He sat dutifully enough beside his mother, @Astarte, listening to the meeting even though he didn't care about any of it. Why he should listen to this man when his father was Jarl he'd never know. Hell, why any of them listened to Bruno instead of his father, he'd never know. But they were supposed to, so he'd at least pretend to care. Should I bring you their pelts, mother? he asked softly. If she was so worried about them then why not do something about it? Surely they would be no match for a Rike male such as himself, even one as young as he. They were likely much the same age, he'd guess. But he too was interrupted by a voice, one that was familiar from hearing it some short time ago calling for their pride. It seemed their little meeting had an uninvited guest. The lioness who spoke up, clearly fed up with the fight already, did have a good point. Not that he'd admit such a thing out loud. Instead, he just looked to Astarte and raised an eyebrow at her in silent question, following after her to watch the fight.

ART AND CODE BY SHAZ

She was hardly paying attention to the meeting. The toils of mortals did not concern her, unless, it seemed, that involved angry, irreverent children. She was still quite upset about that, actually. Hmph.

But this was dull.

Briefly, the thought of leaving crossed her mind, though she would never get the chance to act upon it. A most irksome sound reached her ears. Oh, this again. Wonderful. She made a point to move as far away from the battlefield as she could. This call for taking war positions was certainly not for her.

Still, she would stay around and watch, keeping an eye out for those children.

She sincerely hoped that the reigning king would put an end to this foolishness, it was boring.

She attended the meeting, her mind totally focused on Bruno and the news of the disappearing Saxe king. She was so focused that when the strange call happened, it took her a few moments to recognize the caller- and it was Bruno's own words to ready for war that made her heart begin to skip a beat, to rush in it's tempo within her chest. She inhaled a deep breath, and let it out, her blue eyes hardening and her head rising. If she had to fight for her home again, to keep those out or some in she would. She silently wished Bruno well as she began to follow the King, and when she arrived to see him spring into action- her eyes focused on him and she waited to see what would happen- and where she may be needed.

ART BY KIM, CODE BY LARS

"... and with his absence, the oasis is no longer labeled an active threat."

there is that yawning pit filled with snakes, a poison that had spread like fire through his body. the threat was gone, his son says, and yet -- how many more would come for them? how many of the bastards blood would pick up their father's fight? how many would hunt them down and try to steal away the happiness he had carved in to this corner of the world?

a year ago he would never have dared imagine harm to a child and yet --

--he'd see them all exterminated, if he could.

quiet thoughts, private thoughts, ringing loud in his mind whenever he peers in to the emptiness of his wife's eyes, or glimpses the pain and grief that his children try so hard to bury. alaric keeps the poison from them, throwing up a familiar wall, a carefully carved mask that descends in to place. years of practice have made it an art, and there are none that would see past the shining porcelain. for them he is the unshakable king, and even as he looks at bruno in the wake of his words there is no glimpse of the malice he still harbors for any that carry the saxe name.

he would have spoken in support of the mire king, opened his mouth to do so, and just as quickly snapped it shut when he heard the whisper through the trees. a roaring beast snarls in his chest and he is fast on the heels of his son, half tempted to rip open the white bastards throat himself.

@Narsil's words meet him first and he directs his attention at her even as bruno launches at his brother. "how quickly you speak up against our king," a growl trails his words, "as if all prides do not face challengers. i thought you better than a turncoat," there is disappointment, there, for the woman he had thought such a force to be reckoned with. shame, really.

then his focus turns to his daughter and he stalks away from narsil, his posture protective as he positions himself between melusina and the brewing fight. "If Bruno falls you run," he tells her, and though he does not wish to frighten her he would not see her imprisoned, here. "i will not let any harm come to you," he promises, and by the weight of his vow he'd be dead before he broke it.

there are others, there, @Arsinoë and @Odette, and he chuffs to them, hoping to draw them closer. a tight knit group ready to defend and get the hell out should the absolute worst come to happen.

image to kim + code to pine

he would not be left behind.

this time he would be the first to stop any thread that rose, the first to rip the damn head off of the snake. rohan would give his whole damn self to make sure his siblings were safe, even though there is scorn in his eyes when he trots up beside alaric and @Melusina. "you shouldn't be here," he touts as he gives her a pointed look, even though he knew she shouldn't really be anywhere that wasn't here, either.

then, seemingly dismissing her, he swung to face the fight. puffing out his chest and acting as if he was much older than his mere year. "i'm ready, vater," and no matter how he tried to seem the asshole he had conveniently positioned himself right between his sister and the growing chaos.

Art by Foxyinkz || Code by Zay || BG

it was all very exciting, really. first vater tells them all about how they BEAT their big bad enemies (and even if this wasn't the truth it was the truth that dalila would tout for the rest of her life) and then he was going to introduce them. lila hung on his ever word, sitting just off to the side, looking eagerly at bruno with many glances at the crowd.

there were more than a few flowers tucked in to her fur, all the neat ones she had learned about, the ones she had watched other animals ingest and fall sick from. they intrigued her, and she treated them with the most gentle paws. well, as gentle as she could manage with youth and inexperience...

but then it wasn't so exciting. there is a summons, and dalila blinks as vater rises so quickly and leaves. without waiting, or paying much attention to what else was happening, she followed. skittering away through the thick of the mire, back towards... home?

it didn't make a lot of sense until she spotted the white monster by their home, the one that vater attacked without any kind of talk. dalila freezes and puffs up, claws flexed against the loamy ground, staring at the fight that erupted right before her very eyes. a part of her wanted to run away but she kicked that part down as fast as she could manage, spitting and snarling at the scared side of her.

instead she dives beneath the large leaves of a nearby plant, peeking out from her hiding spot, trying hard to keep out of sight while she watched the chaos unfold.

ART BY KAIINURU, CODE BY CORVUS

there is a beast made of murder

"Or zeir heads," Grimm chimed in as he heard his brother questioning @Astarte . Truthfully, the way their father taught them, fear was uninvolved in a lot of the things Grimm offered. The young lion truly did not fear death, and as he would grow, he would learn why that was an important lesson. He wasn't that worried about the Saxe children themselves. He didn't observe many bloodthirsty traits in them as he did their father... who was gone.

Grimm sighed, and just as he did so, a voice rang out. Familiar; he almost mistook it for his father, but no. It took him a full moment to realize why he thought it was so familiar... and it was at that moment, Luther made himself known to the rest of the pride.

Grimm was a little older this time, and so, he was collectively prepared to throw himself into the fray this time - whether Astarte liked it or not. "Ich passe auf dich auf, du passt auf meinen auf, Bruder?" (I watch your back, you watch mine, brother?) he murmured to @Everick beside him. If he remembered correctly, Luther didn't come alone last time. He was ready to defend his pride this time.

Throwing his head over his shoulder, he quickly looked around for their other siblings, @Bastian and @Lorelei . He didn't immediately see them, but their absence was noted darkly.


Grimm is open to a kiddie fight :>

that I can no longer keep chained

code x art x inspo

"... and with his absence, the oasis is no longer labeled an active threat."

The words rang in some distant cavern of the girl's mind. She remained seated at her sisters' side, her chin held high and her eyes a vacant overcast. Were this audience assembled for her, she might have preached on about how no mortal could prove a real threat if one did not stoop to their petty level. She might have tried to lecture away her own sins. See how I've learned, she would say. See how I am still worthy of being one of three faces.

She could not bring herself to meet Ianthe's gaze – not after last time.

Hekate came back to the present just as it seemed their half-brother's attention was fixated upon those wards of his. Her chest tightened protectively as she found herself searching the crowd for their curled, masked forms, some part of her wishing to wrench them free of the king's scrutinizing eye.

"– those frauleins ––"

The words were garbled against a contrasting call in the hinterland. The swamp princess flicked one ear forward questioningly, finally tearing her gaze to try and catch those of her sisters in search of more understanding than she possessed.

"Take up your war positions. Do not put anything past him."

They were warnings as if robbed out of a nightmare. Hekate blinked as she peered around the gathering of Ecrosians, her heart quickening by the moment as the reality of that scene settled in. For once, it was Hekate rather than Lazare wondering whether she was awake or in the confines of a dream. She had relived that morning through a hundred nights of slumber, each time her decisions falling just short of their salvation. She would not let it be thus – not again.

"We gather the cubs," she hissed lowly, searching her matching faces for agreement as bodies flung to action all around them.

"Kinder! Cubs, komm her!" Come here! Hekate's voice broke out over the thundering of paws against marshland, eyes darting wildly around in search of any tiny bodies.

---

|| july y11 | 1y - 11m | EM royalty | at ecrosia mire | @Ianthe @Arsinoë

Ciara frowned upon hearing the same idiot calling for a fight for their pride, anger threatening with blurring her senses. She arrives, and angry she lays down next to her sister Odette. Kinda shwoing a protectiveness, remembering their last war she wanted to offer her litter mate her help should anything come their way.

"I hope Bruno beats him again, he should be kept out." She commented as she sighed. Why couldnt he leave and go for other prides? Why bother them? If there were grudges with them then dont drag the entire pride with them. Yet she knew better to stay quiet and keep it to herself. She came to assess the wounds anyway.

+5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds

artwork • coding

His absence. It hurt. Distantly. The scorn behind the words, the derision. As though scolding her for misplaced desires, as though the words were directed solely at her. It was good that the Saxe loyalists were not being actively hunted, since if they were she would have to decide which side of the fence had greener grass.

The king continued to personal matters and she twitched her nostrils, already yearning to zone out. There was, thankfully - her first thought was thankfully - an interruption. The challenge. Familiar. She hadn't attended the last one, preferring to nurse her injuries and hope her absence mattered to someone. Apparently it hadn't, because who's-his-face was back, and she could make up for it! She sprang up with a flounce. She didn't know what war positions meant but, given that she was intelligent enough to take her own initiative, that order didn't apply to her anyway.

She was going to demonstrate that she was awesome. There had to be some clever trick that she could spin around to land on the side of whoever won.

She eyed a mouthy female who was quickly curtailed by the old, iron king. Not a place she wanted to step, not an eye she wanted to catch. She wanted to be first to catch anyone sneaking in or out, or anyone muttering unsavory things. She looked around, chin heft, a deliberate aura of sentinel alertness. But that gleam in her eye was that of mischief and the thief and the artist.