping to try to use the downward pressure of her leap to push the kid down to the earth below.

léontine v @Faustine
for MINOR MAIM
1/4
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 9 + 1 + 15 + 13 + 3 + 6

Dodges:

Rolling 6d20: 11 + 14 + 18 + 4 + 8 + 3

Luck:

Rolling 6d20: 15 + 16 + 20 + 1 + 9 + 6

_{ART BY SPU · CODE BY DEE}