She is beyond grateful when Gauthier comes out victorious. Her tail lashes irritably as she glares daggers at the challenger, jaw set in anger. "Dumbass. I'm not letting you out of my sight," she snaps at Lucifer with every intention on stalking him throughout the forest. He was not a member, he was a prisoner. She would treat him as such. Prisoners were to be monitored without condition and Valkyrie is nothing if not eager to start swinging her wait around. Besides, if it would help Gauth, the Brynmawr will happily utilize some of her poisons to tender the prisoner immobile.

Exit

ART BY SPU, CODE BY DEE, MODIFIED BY GUNNER

It would seem that there was little else to glean from this day's challenge and the one who had come for it, presumably to go back home and loser but she had a feeling by the way Gauthier moved that the boy would not be going home. Not if he had anything to do about it. So Carina stood to her feet in rally of what her High Sovereign suggested and peered around their grand forest. Looking to the bushes to see if there were any such lions hiding, bowing her head to @Étienne as she began to make a prowl of their territory to make sure that no one was lingering for longer than was now necessary. exit carina

^{ART BY RABBIT, CODE BY CALA}

Elaine was on edge but the male finally looked at her and his words caused her ears to flick again. She had heard him correct and his question would have amused her in the past but now, it did nothing but cause her to have some strange feelings. Not something she enjoyed. Prendre la tête semble être une chose ici. Taking a head seems to be a thing here. She glanced toward the fight that had ended and saw that there would be no leadership change here today. Je suis Elaine Dieudonné. She spoke quickly as she needed to leave before she was spotted, unsure what the male would do to her. There was so much history between him and his family and she wasn't looking to test any of it right now. Nous devrions parler loin d'ici. We should talk away from here. She needed to know what this male knew and if it was going to be an issue for the family or not.

She was spotted. She felt the gaze on her and watched as he made it very clear that she wasn't welcome. Even with everything that happened, none of it had been the outcome that Elaine had wanted but no one asked those sorts of questions within this family. It was all "fight first and never ask why". She gave the slightest dip of her head, she would respect him. This would most likely be her last trip here as long as he was still ruling. Appelez-moi si vous le souhaitez. Je ne serai pas loin après ça. Call for me if you wish to. I won't be far after this. She said to @Étienne before she turned to leave.

exit

ART & CODE BY DAWN, CODE MODIFIED BY CALA

She nudged along her mother and Levana, her lilac eyes narrowed in quiet fury. So close, so close had they all been to being rid of the Dieudonne influence over their home. Their forest. And the opportunity had been squandered... immediately, Andraesa began to ponder how to do it better next time. How she would do it better next time.

Of course, she would get it right. Was there any reason for her to doubt herself yet, any cause for her to be dubious of her own prowess.

No. Definitely not. When she returned to Firnen, she would return the queen - failure would not be an option.

/ exit

_{art by inky —code by daanyan}

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

Claws continued to knead and tear at the soft wood, giving them a good cleaning and sharpening while also acting as a nice little fidgety outlet for some of that energy that came from even just watching a good fight.

The elephant was young and inexperienced and Zaahir still had no idea what it was even doing surrounded by lions anyway, but the lion opponent seemed fairly experienced with not getting squished. Although he also seemed to be struggling not to eat the calf. Interesting. He also seemed to be trying to climb the creature, which was strange. Maybe there was some connection or game he was missing that would make it make a little more sense.

Anyway, he'd never see the real outcome as the main battle seemed to come to a close with the assumed challenger soundly defeated. With all that anger, this had to have been personal, but Zaahir did not have anywhere near the amount of information he'd have needed to make sense of it all. Which meant his mind sort of started to wander when it became obvious the fighters were discussing some old bad blood and individuals he'd never met.

He did catch the order to 'remove' bystanders, though. And even if he wasn't actually within the territory, Zaahir took that as a sign any visitor welcome was thoroughly worn out. One last glance was cast toward the end of the elephant-versus-lion scuffle, but he soon vacated his log and headed back the way he'd come. Zaahir would return to where he'd been gathering herbs and supplies earlier and retrieve his leaf-parcel. He still had a few more things to collect, and would end up spending the next hour or so piling herbs and other useful things up on his leaf until it could just barely be folded enough to carry in his teeth without tearing. Time to find somewhere to stash this stuff.

-exit-

code by corvus || art by drifty

@Ardghal VS. @Reti ♔ FOR dominance
— RESULTS —

Ardghal Hits: 4 + 6 + 3 + 4 luck = 17
Ardghal Dodges: 3 + 3 + 4 = 10

Reti Hits: 5 + 4 + 5 + 3 luck = 17
Reti Dodges: 2 + 1 + 2 = 5

Ardghal Successful Hits: 12
Reti Successful Hits: 7

ARDGHAL HAS WON THE CHALLENGE FOR DOMINANCE!

The results of this fight cannot be acknowledged ICly until either both challengers have responded or 3 days have gone by — whichever comes first. Any posts breaking this rule will be removed.

The shift of intention happens rapidly as the calf manages to slam his him into @Reti ♔ as punishment for trying to get him to not trample the bystanders, to not be hurt by his mother's words, and not take out his toddler-infused rage on them. But big papa wins their home, wins the safety of hard planted fruit and fostered herds, wins their safety. Relief swept through the body of the calf so fast that he doesn't even realize that Reti managed to crawl up his back.

Well he notices after a few hundred extra pounds inhibited his ability to charge at some of the bystanders — bystanders that were no longer welcome under Big Papa's orders but he was weighed down by the lion on his back. A small trumpet of agitation was released as he huffed before trying to kick out one of his back legs to shake Reti off of him.

_{ART — CODE}

The main event in the background transitioned into conversation, and while Reti was curious as to the outcome he could not divert attention from his present task immediately. Although it was also obvious to the experienced fighter that the 'battle' he was engaged in was not one he was capable of winning unless the lion started to attempt and land blows meant to inflict lasting, lethal damage. And the chimera was unwilling to do so in this case - unless it became a matter of saving his life.

But it would not come to that today.

@Andraesa calling his name did register, but it would take him a few seconds to respond as his focus was on getting clear of the Calf's back safely as @Ardghal shook himself in that effort to get Reti off his back. But her words did tell Reti that they needed to leave, and that meant that whatever lion had won was not one to tolerate lingering viewers.

Landing, perhaps a little more heavily than he preferred - Reti kept his gaze on the calf for a moment. Wanting to ensure the boy was calm and would not go after him. "Your trees are safe. Good job, you are getting bigger." came the quiet praise, a faint smile curving the lion's lips even as his breath was still coming in deep draws, slow only due to forced discipline.

"I have to go now. Lets play again later." multihued gaze flicks towards the departing Andraesa and the flow of other exiting spectators, then to the apparent victor - something in his eyes darkening as they drank in the earthen, scarred male. Then the look was gone as he smiled at the calf again before turning to take his leave . @Jun was noticed and he chuffed for her to follow - this was most certainty not a place to linger.

--- Exit Reti ---

code by corvus

With hands so soft - delicate and sweet
Clearly she didn't understand what was going on, but she was quite used to that. So all she could do was watch without understanding, praying that Reti wouldn't be squashed beneath the elephant's stomping feet. To say she was even more confused when the two parted somewhat amicably was putting it mildly, but she had been raised not to question, and so she wouldn't.

She spared a glance back for the challenge that had drawn everyone in, which seemed to have concluded some time ago. She perhaps should have been paying attention to it, but she hadn't been. She hardly cared about who was leading any pride that wasn't the one she was currently in, or that was allied with her own. Maybe not even those.

Reti called for her to leave and she was quick to do so, knowing better than to linger on another pride's land, especially as the man who had won the challenge didn't seem particularly interested in anyone sticking around. She could hardly blame him.

-exit Jun-

_{ART BY SPU · CODE BY DEE}

+5 - Observe a fight (Gauthier vs. Lucifer) It came as no surprise to him that Gauthier proved the victor. What was a surprise to him was that the challenger found himself trapped within the pride. He hadn't known that was something they could do. He wasn't entirely sure it was the best idea, since the guy was clearly pissed about it, but the more he thought about it the more it kind of made sense. At least this way they could keep an eye on him. Obviously, Gauthier possessed a wisdom beyond Everick's own years, and he would do well to remember that and learn from it as much as he could. Unless this proved disastrous, in which case he'd still learn, just a different sort of knowledge. Either way. Since everyone else was leaving then, he too rose and headed back into the depths of the pride, presuming the strangers would figure out where they were supposed to be going. If they didn't, he'd be happy to teach them a thing or two. -exit everick-

ART AND CODE BY SHAZ