She is not quite used to the white hot feeling of anger that boils in her stomach, crawling up her throat with an acidic feeling as if the emotions claws dig into the sensitive lining of her esophagus with every inch. The way her fur prickles along her spine, the way her claws reflexively move into the sand, exposing themselves to the warm air- is all stranger. It is instinct, that she had not quite mentally caught up on. She feels the shift, the tension and the rumbles around her- the footfalls of another arriving. @Kireena ♞'s question that echoed in the use of her name- the growl of the male @Coulson ... the appearance of the other. For the first time in a long time, she feels a part of something. That anger is quelled only slightly by a sense of warmth, and she listens, her gaze cold as she studies @Cassius ♔ as he speaks. The Dieudonne' the Bluffs- she recognized the scent from the female in the passage. Allies. She blinks in response to his comment that he could of collected her, and huffs a soft snort. She never thought he particularly cared.

"I'm glad you found your path." She says, after a second of silence. "I have found my own." She supplies, as if that covers it- the fact that no one had come for her. That Carina was all she had- from the former family the Lagoon had been. The shell of her past life.

I've heard respect goes both ways. And as far as they were concerned, I was trash. She considers this, and tries to remember such a thing. She'd never considered him as anything less. She hadn't really... considered him, to be fair. Except as her brother, though they hadn't exactly bonded. Talking about their mother like this, like the female hadn't cared for him- hadn't loved him? "Tiamat never treated you like trash." She denies harshly. "Perhaps you treated yourself in such a way." She wouldn't speak for her sisters- but her mother? No. She would never have- would she? Or was she so blinded by her love of her mother that she couldn't see it?

His gaze moves towards the awaiting challenge, and it is as if she has had her mind read by her brother. A bit of understanding rounds her expression, as she considers and she glances to @Kireena ♞. "I do remember him now." She comments- remembering the skirmish. "We won then too." She adds thoughtfully. "When we were all cubs. Tiamat came and got us- and Tinuiviel was there too." The memory replays before her eyes- how Cassius and Zafira had launched a fight with the other cubs and how... well, she couldn't just let them loose.

The dark male @Gauthier who had come up beside her speaks, and she shifts her gaze to him, nodding when he says her name as a question. He says a word, she isn't quite familiar with but then asks who this male is, and she speaks- clear and as confident as she can. As a daughter of a Queen, even a lost Queen should. "Taraji." She confirms, offering a pleasant, and kind smile that flashes across her muzzle quickly.

"Cassius. My brother." She offers, giving the name to introduce him to them all. My... very big brother. It was unfair, really that he was bigger than her in such a way. They were the same age! And yet, if he stood, she would look up to him. What a load of genetic crap!

"THEY SAY TO THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK, SO KNOW WHEN I FUCK YOU UP-- I THOUGHT ABOUT IT."

code by corvus

Pride challenges had always intrigued her, even from a young age. Perhaps it was the sheer brutality of it. Or maybe it was because everyone within the pride itself always seemed to scramble about. That was what was far more fascinating to her than anything. Like chickens with their heads cut off. They ran around and around and around, without even knowing their silly little fates hung in the balance. Politics were never her thing, they never would be. But boy did she love watching the drama of it all. By the time she'd made it to the desert terrain her coat was covered in a thick layer of mud, obscuring her previously pristine colors to a now muddied brown. She didn't want to be recognized, and she certainly didn't plan on being followed. The almost yearling stuck to the outskirts of the gathering, her nose wrinkling slightly at the smell of the borders before delicately traipsing over them. She would settle just slightly in the pride terrain amongst a few sparse shrubs and plants, her silver gaze locked onto the man in question. Already there was a squabble on the sideline of other cubs, ones that looked maybe to be her age but she could care less. No, her attention was on the fight for the land. They were still waiting for the defender to come but she didn't mind allowing her gaze to wander to the scuffling cubs in the meantime. Bored already, but she promised herself she'd see this through.

*Frosé is attempting to hide!

[sleuth exp]
+5 - Infiltrate a group thread without getting caught
+10 - Sneak into a pride without getting caught
+10 - Remain undetected in a large thread

He could have stayed home, that would have been the obvious and more logical thing to do. But where was the fun in that? There was no fun in that. Besides, the very second he saw both @Apollo and @Lucía leaving he knew it would be wrong of him to stay behind. What if something happened to them? Then father would never forgive him for not being a better man. Yeah, that was exactly why he needed to come. To protect his family of course, duh. He saunters his way across the different terrains, scaling down the mountainside to eventually make his way towards the desert terrain. Purple gaze scans the individuals present, immediately spying @Sedona, his mamá, Lucía tangled up with another cub, and then Apollo. @Scorpius stood waiting and Jude's bobbed tail twitched with anticipation, so that was the real reason why they all came here.

He glides across the sand before taking a seat next to Apollo, leaning against his older cousin with ease. And he knew it would be tolerated because everyone tolerated him. How could they hate this face? "Veo que Lucía está causando problemas otra vez. ¿Crees que ella ganará? Yo digo que ella golpea a la otra chica hasta convertirla en pulpa." He says to him with a grin, his gaze locked onto his cousin. His bet was in, but would Apollo agree or would he think that his sister didn't have what it took to handle the situation she got herself into? Jude would soon find out.

---

₁ I see Lucía is causing trouble again. Do you think she'll win? I say she beats the other girl to a pulp.


[bard/beatnik exp]
+5 - Attend a challenge
+5 - Gossip about another character (Lucía)
+10 - Win a bet against someone else

artwork • coding

He would be lying if he said it didn't give him a particular thrill to hear the call for the oasis throne. While Scorpius may be no friend of his he was a thousand times better than the bastard that currently occupied it, and with his tentative ceasefire with Leonie the choice between Saxe and Miroslav was easy. The enemy of my enemy and all that jazz...

As he draws near to the oasis he is hit with memories from his last visit, not so long ago. Thinking of the shell of a wife that he had retrieved from this damned place, remembering the horrors that @Léonie herself had shared with him. It's enough to make his blood boil all over again, claws flexing against the soft sand that held so many memories.

This was where he had started, after all. This was where his story in Amaryllis had begun. How the years had changed him...

There are not many from the Mire, yet, and so he moves towards the striped woman that had called for him. Towards the one that so many would think his enemy; a silent declaration that he would stand with the Miroslav long before he would bow to the Saxe. He does not stand directly beside her but some paces away, keeping to himself... for now.

EVERY SCAR TELLS A STORY

Sybil does not realize that @Kireena ♞ is gone until she feels the emptiness in their shared den. She jolts awake, glancing around them before a deep frown settles onto her features. "Stay here with Tiny." She instructs @Thistle, not wanting the girl to come into harm's way. Immediately she moves from the den to follow after the waning scent of her wife's trail. It wound outward, towards the desert pride that Sybil knew little about. She makes haste to find her wife in the slowly growing crowd. She is relieved to see that she is unharmed, but Sybil could not help but be a bit of a helicopter 'wife' considering Kireena's condition. She wastes no time in taking up her free side, bumping her shoulder with her own. "Why did you not wake me before leaving?" She mumbles for only Kireena to hear. Her ruby gaze is sharp, locking gazes with her wife before turning her attention back to the group that is gathered. "Another challenge I take it.. who's it against... Is it Aeistrios?" She asks Kireena because surely her wife would have the answers. Plus, that plum bastard had been at the epicenter of all of the drama lately. It was only right to assume that he would be at the center of this as well.


[medic exp]
+5 - Attend a challenge to assess the wounds

code by flea, art by moogle

Faline

I'm gonna wait out past the shadows, and breathe the bitter taste, I'm gonna drink the lonely down, I can feel it all around

The hallowed halls of Amaryllis would never be without chaos. Fae had heard the call twice—no, thrice now, and knew that it likely meant the end of her short stint within the Oasis. Not that she particularly minded, for the golden rolling plains and even the waterside of the Vermedan foothills were far more pleasant a place to live than this. Let whoever have their desert—Aeistrios would find another pride, as he always did, and Fae would follow because she had nowhere to go. With Renfri dead and Seifri likely within the clutches of the Bluffs, Fae had nothing left but him, and she would do everything she needed to do to survive.

Their armies did not compare to how they were of old. Many of her youngest half-siblings were hidden, tucked within the sidelines where they could not be spotted. More of their enemies gathered than their allies, and bearing Andal scent alone was enough to put her in danger. But Fae would not take this opportunity to run; perhaps a smarter lion would have, perhaps it would have spelled her a far better fate. But something tethered her here; even with her adoptive mother gone, her sister was still out there, and would be in just as much danger as she regardless of their lack of shared blood.

Thus, Fae remained, glued to the sidelines. She was not hidden enough to go unnoticed, keen on Aeistrios seeing her support from the throng of crowds that vowed against him. Maybe, just maybe, she could skirt by without getting hurt—she were small, still, young, and a collection of herbs scattered about her feet spelled of a pacifist more than a warrior. But even Fae was not too sheltered to believe she was safe from the wrath of Amaryllis.

---

Fae would likely be in AO at this point!

code by cala, art by yumpy

For a brief moment she feels the pain of the girl's teeth clenched on her shoulder and it infuriates her enough to lash out. Her teeth just barely manage to scrape against the top of Heisa's muzzle before she feels an abrupt slap across the left side of her face. It quite literally caught her off guard, in the least she hadn't expected the girl to let go of her so easily. Her head gets whipped to the right with the force of the hit and Lucía cannot help but giggle in response. But, if the fellow cub thought that she was going to play fair she was sorely mistaken. She grew up with all boys, she had to think in a creative manner if she ever intended to win any of the fights she got herself into. Quickly Lucía would reach down, scooping a large pawful of sand in her mit before abruptly throwing it at Heisa's face in an attempt to throw the girl off. With a snarl she'd thrust herself at Heisa then, her right forepaw extending in an attempt to rake her claws down the left side of Heisa's face.

Lucía v. @Heisa
For Dominance
Round 2 of 3

Hits:

Rolling 0d20: 19

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 17 + 13 + 4 + 3

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 6 + 7 + 20 + 13 + 19

_{BG — ART — CODE}

"I know you're not deaf."

Apollo gave a start. He craned his neck in search of the rumbling force, forcing a sheepish grin in the face of one shadow-faced uncle. His heart raced at the grumbling anger in his tone, though the boy was never one to shrivel away from such attitudes.

"Que?" He teased. That silver gaze simmered with mischief as he shuffled to try and place Amandil at his side, pleased to find that he was catching up to the older lions of his family quickly in size.

"But, if you're going to be here - what do you intend to do?"

Oh, his uncles were always so concerned with what he should be doing! Apollo quirked a brow and softened his expression somewhat as he tried to think over the correct response. He was just getting lost in such thoughts when he felt the warm weight of someone pressing into his other side.

"Jude," he greeted gleefully, turning his neck to regard another ashen member of their family. He spoke instead of Lucía and her odds against the purple cub, earning a sniff of laughter from the adolescent prince as he tried to mull over a response.

"Le van a dar una paliza en el culo y yo voy a mirar y ser muy bueno," she's gonna get her ass beaten and I'm gonna watch and be very good, he answered both lions in one as he glanced between them cheekily.

---

@Amandil @Jude

_{BG — ART — CODE}

Perhaps the presence of @Amandil should have made Jude sit up a bit straighter but instead he lounged against @Apollo with a grin. They were not causing issues they were simply minding their own business and standing by just in case Lucía should need them, which by the looks of things Jude didn't think she'd be needing any of their help any time soon. "Jude! she's gonna get her ass beaten and I'm gonna watch and be very good." He quirks a brow at Apollo's change in tone but doesn't mention it, instead refocusing his gaze on his cousin. He couldn't help but chuckle at her attempts to distract the cub she was facing, all valid attempts but it still remained to be seen on whether they actually worked or not.

Jude would lean in against Apollo's right ear then, whispering so only he could hear. "Es un espía de nuestros padres, ¿por qué si no estaría aquí haciendo preguntas?" 'He's a spy for our parents, why else would he be over here asking questions.' He whispers in regards to Amandil, being sure to avoid the man's gaze entirely before leaning back so he could better observe his cousin's fight. After all his uncle had yet to be faced, his opponent likely drawing out the suspense for everyone.

artwork • coding

Why did it seem like he was constantly here to watch another try to uproot the current Andal leader? Saladin was coming to terms that he made a right choice on leaving the desert pride when he had; he didn't want to deal with the constant shift of leadership and having to learn their rules. He moves with careful paw steps, guiding himself over the familiar moving sands. Dual toned eyes scan the already growing crowd, wondering if his newfound friends @Daneri or @Asbjørn would arrive so they could carry on their fun little game. But what catches his eye next causes for Saladin to make a beeline right toward the other.

"Hey assface," the yearling calls out to @Evren as he nears, attempting to shove his shoulder into his sibling playfully. "Why is it we only see each other at challenges?" Brow rises as he asks his question, a quick glance and an eyeroll given to @Faustine. Always following this girl, Saladin was beginning to see. Gaze then shifts toward the lion that had ruled when he was in Andal, not having seem him in a long time. "Wonder when he crawled out of his hole." Paw gestures toward Scorpius with a smirk painting his lips.

ART BY RABBIT, CODE BY DEE, MODIFIED BY GUNNER