This content might touch on topics that are sensitive or triggering for some readers. Trigger Warning for mentions of gore, decapitation, cannibalism

OOC: This thread is mostly for Wolfbron Dieus and Ryker's family, but any WB member is free to linger in the background.

She is a devil sculpted from hate and borne of hellish fires; a grotesque monster covered in the gore of a fallen King. His blood paints her entire being — she doesn't even care to wipe it from her flesh as she takes her bounty and heads off in the direction of her kin. @Ryker's head is secured between her jaws, bloodless and lifeless now. His body is no more — feasted upon by her own brood, so that they may devour his strength and grow into their true cannibalistic nature. It was a celebration — and milestone in her small family's childhood. Soon they shall be able to feast upon more worthy prey as well. But for now—

She made a promise. And she's a lioness of her w o r d.

Although explicit allies with Wolfbron, Ludivine still shows respect by stopping just shy of the borders before dropping the head ceremoniously onto the invisible line. It already smells of death and the sooner she can pass it on to his kin, the sooner she can be rid of it. A pity really; Ryker's skull would have looked beautiful on display along Firnen's borders. A warning of what happens to those that mess with her and her bloodline. But alas, it was a simple request from a dying man — is she actually just a bleeding heart?

Ludivine calls first for the rest of her family lurking within Wolfbron's borders — but her call doesn't stop there. She also summons the dead beast's wife, along with any of his children that may wish to be part of this. She doesn't actually know if they will come to see the fate of their mate and father... But if they don't, no loss for her; she will just have a trophy after all.

@Levana & Ryker children

With the cubs safely tucked away in the jungle and Levana having had some sense forced onto her (quite literally,) the torn asunder family lay together, though obviously missing one sole lion. When the call rang out, the voice terribly familiar, Levana's ears flicked, the gut wrenching pain in her stomach and chest had her already knowing what she was about to head into. On weakened paws, she rose, unsteadily swaying as she turned her body towards Wolfbron, with a sad smile she kissed the top of her newest cubs heads and said some words of love over them, not trusting the lions who called so fiercely for her family.

The widowed lioness let out a small chuff to her friend, she could not stop her this time from going to meet with the Firnen queen, a sad smile lifted her lips at the thought, she'd ruled Firnen at one point, and now she was headed towards its newest ruler, to see what cruelty was given to her husband. The thought caused nausea to bubble in her stomach, tears already beginning to reappear down her cheeks, she wiped them away quickly and shook her coat out.

She would not walk into this weakened and looking as if she were broken, instead she lifted her head and swallowed the lump in her throat, ignoring the tremble down her spine and in her legs.

@Kireena ♞

After having gotten the Dantanians back to the jungle, Kireena had seen to it they were settled...the best she could. She had filled Sybil in on what had happened with soft whispers so as not to wake their own young cubs. Her heart aches for the lioness, and wondered how her own life could have been the same...had things been different. When @Levana called, the red druid rose from where she had been sitting by one of the Basins many pools, listening to the road of the falls. As the two-toned lioness left, so too did Kireena. She would keep pace with Levana the duration of the trip, only intending to step back once they arrived so as not to interrupt or be seen a threat.. instead a simple companion and witness to the fate of the ebon king. She spotted @Ludivine, and at her paws the familiar head. Ears fell against her own skull as she immediately thought to speak to the widowed mate about the traditions of her family. She wasn't so sure they had seen the skull she held in reverence...but perhaps that particular ritual might bring some semblance of peace to the ground that would wrap around and choke hearts. Her gaze turned from the Firnen monarch to Levana, watching her intently and with every muscle prepared to jump on and smoosh her into the dirt if need be to keep her safe...a promise she intended to try to keep to Ryker.

code by koi, manip by tabs, images from unsplash

There was a constant fluctuation, a steady shift, a near-silent thrum within these lands. Amaryllis was in a ready state of upheaval and there were times she grew weary of it. Every month a new challenge popped up; every month there was change. Louve had retreated from the limelight if only to attend to her own pride and family, to ensure the safety and security of the only home she had ever known. Always, though, there was a sense of walking the tightrope, ever aware of the inevitability of a misstep.

Louve had not forgotten Ryker's actions; they stared her in the face every day in the form of her husbands scarred visage. She had not forgotten but she had, temporarily, shelved the notion of revenge, trusting that it would keep. Best served cold, didn't they say? And now her sides swelled with life once more, subtle enough that she did not imagine it would be noticeable, but Louve was well versed with the signs.

@Ludivine's summons pulls her from her internal focus, drawing her to the border with a vague sense of eager apprehension. Something had changed, she could all but smell it in the air, and she is scarcely surprised by the sight that greets her. "Efficace." Efficient is all she has to say, a murmur that falls from quirked lips as yellow eyes shift to the newly widowed, muscles tensed in anticipation of some kind of outburst.

art

This content might touch on topics that are sensitive or triggering for some readers. Trigger Warning for mentions of mentions of gore and references to decapitation

Delphine was, as per usual, fantastique at following instructions. And so, it should have been of little surprise to anyone that she heeded the familial summons with intent and vigor, growing limbs pushing her down the slopes of the rocky castle, somewhere within Louve’s distant shadow. Arriving only moments after the queen and matriarch, the babe looked first to @Louve, then to @Ludivine, and then finally to the gorey prize settled poignantly on their borders.

A head.

Non – his head.

The traitor. With nothing but lifeless, void eyes staring back at them.

It was enough to send a thrilling, electric shock down the length of her spine, muscles tightening as Delphine was quick to perch herself atop a nearby boulder for a better vantage point of the meeting. Her presence would surely be noted, but the young Dieudonne had made a point to pick a spot a few feet back and to the side, which gave her the perfect front-row seat to what might come next.

And though it was instinctively that her fur bristled at the sight of the two unknown women, the call from Ludivine seemed to indicate that they should be here for one reason or another. That, and the fact that Louve did not question their arrival, was enough to keep the growing hound at bay. For now, she would simply watch – a gargoyle perched upon the nearby stone with claws hooked fervently into its sides, hoping absently that her sisters would be just as keen to learn that the man had paid for his sins against their famille.

He had killed -- or attempted to kill, she supposed – Apollinaire for nothing, because in the end he was a corpse all the same. It would have saved him a lot of strife if he had simply given into the czar’s wrath at the time of the death match; but instead he had won, only to lose his life some odd weeks later. It was quite unfortunate, really — how fleeting that taste of victory must have been. Or at least Delphine assumed, not knowing the full breadth of how exactly this had all came to be. All that she knew for sure was that the traitor was dead, and destiny had unfurled in the way that the Dieudonne had demanded it to.

code by squid, art by drifty

From the badlands, back to the jungle. He'd followed, and did his best not to think about the confusing feelings that came from seeing @Kireena ♞ so willing to help. His view of her was still somewhat tainted merely by the fact she'd once tried to overthrow his father, had worked her way up to a position that should belong to trusted individuals, and...then chose to remain behind when someone else had come along and stolen the place. In his youthful anger, he'd thought her a traitor, but he'd grown to understand how the love of a place might factor into choices. Hadn't he, himself, stuck around Aniadar? Sneaking glimpses of Firnen when he could, but less now that his brother and escaped Amaryllis as a whole. The jungle, though, was in his blood, and it was a space of comfort and familiarity. He'd found a space, and made it his own. Seemed she had, as well.

The little ones had been left behind, but there was nothing they could do to stop him from following. His steps faltered slightly when they arrived, and he spotted exactly what lay at the brown woman's paws, breath hitched in a whispered fuck. He'd really done it. And that, too, was a complicated feeling. Grief and rage at war within him.

Lucifer would settle himself at his mother's free side, brushing a shoulder against @Levana, but standing firm. He'd spent his life watching, observing, learning, but the mask was still soft and half-formed. There were signs of distress in the set of his mouth and the way his ears sank, the clench of his jaw and the twitch of his tail tip.

code by corvus

it is not the head, nor the woman standing over it, that catches her attention.

non, it is the strangers. she cannot smell them but they are certainly not of wolfbron, and given their less-than-pleased expressions... it's easy to see why they're here. perhaps they don't want ( or need ) the girl to gawk at them in this moment of weakness, but she is here regardless. a silent shadow, lingering quietly at her mother's side.

she simply glances at the ghastly offering, before turning her attention once more to the grieving woman and yearling. the larger woman was simply quiet-- she seemed out of place, and it is the other ones who hold her attention. perhaps... perhaps the feeling welling in her chest was pity. but, non. that was not quite right.

there were far too many teeth for it to be anything close to apologetic.

BG — ART — CODE

She'd been in silent despair since her father had spoke about his plans, her cries had done nothing to stop her father and she'd fell into a collapsed pile of sobs, her mother's dead eyes and sobs punctuating her own. She'd not said a word when Kireena had led them back to the jungle, not even to her sweet grandmother, the happy girl who'd played between her father's paws and always shadowed him was just a giant shadow at his farewell.

When the call rang out she was immediately on her paws when her mother rose, she saw her brother too and Kireena, she was warned to stay back by Levana, but she growled at her mother for the first time in her short life, she'd followed close to Lucifer, her eyes boring into the landscape Infront of her.

The sight she walked upon had her steps stalling, her breath hitched, eyes immediately on her father's head as she let out a wail, she felt herself stepping forward but immediately was stopped by her mother, she felt herself being held back but had no logical thoughts in her head as she screamed and sobbed, she was slammed back into reality as her mother snapped just breaths away from her cheek, she reeled back, stumbling and embarrassingly landing on her butt. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as her shoulders shook, her mother's words were somewhere far away as she was ordered to sit down or take her leave. She wondered how her mother could still stay standing with her husbands head lying at the foot of that monster, she hated her mother in that moment, not understanding why she held her head up high and didn't falter.

Perhaps the call had been for the ruling family, and a few others, but if there was something happening on the borders, it was likely that Sébastien would find his way there. Had to keep up on current events, and all that.

He was not the first to arrive, but he was the least involved. The scene that awaited earned little more than a raised brow and a curious hum as he joined the back of the group. Curious. The last time he'd seen that particular head, it had been attached to a troublesome body. Sébastien would slot himself in near @Lazare, the strange girl who so often found his company, and who he'd found a bit of fondness for. Je ne pense pas que même vous puissiez le ramener à la vie. I do not think even you could bring him back from that. Even if she wanted. His tone was quiet, the pale creature leaning toward the little ghoul as if sharing secrets.

Would this be another bloody battle, a folly of revenge, or would the strangers on the borders accept whatever was to happen here and retreat quietly into the night? A young girl seemed to be falling apart while the rest of her companions appeared to be doing their best to maintain composure. A quick assessment of markings and ages led him to the assumption they must be the family of the man who once owned the head. Though the large red woman remained a bit of a mystery. A friend, perhaps?

code by daanyen || art by rabbit

she says nothing during her approach, red eyes peering - no, leering - at their visitors from the darkness of the tall bluffs rocks. the chateaux girl slips into the gathering, finding a place just off of @Louve's side. a head, so wonderfully bloody, and above it stood a woman that had become an all too familiar sight over the last few months. pride challenges, death matches, manon sees the firnen sovereign with more and more regularity though today, it is without the company of her ever-present gargoyles.

on that side of the border there are also strangers, though manon remembers their faces from the deathmatch as well. crimson eyes are keen, drinking each of them in as her tongue flicks out to lick at dark, inky lips. "nous a-t-elle apporté un cadeau, maman?" has she brought us a gift, mama? the purr that rumbles in her chest is entirely inappropriate for the situation. at least, it would have been inappropriate, had it been anyone else. "un festin entier, peut-être?" a whole feast, perhaps? the gluttonous hunger in her eyes is unmistakable as her attention roams between the four strangers - maybe the dead man's family or friends? - and the head in the midst of them all, body so subtly quaking with want.

coded by flea + background credit: TLK