WE'RE BORN INTO THE GRAVE

Though his teeth widened the wound, nectarous ichor coating the sinking pierce of his fangs, Lucifer merely moved with his drag. He abandons the effort altogether just as his opponent seizes the attempt to drag his claws down the route of his throat - his movement causing their hooks to only snag mane and the fatty, superficial skin beneath before breaking loose. Gauthier relished the taste of his blood momentarily before adjusting his body to slightly angle Lucifer’s right with an arc of his tail, not without hearing the words of his attacker.

At least, their important fine-points.

You’ve been poisoned, you know that? The cut at the corner of his eye stings, its flesh hot, its content bloodshot. Yield and I’ll give you the cure before it paralyzes you… and your lungs. Yield and— Oh, but that is quite enough. The absurdity of it, the bluntness of the expected draw, as if this was not interpreted to him as a tell of desperation. My how this lot enjoyed to talk, arrogant and seething. Had the boy thought this would be the end, the moment of clarity in which Gauthier would lay down his arms and surrender to this bold display of foolishness… it was worse than he’d thought.

He does not even allow the remainder of this grand monologue to continue before directing his next attack. He does not waste his breath, his efforts, in responding. Not even a laugh is spared.

At their angle, Gauthier makes a decisive lunge, attempting to lead with his teeth to bury their hold on Lucifer’s right shoulder, uncaring for the rest of the words that are spilling from his mouth. His left arm would follow – its claws intended to rake their sharpness down the right side of Lucifer’s ribcage.

Gauthier vs. @Lucifer
For Firnen Rainforest
Round 4 of 5
Hits:

Rolling 10d20: 3 + 18 + 5 + 11 + 16 + 6 + 14 + 20 + 8 + 12

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 15 + 1 + 9 + 6

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 14 + 17 + 4 + 1 + 19

Pride Tier 4 perk (Bonus to members participating in fights in their pridelands doubles the level 1 bonus of their master trade)

She had wanted to remain hiding in the depths of the forest. Had not felt summoned, as others were want to by the calls of violence and carnage but the curiosity and the need to know wrenched her from the peaceful confines of the rainforest. She is brought forward on shaking paws, to peer past the brush and foliage at the fight that is unfolding. She sees the male she has not met, but has scented in the land- fighting another and she wants to know what is going on but she is too afraid and at ill-ease to come from her hiding place. Instead, Morley watches and waits, her breath catching in her throat- her eyes locked on the vicious battle.

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Elaine hadn't planned to be close to the Rainforest but her hunt took her there. The sounds of the fight and the challenge made it impossible for her to not notice. Elaine didn't know if Louve had gone to the Rainforest, she had no idea what was waiting there but she couldn't stay away. She slipped in through the shadows. Her whole body was alert for attacks as she stepped along. She knew that it was dicey but she hoped that her main concern would be tied up in the fight. It was his land now, right?

Elaine's ears flick as she tries to figure out who might be related to them and the name that slipped off a male caught her attention. She locked on him and moved closer coming up behind him as he answered another, a question she had not heard. She didn't get too close, unaware of who he was or why he was there. He smelled like the forest, was he a lion that had been under Ludi's rule? Le combat s’annonce bon. The fight looks to be a good one. She said loud enough to catch his attention she hoped as she lingered on the edge of some shadows. She was ready if he turned to fight her but hoped that it wouldn't be the case. Elaine had no way of knowing what was known or not about what happened all those months ago.

@Étienne

ART & CODE BY DAWN, CODE MODIFIED BY CALA

If Reti had known what the calf was thinking he might have snorted in amusement. No. Hell no. He did not want fruit.

But Reti did not know what the kid was thinking. He DID know what the kid was 'feeling' however based on the stressed and aggressive body language. And watching carefully the master barbarian was prepared for the sudden attack launched his way. Angry. Elephants. Charge.

Swiftly Reti moved to attempt to flank the calf moving at a run to try and circle around the calf's right side, attempting to keep about three feet distant from the beast - trying to use his maneuverability to get around behind the youth.

As he lunged into the run Reti felt the bottom edge of his friend's tusk grace across his rump with bruising, but not seriously damaging force. A literal pain in the ass - but not problematic this time.

He did not yet attempt to draw blood. He didn't want to draw blood, although he might need to attempt it a bit before all was said and done. The goal was to tire the calf out - to try and get his mind to start kicking in over the rage and stress.

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@Ardghal vs. Reti
No trampling random spectators.
Round 1 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 9d20: 10 + 6 + 14 + 12 + 1 + 2 + 17 + 16 + 20

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 18 + 6 + 15 + 5

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 2 + 3 + 7 + 16 + 6

code by corvus

The name, it bristled the tendrils of familiarity. Suddenly dawning upon her that he was a relative of those that led the Rainforest. While she held no ill-will towards any of the Dieudonne, despite their quick-to-aggression choices and Ludivine's idea to give Carina Noble when she wanted and won her challenge for Lead Medic, she did show some faint surprise that it was one that had chosen to sit with her. An honor, maybe even.

Even so, she could easily argue that being young had nothing to do with being reckless. One could be such regardless of age, as she was quick to point out for she knew many a lion that would hop into throwing flames without thinking about the consequences that would come later. Alas she didn't get much opportunity to speak and address @Taraji's question and concern before @Étienne answered for them.

There was a puzzled look upon her face as she contemplated those very simple words. Cannot; a singular word that held so much depth to them that he might have spoken a whole sentence alone with. Cannot meant that she was incapacitated, injured beyond the ideal to be able to defend their home. Not at all connected the idea to mean that she was out of the picture entirely because, well, Carina didn't like to go that far. Especially given how death played a part in her own life fracturing, Taraji's too.

^{ART BY RABBIT, CODE BY CALA}

+5 Observe a fight (Reti vs Ardghal)
+5 Maintain your weapons (sharpen claws)
+5 Collect herbs

It wasn't actually the sounds of regular lion fighting that got his attention - though that registered afterward. It was the sound of angry elephant trumpeting that piqued his curiosity and pulled him away from where he'd been gathering a few local plants and herbs and a lovely soft moss he'd found by chance - all of which was quickly wrapped up in a large leaf so he could stuff it in a hollow log to come back for later.

Zaahir arrived to find a crowd gathered to watch two lions facing off, but he was still far more interested in the elephant, who seemed to be going after a lion. Why the hell was there a young bull here? In the middle of a crowd of lions? Silver eyes squinted slightly as he watched, noting the lion it was going after didn't seem intent on hurting it just yet, but wasn't trying to get away, either.

He'd find the sense to stop just before crossing the border, planting himself atop a thick fallen log where he had a decent view above the gathered heads, and that gave him a wonderfully tactile surface on which to scrape his claws. He kneaded the wood, in a sense, claws flexing and gripping and pulling. Tail twitched behind him, ears twitched atop his head which bobbed as if to follow the action of the lion-against-elephant bout - the picture of rapt feline attention.

code by corvus || art by drifty

No. He hadn't really expected anything to come of his offer, but at least he could say, later, that he'd made it. He'd offered the man an option that did not involve figuring out what, precisely, needed counter-acting later. So he could suffer if he chose and Lucifer would not lose any sleep over it. It was probably too much to hope that the poison would paralyze him fully and he might suffocate to death in his or a healer's den later.

At the very least, his attempt to rip into the underside of the man's jaw got him to finally release his bite. Lucifer's paw returned to the ground, with a quiet scoff at the man's silence in the face of his offer. An offer which had been made out of mercy rather than fear or desperation, but he really should have known mercy was not a language these lions spoke.

His opponent shifted and lunged again and Lucifer found his stamina failing him. He was not a lion built for direct violence, nor was he a man who had even months of experience behind him. He hurt. He ached. His muscles burned and his breath came quick with the exertion and because of the pain. But he'd abandoned the idea of winning an even match or even with brute force the second he'd seen Gauthier's face instead of Ludivine's.

Movements were becoming slower with fatigue, and so Gauthier's teeth crashed down and buried into his right shoulder, and Lucifer's jaw clenched to stifle another cry of pain. Though a muffled curse might have been heard through gritted teeth as claws found his ribs, leaving searing lines down his side as they went. Bloodied again. He adjusted his stance, to brace against the elder's weight and attack, as his forepaw lifted just far enough to attempt to hook around the back of Gauthier's right wrist and slice deep into flesh in search of important tendons below.

Even if he'd accepted there was no winning this without his poison doing the bulk of the work for him, he was still determined to see it through to the end.

Lucifer vs @Gauthier
Firnen Rainforest
4/5
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 18 + 19 + 8 + 1 + 14 + 12

Dodges:

Rolling 5d20: 8 + 19 + 17 + 9 + 4

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 11 + 2 + 3 + 20 + 10

Bring your big nerves

But stay wild if you do that

code by corvus || art by drifty

The calf could feel his tiny tusks brush against his friend's haunches. The strike provided a type of catharsis and his shoulders relaxed slightly. But there was the reminder that he was in the depths of a fight. This was not the time to relax, not the time to dissect the words mother said, not time to allow his hurt to clog his vision. The elephant would roll his weight back onto his haunches, dragging himself to a standstill as gaze caught the rest of Reti's body as he tried to flank around him.

No escape.

But as his tusks hit off kilter the calf would try to lash out with his trunk with it trying to coil about the back right leg of the lion. The calf would lean his weight back onto his haunches. He learned something else from his time in the pit and finding himself on his side in one of his fights — he couldn't turn at all. He would be in trouble if Reti managed to make it to his undefended backside.

Ardgal vs @Reti ♔ ♔
for Imma beat them up!
II of III
Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 6 + 8 + 11 + 16 + 20 + 13 + 19 + 12

Dodges:

Rolling 6d20: 7 + 18 + 20 + 4 + 8 + 13

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 17 + 19 + 12 + 3 + 11

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WE'RE BORN INTO THE GRAVE

Hard flesh splits between his teeth and he relishes the success with ecstatic frenzy, the rake of his claws garnering a rugged resonance of pain, while incoherent between muffled jaws and his own flattened ears. It is of little consequence – Gauthier is absorbed in the surging tides of wrath while all plays over in his mind: the ireful disdain of his revealings of wolfbron, the persistence of the family of which they’d granted mercy, the insistence that he yield to an arrogant boy that might as well spit on his father’s grave. The repugnance, the retribution.

In a sick twist of cruel fate, never before have the Dantanian’s sanctity dangled in precarity as it does now. The lot of which they battled over did not matter. It was the principle. Kingdoms rose and fell, natural as the turn of the seasons. The sooner they understood this, the sooner they would have peace. Is that what this was? Was it peace that governed his mind now, in the crashing of bodies and the mangling of teeth, claws?

In its essence, bloodshed was all anymore that would make him feel a l i v e.

Clarity did not come to him in the nuance of pitiful peace, it came in the stinging of wounds and the delectable taste of molten, open veins as they poured into his heatseeking jaws. It came as sharpness found the pinging hurt at the back of his wrist and his pupils constricted in their bloody hotbeds, his fatigued breaths rattling in a snarl. Gauthier endeavored to shirk his body forward as Lucifer’s claw-ful grasp dug across the heel of his forelimb, intending to use the youth’s raised limb against him. With his shoulder still clutched in the czar's jaws he attempted to shove Lucifer’s upper body against that unbraced leg – an intention to bring him down, or in the least, force those claws to find home back on the earth.

Gauthier vs. @Lucifer
For Firnen Rainforest
Round 5 of 5
Hits:

Rolling 10d20: 17 + 13 + 2 + 16 + 6 + 8 + 19 + 3 + 18 + 20

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 7 + 18 + 14 + 10

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 4 + 16 + 20 + 3 + 17

Pride Tier 4 perk (Bonus to members participating in fights in their pridelands doubles the level 1 bonus of their master trade)

Ask Lorant and he will convince you nothing gets by him in the forests where he roams. It was a clear morning and he had just finished licking scarlet remnants of his dinner from one ivory paw, the faint sound of commotion in the distance tickling the soft furs lining the leopard's ears. He trilled lightly as he tried to tune in, the distinct sound of lion drama setting his veins running before its reality could even sink in. The girls were fighting and Lorant was determined to get a front-row seat.

He prowled methodically along the treelines above, rosettes blending into the shimmers and shadows of morning leaves as his paws carried him ever-near the brawling scene. He held no fear of borders – not when he was safely nestled up above, with ignorance of his kind a conveniently loaded excuse. Lorant grinned as he began to watch what he could see from those heights: a main brawl at the center of it all, then several parties yelling on the outskirts. Fornicators, home-threateners – such flavor typically seasoned their ritual challenges.

"What we should have done a year ago."

This piece of information stuck out to the creature. He attempted to settle in a sprawling lay upon a rainforest branch, mulling over the alleged history between the home team and the challengers. It seemed this was personal.

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|| vague y12 | nine years | vague pride | at firnen rainforest | HIDING ||
+10 - Sneak into a pride or group without getting caught
+10 - Learn something about pride/group/family relations
+10 - Remain undetected in a large thread (5+ characters)

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