Haider finds his eyes roaming to where @Etain arrived, having to use more of his control than normal to not roll them with her prescence. She was on the defense so quick, snarling and her tail lashing - Haider finds himself chuckling at the words she thinks sound mighty. "Yeah, thought the same for your mom too." And look how that turned out.

Firnen had a tendency on taking in strays.

Iskra not being here yet had put a small grey cloud over Haider's head, not even one @Levana could lift away with her bump of greeting. Like the kind, nice child he was, Haider greeted her back before focusing forward. Especially when their father came forward out of the shadows, no mercy to be seen on his ruthless first attack.

Haider leans forward in interest to watch.

@Lucifer joins him, and for a moment Haider finds his gaze going to the rib between his brother's forepaws. Slightly envious he had a snack, Haider flicks his tail with a huff before hearing his words. "She's prettier than the last challenger we kept." He says this aloud for Kireena to hopefully hear. "Chasing out would be fun too... if dad leaves her able to even move." He smirks with the last of his words, looking back to the fight with his chin lifted a bit higher.

Kireena kept her eyes on the intruder as others melted from the rainforest. @Haidur came and spoke of fighting the female herself and the heiress arched a brow down at him. "I am happy where I am.". She had power enough to defend and do what she felt required.. and freedom enough tht the leash wasn't smothering. @Etain came next and there was a pride in the red giants breast that the girl cut off easy escape. She remained diligent in watching Ludivine, finding the lack of support interesting. Would she leave with her tail between her legs? @Levana came next and it was to the Firnen queen she would offer a nod for herself. The respect has gone both ways... the Dantanians had earned some of her respect, and it seemed she had earned some of theirs in turn. @Ryker came next, and much in the way he had with her own fight, came from behind. She wondered if he had treated his claws as he had with her. Next came @Lucifer and as the red woman noted where the children stood within the clearing, she nodded towards her daughter..using the flicking of her gaze and a subtle tilt of her head before she moved. Ryker had their intruder engaged..but the cubs were far too spread for her tastes and she had silently directed the grown form of her daughter to help protect them by flanking between them and the dense trees beyond. Though the woman seemed alone now it didn't mean others weren't lurking in the shadows waiting a chance to snatch a child.

code by koi

léontine is slower to come - she had been busy, scouting around the edges of the pride. learning, poking about and generally being a bit of a nuisance. but from where she is, she hears the deep, traveling chuff of her sister and a bit later, what she considers an obnoxiously loud roar that sends the birds of the rainforest skyward. she scowls but turns and ambles in the direction of where her sister is, it sounds like, starting to face off against whatever poor bastard runs the rainforest. she arrives in time to catch @Lucifer and @Haider's conversation. she's picking her way through the assembled, her head dipped down and her eyes pinned on the children. who should be seen and not heard, especially when enemies lurk in the shadows. her tail swings, tip twitching a staccato beat, and her claws casually unsheathe. any other lion might have scolded them verbally - but léo finds she is so very tired of loud-mouth brats with no survival instinct. amaryllis has an extreme respect problem. she rather than speak, leo simply gathers her haunches under her and launches herself at the melanistic babe. her forearms outstretched, her claws unsheathed and head lowered, as she attempts to slam into him with her open jaws. léo attempts to grab his scruff and slam him to the earth, forepaws on either side of him, with a grip tight enough to hurt. she'd maimed one child - what is another? léontine v @Haider for minor maim 1/4 Hits: Rolling 6d20: 19 + 8 + 17 + 2 + 10 + 6 Dodges: Rolling 5d20: 9 + 15 + 7 + 18 + 2 Luck: Rolling 5d20: 3 + 18 + 10 + 6 + 19

(1/2) +10 Observe a fight (ludivine vs ryker) (double xp event)
(1/2) +10 Observe a fight (léontine vs haider) (double xp event)
He had heard the bellowing roar calling for all Firnen lions, and Sabre could only guess that it meant their pride was being challenged for. He made quick work of clearing the distance between where he were and where the call had come from, light hued eyes first falling onto Ryker and his challenger. The guard dog watched for several moments as they engaged before his attention was stolen away by another lioness attacking one of the King's own children. Brows furrow as eyes narrow upon the maned woman, tails lashing behind him. He pads toward @Kireena, muscles tense and shoulders rolling with each step. "You keep the others safe," he tells her gruffly, claws unsheathing and pricking the soil below, "I'll take care of what comes of this." Whether or not @Haider miraculously won this fight or not, Sabre would clean up the mess this intruder was making.

@Léontine

ART BY LARS, CODE BY DEE

Careful as he had been, she had also been on high alert and seemed to have found some warning in his rush. But Ryker was nothing if not adaptable, and a shoulder was just as good a target as a hip. Fangs and claws sliced through skin and the first taste of blood found his tongue. Ryker wouldn't fully follow the woman as the collision pushed her back, but pull back a step of his own, allowing some small distance to open between them again.

Left forepaw found the ground once more and with the slight distance between them, the stranger's attack was easy to spot and predict. Well. If she wanted to face him head on...a quick shuffle of paws would try to turn him to meet her face-to-face. His chin tucked and he would attempt to ram the flat of his forehead directly into the woman's nose - both to intercept her attempted bite and in an effort to shatter something within her nose and impact her breathing. As always, he knew using his head in such a way would result in a nice deep bruise across his forehead, but it was usually worth it.

It also, luckily, allowed him to keep his mouth free so when the sideline fight began involving a grown adult and his young son, his voice could rise over the small crowd IF SHE HARMS HIM. KILL HER. Claws found his right shoulder, rather than his side, scoring through the front edge with the shift in movement, and his own left paw would rise again and try to hook poisoned claws deep into the flesh of her right-side neck, seeking the big vein (or artery, whatever ran up the right side, he wasn't a student of anatomy) and rip toward himself. He'd bleed her out if he could manage it.

Ryker vs. @Ludivine
Firnen Rainforest
Round 2 / 5
Hits:

Rolling 9d20: 10 + 14 + 1 + 16 + 3 + 19 + 17 + 13 + 15

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 7 + 20 + 19 + 1

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 1 + 18 + 12 + 14 + 17

code: daanyen || art: lars || bg: sirius-sdz

(double exp event)
+20 - Sneak into a pride or group without getting caught
+20 - Remain undetected in a large thread
+10 - Infiltrate a group thread without getting caught

It seemed an unfortunate truth that the local society was more active during the day than he typically liked. Especially because that meant if he wished to be up-to-date on the goings-on, he, too, needed to be more active during the day. Which was how he came to be passing by the strange central battle pit, suffering the daylight, when the somewhat distant call reached his ears. If memory served, that way lay Firnen, an ally of his own pride. Sébastien hummed once, in interest, and then turned himself toward the bluffs to roar out a call of his own - perhaps the loudest his voice would ever get, but Wolfbron should know their ally may be in danger.

After that, it was stealth mode. As he turned back to follow the call, he made efforts to eliminate his own scent, and then replace it with that of the jungle flora before nearing the borders. A bit too bright a pelt to sneak too close, but he did spot a conveniently large, hollow, log which would accommodate him. As...distasteful...as it would be to dirty his pelt in such a way.

Careful movements drew him in, but he would stay a foot or so back from the opening so as to better hide in the shadows. He could just barely see the action from his position, but the more important thing was to watch the challenge itself and see if the bluffs would retain an ally this day or not.

-hidden-

Je repars à zéro

Non, je ne regrette rien

code by corvus

He ducks his head into her jaws, and being shorter meant she was already coming from a lower vantage point, thus making it easy to follow along with his movement. He adjusts her trajectory and she moves with him, causing his forehead to slam into her upper teeth and gumline protected by wrinkled lips. The shock of the hit is bruising and she'll no doubt be feeling it tomorrow — and the day after, and the next — but adrenaline keeps her going. With her jaws right at face-level now, she tries to hinge her jaw shut like a bear trap, attempting to slip her lower fangs right into one of his eye sockets and crush with glutenous fervor.

He takes a moment to shout at someone on the sidelines — bad move. Her claws rip through flesh but don't snag, which helps her when she notices movement out of the corner of her eye.

There's enough distance between them that she twists her upper body ever so slightly, her still-raised left paw attempting to swing sideways in an attempt to sink claws into Ryker's left forearm and divert his attack away from her. Shoulders roll forward to bulk up the thick fur of her nape around her neck for further protection, should her counter be unsuccessful.

Ludivine vs @Ryker
Firnen Rainforest — II of V

Hits

Rolling 6d20: 13 + 7 + 1 + 16 + 12 + 6

Dodges

Rolling 7d20: 9 + 20 + 18 + 16 + 15 + 8 + 3

Luck

Rolling 5d20: 18 + 1 + 6 + 10 + 19

A lip lifts in a silent snarl at he prospect of more prisoners, she moves to greet her other son, gently pressing a kiss to the top of @Lucifer's head, it was in the moment she was distracted by her lilac coated son that another was able to launch themselves at @Haider. She whipped around and snarled, tail lashing behind her as she paced, not wanting to interfere and harm her son, she circled tightly around the fight, looking for a chance to move in.

She hears her husband's words and her own teeth flash, she feels trapped, unable to help her child, her ears flatten against her skull as she moves to curl protectively around her other son, ""I want her fucking head."" The Firnen queen hisses out, claws instinctively digging into the earth below her, green eyes never leaving the attacker's hide, she would see this bitch's life leave her eyes one way or another.

The usual gentle lioness, the calm mother, and caring queen was a roaring fire ready to launch herself into the side of the maroon lioness, Levana trembled with anger, she was unable to do anything and it was becoming harder for her to control herself.

WE'RE BORN INTO THE GRAVE

The sisters had branched off from his path long before. Ludivine, in trait, delved straight into the thick of the rainforest brush, making ever clear her intentions as she waltzed past the leafy threshold. For a moment he had paused at the borders, watching the treeline for any movement among them as she announced her arrival long into her trek. As her voice faded far in the deep of the jungle, Léontine scoured the outskirts, perusing their markers with scant concern - perhaps an expected immodest recklessness that was forever admirable.

Gauthier wouldn’t be witness to it today. He noted their directives and eyed the tall trees and webbing vines, the hoots and the hollers of birds and apes and wollops from the great green heart. And decisive, he broke the line with the intent to follow Ludivine into the thick of the forest, plodding his trail through the underbrush to mind her weave.

It was only when a cacophonous roar sent a throng of birds flushing for the heavens that he quickened his steps.

He lost Ludivine once. He wouldn’t do it again.

He barreled through the brush, snapped the withered vines that sought to strangle him, crushed the twigs and the flowers and the beauty of the jungle underfoot with nary a fear of their desecration. Collateral, his ambition was single-focused and heart-stitched: the quiet that followed that roar was deafening, and he narrowed his drive to the place wherein it had erupted.

When he arrived, Ludivine was already tangled with the form of Ryker, teeth-deep and beautifully voracious; drawn to the sight of it, to the promise of blood in the stagnant moss and the glistening sheen of fang and claw, it wasn’t until they heard their cries for death that he turned his gaze to Léontine, savaging a half-grown adolescent. His brows furrowed, confused, the orders doled were clear. If she harms him, kill her. And shortly after, I want her fucking head.

As much of a pain that Leo had always been to him, there was still a fondness - and maybe also a curiosity for her particular, odd brand of chaos - that stirred his gut to wrench at the idea. While those who hollered and bellowed were no immediate threat, his gaze closed sharply on the colossal, scarred lioness that stood closest to the fray. And without a second more to spare, he made his move.

Gauthier flattened his ears in the thick of his mane (uncaring for the volley of grunts and snarls that would surround them) and made to barrel for @Kireena’s backside, reaching with the intent to anchor himself both claws deep in her sides and attempting to bury his teeth in the thick of her spine. Mmmm, backstraps.

Gauthier vs @Kireena
Minor Maim (tbd) — 1 of 4

Hits

Rolling 9d20: 6 + 2 + 13 + 12 + 19 + 7 + 14 + 9 + 17

Dodges

Rolling 4d20: 4 + 13 + 14 + 11

Luck

Rolling 5d20: 20 + 12 + 16 + 3 + 11

At first, it seemed it would just be the challenger and no support - but soon enough, Kireena's need to see to the safety of the cubs had not only been proven correct but also too late. As @Léontine leapt from the shadows of the rainforest onto @Haidur, she was turning, fangs bared and lips drawn back with full intentions of leaping into the fray to protect the child... Spiteful as he may be. @Sabre spoke and she answered with a growl of affirmation before suddenly she had an alltogether different thing to deal with. The lion that leapt next from the forest was nearly as large as she and just as if not more scarred from battle. This was a threat she could deal with.. and hopefully when the dust settled - they would not only oust those that had sought to take their home, but proven that Firnen might be small but they weren't weak.. as she herself had found during her own attempt to steal the rainforest. Kireena had little time to prepare - but thankfully, she had been in a similar position before - with another lioness leaping upon her back seeing to ride her like a horse. A deep chested growl ripped from her throat as she would attempt to use the nearby trees as built in battering rams - knowing she couldn't grab Gauthier from where he stood, only intending to try to slam them both with considerable force against a nearby trunk. Head was lowered, ears flat to her skull. She was a hefty G0rl. Read fat bitch and had some extra skin around her nape to protect from Gauthier's sinking fangs. His talons bit into her sides, leaving nearly mirrored wounds on either side of her shoulders and hips. His fangs found the nape of her neck, but due to the *ahem* aforementioned extra wiggly bits.. they sliced through fatty folds without purchase. In her attempt to use a tree as a battering ram, she kept her limbs on the ground, talons biting the earthy loam at her feet. Kireena -vs- @Gauthier -for- Minor Maim (TBD) Round -1- of -4- Hits: Rolling 7d20: 5 + 4 + 1 + 15 + 13 + 12 + 17 Dodges: Rolling 6d20: 8 + 7 + 12 + 11 + 4 + 6 Luck: Rolling 5d20: 2 + 18 + 14 + 13 + 6

code by koi