once upon a younger year

when all our shadows disappeared

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Hesitant wasn't the right word, but there was some level of trepidation surrounding his approach to the rainforest. The scents had changed and he assumed there had been a rather bloody exchanging of leadership based on, you know, all the blood. One scent remained strong as ever, however, and it was that scent in particular that drew him to the borders. He peered from a respectful distance, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fiery lioness among the greenery. Colsun called softly for her, curious to know all the tea about what had happened.. and wondering if the option to invest in Firnen was still on the table.

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code by scorpixia♡︎ | art by kim

The call doesn't appear to demand her attention — but it matters little to her. The blood-soaked ground is her calling, a mark of her territory, and she draws towards the direction of the sound with little hesitation. Dark flesh blends in with the shadows of the rainforest, a much better fit for the cannibal Queen from the sands that had once plagued her as her home. She's still learning the ins and outs of the terrain, but she's still quick in her approach. Drawing from the side, almost as if to trap him, she stops only once she's outside of attack range.

“Oui?” she croons from the shadows, slipping through the foliage like a serpent. She eyes up @Colsun as she announces her presence, lips drawn into a thin line to shield the emotions from her face.

once upon a younger year

when all our shadows disappeared

---

It doesn't take long for someone -- someone very much not Kireena -- to make themselves known. It doesn't take a rocket scientist (and good thing, too, because Colsun was not academically inclined) to understand this woman is the new king. He's not sure whether or not the former ruler was a massive man or scrawny and meek, but he's never been one to assume a woman couldn't handle her own; after all, his mother was Alizabeth, smol, and yet that had never stopped her from taking her pound of flesh when it was owed.

It's the greeting that has his brows knit together in confusion. "We.. what?" Colsun shifts his weight, clearly oblivious that other languages exist, and flexes his toes into the ground. "I'm friends with Kireena, she told me to stop by if I was interested in joining. I am, although I'm guessing you're not the ruler she initially spoke of." He cocks his head off to this side, sucking in a breath. "Colsun, at your service."

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code by scorpixia♡︎ | art by kim

Lips draw tight like a bowstring at his confusion — but she refrains from clarifying for him. Her family's language is too sacred to be wasted on those not familiar with their tongue. It matters little to her anyway, and the beast is quick to move on from his initial confusion. A guttural hmph bubbles in her throat at the mention of the previous heiress, but otherwise she's silent and stoic as he speaks.

“Indeed,” she finally answers with a quirk of her brow, storing @Colsun's name in her mind. “The previous ruler had a little accident—” a sharp intake of breath and a hiss as her eyes glitter maliciously, lips drawn into a criminal grin, “and is no longer in control of the rainforest. I apologize for not having the time to clean the place up properly.” A smooth simper as she shifts her gaze, momentarily, to the gore that lingers in the shadows. Her tone lacks true empathy: it is clear from just a few words, the carnage that had been unleashed upon the former rulers of the pride.

“Tell me, what did Kireena offer you?” Glory? Power? A safe place to live? The cannibal Queen wasn't playing games for numbers — she wanted to ensure the pride was filled with chess pieces she could move across the board on a whim.

once upon a younger year

when all our shadows disappeared

---

"An accident, hm?" Colsun chuckled darkly at that but refrained from commenting on it further. He hardly considered losing a challenge an accident, but whatever made her feel better or whatever; not that she looked like she was feeling particularly distraught over the outcome. His eyes drifted around the scene as she apologized for not tidying before his arrival. "No, no, it's.. it's lovely. Very, uh, gothic." If nothing else, it would be wonderful for Halloween.

He found it strange Kireena had decided to stick around. @Ludivine hardly seemed like her type of leader, but women were mysterious and complicated as fuck. He wasn't even going to pretend to understand how their minds worked, let alone how they made any of their decisions.

As for what she offered, Colsun shook his head. "She didn't offer me anything. We're friends, I'm a rogue, and she lives here. If she's decided you're a capable leader, I trust her judgment. You give me a place to live and you get a giant meat puppet to do your bidding within reason. Or not and I take my leave."

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code by scorpixia♡︎ | art by kim

She grins, wicked and wild — she likes him. He has a sharp tongue and a sassy wit her past self might have enjoyed battling with quips. Although the more mild-mannered part of her had been brutally ripped away by her own kin, she could still appreciate it nonetheless.

“Merci. I try my best,” a soft simper in reply to his comment about it looking gothic, as though perhaps there was at least some thought to the decor of the place. In truth, perhaps there would continue to be more blood to stain the place, to forever taint the beauty of the rainforest once her and her cohorts were done with it. At least, she knew it would be a battlefield in the months to come, and she was oh so eager for it. Would @Colsun be?

A huff of surprise but glee at his comment about a meat puppet — ah, he already knows her too well. Did Kireena, perhaps, give him the lowdown on her first? Or was he simply one of her kind?

“You sure know how to sweet talk a lady,” she laughs, even if the action lacks any true mirth. “Respect the leaders, your pridemates, and our allies. Don't bring trouble back to the pride that you can't handle yourself. Otherwise, I merely wish to make a name for this pride in any means possible—” a pause in her sentence as she lingers on the word any, twisting it so deliciously upon her tongue— “still interested?”

once upon a younger year

when all our shadows disappeared

---

Colsun's whiskers twitched as the colossal lion studied her, listening with tufted ears as she went throwing around those prettily accented words. Lacking in refined culture as he was, Colsun could only base what it meant off context clues and assumed she was thanking him - or telling him to fuck off. It was one or the other, he imagined, and the Valentine simply was not curious enough to ask. The less he knew, the better. He existed to serve only as his father had: a soldier all too willing to go to battle at the drop of a hat. Ah, well, provided there was enough incentive. Alizabeth had been the incentive most of the time but Colsun lacked a paramour to think about on the battlefield, sadly. Maybe in time.

"Don't I just?" he hummed in response, pausing for a beat before adding: "you seem like the type of woman that needs to be complimented in the proper fashion. Something like 'the only time you are more beautiful than you are right now is when you've got the head of your enemy dangling from your jaws.'" Colsun gestured with a paw for good measure, adding to the theatrics.

And then onwards to seal his fate. "I accept your laws. Consider me a Firnenian. Firnen? Ah, we'll workshop that later."

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code by scorpixia♡︎ | art by kim

The grin on her face grows wider — more feral — as the colossal beast before her speaks. How flattering of him to read her so prettily; not that she was making it very hard for him to do so, of course.

“Would you like to see that?” she purrs with a devilish simper, almost as if flirting with the man. The thought of having her enemy's head dangling from her jaws, ah! What a glorious thought that was. Of course the face of said enemy currently remained blurry in her mind, even if there were a few... She could attest to be potential claimers for that position. The taboo taste of kin's flesh.

“Then I welcome you to Firnen. I look forward to seeing you around,” she purrs as @Colsun agrees to her terms — oh, did he just sign away his soul to the devil? “I hope you find it to your liking.” And with that, and a regal tilt of her crown, she turns and heads back into the shadows of the forest, to continue with her patrol. The conversation and the lingering, overwhelming stench of blood has made her... Ravenous.

exeunt Ludivine

once upon a younger year

when all our shadows disappeared

---

Would he like to see that? Colsun wasn't a particularly macabre man despite his enjoyment of a good brawl, but he shrugged his shoulders because he assumed it was best to go along with what the queen desired. "I'll try anything once." He left the meaning of his words vague and open to her interpretation because frankly, he wasn't even sure what he'd meant.

Regardless, she accepted him into the herd and he was pleased with himself for having gotten so far without Kireena's assistance. "Thank you, thank you, it will be a pleasure to have been seen." Colsun ruffled his name up like a proud peacock, clearly satisfied with himself, and moseyed on into his new home.

exit

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code by scorpixia♡︎ | art by kim